General Bibliography

Compiled by Robert T. Kelley

The following is a bibliography of important non-fictional works in areas of interest to me. Several categories have yet to be filled out as of yet, especially in the music history section. My eventual goal is to include annotations for every book on the list. Books that do not have complete bibliographic information probably have not yet been examined. A few books on the list may be out of print. In these few cases the quality of book seemed to outweigh the prospect of not including the book due to availability concerns.

General Reading Literature Other General Bibliographies
Philosophy Math and its Applications / Science and Philosophy / Cosmology Eastern Philosophy Hinduism / Avida Vedanta philosophical tradition Buddhism and Zen
Music Theory General Analysis Harmony Counterpoint Theme and Motive Musical Form Schenkerian Analysis Twentieth-Century Techniques Set Theory Literature / Musicology / Style / History / Biography Western Music History Overviews Early Music Ancient (Classical) Middle Ages Renaissance Common Practice Period Music Baroque Classical (Neo-Classical) Romantic Twentieth-Century Music General Post Romanticism Impressionism Second Viennese School Neoclassicism Total Serialism Electronic Music Aleatory Music Minimalism Neo-Romanticism Keyboard Literature / Biography General Early Keyboard Music Twentieth Century Keyboard Music Performance (some general, mostly keyboard) Technique Performance Practice Composition Craft Orchestration Notation Aesthetics / Music Philosophy Pre Twentieth-Century Twentieth Century

