The union catalog of Italian libraries, Le edizioni italiani del XVI secolo (EDIT 16) (see RREA 3:31), which has been coming out slowly since 1985 and stalled in 1996 at the end of the letter C, does not include printed music. The reasons for this are the special nature of this material and the fact that the records in an extant union catalog are extremely heterogeneous. This catalog is not maintained at the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle Biblioteche Italiane e per le Informazioni Bibliografiche (ICCU) in Rome, which is responsible for EDIT 16, but at the Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali (URFM), affiliated with the library of the Milan Conservatory, with a further catalog at the Civico Museo Bibliografiche Musicale in Bologna. In order to provide this material in printed form, the ICCU decided to publish a supplement to EDIT 16 and to add short entries from Répertoire international des sources musicales (RISM), volume 1 (see IFB 00-1/4-269) for items that are not in Italian libraries. The latter are marked RISM; titles that are in Italian libraries have the holdings symbols used in EDIT 16. The 3,470 entries are arranged by alphabetically by composer (or uniform title or corporate body), then chronologically. There are indexes for the persons involved and for printers and publishers. The illustrations are from printed music at two Roman libraries.

The union catalog, which replaces a partial catalog with the same title (A-Ch) published in 1994 (see RREO 94-3/4-350), offers a comprehensive, though not complete overview of Italian printed music of the 16th century and should be welcomed as another component of Italian retrospective national bibliography. [sh/gh]

 

The library of the Solms-Laubach family goes back to the 16th century and contains about 39,000 volumes, of which musical scores (consisting mainly of pieces written for a solo part, generally piano) represent only a small portion. Probably this was music performed by the women in the family, and, including as it does the music of unknown as well as famous composers, it presumably gives a representative overview of the "Hausmusik" (music played at home) of the time.

This catalog lists only the scores to instrumental music to about 1850 and omits--without explanation--vocal music from this period, as well as scores published after this date (about two-thirds of the entire collection). For each composer, compositions (372 in all) are organized by their scoring. Entries list full title-page information, pagination, size, binding, etc., and appendices include a listing of the composers, with years of birth and death. [mr/sl]

 

Karl May (1842-1912), the once-popular German writer of novels set in the American West, also composed music and played the organ, activities amply documented by this volume. It includes 17 of his compositions (in piano reduction), a listing of his compositions, essays, illustrations, and a discography, as well as an accompanying CD that enables listeners to hear May's Ave Maria and other pieces of his music for themselves. [sh/sl]

 

The Dtv-Atlas Musik is well-written, accurate, easy to understand, and reasonably priced. It has proven itself a reliable source of ready reference on music since its first appearance in 1977. The update referred to in the edition statement is fairly minor and does not affect the book's pagination, compared to previous editions. Two hundred fifty full-page color illustrations on left-hand pages, which include charts and musical examples, complement the text on the facing pages. The atlas is divided into two parts. The first gives a systematic overview, addressing the following themes: (1) organization of the field of musicology; (2) acoustics; (3) physiology of hearing; (4) psychology of hearing; (5) physiology of the voice; (6) musical instruments; (7) music theory; and (8) genres and forms. There is a helpful list of abbreviations and signs used in music (p. 70-81). The second part is historical, reaching from prehistoric times to the present; it is organized by epoch and within the epoch by genres (except for the 20th century). Popular music receives a brief treatment that manages to mention what is historically most significant, though it deals primarily with big band and salon music, film music, and hit songs. Coverage of jazz ends around 1980, and coverage of rock and pop music is limited to the mention of a few outstanding names. The bibliography is necessarily limited in size and unfortunately does not give the number of pages in the books or articles cited; an index of names and subjects is included. This updated version is recommended for all libraries. [mr/crc]

 

The printing in October 2000 of the 9-11 thousandth copies of the third edition of this work, originally issued in 1992, reflects the strong demand for a multi-language dictionary of music. This work for musicians, teachers, students, and the laity, available for a reasonable price, arose out of practice and was produced with the greatest thoroughness by means of the derivation of concepts from musical scores. It was supplemented with the aid of various musical lexicons and dictionaries. Unfortunately it lacks a bibliography. Jazz, popular music, and electronic music are included.

