The object of this book is to assist the concert-goer in recognizing the various orchestral instruments, both by sight and by hearing, and to stimulate his perception of the thousand and one beauties of orchestral coloring. Daniel Gregory Mason (1873-1953) studied at Harvard and in Paris before joining the Columbia University faculty in 1910, where he remained until his 1942 retirement. He was the grandson of the music publisher and educator Lowell Mason and the son of Henry Mason, a founder of the Mason & Hamlin Co. piano firm; a composer as well as the author of many books on music.