First in a series of three highly illustrated books combining informative facts with entertaining anecdotes to help students understand and appreciate a wide range of music. There are photographs, quotations by composers, illustrations from original manuscripts, drawings of instruments, composers' signatures and more - all designed to capture the attention and imagination of students. A number of quiz pages offer a way of revising and absorbing the wide range of material presented. The series includes musical pieces from across the centuries, enabling pupils to appreciate the changes and steps in the development of Western music. Book 1 comes with an accompanying cassette.