Your Reference Library

[semloh]

*1991(ish?) Penguin Guide. (much ditto, poor thing.)

Ah, very wise!     

I disposed of whole shelves of Penguin record guides over the years, and finally discarded the last ones with the advent of the CD.     What a mistake!   
But in those days, digital meant "relating to one's finger"    ...and we couldn't imagine that LPs would be of much interest in the years ahead!

[eschiss1]

I read and re-read my copy of the Penguin Guide even though I mostly had cassettes and CDs- but it introduced me to names of composers, works, conductors (the opinions I could take or leave, but as a partial list of people to look into it was one of many starting points. Others, like Newman's Sonata Since Beethoven, Cobbett, etc. I borrowed from or read at local libraries... sometime I will see about getting used copies if I can, or reprints of Newman if they ever make them and I can afford them, esp. that volume 3... what of Viole's sonatas, after all?... I wonder if we shall find them, or have. )

[mbhaub]

I keep Groves 3rd edition handy. Many of its entries were gone by ed 5. Spending a lot of time in used book stores has provided a great deal of interesting material, and I suspect we'll never see books of this nature again - at least in any quantity. Fortunately, the hoarder in me has won out and I do have American Record Guide going back over 30 years, Penguin Guides and updates filling a large shelf and many Schwann catalogues, too. Now that Gramophone is online and searchable, I don't feel too bad about not keeping those for the last 40 years.

[Mark Thomas]

Rather a long list I'm afraid (AbeBooks and many, many second-hand book stores will be forever in my debt) :

GENERAL REFERENCE BOOKS:
Altmann: Orchester-Literatur-Katalog (1919)
Altmann: Kammermusik-Katalog (1931)
Bacharach: The Musical Companion (1941)
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1905*, 1919 & 1988)
Brown: British Musical Biography (1897*)
Brown: The Symphonic Repertoire (vols IIIa, IIIb & IV)
Cahn: Das Hoch'sche Konservatorium 1878-1978
Cobbet: Encyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music (2 vols - 1928)
Elson: Modern Composers of Europe (1895)
Ewen: Composers of Yesterday (1937)
Fay: Music Study in Germany (1887)
Fétis: Biographie universelle des musiciens (8 vols & 2 suppl. 1878*)
Goepp: Symphonies & their Meaning (1902)
Grove / New Grove (1st edition,1980 & 2005)
Grove Dictionary of Opera
Hinson: Music for Piano & Orchestra
Mann: Deutschlands Österreich-Ungrans und der Schweitzb Musiker in Wort und Bild (1909*)
Mueller-Reuter: Lexikon der Deutschen Konzertliteratur (1909)
Newman: The Sonata since Beethoven
Niecks: Programme Music (1907)
Pratt: New Encyclopedia of Music & Musicians (1924)
Prosnitz: Handbuch der Klavier-Literatur 1830 bis 1904 (1907*)
Riemann: Dictionary of Music (tr. into English 1897)
Riemann: Geschichte der Musik seit Beethoven (1901)
Ritter: Encyklopädie der Musikgeschichte (vol.5 1901*)
Schumann: Music & Musicians (2 vols tr. into English 1878)
Shaw: Complete Musical Criticism (3 vols)
Slonimsky: Lexicon of Musical Invective
The New Oxford History of Music (Vol.IX: Romantiscism)
Toskey: Concertos for Violin & Viola
Upton: The Standard Operas (1914)
Upton: The Standard Symphonies (1889)
Upton: Standard Musical Biographies (1910*)
Warrack & West: Oxford Dictionary of Opera
Wiegandt: Vergessene Symphonik?
Willeby: Masters of English Music (1896*)
ed. Holden: Viking Opera Guide
ed. Layton: A Guide to the Concerto
ed. Layton: A Guide to the Symphony
ed. Paine: Famous Composers & their Works (1891)

COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES OR REFERENCE BOOKS:
Abert: Johann Joseph Abert (1916)
Analecta Lisztiana I - Liszt & his World
Anon: Jean Louis Nicodé (1910*)
Banister: George Alexander Macfarren (1892)
Becker: Giacomo Meyerbeer
Beckermann: New Worls of Dvorak
Bennett: Forty Years of Music 1865-1905 (autobiography 1908*)
Bowen: Free Artist (1939 biography of the Rubinstein brothers)
Brook: Six Great Russian Composers (1946)
Damrosch: My Musical Life (autobiography)
Dibble: C. Hubert H. Parry
Dibble: Charles Villiers Stanford
Fifield: Max Bruch
Gerlach: August Klughardt (1902)
Gilman: Edward Macdowell (1908)
Graves: Life of Sir George Groves
Greenwood: Correspondence of Wagner & Liszt
Hagan: Felicien David
Harding: Massenet
Hilmes: Cosima Wagner
Hofmann: Felix Draeseke
Irvine: Massenet
Jordan: Fromethal Halevy
Koehler: Wagner
Krueck: The Symphonies of Felix Draeseke
La Mara: Liszt und die Frauen (1919)
Moulin-Eckhartd: Letters of Hans von Bülow*)
Raff: Joachim Raff: Ein Lebensbild (1925)
Raff: Leaves from Life's Tree (Raff's daughter's autobiography)
Rees: Camille Saint-Saens
Rimsky-Korsakov: My Musical Life (autobiography)
Roemer: Joseph Joachim Raff (1982)
Russell: The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas (1927*)
Saint-Saëns: Musical Memories (autobiography)
Schaefer: Chronologish-Systematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Joachim Raff's (1888)
Scharwenka, Xaver: Sounds from my Life (autobiography)
Smidak: Moscheles
Swafford: Johannes Brams
Taylor: Anton Rubinstein
Thomas: A Catalogue of the Music of Joachim Raff
Tischendorf: Norbert Burgmueller Werkeverzeichnis (2011)
Todd: Mendelssohn
Wagner: My Life (autobiography)
Walker: Franz Liszt (3 vols)
Walker: Hans von Buelow
Williams: Franz Liszt selected Letters
von Bülow: The Early Correspondence of Hans von Bülow (Tr. into English 1896*)

* - Digital copy.

[albion]

Thanks for all these latest additions - I find it fascinating to get an indication of other members' interests. As Mark has included biographies and other items in his list I might as well do the same. These come off the shelves somewhat less frequently than the ones detailed in the first post ....

-: Musical Britain 1951 - Compiled by the Music Critic of 'The Times' (OUP, 1951)
Ainger, Michael: Gilbert and Sullivan - A Dual Biography (OUP, 2002)
Allen, Reginald: The Life and Work of Sir Arthur Sullivan (Godine, 1975)
Anderson, Robert: Elgar (Dent, 1993)
Anderton, H. Orsmond: Granville Bantock (John Lane, 1915)
Barker, Duncan James: The Music of Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (1847-1935) - A Critical Study (PhD, Durham, 1999)
Benoliel, Bernard: Parry before Jerusalem (Ashgate, 1997)
Bliss, Arthur: As I remember (Faber, 1989 [rev])
Boyd, Malcolm: Grace Williams (University of Wales, 1980)
Carley, Lionel & Threlfall, Robert: Delius - A Life in Pictures (OUP, 1977)
Carpenter, Humphrey: Benjamin Britten - A Biography (Faber, 1992)
Crowther, Andrew: Gilbert of 'Gilbert and Sullivan' - His Life and Character (History Press, 2011)
Dibble, Jeremy: Charles Villiers Stanford - Man and Musician (OUP, 2002)
Dibble, Jeremy: C. Hubert H. Parry - His Life and Music (Clarendon, 1992)
Dickinson, A.E.F: Vaughan Williams (Faber, 1963)
Eden, David: Gilbert & Sullivan - The Creative Conflict (Associated University Press, 1986)
Evans, Peter: The Music of Benjamin Britten (Dent, 1979)
Foreman, Lewis: Bax - A Composer and his Times (Scolar, 1983)
Holden, Amanda (ed): The Viking Opera Guide (Viking, 1993)
Holst, Imogen: Gustav Holst - A Biography (OUP, 1969)
Holst, Imogen: A Scrap-book for the Holst Birthplace Museum (Holst Museum, 1978)
Holst, Imogen: A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music (Faber, 1974)
Howes, Frank: The English Musical Renaissance (Secker & Warburg, 1966)
Hughes, Gervase: The Music of Arthur Sullivan (St Martin's Press, 1960)
Hurd, Michael: Rutland Boughton and the Glastonbury Festivals (Clarendon, 1993)
Jacobs, Arthur: Arthur Sullivan - A Victorian Musician (Scolar, 1992 [rev])
Kennedy, Michael: Britten (Dent, 1993 [rev])
Kennedy, Michael: Portrait of Walton (OUP, 1989)
Kennedy, Michael: The Works of Ralph Vaughan Wiliams (OUP, 1964)
Lunn, John E. & Vaughan Williams, Ursula: Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Pictorial Biography (OUP, 1971)
MacDonald, Malcolm (ed): Havergal Brian on Music I - British Music (Toccata,1986)
MacDonald, Malcolm: The Symphonies of Havergal Brian I-III (Kahn & Averill, 1983, 1991 [rev], 1983)
McVeagh, Diana: Gerald Finzi - His Life and Music (Boydell, 2005)
Meredith, Anthony & Harris, Paul: Malcolm Arnold - Rogue Genius (Thames/ Elkin, 2004)
Moore, Jerrold Northrop: Edward Elgar - A Creative Life (OUP, 1987)
Nettel, Reginald: Ordeal by Music - The Strange Case of Havergal Brian (OUP, 1945)
Nettel, Reginald: Havergal Brian - The Man and his Music (Dobson, 1976)
Palmer, Christopher (ed): The Britten Companion (Faber, 1984)
Parker, Christopher: The Music of Sir Frederic Cowen (1852-1935) - A Critical Study (PhD, Durham, 2007)
Porte, John F: Elgar and his Music (Pitman, 1933)
Porte, John F: Sir Edward Elgar (Kegan Paul, 1921)
Redwood, Christopher (ed): An Elgar Companion (Sequoia, 1982)
Rodmell, Paul: Charles Villers Stanford (Ashgate, 2002)
Scott-Sutherland: Arnold Bax (Dent, 1973)
Self, Geoffrey: The Hiawatha Man - The Life and Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Scolar, 1995)
Seymour, Claire: The Operas of Benjamin Britten - Expression and Evasion (Boydell, 2004)
Short, Michael: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music (OUP, 1990)
Stedman: W.S. Gilbert - A Classic Victorian and his Theatre (OUP, 1996)
Tierney, Neil: William Walton - His Life and Music (Robert Hale, 1984)
Vaughan Williams, Ursula: R.V.W. - A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams (OUP, 1964)
Walker, Ernest: Music in England (Clarendon, 1952 [rev])
Watson, Monica: York Bowen - A Centenary Tribute (Thames, 1984)
Willeby, Charles: Masters of English Music (Osgood, 1893)
Wren, Gayden: A Most Ingenious Paradox - The Art of Gilbert and Sullivan (OUP, 2001)
Young, Percy M: A History of British Music (Ernest Benn, 1967)
Young, Percy M: Sir Arthur Sullivan (Dent, 1971)