The dictionary, with a total of 3,962 numbered entries in 13 chapters plus appendices, treats types of instruments (strings, percussion, etc.) in addition to the vocabulary of scores, music theory, and musical genres. The first language for entries is Italian, with parallel columns for the terms in English, German, and French. A special section deals with American jazz, rock, and pop vocabulary. All concepts are listed in the main alphabetical index. The fact that this work is written in the new German orthography does present some difficulties for users. For instance, Schlegel's name is not spelled Schlägel. [mr/tk]

 

The multi-volume Diccionario de la música española e hispanoamericana (DMEH) is devoted to music of all varieties (art music, folk music, popular music) as it pertains to Spain and Latin America. Work on it began in 1988, and it is current as of 1995, with revised, updated editions already planned. It includes approximately 24,000 signed articles written by some 600 contributors, with over 2,000 black-and-white illustrations, many of them previously unpublished (many also of inferior quality).

Subject articles include geographical terms, ethnic groups, musical forms and genres, instruments, rituals and dances, musical concepts, organizations of all kinds, concepts from pop, rock, jazz, folk music, etc. Articles on people cover only those born or active in Spain or Latin America, including composers, performers, dancers, musicologists, librettists, instrument makers, critics, publishers and printers, etc. When appropriate, bibliographies, complete lists of compositions, and discographies accompany the articles. As with the large general musical encyclopedias (MGG, New Grove, etc.) the DMEH contains useful articles concerning bibliography and libraries.

Each volume begins with an extensive guide to use in English and Spanish.

Because of its focus, this encyclopedia is recommended for large libraries and those with sizeable collections on music to supplement the large general music encyclopedias. [mr/sl]

 

Like the Schlesisches Musiklexikon (see RREA 7:168 below), the Lexikon zur deutschen Musik-Kultur is based on a private collection of material assembled by Widmar Hader since the 1960s. The original plan was to publish an Eastern German Music Dictionary, or Dictionary of German Music in Eastern Europe, in four parts: (1) Silesia, (2) Bohemia, (3) Moravia/Sudeten-Silesia, and (4) Northeast and Southeast German territories. The Institut für Ostdeutsche Musik [Institute for Eastern German Music], later renamed the Institut für Deutsche Musik im Östlichen Europa [Institute for German Music in Eastern Europe], was to be responsible for parts 1, 3, and 4, with the Sudetendeutsches Musikinstitut charged with part 2. The larger project was abandoned when federal and state funding ceased in 1998, and the Sudetendeutches Musikinstitut took on sole responsibility for the former second part.

In the meantime, Czech musicologists published the Slovnik ceské hudební kultury [Dictionary of Czech Musical Culture] in 1997, which contained more Bohemian than Czech content. The introductory text of the present volume recommends using both works together. The present work's articles cover this geographical area without chronological boundary, and are similar in style and organization to those in the Schlesisches Musiklexikon. All of them are signed; the authors hail from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the U.S., and Israel. Biographical articles are by far the most numerous, followed by subject articles on musically significant cities, musical genres and epochs, and the construction of musical instruments. Longer articles contain an outline of the contents and end with bibliographical references. Some of the bibliographies contain very helpful special sections, like the list of available recordings under Kammermusik, and the good overview of archival sources under Bohemica. There are no cross-references, but the indexes are helpful.

We can commend the Sudetendeutsches Musikinstitut, like the publisher of its Silesian counterpart, for "rescuing this dictionary from the bankruptcy sale on the promotion of the culture of exiled Germans, an enterprise that is no longer politically opportune." Both of these dictionaries belong in every library with a music collection. [mr/rb]

 

Covering the music of Silesia from the middle ages until ca. 1945, this work grew out of the material collected by Fritz Feldmann after the war. The articles were written primarily by Germans and are not always up-to-date.

