It is not only the exclusion of composers but the fact that there is no indication of the criteria used for including or excluding them or for the depth of coverage given. There is no way to infer why are ,for example , Don Gillis or the author himself given more than twice the coverage given to Mauro Giuliani, just to mention something that can be found from page 143 to 146. There are plenty of examples like this. There are 8 works by Mr Gilder, and less than a dozen works by George Philippe Teleman, none by Tartini, Giusepe Torelli or Johann Pachelbel...! I really felt disappointed with the recomendation of this book.

For a serious music listener, the knowledge of when and where a piece of music was composed is pretty useful because it helps the listener understand deeper the relationship between the music and its composer and the impact of the environment on the composer. However, there were not many works dealing with this issue. The efforts of the author did help bridge this appreciation gap. In the first part, the author listed the composers alphabetically, and under each composer his music was listed chronologically. Part two surveys the major pieces of music composed in the same year, thus giving the reader an impression of the contemporaries of the music. Timelines of the composers's lifetimes are displayed in part three to give an overview of the contemporaries of the composers.

Each part of the book is well designed and useful. However, there are some flaws in this book. As previous reviews pointed out, many composers were not fairly covered and no reason or criterion was given. Moreover, I feel the need that the author should make another listing for each composer that shows the chronological order of the compositions in the same style, for example symphonies, concertos, etc. Anyway, this book is still a valuable reference for every music lover.

Yes, the selections are incomplete - but how much can one include in such a book. The truly comprehensive book would cover many more volumes. The exclusion of Arvo Part is sad but I hope Mr. Gilder will listen to his readers and think about this.

I have used this book for 20 years since it's earliest edition. I have found NO OTHER BOOK like this with Cross-referencing of Dates to Composers names. I know this book will only improve with each edition. The first edition was barely more than 400 pages. Mr. Gilder has added a lot more since.

He deserves DUE CREDIT for having amassed such a wonderful book. Thank you, Mr. Gilder,,,for years and years of pleasure and learning.

Enrique Sanchez Miami, FL