Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period

Van Boer (music history, Western Washington Univ.) defines music's "Classical period" as covering composers active between 1730 and 1800 (a standard and useful, if not always agreed-upon, range) whose work "must conform to either a developmental or conventional stage of some style we can call 'Classical.'" He provides more than 1000 cross-referenced entries on Classical composers (primarily), major performers of the time, prominent librettists, influential patrons, important public concerts, major orchestras, styles and genres, and "occasional peculiarities," e.g., unusual musical instruments. Also included is a chronology of key musical and historical events. Readers may think of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven when they think of this period, but here they will discover Lodewijk van Beethoven, a Flemish-German singer and Kappelmeister who was idolized by his more famous grandson Ludwig; Italian composer Giuseppe Gazzaniga; Dutch-American composer, violinist, and music publisher Peter Albrecht von Hagen, and so many more. VERDICT While most personal, public, school, and academic music libraries own an edition of the Oxford Companion to Music, a spot-check of the present volume showed that of ten composers randomly chosen, only three were found in the Oxford Companion; and while musicians, students, and scholars may still go on to look up more comprehensive information on these musicians in the New Grove Dictionary of Music, or in the Grove Online database, this broadly researched, carefully edited, single-volume work is invaluable for ready reference as well as fascinating for browsing. Library Journal This work offers more than 1,000 brief entries for composers, performers, and terms related to music composed between approximately 1730 and 1800. Defining this period in terms of time frame and musical style is difficult at best, but Van Boer is convincing in his arguments for his chosen chronology. This is intended as a quick reference tool, and many entries are unique to this volume...A time line and an excellent essay on the classical-music period are also included. Booklist This dictionary is an appropriate addition to both public and academic music reference collections as an introduction to the composers as well as a quick reference guide. American Reference Books Annual