The Symphony

From the agile beauty of Mozart's `Jupiter' and the fierce power of Beethoven's Fifth to the celebration of heroism in Shostakovich's `Leningrad,' the symphony has long held a prime place in the Western musical pantheon. Now, in The Symphony, renowned teacher and critic Michael Steinberg offers music lovers a monumental guide to this most celebrated of musical forms, with perceptive commentaries on some 118 works by 36 major composers.

Tracing the ways in which composers have dealt with the extraordinary musical challenges that have engaged them throughout the centuries, Steinberg takes us through the revolutions of expression, sound, and form that have shaped the symphony's remarkable history.