Chamber Music : A Guide to Works and Their Instrumentation

Few joys equal the pleasure of playing music on the instrument you love, a joy that can be enhanced by joining fellow musicians in a piece of chamber music. Despite the extraordinary growth of interest in chamber music, there has not been a single book or even a combination of books to help a chamber musician or program planner determine what music, if any, exists for a given combination of instruments. This unique book fills that gap.
Authors Victor Rangel-Ribeiro and Robert Markel, both musicians themselves, have gathered over 8,000 listings of pieces for three to 20 musicians. Culled from over 100 catalogues of music publishers worldwide plus other sources, Chamber Music covers the last 500 years of music. It includes not only a complete listing of the standard chamber music repertoire but thousands of other, lesser-known pieces written for an array of instrumental combinations - including the voice. More than 5,000 listings are for 20th-century music.
Chamber Music is divided into three sections for easy access to information. The first contains music composed up to the time of Haydn and Mozart; the second, music from Beethoven to the present. Each listing contains the composer's name and dates, the title of the piece, the opus or catalogue number, if any, the year composed or published, if known, the key, if any, the duration of the piece, if specified by the composer or publisher, the instrumentation of the piece - including indications for voices and unusual instruments - and finally the name of the publisher. Comments, where appropriate, show when instrumental substitutions can be made, when the composer has not specified particular instruments, what unusual instruments are required, when a conductor might be needed, or any other relevant information of interest to the player. The third section, the "Master Quick-Reference Index," lists a number of instrumental combinations and directs the reader to composers who have written for those particular ensembles.
Comprehensive and easy to use, for the amateur or professional musician or anyone with an interest in the subject, Chamber Music is sure to enhance any music lover's reference shelf.

More than 7000 entries, regarding chamber-music pieces written between 1600 and 1992 and employing as few as three and as many as 20 instruments, comprise the most comprehensive survey currently available. Arranged alphabetically by composer in two sections (pre-1800 and post-1800), each entry includes title of piece, key signature, year of completion, and ensemble instrumentation. A concluding master index cross-tabulates composers and pieces by number of instruments required; however, locating pieces that require specific instruments (e.g., a violin, viola, and piano) is complicated. Although not exhaustive, this is an excellent quick-and-dirty guide to the field, particularly for recent works. A welcome addition for all music collections holding the three-volume Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1987. 2d ed.) and the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ( LJ 12/15/80).
- Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ. Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.