Description
Generously
spaced and immaculately presented in an impressive hard cover, this new and
comprehensive work of 768 pages represents a lifetime’s remarkable research by
scholar, librarian and oboist Michael Finkelman, an attempt to list all known
solo and ensemble music of any kind, in any genre, for or with any members of
the oboe family larger than the treble from the time of Lully to the 1960s, as
well as principal orchestral uses of these instruments in the same period. An
opening chapter that illustrates the diverse range of mezzo-soprano, tenor and
bass oboes of all dates precedes an encyclopaedic catalogue that is presented
alphabetically under clearly defined categories.
feel that this work will come to form an essential addition to the library of
every university and academic institution, as of all performing musicians who
wish to expand their repertoire from the wealth on offer that may have grown
obscure over the centuries.
A unique and magnificent new volume written and published by
historian, librarian and oboist, Michael Finkelman, the result of a lifetime of
research and detailed scholarship. Hard-bound and London printed with a lavish
layout, the work lists every known work for each of the lower instruments in
precisely detailed categories, both solo and in ensemble, and includes a World
Inventory of Instruments in Museum and Private Collections, with a Cultural
History. Later volumes in the series will include organological and cultural
histories of these instruments. The present volume should quickly prove
essential in the library of every scholar and of every oboist who wishes to
investigate the wealth of known, forgotten or lost repertoire.
The author writes as follows:
“ This is a full historical listing of works in all genres for
or with any of the members of the oboe family deeper than the treble: that is,
the oboe d’amore, the English horn, the bass oboe and their cognate instruments
in similar ranges (such as the oboe grande, the vox humana, the oboe da caccia,
etc.) The time period covered is the first three centuries of the existence of
these instruments, and lost works are also included. This is the product of
forty-eight years of research, using every available reference in all of the
European languages. Full bibliographic / scholarly apparatus is included. Documented
in these listings are not only solo and chamber works of every kind for these
instruments, but also important orchestral and operatic works employing them in
a significant fashion. Representative recordings are also cited. From both the
performer’s and historian’s viewpoint, this book should be quite revelatory,
and a welcome contribution to the musical research literature.”
