Resources for Singers

Derived from the classic Oxford Dictionary of Music, this is the most authoritative dictionary of music available in paperback. It includes over 14,000 entries on musical terms from allegro to zingaro, and on musical works from Aida to Tosca, as well as musical instruments and their history, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras. It also boasts comprehensive works lists for major composers. Fully revised and updated, the 5th edition of this established reference work contains over 200 new entries, including information on approximately 150 new performers.

A guide to the thousands of characters who people the history of music, this fourth edition of the classic dictionary brings together all the biographical information about composers, performers, music theorists and instrument makers from the days of praise chants to the bop and pop of today. A companion to The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, this biographical dictionary emphasizes classical and art music, but also gives attention to jazz and blues, rock and pop, and hymns and showtunes across the ages - with care devoted to coverage of the 20th century.

A guide to the thousands of characters, who people the history of music, this volume brings together all the biographical information about composers, performers, music theorists and instrument makers from the days of praise chants to the bop and pop of today. A companion to The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, this biographical dictionary emphasizes classical and art music, but also gives attention to jazz and blues, rock and pop, and hymns and showtunes across the ages - with care devoted to coverage of the 20th century.

"Nicolas Slonimsky's venerable single-volume reference is now a six-volume set, with better page layout and typeface, and a subject range outside its traditional concentration on classical music. Under new editorship since Slonimsky's death in 1995, coverage has expanded to over 1,000 new entries on classical music and over 2,000 new entries on jazz and popular music. Nice features include reprints of Slonimsky's witty introductions to earlier editions and indexes for genre, nationality, and women composers and musicians."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2002.

The volume is divided into four broad areas. Popular Traditions begins with an overview of singing traditions in world music and continues with aspects of rock, rap and jazz. The Voice in the Theatre includes both opera singing from the beginnings to the present day and twentieth-century stage and screen entertainers. Choral Music and Song features a history of the art song, essential hints on singing in a larger choir, the English cathedral tradition and a history of the choral movement in the United States. The final substantial section on performance practices ranges from the voice in the Middle Ages and the interpretation of early singing treatises to contemporary vocal techniques, ensemble singing, the teaching of singing, children's choirs, and a comprehensive exposition of vocal acoustics.