The Oxford Companion to Music

I bought this because I miss my recently acquired Groves, which is at our summer home and find the Norton/Groves Concise a little too concise. So I bought this and the Harvard to help me with my woefully inadequate music education. Liner notes will only get you just so far. Anyway, this book offers quite good biographs particularly for the major composers. Even secondary figures typically get 2 or 3 paragraphs. Musicology stuff is good, but generally the Harvard is my go-to for technical information. Between the two of them I feel like the bases are covered sufficiently for all practical purposes. If I want greater detail I will just have to wait until I can access my Groves. Also, the amount of information that is contained, the quality of the research, the writing, the paper, the binding, all things together, make this book an amazing bargain.

The Oxford Companion to Music is an excellent reference work for those who love classical music. It's probably not detailed or technical enough for most professional musicians; but those who enjoy listening to the endless variety and vast range of emotions of classical music (that's a plug!) will find the OCM can considerably enhance their enjoyment. This is a big work of 1,434 pages; but the typeface, while small, is well-chosen. It's clean and clear; even these old eyes read it with no difficulty. There are extended articles on famous conductors and all the major composers plus numerous others that you never heard of. The biographies are helpful in placing a composer's works in the context of his life. Especially helpful is a well-chosen but unannotated bibliography after most of the biographies. There are also major articles on different forms of music, types of instruments, etc. I thought I knew a lot about the sonata form, but I know more now after reading that article. There is almost no analysis of individual works; to include them would probably have doubled the size of this work. I've used a number of classical reference works over the years, but the OCM is easily the best. It's complete enough so as not to oversimplify too drastically but not so long that "you learn more about penguins that you really want to know."

I wanted to increase my reference library for graduate school and was worried such a large volume as this would come to me in a less than ideal condition. Much to my surprise, not only was it well wrapped, cushioned, and in excellent condition, but it also arrived about 6 days earlier than planned. Well worth the price, in my opinion!

This updated (2002) Oxford Companion is probably the best choice if you are looking for a serious reference for the many aspects of musicology AND in-depth biographies of the major and minor composers. This guide gives about 2-4 full pages of text to "the big guys" like Bach, Beethoven and Liszt and only 1-3 paragraphs to the less influential composers like Biber or Locatelli. But this will probably not be enough to fully satisfy the more serious student's interest (the multi-volume New Grove Dictionary is the place to go then). The OCM also gives a few pages each to describing the major eras of music (Renaissance, Baroque etc). Its descriptions of musical terms (like what is allegro, a sarabande dance, a hurdy gurdy etc) are written in straightforward language but are usually not excessively descriptive. However, some topics get quite a thorough treatment - such as the many aspects of harmony and sound - so the OCM is certainly not any "lightweight" reference. Of course, it all reads in the tone of an encyclopedia and thus does not really make captivating reading for the non-music major. Other guides to classical music are better at introducing musicology to the newby, such as the NPR Encyclopedia or David Dubal's compelling "Essential Cannon of Classical Music." But, if you are a more serious music student or listener with a greater interest for in-depth musicology (and already have enough references on the lives of the composers), then the Harvard Music Dictionary is probably the top choice. It is pure musicology (with the composer biographies in a separate, companion volume). As a result of such focus, the Harvard Dictionary has more space for more detailed treatment of each music topic. It is slightly more technical in nature (superb graphs, charts) and academic in its writing compared to the Oxford Companion. But, either one is excellent and can be had on Amazon marketplace used for about 1/3 the list price.

Very useful to a fan of classical music.

Wonderful reference.

Excellent high-quality book at a great price. Hard cover. It's also in perfect shape. Excellent.

My opinion as a graduate music student is that this is the best companion available!

Perfect

This book came 2 days before its due date and in impeccable condition. I book was described as "used but in good condition", but seriously, it was immaculate. You would have thought I had just gone out and bought in brand new. The book itself is wonderful and so informative and very well written. There are large sections dedicated to musical movements and composers and and technical diagrams explaining the way music works. It is a great read whether to sit down to read it or just have a quick glance through now and then. Its really one book that, however you read it, you will discover something new everytime. I am so happy with it and I would recommend it to anyone. I am actually going to order another copy of the book for a friend. I know she will love it too.

If you're a serious classical music appreciator, this seminal work is your indispensable guide and companion. It is compendious - as you'd expect - but easily written and easily understood. No household should be without it! My only complaint is that this second edition - occurring 47 years after the first.- was itself published in 2002. Time for a Third Edition, I think!

First point: two of the most critical reviews here both misinterpret an index that's visible in "Look Inside", even though the introduction to that index (on p 1399) clearly states that it is an index to people mentioned in articles, not to people with articles about them. (And when you stop to think, we don't need an index for those people - it would be like an index to a dictionary.) Aside from this point, I own this book and have waited for a couple of weeks before reviewing it. In the articles on subjects I already know about, I have found find no significant faults. There are some subjects which are covered briefly, but if they weren't, it would be a very large book indeed. Operas are included briefly - Tristan und Isolde just gets two lines - but "Tristan Chord" and "leitmotif" get significant coverage, and I've already got Kobbé. Conductors have to be important to be included - Carlos Kleiber is only mentioned in the article about his father, and Colin Davis is missing completely, as is Norman del Mar. Illustrations and music examples are used sparingly, but are there when needed. The eight quavers shown for paradiddle confirm what it is much more effectively than more lines of text, for example.

I'm a lover of classical music who has had no musical education to speak of. I cannot imagine a more useful or authoritative book for people in my position.