General Reading Literature Adler, Mortimer and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1940, 1967, 1972. Also available in a recent inexpensive hardback edition by MJF Books. The Classic Bestselling Guide to Reading Books and Accessing Information. Adler's book stresses the importance of growing and gaining enlightenment through reading books. The author outlines four levels of reading ability, and gives expert advice on acheiving the highest level. Other General Bibliographies Adler, Mortimer. How to Read a Book: Appendix A, "A Recommended Reading List", pp. 347-362.
Philosophy Math and its Applications / Science and Philosophy / Cosmology Boden, Margaret A. Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1977 (1st ed.), 1987 (2nd ed., expanded). ISBN# 0-465-00456-3 (pbk.) (Notes from back cover) Stressing the relevance of computers and computer programs to the understanding of human nature, this enthralling volume is the book on a central topic of our time. Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time, from the Big Bang to Black Holes. New York: Bantam Books, 1988 (hardcover) 1990 (paperback). ISBN# 0-553-34614-8. A layman's introduction to the major issues of cosmology. Not as heavy-duty as Hawking's scholarly publications. Hofstadter, Douglas R. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. A Metaphorical Fugue on Minds and Machines in the Spirit of Lewis Carroll. This winner of the Pulitzer Prize unites such disparate subjects as math, art, music, computer science, artificial intelligence, genetics, and Zen in the study of inconsistency in formal systems. This philosophical tour de force presents ideas that are essential for the true intellectual to have under his/her belt. Horgan, John. The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age. New York: Broadway Books, 1996 (paperback). Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1996 (hardcover). ISBN# 0-553-06174-7 (pbk.). A strange, controversial, and challenging work. "John Horgan buttonholes the most interesting scientists on the planet--he listens, he argues, he thinks." -James Gleick "[In this] intellectually bracing, sweepingly reported, often brilliant and sometimes bullying book, John Horgan makes the powerful case that the best and most exciting scientific discoveries are behind us." -New York Times Book Review, front page review Garland, Trudi Hammel, and Charity Vaughan Kahn. Math and Music: Harmonious Connections. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour Publications, 1995. A fine introduction to the many ways mathematical thinking has entered into the minds of composers. It also deals mathematically with the distinction between musical sound and noise. Gudder, Stanley. A Mathematical Journey. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1976. 434 pp. Hardbound. ISBN# 0-07-025105-3. Includes bibliographies and index. The number amateur certainly will delight in reading this intriguing overview of some of the most fascinating and perplexing mathematical topics. The text begins with famous math puzzles, discusses mathematics' relationship to the arts, and covers such topics as number theory, graph theory, group theory, and probability theory. Tipler, Frank J. The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God, and the Resurrection of the Dead. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1994. ISBN# 0-385-46799-0. Scientific evidence of the Almighty? Read this one skeptically! It will challenge you. Eastern Philosophy Hinduism / Avida Vedanta philosophical tradition Deutsch, Eliot, translator. The Bhagavad Gita. New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968. ISBN 0-03-080973-8. Presents this classical Hindu text in a format specifically designed for Western students of Western philosophy. It includes an introduction wich discusses some of the main concepts employed in the Gita (which are kept in Sanskrit in the translation), some notes which offer explanations of other Sanskrit terms, and a small series of philosophical essays to help the student interpret the poem. Chaudhuri, Haridas. Integral Yoga: The Concept of Harmonious and Creative Living. Wheaton, Illinois: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1965, 1970, 1981. (Notes from the back cover) From the popular exercises of hatha yoga to the kingly system of raja yoga, Haridas Chaudhuri has constructed a dynamic sythesis of all yogic systems into a supreme and consummate whole. For the serious student the reward can be a life of inner peace, an absolutely calm approach to all of life's situations. For Integral Yoga is certainly "more than the sum of its parts." It is a combination of each yoga system, plus that indefinable added factor of spirit that accompanies every true act of creation. Buddhism and Zen Kalupahana, David J. Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1976. This introduction to Buddhism examines its basic philosophical teachings and historical development, setting forth complex and significant ideas in a straightforward and simple style that is easily accessible to the student. The author's orientation is philosophical, rather than religious or sociological. This approach is both the uniqueness and the strength of the work. Part I compares the earliest Buddhist literature in both the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas to establish the common base of earliest Buddhism most free of sectarian rivalry. Topics such as epistemology, causality, existence, karma, morality, ethics, and nirvana are discussed in detail. Part II examines developments in the history of Buddhist thought and the emergence of the various schools of Buddhism. Perhaps the most importantly insightful chapters are the two appendices which cover the Buddha's attitude toward metaphysics and the relationship between early Buddhism and Zen. Since so much misunderstanding of Buddhist (and all Eastern) thought is prevalent, this one book may be the best single source for discovery of the true source of Buddhist philosophy. Cleary, Thomas, translator. Buddhist Yoga: A Comprehensive Course. