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The Lives and Times of the Great Composers. By Michael Steen. Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016; 800-445-9714; fax, 919-445-1303; www.oup.com/us/. 2005. 992 pp. Color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations, notes, further reading, index. Hardcover, $45.00.
The Lives and Times of the Great Composers is an interesting, well-written source of information about the society in which many great composers lived. This book does not contain musical examples, analysis, or an in-depth study of any specific work, for that is not its purpose. Steen writes in the preface, "This book emphasizes the context, the setting in which the composers lived, what was going on at the time, some...