Art music, orchestral and formal music Books

Book SynopsisThe first study of the performance practice, repertoire and context of the modern 'brass ensemble' in the musical world. Whereas the British 'brass band' originated in the nineteenth century and rapidly developed into a nationwide working-class movement, the perceived modern 'brass ensemble' has a less clear foundation and identity. This book is the first to focus exclusively on the performance, practice, repertoire and context of the 'brass ensemble' in the musical world. Following World War II, the brass quintet and other orchestral groupings emerged in the United States and Europe, with musical customs established by professional players playing orchestral instruments. These groups initially played a combination of the music of Gabrieli and his contemporaries as well as newly commissioned works. By the late twentieth century, however, repertory spanned works by Elliott Carter, Maxwell Davies and Lutosławski, together with music that integrated jazz, commercial elements, and landmark transcriptions. At the book's heart is the story of the London-based, internationally acclaimed, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. But this is not a story of one ensemble, as the 'brass ensemble' can be defined in several forms. The Modern Brass Ensemble in Twentieth-Century Britain offers a comprehensive account by an author and performer who was involved in many of the key developments of the modern 'brass ensemble'.Trade ReviewMiller's writing style is clear and informative, bringing an inclusive, contemporary view to a previously overlooked subject in musical history. He speaks from valuable personal experience in addition to his extensive research, which offers an enthusiastic and assuredly confident tone. -- Lucy Pankhurst * NABMSA Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Nineteenth-century brass music: the beginnings 2. Brass music-making in the early twentieth century 3. European brass music after World War II: the establishment of the brass quintet in Britain 4. The stimuli of the modern brass ensemble: the record industry, contemporary music, international activity, the player-arranger 5. Howarth's Pictures at an Exhibition, and the new reach of British brass playing 6. Continuity and change: the succession of British brass ensembles after the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble 7. Aspects of historical brass: uncovering phenomena of the past 8. Envoi Appendix 1. Selective List of Published Music Appendix 2. Selective Discography Appendix 3. London Brass: major commissions 1986-2001 Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the world of women's professional and amateur musical activity as it developed on and beyond the island of Ireland. In a story which spans several centuries, the book highlights representative composers and performers in classical music, Irish traditional music, and contemporary art music whose contributions have been marginalised in music narratives. As well as investigating the careers of public figures, this edited collection brings attention to women who engaged with and taught music in a variety of domestic settings. It also shines a spotlight on women who worked behind the scenes to build infrastructures such as festivals and educational institutions which remain at the heart of the country's musical life today. The book addresses and reconsiders ideas about the intersections of music, gender, and Irish society, including how the national emblem of the harp became recast as a symbol of Irish womanhood in the twentieth century. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 surveys women musicians in Irish society of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Part 2 discusses women and practice in Irish traditional music. Part 3 studies gaps and gender politics in the history of twentieth-century women composers and performers. Part 4 situates discourses of women, gender, and music in the twenty-first century. The book's contributors encompass musicologists, cultural historians, composers, and performers.Table of ContentsPreface Lorraine Byrne Bodley and Harry White Introduction Laura Watson, Jennifer O'Connor-Madsen, and Ita Beausang Part I: Establishing a Place for Women Musicians in Irish Society of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 1. Daughters of Hibernia: Seen and Not Heard? Ita Beausang 2. 'No Accomplishment So Great for a Lady': Women and Music in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Elite Irish Household Karol Mullaney-Dignam 3. The Development of the Female Musician in Nineteenth Century Dublin Jennifer O'Connor-Madsen 4. Family, Filial Ties, and Forging Careers as Female Musicians in the Nineteenth Century: The Story of the Glover Sisters Mary Louise O'Donnell Part II: Women and Practice in Irish Traditional Music 5. The Daghda, the Minstrel Boy, and Convent Schools: Reflections on Gender and the Harp in Ireland Helen Lawlor 6. 'No Longer Second Fiddle': Due Recognition for Josephine Keegan Daithí Kearney 7. Ireland's Female Harping Triumvirate: The Legacy of Sheila Larchet Cuthbert, Mercedes Garvey, and Gráinne Yeats Teresa O'Donnell Part III: Gaps and Gender Politics in the History of Twentieth-Century Women Composers and Performers 8. 'A Daughter of Music': Alicia Adélaïde Needham's Anglo-Irish Life and Music Axel Klein 9. Mary Dickenson-Auner: A Life with the Violin Margarethe Engelhardt-Krajanek 10. 