Bibliography of Recommended Reading
INote: The the articles in the two top sections will appear in late August 2021
S Y S T E M D E S I G N
- Audio & Video System Design
- Audio System Matching
M U S I C S E R V E R S
- UPDATED 11-2016: Ripping & Transferring Music from your CD/DVD/Bluray/SACD library to a Music Server
- Music & Media File Acquisition, Storage & Backup - Alternative system designs
- Compressed vs. Uncompressed music files
- How to organize your digital music on the file system the MusiCHI way
- Berkeley Alpha USB (audiophile grade USB to AES-EBU or SP-DIF converter/reclocker)
- Computer Power Supply Efficiency Ratings
- Using the Apple iPad & iPod Touch as a Music Server remote control
H I G H E N D A U D I O
Stereophile - Audiophile-oriented magazine The Absolute Sound- Audiophile-oriented magazine
The Complete Guide to High-End Audio; Fifth Editionby Robert Harley
A C O U S T I C S
The Master Handbook of Acoustics 3rd Editionby F. Alton Everest Concert and Opera Halls: How They Soundby Leo Beranek Acousticsby Leo Beranek Sound System Engineeringby Don Davis & Carolyn Davis
R E C O R D I N G
A Century of Recorded Music: Listening to Musical History (Note: the focus is on classical music)by Timothy Day
Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studiosby William Clark & Jim Cogan - (Forward by Quincy Jones)
Inside the Hits: The Seduction of a Rock and Roll Generationby Wayne Wadhams
Sound Advice: The Musicians Guide to the Recording Studioby Wayne Wadhams
Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studiosby William Clark & Jim Cogan - (Forward by Quincy Jones)
Inside the Hits: The Seduction of a Rock and Roll Generationby Wayne Wadhams
Sound Advice: The Musicians Guide to the Recording Studioby Wayne Wadhams
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - Producers & Recording Engineers
Putting the Record Straight: The Autobiography of John Culshawby John Culshaw - (Producer 1946-1967, Decca Records) Ring Resounding: The stirring account of how Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen was recorded for the first timeby John Culshaw
The Other Side of the Recordby Charles O'Connell - (Musical Director RCA Victor; Producer 1930-1944 RCA Victor Red Seal Records)
On and Off the Record : A Memoir of Walter Legge, the Most Influential Man in Twentieth Century Classical Musicby Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - (soprano & Walter Legge's wife) - (Walter Legge, Producer 1927-1964, HMV / EMI & founder of the Philharmonia Orchestra)
Walter Legge: Words and Musicby Alan Sanders
The Music Goes Roundby Fred Gaisberg - (Producer 1898-1939, HMV / EMI)
The Other Side of the Recordby Charles O'Connell - (Musical Director RCA Victor; Producer 1930-1944 RCA Victor Red Seal Records)
On and Off the Record : A Memoir of Walter Legge, the Most Influential Man in Twentieth Century Classical Musicby Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - (soprano & Walter Legge's wife) - (Walter Legge, Producer 1927-1964, HMV / EMI & founder of the Philharmonia Orchestra)
Walter Legge: Words and Musicby Alan Sanders
The Music Goes Roundby Fred Gaisberg - (Producer 1898-1939, HMV / EMI)
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c
What to Listen For in Musicby Aaron Copland
The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethovenby Charles Rosen
First and Last Love: An Autobiography of His Life in Musicby Vincent Sheehan
Classical Music - Repertoire & Recording GuidesThe Indispensable Composers: A Personal Guideby Anthony Tommasini
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010by Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton; Paul Czajkowski (Editor)
Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companionby Alexander Morin
The Billboard Encyclopedia of Classical Musicby Stanley Sadie The Essential Canon of Classical Musicby David Dubal Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2012by James Jolly The Insider's Guide to Classical Recordings, From the Host of The Record Shelf, a Highly Opinionated, Irreverent, and Selective Guide to What's Good and What's Notby Jim Svejda
The Rough Guide to Classical Musicby Joe Staines
Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding
The Life and Death of Classical Music: Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Madeby Norman Lebrecht
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: 29 volumes with indexby Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell
The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Musicby Stanley Sadie; Alison Latham (Editor)
The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethovenby Charles Rosen
First and Last Love: An Autobiography of His Life in Musicby Vincent Sheehan
Classical Music - Repertoire & Recording GuidesThe Indispensable Composers: A Personal Guideby Anthony Tommasini
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010by Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton; Paul Czajkowski (Editor)
Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companionby Alexander Morin
