New Publications

Vocal chamber music carries a rich tradition in Western music and has proven to be a highly versatile genre.  In 1985, Barbara Winchester and Kay Dunlap compiled an extensive repertoire guide to this broad form, approaching it from a unique angle that extends beyond simply music for one voice and a piano. Twenty-three years later, a new and updated edition has been released, providing additional resources for vocal chamber music performers.

One item of particular interest is the specific instrumentation that is targeted in this volume.  Entries included in this edition are exclusively collaborative in nature; the selections require one to twelve voices as well as one to twelve additional instruments other than piano or guitar.

Included titles were written as early as 1650, and span until 2005. The inclusion of voicing, instrumentation, date, and publisher adds a rich context to titles that are sometimes very obscure. To aid readers further, the authors include an index of music sources for locating scores from publishers that no longer exist.

This volume will particularly be useful for vocalists and voice teachers searching for new repertoire for concerts and recitals – particularly if they desire components of increased collaboration and variety.

Hannah Johnson, research assistant

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, a long-time standard music reference source, has received an upgrade with its latest edition, renamed the Oxford Dictionary of Music.

The sixth edition contains over 10,000 entries total, spanning the history of Western music and covering various musical topics, including theory terminology, major works and composer names, and musical instruments.  The dictionary also provides references to useful websites associated with some entries. The authors have included appendices for non-English terms and common musical abbreviations.  An online dictionary supplement, included with purchase of the dictionary, provides additional materials.

Writers Michael and Joyce Bourne Kennedy and editor Tim Rutherford-Johnson have broadened the scope in this expanded edition.  It includes 250 new entries to increase coverage of popular music, ethnomusicology, sound technology, and contemporary composers. Hundreds of preexisting entries have also been reviewed and updated.

Both scholars and amateurs alike will appreciate this update as they explore a variety of current and evolving topics.

Hannah Johnson, research assistant

This industry directory provides songwriters at every level of experience with contact information and submission guidelines for companies in the music industry to whom they can submit demos in order to obtain contracts. Writer’s Digest Books publishes it annually.

Most of the companies listed are based in the United States, though there is some international coverage, especially in the Canadian market. While the directory is intended mainly for popular songwriters, one of the sections, titled “classical performing arts,” covers performing organizations like choirs and orchestras that are looking to commission works in the classical style.

The other seven sections of the directory include music publishers, record companies, record producers, managers and booking agents, music firms, play producers and publishers, and concerts and awards. Entries provide the company name, openness to submissions, contact information, year established, staff size, release frequency, method of payment, distribution vehicles, guidelines for submissions, music types sought, and recent releases by the company.

Before the main directory, each issue includes essays that guide less-experienced songwriters through various aspects of the profession, for example, ways to create more variety in lyrics, common pitfalls, and rip-off company types to watch out for.

Ruby Braff, a celebrated jazz trumpeter/cornetist with a professional performing career that spanned from the 1940s to the early 2000s, was a prolific and dedicated musician. Though not a household name like Benny Goodman or Louis Armstrong, his work commands the same level of respect from jazz performers and enthusiasts alike.

This discography by Thomas P. Hustad attempts to document all of Braff’s recordings (issued, unissued, and private) and performances. While the author admits that the goal was impossible to achieve, he did manage to create an extensive and thoroughly researched catalogue, over 600 pages long, that will be an valuable resource for those interested in Braff’s life and music.

In addition to providing standard discographical and biographical information, many of the entries contain a few paragraphs of enlightening or anecdotal information concerning the recording or performance, including stories from Braff and quotes from his colleagues and friends. These additions make the discography a fascinating read and an effective biography as well.

Abraham Myler, research assistant

Phyllis Kinney’s survey of the traditional music of Wales is the first such book to be published since 1932.  It simultaneously fills a notable void in musicology and provides us with a fresh look at a rich tradition.

This detailed, chronological history spanning from the fourth century to the present is a unique resource, with many potential applications. Scholars will find in it helpful explanations of events and historical figures associated with the music of Wales. It also contains many song transcriptions (and a list of printed music collections) that will be of interest to folk-culture enthusiasts, singers, and collectors. The index of musical examples is especially valuable for those interested in the songs themselves.

Kinney, though not Welsh by birth, has effectively adopted this tradition as her own, and is a leading authority in this area. Her husband, Meredydd Evans, is a celebrated performer of traditional music.