After articles about people--composers, musicians, music teachers, instrument builders--come numerous entries for places, epochs, territories, instrument building, and music publishers. Some articles are long, e.g., "Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf" with five two-column pages, and "Breslau" with 25 pages. There are extensive bibliographic citations, a 60-page name index, and a 27-page place name index that gives both the German and the Polish or Czech version of the name. This work belongs in all libraries with music holdings. [sh/mrh]

 

This is a two-volume revised edition of an Italian encyclopedia that was published seven years ago: Autoanalisi dei compositori italiani contemporanei. Not all previous entries were retained. The work focuses on Italian composers of the 20th century who were either born in Italy or were musically active there. Also included are 10 CDs that are not directly linked to the content of the encyclopedia. Individual signed entries in volume 1 contain biographical information, a list of the composer's compositions and writings, and either a textual self-portrait or an assessment of the composer's musical output by a member of the editorial team. Volume 2 contains short biographical articles about other important composers who will be discussed in a subsequent edition of this encyclopedia, together with a brief afterword by the editor and a short bibliography. [mr/ldl]

 

This small volume consists of a biographical listing of people with whom Richard Wagner was involved during his years in Zürich (1849-1858). As such, it offers an overview of the musical life of the city (which was a haven for many German refugees fleeing the political turmoil at home) during that period. Selective listings of their compositions and writings are also provided. A selective bibliography and an index conclude the work. [mr/sl]

 

For some time now it has been fashionable for female musicologists to write their dissertations on female composers, reflecting (as we read on page 11 of the present work) a "growing interest in revisiting (music) history from a female perspective, driven in turn by a search for role models." It is notable that unlike women composers, women performers, who have always enjoyed recognition, seem less appealing in this context, and so they are neglected. Hellwig-Unruh's published dissertation is devoted to Fanny Hensel (1805-1847), a woman whose biography and oeuvre are already well explored. Substantial articles on her may be found in all of the standard music reference works, e.g., in the supplement to Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, the New Grove, the Dizionario enciclopedico universale della musica e dei musicisti, and the Riemann-Musiklexikon. The author also had numerous monographic works to rely on--including many that are mainly bibliographic in nature--when she set about compiling this work. Ute Büchter-Römer's recently published Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, appearing in the popular series Rowohlts Monographien (Reinbek bei Hamburg, 2001), testifies to the ongoing interest in this composer.

Notwithstanding the already rich literature on this figure, Hellwig-Unruh's work is certainly the most comprehensive and current catalog of works extant. This fact outweighs a number of formal shortcomings in the organization and presentation of the data, as well as the presence of factual errors, and makes it a worthwhile acquisition for libraries with holdings in music. [mr/jg]

 

This work, which is a supplement to Schweizer Komponisten unserer Zeit (Winterthur/Switzerland, 1993), contains biographical information on 138 contemporary Swiss composers (who are either still living or who died in the 1990s) active primarily in the area of choral music. Included also is a list of 150 composers discussed in the earlier volume. In addition to a photograph, each entry contains biographical information, a list of the subject's compositions, a bibliography, and a discography, all furnished by the composer. All entries, whether in German, French, or Italian, are translated into English. [mr/ldl]

 

Leuchtman and Schmid's supplement to the New Series of the Complete Works of Orlando di Lasso is an impressive bibliography of Lasso's works in contemporary publications, based on painstaking research and with the aim of comprehensiveness. As "some 1,200" of Lasso's "about 1,350 compositions" (volume 1, p. 11) found their way into print in Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and England, it was necessary to bring together the various printings of each work and define their interrelationships. For the manuscripts, one should consult Boetticher's Orlando di Lasso und seine Zeit (see RREA 6:192).

The descriptions in the first two volumes are quite extensive. Chronologically numbered, they include a classification (first edition, first printing, collected work etc.); LV (Leuchtmann Verzeichnis) number for first printings; references to standard bibliographies like RISM; title; publication type (voice parts, choral book, etc.); references to the texts used as lyrics; information on the specific copy used, including physical description (page orientation, staves per page, pagination etc.); naming in the work's table of contents, special notes; filiation, newer editions of scholarly or historical significance; facsimiles; bibliography; and front matter (dedications, rights, censor's notes etc.).

