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Library Journal Review
Baker's continues to be the most complete and reliable source of biographical information on musical subjects since its first appearance in 1900. The latest, an update of the 1984 edition (Schirmer: Macmillan. 7th ed.), broadens the area of coverage to include many pop stars as well as the most recently notable classical performers, composers, historians, etc. It is not difficult to locate the entries added since Slonimsky took charge; he is free with descriptive adjectives such as ``brilliant'' (for Seiji Ozawa), and ``fantastically popular and audacious'' (for Madonna). Just as interesting are the prefaces to this and the sixth edition ( LJ 3/1/79), written in Slonimsky's quirky, gossipy style. An indispensable tool for serious music collections.-- Timothy J. McGee, Univ. of Toronto (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Slonimsky, in this fourth edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians edited by him, continues his inimitable, meticulous, scholarly, and personal documentation of musicians' lives and works. More than 1,000 entries are new, which inevitably means that to keep the size of the volume barely manageable, some persons of lesser renown or current interest have been dropped. (Libraries should retain older editions if possible.) Many other entries have been revised, some with just a slight rewording or shortening, or the addition of a death date, while others have substantive additions due to further activities or new documentation coming to light. The 15,000 biographies vary from a few lines to about eight pages (for Mozart) and frequently include a list of works and a bibliography as well. Both Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, mentioned in RBB's review of the seventh edition [S 1 85] as lacking, are now included, as are Madonna, Midori, Isaiah Jackson, Ofra Harnoy, Jeffrey Kahane, k. d. lang, Russell Sherman, and Al Jarreau, among others. While many of these new entries are for pop and other present-day musicians, not all are moderns, for example, Frank Johnson, "black bandmaster and composer, b. probably on the island of Martinique, 1792; d. Philadelphia, April 6, 1844," and John Johnson, "distinguished English lutenist and composer . . . b. c. 1540; d. c. 1594." Arrangement is alphabetical, and entries are set off clearly. The format is pleasing with pages slightly larger than before and margins somewhat narrower so that more entries fit on fewer pages. Slonimsky's idiosyncratic and witty writing style and his candid opinions add spice to the careful, accurate (and sometimes quirky) facts he provides. As has been previously noted, this is a reference book one can read for pleasure. Once again Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians would seem to be a must for any academic, public, or high school library whose patrons need information on musicians past or present. (Reviewed Feb. 1, 1992)
