622
consult the main section for more in-
formation on these pieces, not all of
the works contained in these collec-
tions are listed there (possibly because
they fit into the excluded category of
salon music). Highlighting such pieces
through typography or other format-
ting would have been useful, so that
readers would know to look elsewhere
for additional information. The second
appendix, which lists music for piano
four hands plus voice or other instru-
ments, is extremely brief, providing
only the composers’ names, work titles,
and instruments and/or voices added
to the ensemble. However, the main
listing includes these works, so users
will be able to find more information
easily.
The editors added two indexes to
this edition. The first lists the pieces al-
phabetically by title and gives the opus
number and composer, while the sec-
ond lists composers, subdivided by na-
tionality (in both cases, page numbers
are provided only for pieces or com-
posers listed in Appendix 1, the index
of collections). Although this index by
nationality might prove useful for those
designing nationally themed recitals or
educational programs, it does not help
teachers and students to determine if a
particular composer is well-represented
in the repertoire, particularly if they
are not familiar with the composer’s
background. An index listing pieces by
difficulty level would have been a more
practical addition for piano teachers.
Despite these limitations, Piano Duet
Repertoire: Music Originally Written for
One Piano, Four Hands is primarily use-
ful for finding repertoire for teaching
or performance. However, the removal
of the manuscript location information
significantly reduces its value for re-
searchers, making it a practical rather
than scholarly reference. The descrip-
tions of individual pieces are designed
to aid repertoire selection based on the
tastes and preferences of students or
Notes, June 2018
performers, and for planning concert
programs with unity and variety. The
level indications, particularly when the
two parts differ in difficulty, are helpful
to teachers when assigning works for
students and their duet partners. In ad-
dition, the biographical information
for the composers is well suited for pro-
gram notes.
Carol Lubkowski
Wellesley College
Guide to the Solo Horn Repertoire. By
Linda Dempf and Richard Sera-
phinoff. (Indiana Repertoire Guides.)
Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 2016. [xiii, 603 p. ISBN
9780253019295 (hardback), $68; ISBN
9780253019356 (e-book), price
varies.] Bibliography, index.
This hefty volume, dedicated to the
great horn virtuoso and pedagogue
Philip Farkas, “is meant to serve as a
comprehensive guide to the music for
solo horn that is significant and avail-
able” (p. ix). Its scope is clearly defined
to include only music originally written
for the horn, thereby excluding
arrangements, no matter how common
they might be in the established reper-
toire (with the exception of piano re-
ductions of select pieces originally writ-
ten for horn and ensemble). Although
several pieces were obtained directly
from the composer, the vast majority of
the works were either commonly avail-
able at American libraries or else com-
mercially available for purchase at the
time of this compilation. Because of
this, potential users of this book should
be able to hunt down the repertoire
fairly easily and not be tantalized by po-
tential works they would like to per-
form but cannot locate.
The authors, Linda Dempf and
Richard Seraphinoff (both of whom
hold advanced degrees in horn perfor-
mance) created this repertoire guide,
Book Reviews
arranged as an extensive annotated bib-
liography, after consulting other previ-
ously existing bibliographies, guides,
dissertations, and other types of publi-
cations. They divide the book into
three main sections: “Music for Un-
accompanied Horn,” “Music for Horn
and Keyboard: Piano, Organ, Harpsi-
chord,” and “Music for Horn and
Ensemble: Orchestra, String Orchestra,
Band, Wind Ensemble, or Other Instru-
mental Group.” The guide also in-
cludes multiple indexes to help the
reader more effectively access the vast
amount of information in the main
sections. Of special interest is the index
of pieces for horn with large non-
orchestral ensembles (i.e. band, wind
ensemble, and brass ensemble) and the
index of pieces for horn with small in-
strumental ensemble. Also noteworthy
is a list that groups together by nation-
ality the composers included in the
guide, which could be a helpful tool
for recital or recording projects of a
certain bent.
Each of the three main sections is
comprised of entries that uniformly list
the composers’ birth years (and if ap-
plicable, death years), birth countries
(and, if applicable, other countries in
which they spent significant portions of
their careers), titles of works and their
years of composition, publishers and
dates of publication of easily available
editions, ranges required to play the
pieces, and approximate durations. A
few composer entries also include a bit
of brief biographical information; how-
ever, it is unclear why some composers
have this additional information and
others do not. In a similar manner, bio-
graphical notes for composers who are
listed in all three sections (e.g., Paul
Basler) appear in a single entry (which
makes sense to save space and reduce
duplication), but this information
seems to occur randomly in the vol-
ume, rather that with the composer’s
first mention.
623
This volume is particularly valuable
for the descriptive annotations that ac-
company most of the listings. In a few
cases, especially when the authors were
not able to examine the scores, these
annotations are non-existent or limited
to a single sentence. However, most
provide a plethora of excellent infor-
mation on each piece, including com-
positional history, notice of extended
techniques, and the general style.
Dempf and Seraphinoff purposefully
chose not to create a grading system,
but they do indicate the difficulty levels
of most pieces and their appropriate-
ness for high school or college stu-
dents, a feature that could be extremely
useful for horn teachers looking to ex-
plore different repertoire for their
students. However, the lack of a graded
index means that readers can only
serendipitously discover pieces of par-
ticular levels as they peruse the entries
in the volume.
Because this guide is focuses on solo
horn repertoire, the third section, “Mu-
sic for Horn and Ensemble,” only lists a
piece “if the composer conceived the
work as featuring the horn as a solo
voice” (p. 337). Consequently, the vast
majority of this section is comprised
of works for horn and large ensemble
(or their piano reductions), and only
thirty-one of the listings are for horn
and small instrumental ensemble. It is
understandable that the authors
needed to limit the scope of the book
in this way; however, performers inter-
ested in horn in chamber music will
need to consult other resources for this
information.
In the preface, the authors identify
the many sources used to compile this
guide but unfortunately do not provide
full citations for these earlier publica-
tions, the most recent of which ap-
peared in 2001. Since the volume in-
cludes some pieces composed after
this date, it is unclear how the authors
selected these more contemporary
624 Notes, June 2018

