New Reference Books, May 2009

More stellar reference books are on our shelves.  These include bio-bibliographies on Liszt, Ravel and Saint-Saens, the Encyclopedia of Percussion, Directory of Choral-Orchestral Music and a handbook of orchestral “pops” music by Lucy Manning.

Beck, John E. ed. Encyclopedia of Percussion. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2007. Ref. ML 102.P412 En19 2007.

Provides concise definitions of Western and selected non-Western percussion instruments.  Includes larger articles on broader topics such as Percussion Ensembles, Steel Band/Pan, etc.  The encyclopedia also contains illustrations and a table of percussion terms in English, French, German and Italian.

Manning, Lucy. Orchestral “Pops” Music: A Handbook. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009.  Ref. ML 128.Or1 M316

Author has compiled a list of the core orchestral repertoire performed in “Pops” concerts.  For each composition, the book describes instrumentation, duration, movements, title, publishers as well as assigning a “theme” for program planning. Examples of themes include Valentine, Instrumental Pops, Dance, Patriotic, Animals, and Popular Song etc.

Rosewell, Michael. Directory of Choral-Orchestral Music. New York: Routledge, 2007. Ref. ML 128.C45 R729d

Michael Rosewall has undertaken a ‘systematic study’ of the choral-orchestral repertoire.  The book describes choral-orchestral works composed during the past three centuries.  The author intentionally includes repertoire by “non-western musicians, and many works of contemporary writers – especially female composers.”  Each entry describes the title, instrumentation, duration and a list of editions/publishers for the composition.   The directory is organized alphabetically by composer and includes various helpful indexes to the content  (e.g. Works with children or youth voices).

Bio-Bibliographies

At ML 134, in our reference collection, you will not only find catalogues and thematic catalogs dedicated to specific composers, but will also find books that are often called ‘bio-bibliographies” or “Guides to Research.”  Primarily published by Routledge and Greenwood Press, these research guides are an excellent place to start when searching for information about a composer and his/her works. These guides/bibliographies provide a biographical sketch of the composer, a descriptive list of his/her compositions, and a bibliography of publications by and about the composer and his/her music.

Flynn, Timothy S. Camille Saint-Saens: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge, 2003. Ref. ML 134.Sa22 F679c

Saffle, Michael. Franz Liszt: A Guide to Research. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge, 2004. Ref. ML 134.L699 Sa17L 2004

Zank, Stephen. Maurice Ravel: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge, 2005. Ref. ML 134.R196 Z16m