As the preface explains, this fourth edition of a classic music reference "proceed[s] directly from its [1986] predecessor," The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Though coverage of non-Western and Western popular music has been expanded (and indeed these are probably the most significant changes), the core of the dictionary remains the Western classical tradition, and many articles remain nearly unchanged. Much of the article on Southeast Asia, for example, is the same as in the 1986 edition, including the illustrations (though other regional articles, such as Africa, have been rewritten). In the article for "leit motif," the Harvard Dictionary disagrees with Grove Music Online concerning the origin of the term (Grove Music Online claims an earlier use of the term); this article seems to be a verbatim holdover from 1986. The excellent coverage of regional and country-specific music has undergone some changes: the U.S.S.R. has given way to Russia, Baltic countries, etc. Articles on "Rock and Roll" and "Rock" are completely rewritten, and new articles include "Fiddling," "Rap," and "Turntablism." Unlike the Oxford Dictionary of Music, the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music, Random House Encyclopedic Dictionary of Classical Music, or Baker's Dictionary of Music, the Harvard Dictionary almost completely eschews biography, though individual works (such as Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera) are included. Almost every article longer than a paragraph is signed. Despite its relatively modest cost, the book itself is beautifully bound with fine-quality paper. Recommended for all libraries.-Bruce R. Schueneman, Texax A&M Univ. Lib., Kingsville Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Easily the most useful of all musical dictionaries because of its accuracy, concision, and ease of reference.
The Harvard Dictionary of Music (Fourth Edition) is a resounding success… I can’t imagine how Harvard University Press can offer such a detailed and meticulously produced volume for $40, but that being the case there is no reason it should not become a much-thumbed part of every serious music-lover’s library.
Symphony - James M. Keller
[Moves] impressively and easily between non-Western and Western music, integrating ancient theory and modern practice into a genuinely, and invigoratingly, global survey.
Times Literary Supplement - Christopher Wintle
The book—approximately 1,000 pages in length—is solidly accurate and refreshingly concise. Best of all, it provides a complete listing of all relevant terms, literally from A (Abendmusik , or evening music) to Z (Zigeunermusik , or gypsy music)… In short, the Harvard Dictionary of Music is amazing, wonderful, and highly useful.
Bloomsbury Review - John A. Murray
The essential one-stop reference has been newly updated, making it even more essential. After all, how else are you going to find out what euouae are (the vowels of the words ‘seculorum Amen’ sung in Gregorian chant) or that you just missed Berlioz’s 200th birthday?
Los Angeles Times - Mark Swed
When it appeared in 1986, The New Harvard Dictionary of Music was hailed in many quarters as the most valuable single-volume reference work on classical music in English. Now, still unsurpassed in the classical field, it has become even more valuable, with a new edition… The Harvard Dictionary now makes incursions into rock, pop and world music… This is all good news for music lovers whose tastes run to the traditional, the more so for any who might want to broaden them.
New York Times - James R. Oestreich
Its discussion of complicated technical issues is admirably concise and clear (see the entry on ‘twelve-tone music’), and some of its entries on pop music are both sensible and amusing… This book has proved of daily, error-free usefulness.
Boston Globe - Richard Dyer
[The Harvard Dictionary of Music ] manages…to live up to a sentence from its own entry on ‘Dictionaries and encyclopedias’: ‘The success of a dictionary is judged mainly on its factual details, completeness of coverage, and clarity of presentation.’ On all these counts, this volume scores very highly.
Times Higher Education Supplement - Hugh Wood
Readers will not be disappointed with the fourth edition of the Harvard Dictionary of Music , long known as the essential single-volume music dictionary. Existing articles have been fine-tuned, and additions and deletions reflect new developments in musical scholarship as well as the changing world and its political boundaries.
This single volume [provides] as full a range of non-biographical information as most of us are likely to require.
The Observer - Peter Heyworth
May well be the indispensable one-volume reference work on the subject of music—classical, ethnic, pop or rock… If you must know the difference between the Lydian and Mixolydian modes, you can find that lucidly described, but not to the exclusion of a note on the practice and etymology of doo-wop.
Los Angeles Times - Herbert Glass
A genuinely indispensable book, readable, accurate, and completely reliable.
A genuinely indispensable book, readable, accurate, and completely reliable.
[The Harvard Dictionary of Music ] manages...to live up to a sentence from its own entry on 'Dictionaries and encyclopedias': 'The success of a dictionary is judged mainly on its factual details, completeness of coverage, and clarity of presentation.' On all these counts, this volume scores very highly.
Times Higher Education Supplement
[Moves] impressively and easily between non-Western and Western music, integrating ancient theory and modern practice into a genuinely, and invigoratingly, global survey.
Times Literary Supplement
Its discussion of complicated technical issues is admirably concise and clear (see the entry on 'twelve-tone music'), and some of its entries on pop music are both sensible and amusing...This book has proved of daily, error-free usefulness.
[From a review of the previous edition] This single volume [provides] as full a range of non-biographical information as most of us are likely to require.
The Harvard Dictionary of Music (Fourth Edition) is a resounding success...I can't imagine how Harvard University Press can offer such a detailed and meticulously produced volume for $40, but that being the case there is no reason it should not become a much-thumbed part of every serious music-lover's library.
Readers will not be disappointed with the fourth edition of the Harvard Dictionary of Music , long known as the essential single-volume music dictionary. Existing articles have been fine-tuned, and additions and deletions reflect new developments in musical scholarship as well as the changing world and its political boundaries.
The book--approximately 1,000 pages in length--is solidly accurate and refreshingly concise. Best of all, it provides a complete listing of all relevant terms, literally from A (Abendmusik , or evening music) to Z (Zigeunermusik , or gypsy music)...In short, the Harvard Dictionary of Music is amazing, wonderful, and highly useful.
From reviews of the previous edition:
"May well be the indispensable one-volume reference work on the subject of music--classical, ethnic, pop or rock . . . If you must know the difference between the Lydian and Mixolydian modes, you can find that lucidly described, but not to the exclusion of a note on the practice and etymology of doo-wop."
When it appeared in 1986, The New Harvard Dictionary of Music was hailed in many quarters as the most valuable single-volume reference work on classical music in English. Now, still unsurpassed in the classical field, it has become even more valuable, with a new edition...The Harvard Dictionary now makes incursions into rock, pop and world music...This is all good news for music lovers whose tastes run to the traditional, the more so for any who might want to broaden them.
