The Harper Dictionary of Music

THE HARPER DICTIONARY OF MUSIC TERMS, HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS SECOND EDITION After the first edition of The Harper Dictionary of Music appeared, it quickly earned a reputation as one of the most informative, authoritative, and wide-ranging yet detailed guides to the field of music available. It was praised for the clear drawings of instruments, for tables and charts that instantly conveyed essential information, and for the excellent discussions. The Saturday Review made special mention of "the author's knack for clarifying and characterizing difficult subjects." Now in a revised, expanded, and thoroughly updated second edition, The Harper Dictionary of Music remains one of the most distinguished guides to the field of music. Definitions of musical terms are provided in clear, concise language, simple enough to be accessible to the layperson yet informative enough to be useful to the knowledgeable reader as well. Entries on composers and other illustrious people in the history of music are presented in the form of short biographical sketches. The articles on musical instruments generally include some of the repertoire for each instrument, to aid those who are studying an instrument and those interested in recordings featuring it. As in the earlier edition, the entries have been compiled so as to convey as much musical history as possible, permitting each subject to be understood more fully within its historical context. For charts in the earlier edition have been retained and updated. These helpful guides were designed to allow immediate comparison of, for example, individual composers with important styles and periods or with major musical forms such as opera or oratorio. They are specifically intended for quick reference and are a unique feature of this book.