The third volume contains appendices and indexes, including (among others) an index by lyricist to the works set to music by Lasso, an appendix of doubtful and falsely attributed works, persons named in dedications, a concordance to RISM and Boettcher, and keys to several types of abbreviations. [mr/rb]

 

Drammaturgia Rossiniana constitutes the second of three projects entrusted to the Istituto di Bibliografia Musicale di Roma [Institute of Music Bibliography of Rome] by the Comitato Nazionale per le Celebrazioni del Secondo Centenario della Nascita di Gioachino Rossini [National Committee for the Celebration of the Bicentennial of the Birth of Gioachino Rossini]. The first was Rossini rivoltato [Rossini Turned Inside Out] (Roma, 1997). Drammaturgia Rossiniana is a bibliography of libretti set to music by Rossini, without regard to genre. The most important 19th-century editions (i.e., premieres and revivals at the larger European theaters) are listed, totaling 1,659 titles. Libraries throughout Italy were visited, as was the Bibliothèque Nationale and Bibliothèque de l'Opéra in Paris and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

The accurate and detailed descriptions include true renderings of title pages with line breaks; publication information; librettists; composers (Rossini sometimes worked collaboratively); performance information; roles; singers; understudies; dramatic structure; literary models; other personnel such as orchestra members, choreographers, dancers, etc.; descriptions of dances; notes; and library call numbers.

There are indexes for librettists and translators, composers, orchestra members, collaborators, performance locations, roles, dances, choreographers, dancers, genres, and places of publication. The general index contains all personal names found in the bibliography, but not performance locations, dances, genres, or places of publications. [mr/rm]

 

This CD-ROM includes the five printed volumes of the original set as well as the first supplementary volume (reviewed in RREA 6:181) and contains over 15,000 biographies of singers from the end of the 16th century to the present. Alas, the data are only partly cumulated: although articles that were published in volume 6 as revisions of the original articles were folded into the body of the text, and addenda and corrigenda are placed at the end of the original articles, articles that are new have been placed in a separately alphabetized section, "New Biographies." Nor does the appendix cumulate the new information into its original version. On the other hand, the misprints of the original edition have been corrected, and the CD-ROM offers separate indexes (that can also be combined) of singers, operas/operettas, and abbreviations. There also alphabetical tables of singers (indicating name, voice, place and date of birth and death, etc.) and operas/operettas (title, composer, date of first performance, theater). A concordance indicates the corresponding page number of the print edition.

The second supplementary volume (numbered volume 7 of the entire work) includes more than 1,300 new biographies (some of which, in fact, replace earlier articles) as well as addenda and corrigenda to the earlier volumes. Surely this is not the last supplementary volume, which is plagued by the same inadequacies of the earlier ones (absence of selection criteria, almost no reference to sources or secondary literature). [mr/sl]

 

This lexicon of program music (music that portrays or refers to a certain subject) limits itself to instrumental music. Nevertheless, there are 147 themes and motifs and 12,000 compositions listed in volume 1, and 1,750 characters or persons in 6,500 works by 2,200 composers in volume 2. Covering composers from the 16th to the 20th centuries, it is useful for producers, radio editors, musicologists, teachers and students. [sh/mrh]

 

These two titles offer exactly the same content. They are based on the works that appeared in print as Reclams Opernlexikon and Reclams Opernführer, which were then combined as a CD-ROM, first under the title Reclams Opern-CD-ROM and the following year in book form as Reclams Lexikon der Opernwelt.

The new edition offers detailed information on 350 operas, and basic information on another 700; articles on 750 composers, 2,700 librettists, singers, conductors, directors, etc.; and the 300 most important places, opera houses, and festivals; 300 relevant professional terms; 2,800 arias, recitatives, and choral pieces, and over 2,300 opera roles. Brief bibliographic entries are provided only sporadically.

