<p> <b> </b> This up-to-date view of nineteenth-century classical music places a strong emphasis on the history of opera and on schematic representations of musical structure and form. The book presents a highly concise survey of nineteenth-century music tailored for the increasingly limited amount of time available to readers for the study of any one period, and focuses specifically on the central repertory heard today in the concert hall and at the opera house. <b> </b> The volume provides an overview and background information on nineteenth-century music including the Viennese ascendancy, musical drama in the first part of the nineteenth century, the styling of the avant-garde, operatic development from mid century, the life of the concert hall after mid century, the diversity of nationalism and the new language at century's end. <b> </b> For musicians and music lovers interested in an introduction to classical music. </p>