A very basic, but well-reasoned and politely argued, exposition to combat the usual divisions between classic and romantic music as they are passed down currently in musical education. The premise and main message of this book is, as usual, that everything you have learned is wrong. Don't be surprised by that. Classic or romantic? It's not so easy to tell, and the divisions between these two "movements" in aesthetics are not so finely drawn as educators would have you believe. Definitions are given, fragmented, pored over, analyzed, autopsied, and the end result is that even less is "known" than before when it comes to categorizing classical music. That's fine, as it takes us a little closer to historical fact, instead of the pedants' obsession with classifying beyond rhyme or reason. An important book, good to have for people who want to know the truth about classical music, and not just sound like they know it.