Sixteen of classical music's greatest choral compositions are discussed at length in Choral Masterworks from Bach to Britten: Reflections of a Conductor. Pieces such as Bach's Mass in B Minor and St. Matthew's Passion, Schubert's Mass in G, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Britten's War Requiem are examined and analyzed in an effort to help performers, students, and listeners more fully understand and appreciate these significant works. Choral professor and conductor Robert J. Summer has combined his personal observations with shared ideas from some of the greatest choral conductors of our time, including Robert Shaw, Sir David Willcocks, Donald Neuen, Julius Herford, and Robert Page. His experiences with some of these conductors, such as his collaboration with Robert Shaw on the recording of Mahler's 8th Symphony, are captured in detail, paying homage to the conductor, the composer, and the work. Each chapter focuses on an individual work and presents musical analysis, structure, textual symbolism, and identification of traits that endear the work to performers and listeners. Summer comments on the function and relationship of solos, recitatives, and choruses, offering suggestions and considerations for preparing the works for performance. The textual organization of many works is included in appendixes, and the book concludes with a bibliography and a selected discography. Choral Masterworks from Bach to Britten is appropriate both as a textbook for choral literature classes and as a listening guide for the general music lover.

GeoffGoldspink and I edited a book, Mechanics and Energetics of Animal Locomotion, which was published by Chapman and Hall in 1977. It dealt at an advanced level with all aspects of animal locomotion, emphasizing particularly the topics of then current research. Since then there have been more elementary books on the subject, including my own Locomotion of Animals (Blackie 1982), and specialized books on such topics as swimming and flight, but (despite very substantial progress in research) there has been no advanced book covering the whole range of animal locomotion. It seemed to me and to Professor Gilles (editor ofthis series) that a new book was needed. Plainly, a book of this length cannot contain everything that is known about animal locomotion. We have not attempted to make it encyclopedic, but have tried to show where the study of animal locomotion stands now, and where it is going. Older books remain useful as sources of long-established information.