The eight chapters of Understanding Boccherini’s Manuscripts discuss various aspects of the study of the manuscript sources for the music of Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805), one of the foremost composers of the second half of the eighteenth century. This book begins by outlining the various types that can be distinguished among the manuscripts written by the composer himself or by his copyists, such as manuscripts for archival purposes, for publishers and for patrons. Germán Labrador continues with a discussion of the chronology of both Boccherini’s works and their manuscript sources, and Loukia Drosopoulou describes the musical handwriting that we find in the manuscripts under discussion. Boccherini produced several catalogues of his works of which some are lost, while others have been preserved. Marco Mangani and Federica Rovelli review these documents. The second half of this book addresses more specific topics. Giulio Battelli pays attention to a recent addition to Boccherini’s known oeuvre, the Laudate pueri, a very early work, preserved in the library of the Istituto Musical in Lucca. Rupert Ridgewell deals with the relations between Boccherini and the Viennese publishing house Artaria. Matanya Ophee considers the sources for Boccherini’s Guitar Quintets recently come available, and, finally, Jaime Tortella comments upon some letters to the nineteenth-century collector Julian Marshall – one of them by Alfredo Boccherini, a great-grandson of the composer – that shed light on the adventures of Boccherini’s manuscripts in the nineteenth century. Furthermore, a common bibliography following all the chapters is supplied, as are extensive indexes. In addition to regular indexes of subjects and names, indexes covering letters cited, catalogues, manuscript sources, early editions, and Boccherini’s works are also provided. As such, this book is an altogether indispensable tool for everybody with a scholarly interest in the life and work of Luigi Boccherini, and a splendid model for similar work on other composers.

A Concise History of the Classic Guitar by Graham Wade, one of the foremost international writers on the guitar, explores the history of the instrument from the 16th century to the present day. This compact assessment of five centuries of fretted instruments cover the vihuela in Spain, the history of four-course and five-course guitars, the evolution of tablature, and developments in the six-string guitar in the 19th century. the work also charts the contribution of leading composers, performers and luthiers of the 20th century, and evaluates the influence of Segovia, Llobet, Pujol, Presti, Bream, Williams, etc., among the world's famous guitarists. This book, intended for the general public and guitar students of all ages, is the first interpretative history of the classic guitar to be published in the 21st century, and will be eagerly welcomed by all lovers of the instrument.

(Book). We proudly present the fifth edition of Maurice J. Summerfield's highly acclaimed ultimate reference book on the classical guitar. This brand new book features all the original biographical entries updated with new photographs where applicable, plus 100 new biographical entries in the players, composers and makers section for a total of over 485. This new edition gives the reader a full and clear picture of the classical guitar's development since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Also included are informative sections on composers, scholars, flamenco guitarists and guitar makers. The book's collection of several hundred photographs is the most complete to be published in one volume. There are extensive listings of the most important classical guitar recordings. The final section, Sources of Supply, guides readers to where they can obtain the books, recordings, music and magazines listed in the book. Without a doubt, this new edition will be the essential work of reference on the subject of classical guitar for years to come! "My sincere congratulations to Maurice Summerfield." Andres Segovia

The Reader's Guide to Music is designed to provide a useful single-volume guide to the ever-increasing number of English language book-length studies in music. Each entry consists of a bibliography of some 3-20 titles and an essay in which these titles are evaluated, by an expert in the field, in light of the history of writing and scholarship on the given topic. The more than 500 entries include not just writings on major composers in music history but also the genres in which they worked (from early chant to rock and roll) and topics important to the various disciplines of music scholarship (from aesthetics to gay/lesbian musicology).

More than twenty years ago James Tyler wrote a modest introduction to the history, repertory, and playing techniques of the four- and five-course guitar. Entitled The Early Guitar: A History and Handbook (OUP 1980), this work proved valuable and enlightening not only to performers and scholarsof Renaissance and Baroque guitar and lute music but also to classical guitarists. This new book, written in collaboration with Paul Sparks (their previous book for OUP, The Early Mandolin, appeared in 1989), presents new ideas and research on the history and development of the guitar and its musicfrom the Renaissance to the dawn of the Classical era.Tyler's systematic study of the two main guitar types found between about 1550 and 1750 focuses principally on what the sources of the music (published and manuscript) and the writings of contemporary theorists reveal about the nature of the instruments and their roles in the music making of theperiod. The annotated lists of primary sources, previously published in The Early Guitar but now revised and expanded, constitute the most comprehensive bibliography of Baroque guitar music to date. His appendices of performance practice information should also prove indispensable to performers andscholars alike.Paul Sparks also breaks new ground, offering an extensive study of a period in the guitar's history--notably c.1759-c.1800--which the standard histories usually dismiss in a few short paragraphs. Far from being a dormant instrument at this time, the guitar is shown to have been central tomusic-making in France, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, and South America. Sparks provides a wealth of information about players, composers, instruments, and surviving compositions from this neglected but important period, and he examines how the five-course guitar gradually gave way to the six-stringinstrument, a process that occurred in very different ways (and at different times) in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Britain.