Contemporary Composers

Mason, Daniel Gregory, 1873-1953Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 294K words
Chapters: 30

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Contemporary Composers by Daniel Gregory MasonAuthor: Mason, Daniel Gregory, 1873-1953,Language: English, Class: ML: Music: Literature of music, Release Date: Feb 18, 2018

Editor's review

Daniel Gregory Mason's book offers commentary on contemporary composers and belongs to the literature of music. Writing as a critic, the author discusses the creative traits and historical position of composers in a reflective style characteristic of early twentieth-century music criticism. For readers familiar with the broad outlines of classical music, it offers a window into the musical thinking of that era; those interested in music history and critical writing can also observe how critical language is organized. Note that "contemporary" here refers to the author's own time, so read with historical context in mind and do not treat it as a guide to today's composers. Best read slowly with notes, ideally alongside recordings of the works discussed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in classical music history and composer criticism
Music lovers curious about early twentieth-century musical ideas and critical writing
Readers with enough English to read reflective texts slowly

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic grounding in music theory or composition technique
Readers expecting introductions to living contemporary composers

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents to map the composers covered, then choose chapters by interest.
Listen to representative works by the composers discussed as you read to deepen understanding.
Take notes on critical judgments, distinguishing factual statements from personal evaluations.
Compare with other music histories and note differences in historical context.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What period does "contemporary" in the title refer to?

It refers to the author's own time, the early twentieth century, not today's composers. Read with that historical context in mind to avoid misreading the subjects of criticism.

Can I read it without a music theory background?

Yes, but the book discusses composers' styles and works, so understanding suffers without basic musical knowledge. It helps to first learn the main schools of classical music and a few representative composers.

Is this a biography or a critical work?

It is closer to critical writing, focusing on composers' creative traits and historical standing rather than detailed biographies. Readers wanting biography should look for dedicated studies.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Mason, Daniel Gregory, 1873-1953 Author

Daniel Gregory Mason (1873-1953) was an American writer on music. His exact biographical details are limited in publicly available sources, but the four works held in this collection clearly outline the focus of his writing. His books consistently centre on Western classical and Romantic music: Beethoven and His Forerunners traces the roots of the classical style, while From Grieg to Brahms, The Romantic Composers and Contemporary Composers together survey European composers from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mason's writing consists mainly of composer portraits and analyses of individual works, combined with discussion of stylistic change and musical appreciation. Aimed at general readers rather than specialists in music theory, his prose is clear and well organised, and carries the aesthetic judgments of a thoughtful critic. Such popularising books on music were well received in the early twentieth-century English-speaking world, offering the public a step-by-step guide to the symphonic and chamber traditions and ensuring that his works remain useful references for understanding the musical tastes and critical language of that period.