Richard Baker's Companion to Music: A Personal A-Z Guide to Classical Music - Hardcover

Baker, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563364149 ISBN 13: 9780563364146

Publisher: Bbc Pubns, 1994

Synopsis

Book by Baker, Richard

About this title

From Booklist:

Baker's Companion is a straightforward, alphabetically arranged handbook dealing with (mostly) classical music of the Western world. Compiled by a veteran presenter of radio and television programs for the British Broadcasting Company, the content reflects its British origin and the interests of the compiler.

Intended for the layperson interested in classical music, the clearly written brief entries, which cover from Palestrina to the 1990s, include composers, soloists, orchestras, concert halls, famous compositions, musical forms, and instruments. Most entries are 6-10 lines in length, although broad subjects (Choral Music, Jazz, the Proms) receive a two-page spread. Not surprisingly, British names (Elgar, Simon Rattle) are often granted double spreads. There seems to be inconsistency in space allocations. Kiri Te Kanawa rates a two-page spread, while Birgit Nilsson is dismissed with four lines and Joan Sutherland with 28. The two-page spreads are not in exact alphabetical order, and an inexperienced reader may not find the topic sought.

Scattered throughout the text are 16 full-page color photographs as well as approximately 75 small, clear black-and-white illustrations, each adjacent to the appropriate entry. A time chart of the life span of 62 composers concludes the handbook.

Baker's Companion is a reference book for the musical beginner or the concert goer who has little background. More personal in tone and less scholarly than The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (1986), The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (1988), and others, it will be useful in high-school and public library reference departments.

From Library Journal:

A BBC music programmer for many years, Baker has set out here to "put together a handy compendium of musical information based on the enquiries I have had in the past," all for the benefit of the amateur enthusiast. The result is a series of brief entries (some as short as three lines) on personalities, pieces, terms, genres, instruments, and the like with double-page spreads on broader topics (e.g., jazz, opera, piano, Bach) interspersed throughout. This book was clearly intended for casual browsing, and the breezy style makes it entertaining reading. But the lack of an index and many idiosyncrasies in the book's arrangement-e.g., pieces are mentioned only once, either under the composer's name or in a title entry, with no way for one who does not know the composer's name to find many titles-prevent it from being useful even as a home reference. Recommended not as a reference but for its entertainment value.
Martin Jenkins, Wright State Univ. Lib., Dayton, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bbc Pubns
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0563364149
• ISBN 13: 9780563364146
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192