| Editor | Henry Hadow |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Music history |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 1901–1934 |
| OCLC | 78974124 |
| Followed by | New Oxford History of Music |
The Oxford History of Music (OHM) is an early 20th-century multivolume narrative history on the history of music, primarily Western classical music. The OHM was first published by Oxford University Press in seven numbered volumes, alongside an introductory volume, between 1901 and 1934 under the editorship of William Henry Hadow, and later Percy Buck. Spanning the music of ancient Greece until early 20th-century classical music, individual volume authors included H. E. Woolridge (vols. 1–2; revised by Buck), Hubert Parry (vol. 3), J. A. Fuller Maitland (vol. 4), Hadow himself (vol. 5), Edward Dannreuther (vol. 6) and H C Colles (vol. 7).
An updated series, the New Oxford History of Music, was released between 1954 and 1990. Musicologist Richard Taruskin published the newest iteration in 2005 as its sole-author, the Oxford History of Western Music.
History
editUp until the 20th-century, single-author narrative histories on music were common place, including those by Charles Burney, François-Joseph Fétis, Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Hans Joachim Moser, Hugo Riemann, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Percy Scholes, Johann Gottfried Walther.[1] Grove Music Online remarks that by the 20th century, "The amount of information now available for inclusion in a music encyclopedia probably discourage[d] heroic, single-handed compilations". [1] The Oxford History of Music (OHM) was the first major collaborative attempt on the history of music (primarily Western classical music) in English.[2] In particular, it aimed to be a continuous narrative history, rather than a series of distinct textbooks.[3]
The OHM was edited and organized by musicologist and composer William Henry Hadow, described as "now little remembered but then a prominent Oxford figure".[4] Hadow was known for music education reforms, and two further influential efforts, his Oxford music lectures and Studies in Modern Music.[5] His approach to music, admired by H. C. Colles, favored "technically informed and culturally sensitive treatment", and found its way into the OHW.[4]
The Oxford History of Music was first published in six volumes under the general editorship of William Henry Hadow between 1901 and 1905.[6]
The first two, written by H. E. Woolridge (who had been appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford in 1895), were entitled The Polyphonic Period and began with the music of ancient Greece. These volumes dated quite quickly. The third, on seventeenth century music, was written by Sir Hubert Parry. J. A. Fuller Maitland wrote volume four on the age of Bach and Handel, Hadow himself wrote the fifth (The Viennese Period) and Edward Dannreuther covered the Romantic period in the sixth. From the late 1920s other volumes were reprinted as they stood, but Sir Percy Buck, who was also involved with the OUP's Tudor Church Music, revised the first two volumes (1929 and 1932), and edited a new introductory volume of general essays (1929), including a contribution on musical notation from Sylvia Townsend Warner.[7] In 1940 H C Colles added a seventh volume, Symphony and Drama, 1850–1900.
Contents
edit- Buck, Percy, ed. (1929). Introductory Volume. Oxford History of Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hadow, William Henry, ed. (1901). The Polyphonic Period: Part 1: Method of Musical Art, 330-1330. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 271064153.
- Buck, Percy, ed. (1932). The Polyphonic Period: Part 1: Method of Musical Art, 330-1330. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 643481831.
- Hadow, William Henry, ed. (1905). The Polyphonic Period: Part 2: Method of Musical Art, 1300–1600. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 42765074.
- Buck, Percy, ed. (1932). The Polyphonic Period: Part 2: Method of Musical Art, 1300–1600. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 643481838.
- Hadow, William Henry, ed. (1902). The Music of the Seventeenth Century. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hadow, William Henry, ed. (1902). The Age of Bach and Handel. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hadow, William Henry, ed. (1904). The Viennese Period. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 5. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Buck, Percy, ed. (1931). The Romantic Period. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 6. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Buck, Percy, ed. (1934). Symphony and Drama, 1850–1900. Oxford History of Music. Vol. 7. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reception
editIn its time, the OHM was widely regarded by the classical music community, particularly the first two volumes.[2] The music critic Louis Charles Elson remarked in 1912 that the Oxford History of Music was already "the largest [general music survey] in modern history".[8]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b Coover & Franklin 2001, §III "From the 18th century to the present".
- ^ a b Wellesz 1957, p. v, partial excerpt reprinted here.
- ^ Hadow 1901, p. 265.
- ^ a b Wright 2019, p. 188.
- ^ Shera & Golby 2006.
- ^ "The New Oxford History of Music". Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ Anne Pimlott Baker, ‘Buck, Sir Percy Carter (1871–1947)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 16 Aug 2016 (subscription or membership of a UK public library required)
- ^ Elson 1912, p. 865.
Sources
edit- Coover, James B.; Franklin, John C. (2001). "Dictionaries and encyclopedias of music". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51332. (subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required)
- Elson, Louis C., ed. (1912). Modern Music and Musicians. Vol. 3. New York: The University Society.
- Hadow, W. H. (1901). "An Oxford History of Music". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 42 (698): 265. doi:10.2307/3366617. JSTOR 3366617.
- Shera, F. H. (May 2006). "Hadow, Sir (William) Henry (1859–1937)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Revised by David J. Golby (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33631. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Wellesz, Egon, ed. (1957). The New Oxford History of Music. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press.
- Wright, David C. H. (2019). The Royal College of Music and Its Contexts: An Artistic and Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-16338-6.