This volume, part of Greenwood's continuing series of Bio-Bibliographies in Music, provides a concise bibliographic guide to the life and career of Otto Luening. While the music of this American composer, educator, conductor, and flutist has been performed throughout the northeastern United States, his work has received little attention outside of this region. With its extensive treatment of his life and career, this book will help to bring Luening's important compositions and his contributions to American music to the attention of a much wider audience.
Ralph Hartsock divides Luening's work into four main sections, each covering a specific aspect of Luening's career. The volume begins with a brief biography of the subject and is followed by a complete listing of Luening's works and performances through 1989. Prepared with the assistance of Luening himself, this section arranges its information in chronological order, and includes basic bibliographical data as well as information on the premiere of each piece and selected performances. A comprehensive discography, arranged alphabetically by title, cites both commercially produced and selected privately released recordings. Also included is a pair of annotated bibliographies, covering the years from 1921 to 1989. One contains citations of material written by Luening, while the other details the hundreds of articles written about him. The work concludes with a pair of appendixes that catalog Luening's compositions alphabetically by title and according to genre. This work will be a valuable reference source for courses in contemporary music and American music, and a worthwhile addition to the collections of public, college, and university libraries.
