Music-a Very Short Introduction

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Music: A very Short Introduction by Nicholas Cook is a book which provokes the reader to not only think about music, but to actually ponder about what every single genre is expressing. What is more, the author attempts to establish a setting for the way one should understand and ‘see’ music. The purpose of the essay is to extensively review and to focus on asesing the value and success of the book. To begin with, in the Foreword, Professor Cook is expressing the main idea of the book. He makes clear and points out the distinction between what one would think this book would be about- an ABC of music, and what the book actually is about- the way of thinking about music, a map of all the music in the world and the perception of music people should have. The author makes sure that everyone who is ready to read the book, would get the basic idea about it form the very beginning- this is a book which would learn one how to understand music, this is a book which would learn one how not only to listen, but to actually hear the music and its meaning, this is a book which would awaken some people and show them how music is not only a simple melody, but rather a filled with human feelings piece of art. However hard I try I could not be able to better expess the main statement the authour makes in the following sentence : Music does not just happen,it is what we make it, what we make of it. Professor Cook completes this profoundly inspiring foreword with a proof that music does really matter and that musicology is actually quite needed. While opposing Elvis Costello’s famous words that writing about music is like dancing about Architecture, the author concludes his thesis implying that: ‘We use words to say what music cannot say, to say what we mean by music, what music means to us.And in the end, it is largely words that determine
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