The Oxford Dictionary of Music

When The Oxford Dictionary of Music first appeared, it was hailed as "without question the most comprehensive, detailed, reliable one-volume reference work on music now available in the English language" (Music and Musicians). Extensively revised and expanded, the second edition features over 900 entirely new entries, and many more descriptions of U.S. composers and performers than in the original work. Now with over 12,000 total entries, the dictionary remains the most comprehensive one-volume reference work available, offering a wealth of information on music and musicians from the Middle Ages to the present.
As in the past, the dictionary's coverage is exceptional, spanning musical topics of all kinds. Arranged alphabetically and laid out in an attractive two-column format, the entries cover over 2,000 composers of all nationalities, from Ludwig van Beethoven to Stravinsky and Strauss (including extensive, up-to-date lists of their principal works); almost 1,800 entries on performers in all fields, from Beverly Sills, to Paul McCartney, to Vaclav Nijinsky; over 450 entries on conductors; over 2,200 definitions of musical terms and forms, such as "intonation," "reggae," and "partimento"; over 550 descriptions of musical instruments; entries on leading orchestras and music academies around the world; and information on critics, journalists, and other writers on music.
Written to appeal to general readers as well as musicians and musicologists, The Oxford Dictionary of Music is an indispensable addition to the reference shelf of the concert goer, the opera buff, the record buyer, or anyone involved in music, whether amateur or professional.