Oxford History of Music

Oxford History of Music
EditorHenry Hadow
LanguageEnglish
GenreMusic history
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date1901–1934
OCLC78974124
Followed byNew Oxford History of Music 

The Oxford History of Music (OHM) is an early 20th-century multivolume narrative history of 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 polyphony of early medieval music to early 20th-century classical music, the OHM was among the most admired and largest histories of classical music at the time of its publication.

An updated series, the New Oxford History of Music, was released between 1957 and 1990. Musicologist Richard Taruskin published the newest iteration in 2005 as its sole author, the Oxford History of Western Music.

History

Hadow, c. 1900, the organizer and intital edtor for the OHM

Up 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 and 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 in English.[2] Its chief focus was on European classical music, and by beginning with the polyphony of medieval music, it was, according to Bruno Nettl, "perhaps making a unique statement defining what music truly is".[3] In particular, it aimed to be a continuous narrative history, rather than a series of distinct textbooks.[4]

The OHM was edited and organized by musicologist and composer William Henry Hadow, described as "now little remembered but then a prominent Oxford figure".[5] Hadow was known for music education reforms, and two further influential efforts, his Oxford music lectures and Studies in Modern Music.[6] His approach to music, admired by Frank Howes, favored "technically informed and culturally sensitive treatment", and found its way into the OHM.[5]

The first OHM volumes were a two-part survey (1901, 1905) on medieval music by Harry Ellis Wooldridge.[2] Although the introductory volume (written much later, in 1929) includes a survey of ancient Greek music,[7] commentators like Nettl and Egon Wellesz consider the series proper as essentially beginning with medieval polyphony.[3][2] Three volumes followed in close succession: seventeenth-century music, written by Hubert Parry (1902); the Age of Bach and Handel (late Baroque music) by J. A. Fuller Maitland (1902); and The Viennese Period (see the First Viennese School) by Hadow himself (1904).[2] The sixth volume on Romantic music was written by Edward Dannreuther, who soon died after the initial manuscript was finished in the Fall of 1904.[8] It was revised by Hadow and Fuller Maitland for publication in 1905.[9]

From the late 1920s, other volumes were reprinted as they stood, but Sir Percy Buck revised the first two volumes (1929 and 1932), and edited a new introductory volume of general essays (1929).[2][10] The introductory volume included contributions from a variety of scholars:[10]

In 1940 H. C. Colles added a seventh volume, Symphony and Drama, 1850–1900.[2]

The OHM was followed by The New Oxford History of Music (1957–1990; NOHM) initially edited by Jack Westrup.[11] Rather than attempt a set of third edition publications, the NOHM contributor Egon Wellesz remarked that "Revision of an historical work is always difficult [...] Such radical revision was not the purpose of the second edition of the Oxford History of Music. To have attempted it in a third edition would have been impossible."[2] The newest iteration was solely authored by Richard Taruskin in 2005, the Oxford History of Western Music (OHWM).[12]

Reception

In 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".[13] However, by the end of the 1920s Sir Percy Buck considered the first two volumes dated. His efforts to renew the series were not without criticism. Music critic Richard Aldrich criticized the 1929 introductory volume for chapter topics which were "not any of them very exciting subjects".[10] Although he lauded the "contemporaneous human interest" of Dent's contribution, and the "lucid and intelligible" explanations by Warner.[10]

Contents

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Coover & Franklin 2001, §III "From the 18th century to the present".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wellesz 1957, p. v, partial excerpt reprinted here.
  3. 1 2 Nettl 2013, pp. 38–39.
  4. ↑ Hadow 1901, p. 265.
  5. 1 2 Wright 2019, p. 188.
  6. ↑ Shera & Golby 2006.
  7. ↑ Wooldridge 1901, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Hadow in Dannreuther 1905, p. iii
  9. ↑ Hadow in Dannreuther 1905, p. iii
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Aldrich, Richard (29 September 1929). "The Oxford History; A New Edition of the Introductory Volume Reveals Many Changes--Terry's "Bach"". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Nettl 2013, p. 38.
  12. ↑ Oestreich, James R. (19 December 2004). "Classical Music: Debriefing; A History of Western Music? Well, It's a Long Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  13. ↑ Elson 1912, p. 865.
  14. 1 2 Anonymous (1 February 1906). "Reviewed Works: The Oxford History of Music. Vol. II. The Polyphonic Period, Part II by H. E. Wooldridge; The Oxford History of Music. Vol. VI. The Romantic Period by Edward Dannreuther, W. H. Hadow". The Musical Times. 47 (756): 117–118. doi:10.2307/902747. JSTOR 902747.
  15. ↑ "Review of The Oxford History of Music—Vol. III. The Music of the Seventeenth Century by C. Hubert H. Parry". The Athenaeum (3923): 25–26. 3 January 1903.
  16. ↑ Anonymous (March 1938). "Reviewed Work: The Oxford History of Music, Vol. III by C. Hubert H. Parry". The Musical Times. 79 (1141): 189. doi:10.2307/922470. JSTOR 922470.
  17. ↑ J. A. W. (July 1938). "Reviewed Work: The Oxford History of Music, Vol. III: The Music of the Seventeenth Century by C. Hubert H. Parry, Edward J. Dent". Music & Letters. 19 (3): 329–331. JSTOR 727539.
  18. ↑ "Review of The Oxford History of Music. Volume V. The Viennese Period by W. H. Hadow". The Oxford Magazine. 23. The Proprietors: 145–146. 25 January 1905.

Sources

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