'Opera Over a Cooking Stove': Gender Dynamics in the Music Career of Joan Trimble Ruth Stanley 11. Rhoda Coghill and the Gender Politics of Piano Performance Laura Watson Part IV: Situating Discourses of Women, Gender, and Music in the Twenty-First Century 12. Women and Composition: Fifty Years of Progress? Nicola LeFanu 13. Transcending Conventional Habits: Music and the Collaborative Process in Joint Works Rhona Clarke 14. Surveying the Scene: Current Thoughts on Women and Electroacoustic Music in Ireland Barbara Jillian Dignam 15. We Buried the Heteropatriarchy and Danced on its Grave: Towards a Liberation Movement for Irish Traditional Music Tes Slominski Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring a period of tumultuous change in English political, religious and cultural life, music signified the unspeakable presence of the divine in the world for many. What was the role of music in the early modern subject's sensory experience of divinity? While the English intellectuals Peter Sterry (1613-72), Richard Roach (1662-1730), William Stukeley (1687-1765) and David Hartley (1705-57), have not been remembered for their 'musicking', this book explores how the musical reflections of these individuals expressed alternative and often uncustomary conceptions of God, the world, and the human psyche. Music is always potentially present in their discourse, emerging as a crucial form of mediation between states: exoteric and esoteric, material and spiritual, outer and inner, public and private, rational and mystical. Dixon shows how Sterry, Roach, Stukeley and Hartley's shared belief in truly universal salvation was articulated through a language of music, implying a feminising influence that set these male individuals apart from contemporaries who often strictly emphasised the rational-i.e. the supposedly masculine-aspects of religion. Musical discourse, instead, provided a link to a spiritual plane that brought these intellectuals closer to 'ultimate reality'. Theirs was a discourse firmly rooted in the real existence of contemporary musical practices, both in terms of the forms and styles implied in the writings under discussion and the physical circumstances in which these musical genres were created and performed. Through exploring ways in which the idea of music was employed in written transmission of elite ideas, this book challenges conventional classifications of a seventeenth-century 'Scientific Revolution' and an eighteenth-century 'Enlightenment', defending an alternative narrative of continuity and change across a number of scholarly disciplines, from seventeenth-century English intellectual history and theology, to musicology and the social history of music.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Editors' Foreword Acknowledgements Editorial Conventions Abbreviations Introduction Part I Chapter 1 Constructions of Musical Meaning Chapter 2 Lives Chapter 3 The Universities Chapter 4 Urban Cultures Chapter 5 The Impact of Newton Part IIChapter 6 'Divinely Natural Magic'. Enthusiasm and Aesthetics in an Enchanted Universe Chapter 7 'Ancient Harmonie'. Music and the Prisca Theologia Chapter 8 Druids Chapter 9 The Genius of Nature Chapter 10 The Restoration of All Things Editors' Afterword Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the early nineteenth century, the harp was transformed into a sophisticated instrument that became as popular as the piano. This was largely the result of the harp's intensive technical, musical and visual upgrading, which gradually led to the transition from the single- to the double-action pedal harp. A major figure in this process was Sébastien Erard (1752-1831), a tireless inventor and prolific manufacturer of harps and pianos operating branches in Paris and London. With the introduction in 1811 of the so-called 'Grecian' model, the first commercially built double-action harp, the Erard firm managed to establish the harp not only as a novel, state-of-the-art instrument, but also as a powerful symbol of luxury, wealth and status. Drawing upon a wide variety of primary sources, including surviving instruments, archival documents and iconographical evidence, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the development, production and consumption of the Erard Grecian harp in Regency England. The innovative approaches employed by the Erard firm in the manufacture and marketing of harps are measured against competitors but also against the work of leading entrepreneurs in related trades, ranging from the mechanical devices and precision tools of James Watt, Henry Maudslay or Jacques Holtzapffel, through the ornamental pottery of Josiah Wedgwood, to the clocks and watches of George Prior or Abraham-Louis Breguet. In addition, the book examines the omnipresent role of the harp in the education, art, fashion and literature of the Regency era, discussing how the image and perception of the instrument were shaped by groundbreaking advances, such as the Industrial Revolution, Neoclassicism, and the Napoleonic Wars.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The Shift from the Single- to the Double-Action Harp: The Emergence of the Erard Grecian Model 2 The Design and Engineering of the Erard Grecian Harp: Influences from Industry and Business 3 The Decoration and Branding of the Erard Grecian Harp: Innovation, Adaptation and Substitution 4 Manufacturing the Erard Grecian Harp: Aspects of Organisation, Management and Operation 5 Marketing the Erard Grecian Harp: Promotional Strategies and the Establishment of a Refined Clientele 6 Erard and the Harp in Education, Art and Fashion: 'Evening Dress' for a Private Concert 7 Erard and the Harp's Literary Footprint: From Pride and Prejudice to War and Peace 8 The Erard Grecian Harp as an Artefact of Cultural Heritage: 'Self-destruction' and Resurrection Conclusions Appendix Bibliography Index of Names Index of Places Index of Themes

