Editorial board: J.A. Westrup (Chairman) Gerald Abraham (Secretary) Edward J. Dent, Dom Anselm Hughes, and Egon Wellesz.

Includes bibliographies.

v. 1. Ancient and oriental music -- v. 2. Early medieval music up to 1300 -- v. 3. Ars nova and the renaissance (c. 1300-1500) -- v. 4. The age of humanism (1540-1630) -- v. 5. Opera and church music (1630-1750) -- v. 6. The growth of instrumental music (1630-1750) -- v. 7. The symphonic out-look (1745-1790) -- v. 8. The age of Beethoven (1790-1830) -- v. 9. Romanticism (1830-1890) -- v. 10 Modern music (1890-1950) -- v. 11. Chronological tables and general index.