Listen - Softcover

Listen makes music accessible to all with its concise historical and cultural context, compelling composer biographies, and clear Listening Charts. The redesigned Eighth Edition incorporates new perspectives on music since 1900, new repertory, and illuminating discussions to help students synthesize the important concepts of classical music and develop the listening skills to explore it further.

Joseph Kerman was a leading musicologist, music critic, and music educator from the 1950s to the 2000s. He reshaped our understanding and appreciation of Western classical music with his first book, Opera as Drama (1956), to his last, Opera and the Morbidity of Music (2008), including his studies on Bach, Beethoven, William Byrd, concertos, and more. He was a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, where he served two terms as chair of the Music Department. He wrote Listen together with his wife, Vivian Kerman.