Read more less

Book SynopsisA landmark in Sibelius scholarship, this is the first book that presents all of Sibelius's solo art songs in their musical and aesthetic context. Indispensable for scholars and performers alike. This is the first book to discuss the complete solo art songs of Jean Sibelius and to locate them in their musical, literary and artistic context. The book is organized around the poets Sibelius set to music and the literary themes associated with them, thus providing invaluable information for the scholar, student and performer. The musical and aesthetic contextualisation of the songs will help to enable new interpretations on the performance stage.Table of Contents1. Wrestling with the text 2. Sibelius and the poems of the idealistic realist Runeberg 3. Idle wishes and summer nights 4. Diamonds and tears - Runeberg's contemporaries in Finland 5. Longing for the eternal - 19th-century poets from Sweden 6. Realism and emerging symbolism 7. Solace of the harp, song to my tongue - other 19th -century poets in Sweden 8. Rapid riders and hoodwinked women 9. Betrayal, urbanity and decadence 10. O, kämst du doch! 11. A last Kalevala excursion Appendix List of Sibelius's songs by opus number Alphabetical list of Sibelius's songs without opus numbers Alphabetical list of Sibelius's songs by English title Alphabetical list of Sibelius's poets Text of the two lost songs, op. 72 nos. 1 and 2 Text to the melodrama Ett ensamt skidspår (Gripenberg) Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeethoven Symphonies Revisited guides the reader -- music student, concert goer, or general music lover -- through the movements in a way that renews the novelty and excitement that listeners must have felt at the first performances. Stylistic discussion concentrates on the unusual features of each symphony, placing each individual work in the context of Beethoven's musical advancement and circumstances. His musical innovations are explored, and his contribution to the genre assessed. Thirty author-annotated musical pages elaborate and exemplify. The essential building blocks of key, tonality, metre, rhythm and instrumentation are discussed in detail. The authors' purpose is twofold: to bring together major research findings and at the same time offer detailed descriptive analyses of all nine symphonies. The approach is singular in its emphasis on the symphonies in the context of performance practice of the time, especially musical direction; the importance of the wind instruments (especially horns) and kettle drums; how counterpoint features in various passages in all the symphonies except the Sixth and Eighth, and how this was influenced by Beethoven's strict training in species counterpoint. New evaluations are offered, especially for the Second, Eighth and Ninth symphonies. The book's multi-faceted approach will be invaluable not only for conductors and music students at all levels, but for all concert goers and music lovers who wish to gain insight into the musical intricacies developed and enhanced by Beethoven's symphonic journey. Illustrations: 30 annotated musical score pages comprising 99 examples linked to text explanations; autographed manuscripts; performance venues; and instruments of the period.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeethoven Symphonies Revisited guides the reader -- music student, concert goer, or general music lover -- through the movements in a way that renews the novelty and excitement that listeners must have felt at the first performances. Stylistic discussion concentrates on the unusual features of each symphony, placing each individual work in the context of Beethoven's musical advancement and circumstances. His musical innovations are explored, and his contribution to the genre assessed. Thirty author-annotated musical pages elaborate and exemplify. The essential building blocks of key, tonality, metre, rhythm and instrumentation are discussed in detail. The authors' purpose is twofold: to bring together major research findings and at the same time offer detailed descriptive analyses of all nine symphonies. The approach is singular in its emphasis on the symphonies in the context of performance practice of the time, especially musical direction; the importance of the wind instruments (especially horns) and kettle drums; how counterpoint features in various passages in all the symphonies except the Sixth and Eighth, and how this was influenced by Beethoven's strict training in species counterpoint. New evaluations are offered, especially for the Second, Eighth and Ninth symphonies. The book's multi-faceted approach will be invaluable not only for conductors and music students at all levels, but for all concert goers and music lovers who wish to gain insight into the musical intricacies developed and enhanced by Beethoven's symphonic journey. Illustrations: 30 annotated musical score pages comprising 99 examples linked to text explanations; autographed manuscripts; performance venues; and instruments of the period.

