This book is at the opposite end of the spectrum, so to speak,
from the previously-mentioned source. In this book, Williamson
and the other authors discuss music from an expertise on the art
itself. There is no mention of digital music, sampling, file-
sharing, or other similar topics to be found anywhere in the
book. In their places are excerpts from sheet music and examples
of lyrics. They offer their expert commentary on subjects
ranging from Chopin to Snoop Dogg, from Dante to the Beatles,
and each is approached with the same level of intellect and
scholarship. Multiple chapters cover the creation of music from
scratch – as told from the songwriter’s point of view, and it is
this unique perspective that offers a new form of insight into
the practice of digital sampling. Another important factor in
this work is the chapter entitled “Mimesis, Gesture, and Parody
in Musical Word-Setting.” This chapter not only explores the
implications that a parody has on an original work but sets the
framework for parody wi