BH - Music

1996

BH-96-2/3 -- Music

96-2/3-309

Music Publishers' International ISMN Directory. International ISMN Agency. München [et al.]: Saur; Berlin: International ISMN Agency [et al.]. 30 cm. ISSN 0948-5678

1st ed. 1995-96 (1995). xxvii, 339 p. ISBN 3-598-22232-7: DM 298.00

According to the preface, 63 countries and 10,000 publishers are represented here. In fact, the truer number of publishers is less by about a third, and of those only 216 actually have an ISM number! The ISM exists only since February 1994, and so far only few countries have an ISM office; the information about publishers was gathered for planning purposes before the ISM system actually took effect. The imbalance is striking when one compares the numbers of pages devoted to the most important participating countries: Germany, 85 pages; USA, 19 pages; UK, 15 pages; France, 7 pages. It is incomprehensible why the ISB numbers are not given for the "regular" firms that publish books on music only occasionally, as well as for the"part-time" music publishers that are listed here in addition to the "full-time" music publishers. Those publishers with ISM numbers have to be searched out in the main section like needles in a haystack. For each publisher official name and address are provided. The work is divided into two sections (country, publisher), each with the same information, in addition to the listing by ISM publisher number. Many very small publishers are listed that are not found in the Publisher's International ISBN Directory. [sh/sl]

96-2/3-310

Komponisten der Gegenwart im Deutschen Komponisten-Interessenverband: ein Handbuch [Contemporary Composers in the German Association of Composers: A Handbook]. Ed. Wilfried W. Bruchhäuser for the Deutschen Komponisten-Interessenverband. Berlin: Deutscher Komponisten-Interessenverband. 25 cm. (Deutscher Komponisten-Interessenverband, Kadettenweg 80b, 12205 Berlin. Fax: 030/8330713)

1995. xv, 1510 p. ill. ISBN 3-55561-410-X: DM 94.15

In 1994 the Deutscher Komponisten-Verband (Union of German Composers, founded in 1954) joined with the Interessenverband Deutscher Komponisten (Association of German Composers, founded in 1977) to form the Deutsche Komponisten-Interessenverband (German Composers Association). This handbook, which was published in earlier editions (just how many is not clear), is the first since the merger, indeed since German unification. Listing 1458 composers, it reflects the heterogeneity of contemporary music in Germany and represents the entire range of styles and genres from pop to choral and chamber music. The information (address, curriculum vitae, prizes and awards, important compositions, etc., also a photograph of the composer) was provided by the individuals themselves. Almost a hundred chose to give only their address and chronology, some not even that much. Women (43 in number) are conspicuously underrepresented. The work is straightforwardly organized, and the genre-index and calendar of birthdays and memorial dates are potentially useful. For the more famous names, other works will offer more information, and it is improbable that there will be much demand for information about the many that are less famous. Still, for music librarians it could be a goldmine, and particularly for catalogers. [kpl/sl]

96-2/3-311

Répertoire international des sources musicales: RISM = International Inventory of Musical Sources = Internationales Quellenlexikon der Musik. München [et.al.]: Saur

Series A

Vol. 2, Manuscrits musicaux après 1600: Catalogue thématique = Music Manuscripts after 1600 = Musikhandschriften nach 1600. [Computer file]. Earlier edition on microfiche

3d ed. (1996). 1 CD-ROM + handbook in ring binder. ISBN 3-598-40293-7 (CD-ROM); ISBN 3-598-40345-3 (handbook): DM 1280.00 (for subscribers to the 3d ed.)

After two microfiche editions (1984, 1985) that were rather a disappointment, RISM now offers a much more comprehensive catalogue of music manuscripts (160,000 works listed compared to 20,000 in 1985) on CD-ROM. Unfortunately the accompanying handbook is not as helpful as it could be, lacking sufficient examples, search possibilities, a listing of symbols, etc. Although the interface is offered in German, French, and English, and some information is provided only in German, the content itself is only in English. Descriptive information is inconsistent and often too brief, resulting in unsatisfactory searches. Details regarding watermarks, paper size, and type of script would have also been useful. Too much information is made available only by looking at each title separately, and it would have been desirable to have incipits for more than just the upper voice. Musical notation is not given if it is available in any edition for a given work. This is a venerable tradition, and it is time to give it up. In terms of content, this work is a step in the right direction.

