The New Grove collection This is the standard comprehensive music encyclopedia in English and the foundation for all academic scholarship: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London: Macmillan, 1980. This is the 6th edition of the original dictionary by Sir George Grove, first published in 1879-89; 2nd ed., 1904-10; 3rd ed., 1927-28; 4th ed., 1940; 5th ed., 1954 (supplement, 1961), (paperback reprint - New York: St. Martin Press, 1970). The NewGrove contains around 20,000 entries written by hundreds of well known scholars. It contains biographies, definitions of terms, and descriptions of musical styles and practices. It does not include a general index (there is an index of ethnomusicological terms), nor is it without certain omissions and mistakes. In 1983, a series of NewGrove spin-off publications began to appear (see below for a complete list). While some were no more than reprints of given sections, others included significant corrections and additions. For American music, the most important include: The New Grove Dictionary of American music. Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie. 4 vols. London: Macmillan, 1986. The AmeriGrove contains relevant articles from the NewGrove (some expanded or re-worked) along with many new entries about American music. This is the obvious starting point for any scholarship or research, but is limited and spotty in vernacular and popular styles. The New Grove Gospel, Blues, and Jazz, with Spirituals and Ragtime. Edited by Paul Oliver, Max Harrison, and William Bolcom. New York: Norton, 1986. The BluGrove is another takeoff from the 1980 original, containing a great deal of new and re-worked information. This one-volume book is a good starting point for research in its title-areas. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Edited by Barry Kernfeld. 2 vol. London: Macmillan, 1988. The JazzGrove contains some information from the NewGrove and AmeriGrove, but goes much further. It stands alone in its area as the major starting point for all research. The New Grove Twentieth-Century American Masters: Ives, Thomson, Sessions, Cowell, Gershwin, Copland, Carter, Barber, Cage, Bernstein. Edited by John Kirkpatrick. NY: Norton, 1988. This one-volume work, quite possibly suitable as a textbook for a course in American composers, is expanded from sources in the NewGrove and AmeriGrove. Other New Grove books: Handel (1983); Haydn (1983); Mozart (1983); Schubert (1983); Wagner (1984); Beethoven (1983); second Viennese school (1983); Bach family (1983); early keyboard instruments (1989); French Baroque masters (1986); high renaissance masters (1984); Italian baroque masters (1984); modern masters (1984); twentieth-century English (1986); twentieth- century French (1986); organ (1988); musical instruments (1984); opera (1992); north European baroque masters (1985); turn of the century masters (1985); violin family (1989). N.B.: NO ROCK. 5/94, FMc.