works. The dissertation by Lin Foulk,
“Works for Horn and Piano by Female
Composers: An Annotated Guide”
(D.M.A. diss., University of Wisconsin,
Madison, 2003) has since been refor-
matted as a database that has been up-
dated as recently as summer of 2017
(http://www.linfoulk.org [accessed
17 December 2017]). Many of the
twenty-first century pieces included in
this guide, however, were written by
men.
While there are several small issues,
the overall value of the guide far out-
weighs any of its inconsistencies. For
standard pieces, it contains helpful in-
formation that would come in handy
when writing program notes. In addi-
tion, it is invaluable for learning about
unfamiliar repertoire (which could well
mean older pieces) that might be avail-
able for purchase or through many li-
brary collections. This volume should
find a place in any music library serving
a population of horn players at under-
graduate or graduate levels, as well as
in the personal libraries of horn per-
formers and teachers.
Scott Stone
University of California, Irvine

THEORY AND ANALYSIS

Decoding Rameau: Music as the Sovereign Science. A Translation with

Commentary of Code de musique pratique and Nouvelles réflexions sur le
principe sonore (1760). By Mark Howard. (Teorie musicali, no. 2.) Lucca:
Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2016. [xxv, 653 p. ISBN 9788870968460 (pa-
perback). i40.] Music examples, illustrations, facsimiles, bibliography,
index.
With the publication of Decoding ing the voice (i.e. voice production);
Rameau: Music as the Sovereign Science, 4) harpsichord or organ accompani-
Mark Howard provides the first transla- ment (i.e. a thorough-bass method);
tion into English of two treatises by 5) composition; 6) accompanying with-
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764): out figures; and 7) improvisation. The
Code de musique pratique and Nouvelles sections on accompaniment and com-
réflexions sur le principe sonore, which position form the heart of the Code,
were published together in late 1760 or comprising ten of its sixteen chapters.
early 1761 (Paris: L’imprimerie royale). The Nouvelles réflexions is a brief essay
The Code is a pedagogical work consist- on how the corps sonore (sonorous body)
ing of seven methods for learning is the key not just to music but to all
music. It is arguably Rameau’s most arts and sciences. Though an indepen-
complete work on practical music, the dent work, it appeared in print along-
culmination of his life’s work as a side the Code and served as a kind of
teacher of performance and composi- “speculative” (p. 589) or theoretical
tion. The bulk of Howard’s book is a supplement.
commentary on this important treatise. The source for Howard’s translation
In the introductory overview of the is the facsimile in volume four of Erwin
Code, Rameau reviews the seven methods Jacobi’s Complete Theoretical Writings of
(pp. 35–40): 1) teaching music, “even Jean-Philippe Rameau (Rome: American
to the blind” (i.e. rudiments, p. 35); Institute of Musicology, 1969); how-
2) the position of the hand on the ever, because Howard includes the
harpsichord or organ; 3) the art of form- page numbers of the original edition in
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