Read more less

Book SynopsisStory-like chapters profile six twentieth-century reactive composers; not the most famous pillars of the period but lesser-known, perhaps more approachable, characters whose stories span that 1900-2000 period from decadent fin-de-siècle Vienna (Alban Berg, Alexander Zemlinsky) to war-torn Paris (Olivier Messiaen, Arthur Honegger) to the Cold War tensions of East vs. West (Tōru Takemitsu) and late-century Communism (Arvo Pärt). Their stories were all very different crises, and they produced very different kinds of music; each very telling of their composers life and times. Crisis Music presents each brief biography almost like a detective story looking for motives, then spotlights one particular piece of music from each composer that emerged directly out of hard times maybe a political crisis at the time of composition (Hitler marching into Paris or later Communist crack-downs); or some personal angst such as illness or scandal and how that music contains and expresses crisis. In short, the subject for discussion is how context influences content. Such troubled and especially vivid composition, crisis music, can often be most compelling and meaningful for its composer and for its time. Indeed, their music also seems to have a special resonance to share with our own crisis-prone times. And meanwhile, Western music history played-out its own story from late-romantic style to Serialism and Minimalism to the anything-goes Pluralism we hear today. Crisis Music sparks the discussion about how history, biography and music intersects. At the behest of music teachers at secondary and tertiary levels, Crisis Music contains substantive Discussion Questions geared for classroom use.Trade Review‘Crisis Music poses some intriguing questions about the relationship between biography and musical creativity/output and draws attention to some composers who are distinctly interesting and diverse.’ Ralph P. Locke, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester‘Classical music wasn’t the most popular music of the 20th century but it was the most interesting. Focusing on six of modernism’s most compelling composers, John Caps supplies historical and biographical background, as well as his own shrewd assessments for some of the most expressive composition of that era, effectively conveying both the adventure of creation and the heavy personal toll paid by such composers as Berg, Messiaen, Takemitsu. Of course, great art always exacts a heavy toll from its creators and Crisis Music offers insightful profiles of how and why six artists were willing and, in some cases, compelled, to pay the price.’ John Dutterer, American Record Guide

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Educated Listener: A New Approach to Music Appreciation helps students develop the skills they need to creatively and intelligently discuss and listen to classical music. Readers will learn about the musical genres, forms, and techniques used by composers of classical music, which will help them become educated listeners.Section One of the text presents readers with basic information regarding the basic elements of music, including rhythm, tempo, and dynamics; the instruments and voice types used in music; and the most common ensembles of music, such as choirs, bands, and orchestras. The remaining sections focus on specific time periods and delve into the compositional and performance techniques, musical forms and genres, and composers that were important and influential. These sections explore the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque Era, Classical Era, Romantic Era, Twentieth Century, and Contemporary Era.The third edition features tables highlighting historical context, a much-expanded index, new images, and fresh material regarding contemporary music.With an accessible approach, The Educated Listener is an ideal textbook for courses in music appreciation or music history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book takes as its historical point of departure the radical appearance in 1779 of technically difficult keyboard music in a set of six sonatas (Op. 2) by Muzio Clementi. The difficult passages contained in this opus are unique amongst keyboard music published for a market that was understood at the time to consist almost entirely of female amateur keyboardists. Previously actively discouraged from practicing or improving their skills due to the restrictive ideologies in place, Clementi’s music increasingly affords female pianists a new kind of musical expression. Clementi and the woman at the piano: Virtuosity and the market for music in eighteenth-century London maps the social, musical, and gendered implications of technically difficult music and helps to underline important changes in Enlightenment culture and keyboard practice. Clementi’s activities initiated