II. Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Music in General
The following titles have significant operatic coverage.
- Randel, Don Michael. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard U.P., 1986. xxi, 942p. ISBN 0-6745-6152-5. ML100 .R3.
Replaces The Harvard Dictionary of Music(1954; 2nd ed. 1969). The stan-
dard source of definitions and concise topical articles for English readers. No
biographical entries (see #166). Some operas have individual entries (Falstaff),
and some do not (Carmen). Charlotte Greenspan prepared the survey article
on opera and a number of related entries, all of which are convenient
overviews. Bibliographies accompany most articles in the dictionary. Lack of
an index greatly inhibits use.
18.Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. 2nd ed. Ed. Ludwig Finscher. Kassel:
Bärenreiter, 1994–. In progress. (Cited in this guide as MGG.)
Status of this project as of August 1999: v.1–9, Sachteil,1994–1998—complete.
Personenteil,12v., and Register—not published. Completion of the set is pro-
posed for the year 2004. “Oper,” v.7, columns 635–641, is mostly a list of
cross-references to more specialized articles, plus a good basic bibliography
(with incomplete data) by topic. A strong treatment of “Libretto” appears in
v.5, columns 1116–1259, written by many authorities; it is a historical survey,
with sections for countries and periods, and a six-page bibliography.
19.The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Ed. Stanley Sadie. Lon-
don: Macmillan; distributed in the U.S. by Grove’s Dictionaries of Music,
Washington, D.C., 1980. 20v. ISBN 0-333-23111-2. ML100 N48. (Cited in
this guide as NG.)
An indispensable but uneven work, said to contain 22,500 articles, with a total
of 18,000,000 words, by 2,500 contributors. Weaknesses include the article
bibliographies (important omissions; incomplete publication data) and the
lack of an index to the set. Described inIOM1333 and Duckles1.48. Many
spin-offs; those dealing with opera composers are cited separately in this