The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence (Expanded and Revised, 3rd Edition) Paperback – November 1, 1995

I bought this book to help inform other women about composers for our church. It is basic enough that anyone can get a brief history of the composer. It also gives a background though on the composers and their relationship to God. The Author did a great job though in making the composers real. There was something about each one that I could relate to in my own life.It is laid out chronologically by birthdate of the composer. It also gives a list of music that will help you get more of a feel for what that composers music sounded like.I had many women ask me about the book after I did the first "lesson" from it.

This is a great primer for folks age 11 and up on the world's best composers. There are so many books on this topic, that it's difficult to narrow in on a comprehensive one that won't put your children to sleep (seriously). These are short chapters, that are packed with interesting details that makes the composers and their lives memorable. Not a chore! A good read. Our sons read this over a three month period of time, and seemed to retain a fair amount of biographical info on their favorite composers. That's pretty much what we were looking for from the text. I'd highly recommend this because we have borrowed books, and purchased other books about the various composers - and honestly this is the best by far.

This is a book with many chapters on a variety of great composers. The writers have included the usual suspects, i.e. Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, but many others are less know to the average music listener. The chapters are short and can easily be revisited to refresh oneself on the details. The music lexicography at the end of each chapter is fine for the same level of music enthusiast. I have been reading the chapters and then finding some of the music on YouTube. It's a great way to enjoy both listening and learning.

We are using this book as part of our homeschooling education and are very pleased with it. My daughter plays the piano and harp and wanted to learn specifically about Mendelssohn as she would like to play one of his pieces on the harp some day. We had trouble finding a book that had balanced information about the composers that wasn't riddled with non facts (fanciful musings!) or on the other hand way way deep in the muck of the composers lives. I honestly have not read the book, but do know that my daughter found this book to be PERFECT, I can only suppose by perusing it that it is written at an upper high school /college level.It's way worth the investment for my family to buy this new as I know we will be using it often.

Recently, I had the chance to begin reading this book by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. These authors wrote a very easy to read book titled Great Women Authors. It is now out of print, but it is one my favorite books. I was curious about this book because I had enjoyed their writing before. I was surprised to discover that this book is written quite differently.The Gift of Music includes a foreward by Francis Shaeffer, a prelude to the book, and biographies of 42 classical composers. These biographies are less personal than the biographies in Great Women Authors. In the book about women authors, Stuart and Carlson gave a personal sketch of the authors. The reader felt like they got to know them. This book about composers is much more about what they each did, how they interacted with other notable figures and developed a wholistic picture of classical music. There are a few personal details about the composers, but the biographies paint a picture of the music these men wrote and its place in the world of classical music.This quote at the beginning of the book made me pause,"There are things in the Christian world that cause us to be sad. One of these is that for many Christians classical music is a complete vacuum. This robs individual Christians and their children of one of the very rich areas of joy in this life....the chief sadnes of knowing little about classical music consists in the loss the Christian experiences in one of the areas of the affirmation of life." from the Foreward by Francis Schaeffer on page ix.As I read several of the biographies, I realized how little I know about classical music! I was amazed to learn how the composers mentored and influenced one another. This book is a lot like a textbook. It's what I'd call "thick" reading. It's also worthwhile reading.If you enjoy books like "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas or Eugene Peterson's books, you'll probably enjoy this one. You may just pick it up and read a chapter at a time. You may listen to a piece of classical music and wonder about the composer. This is not a book that needs to be read through in order or in succession. It can easily be picked up and set down. Sometimes it's nice to have books like that.If you, as a parent, deeply enjoy classical music and want to share more about the history of the men who have written the pieces your family listens to, this would be a great resource.Francis Schaeffer's statement struck a chord with me. It is a blessing and joy to savor classical music. It is also a joy that we have to cultivate in our minds and hearts by listening to and learning about classical music.Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher, Crossway books.

This is such a great book to learn about musicians and composers in History. It was required reading for my daughters Fine Arts class and I enjoy reading it too! Easy to read and understand, yet plenty of good information.

This book is so very good that I bought a copy for my piano teacher.

An interesting and educational book, obviously a labor of love. We have read it several times.