the now familiar and modern concepts of repetitive musical practice, the work-concept, virtuosity itself, and the division between amateur and professional. Additionally, Clementi promotes a radical new mode of expression for female pianists that is at first highly controversial but slowly gains acceptance due to a widespread promotion of his music, instruments, and methods. Clementi’s career is in many respects a perfect case study for the tensions between Enlightenment thinking and new Romantic ideologies.Trade Review‘[I]n Erin Helyard’s revelatory (and unfailingly entertaining) monograph, we find a portrait of a visionary composer, performer, teacher, publisher, piano maker and entrepreneur whose influence was, and still is, as far from pernicious as one can imagine... it’s a story that proves not only thought-provoking but page-turning... Clementi and the woman at the piano will, I have no doubt, come to be seen as a major contribution not only to Enlightenment studies but to our understanding of the relationships between women, men, society, class, aesthetics and commerce in the context of a bourgeoning amateur music scene.’ Will Yeoman, Limelight‘[A] welcome new feminist perspective on Clementi’s achievements.’ Benjamin Ivry, International Piano Magazine‘The qualities of this book go beyond the history of music and musicology in the strictest sense. With finesse and sensitivity, Helyard, who knows the sources inside out, succeeds in linking the technical revolution spearheaded by Clementi with the evolving thinking regarding the social status of women and the image of the female forte-pianist.’ Translated from French: ‘Le mérite de ce livre va au-delà de la musicologie à proprement parler et de l’histoire de la musique. Avec finesse et sensibilité, Helyard, qui connaît fort bien les sources, réussit à établir un lien entre la révolution technique menée par Clementi et l’évolution des mentalités sur la question du statut des femmes dans la société et l’image désormais projetée par la forte-pianiste.’ Pierre Dubois, Dix-huitième siècleTable of ContentsList of Musical Examples List of Tables List of Figures Preface Chapter 1: Clementi and the EnlightenmentChapter 2: Mozart’s Insult and the Irritations of VirtuosityChapter 3: Keyboard Performance and Gender in Late Eighteenth-Century LondonChapter 4: Clementi’s “Black Joke”Chapter 5: Male Theoria and Female PraxisChapter 6: Clementi in the Marketplace and the Conservatoire Conclusion: Clementi’s CoinAppendix: Ideological differences regarding keyboard practicing/music education in 36 conduct books and treatises, 1741-1838 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines how Nietzschean ideas influenced the composition of Mahler's first four, so-called Wunderhorn, symphonies. Gustav Mahler and Friedrich Nietzsche both exercised a tremendous influence over the twentieth century. All the more fascinating, then, is Mahler's intellectual engagement with the writings of Nietzsche. Given the limited and frequently cryptic nature of the composer's own comments on Nietzsche, Mahler's specific understanding of the elusive thinker is achieved through the examination of Nietzsche's reception amongst the people who introduced composer to philosopher: members of the Pernerstorfer Circle at the University of Vienna. Mahler's Nietzsche draws on a variety of primary sources to answer two key questions. The first is hermeneutic: what do Mahler's allusions to Nietzsche mean? The second is creative: how can Mahler's own characterization of Nietzsche as an "epoch-making influence" be identified in his compositional techniques? By answering these two questions, the book paints a more accurate picture of the intersections of the arts, philosophy and politics in fin-de-siècle Vienna. Mahler's Nietzsche will be required reading for scholars and students of nineteenth and early twentieth century German music and philosophy.Table of ContentsIntroduction: An Epoch-Making Influence 1 The Case of Wagner 2 The Crown of Laughter 3 The Gay Science 4 The Übermensch 5 Ecce Homo Epilogue Appendix I: Original Symphony Programs Appendix II: Song Texts Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book, first collection of essays in English on Bruno Maderna, brings the reader closer to one of the greatest European composer and conductor of the last century. Utopia, Innovation, Tradition: Bruno Maderna's cosmos is the first collection of essays in English dedicated to one of the most multifaceted and interesting musical personalities of the 20th century, a protagonist in the development of new music after World War II. The various essays cover the most important aspects of Bruno Maderna's peculiar compositional approach and, thanks to innovative methodological perspectives based mainly on the study of archival materials, arrive at new and often completely unexpected