The CD-ROM is organized into seven categories (works, composers, other persons, glossary, places, arias, roles). A spot check on the letter H for composers revealed that Pavel Haas and Hugo Hermann have been added to this edition, though Jacques Fromental Halévy has been dropped. Another spot check, this time of the section S-Se for works, turned up the addition of Pavel Haas's Sarlatán, Mark Lothar's Schneider Wibbel, and Norbert Schulze's Schwarzer Peter. Some articles have been rewritten (e.g., the one on Giuseppe Verdi, which has been replaced by a shorter one from which the bibliographic references have been omitted).

The index has been improved, as it can now be searched by category (works, composers, etc.). One can do keyword searching and--new to this edition--full-text searching (though with no indication of the number of hits). Although the tabular overviews offered by the Digitale Bibliothek version are a plus, the Reclam version is superior in terms of links that actually function, illustrations, and musical examples.

As with its two predecessors, libraries may safely forego purchase of this title. [mr/sl]

 

The first edition of this work, published in 1995, began a series of music dictionaries published by Harenberg, combining illustrated text with accompanying musical examples on CD. In this new edition, there are 36 new composers (24 of them contemporary) and 70 additional pages; over 500 operas are discussed in articles richly illustrated with portraits of composers and photos of performances. The biggest difference between the earlier edition and this one is the CD edition, which has twelve instead of ten CDs, with 201 musical examples from 187 operas by 104 composers, and 15.9 hours of music.

Articles consist of biographies of the composers, with tables of their operas in chronological order, giving librettist, and length. Discussions of each opera include a reference to the opera on the accompanying CD, information about the first performance, the story, some analysis of the music, and a brief discography of available performances. A glossary, an index of singers with ca. 500 brief biographies and black-and-white photographs, and indexes of titles, rolls, arias, personal names, addresses of music theaters, and festivals complete the volume. [sh/mrh]

 

This is an affordable revision of the work originally titled Das grosse Heyne-Opern-Lexikon, then simply Opern-Lexikon (1995). Since the number of pages is identical with that of the 1995 edition (and the author is 94), one has to assume that the revision was not too extensive and that libraries owning the earlier edition can do without this one. (Tellingly, the listing of first performances has not been updated.) Noteworthy is the attention paid to 20th-century operas and to lesser-known works of composers who are normally known for only a few famous operas (though the articles tend to be very short and limited to plot summaries). Articles on the major operas, on the other hand, are relatively long, e.g., nine pages on Tristan und Isolde. The introduction is a very personal one. The indexes are the same as before: composers/works and opera titles (separate indexes for original titles and their German translations). Opera lovers will probably prefer the Harenberg-Opernführer to this one, as it is on the whole a more balanced work, though for more obscure operas Pahlen's guide is better. [sh/sl]

 

This guide to chamber music is a paperback reprint of a work published only two years before. The signed articles contain short biographies of the composers, complete listings of their chamber music, and a brief discussion of their chamber music generally, followed by descriptions of individual works. The bibliographic references are limited to listings of compositions and complete editions. [sh/sl]

 

This is not another dictionary of rock. In fact, rock is quite deliberately omitted. Instead, this work is devoted to popular music beyond rock: the waltz, the Viennese song, operettas, musicals, and dance and entertainment music, including those influenced by jazz and Latin American rhythms (but not folk music or country music, except for swing).

It includes over 3,000 articles covering biographies (singers, band leaders, instrumentalists, composers, arrangers and song writers), topics, and record labels. The emphasis is on the 1920s to the 1950s. There are odd omissions (e.g., Louis Armstrong), and for the next edition the author would do well to reconsider his criteria for inclusion. [beh/sl]

 

This title appeared first in 1989 as Geschichte der Klaviermusik, then seven years later as a one-volume licensed edition with the title Das große Handbuch der Klaviermusik. With this new version the original and the licensed editions have appeared in the same year, though the latter (at half the price) is already out of print. (The remaindered copies have since been offered at the absurdly low price of DM 14.90 by the discount publisher Zweitausendeins.)

