Heritage of Music. Vol. 1: Classical Music and its Origins; Vol. 2: The Romantic Era; Vol. 3: The Nineteenth-Century Legacy; Vol. 4: Music in the Twentieth Century ed. by Michael Raeburn, Alan Kendall (review)

foreword by Casey Miller and Kate Swift. One of Maggio's most interesting points is her argument in favor of using 'they' to replace the generic 'he', that is, choosing to make an error in number ('they' in reference to a single person) rather than an error in gender (using 'he' when the referent may be a 'she'). Indeed, the use of 'they' in this context is in common usage-and never misunderstood -in spoken English, and perhaps this is the most practical solution to this thorny problem. Historical precedent also supports the use of 'they': "Eighteenth-century (male) grammarians decided that number was more important than gender, although the singular they had been in favor until that time" (p. 173). Still, use of 'they' in place of the generic 'he' is a difficult change to accept for comporary writers, editors and grammarians who have been indoctrinated to accept in writing neither the error in number nor, increasingly , the error in gender. Thus, we are saddled with the cumbersome 'he or she', 'him or her'. What really is needed is a new word to indicate a single nonspecific individual or one of unknown gender ('shim'?). Difficult problems like this aside, avoidance of sexist language has the positive influence of forcing writers out of old molds and away from the use of cliches. As such, it provides an opportunity for improving writing style and using language more creativity , as Maggio enthusiastically points out. Her book is useful in providing alternatives to sexist terms as well as in raising consciousness-browsing through the dictionary, one marvels at the depth and extent of sexual bias, subliminal or blatant, in this most basic of thought-shaping tools, our English language. 366 Current Literature HERITAGE OF MUSIC. VOL. 1: CLASSICAL MUSIC AND ITS ORIGINS; VOL. 2: THE ROMANTIC ERA; VOL. 3: THE NINETEENTHCENTURY LEGACY; VOL. 4: MUSIC IN THE TwENTIETH CENTURY by Michael Raeburn and Alan Kendall, eds. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1989. $195 for the complete set. ISBN: 0-19-520493-X (set); 0-19-505370-2 (Vol. 1,320 pp.); 0-19-505371-0 (Vol. 2, 320 pp.); 0-19-505372-9 (Vol. 3, 320 pp.); 0-19-505373-7 (Vol. 4, 334 pp). Reviewed l7y Allan Shields, 6506Jerseydale Road, Mariposa, CA 95338, U.S.A. Usually one does not cozy up to an encyclopedia to read cover to cover. Neither does one select a volume at random to browse for serendipitous knowledge. The test ultima may be "it is so good, one can't put it down". The test assoluto may be"it is so gripping , one doesn't dare pick it up"! None of the above applies to this new, stunning encyclopedia of music designed for the specialist, student and general reader. There are too many fine features to try even to list all of them: outstanding essays on periods, composers, historical details, technical problems, inventions of instruments, notation and printing, all written by select, assigned specialists; an awesome profusion of illustrations throughout all volumes in exquisite, eye-shocking full color, as well as black-and-white process; essays about major composers of all periods covered, with fullpage portraits; a full biographical dictionary of composers for each volume; detailed indexes for each volume, plus a cumulative index in Vol. 4. One feature of all volumes, called 'Interludes', is a happy constant of the format. Interludes are interposed among the essays about composers and are detailed discussions of developments in music history that range over widely diverse topics: baroque orchestra, baroque stage mechanics , invention of instruments, history of recorded sound, opera in the twentieth century and even twentiethcentury rock music. Given such a wealth of musical knowledge, one could browse with profit, of course, but the sponge that is damp draws the most water. The more you already know about the long evolution of Western music, the more valuable these contents become . Serious students or scholars are very likely to start in the cumulative index and read here and there, eventually settling down to follow leads that surprise and please them. Though we all have known that music has a long evolution in the West, one unmistakable...