The handbook is vague on installation. Use of the screen is awkward and inefficient, forcing the user to spend an undue amount of time fiddling with the size of the windows. All in all, a most cumbersome interface, and the handbook is of little help. [rz,ak/sl]

96-2/3-312

Bücherverzeichnis Frau und Musik, 1800-1993. [Index to Books on Women and Music, 1800-1993]. Freia Hoffmann and Franziska Eber. Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- u. Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg, 1995. 170 p. 21 cm. ISBN 3-8142-0498-0: DM 10.00

96-2/3-313

Women and Music: A Selective Annotated Bibliography on Women and Gender Issues in Music, 1987-1992. Margaret D. Ericson. New York: Hall, 1996. xxii, 400 p. 24 cm. ISBN 0-8161-0580-4: $95.00, $115.00 (outside North America)

The German bibliography lists approximately 1,400 books, all of which, unfortunately, are only in either English or German. There are five chapters: reference works, general works, pedagogy of music, analyses, works relating to individuals. The last chapter is by far the most extensive, and though it deals with composers, most of the listings are of performing musicians, especially singers. Indexes are by author and title.

The American title, Women and Music, by contrast, gives one a sense of US research on this topic, and of the quality of bibliographic work in the States. Based on the annual compilations for the Women and Music Roundtable of the Music Library Association, it lists 1,836 entries for the years 1987-92, covering both books and articles. Excluded are citations to works on individual musicians (hence the relatively small number of listings compared to the German title). In its coverage of both sources and topics, it is thoroughly international. The dominance of English-language titles can be ascribed to the highly developed state of the discipline in the US. Most of the remaining citations are in German, which is also significant. The organization into fifteen chapters is adequate. That all entries are annotated and indexed by author and detailed subject indexes is also characteristic of the worthy tradition of American bibliographic practice. This is the best existing bibliography of women and music, and we look forward to its being continued. A critical, selective bibliography to the literature on individual women musicians remains a desideratum. [sh/sl]

96-2/3-315

The Pandora Guide to Women Composers: Britain and the United States 1629-Present. Sophie Fuller. London: Pandora, 1995. 368 p. 24 cm. ISBN 0-04-440936-2 (pbk.): £14.99

Listing British and United States women composers from 1629 to the present, the Pandora Guide does not divulge the criteria that were used in making its selections. The 102 articles follow a formulaic pattern of organization: the biographical section focuses on the musical education and the musical careers of the composers. Individual works are discussed chronologically. However, the book provides neither a reflective evaluation of the individual composers nor an overarching treatment of their place in the larger history of music. What is even more annoying in this reference work (unlike its competition) is that all articles are the same length, an average of two to three pages, so that the length of the article does not correlate to the relative importance of its subject. The editor omits lists of compositions. Appended are a chronological overview of all 102 women composers, two lists of secondary literature (one general, one specific to individual composers), and a list of pertinent organizations and institutions with their UK/US addresses. This work can be used for ready reference, but it will not provide a deeper look into the creative output of women composers. [kpl/jbr]

96-2/3-316

Komponistinnen aus 800 Jahren [800 Years of Women Composers]. Antje Olivier and Sevgi Braun. Kamen: Sequentia, Buch- und Musikverlag, 1996. 475 p. ill. 24 cm. Earlier ed. under the title: Komponistinnen von A-Z. ISBN 3-931984-00-1: DM 79.00. (Sequentia, Hammer Str. 18, D-59174 Kamen)

A revision of Komponistinnen von A-Z [Düsseldorf, 1988], this bio-biobliographic study of women composers emphasizes the twentieth century. Counting the entries in the index by country of origin, one comes to a total of 326 names, 65 of them from Germany (another 20 for Austria and Switzerland); USA, 49; France, 35; UK, 26; Italy, 19. The remaining extend from Ethiopia to Korea. Although the newer work is much improved over its predecessor in numerous ways in both layout and content (not to forget the addition of bibliographic and discographic information), some entries have been dropped, so that one needs to hold on to the earlier edition. The addition of an alphabetical index of names is most welcome, though a chronological index remains a desideratum. If only for the bibliographic information it provides, this work is a useful supplement to The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (London, 1994) (IFB 96-2/3-314) and The Pandora Guide to Women Composers (RREO 96-2/3-315). [sh/jbr]

96-2/3-319

Komponistinnen: eine Bestandsaufnahme; die Sammlung des Europäischen Frauenmusikarchivs; Noten, Schallplatten, Bücher [Women Composers: The Collection of the Europäische Frauenmusikarchiv (The European Women's Music Archive)]. Ed. Antje Olivier. 2d ed., rev. and updated. Wuppertal: Tokkata-Verlag für Frauenforschung, 1994. 232 p. 21 cm. ISBN 3-9801603-1-9: DM 40.00

