About the Book
Daniels’ Orchestral Music is the gold standard among conductors, music programmers, orchestra librarians, and any other music professional—or student—seeking to research an orchestral program, whether for a single concert or a full season. Compositions cover the standard international repertoire for the orchestra; this latest edition, nearly a decade since the previous one, contains over 8500 entries. Daniels’ Orchestral Music organizes works alphabetically by composer and title, and contains duration and instrumentation of each entry, as well as date of composition. Individual appendices make it easy to browse works that include chorus, solo voices, or solo instruments. Further appendices list orchestral works by instrumentation; by duration; works intended for youth concerts; significant anniversaries of composers; and composer groups for thematic programming. An appendix labeled Orchestralogy provides essential bibliography, internet sources, and institutions and organizations necessary for the orchestra professional. A title index and a directory of publishers round out this monumental work.
For this latest edition, users will find all the familiar useful features of the 4th edition, plus enhanced listings of individual movements and their durations.
This work, used around the globe, is a must-have for orchestral professionals, whether conductors or orchestra librarians; administrators involved in artistic planning; music students considering orchestral conducting; authors of program notes; publishers and music dealers; and instructors of conducting.
About the Author :
David Daniels is Emeritus Professor of Music at Oakland University and Conductor Emeritus of the Warren Symphony, both in Michigan. He is coauthor with John Yaffé of Arias, Ensembles & Choruses (Scarecrow Press, 2012), and editor of two series of books: Music Finders, and Dictionaries for the Modern Musician. In 2016, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the College Orchestra Directors' Association.
Review :
The fifth edition of the venerable resource by Daniels, issued by Rowman and Littlefield (and formerly by Scarecrow) in their ‘Music Finders’ series, adds considerable content while updating and revising about one-third of entries from the previous edition. Formatting and layout is somewhat improved over the previous edition, making the text easier to scan. Dates of composition are now incorporated, and more detail has been added to the instrumentation formula. Twelve appendixes enable access from a variety of points, including instrumentation, composer anniversaries, and thematic programming. An ‘Orchestralogy’ section lists bibliographic and web resources for identifying orchestral music. The print content of the fourth edition is captured in the Orchestral Music Online website, available by subscription at http://orchestralmusic.com/. . . .The latest edition offers enough new content and updated legacy content to perhaps merit purchase of both versions for libraries and organizations that support orchestras and their programming. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level.
While many orchestra librarians use this important reference work solely for looking up compositions and their timing information, I urge everyone to also utilize the comments in the Preface, as well as the many appendices. . . .I have often said a silent 'thank you' to David Daniels for his lifelong commitment to researching orchestral repertoire and making his information available to those of us in the orchestra world. Now I offer up a public " thank you": well done, David, and much appreciated!
The 5th edition of this staple of music libraries has increased by one third in its number of pages, entries, and updates from the 4th edition, but its purpose and format remain basically unchanged. The work is an alphabetical listing by composer and work that includes information to help orchestras schedule rehearsals and plan concerts. . . .A gem of this work has always been the appendixes. Where else can one find programmable works that are under five minutes? One appendix will assist planners of tie-ins to local ethnic programming events, another to celebrate the significant anniversaries of composers through 2026, and yet another of works intended for young audiences. . . .Besides the obvious target audience of music librarians, conductors, and orchestra programmers, it will also be useful for critics, concertgoers, and music collectors.
A sizable public—both within and beyond the music library community—has relied on the information contained in the Daniels books. They will not only be pleased with the present edition but will applaud the fact that the publisher has managed to increase the size of the book by 25 percent while retaining the price of the fourth edition.
[T]his hefty print edition (900 pages) remains an extremely useful option for orchestra librarians and conductors who for one reason or another prefer to work offline, or who prefer to own rather than merely rent the valuable information contained therein. . . . This 2015 fifth edition is expanded once again. It now includes approximately 8,500 individual detailed work entries, which is a third more than the previous edition. Dates of composition and revision have been added to the entries, making this book a more useful resource for music students. (The succinct summary of the convoluted publication history surrounding Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring could have saved me many hours in the library, thirty-five years ago.) Also new are enhanced listings of individual movements, and timings that were previously lacking. The level of supplementary detail accumulated by Daniels as well as contributed by orchestra librarians over the years is remarkable.
The newest edition of Orchestral Music continues the tradition of offering orchestra librarians as complete a compositional reference as is possible. It has been ten years since the fourth edition was published, and this edition has expanded from 6,400 entries to over 8,500 entries, and includes several new features…. There are two items that immediately caught my attention. The first was the inclusion of more movement titles/ designations in addition to the movement timings, even of large choral works, and the second was the addition of the date of the composition or revision…. I have often said a silent ‘thank you’ to David Daniels for his lifelong commitment to researching orchestral repertoire and making his information available to those of us in the orchestra world. Now I offer up a public ‘thank you’: well done, David, and much appreciated!
