Author's Text
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Michels, born in 1938, studied music, musicology, and German studies. He earned his doctorate in Freiburg im Breisgau and taught at the State University of Music and the University of Karlsruhe from 1972 to 2008. As a pianist, he has been part of the Karlsruhe Piano Trio since 1976. His publications in musicology include works on the Ars nova of the Middle Ages, Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna, Handel's operatic works, and Alban Berg. Gunther Vogel, born in 1929, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe. After working as an art educator, he lived in Titisee-Neustadt as a painter and draftsman until his death in 1988. He held numerous group and solo exhibitions both domestically and internationally; in 1985, he received the Art Prize from the Artists' Association of Baden-Württemberg.

Blurb
"In principle, this clever book belongs in every household." Stuttgarter Nachrichten. Everything is better with music! And when you even know what you're listening to because you've informed yourself using the dtv Atlas of Music, it gets even better. And it gets best of all when you own the special large-format edition. Compact yet comprehensible, this classic among music books provides an overview of the fundamentals of music – covering both its theories and its history. It starts with instrument knowledge, genre, and form theory; followed by music history from early times to the art and entertainment music of the 20th century.