Previous editions of this work, from the first edited by Percy Scholes in 1952, to the fifth of 2007 edited by Michael and Joyce Kennedy, were called The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. “Readers should not worry, however, that they are getting a concise dictionary by another name. That Concise Dictionary had, by the time of its Fifth Edition […] outgrown its supposedly bigger sibling and the simple decision was taken to drop the adjective and remove the anachronism” (Preface). In any case, a dictionary of almost a thousand pages is hardly concise!
So what else has changed? According to the new editor the previous edition focussed on updating and increasing its coverage of performers, whereas “the present edition concentrates on contemporary composers and popular and non‐Western music”. Hitherto, these two latter had been lightly treated, so they “have been expanded with the addition of nearly 150 entries”. Performers have not been neglected and “hundreds of biographies have been reviewed and updated, as well as entries on institutions, orchestras, opera houses, and more”. In addition to reviewing the previous edition “to remove any redundancies, archaic, outmoded, or politically incorrect language and opinions” the new editor has “sought to retain its historical strengths, especially regarding 20th‐century performers, musical terms […] and an exceptional depth of information on British musical life and history” (Preface). Other new features are “over 250 new entries to cover popular music, ethnomusicology, modern and contemporary composers, musical analysis, and recording technology; abbreviations have been expanded to improve accessibility and readability” (cover blurb). Two appendices have been introduced. One is a list of French, German and Italian musical terms with their English translations; the second is an abbreviations list of letters commonly used in musical scores and musical writing. Clearly the new editorial broom sweeps clean!
The Oxford Dictionary of Music covers composers, conductors and performers; directors, producers and designers; critics, writers and scholars; music journals and other publications; individual works, including opera and ballets; orchestras and companies; famous venues such as opera houses, concert halls and music festivals; musical terms, styles (e.g. Spectalism, Chromaticism and Tutti) and forms (e.g. Film Scores, Chamber Music, Hymns and Funk); thematic entries such as Acoustics, Absolute Pitch, and historical periods; and instruments from the familiar to the less so (e.g. Sheng, Rabab and Sackbut). As with other recent Oxford dictionaries, web links have been introduced which are regularly updated on a companion website; 200 such links are claimed.
The work is said to contain 10,000 entries, which works out at ten‐and‐a‐half entries a page, the majority of which are brief paragraphs. Handel, though, has three columns (one and a half pages) and Beethoven four (two pages). In places I found there was a touch too much abbreviation, thus the Beatles entry includes the phrase “Group's nat. popularity as qt began … ”, which is on the margin of clarity, but I would not wish this excellent compilation to be any larger. From Ganga (double‐headed snare drum), Ganze Pause (a whole note rest), Kurt Gänzl (author), Gapped (musical term) and Garage (form of rock music) to Zweiunddreissigstelnote (32nd note; the demisemiquaver), Der Zwerg (“The Dwarf”, opera), Zyklus (Cycle) (work for solo percussion) and Teresa Zylis‐Gara (Polish composer), the international spread is impressive and its subject coverage wide. I was particularly pleased to see the generous listings of composers' works.
The Oxford Dictionary of Music is a work of reference that is up‐to‐date, easy‐to‐use, and as authoritative as they come. Physical production is excellent. It is definitely one of those “must have” reference works that a wide range of users expect to find on the library shelves.
