The Oxford Dictionary of Music

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 1008 pages
• Published by: Oxford University Press, USA
• Edition: 2nd Edition August 4, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0198614594
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0198614593
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 2.4 inches
• Weighs: 3.5 pounds

From School Library Journal
YA-This volume identifies and provides short discussions of terms, composers, conductors, works, singers, instruments, instrumentalists, and orchestras. Eighty percent of the original entries have been revised to include modern works, and 1,500 entries have been added to update this rapidly changing field. An great resource for music and history students.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Kennedy, a longtime British music critic and author, has updated and expanded his 1985 Oxford Dictionary of Music with more than 1,000 new entries plus revisions (in many cases major) to about four-fifths of the original 11,000 entries. Entries define and identify all facets of music from titles of individual works to performers, orchestras, musical forms, instruments, and composers. Identifications can be as short as one line (moll) or as long as four pages (Mozart). Much mention is made of debuts in various places and of first performances; almost no note is made of personal lives apart from music. Among new entries are those for performers Cecilia Bartoli, Evelyn Glennie, Hakan Hardenberger, and Bryn Terfel; composers Robert Moran, Andrew Toovey, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich; and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Many composer entries have added compositions, including such operas and musicals as William Bolcom's 1992 McTeague, John Corigliano's Ghosts of Versailles (which also has its own entry), and Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Sunset Boulevard. Death of Klinghoffer and Einstein on the Beach also have their own entries. An update to the entry for Paul McCartney includes his 1991 Liverpool Oratorio. Many 1990s dates of new compositions, debuts, first performances, and deaths are noted, including those of Copland and Bernstein. Entries for Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti are all updated, but no mention is made of the "Three Tenors" concert(s). A few people not included: Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg, Ofra Harnoy, neither Wynton nor Branford Marsalis, nor Ida or Ani Kavafian. The Beaux Arts Trio entry still includes the names Pressler, Cohen, and Greenhouse even though they have left the group; the Juilliard Quartet entry mentions Robert Mann as the sole original member left while not naming others. The first edition of this title received an unequivocal endorsement in RBB stating that it was "indispensable to all types of libraries"; this new edition merits the same recommendation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Music (Hardcover) As a person who has taught literally thousands of students the joys of music, I'm always searching for a better music dictionary to recommend to my students and colleagues. I know I'd want a dictionary with enough diagrams to show the various music symbols and what they mean. I would want a book which also includes some biographical data as well. But here is where this book totally and I mean completely misses the mark. The vast part of the text is nothing more than a short to medium biography of just about every musician/composer you might (or might not) wish to learn about. The book should have been entitled, "Oxford BIOGRAPHICAL Dictionary of Music". As for notation? Forget it. Symbols? (such as what do note "accents" look like? Forget that, too. What about the parts of a harpsichord (for example). Well, no diagrams at all and a mere overview too complicated for the layman. In fact, there are NO diagrams in the entire work. I certainly would get more out of a 'pocket' music dictionary than I would out of this. Better yet, try "The Harvard Dictionary of Music" which is considerably better. As much as I love the United Kingdom (I studied there)--I'd much rather defer to Harvard on this one! Comment | | (Report this)