Richard Taruskin is Class of 1955 Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley. He is coeditor (with Piero Weiss) of Music in the Western World: A History in Documents (Second Edition, 2007), as well as the author of Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions: A Biography of the Works Through Mavra (1996) and Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance (OUP, 1995).

Christopher H. Gibbs is James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Music at Bard College, Co-Artistic Director of the Bard Music Festival, and Associate Editor of The Musical Quarterly. He edited The Cambridge Companion to Schubert (1997), coedited Franz Liszt and His World (2006), and is the author of The Life of Schubert (2000). Gibbs is a recipient of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award and was a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies. Since 2000, Gibbs has served as program annotator and consulting musicologist for The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he frequently gives lectures. Gibbs also gives lectures at other orchestras, Carnegie Hall, "Great Performers" at Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Based on the award-winning five-volume work by Richard Taruskin, The Oxford History of Western Music, College Edition, presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive history of Western music available. Distinctive Features BL Offers a unique focus on the people behind music history BL Places musical works within their larger cultural, social, and political contexts, providing a truly complete narrative of music history BL Covers music of all eras along with a special emphasis on the most studied works of the past 200 years BL Improves critical thinking by offering differing perspectives on how the Western musical canon developed BL Builds listening and analysis skills through comprehensive discussion of key works BL Includes helpful learning and study tools (timelines, maps, musical examples and diagrams, chapter summaries, key terms, study questions, and a glossary) Offering a complete package for building students' understanding and appreciation of the classical canon. * Sold separately