The Oxford Companion to Australian Music is a reference work that will be of interest to music lovers as well as of use to musicians, scholars and students. To date no volume has combined an account of Australia's music with biographical information about its musicians, a critical guide totheir works, publishers and recordings, and a guide to the burgeoning literature in the field. With more than 2,000 entries, the Companion ranges across a wide spectrum, from ancient Aboriginal traditions and European-derived orchestral, operatic and concert music, to Australian folk jazz, country, popular, rock, electronic and experimental music. It covers the music not only of mainstreamaudiences but also of Australia's religious denominations and recent migrant communities. Special attention is given to the distinctive features of Australian musical life: its reliance on government support rather than private or ecclesiastical patronage, its unquenchable appetite for eisteddfods,choral societies and bands; the shadow cast by European traditions; the vicissitudes of its attitudes towards composers; the late development of music criticism and scholarship; and the role of regional cities and towns. There are numerous entries on Aboriginal subjects and on key musical organizations and considerable space is given to a series of longer entries covering musical works, institutions, genres, instruments, terms, and many of the historical contexts of Australian music. These key essays offer anauthoritative framework for a better understanding of the shape and originality of music-making in Australia.

One of the best ways to ascertain a nation's character is to examine its informal or unofficial culture - its folklore. Australians' sense of nationality is defined not merely in relation to the places they inhabit and the careers they pursue, but also via the slang and languages they speak, the jokes and yarns they exchange, the objects they make, the way they behave towards one another, and the games they play. As Australia approaches the centenary of Federation, it is timely that questions should be asked about the nature of the Australian identity in a changing, urbanized, multicultural society. The Oxford Companion to Australian Folklore addresses these questions and illustrates the range and importance of Australia's folkloric heritage. Some of Australia's best-known writers, folklorists and academics have contributed articles to the Companion. Entries range from the descriptive (Gumleaf playing) to the analytical (Popular culture and folklore); from country halls to graffiti to archival preservation of audio tapes; from the bunyip to rebetika (Greek blues); from chain letters to patchwork quilts and Wagga rugs. Also included are biographies of notables in the folklore field, and short entries on myths and heroes such as Ned Kelly, Henry Lawson, 'The Wild Colonial Boy' and 'The Dog on the Tucker Box'. Many entries contain references for those wishing to read further on a particular topic, and an appendix supplies bibliographic guidance for researchers. Until recently, Australia was one of the few countries in the world that tended to disregard the collection, preservation, study and recognition of its folk heritage and its contemporary folklore. As well as being an invaluablereference for students, families and cultural historians, The Oxford Companion to Australian Folklore is a milestone in the scholarship of Australian folklore.

This first comprehensive overview of the history of Australian jazz combines over 300 entries that survey a wide range of musicians, bands, venues, and record labels, and includes a series of informative essays that provide a coherent historical context.

"Essays cover major historical trends and figures, discuss jazz in different countries, review the role of most instruments and consider the place of jazz in other arts, like dance, literature and film." N.Y. Times Book Rev. "This work is an effective single-volume device, leading current listeners to the music while including enough newer scholarship to retain the interest of connoisseurs." Libr J.

Australia has an enormously rich heritage of gardens and gardening and there has never before been a reference work of this scale with this diversity covering this wide-ranging subject. Ten years in the making, The (Oxford) Companion to Australian Gardens covers all aspects of Australiangardening from Aboriginal land management practices to modern garden design.Interest in gardening and garden design has increased over the last few years. The aim of the Companion is to further the understanding of gardens and gardening and provide a useful reference tool for anyone with an interest in gardens, landscape gardening, art, and architecture.With around 400 entries, the text covers topics such as designed landscapes, agriculture, architecture, art, botany, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape architecture, town planning, and viticulture.With the help of their team of over 200 expert contributors, Richard Aitken and Michael Looker have produced an authoritative and comprehensive reference work. The main text is lavishly illustrated and many of the illustrations have never before been published.This is a must-have reference work for anyone working in or studying garden design or landscape design, particularly those who have an international interest in the subject.

One of the best ways to ascertain a nation's character is to examine its informal or unofficial culture - its folklore. Australians' sense of nationality is defined not merely in relation to the places they inhabit and the careers they pursue, but also via the slang and languages they speak, the jokes and yarns they exchange, the objects they make, the way they behave towards one another, and the games they play. As Australia approaches the centenary of Federation, it is timely that questions should be asked about the nature of the Australian identity in a changing, urbanized, multicultural society. The Oxford Companion to Australian Folklore addresses these questions and illustrates the range and importance of Australia's folkloric heritage. Some of Australia's best-known writers, folklorists and academics have contributed articles to the Companion. Entries range from the descriptive (Gumleaf playing) to the analytical (Popular culture and folklore); from country halls to graffiti to archival preservation of audio tapes; from the bunyip to rebetika (Greek blues); from chain letters to patchwork quilts and Wagga rugs. Also included are biographies of notables in the folklore field, and short entries on myths and heroes such as Ned Kelly, Henry Lawson, 'The Wild Colonial Boy' and 'The Dog on the Tucker Box'. Many entries contain references for those wishing to read further on a particular topic, and an appendix supplies bibliographic guidance for researchers. Until recently, Australia was one of the few countries in the world that tended to disregard the collection, preservation, study and recognition of its folk heritage and its contemporary folklore. As well as being an invaluablereference for students, families and cultural historians, The Oxford Companion to Australian Folklore is a milestone in the scholarship of Australian folklore.

The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence. After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Misérables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues. The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today.