Words with music

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33775, 22 February 1975, Page 10

Words with music

Everyman's Dictionary of Music. Compiled by Eric Blom. Hutchinson. 793 pp. N.Z. price $4.65. This is the third revision by Sir Jack Westrupp of Eric Blom’s fascinating book—as useful and interesting today as when it first appeared in 1947. The book is far more than a dictionary of

musical terms—although thev are there, clearly explained. Short accounts of musicians—many obscure and seldom heard of today—are there, should their names be encountered and information about them be desired. For instance, should anyone have cause to know something of Leonhard Paminger, he can’find out that Leonhard was bom in Aschau, in Upper Austria, on March 29, 1495, and died at Passau in 1567. He -wrote Latin motets and German hymns, was secretary to a monastery and became a Lutheran, thereby, no doubt, giving rise to acrimonious gossip. And there are countless others waiting to make their bows from misty obscurity to the casual browser. The many musical examples are clearly printed. Performers as well as composers are noticed, and there is information about instruments, their history, compass, and techniques used in playing them.