The History of Musical Instruments
By Curt Sachs
- Amazon Sales Rank: #201673 in Books
- Published on: 2006-09-22
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 560 pages
Exhaustive but Aged
As it is really the first complete work on the history of musical instruments, this is a foundational text. In the sixty years since its publication, though, opinions and interpretations have changed, and better research has been done.
Nonetheless, the very readable style and global scope make this a worthwhile investment. The illustrations are very good for the time it was published. The organization is clearly structured by chronology and geography, yet connections are made across these boundaries. I enjoy the book immensely, both as a reference and for pleasure.
An aged must-read
This book provides a thorough description of the evolution of musical instruments from a multidisciplinary point of view from prehistoric times to mid-20th century. It comprises most historical epochs and geographical regions.
Good things about the book: it's a classic, very comprehensive (except for the electrophones), very clear in the technical descriptions, nice figures and pictures (although not enough for the many instruments discussed), it's a must-read for people interested in musical instruments and its evolution. I've learned a lot reading the book.
Bad things: it's aged in many respects. The language isn't politically correct when referring to some countries and peoples; it's too European-focused; gives too much importance to several simphonic orchestra instruments in comparison to other very popular instruments (the guitar family and its evolution is poorly treated, for instance); the electrophones are very badly treated and with some contempt. I know this is a 1940/1968 book and the electromechanical and electronic instruments were still in it's infancy, but some were already there (theremin, ondes Martenot, electric guitar, early synths) which would have deserved a much better treatment. Finally, I didn't like the author's remarks about some other people's work. Although he is an acknowledged scholar, sometimes he sounds very petulant.
I also disagree with the author in some technical aspects. For instance, his classification of musical instruments, although universally accepted, has several weak points in my opinion. Many scholars have followed Sachs' terminology too literally; that's why nowdays some people call 'lute' to any stringed instrument with a handle and neglect its original local name. The results is that a Spanish 'bandurria' is a 'lute' as well as a German 'Laute', or a North African 'gnbri'. That is very confussing and wrong.
History of Musical InstrumentsTh
This is exactly the type of book I was expecting. I received it extremely fast, within one week of ordering. I am overall pleased.
