A Conductor's Guide to Choral-orchestral Works, Twentieth Century, Part II

Book excerpt: This innovative survey of large choral-orchestral works is a continuation of the author's previous study of twentieth century works with English texts. Green examines nearly one hundred works, from Rachmaninov's Vesna to Penderecki's Song of Songs. For each work, he provides a biography of the composer, complete instrumentation, text sources, editions, availability of performing materials, performance issues, discography, and bibliography of the composer and the work. Based upon direct score study, each work has been evaluated in terms of potential performance problems, rehearsal issues, and level of difficulty for both the choir and orchestra. When present, solo roles are described. The composers represented in this work include Bela Bartok, Leonard Bernstein, Ernest Bloch, Maurice Duruf , Hans Werner Henze, Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Leos Janacek, Gy rgy Ligeti, Gustav Mahler, Carl Orff, Krzysztof Penderecki, Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, and Kurt Weill. Written as a field guide for conductors and others involved in programming concerts for choir and orchestra, this text will prove a useful source of new repertoire ideas and an invaluable aid to rehearsal preparation.