Worldwide in scope and covering the second half of the 20th century, this work provides biographies and discographies of some 500 conductors and composers in many aspects of light and popular orchestral music, including film, show, theatre, and mood music. This is the first time the lives and recordings of such artists as Kostelanetz, Faith, Gould, as well as the orchestral recordings of such great popular composers as Gershwin, Kern, Porter, Rodgers, Berlin, and Coward, have been adequately documented and consolidated in an encyclopedic fashion. Almost 5,000 records and CDs are listed. Of interest to scholars, students, disc jockeys, record and CD collectors, film music buffs, and mood and production music enthusiasts.
Popular orchestral music has been a neglected and often erroneously perceived and misunderstood genre in the 20th century. It has certainly not received the attention that it deserves and seems to be viewed as a Cinderella in relation to classical music and jazz. The genre, especially in the last 50 years, has been graced by exceptionally fine and highly esteemed conductors and arrangers, and also by a large number of highly regarded composers.
About the Author: REUBEN MUSIKER is Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was Professor of Librarianship and Bibliography and University Librarian. He is an inveterate collector of popular orchestral music and has contributed many articles on the subject to music journals.
NAOMI MUSIKER is a freelance book indexer of some seventy-five books by leading South African publishers. She has assisted her husband in the compilation and indexing of this book.