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1995. ISBN 1-57062-018-0. (Notes from the back cover) The word yoga has many meanings, including "meditation," "method," and "union." While the physical exercises of Hindu yoga are familiar to Westerners, the subtle metaphisics and refined methods of spiritual development that characterize Buddhist yoga are not yet well known. This volume presents a landmark translation of a classical sourcebook of Buddhist yoda, the Sandhinirmochana-sutra, or "Scripture Unlocking the Mysteries," a revered text of the school of Buddhism known as Vijnanavada or Yogachara. The study of this scripture is essential preparation for anyone undertaking meditation exercise. Linking theory and praxis, the scripture offers a remarkably detailed and thorough course of study in both the philosophical and pragmatic foundation of Buddhist yoga, and their perfect, harmonious union in the realization of Buddhist enlightenment. King, Winston L. Theravada Meditation: The Buddhist Transformation of Yoga. University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-271-00254-9. A Philosophical background for Buddhist yoga and meditation approaches. Contains an annotated selective bibliography. Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995 (paperback, 1997). ISBN 1-57322-018-3. (From "Praise For LBLC," inside cover) "Nhat Hanh tells people not to abandon their own religious traditions, but to use Buddhist meditation to rediscover the values in those traditions." -The Seattle Times "Reminds us in his writing that if we accept good but not evil, joy but not suffering, we're ignoring half of reality." -Mirabella Watts, Alan W. The Way of Zen (or Zendo). New York: Vintage Books (A Division of Random House), 1957. From the historical background of Zen, in Taoism, Hinduism, and Mahayana Buddhism to the principles and practice of Zen, in Za-Zen, Koan Zen, and Zen in the Arts, Watts provides an organized and lucid approach to a difficult subject. "For either the student or the scholar The Way of Zen is an exciting and rewarding experience.... Most critics have found Mr. Watts' detachment (that is, he has never 'joined the organization') a help rather than a hindrance to an objective view of a highly controversial subject." –Jean Burden, Prairie Schooner
Music Theory General Analysis Aitken, Hugh. The Piece as a Whole: Studies in Holistic Musical Analysis. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1997. Includes a good general bibliography. Also see the conclusions at the end of the book. Dunsby, Jonathan and Arnold Whittall. Music Analysis in Theory and Practice. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Toch, Ernst. The Shaping Forces in Music, an Inquiry into Harmony, Melody, Counterpoint, Form. (Original publisher: New York: Criterion Music Corp., 1948.) New York: Dover Publications, 1977. 260 pp. ISBN# 0486233464. Clear, pragmatic analysis of harmony, melody, counterpoint and form by the Austrian composer Ernst Toch, known for his classical and film music. Contains 390 musical examples. Harmony Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony, With an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1989 (2nd Edition). Piston, Walter (rev. and expanded by Mark DeVoto). Harmony. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1941, 1978 (4th ed.), 1987 (5th ed.) Rameau, Jean Philippe. Traité de l'harmonie. English: Treatise On Harmony. New York: Dover Publications, 1971. 444 pp. ISBN# 0486224619. One of the most important books in Western music, this detailed explanation of the principles of diatonic harmonic theory, mathematical foundations of music, interrelations of constituents of music, principles of composition, etc. Rameau's theory is based primarily on harmonic root motion. The Dover edition is a 1970 translation of the 1722 edition by Philip Gossett and includes musical examples. More to be Examined.... Counterpoint Fux, Johann Joseph, tr. Alfred Mann and John Edmunds. The Study of Counterpoint, from Gradus ad Parnassum. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1971. (Not a translation of the entire Fux text.) Gauldin, Robert. A Practical Approach to Sixteenth/Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint (2 separate volumes). Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc., 1995. (Short volumes with some good information.) Kelly, Robert. Theme and Variations: A Study of Linear Twelve Tone Composition. Dubuque, Iowa: W.C. Brown Co., 1958. (Very thorough, including advanced chromaticism in counterpoint.) Middleton, Robert E. Harmony in Modern Counterpoint. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1967. Piston, Walter. Counterpoint. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1947. (A classic text in counterpoint) Theme and Motive Reti, Rudolph. The Thematic Process in Music. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1951. Musical Form Berry, Wallace. Form in Music: An Examination of Traditional Techniques of Musical Structure and their Application in Historical and Contemporary Styles. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (Well-organized and thorough) Green. Form in Tonal Music. (Sometimes confusing and unclear, but some important points are made about form.) Kohs, Ellis B. Musical Form: Studies in Analysis and Synthesis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976. (Very wide variety of formal considerations are discussed) Schenkerian Analysis Beach, David, ed. Aspects of Schenkerian Theory. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. Forte, Allen and Steven E. Gilbert. Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1982. Jonas, Oswald. Einfuhrung in die Lehre Heinrich Schenkers. English: Introduction to the Theory of Heinrich Schenker: The Nature of the Musical Work of Art. Translated and edited by John Rothgeb. New York: Longman, 1982. Originally published in 1934 as: Das Wesen des musikalischen Kunstwerks or Works of Heinrich Schenker. Laskowski, Larry, compiler and annotator. Heinrich Schenker: An Annotated Index to his Analyses of Musical Works. New York: Pendragon Press, 1978. Narmour, Eugene. Beyond Schenkerism: The Need for Alternatives in Music Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. Schenker, Heinrich. Fünf Urlinie-Tafeln. English: Five graphic music analyses. Published originally by the David Mannes Music School, New York, in 1933 under the German title. New York: Dover Publications, 1969. 61 pp. with music examples. ISBN# 0486222942. Contains analyses of the chorale, Ich bin's ich sollte büssen fro the St. Matthew Passion, and Prelude No. 1 in C major, from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. I, by J. S. Bach; Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:49, by Franz Joseph Haydn, and the Etudes, op. 10, No. 8 and 12 by Frédéric Chopin. Schenker, Heinrich. Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien. Vol. 1. Harmonielehre. English: Harmony. Edited and annotated by Oswald Jonas; translated by Elisabeth Mann Borgese. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954. Yeston, Maury, ed. Readings in Schenker Analysis and Other Approaches. