Monographs
Critical Minded: New Approaches to Hip Hop Studies
edited by Ellie Hisama and Evan Rapport, (ISAM, 2005). $10
Ellie M. Hisama, Afro-Asian Hip Hop; David G. Pier, Live Hip Hop in New York; Jonathan Toubin, Hip Hop Music in Downtown Manhattan; Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, Gender Dynamics in the Film Anne B. Real; Evan Rapport, On the Brooklyn-based Rapper Sensational; Robert Wood, A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre; Ejima Baker, Exploring Reggaetón; Carl Clements; Transcultural Interchange Between Indian Music & Hip Hop
Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York
edited by Ray Allen and Lois Wilcken, (University of Illinois Press, 1998). $15
A collection of critical essays surveying the rich mosaic of Caribbean music styles in America's largest, most diverse urban center. Includes the following essays: Ruth Glasser, "Buscanda Ambiente: Puerto Rican Musicians in New York City, 1917-1940"; Peter Manuel, "Representations of New York City in Latin Music"; Paul Austerlitz, "From Transplant to Transnational Circuit: Merengue in New York"; Juan Flores, "Recapturing History: The Puerto Rican Roots of Hip Hop Culture"; Donald Hill, "'I am Happy Just to be in this Sweet Land of Liberty': The New York City Calypso Craze of the 1930s and 1940s"; Philip Kasinitz, "Community Dramatized, Community Contested: The Politics of Celebration in the Brooklyn Carnival"; Ray Allen and Les Slater, "Steel Pan Grows in Brooklyn: Trinidadian Music and Cultural Identity"; Gage Averill, "Moving the Big Apple: Tabou Combo's Diasporic Dreams"; and Lois Wilcken, "The Changing Hats of Haitian Staged Folklore in New York City."
Additional Titles
More than just Minstrel Shows: The Rise of Black Musical Theatre at the Turn of the Century
by Thomas Riis, 1992 (no. 33) $15
Reexamines the roots and growth of black musical theatre in a critical decade, 1895-1905, focusing on possible links to the ring shout and other African-based traditions.
Elliott Carter: In Conversation with Enzo Restagno for Settembre Musica 1989
by Elliott Carter, 1991 (no. 32) $15
A stimulating conversation about music and culture with one of America's leading composers.
The Music of Harry Partch: A Descriptive Catalog
by Thomas McGeary, 1990 (no. 31) $20
Besides a systematic catalog raisonné of the unique musical output of Partch, McGeary offers a biographical outline, a bibliography of writings about Partch, and a discography.
American Music Before 1865 in Print and on Records: A Biblio-Discography
Revised edition by James R. Heintze, 1990 (no. 30) $30
A much expanded, up-to-date version, compiled by a well-known bibliographer, of a prize-winning reference work first published in 1976.
21st-Century Musical Instruments: Hardward and Software
by Jon Appleton, 1989 (no. 29) $12
A respected composer and president of the Society for Electroacoustic Music United States, Appleton teaches at Dartmouth College. There, with two colleagues, he invented the Synclavier, which is among the new instruments discussed in this monograph.
Afro-American Music, South Africa, and Apartheid
by Charles Hamm, 1988 (no. 28) $12
A renowned, versatile musicologist-known in recent years especially for his popular-music studies-turns his attention to South Africa. Hamm traces the odyssey of American popular music there from minstrel show to disco.
The Reception of Jazz in America: A New View
by James Lincoln Collier, 1988 (no. 27) $12
The author of The Making of Jazz, among other books on jazz, challenges the notion that Europeans first acknowledged the significance of jazz and wrote about it supportively.
The Player-Piano Music of Conlon Nancarrow: An Analysis of Selected Studies
by Philip Carlsen, 1988 (no. 26) $12
A detailed analysis, in lucid prose with many music examples, of the unique player-piano studies of an extraordinary composer. The principal works discussed are all commercially available in scores and recordings.