interpretations.Table of ContentsIntroduction Staging And Performing Sounds: A Glance Through The Last Theatrical Work - Angela Ida De Benedictis, delving into Bruno Maderna's Satyricon: the looking glass world of storytelling, performance interference, and authorship - Benedetta Zucconi, "in the beginning was the word": the sung text as a unifying element in the composition of Bruno Maderna's Satyricon Building Sounds: The Composer - Carlo Ciceri, space in Maderna's last orchestral works - Pascal Decroupet, the unity of musical practice: Bruno Maderna and his "shaping form" as composer and performer of experimental orchestral music creating sound: the music beyond/without the stage - Nicola Scaldaferri, "a walk through a musical garden": compositional paths in Maderna's late works - Leo Izzo, narrating with sounds: Bruno Maderna's music for radio and film reinventing sounds: dialogues with music of every epoch and style - Michele Chiappini, the writing of the interpretation: notes on Bruno Maderna's arrangements - Benedetta Zucconi, analysis and synthesis in Bruno Maderna's creative process: Don Giovanni and other Mozart scores - Leo Izzo, Bruno Maderna and his arrangements Across Borders: The Conductor And The Interpreter - Maurizio Romito, "this Bruno looks like Fiorello" Maderna in the U.S.A. (1965-72) - Anne C. Shreffler, Maderna goes to Tanglewood: the role of American networks in the origins and reception of Venetian journal and Satyricon Searching For Roots: The Development Of A Style - Veniero Rizzardi, Venice to Europe: Bruno Maderna before and after 1948 - Christoph Neidhöfer, "la révolution dans la continuité": the presence of the past in Bruno Maderna's creative process (1948-55) Staging And Performing Texts: A Glance Through Early Dramaturgical And Vocal Works - Claudia Vincis, the studi per "il processo" Di Franz Kafka, and their stage sources - Paolo dal Molin, Maderna and the poets, 1938-48 Chronology of Bruno Maderna's works

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrings new insights to the music of well-known European composers by telling a fascinating, little-known story about French music publishing, specifically through the lens of Jacques Durand's Édition Classique. French composers, performers and musicologists acted as editors of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European 'classics', primarily for piano. Among these editors were Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel and Dukas; the objects of their enquiries included core works by Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Chopin. Presenting six composer-editor case studies, the volume shows that the French 'accent', both musical and cultural, upon this predominantly Austro-German music was highly varied. Editorial responses range from scholarly approaches to those directed by performance or compositional agendas, and from pan-European to strongly patriotic stances. Intriguing intersections are revealed between old and new, and between French and cross-European canons. Beyond editing, the book explores the Édition's role in pedagogy and performance, including by pianists Robert Casadesus and Yvonne Loriod, and in the reassertion of contemporary French composition, especially regarding innovation around neoclassicism. It will interest a wide readership, including musicologists, performers and concert-goers, cultural historians and other humanities scholars.Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I. DURAND AND HIS ÉDITION CLASSIQUE 1 The Historical Evolution of the Édition Classique Graham Sadler 2 Charting the Édition: Production Data, Musical Contents and Relationships Deborah Mawer and Graham Sadler PART II. COMPOSER-EDITOR CASE STUDIES 3 'De-Germanising' Music Publishing: Dukas's Beethoven in Wartime France Rachel Moore 4 Mozart as 'Classic' in Early Twentieth-Century France: The Case of Saint-Saëns's Mozart Editions Barbara L. Kelly 5 Making Mendelssohn (More) French: Ravel and Six pièces enfantines Deborah Mawer 6 Accenting Bach: An Editorial Trajectory from Fauré to Roger-Ducasse Deborah Mawer 7 Repackaging the Old Masters: The Place of Early Keyboard Music in the Édition Classique Graham Sadler 8 Debussy's Homage to Chopin: as Editor, Performer and Composer Appendix: Debussy-Chopin entries in the Livres de cotage (1919-90s) Barbara L. Kelly PART III. BEYOND EDITING: PEDAGOGY, PERFORMANCE, COMPOSITION 9 The Édition Classique in Action: Pedagogy and Performance Rachel Moore and Barbara L. Kelly 10 The Édition Classique and French Neoclassicism: L'École moderne as Exemplar Appendix: Alphabetical tabulation of composers and pieces Deborah Mawer Afterword Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first book devoted to the composers, instrument makers and amateur players who advanced the great guitar vogue throughout Western Europe during the