"Although the title makes it sound like a reference book, it is so much more than that. The style of writing is engaging and informative. The layout is attractive, with beautiful illustrations, photos, period paintings, quotes, and interesting inserts on every page. Wilkinson's history unfolds like a symphonic work with instrument makers, composers and virtuosic performers picking up these incredible creations and exposing their beauty and capability. To open it up is to be instantly hooked."-- Publishers Weekly The 400-year story of music told by the instruments that make an orchestra. The History of Music in Fifty Instruments outlines musical history in well-written nuggets of information. Profiling one instrument at a time, it describes the history of music since the 1700s, when orchestras first took the formal shape familiar to us. The concise text explains the role of each instrument in the orchestra and its importance in the development of music in general. The book lists the 50