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977. Twentieth-Century Techniques Kostka, Stefan. Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. Lester, Joel. Analytical Approaches to Twentieth-Century Music. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1989. (Focuses on Serialism; weak on recent developments) Persichetti, Vincent. Twentieth-Century Harmony. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1961. Set Theory Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973, 1977. Rahn, John. Basic Atonal Theory. New York: Longman, 1980. Straus, Joseph N. Post-Tonal Theory. Prentice-Hall, 1990. Literature / Musicology / Style / History / Biography Western Music History Overviews Grout, Donald Jay, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1988. Stolba, K. Marie, ed. The Development of Western Music. Madison, Wisconsin: Brown & Benchmark, 1994 (2nd ed.). Multi-Volume Sets: Norton, Oxford, etc. Early Music Ancient (Classical) Middle Ages Renaissance Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1954. Common Practice Period Music Baroque Classical (Neo-Classical) Ratner, Leonard G. Classic Music: Expression, Form, Style. New York: Schirmer Books, 1980. Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. New York: Viking Press, 1971. (There is also a recent hardcover edition with a CD of examples.) Romantic Rosen, Charles. The Romantic Generation. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995 (Also includes CD of examples). Twentieth-Century Music General Cope, David. New Music Composition. New York: Schirmer Books, 1977. Gann, Kyle. American Music in the Twentieth Century. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997. Griffiths, Paul. Modern Music: The Avant Garde Since 1945. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1981. Salzman, Eric. Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction, 3rd edition. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1988. Watkins, Glenn. Soundings. Post Romanticism Impressionism Lockspeiser, Edward. Debussy: His Life and Mind. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962. 2 Vols. Second Viennese School Crawford, John C. and Dorothy L. Expressionism in Twentieth-Century Music. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993. Jarman, Douglas. The Music of Alban Berg. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979. Neighbour, Oliver, Paul Griffiths, and George Perle (Stanley Sadie, gen. ed.). The New Grove Second Viennese School: Schoenberg, Webern, Berg. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1983. Perle, George. Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1972. Neoclassicism Andriessen, Louis and Elmer Schönberger. The Apollonian Clockwork: on Stravinsky. Jeff Hamburg, trans. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Lampert, Vera, László Somfai, Eric Walter White, Jeremy Noble, and Ian Kemp (Stanley Sadie, gen. ed.). The New Grove Modern Masters: Bartók, Stravinsky, Hindemith. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1984. Total Serialism Electronic Music Ouellette, Fernand. Edgard Varese. New York: Da Capo Press, 1981. Aleatory Music Nyman, Michael. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. New York: Schirmer Books, 1974. Minimalism Mertins, Wim. American Minimal Music. New York: Alexander Broude Inc., 1983 (Includes a bibliography of English, German, and French sources about Minimalism). Reich, Steve. Writings About Music. Halifax: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1974. Schwartz, K. Robert. Minimalists. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996 (Includes a Minimalism bibliography and discography). Sportelli, Paul. Minimalist Music: A General Overview (Doctoral Dissertation). New York: The Manhattan School of Music, 1991. Strickland, Edward. Minimalism: Origins. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993 (Includes an extensive bibliography of sources about late 20th-century art and music). Neo-Romanticism Keyboard Literature / Biography General Chang, Frederic Ming and Albert Faurot. Team Piano Repertoire: A Manual of Nusic for Nultiple Players at One or More Pianos. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976. 184 p., ISBN# 0810809370. Matthews, Denis, ed. Keyboard Music. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972. Gillespie. Five Centuries of Keyboard Music. Dover? Schonberg, Harold C. The Great Pianists, from Mozart to the Present. New York: A Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster, 1963 (1st ed.) 1987 (Completely revised and updated). Sloane, Sally Jo, compiler. Music for Two or More Players at Clavichord, Harpsichord, Organ: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1991. (1 vol., 104 pp.) This bibliography presents music literature for multiple keyboard players in combinations that include more than just the pianoforte. Early Keyboard Music Arneson, Arne J. and Stacie Williams. The Harpsichord Booke: Being a Plaine & Simple Index to Printed Collections of Musick by Different Masters for the Harpsichord, Spinnet, Clavichord, & Virginall. Madison: Index House, 1986. 1 vol., 119 pp. This is an indispensable reference for those searching for anthologies of early keyboard music. The book is an index to multiple-composer anthologies of compositions that include early music (to 1800) for a solo harpsichord or its kindred instruments. Twentieth Century Keyboard Music Bedford, Frances. Harpsichord and Clavichord Music of the Twentieth Century. Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press, 1993. 1 vol., 609 pp. 20th-cent piano music sources to be examined.... Performance (some general, mostly keyboard) Technique Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Essay on The True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (1753), tr. William J. Mitchell. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1949. Original title: Versuch über die wahre Art, das Clavier zu spielen. 1 vol., 449 pp. The Versuch is a very detailed treatise on mid-18th century performance practice. Part One deals with performance considerations and technique with sections on fingering and embellishment, and Part Two is devoted to helping the keyboardist in the role of accompanist, continuo, or improviser, offering advice on basic keyboard harmony, thorough bass, accompaniment, and improvisation. Also included is a short bibliography covering keyboard performance practice of the 18th century. Couperin, François. The Art of playing the Harpsichord, Anna Linde, ed., Eng. tr. Mevanwy Roberts. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1961. Original title: L'Art de toucher le Clavecin. 