A Searcher's Path: A Composer's Way
by Roger Reynolds, 1987 (no. 25) $12
An illuminating and revealing pair of essays by an articulate and distinguished American composer.
Reflections and Research on Ragtime
by Edward A. Berlin, 1987 (no. 24) $10
"Ragtime's Unanswered Questions" proposes topics for future research; "New York Ragtime: A Guided Tour" rambles through the venues of pre-World War I ragtime. With maps, music examples, and an introduction by Max Morath.
The Music of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Catalogue
by William Lichtenwanger, 1986 (no. 23) $35 Now available in photocopied form.
A definitive catalog of the music of a highly original and prolific composer. For almost 1,000 works, this catalog supplies date and circumstances of composition, instrumentation, text sources, details of first performance, locations and description of manuscripts, and publication information.
Jerome Kern in Edwardian London
by Andrew Lamb, 1985 (no. 22) $10
A revealing account of Kern's early years in London. Includes much new information on Kern's songs, lyricists, producers, publishers, and friends. With illustrations and a complete list of songs from 1901 to 1910.
Confederate Sheet-Music Imprints
by Frank Hoogerwerf, 1984 (no. 21) $12
This catalog cites over 800 pieces of sheet music published during the Confederacy, with full bibliographic data, library locations, and indexes. "…invaluable to any serious student of Civil War Music." (Civil War Book Exchange)
From Print to Plastic: Publishing and Promoting America's Popular Music, 1900-1980
by Russell Sanjek, 1983 (no. 20) $20
A former vice president of BMI charts the growth of the American popular-music business. The birth of the Songwriters Protective Association, the great ASCAP-radio war of 1941, the payola scandal of the late 1950s-all are covered in revealing detail. "…a fascinating read." (Variety)
Ives: A Survey of the Music
by H. Wiley Hitchcock, 1983 (no. 19) $10
This acclaimed study of Charles Ives's music is reprinted, with addenda, from the 1977 edition by Oxford University Press. "…fills a remaining gap [in the Ives literature]: …serves as a useful, uncomplicated handbook to a complicated output." (Music & Letters)
The Life and Death of a Small Magazine (Modern Music, 1924-1945)
by Minna Lederman, 1983 (no. 18) $20
The editor's inside story of modern music's influential "little magazine," with a heady mixture of reminiscences and reports, excerpts from Modern Music articles, and unpublished letters and photographs. "…makes evident the vigour and rigour of [Lederman's] mind and the passion and compassion of her heart." (Wilfrid Mellers in the Musical Times).
Wallingford Riegger: Two Essays in Musical Biography
by Stephen Spackman, 1982 (no. 17) $10
"The life or the work?" explores the role of biographical studies in illuminating a composer's work; "Creating an identity" examines the first fifty years of Riegger's life.
Writings about Henry Cowell: An Annotated Bibliography
by Martha L. Manion, 1982 (no. 16) $15
An annotated list of 1,359 articles tracing the extraordinary career of Henry Cowell.
The Music of Henry Ainsworth's Psalter (Amsterdam, 1612)
by Lorraine Inserra and H. Wiley Hitchcock, 1981 (no. 15) $10
The 39 tunes in Ainsworth's psalter-brought to the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims-are analyzed and reproduced in facsimile and transcription. "…Its detail [is] extensive, accurate, and perceptive." (Notes)
The Phonograph and Our Musical Life: Proceedings of a Centennial Conference, 7-10 December 1977
edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock, 1980 (no. 14) $10
Explores the humanistic impact of recording on audience, composer, performer, scholar, critic, and members of other media. "…contains all sorts of interesting material." (Stereo Review)
Richard Franko Goldman: Selected Essays and Reviews, 1948-1968
edited by Dorothy Klotzman, 1980 (no. 13) $10
Reprints major essays and reviews originally published in the Juilliard Review, The Musical Quarterly, and other journals. "…With these informed, cogent, and well-developed gems…Goldman has contributed substantially to a small but excellent body of music criticism." (Choice)
A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll
by Robert Palmer, 1979 (no. 12) $10
Focuses on the two most important Southern recording centers during the transition from rhythm-and-blues and country-and-western to rock and roll.