The Billboard Encyclopedia of Classical Musicby Stanley Sadie The Essential Canon of Classical Musicby David Dubal Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2012by James Jolly The Insider's Guide to Classical Recordings, From the Host of The Record Shelf, a Highly Opinionated, Irreverent, and Selective Guide to What's Good and What's Notby Jim Svejda
The Rough Guide to Classical Musicby Joe Staines
Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding
The Life and Death of Classical Music: Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Madeby Norman Lebrecht
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: 29 volumes with indexby Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell
The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Musicby Stanley Sadie; Alison Latham (Editor)
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - ConductoR
A Mingled Chime: An Autobiographyby Sir Thomas Beecham
Memoirsby George Solti
Two Worlds of Music - (British Title: The Baton and the Jackboot) (autobiography)by Berta Geissmar (secretary - first to Furtwangler, then to Beecham)
Theme And Variations - An Autobiographyby Bruno Walter
Of Music and Music-Making (a continuation of his autobiography)by Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere (biography)by Erik Ryding The Leonard Bernstein Lettersby Nigel Simeone (Editor) Arturo Toscanini: Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro [contains Conversations with Toscanini (1959) and Toscanini Musicians Knew (1967)]by B. H. Haggin
No Minor Chords: My Days in Hollywood (autobiography)by Andre Previn
Memoirsby George Solti
Two Worlds of Music - (British Title: The Baton and the Jackboot) (autobiography)by Berta Geissmar (secretary - first to Furtwangler, then to Beecham)
Theme And Variations - An Autobiographyby Bruno Walter
Of Music and Music-Making (a continuation of his autobiography)by Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere (biography)by Erik Ryding The Leonard Bernstein Lettersby Nigel Simeone (Editor) Arturo Toscanini: Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro [contains Conversations with Toscanini (1959) and Toscanini Musicians Knew (1967)]by B. H. Haggin
No Minor Chords: My Days in Hollywood (autobiography)by Andre Previn
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - P i a n o
Great Contemporary Pianists Speak for Themselvesby Elyse Mach
Piano Notes: The World of the Pianistby Charles Rosen
Arthur Rubinstein: My Young Years (autobiography)by Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein: My Many Years (autobiography)by Arthur Rubinstein
Rubinstein: A Life in Music (biography)by Harvey Sachs
Horowitz: A Biography of Vladimir Horowitzby Glenn Plaskin Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal (autobiography)by Byron Janis
I Really Should Be Practicing. Reflections on the Pleasures and Perils of Playing Piano in Public. (autobiography)by Gary Graffman My Husband: Gabrilowitsch (biography)by Clara Clemens (Mark Twain's daughter)
Daniel Barenboim: A Life in Music (autobiography)by Daniel Barenboim The Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Presentby Harold C. Schonberg
A Walk on the Wild Side: A Memoir by Virtuoso Pianist Earl Wild (autobiography)by Earl Wild [Note: Pianists who Earl Wild felt had a natural-born talent included: Petre, Rachmaninoff, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Pachmann, Paderewski, Rosenthal, Friedman, Godowsky, Gilels, Ashkenazy, Bolet, Cziffra, Jonas, de Larrocha, Bachauer, Argerich, Novaes, Ogdon, Gulda, Kapell, Katchen, Watts, Jacobs, Masselos, Reisenberg, Slenczynska, Lipatti, Richter, Cortot, Sokolov, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Horowitz.
His favorites of the current generation of "mature" pianists are: Nelson Freire, Garrick Ohlsson.
Younger pianists who in his view showed promise: Evgeny Kissin, Stephen Hough, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Arcadi Volodos.]
Piano Notes: The World of the Pianistby Charles Rosen
Arthur Rubinstein: My Young Years (autobiography)by Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein: My Many Years (autobiography)by Arthur Rubinstein
Rubinstein: A Life in Music (biography)by Harvey Sachs
Horowitz: A Biography of Vladimir Horowitzby Glenn Plaskin Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal (autobiography)by Byron Janis
I Really Should Be Practicing. Reflections on the Pleasures and Perils of Playing Piano in Public. (autobiography)by Gary Graffman My Husband: Gabrilowitsch (biography)by Clara Clemens (Mark Twain's daughter)
Daniel Barenboim: A Life in Music (autobiography)by Daniel Barenboim The Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Presentby Harold C. Schonberg
A Walk on the Wild Side: A Memoir by Virtuoso Pianist Earl Wild (autobiography)by Earl Wild [Note: Pianists who Earl Wild felt had a natural-born talent included: Petre, Rachmaninoff, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Pachmann, Paderewski, Rosenthal, Friedman, Godowsky, Gilels, Ashkenazy, Bolet, Cziffra, Jonas, de Larrocha, Bachauer, Argerich, Novaes, Ogdon, Gulda, Kapell, Katchen, Watts, Jacobs, Masselos, Reisenberg, Slenczynska, Lipatti, Richter, Cortot, Sokolov, Sofronitsky, Cherkassky, Horowitz.
