From a personally assembled database of 13,859 classical musicians, What Killed the Great and not so Great Composers delves into the medical histories of a wide variety of composers from both a musical and medical standpoint. Biographies of musicians from Johann Sebastian Bach of the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten of the Modern era explore in depth their illnesses and the impact their diseases had on musical productivity. Other chapters referenced to specific composers are devoted to such diverse ailments as deafness, mental disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, surgery and war injuries, to name a few. A unique section of statistics and demographics analyzes various aspects of composers’ lives such as their longevity related to contemporaneous nonmusical populations, the incidence of various illnesses they experienced over the centuries and the type of medical problems suffered by the so-called top 100 classical musicians. Although a precise and complete accounting of the great composers’ ailments may never be possible, a general understanding of the medical problems experienced by these unique individuals, nevertheless, can heighten one’s appreciation of their creative processes despite the hardships imposed by their physical and mental illnesses. Although some individuals surrendered to their disabilities for a variety of reasons, others were able to rise above their infirmities and produce the wonderful music mankind has enjoyed through the centuries.

Every 3rd issue is a quarterly cumulation.

Updated and expanded to embrace new developments in the electronic environment and new emphases on multicultural and female influences and accomplishments, the fourth edition (3rd ed., 1988) of this guide to humanities information sources includes 1,250 major entries. Chapters cover general humanities, philosophy, religion, visual arts, performing arts, and language and literature. Organized as previous editions, the volume provides one chapter on sources and another on access for each area. The "sources" chapters have in-depth descriptions of both print and electronic tools; the "access" chapters relate to finding and retrieving information. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

**** The British counterpart to Sheehy (in which it is recommended--and vice versa), distributed in the US by Unipub. Volume 3 completes the 5th edition with 8,833 entries (vol. 1:Science and technology, 1989, 5,995 entries; vol.2: Social and historical sciences, philosophy and religion, 1990, 7,166 entries). While the majority of items are reference books, Walford is a guide to reference material and therefore includes periodical articles, microforms, online, and CD-ROM sources. A special effort has been made to make sure the output of small and specialist presses is not neglected. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The School of Journalism at Columbia University has awarded the Pulitzer Prize since 1917. Nowadays there are prizes in 21 categories from the fields of journalism, literature and music. The Pulitzer Prize Archive presentsthe history of this award from its beginnings to the present: In parts A toE the awarding oftheprize in each category is documented, commented and arranged chronologically. Part F covers the history of the prize biographically and bibliographically. Part G provides the background to thedecisions.