The New Worlds of Edgard Varèse: Papers and Discussion from a Varse Symposium at the City University of New York
edited by Sherman Van Solkema, 1979 (no. 11) $10
Contains "On Edgard Varèse" by Elliot Carter; "Ionisation: The Function of Timbre in its Formal and Temporal Organization" by Chou Wen-chung; and "Notes on Varèse's Rhythm" by Robert P. Morgan.
A Checklist of Four-Shape Shape-Note Tunebooks
by Richard J. Stanislaw, 1978 (no. 10) $10 Now available in photocopied form.
A unique tool that identifies and locates almost 300 American shape-note tunebooks of the antebellum era.
Two Men for Modern Music
by Vivian Perlis, 1978 (no. 9) $10
Sketches the contributions made in the early twentieth century by E. Robert Schmitz, founder of the Pro Musica Society, and Herman Langinger, engraver and printer of New Music Quarterly. "…a fascinating story of two little-known champions of new music." (Choice)
Music in America and American Music: Two Views of the Scene
by Irving Lowens, 1978 (no. 8) $10 Now available in photocopied form.
Informative lectures on various aspects of American music delivered by Lowens as Senior Research Fellow at ISAM. The bibliography by Elizabeth Aubrey and Margery Lowens lists over 500 books, articles, editions, and reviews by a leading scholar of American music.
The Writings of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Bibliography
by Bruce Saylor, 1977 (no. 7) $10
A classified and annotated list of over 200 books, articles, reviews, prefaces to published music, and record liner notes written by the composer. "…aids assessment of this generous and versatile man's work." (Musical Times)
The Music of the Bay Psalm Book: 9th Edition (1698)
by Richard G. Appel, 1975 (no. 5) $10 Now available in photocopied form.
Contains facsimiles, transcriptions, and a discussion of the thirteen psalm-tunes added to the Bay Psalm Book (the first music printed in North America). "…useful and accurate." (The Hymn)
American Studies and American Musicology: A Point of View and a Case in Point
by Richard Crawford, 1975 (no. 4) $10
"…Not only defines the essential character of American musical studies with admirable clarity and conceptual depth, but also contributes significantly toward delineating a new profile for American musicology." (Notes)
Doctoral Dissertations in American Music: A Classified Bibliography
by Rita H. Mead, 1974 (no. 3) $10
Surveys 1,226 dissertations in music and other disciplines in which American music studies have been carried out. "…This listing is more than handy; it is essential for the widest access to American material in dissertation format." (American Reference Books Annual).
United States Music: Sources of Bibliography and Collective Biography
by Richard Jackson, 1973; rev. 2nd printing, 1976 (no. 1) $10
"…All students and librarians will appreciate the clarity of arrangement, straightforward and uncomplicated annotations, the excellent index, and the very fresh and honest approach." (Library Journal)
Additional Books
From the New World (1994)
Free with purchase of an ISAM Monograph, $5 if purchased alone
An exceptionally handsome, amply annotated, 60-page program book that accompanied the Brooklyn Philharmonic's celebration of Dvorak's American experience. Includes essays by Michael Beckerman, Joseph Horowitz, Adrienne Fried Block, John Mack Faragher, and Samuel A. Floyd, Jr.
U.S. Bicentennial Music I
by Richard Jackson, 1977 (ISAM Special Publications no. 1) $4
Physiology of the Opera
by Scrici, with new introduction by D.W. Krummel, 1981 (ISAM Special Publications no. 2) $8
Studying American Music: With a Bibliography of the Published Writings of Richard Crawford
by Richard Crawford, 1985 (ISAM Special Publications no. 3) $4
American Music Recordings: A Discography of 20th-Century U.S. Composers
edited by Carol J. Oja, 1982. $60
A project of the Institute for Studies in American Music for the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Inc.
