In this textbook, Cook provides an unusual and stimulating new approach to teaching analytical concepts through the study of style composition. He emphasizes throughout analysis and decision-making within a practical context, drawing on musical examples from eighteenth-century works. Students can use these examples as models to complete compositional assignments provided in a number of subject areas.
Nicholas Cook is a British musicologist and writer. In 2009 he became the 1684 Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge, where he is a Fellow of Darwin College. Previously, he was professorial research fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he directed the Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM). He has also taught at the University of Hong Kong, University of Sydney, and University of Southampton, where he served as dean of arts.
He is a former editor of the Journal of the Royal Musical Association and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001.