Reader's Guide to Music: History, Theory, Criticism (review)

Reader's Guide to Music: History, Theory, Criticism. Edited by Murray Steib. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999. [xxxvi, 891 p. ISBN 1-57958-143-9. $135. ]

This volume comprises approximately five hundred entries that "describe and evaluate the critical monographic literature in English on a wide variety of topics" (p. vii), including composers, theorists, and historians (but not performers). The focus is on Western art music, with a few entries on non-Western and popular music included as well. In determining what topics to cover, the editor chose to omit those "for which there were fewer than two books in English" (p. viii). In addition to the useful "Alphabetical List of Entries" (pp. xv-xx), there is a "Thematic List" (pp. xxi-xxxvi) that will help the reader find entries that relate to a particular subject; the heading "Ethnomusicology" (p. xxiv), for example, directs attention to entries for specific regions or countries, important individuals in the history of the discipline, and ethnomusicological issues (history, theory, method, and the uses of notation).

The main body of the work is arranged alphabetically. Each entry begins with a select bibliography; this is followed by a discussion that provides an overview of the topic, summarizes the literature cited in the bibliography, and comments on related issues. There is a "Booklist Index" (pp. 799- 834) as well as a "General Index" (pp. 835- 72), each following word-by-word rather than letter-by-letter alphabetization; readers would be well advised to consult both when looking for the name of a particular author or editor. The volume concludes with "Notes on Advisers and Contributors" (pp. 875-91), which gives thumbnail biographies of the scholars (over 250) who contributed and identifies their entries.

Several features of this volume are disconcerting. For example, there are no entries for Harrison Birtwistle or Karel Husa, for at the time the volume was assembled, neither met the requirement of having been the subject of two books in English. This approach seems overly dogmatic; it brings to mind the composer who is scared to pen the "right" note because the right note is wrong according to the theoretical system. That the selection of entries was not always consistent with musical reality is shown by the fact that as I write, two English-language volumes on Birtwistle are available: Robert Adlington's Music of Harrison Birtwistle (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) and Jonathan Cross's Harrison Birtwistle: Man, Mind, Music (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press; London: Faber, 2000). Also disconcerting is the scholarly insecurity arising from a desire for political correctness. This is apparent, for example, from the heading "Countries" in the "Thematic Index" (p. xxiii), where there are listings for twenty-one countries, but none for the United States; what we do find is the subheading "Native North American Music," a topic listed again under "Ethnomusicology." The current trends in music history and criticism toward broader coverage have resulted in several similar editorial judgments with which one might well take issue. At the same time, it would be foolish for anyone to deny that the net is being cast more widely in today's academy, and many of the topical entries in this volume are welcome opportunities for us to look beyond our own areas of scholarly inquiry. As editor Murray Steib notes, the volume is "designed to help readers at all levels: students at both the undergraduate and graduate level who are looking for help with written assignments or research papers, or who are studying for exams; teachers in schools, colleges, and universities, especially those who face the problem of preparing classes outside their own specialty; and general readers who have an interest in music and seek advice on which books to read" (p. vii). Reader's Guide to Music succeeds remarkably well in accomplishing these goals, and I think most users will agree with me that it is a singularly valuable starting point for inquiry on a host of music topics.

Mark A. Radice
Ithaca College...