Richard Taruskin (1945–2022) was Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, and the author of a dozen books, including The Oxford History of Western Music, major studies of Stravinsky and other topics in Russian music, and an especially influential book of essays on musical performance, Text and Act.
"""It has, inevitably, a valedictory air, but does not on that account lack energy or focus. Quite the opposite: it will surely be a rare reader indeed who does not come away from having read it fascinated, provoked, inspired, or irritated."" * Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association *"