Forty-one years ago, Donald J Grout penned the first chapter in the history of a music textbook that was ultimately to revise not only the way in which music was taught in high schools, but also on undergraduate university courses. Five editions later, Grout (as it is affectionately known in schools across the land) has grown from a single-volume format to one that is newly coded, with listening and study guides in the form of anthologies, websites and compact discs, to the extent that my old copy, the second edition of 1973 (to which I hold a debt of gratitude since it was a constant companion for five years through my A-levels and first degree), is unrecognisable in comparison. Standard textbooks such as this need to change with the times and, despite the onslaught of the 'module' approach from several examination boards, Edexcel amongst them, few resources provide such complete background information as here. The new edition's content has vastly improved since the last edition just five years ago. In his introduction, eminent musicologist Claude Palisca, who has been its general editor and principal author since Grout's death in 1987, claims to be responsible for a considerable number of changes, including the rewriting and extension of many passages that consider the latest in scholastic research. Chronologies have now been replaced with timelines, new maps and, of less importance, colour plates.

	Ridley Scott's portrayal of antiquity was certainly dubious...fortunately Grout's isn't!

The problem with any material such as this is that it needs to be brief, and it is important to bear in mind that the intention is to provide an overview rather than a detailed musicological analysis. For that we will need to look elsewhere. So, whilst some areas are covered in more than adequate detail, others are slightly less impressive. Take, for instance, the opening sections of the book, which deal with Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and compare them with later ones. Certainly, the text is more detailed: references to Aristotle and Plato, so important in the formulation of the values of the seconda prattica of the early Italian Baroque, are given the right amount of coverage – there is always the difficulty with such volumes as this for the intelligent and well-versed to provide slightly too much information in a dry and inaccessible manner. Similarly, the explanations chant notation, organum, rhythmic modes and conductus of the Dark and Middle Ages are remarkably informative and accurately presented: understanding some rather complex compositional styles is made relatively easy and, although I would have liked a more detailed analysis of Franconian notation, especially ligatures, which often litter thirteenth-century musical texts, it is nevertheless a well-constructed and informative account. But, in comparison, the Baroque period is slightly disappointing, especially given Palisca's other notable publications on music of this period. It is true that this is a complicated and often hit-or-miss period, full of overlaps, contradictions and varying stylistic movements and genres, but it lacks the same clarity and focus of the earlier passages. Material is organised according to genre, which, although quite acceptable, does create difficulties in cross-referencing; but then there are the inexplicable chapters devoted to the music of Bach and Handel, which do little other than confuse the issue, and a worthwhile approach would have been to categorise their compositions in an appropriately similar manner.

The music of the following periods is treated with a similarly whistle-stop approach: no sooner do we come to grips with the basics of a point, than we are pushed off elsewhere. However, particularly worthy of mention is the twentieth century, in particular the section dealing with America, although I would have liked slightly more information concerning what is described as 'Vernacular Music', i.e. jazz, rock and blues, etc., since here we have a defining influence not only on American music, but on mainstream European styles as well.

This sounds all very negative, which is not the intention, since there are other worthy inclusions that make this a valuable reference book. First and foremost, there are extras, in the guise of illuminating asides, which provide specific information on important features of a style, composer or form of notation. I am also impressed with a range of appropriate quotes as support material (it would be a welcome addition to this set were Norton's other great publication, Strunk's Source Readings in Music History, to be included as cross-referenced material). Overall, the main body text of A History of Western Music is quite exemplary in the manner in which it deals with over twenty centuries of music in less than 800 pages. The writing is accessible and easy to understand, the choice of musical examples is excellent and the accompanying graphics and plates, whilst occasionally reminding me of the Silver Burdett music scheme, are clearly reproduced. [Just one thing, Norton, please don't confuse East Cowes on the Isle of Wight with Petworth in West Sussex (Plate X), the two are worlds apart].