His favorites of the current generation of "mature" pianists are: Nelson Freire, Garrick Ohlsson.
Younger pianists who in his view showed promise: Evgeny Kissin, Stephen Hough, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Arcadi Volodos.]
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - V i o l i n
Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later (autobiography)by Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin: A Life (biography)by Humphrey Burton Fiddlers Moll: Life With Yehudi (biography)by Diana Menuhin
Heifetz As I Knew Him (biography)by Ayke Agus
Jascha Heifetz Through My Eyes (biography)by Sherry Kloss From Russia to the West: The Musical Memoirs and Reminiscences of Nathan Milstein (autobiography)by Nathan Milstein My First 79 Years: Isaac Stern (autobiography)by Isaac Stern
Violin Dreams (autobiography)by Arnold Steinhardt
Efrem Zimbalist: A Life (biography)by Roy Malan With Strings Attached - Reminiscences and Reflections (autobiography)by Joseph Szigeti
Yehudi Menuhin: A Life (biography)by Humphrey Burton Fiddlers Moll: Life With Yehudi (biography)by Diana Menuhin
Heifetz As I Knew Him (biography)by Ayke Agus
Jascha Heifetz Through My Eyes (biography)by Sherry Kloss From Russia to the West: The Musical Memoirs and Reminiscences of Nathan Milstein (autobiography)by Nathan Milstein My First 79 Years: Isaac Stern (autobiography)by Isaac Stern
Violin Dreams (autobiography)by Arnold Steinhardt
Efrem Zimbalist: A Life (biography)by Roy Malan With Strings Attached - Reminiscences and Reflections (autobiography)by Joseph Szigeti
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - C e l l o
Cellist (autobiography)by Gregor Piatigorsky Joys and Sorrows: Reflections by Pablo Casalsby Albert Kahn
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - S t r i n g Q u a r t e t
Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmonyby Arnold Steinhardt
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - S i n g e r
My Life (autobiography)by Emma Calvé
Such Sweet Compulsion: The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar (autobiography)by Geraldine Farrar The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer (autobiography)by Renee Fleming
The Sibyl Sanderson Story: Requiem for a Diva (biography)by Jack Winsor Hansen
Such Sweet Compulsion: The Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar (autobiography)by Geraldine Farrar The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer (autobiography)by Renee Fleming
The Sibyl Sanderson Story: Requiem for a Diva (biography)by Jack Winsor Hansen
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - P i a n o A c c o m p a n i s t
Am I Too Loud? A Musical Autobiographyby Gerald Moore
Farewell Recital: Further Memoirsby Gerald Moore
Farewell Recital: Further Memoirsby Gerald Moore
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - O b o e
Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music (memoir)by Blair Tindall
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - J. S. B a c h
Bach: Music in the Castle of Heavenby John Eliot Gardiner
The Cantatas of J. S. Bach with Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Textby Alfred Dürr
The Cantatas of J. S. Bach with Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Textby Alfred Dürr
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c - O p e r a
A Passion for Opera: Learning to Love It: The Greatest Masters, Their Greatest Musicby Peter Fox Smith
Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Operaby Fred Plotkin 5000 Nights at the Opera: The Memoirs of Sir Rudolf Bingby Sir Rudolf Bing
The Toughest Show on Earth: My Rise and Reign at the Metropolitan Operaby Joseph Volpe
Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Operaby Fred Plotkin 5000 Nights at the Opera: The Memoirs of Sir Rudolf Bingby Sir Rudolf Bing
The Toughest Show on Earth: My Rise and Reign at the Metropolitan Operaby Joseph Volpe
C l a s s i c a l M u s i c W e b s i t e s
AllMusic.com - Classical (Note: click the 'works' tab on a composer's page for 'highlights' of their oeuvre)
MusicWeb International (reviews of classical CDs)
Classical.net (another good source for basic repertoire)
Gramophone (reviews of classical CDs)Andante
MusicWeb International (reviews of classical CDs)
Classical.net (another good source for basic repertoire)
Gramophone (reviews of classical CDs)Andante
I n d i a n C l a s s i c a l M u s i c
Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankarby Ravi Shankar
My Music, My Lifeby Ravi Shankar
Classical Music of North India: the First Years of Study: The Music of the Baba Allauddin Gharana As Taught by Ali Akbar Khan at the Ali Akbar College of Musicby Ali Akbar Khan and George Ruckert Indian Classical Music - Web LinksAli Akbar College of Music
Indian Classical CD's
Indian Classical CD's