This volume presents reprints of the prefaces to representative collections of metrical psalms. Psalm-singing, an essentially popular form of music, required some musical knowledge in the singers, and it was in these prefaces that the compilers gave basic information on the staves, clefs and note-values of contemporary notation. Dr Rainbow's introduction is a fascinating guide to the changing tastes and needs shown by the carefully selected reprints.

There is no question that music education is in crisis today. The place of music in the national curriculum is controversial; there have been cuts in the provision of individual lessons; and there have been severe reductions in government funding, with more planned. This book, containing the first five Bernarr Rainbow Lectures, makes an important and timely contribution to the debate on music education. Baroness Warnock brings the perspective of a distinguished philosopher to bear on issues about the nature of music and its study; Lord Moser urges us to maintain and expand what has been...