Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers: Tome second... additif et correctif by René VannesReview by: William LichtenwangerNotes, Second Series, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Sep., 1960), p. 577Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/892391 .

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BRIEFLY NOTED Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers: Tome second . . . additif et correctif. Par Rene Vannes. Bruxelles: Les Amis de la Musique, 1959. [iii, 198, lviii p., facsims., folio; paper, B. fr. 750; with Vol. I, B. fr. 1750]

This substantial volume is a supple- ment to the 1951 revised (2nd) edition of Vannes'. dictionary of European (and some American) string instrument makers from the 16th century on. The two volumes far outstrip in size and usefulness the modest original edition of 1932, and between them they con- stitute much the most comprehensive and informative reference work on luthe- rie so far published. This supplemental volume consists of (1) 64 folio pages of notes on close to 2,000 names, most of the notes correcting or amplifying th! 1951 articles but some being on entirely new names, especially ones from the USSR and Poland; (2) an index of 151 shop signs with the names of the makers who used them; (3) 132 pages listing, alphabetically by cities, the names and dates of makers who are known to have worked, been born, or died in them; (4) 50 pages of additional facsimiles of labels, beautifully repro- duced, plus six pages of initialed "brands," bringing the to,tal number of .marks reproduced in the two volumes to about 4,000. Unfortunately M. Vannes died before all of this supplemental in- formation could be carefully collated and verified, so serious investigators should take moderate warning; but until some compelent successor is able to integrate and perhaps re-amplify all the data in these two volumes, librarians especially can be thankful for their existence as a defense against those fiddle fanciers who want to fill their heads as well as their pockets. WILLIAM LICHTENWANGER

Handbuch der Blockfloten-Literatur. Von Linde! Hoffer v. Winterfeld & Harald Kunz. Berlin: Bote & Bock, 1959. [139 p., 8vo; DM 14,80, 30/-]

The past decade has witnessed the printing of so much recorder music by an ever-increasing number of publishers

that a classified listing of available works would prove valuable. Unfortunately, this first attempt at such a guide lacks both comprehensiveness and precision. No American or Dutch publications are in- cluded, and many non-German publishers are represented in a haiphazard fashion. Some original works are listed as ar- rangements, and vice versa, and the problem of identifying works available in more than one edition but lacking opus numbers (such as the Telemann sonatas) is ignored.

Since the bulk of the book is simply a listing of works, the non-German readar is at no disadvantage. Almost 2,000 items are listed both in alphabetical order by composer and systematically, including books, teaching materials, and music for various combinations. Despite its imper- fections, this handbook can be recom- mended with reservations. A carefully revised and expanded second edition is urgently needed. DALE S. HIGBEE

Der neue Gradus; Lehrbuch des strengen Satzes Johann Joseph Fux. Von Ernst Tittel. Wien & Miinchen: Verlag Doblinger, [1959]. [2 vols. (Textteil 142 p., Notenteil 78 p.), 8vo] Modal Counterpoint in the Style of the Sixteenth Century. By Ernst Krenek. [New York]: Boosey & Hawkes, [1959]. [21 p., music, 8vo; paper, $1.25] Tonal Counterpoint in the Style of the Eighteenth Century; Outline. By Ernst Krenek. [New York]: Boosey & Hawkes, [1958]. [44 p., music, 8vo; paper, $1.50]

Ernst Tittel's book is an extended paraphrase of Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum which curiously misrepresents the mean- ing and substance of its model. It con- tains a course of studies drawn from Fux's discussion of counterpoint. imita- tion, and fugue. But these studies are intended neither as studies of a technique nor as studies of a style; they are pre- sented as "the objectivation of the natural laws of part writing on a plane of purely intellectual theory-the great-

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