Metronome

Matthew H. Birkhold (Associate Professor of German)

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bloomsbury Academic USA
13 November 2025

Theory of music & musicology; Literary theory; Semiotics & semiology; Philosophy: aesthetics; Cultural studies

Series: Object Lessons

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

When the metronome was invented in 1815, it transformed the music world. Composers and musicians now had a tool that could help them maintain a precise and consistent tempo. And while giants of classical music like Beethoven early embraced the metronome and proponents came to see its essential role in music instruction, critics believed it created mindless players and inhibited the creation of great art.

The metronome evokes strong feelings because of its uncompromising power. Through it, we are connected to the past, propelled into the future, and kept focused on the present. For that reason, this object has appeared in unlikely settings as athletes, scientists, psychologists, authors, and other professionals have found uses for it beyond music.

Metronome uncovers the surprising and fraught history of a timeless object.

By: Matthew H. Birkhold (Associate Professor of German)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic USA
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 164mm, Width: 122mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 168g
ISBN: 9798765108871
Series: Object Lessons
Pages: 184
Publication Date: 13 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

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Matthew H. Birkhold is Associate Professor of German at Ohio State University, USA. He is the author of Chasing Icebergs (2023) and Characters before Copyright (2019). His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Foreign Affairs, and Atlas Obscura.

Reviews for Metronome

In this clever and thoughtful exploration, Matthew Birkhold reveals how a simple ticking device became both liberator and tyrant, reshaping not just how we make music but how we understand rhythm, precision, and ultimately, our own humanity. * Christopher Cerrone, Composer, and Faculty, Mannes School of Music, The New School, USA * Matthew Birkhold reveals the fascinating history of the metronome that not only covers music, but touches upon dance, art, education, philosophy, physics, psychology, and sports medicine. Devised by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel in 1815, Beethoven was an early supporter, but soon Maelzel’s metronome (the original M.M.) inspired passionate debates amongst musicians, conductors, composers, pedagogues, and musicologists. Birkhold has successfully unveiled the deeper meanings of an innocuous device that spells out perfect time, as opposed to human time. An illuminating read. * Fumi Tomita, Associate Professor of Jazz, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA *