A Manual for the Performance Library (review)

Performance librarianship is one of few vocations without any formalized academic program of study. Historically, professionals in this field are either self-taught or have apprenticed with others. While some parts of the job really do require little more than a bit of common sense and the ability to read music, others are far from intuitive. Few music schools teach that material by John Adams, for example, must be rented, and that some titles are controlled by G. Schirmer, while others are with Boosey & Hawkes. Masters degree programs in library science are no better in this regard. A true novice may not even know which questions to ask. Coming into it cold, what a performance librarian needs more than anything else is step-by-step instruction.

Russ Girsberger's A Manual for the Performance Library provides exactly that. Girsberger, Ensemble Librarian for the Juilliard School, trained as a percussionist and has published two well-respected guides to percussion instruments. With professional experience at the New England Conservatory, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the President's Own Marine Band, Girsberger has a comprehensive background as a librarian, and draws upon it accordingly with a methodical approach to all of the major tasks of a performance librarian.

Other reference sources do exist for this esoteric profession—most notably David Daniels' Orchestral Music: A Handbook (4th ed., Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005), the Yahoo! Orchestra Library Information (OLI) listserv, and the Major Orchestra Librarians' Association (MOLA), which allows public access to parts of its Web site and provides additional support to the dues-paying members it accepts. Most of these aids, however, assume a level of general knowledge. By contrast, Girsberger begins by answering the most basic of quandaries: What is a performance librarian? While this question may seem too elementary for the beginning of a manual dedicated to job execution (how many people crack open compendiums for métiers they have never heard of?), it is one frequently asked by musicians who wish to become librarians but only know about a small part of the job. Girsberger answers it in detail, breaking down potential responsibilities by category and providing a large and clear picture of which part-time or aspiring librarians may not have been aware.

The remaining chapters of the book each expand upon one of the categories listed in this first section. The first area, acquisitions, is perhaps the most critical for inexperienced librarians. After all, music cannot be prepared for performance if it hasn't been obtained. Tracking down scores and parts can pose the greatest hurdles for librarians, and for a newcomer, it often appears that music originates from a black hole in outer space. Girsberger provides important questions for librarians to ask; e.g., "Where did the musician learn about this composition?" and "Who publishes the music that the musician is using?"

Girsberger emphasizes a very important point that all librarians, from greenhorns to battle-scarred veterans, should learn and remember: make sure that the editions of scores, parts, and vocal material (if applicable) are compatible. If rehearsal markings vary, or if notes, rhythms, or even the number of measures do not match up between scores and parts, the production may be a disaster. In the bibliography, he provides a list of other musical bibliographies, which he references as a source to help librarians in their edition research. Given the confusing nature of edition matching, it would have been helpful if Girsberger had fleshed out his explanation of the steps for solving the mysteries of which scores match which parts—perhaps with a few examples that illustrate how certain reprint company publications are usually appropriate partners for original editions, and, on the flip side, which are not. If nothing else, an elaboration would shed light on how many different angles are involved with this often ponderous task.

In subsequent chapters, Girsberger expounds on what needs to...