1 vol., 39 pp. In his 1716 treatise, Couperin discusses the matters of fingering, ornamentation, and freedom of rhythm (notes inégales) and gives keyboard exercises and fingerings for some difficult passages in his music. At the end there is a table of ornaments used by Couperin in his keyboard music. Although this book stands best as a companion to the harpsichord music of François Couperin, there is also some more general benefit in gaining familiarity with the 18th-century French keyboard techniques given in this treatise. Later Keyboardists' Technique Manuals to be examined... Performance Practice Brown, Howard Mayer and Stanley Sadie, eds. Performance Practice: Music after 1600. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1990. Donington, Robert. The Interpretation of Early Music. New Revised Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992. Ferguson, Howard. Keyboard Interpretation, from the 14th to the 19th Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 1 vol., 215 pp. This is a compact and comprehensive reference for performance practice concerns. The book's performance suggestions extend into the romantic era, but focus primarily on music before 1800. There are sections dealing specifically with all of the concerns of the keyboardist including tempo, articulation, fingering, rhythmic conventions, ornamentation, pedalling and problems specific to the piano, and limitations of compass. Especially helpful are the selective guides to literature on keyboard interpretation and music in modern editions. Because of the careful condensation of important material accomplished in this short volume, this should be the cornerstone of the informed keyboardist's book collection on performance. Kivy, Peter. Authenticities: Philosophical Reflections on Musical Performance. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995. McGee, Timothy James. Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer's Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985. Neumann, Frederick. Essays in Performance Practice. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1982. Taruskin, Richard. Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, Inc., 1995. Composition Craft Brindle, Reginald Smith. Musical Composition. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986. Brindle, Reginald Smith. Serial Composition. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1966. Hindemith, Paul. Unterweisung im Tonsatz. English: The Craft of Musical Composition. New York: Associated Music Publishers, Inc.; London: Schott & Co., Ltd., 1945. -Book I. Theoretical part. English translation by Arthur Mendel. -Book II. Exercises in two-part writing. English translation by Otto Ortmann. McHose, Allen Irvine. Basic Principles of the Technique of 18th and 19th Century Composition. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1951. Messiaen, Olivier. The Technique of my Musical Language. Translated by John Satterfield. Paris: Alfonse Leduc, 1956. Vol. 1, Text. Vol. 2, Exemples musicaux (musical examples). Also can be found in "Olivier Messiaen Catalogue of Works": v. 1, p. [71]-74. Schillinger, Joseph. The Schillinger system of musical composition. New York: Da Capo Press, 1978. 2 vols. Reprint of the 1946 ed. published by C. Fischer, New York. First published in 1941 as correspondence lessons under title: The Schillinger Course of Musical Composition. Edited by Lyle Dowling and Arnold Shaw. Schoenberg, Arnold. Fundamentals of Music Composition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1970. Orchestration Adler, Samuel. The Study of Orchestration. Photographs by Louis Ouzer; drawings by Ralph Bentley. New York: Norton, 1982 (1st ed.). Berlioz, Hector. Treatise on Instrumentation, Enlarged and Revised by Richard Strauss, Including Berlioz' Essay On Conducting. Translated by Theodore Front. New York: E. F. Kalmus, 1948. Blatter, Alfred. Instrumentation and Orchestration. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997 (2nd ed.). Burton, Stephen Douglas. Orchestration. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Forsyth, Cecil. Orchestration. New York: Macmillan, 1936 (2nd ed.). Jacob, Gordon. The Elements of Orchestration. New York, October House, 1965. Kennan, Kent Wheeler. The Technique of Orchestration. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970 (2nd ed.). McKay, George Frederick. Creative Orchestration. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1963. Piston, Walter. Orchestration. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1955 (1st ed.). Read, Gardner. Style and Orchestration. Foreword by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York: Schirmer Books, 1979. Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay. Osnovy orkestrovki. English: Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from his own Works. Edited by Maximilian Steinberg; English translation by Edward Agate. New York: E. F. Kalmus Orchestra Scores, Inc., 1933. New reprint: New York: Dover Publications, 1964. This Dover edition is an unabridged and corrected republication of the work first published by Edition russe de musique in 1922. The two sections of the book were originally two volumes: Vol. 1.: Text. Vol. 2.: Musical examples. Rimsky discusses fundamentals of tonal resonance, progression of parts, voice and orchestra, tutti effects, etc., giving many examples from excerpts of his own music. Rogers, Bernard. The Art of Orchestration: Principles of Tone Color in Modern Scoring. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1951. Wagner, Joseph Frederick. Band Scoring. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960. Wagner, Joseph Frederick. Orchestration: A Practical Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. Notation Read, Gardner. Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1969 (2nd ed.). Read, Gardner. Source Book of Proposed Music Notation Reforms. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Read, Gardner. Pictographic Score Notation: A Compendium. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998. Read, Gardner. 20th-Century Microtonal Notation. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Aesthetics / Music Philosophy Pre Twentieth-Century Hanslick, Eduard. Tr. and ed. by Henry Pleasants. Hanslick's music criticisms. Originally published: Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963. New York: Dover Publications, 1988. 312 pp. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN# 0486257398. This selection of Eduard Hanslick's critical writings reveals his sharp musical perceptions and important judgments about the music of then emerging great composers such as Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, and Richard Strauss. His rich musical background and lively prose made him one of the most popular music critics in mid-19th century European newspapers. Twentieth Century Adorno, Theodor W., translated by Anne G. Mitchell and Wesley V. Blomster. Philosophy of Modern Music. New York: The Seabury Press, 1973. Babbitt, Milton (Barry S. Brook, compiler, Edward O. D. Downes and Sherman Van Solkema, eds.). "Contemporary music composition and music theory as contemporary intellectual history," Perspectives in musicology: The Inaugural Lectures of the Ph. D. Program in Music at the City University of New York, pp. 151-84. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1975. ABSTRACT: Examines the status and characteristics of contemporary music (particularly 12-tone serialism) and of the musical theories and meta-theories that most satisfactorily explain both this and past music. Refers to 1) statements about music in the writings of non-musicians, 2) the explanatory function of a relatively formal theorem with respect to a musically interpreted model (Anton Webern's Konzert, op. 24, 3) the relatively formal statement of a principle characteristic of the late music of Igor Stravinsky in order to reveal its necessary consequences, 4) the pertinence of the distinction between object language and metalanguage in analyzing such notions as 'mathematical music', and 5) some observations on the concept of 'randomness' (including a suggestion for the construction of music most likely to succeed as random). Emphasizes the relation of theory construction to musical theory, the status of 'theoretical terms', and the goals of explanation. (Author) Boulez, Pierre. Penser la Musique Aujourd'hui. English: Boulez on Music Today. Translated by Susan Bradshaw and Richard Rodney Bennett. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971. Boulez, Pierre. Points de repere. English: Orientations: Collected Writings by Pierre Boulez. Edited by Jean-Jacques Nattiez; translated by Martin Cooper. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986. Boulez, Pierre. Releves d'apprenti. English: Stocktakings from an apprenticeship. Collected and presented by Paule Thevenin; translated from the French by Stephen Walsh; with an introduction by Robert Piencikowski. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Carter, Elliott. The Writings of Elliott Carter. Edited by Else and Kurt Stone. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977. Craft, Robert and Stravinsky, Igor. Conversations with Igor Stravinsky, Memories and Commentaries, Expositions and Developments, Dialogues and a Diary, Themes and Episodes, and Retrospective and Conclusions. Edited by Robert Craft. New York: Knopf. Epstein, David. Beyond Orpheus: Studies in Musical Structure. Foreword by Milton Babbitt. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. 244 p. Originally published: Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1979. Includes index and Bibliography: p. 233-236. Ives, Charles E. Essays Before a Sonata and Other Writings. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1970. Schoenberg, Arnold. Style and Idea. New York: Philosophical Library, 1950. Collection of essays by Schoenberg, some of which pertain to twelve-tone composition specifically. Schwartz, Elliott and Barney Childs, eds. Contemporary Composers on Contemporary Music. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1967. Sessions, Roger. The Musical Experience of Composer, Performer, Listener. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974. Simms, Bryan R., ed. Composers on Modern Musical Culture: An Anthology of Source Readings on Twentieth-Century Music. New York: Schirmer Books, February 1999. Paperback 286 pp. ISBN# 0028647513. A collection of original writings by major 20th century composers, particularly focusing on issues of composition, aesthetics, and style. All of the essays are introduced by headnotes placing them in their historical context. Among the featured composers are: Claude Debussy; Ferruccio Busoni; Arnold Schoenberg; Alban Berg; Bela Bartok; Maurice Ravel; Ralph Vaughan Williams; Igor Stravinsky; Paul Hindemith; Pierre Boulez; Milton Babbitt; John Cage; Benjamin Britten; Charles Ives; Aaron Copland; Virgil Thomson; Darius Milhaud; Kurt Weill; Duke Ellington. Among the issues addressed are: the origins of modernism; the influence of jazz and popular styles; atonal music; experimental music; post-World War II trends; American music. The editor Bryan R. Simms is professor of music history at the University of Southern California. Includes bibliographical references and index. Stravinsky, Igor. Poétique musicale sous forme de six lecons. English: Poetics of Music. Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl, Trans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1947, New York: Vintage books, 1956 (1st ed.) (preface by Darius Milhaud). The best translation is found in the following publication: Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons. English translation by Arthur Knodell and Ingolf Dahl. Preface by George Seferis. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970. Bilingual Edition. 187 p., notes in French and English. ISBN# 0674678559. Taken from the Charles Eliot Norton lectures, 1939-1940. Stravinsky exposes his background in the Russian masters and espouses an Olympian aesthetic through enlightening discussion of the compositional technique and through debating the relative merits of the opera music of Verdi and Wagner. This classic in musical aesthetics should form the basis upon which any discussion of Stravinsky's music is built. Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music: Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater, by Claude Debussy. Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, by Ferruccio Busoni. Essays Before a Sonata, by Charles E. Ives. New York: Dover Publications, 1962. 188 p. Strong opinions mark these essays, including statements such as Busoni's "There will come a time when music will be played by unattended machines," and Ives' "To those who do not like my music I dedicate this book. To those who do not like this book I dedicate my music. To those who like neither I dedicate my life." Xenakis, Iannis, translated by Sharon Kanach. Arts/Sciences Alloys: The Thesis Defense of Iannis Xenakis Before Oliver Messiaen, Michel Ragon, Olivier Revault d'Allonnes Michae Serres, and Bernard Teyssèdre. New York: Pendragon Press, 1985. Xenakis, Iannis. Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1992.

