Familiar to conductors, orchestra managers, and music librarians, this classic sourcebook of information necessary to plan orchestral programs and organize rehearsals has been greatly expanded and revised. The fourth edition features nearly 6,400 compositions that cover the standard repertoire for American orchestras, clearer entries, and a more useful system of appendixes. Included for the first time are entries from the American Symphony Orchestra League's OLIS repertoire database. (
International Musician )
It's such an incredible wealth of information! (David Rahbee, conductor )
I have been an orchestral librarian since 1987 and the Daniels book has been [used] as my Biblia...not only by me [but] also my conductor and many musicians and administrators, who acknowledge the great importance of your book in the orchestra world. Let me tell you thanks because you have [inspired] me to do better work... (Juan Carlos Urdapilleta, Librarian, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Guanajuato, México )
...should be indispensable to anyone involved with the performance or programming of orchestral music, including program annotators, orchestra managers, librarians, arts administrators, conductors, musicians, broadcasters, discographers, and choral groups. (
Notes: The Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association )
The instrumentations are much clearer (I have to admit we started adding all the percussion instruments to our catalogue records a few years ago as we felt it was much more complete), while the additional notes are brilliant. (In particular, I noticed the description of
La Mer, I had never seen it explained so well.) (Peter Linnett, Librarian )
For those looking to expand a group's repertoire in need of a piece to fit a precise slot on a program, Daniels' handbook can be a godsend. Following the main body of the volume is a series of indices that enable a user to locate works by such criteria as choral forces, solo voices, solo instruments, specific instrumentations, duration, a composer's nationality, suitability for children's concerts, and even composer anniversaries through 2016....Daniels has wisely anticipated the needs of his readers. The index by duration is subdivided by composer nationality and birth date, making it possible, for example, to find a ten-minute work by an eighteenth century French composer very quickly. With its ties to OPAS and OLIS, major professional orchestras will probably opt to use Daniels' work through its electronic options. For more modest ensembles and student groups who want to avoid annual subscription fees, this volume should be an indispensable item, and novice orchestral librarians will especially benefit from Daniel's frequent personal comments on everything from a piece's origins to the reliability of particular editions and even to issues of performance practice. Such idiosyncrasies bring the experience of several veteran orchestral librarians to the next generation and make Daniels' handbook much more than just a useful reference work. (2008, Vol. 54/4
Fontes Artis Musicae )
This guide to orchestral repertoire is a combination of databases by Daniels, a conductor, and the Orchestra Library Information Service. Organized alphabetically by composer, each entry lists title, instrumentation, editor, publisher, significant notes, and includes overtures, symphonies, masses, concertos, and arrangements. Appendixes list works by chorus, solo voice, solo instrument, instrumentation, duration, works for youth orchestras, anniversaries of composers, and composer groups for thematic programs. The reference contains a title index and list of publishers and sources, and the new edition has more details, such as doublings, equipment, composers' dates, and birth and death places. (
Reference and Research Book News )
...a useful printed source... (
American Reference Books Annual )
...
Orchestral Music has come to maturity....the 431 pages of composer listing is as comprehensive as it is extensive....If any reader of this review has ever found 'the answer' in earlier editions of
Orchestral Music then that reader will surely be pleased by the latest incarnation. (
Notes: The Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, June 2006 )
