A Conductor's Guide to Selected Baroque Choral-Orchestral Works

Book excerpt: In A Conductor’s Guide to Selected Baroque Choral-Orchestral Works, Jonathan D. Green's sixth book-length contribution of guides for conductors, he offers this companion to his critically acclaimed A Conductor’s Guide to the Choral-Orchestral Works of J. S. Bach. In this volume, Green addresses works of the Baroque era from Monteverdi through Bach's contemporaries. In addition to brief biographical sketches for each composer, Green includes for each work the approximate duration, text sources, performing forces, currently available editions, locations of manuscript materials, notes, performance issues, evaluation of solo roles, evaluation of difficulty, and a discography and bibliography. Duration information comes from a variety of sources, but Green turns to actual recording times of performances. The purpose of this book is to aid conductors in selecting repertoire appropriate to their needs and the abilities of their ensembles. The discographies and bibliographies, while not exhaustive, serve as helpful starting points for further research. A Conductor’s Guide to Selected Baroque Choral-Orchestral Works should appeal to conductors in supporting their concert programming. Librarians and music student will also find this work an ideal reference title for the study of Baroque repertoire.