Return to Robert Kelley's Music Website

General Bibliography

Compiled by Robert T. Kelley

Table of Contents

The Classic Bestselling Guide to Reading Books and Accessing Information. Adler's book stresses the importance of growing and gaining enlightenment through reading books. The author outlines four levels of reading ability, and gives expert advice on acheiving the highest level.

(Notes from back cover) Stressing the relevance of computers and computer programs to the understanding of human nature, this enthralling volume is the book on a central topic of our time.

A layman's introduction to the major issues of cosmology. Not as heavy-duty as Hawking's scholarly publications.

A fine introduction to the many ways mathematical thinking has entered into the minds of composers. It also deals mathematically with the distinction between musical sound and noise.

Scientific evidence of the Almighty? Read this one skeptically! It will challenge you.

A Philosophical background for Buddhist yoga and meditation approaches. Contains an annotated selective bibliography.

Includes a good general bibliography. Also see the conclusions at the end of the book.

Clear, pragmatic analysis of harmony, melody, counterpoint and form by the Austrian composer Ernst Toch, known for his classical and film music. Contains 390 musical examples.

Contains analyses of the chorale, Ich bin's ich sollte büssen fro the St. Matthew Passion, and Prelude No. 1 in C major, from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. I, by J. S. Bach; Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:49, by Franz Joseph Haydn, and the Etudes, op. 10, No. 8 and 12 by Frédéric Chopin.

This bibliography presents music literature for multiple keyboard players in combinations that include more than just the pianoforte.

This is an indispensable reference for those searching for anthologies of early keyboard music. The book is an index to multiple-composer anthologies of compositions that include early music (to 1800) for a solo harpsichord or its kindred instruments.

-Book I. Theoretical part. English translation by Arthur Mendel.

-Book II. Exercises in two-part writing. English translation by Otto Ortmann.

Collection of essays by Schoenberg, some of which pertain to twelve-tone composition specifically.