The Pianist's Dictionary by Maurice Hinson and Wesley Roberts (review)

In 2004, Indiana University Press published Maurice Hinson's Pianist's Dictionary, described as "a practical guide that covers definitions of terms, performance directions, names of well-known piano pieces, nicknames of pieces, forms, and styles, plus brief biographies of leading pianists, composers of piano music, and piano manufacturers as well as parts of the piano (action, soundboard, etc.) and neglected repertoire the author feels is important" ("Preface to the First Edition," p. ix). Hinson (1930–2015) taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and is known for his widely used reference books dealing with various components of the classical piano literature. A second edition published in 2020 carries the name of Wesley Roberts as coauthor. Roberts, who studied under Hinson, contributes a rather short and uninformative preface that offers little by way of his modus operandi or the extent to which he (or Hinson) has contributed new or revised entries to the book. The new volume occupies a mere twelve pages beyond the first edition, in which there are seven brief illustrations of various musical terms and a three-page bibliography of English-language materials. All names, titles, terms, and topics, regardless of origin, are still combined into a strict alphabetical sequence in the second edition ("The Entries"), which adds only a list of abbreviations to the contents.

Despite Hinson's ambitious aims, the original edition was badly flawed by factual errors, omissions, inconsistencies, misspellings, and misleading statements. It would be pleasant to report that the second edition offers a substantial improvement. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Although a modest number of errors have been corrected, further changes have generated an unacceptable level of additional problems. Overall, the strongest element of the dictionary is its extensive inclusion of musical terms (mostly French, Italian, and German) extracted from the general repertoire. This field, however, is one that has been well covered over many decades, going back at least to venerable, still-in-print reference works, such as those of Theodore Baker, Louis Elson, Willi Apel, and Alison Latham, with her more recent Oxford Dictionary of Musical Terms(New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)—not to overlook the easy accessibility of definitions via internet sources. Where terminology is concerned, users of these familiar resources will find relatively little of additional value in the Hinson–Roberts volume.

The major problems begin with the dictionary's handling of composers for the piano. Incorrect information abounds: Isaac Albéniz did not study with Franz Liszt. Alexander Scriabin composed ninety (not eighty-five) preludes and twenty-six (not twenty-four) etudes. Frédéric Chopin is credited with only ten of his sixteen polonaises for solo piano. Edvard Grieg composed sixty-six (not seventy-three) Lyric Pieces. Michael Tippett is said to have written "several duets for other instruments and piano" (p. 204), although no such works exist, and his important concerto is not mentioned. Charles-Valentin Alkan is given the long-discredited middle name of Henri along with the similarly debunked tale of his death from a falling bookcase. Under Ives, the dictionary mentions Ralph Kirkpatrick as a tireless advocate for the "Concord" Sonata, whereas John Kirkpatrick (no relation) is the performer meant. In one sentence in the entry for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he is said to have written twenty-nine piano concertos, yet in the following sentence we read of his "twenty-three concertos for piano and orchestra" (p. 124). According to Roberts, the piano sonata by Henri Dutilleux "is often cited as unplayable" (p. 46). By whom? Certainly not by the numerous pianists who have frequently performed and recorded it. The dictionary's inclusion of major twentieth-century composers for the piano is adequate, but where are Donald Martino, Roger Sessions, and Leon Kirchner?

Equally concerning are the small, generally two- or three-sentence...