This innovative survey of large choral-orchestral works is a continuation of the author's previous study of twentieth century works with English texts. Green examines nearly one hundred works, from Rachmaninov's Vesna to Penderecki's Song of Songs. For each work, he provides a biography of the composer, complete instrumentation, text sources, editions, availability of performing materials, performance issues, discography, and bibliography of the composer and the work. Based upon direct score study, each work has been evaluated in terms of potential performance problems, rehearsal issues, and level of difficulty for both the choir and orchestra. When present, solo roles are described. The composers represented in this work include Bela Bartok, Leonard Bernstein, Ernest Bloch, Maurice Duruf , Hans Werner Henze, Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Leos Janacek, Gy rgy Ligeti, Gustav Mahler, Carl Orff, Krzysztof Penderecki, Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, and Kurt Weill. Written as a field guide for conductors and others involved in programming concerts for choir and orchestra, this text will prove a useful source of new repertoire ideas and an invaluable aid to rehearsal preparation.

This new volume incorporates all entries from the previous editions by Arthur Wenk, expanding to cover writings drawn from periodicals, theses, dissertations, books, and Festschriften from 1940 to 2000. Over 9,000 references to analyses of works by over 1,000 composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are included.

A History of Western Choral Music explores the various genres, key composers, and influential works essential to the development of the western choral tradition. Author Chester L. Alwes divides this exploration into two volumes which move from Medieval music and the Renaissance era up to the 21st century. Volume II begins at the transition from the Classical era to the Romantic, with an examination of the major genres common to both periods. Exploring the oratorio, part song, and dramatic music, it also offers a thorough discussion of the choral symphony from Beethoven to Mahler, through to the present day. It then delves into the choral music of the twentieth century through discussions of the major compositional approaches and philosophies that proliferated over the course of the century, from impressionism to serialism, neo-classicism to modernism, minimalism, and the avant-garde. It also considers the emerging tendency towards nationalistic composition amongst composers such as Bartók and Stravinsky, and discusses in great detail the contemporary music of the United States, and Great Britain. Framing discussion within the political, religious, cultural, philosophical, aesthetic, and technological contexts of each era, A History of Western Choral Music offers readers specialized insight into major composers and works while providing a cohesive understanding of choral music's place in Western history.

Complements the ongoing revival of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's music and explains its unique blend of Polish and Soviet Russian influences.

With this volume, Howard Smither completes his monumental History of the Oratorio. Volumes 1 and 2, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1977, treated the oratorio in the Baroque era, while Volume 3, published in 1987, explored the genre in the Classical era. Here, Smither surveys the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century oratorio, stressing the main geographic areas of oratorio composition and performance: Germany, Britain, America, and France. Continuing the approach of the previous volumes, Smither treats the oratorio in each language and geographical area by first exploring the cultural and social contexts of oratorio. He then addresses aesthetic theory and criticism, treats libretto and music in general, and offers detailed analyses of the librettos and music of specific oratorios (thirty-one in all) that are of special importance to the history of the genre. As a synthesis of specialized literature as well as an investigation of primary sources, this work will serve as both a springboard for further research and an essential reference for choral conductors, soloists, choral singers, and others interested in the history of the oratorio. Originally published 2000. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

With this volume, Howard Smither completes his monumental History of the Oratorio. Volumes 1 and 2, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1977, treated the oratorio in the Baroque era, while Volume 3, published in 1987, explored th

In the last decade of the 19th century, modernist sensibilities reached a critical mass and emerged more frequently in music as composers began employing dissonance, polyrhythm, atonality, and densities. Conversely, many 20th-century composers eschewed modernist devices and wrote accessible works in a tonal idiom, which drew chiefly on classical, romantic, and folk models. Then the postmodern sensibility followed, with its enthusiasm for the unprecedented availability of virtually every type of music, andit engendered numerous sub-groups, including multiculturalism, minimalism, multimedia, and free improvisation. Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music focuses on modernist and postmodern classical music worldwide from 1890to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries, with more than 60 entries explaining the methods, styles, and acoustic and electronic media peculiar tonew music, and over 350 entries giving essential information on the lives and work of the people who have composed and performed that music. Those entries also include pop, jazz, and rock composer/musicians whose work either overlaps the realm of classical music or else is so radical within its own field that it merits discussion in this context. This book is a must for anyone, musician or non-musician, student or professional, who seeks to research and learn more about any significant aspect of modern and contemporary classical music worldwide.

John’s Gospel possesses a generous range of meanings and has had an enduring impact across the generations. This book explores that impact from a range of disciplines: from the exegetical and theological to the historical, spiritual, liturgical, musical, pastoral, political, and postcolonial. It encompasses contributions from a number of scholars and writers associated with Trinity College, University of Divinity, Melbourne, who all share a common love for this Gospel and a conviction of its continuing relevance. Australian biblical scholar Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB says in his foreword that various “receptions” of the Fourth Gospel are illuminatingly explored in this book, which demonstrates how the Gospel of John has played a critical role in shaping the theology and culture of the Christian tradition.