• Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Crosscurrents in early nineteenth-century criticism; 2. The rise of the specialist press from 1827; 3. Early music; 4. The Austro-German tradition I: the reception of Gluck, Haydn and Mozart; 5. The Austro-German tradition II: the reception of Beethoven; 6. The Austro-German tradition III: Weber, Schubert and Mendelssohn; 7. Contemporary music I: piano music; 8. Contemporary music II: chamber and symphonic music; 9. Contemporary music III: opera; 10. Contemporary music IV: the music of the future; 11. Contemporary music V: Berlioz; 12. Conclusion; Appendix 1. Principal contributors to the Gazette; Appendix 2. Personalia; Appendix 3. Contes, nouvelles, dialogues and other short literature in Schlesinger's Gazette musicale, 1834–46; Appendix 4. Publishing history of the Gazette; Appendix 5. Pseudonyms and attributions; Bibliography; Index of musical works cited; General index.

"Vital, stimulating, well-argued, and insightful engagement with such matters is what makes Ellis's book an important contribution to the history of canon formation, and to any number of other issues as well...." Steven Huebner, JAMS