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.‎ 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.‎ Written by an authoritative‎,‎ opinionated‎,‎ and controversial figure in musicology‎,‎ The Oxford History of Western Music provides a critical aesthetic position with respect to individual works‎,‎ a context in which each composition may be evaluated and remembered‎.‎ Taruskin combines an emphasis on structure and form with a discussion of relevant theoretical concepts in each age‎,‎ to illustrate how the music itself works‎,‎ and how contemporaries heard and understood it‎.‎ It also describes how the context of each stylistic period‎-key cu‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