Spanning the musical world from the Middle Ages to the present, this authoritative guide features a history of music-making and the orchestra, with extensive coverage of all the different types of instrument past and present, from strings, woodwind and brass to percussion, keyboards and the voice, as well as historical, rare and non-Western instruments. This book lists over 100 of the most famous classical composers, from Bach to Xendakis, encompassing all styles of composition. The text features concise, at-a-glance fact boxes that summarize key information about instruments, performers and composers' key works. Fully illustrated with over 1000 photographs of musical instruments, musicians and composers, the places where they lived and worked, scenes from their ballets or operas, and examples of their handwritten manuscripts.