Compiled by LOUISE GOOCH BOUNDAS
The Rolling Stone Guide to High-Fidelity Sound, by Len Feldman. Straight Arrow Books. San Francisco (1974), 160 pp., $4.95.
In the year or so it's been around, this simplified handbook has already become a classic. Anybody who wants to know about high fidelity, or who has bought or plans to buy audio equipment, will find it worth much more than its modest price. There is a short glossary, and the book is well illustrated with charts and photographs. What it does not contain is all the confusing advanced technical jargon so often found in books of this kind. Mr. Feldman is a great teacher.
Twenty-Seven Major American Symphony Orchestras: A History and Analysis of Their Repertoires, Seasons 1842-43 Through 1969-70, by Kate Hevner Mueller. Indiana University Studies, Bloomington (1973). 398 pp. + lix, $15.
Make sure your local public library has a copy of this scholarly reference book. At $15, it is a tremendous bargain, and the information it contains is available nowhere else. If you want to know what music of which com posers has been played by which American symphony orchestras in the past 125 years, this is the place to look. Ms. Hevner Mueller has supplemented her study with analytic es says and charts.
Philharmonic: A History of New York's Orchestra, by Howard Shanet. Doubleday, New York (1975), 816 pp., $20.
This is a wonderful book. Over 350 pages of "backnotes," appendices, and index attest to its value as a reference, but it is the body of this lively, well-written history that is sure to capture and hold your interest. There are colorful stories about conductors, musicians, critics, composers, audiences, angels-about the city itself. And there are some well-chosen photographs, too.
The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, by Roy Carr and Tony Tyler. Harmony Books, New York (1975), 128 pp., $6.95 (paper).
Even better than Hunter Davies' Authorized Biography, if only because of the hundreds of superb photos, this just may be the definitive book (so far) on the Beatles. It's musically sound, impeccably researched, remarkably fair, and as up-to-date as is humanly possible. A treat for Beatlemaniacs.
Acoustic Techniques for Home and Studio, by F. Alton Everest. Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. 17214 (1973), 224 pp., $7.95 (hardbound), $4.95 (paper).
This manual covers the basics of sound and human hearing, then proceeds to discuss listening-room design, testing the performance of audio systems, and evaluating room acoustics. The book is illustrated with charts and photographs.
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AUDIO NEWS: Views and comment on recent developments, LARRY KLEIN