Monday, July 21, 2008

Highlights from new items

The Music Library just acquired the score to Steven Stucky's Second Concerto for Orchestra, (King of Prussia, Pa.: Merion Music, 2006), winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Music. It is available at call no. MUX M1042.S88 no.2 2006.

We are excited to present another resource for writers in our reference collection: D. Kern Holoman's Writing about Music: A Style Sheet, 2d ed. (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2008). I am glad to see the inclusion of the eighth chapter, entitled "Best Practices for Student Writers," and I think it would be a good idea for students to consult this before beginning a writing assignment. It is located at MUR ML3797 .W75 2008.

Finally, we now have the most up-to-date print outline of the Library of Congress's Classification scheme for Music. This can be helpful because we use this system to arrange our books, scores, and recordings (with the exception of part of our LP collection) in the Music Library. If you know the call number range to check, you can see what is available on the shelf on an approximate topic, or in the case of music, a medium of performance (duets, trios, orchestral music, etc.). It is shelved under call no. MUR Z696 .U5 M 2007.

Monday, July 14, 2008

New acquisitions

Students and scholars of Baroque music, here is some good news! The Music Library has acquired volumes 3-7 of the Instrumental Works of Marin Marais, edited by John Hsu (New York: The Broude Trust, 1996-2002). The Music Library previously held the first two volumes only. These are shelved under call no. MUS M3.1 .M375. This will be an important addition to our collection of scholarly editions of Baroque music.

Researchers of the music and lives of Gustav and Alma Mahler will be pleased to learn of the addition of the second edition of Susan M. Filler's Gustav and Alma Mahler: A Research and Information Guide (New York: Routledge, 2008) to the Music Library reference collection. It is shelved under call no. MUR ML134.M34 F54 2008

For those who would like insight into the life of Sergey Prokofiev, we have an excellent new resource: Sergey Prokofiev Diaries, 1915-1923: Behind the Mask, translated and annotated by Anthony Phillips (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2008). These years chronicle a period of extensive travel in the composer's life, including an extended period in the United States. The book can be found under call no. MUX ML410.P865 A3 2008.

Finally, I couldn't resist mentioning the acquisition of The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook: Complete Meals from Around the World, by Sean Williams (New York: Routledge, 2006). It is not too often that a music library gets to collect cookbooks, so this is a real treat! The collections of recipes come with "recommended listening" lists and reading lists "for further information." What fun! Look for this under MUX ML3799 .E785 2006.