Intended as a bibliographic supplement to the bio-bibliographic lexicon Komponistinnen aus 800 Jahren (RREO 96-2/3-316), this catalog lists the contents of the Europäische Frauenmusikarchiv (Archive of European Women's Music in Unna, Germany, which had merged in 1992 with the Komponistinnen-Bibliothek [the International Library of Women Composers]). This is not a particularly user-friendly catalog: it reproduces the entries of the first edition (1990), then adds a supplement of newly acquired materials of both institutions in a separate listing, requiring a dual search. The bibliographical entries are amateurish, giving neither pagination for monographs nor serial numbers for the records and CDs. The complete holdings of the Unna library were to have been published in 1995. Perhaps that will be a more useful tool than the present volume. [sh/jbr]

96-2/3-320

Bestandsverzeichnis Noten [Index to the Score Collection]. Ed. Archiv Frau und Musik, Kassel. Kassel: Furore-Verlag. 21 cm. (Schriftenreihe/Frau und Musik, Internationaler Arbeitskreis e.V., . . .) (Fue, . . .). (Furore-Verlag, Naumburger Str. 40, D-34127 Kassel)

1990 (1991). 269 p. (Schriftenreihe . . ., 1) (Fue, 854). ISBN 3-927327-08-5: DM 28.00

1994 (Supplemental vol.). 164 p. (Schriftenreihe . . ., 3) (Fue, 862). ISBN 3-927327-26-3: DM 28.00

The archives of the Internationale Arbeitskreis Frau und Musik (International Working Group on Women and Music), founded in 1979, have been housed at the Kassel University library since 1989, the year the group separated from the Europäische Frauenmusikarchiv (European Archive of Women's Music). Directories to both should be used to insure complete coverage. Over 6,000 works by 900 of approximately 8,000 recognized women composers, representing all times and cultures, are included in the 1994 volume, an increase of about 2,000 over the 1990 volume. The index provides more extensive biographical information than do Cohen's International Encyclopedia of Women Composers (2d ed., New York, 1987) and the New Grove Dictionary of Music (New York and London, 1980), information that would have been more useful had it been included as part of the catalog itself. Cross-references to names in the 1990 volume are inconsistent and unreliable and are missing entirely in the 1994 volume. Only by the absence of publisher information is it possible to infer that a given listing is a manuscript. And information necessary for the performer (score, voices, etc.) is sometimes lacking. The overlap of 1989 and 1990 works in both volumes doesn't make sense, nor does the "standardization" of personal names "for technical reasons." [mr/mm]

96-2/3-321

KOM: Komponistinnen im Musikverlag; Katalog lieferbarer Musikalien [Catalog of Music in Print by Women Composers]. Ed. Clara Mayer. Kassel: Furore-Verlag. 21 cm. (Furore-Edition, . . .) (Furore-Verlag, Naumburger Str. 40, D-34127 Kassel)

1996 ed. 275 p. (Furore-Edition, 863). ISBN 3-927327-29-8: DM 53.00

Designed to meet the increased demand for the works of women composers, this is a bibliography of 4,000 works by 700 women composers published internationally and available, through either purchase or loan, as of June 30, 1995. A spot-check dispelled the suspicion that the titles listed here were just a subset of those in Verzeichnis lieferbarer Musikalien (Music in Print), and certainly the current interest in women composers justifies the publication of a bibliography such as this. The table of contents and list of abbreviations are in German, English, and French, as are the entry headings in the main catalog. The indexes are not without problems. A listing of publishers with addresses would have been useful. (mr/mm)

96-2/3-325

Lexikon Musikinstrumente [Dictionary of Musical Instruments]. Ed. Wolfgang Ruf. Mannheim [et.al.]: Meyers Lexikonverlag, 1991. 590 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-411-07641-0: DM 98.00

This work offers precise and comprehensive information about everything even remotely related to instruments, including articles on their construction and brief biographies of the people who build and play them. Its coverage is much more extensive than Anthony Baines' Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments (the German translation of which is reviewed in IFB 96-2/3-324. The articles are brief and precise and provide bibliographical references to standard and newer works, as well as to important journal articles. Newer instruments and musical technology, both for playing and for playback of recorded music, are also covered. If Baines's long articles tempt the reader to browse and to read, Lexikon Musikinstrumente is more suited to quick lookups. This is a valuable reference tool that holds its own against Sibyl Marcuse's Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary (New York, 1964) and Curt Sachs's Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente (1913). (mr/mm)

Next Section
Previous Section
Table of Contents