National Art Education Association

Music, Mirror of the Arts by Alan RichReview by: John A. MichaelArt Education, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Feb., 1970), p. 47Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3191476 .

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MUSIC, MIRROR OF THE ARTS. Alan Rich. New York: The Ridge Press and Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1969. 281 pp. $15.00. In all probability, this is the book that many art educators-especially those in- volved with appreciation and humanities programs-have been waiting for. The un- derlying theme, as the title indicates, is how music reflects the visual arts (painting, sculpture, and architecture), and vice versa. Such a correlation, if not integration, of the arts gives the reader a feeling of the life of the times, as the achievements of each era are brought into vivid focus. The period surveyed extends from the very be- ginning of man's expression to today's electronic compositions. Author Alan Rich, a noted music critic, tells how the orna- mented churches of the Middle Ages have their equivalent in a more richly detailed music than previously existed; how the Renaissance, when man became aware of himself in the world, witnessed the de- velopment of an individualistic approach in music and the visual arts; how a six- teenth century trend toward naturalism brought about a new spirit of secular think- ing as is characterized by the work of Leonardo and by the madrigal; and how Gothic influences persisted in the work of Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Johann Sebas- tian Bach, who lived during the flourishing of the Northern Baroque. Classical and romantic eras are described from the ro- mantically tinged classicism of Haydn- Mozart and Gainsborough-Blake to the flood tide of romanticism in the nine- teenth century. The impact of nationalism upon the arts is also discussed.

Instructors of courses involving human- ities, appreciation, and the history of the arts will find this book ideal in the fact that developments in music and the visual arts have been sensitively woven into an exciting, unified, and beautiful presenta- tion. A double page of a work of art, gen- erally in color, initiates each of the thir- teen sections. Every chapter is appropri- ately illustrated with a profusion of ex- amples, many quite large and excellent in quality. Explanatory captions accom- pany all illustrations, which are placed chronologically in accordance with the con- tent, complementing and vitalizing the writing. Content tends to flow easily from one period to another with little drop in interest on the part of the reader. It is rare for authors of books of this type to inte- grate a discussion of music with that of the visual arts. Separate chapters pertain- ing to each area is the usual format.

Because of the survey approach and the size of the volume, for the most part only highlights of important developments are necessarily considered. Such an approach does hold one's interest as the story "moves along," but one finds that particu- lar artists, if not whole schools and move- ments, have been left out. For example, Surrealism is omitted and popular music and art merely mentioned. Although an in-depth approach is not the purpose of a historical survey of such broad fields as are presented, the reader does anticipate greater detail involving the contemporary period; but this is handled in the same somewhat cursory but consistent manner as the earlier periods.

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However, Alan Rich has presented us with a most valuable addition to the field of the arts and the humanities. It is an elegant book, "a testament to the unity and integrity of the whole world of artis- tic creation," a much-needed book. John A. Michael Oxford, Ohio

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