Abraham Myler, Research Assistant

William A. Everett’s The Musical: A Research and Information Guide (2011), 2nd edition, is a bibliography that focuses primarily upon the history, creators, performers, and the production of American musical theatre from the late nineteenth century to the present day.  It contains 1,474 items such as reference works, websites, articles from both scholarly and popular periodicals, recorded anthologies, essays, and dissertations and theses. Within his definition of ‘musical,’ Everett includes filmed and television musicals alongside the more traditional stage musicals, both mega-musical and obscure.  Although the focus is predominantly American musical theatre, a few small sections also address European musicals, French operetta, and Bollywood.  The broad majority of citations include annotations, as well as ISBN and Library of Congress call numbers when appropriate. Excluded from coverage are anthologies of “greatest hits,” cast and studio albums, soundtracks, and solo albums with a Broadway or Hollywood theme. As with all print publications citing websites, these items have the potential to disappear; however, the internet resources Everett chose to include are all reliable, popular reference sites that are unlikely to disappear from the Internet or change domains anytime soon. Students performing research on musical theatre will find this volume useful, as will those interested in expanding their knowledge on the subject.

Lindsay Weaver
Research Assistant 

Edited by Cliff Eisen and Simon P. Keefe, the Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia (2006) is an excellent reference work that not only encapsulates current academic thought about Mozart, but also offers a guide to understanding the composer and his world through over 500 entries addressing a variety of topics such as people, musical works, places, genres, and society. Entries can range in length from a large paragraph to long, meaty essays. Five useful appendices conclude the work such as a complete workslist, a collection of theatrical biopics about Mozart, a selective list of his operas on DVD and video, a directory of Mozart organizations, and a list of useful Mozart websites. Extremely up to date, this book contains topics and subjects which have never before been addressed in English-speaking scholarship, and is recommended for students, scholars, and layman audiences.

Lindsay Weaver
Research Assistant 

Susan Lewis Hammond’s The Madrigal: A Research and Information Guide (2011) is a selective bibliography of 1,237 items intended as a guide to the best scholarship written on the subject of polyphonic Italian madrigals. Specifically, she includes within her scope the canzonetta, villanella, and spirit madrigal), English and German adaptations to the genre, lute intabulations, hybrids and transitional forms of monody, and madrigals with basso continuo accompaniment. This book is useful to students and anyone researching this subject because the annotations clearly identify which sources are important to the understanding of various aspects of the madrigal and why these works ought to be consulted.

Lindsay Weaver
Research Assistant 

A result of the collaborative of efforts of Robert Lamar Weaver, John Karr, and Caterina Pampaloni, edited by Susan Parisi The Music Library of a Noble Florentine Family (2012) is a catalogue raisonné of the Ricasoli Collection acquired by the University of Louisville in 1989, which consists of music and pedagogical books collected by the Ricasoli family during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This particular catalogue builds upon the work of nineteenth-century inventories already completed for this collection; therefore, while the majority of the collection is housed at the University of Louisville, the catalogue will occasionally items not in the University’s possession either because they’re been lost or separated from the collection as a result of private sales before the acquisition.

…

The Music Library of a Noble Florentine Family: A Catalogue Raisonné of Manuscripts and Prints of the 1720s to the 1850sRead More »

Nicole V. Gagné’s Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music (2012) surveys modern and contemporary classical music dating from 1890 to the present day, representing composers on an international scale. Although biographical information on composers and musicians who specialize in modern or contemporary music constitutes the primary focus of this book (350 entries), Gagné also includes 60 entries on relevant musical topics such as compositional methods and styles, which provides reader with better understanding of the music discussed. Composers in jazz, pop, and rock have typically been excluded on the basis that these genres are too broad and varied to be adequately addressed within the scope of this work; however, individuals like Duke Ellington whose musical accomplishments extend into the realm of the concert hall have been included, as well as musicians like The Beatles whose work left such an indelible, “radical” mark in their own field that it is appropriate to discuss them within the book’s context. Biographical entries typically provide dates of birth and death, nationality, career overview, important compositions, and cross-references to relevant topic entries. As for the topic entries, these typically discuss the historical overview of the subject, its characteristics, its important or prominent proponents, and often cross-reference to the entries of said proponents.

Beyond the dictionary proper, Gagné supplies a useful introduction discussing the musical history of the time period considered by this book, a chronology, and a lengthy bibliography citing books, articles, reviews, and websites. The citations are exclusively English-language, with the majority of books published after 1970.  Because the bibliography is divided into sections concerned with a specific publication type, and entries often grouped by the subject composer, readers will find it easy to quickly locate citations pertaining to a specific individual. Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music is recommended for scholars and students (musician or otherwise) who are performing research in this field or are interested in learning more about this corpus of music and the individuals who create it.

Lindsay Weaver
Research Assistant