Alex Klassen

mus 499 Joe Salem

October 24, 2016

searching terms in dictionaries and encyclopedias

I had a look for the term hexachord in a variety of music dictionaries and encyclopedias
Grove Music Online contained an extensive entry on hexachords focused solely on the
historical aspects of hexachords in medieval and renaissance theory. It contained a link to
serialism for more info. Groves entry was written in 2012 by Johoash Hirschberg.
The linked article on serialism contains a discussion on the combinatorial uses of
hexachords in the music of Schoenberg. That article was written in 2011 by Paul Griffiths.
Paul Griffiths. "Serialism." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed October 24, 2016, http://
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/
grove/music/25459.
Jehoash Hirshberg. "Hexachord." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.
Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016, http://
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/
grove/music/12963.

New Harvard Dictionary of Music contains an entry that goes so far as to

explain the method of hexachordal transposition and contains a diagram for additional
reference. No mention however is given of the modern usage.
Randel, Don Michael Hexachord. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd
ed. President and Fellows of Harvard University, 1969.
Oxford Dictionary of Music has a succinct entry on the subject which
focuses on the use of hexachords in the movable Do system. The uses in modern
composition are briefly summarized as being unconnected to the medieval term

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"Hexachord." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Oxford Music
Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016, http://
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/
opr/t237/e4877.

Oxford Companion to Music returns to a narrow definition of the

hexachord, describing the term as having been used almost invariably to refer to the
interval tone pattern tone tone semitone tone tone. The companion also contains
entries on hard and soft hexachords

Hiley, David. "hexachord." The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music

Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016, http://
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/
opr/t114/e3243.

Oxford Concise Dictionary of music (print) offers the same definition as

the online edition

Thames and Hudson Encyclopedia of 20th Century Music gives a
short definition as a Set of 6 different pitch classes (forming) one half, for or aft, of
a 12 note set
Griffiths, Paul. The Thames and Hudson Encyclopedia of 20th Century Music.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1986

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A search for Henze, Hans Werner

Grove Music Online Contains a lengthily biographical entry complete with
delightful paragraph headings and dramaticc turns of events - Whereas at the
beginning of his 20s Henze was still struggling for a living, within a few years he was in
the enviable position of having more commissions than he could handle.

Virginia Palmer-Fchsel. "Henze, Hans Werner." Grove Music Online. Oxford

Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/
article/grove/music/12820.

Oxford Dictionary Of Music gives a brief summary of Henzes life and a

complete list of works. It notably contains links to his teachers Fortner and Leibowitz,
though not to others mentioned such as Schoenberg.
"Henze, Hans Werner." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev.. Oxford
Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/
article/opr/t237/e4847.

Oxford Companion to Music. The article by the seemingly ubiquitous Paul
Griffiths strikes a balance between the long reference section and the lengthy biography
found elsewhere in Oxford
Griffiths, Paul. "Henze, Hans Werner." The Oxford Companion to Music.
Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 24, 2016,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/opr/
t114/e3218.

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Historical Dictionary of Contemporary Classical Music has an entry

bypassing the particulars of his studies and instead tying his works together with their
stylistic trends
Gagne, Nicole V. Historical Dictionary Modern and Contemporary Classical Music. Lanham,

MD: Scarecrow Press, 2012

Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century casually discusses Henzes

compositional style while focusing mainly on the political and revolutionary aspects of
his music.
Prendergast, Jane Henze, Hans Werner Encyclopedia of music in the 20th Century.

Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999

MGG has a lengthy passage on Henze including detailed subsections on his
major works.

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