by:
Blyth, Alan (Editor)

Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Published:March 7, 1991
ISBN:0521363098
Format:Hardcover
Pages:317

Description: From Library Journal
In the tradition of his earlier publications ( Song on Record , 2 vols., Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1988; Opera on Record , Beaufort Bks., dist. by Kampmann and Co., 1984), Blyth has compiled an informative anthology of essays on recorded choral music from Monteverdi to Britten (c.1610-1926). Twenty-five works from those most frequently recorded are discussed at length by well-known critics and authors (e.g., Paul Griffiths, Teri Noel Towe, David Fallows, and Ingrid Grimes). They cover performance and recording history, analyses, and curious details that usually go unnoticed. With a discography of recordings (LPs and CDs) current to February 1990, record collectors, researchers, and others interested in this music will want access to this publication.
- William J. Waters, Pensacola Jr. Coll., Fla.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description:
Following the successful volumes of Song on Record, this book surveys all the recordings of major choral works from the Monteverdi Vespers to Britten's War Requiem. Discussion of the various interpretations on record is preceded, in each chapter, by informed criticism of the work concerned, including--where appropriate--a clarification of editions, revisions, etc. (all the many changes in Messiah are, for instance, described in detail). The coverage of recordings is exhaustive and its value is enhanced by a detailed discography, with up-to-date numbers of each recording. Each contributor is an authority within his or her specialist area and collectively, their insights and observations of leading music critics make the book invaluable to record collectors, music lovers and anyone with an interest in changing tastes and styles of musical performance. Alan Blyth, formerly with The Times (London) is now the music critic of The Daily Telegraph. He is on the editorial board of Opera, the editor of the three-volume Opera on Record and two-volume Song on Record (CUP), as well as author of Remembering Britten and Introduction to Wagner's Ring.