#1968756 in eBooks 2008-12-19 2008-12-19File Name: B005C8CZ80
Review
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Too technical for whom?By ad modum YtalicorumIll leave critical assessments of the book to others better suited to the task (though Atkinsons work is always first rate). As for the assertion that it is too technical. I would point out that it concerns a highly technical subject and is written first and foremost for specialists on medieval music and music theory. This does not preclude non-specialists from making good use of the book. but to give the book a low rating simply because one as a reader does not have sufficient background knowledge to read the book hardly seems fair to the author or to other potential readers of the book. (On those grounds. I would have to give Einsteins _Relativity_ a low rating.)In any event. there are other texts that address the matter of Greek modes of Antiquity. which were effectively moribund centuries before their resurrection by the Carolingians. A more rewarding approach might be to look to sources that treat the Greek modes directly rather than one that explores their rediscovery and refashioning for an entirely unrelated system of music. Clause Paliscas article "Mode" in New Grove is a good choice if you have access to it (though it suffers a bit from an over-reliance on Ptolemys composite rendering of earlier traditions of modal theory). Also valuable is Tom Mathiesens article "Greek Music Theory" in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory (The Cambridge History of Music) (which. coupled with Calvin Bowers subsequent essay. would likely provide sufficient foundation to engage Atkinsons book). Slogging through Boethiuss _De musica_ (Fundamentals of Music: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (Music Theory Translation Series)) might also be a worthwhile exercise. especially since the Carolingians relied heavily on it (though without fully understanding it--but then its not an easy text).For more extensive treatments. you might consider various texts by Andrew Barker (for example. The Science of Harmonics in Classical Greece) and Martin West (Ancient Greek Music (Clarendon Paperbacks)). as well as Mathiesens Apollos Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. which itself is quite technical and challenging (not to mention controversial) in many respects but is well worth the effort. especially if read as a sort of running commentary alongside some of the more prominent texts he treats (as a stand-alone text. it presents difficulties to the non-specialist. but these can be overcome with patience--still. its better to have the original sources at hand. and his "Greek Music Theory" essay makes good preparatory reading).1 of 37 people found the following review helpful. too technicalBy Ronald W. JohnsonI was hoping for a book clarifying the ancient Greek musical modes. but this isnt it; this book assumes an existing expertise in music theory. Also. the illustrations (of tables) are too small to be read on a Kindle-2.
