The Oxford History of Western Music is a magisterial survey of the traditions of Western music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin. This text illuminates, through a representative sampling of masterworks, those themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to each musical age. Taking a critical perspective, this text sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. The five volumes of main text have musical examples and black-and-white pictures throughout, and each has five 8-page colour inserts. The sixth volume contains a comprehensive chronology, further reading and other source material, and an index to the entire set.