... but they're certainly effective as wall-insulation.

[albion]

I suppose that all of us should also include the often-illuminating booklet-notes in the 100s or 1000s of CDs that we own.

[Dundonnell]

My more modern musical/ biographical studies of composers:

Black, Leo: Edmund Rubbra, Symphonist(The Boydell Press, 2008)
Dickinson, Peter: The Music of Lennox Berkeley(The Boydell Press, rev.ed. 2003)
MacDonald, Malcolm: Brahms(Schirmer Books, 1990)
MacDonald, Malcolm: The Symphonies of Havergal Brian I-III (Kahn & Averill, 1983, 1991 [rev], 1983)
MacDonald, Malcolm: Schoenberg(The Master Musicians Series: J.M. Dent, 1976)

Many more of an older vintage to follow.

[eschiss1]

Have read the MacDonald books on loan from the uni. library in the past and think very very well of them...
Albion- when not ultra-frustrating- agreed. (A recent-ish recording which I don't own of a Joachim concerto places its premiere date several decades after it actually, if Alan Walker has his (apparently?) researched facts right anyway, occurred. I can see that Joachim might want to erase his connection with Liszt (well- I assume, anyway, that it is from a biography or interview with him... Walker's source is basically schedules etc. of the concerthall in which the premiere took place, contemporary reviews, etc.) but not that we have to concur, but the false date has nevertheless spread since.)

[Dundonnell]

Have read the MacDonald books on loan from the uni. library in the past and think very very well of them...

I didn't buy them The author very kindly sent them to me shortly after their publication

[eschiss1]

Ah, I have a few books like that (and should have mentioned them in my list actually- that I didn't wasn't because of such a connection, I managed to forget them and a few others still )

[eschiss1]

Also, the (English) Chamber Music in Meyer's title I should note only goes up to Purcell. Doesn't prevent it from being a very interesting (and excellent in my honest though amateur opinion) book on many, many levels. That was the author's area of study - manuscripts etc. of Renaissance to Baroque chamber music in Europe generally (and his book is interesting too, like Walker's, because of the not-so-"strictly musical" areas of study it connects- the social and economic life and roles of musicians during various periods, the varying doctrines affecting instruments in church, the effect of Cromwell's Revolution on musicians and music...

[Dundonnell]

I should, of course, emphasise that I am delighted that he did because all are superb books which I have read and re-read many times

[albion]

I disposed of whole shelves of Penguin record guides over the years, and finally discarded the last ones with the advent of the CD.

The decline of the Penguin Guide has been both steady and (I fear) regrettably inevitable given the explosion of new recordings. I just retain two copies (2002 and 2005/6). The internet is now a much better source for reliable reviews.

[semloh]

Thanks for all these latest additions - I find it fascinating to get an indication of other members' interests. As Mark has included biographies and other items in his list I might as well do the same. These come off the shelves somewhat less frequently than the ones detailed in the first post ....

Fantastic collection, Albion! If only there was more time to read.....   

Which British composer, would you say, is the most interesting from a biographical point of view? I am always fascinated by Elgar; I love his slight eccentricity, his endearing love of children and games, and his delight in words. But maybe there's an 'unsung' who's interesting? 

BTW, I just went to the charity shop in town and found an 'as new' hardback copy of The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (1994) for $8 ....

[Dundonnell]

David Wright seems fascinated by Elgar as well......no, "fascinated" is not the right word at all.....repulsed, obsessed would be better.

Something about bloomers, if I recall   I just stop reading him at this point