Description

Book Synopsis
Over the past two centuries Western culture has largely valorized a particular kind of good musichighly serious, wondrously deep, stylistically authentic, heroically created, and strikingly originaland, at the same time, has marginalized music that does not live up to those ideals. In Good Music, John J. Sheinbaum explores these traditional models for valuing music. By engaging examples such as Handel oratorios, Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, jazz improvisations, Bruce Springsteen, and prog rock, he argues that metaphors of perfection do justice to neither the perceived strengths nor the assumed weaknesses of the music in question. Instead, he proposes an alternative model of appreciation where abstract notions of virtue need not dictate our understanding. Good music can, with pride, be playful rather than serious, diverse rather than unified, engaging to both body and mind, in dialogue with manifold styles and genres, and collaborative to the core. We can widen the scope of what

Good Music What It Is and Who Gets to Decide

    Product form

    £76.00

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £80.00 – you save £4.00 (5%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 10 Aug 2026.

    A Hardback by John J. Sheinbaum

    1 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Good Music What It Is and Who Gets to Decide by John J. Sheinbaum

      Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 29/11/2018
      ISBN13: 9780226593241, 978-0226593241
      ISBN10: 022659324X
      Also in:
      Music Philosophy: aesthetics

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Over the past two centuries Western culture has largely valorized a particular kind of good musichighly serious, wondrously deep, stylistically authentic, heroically created, and strikingly originaland, at the same time, has marginalized music that does not live up to those ideals. In Good Music, John J. Sheinbaum explores these traditional models for valuing music. By engaging examples such as Handel oratorios, Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, jazz improvisations, Bruce Springsteen, and prog rock, he argues that metaphors of perfection do justice to neither the perceived strengths nor the assumed weaknesses of the music in question. Instead, he proposes an alternative model of appreciation where abstract notions of virtue need not dictate our understanding. Good music can, with pride, be playful rather than serious, diverse rather than unified, engaging to both body and mind, in dialogue with manifold styles and genres, and collaborative to the core. We can widen the scope of what

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account