George N. Heller

Book Review: History in Crisis? Recent Directions in HistoriographyWilsonNorman J., History in Crisis? Recent Directions in Historiography. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Xiii + 140 pp. Index. Soft cover, ISBN:0-13-903205-3.

music education history, whose practitioners have tended to examine outstanding individuals and the activities of professional organizations, but not ordinary music teachers and students or informal, non-school modes of music teaching and learning.! An article on certain demographic aspects of membership of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) is an example of a new history approach in music education. It deals with history from below in that it focuses on regular, or ordinary, members of the MENC, and it relies primarily on a quantitative approach. Historians might employ such approaches with other aspects of music education history.2 This book will be of interest to scholars interested in new approaches and subject matter in music education history. It is a thought-provoking book that deserves serious attention from professional historians.

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The history of music education in America has derived substantial benefit in recent years from the publication of histories of conservatories and music departments at colleges and universities. With the appearance of a few more of these, it may soon become possible to begin the synthesis of information which will lead to a comprehensive assessment of music in higher education, at least during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bruce McPherson and James Klein are both on the faculty of the Liberal Arts Department of the New England Conservatory in Boston. This gives them a unique perspective of both the institution and the community and as both insiders and outsiders. Both authors have scholarly interests and publications in Victorian history, politics, and culture, and these interests fit nicely with their story and study of the Conservatorys past, especially the nineteenth-century portion of it. McPhersons and Kleins training and experience as historians is evident, both in the thoroughness of their research and in the quality of their writing. Music education historians must also be grateful to Laurence Lesser, President of the Conservatory, for backing this project as an outgrowth of the 125th anniversary of the institutions founding in 1992 and as a prelude to its 150th anniversary in 2017. It would indeed be most helpful if more music administrators had this kind of respect for the past and this kind of enthusiasm for the future of their institutions. The book consists of some preliminary materials (a Prelude by Lesser and an Overture by McPherson and Klein), nine chapters based on the tenures of seven significant leaders of the Conservatory, and some concluding materials (a Coda, an Appendix listing people in leadership roles, a Bibliography, and an Index). The book is very attractive, with a

Book Review: Measure by Measure: A History of New England Conservatory from 1867McPhersonBruce, and KleinJames. Measure by Measure: A History of New England Conservatory from 1867. Boston: The Trustees of New England Conservatory of Music, 1995. Pp. 160. hardcover,

On October 7, 1996, American music educators will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Billings. Billings was without doubt a significant figure in the history of American music generally, and of American music education in particular. His life and work are inspiring to all who read about them, and his legacy of compositions and advice to music teachers still helps sustain the profession. Believing that many will want to study Billings life and work, we offer here a list of sources and resources for vocal and instrumental music teachers and for all music

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Music education historians occasionally need to define and defend their work. It is fair for interested bystanders to ask what music education history is and why it is worthwhile. These are philosophical questions, and one must tum to philosophers for help in answering them. It is good to learn that work has progressed since the days of G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831), and it is probably worthwhile for music education historians to learn of that progress. What and why questions are important, and they can benefit from current thinking as well as from reflection on the work of authorities from former days. Murray G. Murpheys recent book is a good resource for determining the nature and value. It offers much help to the music education historian who wishes not only to answer the basic philosophical questions of the trade, but also to gain a sound basis for practical work in the field. Researchers in music education, whether of the empirical or historical persuasion, too often avoid asking fundamental questions about what they are trying to accomplish and why anyone should pay attention to their results. Perhaps more music educators would take an interest in research if researchers paid more attention to the bases for it and the assumptions on which they base their work. Nothing, the sage has said, is so practical as a sound philosophy. Murphey has done a very careful, painstaking job in presenting his definition and defense of history. He builds soundly and surely on the past, but he also brings contemporary issues and arguments to bear on the problem. The core of his concern is to study eight premises:

William Billings (1746-1800) Sources and Resources

William Strauss and Neil Howe, two political consultants from Washington DC. propose a scheme for placing people in history according to the date in which they were born. Strauss and Howe offer an approach to history which has considerable promise for music education historians, as well as for the public at large. Their ideas combine history and social science as they attempt to offer a useful perspective on the course of American history from 1584 to the present and a way of interpreting historical developments occurring after 1991.

Book Review: Philosophical Foundations of Historical KnowledgeMurpheyMurray G.Philosophical Foundations of Historical Knowledge. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994. Pp. xiv + 344. Hardcover,

One of the problems historians always face is how to communicate to others the uses and value of historical research. Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May, distinguished scholars at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, suggest some ways in which this problem might be attacked without actually giving out prescriptions for solving it. This is probably a wise strategy, as concrete statements are often difficult to prove, and such an approach has great potential to lead historians astray. History, unlike science, does not really prove anything, it does not accept or reject hypotheses, it does not predict the future. Nevertheless, history does have value in human affairs, and this is what .Neustadt and May have written about in very convincing fashion.

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This volume is, according to the author, intended for use in music appreciation courses, presumably for non-music majors. While it is no doubt an excellent book for that purpose, it should not escape the attention of a considerably more diverse audience. Professor Andersons ideas and his expression of them deserve a hearing from the entire music community in higher education. A large-scale debate on the issues he raises and the themes he touches on would benefit all who might participate, not the least of whom might be music education historians.

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Marks anthology of philosophical thought pertaining to music education Ls divided into five sections: The Ancient World, The Middle Ages, Later European Views, American Views, and Music and Education in Totalitarian States. lie has included the standard excerpts from Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Boethius, Luther, Calvin, Comenius, Locke, and Froebel, as well as a number of leading American writers from Cotton Nather through Dewey to Max Kaplan. American music educators will be particularly interested in excerpts by LoweI I Mason, Earhart, Gehrkens, McConathy, Birge, Miessner, Dyke~a, Frances Elliott Clark, and James Mursell.