Customer Reviews

The Oxford Dictionary of Music

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As a person who has taught literally thousands of students the joys of music, I'm always searching for a better music dictionary to recommend to my students and colleagues. I know I'd want a dictionary with enough diagrams to show the various music symbols and what they mean. I would want a book which also includes some biographical data as well. But here is where this book totally and I mean completely misses the mark. The vast part of the text is nothing more than a short to medium biography of just about every musician/composer you might (or might not) wish to learn about. The book should have been entitled, "Oxford BIOGRAPHICAL Dictionary of Music". As for notation? Forget it. Symbols? (such as what do note "accents" look like? Forget that, too. What about the parts of a harpsichord (for example). Well, no diagrams at all and a mere overview too complicated for the layman. In fact, there are NO diagrams in the entire work.
I certainly would get more out of a 'pocket' music dictionary than I would out of this. Better yet, try "The Harvard Dictionary of Music" which is considerably better. As much as I love the United Kingdom (I studied there)--I'd much rather defer to Harvard on this one!

I have had this book (The Dictionary) on my shelf for a number of years now (as a softcover). And before the current edition (1994), I owned the older edition.

My interest is mainly 20th century serious music, and jazz. Unlike the "Oxford Companion to Music", the Dictionary covers 20th century relatively well. Many obscure composers are listed who are not listed in other books, for example Lebrecht's "Complete Companion to 20th Century Music". As such the Dictionary indispensable for me. The information is more factual (and less opinionated) than Lebrecht's. I particularly like the alphabetic arrangement which allows me to quickly look up someone whose music I have discovered by change, or whose name was mentioned in an article or whatever. The listing of works by each composer is reasonably complete, particularly for well-know composers.

Of course the Dictionary covers more than composers or even 20th century composers. It covers artists (performers and conductors), major works, musical terms and forms, organisations, instruments, venues, etc. And entries are cross-referenced, as one would expect. The Dictionary contains very few illustrations.

There are 12,500 entries in the second edition, so one would not expect a huge depth. You will often need to know more. However, the Dictionary is a comprehensive, detailed, reliable reference work on music, and as such a good starting point for most topics.

I have both the Harvard Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Dictionary of Music. The Oxford seems to focus on bios while the Harvard on terms. Both focus more on serious music than popular music. If you are are looking for brief biographical sketches than this is a great book. The good thing about this book is they will list the more rare composers (and many of them) along with the more well known ones. There are terms listed, perhaps more than enough for you, and you may find terms which the Harvard Dictionary excluded. This book is also more sturdy than the Harvard dictionary, with thicker pages. To sumarize, if you want a book with bios, get the oxford, if you want one with terms, get the harvard. If you want to get a cheaper book on terms, then get the Oxford Dictionary of Musical Terms.

For people buying their first music dictionary or trying to decide between the two leaders (Harvard and Oxford), this is the one to get. While both contain a wealth of information, you will find the Oxford to be superior to Harvard. Not only are there more entries, but Oxford also contains more up-to-date information. You don't buy a book like this every day, so spend a couple extra bucks and pick Oxford.

This dictionary was in beautiful condition and arrived very quickly. Very impressed with cusomer service. Will look for this vendor when purchasing in the future. Thanks!

excellent book. It will answer a lot of questions for you, and cause you to ask more...

I agree with another reviewer. I chose the Oxford Dictioanry over the Harvard one, and know I made the right choice for me. It has given me the answers I wanted.