This welcome second edition adds more than 1,000 new entries to update the earlier (2009) one. Manning embraces a very broad definition of 'pop' music, drawing from genres including rock, jazz, and classical repertoires, among others. Works included are generally available for purchase or rental. The author gathered information on currently available scores and parts through various sources including publisher catalogs, music indexes, and an onsite visit to Luck's Music Library, one of the world's largest orchestral music distributors. Content is organized alphabetically by composer, and accompanied by appendixes including an instrumentation index, a duration list, a topical index (e.g., holidays, sports), a title list, and information on publishers. The entries include title, duration, instrumentation, themes or topics, and publisher. The thematic list includes holidays, ethnic derivations, sports, travel, and other subjects useful for programming. The instrumentation index and duration index also facilitate programming, matching repertoire with available instrumental forces and time slots within concerts. A list of publishers and sources provides contact information for many of the more important vendors. This resource is a necessary tool for librarians, music directors, and others responsible for programming music ensembles. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice Reviews

Many bibliographies of orchestral music contain lists of pops music, but few provide as complete a list (over 2,000) as is found in this handbook. This updated volume provides up-to-date information. . . .Lucy Manning points out that this handbook is an attempt to alleviate some of the time consuming work of locating pops music by creating a comprehensive and informative repertoire list for 'pops' concerts.' She provides an interesting definition of 'pops' music from which the list is based. Numerous orchestras and composers were contacted to develop the theory of 'pops' used for selecting the titles included. The list is arranged alphabetically by composer, and each entry contains the title of the work, instrumentation, duration, themes (e.g., animals, Broadway musicals, circus, dance), publisher, and availability for purchase or rental. In addition to the alphabetic list, the work contains listings by publishers and sources, instrumentation, duration, and theme. In addition, a list of abbreviations is provided. . . .This work is extremely valuable for its listing of pops music by theme. Pops orchestra conductors and music programmers should find it useful to be able to find listings by such themes as space, seasons, and travel. Few bibliographies provide such listings. This updated work is highly recommended for all orchestra libraries, larger public and academic libraries, and the libraries of professionals concerned with orchestral programming.

American Political Science Review