"Composer Gagné has been writing on the topic of modern and contemporary classical music for about three decades. Her dictionary focuses on composers of and, occasionally, the musicians performing, concert music during the 19th and 20th centuries. It consists primarily of an alphabetical listing of almost 400 people and topics and lacks a table of contents that would alert readers to other, smaller sections. These include a key to acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, and a useful introduction that defines modern and contemporary classical music and describes "how techniques and technology interacted with the art.". The bibliography begins with a table of contents and an introduction that suggests several seminal books on broad topics, essential writings by composers, and books about composers and compositional analysis. It is divided into sections by composer and by format (e.g.
, books, journals, and websites about individual composers, multiple composers, and organizations). BOTTOM LINE This dictionary will be an excellent and useful addition to high school and college libraries as well as to the collections of modern classical music aficionados." -- Library Journal "When most people think of classical music, they summon up images of tinkly baroque or sweeping Romantic music. Relatively few instinctively go for the dissonance, polyrhythm, and atonality of the modernist movement, still fewer for the minimalism, multimedia, and free improvisation movements that are hallmarks of postmodernism. The Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music focuses on these movements worldwide, from 1890 to the present. Included are pop, jazz, and rock composers and musicians whose work overlaps classical music or is radical enough in its own field to merit inclusion.The lengthy introductory essay provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, covering not just the movements, composers, and musicians but methods, styles, and media peculiar to modern and contemporary music. A detailed chronology sets the stage, beginning in 1890 with Satie and Debussy and ending in 2010 with Tyranny''s Scriabin''s Chord--surely a broad swath--encompassing works by Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, and the Beatles.
The more than 400 alphabetically organized entries are brief but informative, running from a paragraph for lesser-known composers (e.g., Ursula Oppens) to two pages for movements (e.g., Postmodernism). The writing style is smooth and engaging, informative without being belabored. Cross-references are noted within entries by bold type, and see also references end the entries. The organizational structure and cross-referencing work well in lieu of an index.
A long bibliography is extensive enough to need its own table of contents and is organized by categories covering print works of general interest, histories, individual and multiple composers, and interviews. There are separate sections for journals and reviews as well as websites. Virtually alone in its field, where many competing works are more specialized or narrowly focused, the Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Music provides a good starting point for those seeking to understand a somewhat esoteric field. A sound purchase for large public and academic libraries." -- Booklist "Primarily biographical, this concise dictionary for music of the 20th and early 21st centuries describes 350 composers and performers; the author contributes 400 dictionary entries, many of which present styles or instruments. Composers known at the turn of the 20th century are covered only if their music and ideas were futuristic; also included are composers of jazz and popular songs who overlapped into concert music (e.g., Ornette Coleman).
Gagné (independent scholar) presents a wide array of international musicians, inconary will be an excellent and useful addition to high school and college libraries as well as to the collections of modern classical music aficionados." -- Library Journal "When most people think of classical music, they summon up images of tinkly baroque or sweeping Romantic music. Relatively few instinctively go for the dissonance, polyrhythm, and atonality of the modernist movement, still fewer for the minimalism, multimedia, and free improvisation movements that are hallmarks of postmodernism. The Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music focuses on these movements worldwide, from 1890 to the present. Included are pop, jazz, and rock composers and musicians whose work overlaps classical music or is radical enough in its own field to merit inclusion.The lengthy introductory essay provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, covering not just the movements, composers, and musicians but methods, styles, and media peculiar to modern and contemporary music. A detailed chronology sets the stage, beginning in 1890 with Satie and Debussy and ending in 2010 with Tyranny''s Scriabin''s Chord--surely a broad swath--encompassing works by Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, and the Beatles. The more than 400 alphabetically organized entries are brief but informative, running from a paragraph for lesser-known composers (e.
g., Ursula Oppens) to two pages for movements (e.g., Postmodernism). The writing style is smooth and engaging, informative without being belabored. Cross-references are noted within entries by bold type, and see also references end the entries. The organizational structure and cross-referencing work well in lieu of an index. A long bibliography is extensive enough to need its own table of contents and is organized by categories covering print works of general interest, histories, individual and multiple composers, and interviews.
There are separate sections for journals and reviews as well as websites. Virtually alone in its field, where many competing works are more specialized or narrowly focused, the Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Music provides a good starting point for those seeking to understand a somewhat esoteric field. A sound purchase for large public and academic libraries." -- Booklist "Primarily biographical, this concise dictionary for music of the 20th and early 21st centuries describes 350 composers and performers; the author contributes 400 dictionary entries, many of which present styles or instruments. Composers known at the turn of the 20th century are covered only if their music and ideas were futuristic; also included are composers of jazz and popular songs who overlapped into concert music (e.g., Ornette Coleman). Gagné (independent scholar) presents a wide array of international musicians, incd chronology sets the stage, beginning in 1890 with Satie and Debussy and ending in 2010 with Tyranny''s Scriabin''s Chord--surely a broad swath--encompassing works by Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, and the Beatles.
The more than 400 alphabetically organized entries are brief but informative, running from a paragraph for lesser-known composers (e.g., Ursula Oppens) to two pages for movements (e.g., Postmodernism). The writing style is smooth and engaging, informative without being belabored. Cross-references are noted within entries by bold type, and see also references end the entries. The organizational structure and cross-referencing work well in lieu of an index.
A long bibliography is extensive enough to need its own table of contents and is organized by categories covering print works of general interest, histories, individual and multiple composers, and interviews. There are separate sections for journals and reviews as well as websites. Virtually alone in its field, where many competing works are more specialized or narrowly focused, the Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Music provides a good starting point for those seeking to understand a somewhat esoteric field. A sound purchase for large public and academic libraries." -- Booklist "Primarily biographical, this concise dictionary for music of the 20th and early 21st centuries describes 350 composers and performers; the author contributes 400 dictionary entries, many of which present styles or instruments. Composers known at the turn of the 20th century are covered only if their music and ideas were futuristic; also included are composers of jazz and popular songs who overlapped into concert music (e.g., Ornette Coleman).
Gagné (independent scholar) presents a wide array of international musicians, inc or narrowly focused, the Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Music provides a good starting point for those seeking to understand a somewhat esoteric field. A sound purchase for large public and academic libraries." -- Booklist "Primarily biographical, this concise dictionary for music of the 20th and early 21st centuries describes 350 composers and performers; the author contributes 400 dictionary entries, many of which present styles or instruments. Composers known at the turn of the 20th century are covered only if their music and ideas were futuristic; also included are composers of jazz and popular songs who overlapped into concert music (e.g., Ornette Coleman). Gagné (independent scholar) presents a wide array of international musicians, including those that are exclusively performers (orchestras, singers, instrumentalists). A chronology from 1890 to 2010 lists major works.
The introduction presents a concise history of modern music, and identifies several composers and titles of the various styles (harmonic, rhythmic, timbral) that became 20th-century music. This dictionary introduces many terms not present in previous works, such as "Extended Performance Techniques." It also divides terms into multiple entries with more details; e.g., "Aleatory" music is supplemented by "Chance," "Open Form," "Indeterminacy," and "Elastic Form." Extensive bibliographies conclude the dictionary. Boldface font for referenc.