Publications

With the Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African musicians, Eileen Southern (1920–2002), who served on the faculty of Harvard University and before 1971 was known primarily as a Renaissance scholar, created a long-needed resource and a major research tool. It is the first single comprehensive volume of its kind that "attempts to correlate materials" concerning Afro-American and African professional musicians "from a historical perspective" (Preface). It contains information on well over 1,500 figures, the earliest being Sebastian Rodriguez, born ca. 1642, an African drummer who was active in Mexico and died in El Paso; the birth cutoff date is 1945 (with some obligatory exceptions, such as Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis). Coverage is not limited to the United States and Africa. Sixty-five musicians from Canada, South America, and Europe are included as well. This is not another dictionary confined to jazz musicians, gospel performers, or those engaged in minstrelsy; it is a survey of the lives of black men and women who have contributed to any aspect of musical history, and as such an enormously useful reference book.

Theater historian Ken Bloom’s 1991 first edition of Broadway offered a fact-filled compendium of Broadway's theaters, personalities, awards, publications, and notable concepts (e.g., “stunts”), from the earliest days to the present. This new edition adds corrections and updates, and multiple cross references for easy browsing. The most substantial entries cover theaters, playwrights, composers, directors, performers, and producers; there is a special emphasis on composers and lyricists, because Bloom believes that “they had greater impact on American theatrical history” (Preface). This is not a show-by-show account (only a small number of major shows have solo entries), but a history of the Great White Way.

Reuben Musiker, formerly a Professor of Librarianship and University Librarian at the University of the Witwatersrand, and his wife, Naomi Musiker, who is also a trained librarian, provide biographical information and a discography for around 500 individuals who have written popular and mood music for film, show, and the theater. First published in 1998, this sourcebook delves deeply into the recent history of popular orchestral music, covering the latter half of the 20th century. The main focus is on the peak period for such music, the 1940s through the 1960s. The key players are from the U.S. and Great Britain, or became popular there. They include classically trained conductors (Morton Gould, Andre Kostelanetz), swing-era conductors and arrangers, composers for film and theater (Alfred Newman, John Williams), mood or background music composers, and relevant institutions (101 Strings, Reader's Digest). Those who composed for military and brass bands, dance bands, or jazz ensembles are, for the most part, excluded. While some of the more well-known names here can be found in other sources, this title is a useful addition to larger music collections due to its unique and narrow focus.

The brainchild of the third-generation Finnish-American musicologist and music educator Ruth-Esther Hillilä and the musicologist Barbara Blanchard Hong, the Historical dictionary is the only comprehensive English-language reference source devoted to Finnish music culture. It is designed to “unlock Finnish music for scholars and others” (Preface). It provides information on Finnish music history from 50 B.C.E. to the late 20^th century. It covers art music, including operatic and orchestral performers, musicologists, and music educators, but excludes popular music. The majority of the entries are biographical about individuals, but there are also entries for musical organizations such as choirs, festivals and competitions, and some entries for general music terms such as cantor. The encyclopedia also includes a pronunciation guide and a map of Finland that pinpoints locations of major music festivals. The authors draw their information from a variety of sources and document them at length. The breadth and quantity of the entries cannot be matched by more general sources. There is very little overlap with other encyclopedias, with the exception of a few composer entries and the Finnish musical elements discussed in Grove’s Finland article.

This dictionary on the careers of singers who appeared in Hollywood motion pictures provides specialized information while also creating a broader overview of the subject area. The authors, who have worked in the entertainment field, have given 104 singers individual attention (among them familiar names such as Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, and Mae West) with information on their recording activities and appearances in film. The volumes cover the first nine decades of the 20th century.

With this biographical dictionary, Barnhart, a percussionist and Professor at the University of Wyoming, honors the universal language of percussion that transcends ethnic, economic, and sociopolitical boundaries. The volume offers thumbnail sketches of a huge number of percussionists born around 1950 (or earlier) who have performed primarily as soloists (e.g., Keiko Abe, Vida Chenoweth), but also orchestral performers (e.g., Fred Hinger, Vic Firth) and jazz musicians (e.g., Jo Jones, Lionel Hampton). Included are figures who made important contributions to the making and development of percussion instruments (e.g., Avedis Zildjian III). The performers covered are predominantly American and European, with some Asians and South Americans and a very few Africans. Biographies range from a few lines to a page in length and are based on both published sources and correspondence with the subjects. A selected bibliography follows each entry and includes works both by and about the subject; many entries include selected discographies and videographies.