Bibliography: (pages 707-788) and index.

Part I: The early history of music criticism. Speaking of plainsong in the Middle Ages / Christopher Page -- Music criticism in the late-Medieval and Renaissance era / Stefano Mengozzi -- Musical discourse in Italy, 1500–1800 / Carrie Churnside -- Music criticism in France before the Revolution / Charles Dill -- Music criticism in Britain up to Burney / Rebecca Herissone -- German-language music criticism before 1800 / Stephen Rose -- Part II: The rise of the press. French music criticism in the nineteenth century, 1789–1870 / Mark A. Pottinger -- Gatekeeping, advocacy, reflection: overlapping voices in nineteenth-century British music criticism / Leanne Langley -- Constructing a musical nation: German-language criticism in the nineteenth century / Laura Tunbridge -- Music criticism in nineteenth-century Italy / Alexandra Wilson -- Music criticism in Imperial Russia / Emily Frey -- Part III: Critical influence and influences. Critiquing the canon: the role of criticism in canon formation / Laura Hamer -- Comparing notes: recording and criticism / Christopher Dingle -- The gender paradox: criticism of women and women as critics / Laura Hamer -- Part IV: Entering the twentieth century. Music criticism in the United States and Canada up to the Second World War / Mark McKnight -- Music criticism in Portugal: towards an overview / Paulo F. de Castro -- Spanish music criticism in the twentieth century: writing music history in real time / Eva Moreda Rodríguez -- Critical battlegrounds in the French Third Republic / Delphine Mordey -- British music criticism, 1890–1945 / Paul Watt -- Music criticism in Norway / Per Dahl -- Aesthetic conservatism and politics in German-language music criticism, 1900–1945 / Karen Painter -- Music criticism in Hungary until the Second World War / Lynn M. Hooker -- The 'people' in Czech and Slovak music criticism / Kelly St Pierre -- Part V: New areas. Jazz criticism in America / Mark Racz -- Catalysing Latin American identities: Alejo Carpentier's music criticism as a Cuban case study / Caroline Rae -- Writing about popular music / Simon Frith -- Working in the cool capitalism complex: the role of critics in the world music field / Timothy D. Taylor -- Cultural anxieties, aspirational cosmopolitanism and capacity building: music criticism in Singapore / Shzr Ee Tan -- Part VI: Developments since the Second World War. Music criticism in the USSR from Asafyev to Cherednichenko / Peter J. Schmelz -- The Feuilleton and beyond: criticism in the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria after the Second World War / Mark Berry -- Music criticism in Italy in the twentieth century / Raffaele Pozzi -- Wider still and wider: British music criticism since the Second World War / Christopher Dingle -- Music criticism in France since the Second World War / Christopher Brent Murray -- Old divisions and new debates: music criticism in post-war America / Sophie Redfern -- Stop the press? The changing media of criticism / Christopher Dingle and Dominic McHugh.

"Music criticism has played a fundamental and influential role throughout music history, with numerous composers such as Berlioz, Schumann, and Wagner, as well as many contemporary musicians, also maintaining careers as writers and critics. The Cambridge History of Music Criticism goes beyond these better-known accounts, reaching back to medieval times, expanding the geographical reach both within and beyond Europe, and including key issues such as women and criticism of recordings, as well as the story of criticism in jazz, popular music and world music. Drawing on a blend of established and talented young scholars, this is the first substantial historical survey of music criticism and critics, bringing unprecedented scope to a rapidly expanding area of musicological research. An indispensable point of reference, The Cambridge History of Music Criticism provides a broad historical overview of the field while also addressing specific issues and events." -- Jacket.