The Tradition of Western Music

The Tradition of Western Music by Gerald Abraham is a sweeping meditation on how music embodies and transforms cultural life, framing tradition as a dynamic process between communal memory, individual creativity, and shifting historical circumstances. It explores musical language, social forces, and the balance of continuity and innovation, and asks why certain traditions persist while others wither. Abraham interweaves studies of plainsong, chorales, folk traditions, and modern performance practices with broader reflections on nationalism, cross-cultural exchange, and the effects of religion, politics, and technology on musical form.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 136 pages
Publication date: 13 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

The Tradition of Western Music by Gerald Abraham is a comprehensive exploration of the history of Western music, framed as a dynamic dialogue between communal memory, individual creativity, and shifting historical circumstances. Abraham challenges the notion of tradition as a static entity and instead presents it as a living, evolving process that shapes cultural life. Through essays on musical language, social forces, and the balance of continuity and innovation, he examines why certain traditions persist while others wither and how composers from Luther to Bach, Berlioz, and Mussorgsky navigate their inherited legacies. The book emphasizes that the history of Western music is not merely a chronicle of works but a record of responses, reinterpretations, and constant change. Abraham weaves together studies of plainsong, chorales, folk traditions, and modern performance practices with broader reflections on nationalism, cross-cultural exchange, and the effects of religion, politics, and technology on musical form. Written in an accessible yet scholarly style, The Tradition of Western Music offers students, performers, and general readers alike an interpretive guide to understanding how music has functioned as both a shared cultural inheritance and a site of perpetual renewal. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates the University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. Originally published in 1974, The Tradition of Western Music remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history and development of Western music.

Weight: 181g
Dimension: 216 x 140 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520308169