With 45-plus years as a music educator and director of period ensembles, Swain is well versed in baroque music. This new edition of his dictionary features 100 new entries (roughly 500 total), half biographical and half dealing with genres, technical aspects, important traditions, and outstanding compositions. Individual entries have expanded, and a new entry on the development of the baroque orchestra has been added. Varying in length from a sentence or two to about eight pages (for Bach and Handel), entries are more detailed than those in general music resources. The preface announces that the update's “most helpful expansion” is the bibliography, which has some 30 percent new items, most from the past decade. This 50-page, unannotated bibliography includes primary and secondary sources, internet resources, and a brief discography. A few black-and-white illustrations and tables are scattered throughout. Very welcome is the inclusion of the titles of specific notable works, particularly for less-known composers. Although this new edition, like the previous one, is well done and unique. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals.
— Choice Reviews
Swain observes that the baroque period in music, traditionally dated from 1600 to 1750, is one of the best known in the history of Western music. Its most famous composers (including Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi) are among the most prominent in classical music today. Much scholarship has been done on that era since Swain’s pioneering and well-received first edition of this book was published in 2013. The second edition includes 100 new entries, half of them about composers; other new entries are about individual compositions (e.g., Bach’s Easter Oratorio), places, technical terms, and institutions. Expanded versions of the first edition’s entries offer more historical detail and explanations. Most helpful to students and scholars is Swain’s greatly expanded bibliography, which contains 30 percent more sources, most published in the last decade. The book presupposes a good background in music theory and notation (including violin). Bravo! An invaluable source for scholars and concertgoers.
— Library Journal