Compared to the earlier editions, there is much new biographical information here. Also, the layout has changed (two columns, smaller typeface). The intended audiences are said to be pianists, music students, and lovers of piano music. Coverage extends to non-European music. The work is organized by century, with sub-chapters by country. The introductory articles as well as the articles on individual compositions range in length from a few lines to three pages. The period from the beginnings through the 18th century are covered in 54 pages, while the 19th and 20th centuries get a combined 897 pages (with particular emphasis on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). The work concludes with a bibliography and an index of composers.

This is primarily a bio-bibliographical reference work that also offers an overview of the history of music written for the piano. Because of the wealth of information it contains, it should be held not only by music libraries, but by all larger libraries. [mr/sl]

 

This discography is based on the recordings collection of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE). The book version of the catalog provides details on 2,209 CDs on the market performed by bands from 37 countries, whereby the user needs to be aware that "bands" (as opposed to orchestras) consist solely of wind instruments, i.e., with no string sections. Bands of all types are included: professional, military, as well as "amateur ensembles of high quality." The CD version includes an additional 400 CDs of chamber music and folk music compositions for winds not available in the book version, bringing the total to 2,675 CDs, or approximately 30,000 individual titles.

Chapters are arranged alphabetically by country, and each begins with a short description of band culture there. Following this introduction, entries are arranged by CD title. For each, the title of each track is provided (including composer and arranger), as is the recording label and often an annotation. There is often a reproduction of the cover, black-and-white in the print resource and color on the CD. Finally, summary information is provided on individual labels, distributors, wholesalers (all with address, phone number, and Internet/e-mail address), allowing, at least in theory, every CD to be ordered. Finally, two indexes allow users to locate desired CDs by CD title, track title, composer, and arranger.

The CD-ROM offers, of course, expanded search capabilities, and includes a "shopping cart" function. This is a useful guide for friends of band music and for music stores, as well as for libraries that serve a musically interested public. [mr/jg]

 

This discography provides detailed information on "more than 5,000 recorded performances of approximately 1,500 operas with around 18,000 named performers," estimated to be between 90 and 95 percent of all performances ever commercially distributed and released on shellac or LP records, CDs, or laser discs. All labels, both large and small, including alternative and even underground (gray and black markets) sources, have been taken into account, whereby gaps are most likely to be encountered in the output of the former states of Eastern Europe. Only complete performances are considered--a reasonable criterion, although one might regret that recordings of individual acts have been excluded, since at times these are all we have.

Contents are organized alphabetically by composer, then by work in chronological order of creation--whereby a simpler principle would have been to arrange works, too, by the alphabet, since who knows, for example in the case of the 35 operas by Handel, in which order he composed them. For each opera, we are given the title both in German and, where applicable, in the original language, as needed transcribed into the Roman alphabet; list of acts or parts; number in standard catalogs; librettist; and place and date of first performance. Then the recordings follow in order of the year in which they were recorded, with undated works at the beginning, followed by: conductor; cast (with their roles indicated only for the first recording); orchestra, label, and number; and number of individual LPs or CDs (if released in both formats, both are mentioned). If there were multiple releases, only the most recent one is mentioned, although the compiler does not restrict himself to releases currently available.

Although no cutoff date is given, the most recent performance dates are 1998. There are two indexes, one by opera title (with the composer's name in parentheses), the other a name index in which performers, composers, directors, and librettists are combined, though distinguished typographically.

Steiger's discography belongs in every library with a music collection. It replaces all earlier opera discographies, not, however, the discographies for individual composers, operas, and singers, since these offer greater detail and also are not restricted to recordings of entire works. In light of the great number of new (or first) publications of historical recordings, a supplement will soon be necessary--in the meantime, some form of web presence would allow additions and corrections to be posted.

Just one year after the original edition was published, an identical paperback (though differently and, by comparison, poorly and inadequately titled) came onto the market. Given its extremely low price, there can be little doubt that it will soon be a great success. [sh/jg]