early decades of the nineteenth century. Contemporary critics viewed the fashion for the guitar with sheer hostility, seeing in it a rejection of true musical value. After all, such trends advanced against the grain of mainstream musical developments of ground-breaking (often Austro-German) repertoire for standard instruments. Yet amateur musicians throughout Europe persisted; many instruments were built to meet the demand, a substantial volume of music was published for amateurs to play, and soloist-composers moved freely between European cities. This book follows these lines of travel venturing as far as Moscow, and visiting all the great musical cities of the period, from London to Vienna, Madrid to Naples. The first section of the book looks at eighteenth-century precedents, the instrument - its makers and owners, amateur and professional musicians, printing and publishing, pedagogy, as well as aspects of repertoire. The second section explores the extensive repertoire for accompanied song and chamber music. A final substantive section assembles chapters on a wide array of the most significant soloist-composers of the time. The chapters evoke the guitar milieu in the various cities where each composer-player worked and offer a discussion of some representative works. This book, bringing together an international tally of contributors and never before examined sources, will be of interest to devotees of the guitar, as well as music historians of the Romantic period.Table of ContentsForeword - Richard Savino Introduction - Christopher Page, Paul Sparks and James Westbrook Eighteenth-century precedents: the role of Paris - Damián Martín Gil and Erik Stenstadvold The Great Vogue for the guitar: an overview - Christopher Page The instrument and its makers - James Westbrook Printing and publishing music for the guitar with Appendix: Matteo Carcassi - Erik Stenstadvold Amateurs and professionals - Christopher Page Teaching and learning the guitar - Erik Stenstadvold Early-nineteenth-century guitars in the saleroom, private hands and public collections - James Westbrook Music for early-nineteenth-century guitars in the saleroom, private hands and public collections - Kenneth Sparr Accompanied song - Jelma van Amersfoort Chamber music for the guitar - Jukka Savijoki Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) - Mario Torta Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) - Gerhard Penn Fernando Sor (1778-1839) - Erik Stenstadvold Dionisio Aguado (1784-1849) - Luis Briso de Montiano Emilia Giuliani (1813-1850) - Nicoletta Confalone Giulio Regondi (1822/23-1872) and Catharina Pratten née Pelzer (1824-1895) - Sarah Clarke Appendix: A note on string-making - Jenny Nex Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat did Tallis and Byrd mean to convey by their use of the word "argument" in their title, Cantiones, quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur? Thomas Tallis's and William Byrd's Cantiones, quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur (songs, which by their argument are called sacred) of 1575 is one of the first sets of sacred music printed in England. It is widely recognized as a landmark achievement in English music history. Dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I to mark the seventeenth year of her reign, each composer contributed seventeen motets to the collection, which proved to be greatly influential among the era's composers. But what did Tallis and Byrd mean to convey by their use of the word "argument" in their title? The current view is that they treated their project as an opportunity to pull together a grand compendium of musical accomplishment that drew on the past, but looked to the future, and that the texts functioned as mere vehicles for musical display. In contrast, this book claims that these very texts were chosen by the composers to develop a theme, or argument, on the topic of sacred judgment. In offering a new interpretation of the song collection Smith employs a carefully constructed musical, literary, theological, and political argumentation. The book will encourage new ways of approaching and interpreting Tudor and Elizabethan sacred music.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Panegyrics and Politic 2 Sacred Judgment 3 Salvator Mundi 4 Good Friday: Calvary 5 Holy Saturday: Harrowing of Hell 6 Easter Sunday 7 The Summons 8 The Lesson 9 The Day of Wrath Conclusion Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first full-length biographical study of Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994). The British-born Irish composer (Dame) Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) is best known today for her cycle of thirteen string quartets, composed over five decades. And yet, her oeuvre ranges from large scale choral works, to ballets, operas, and symphonic scores. Having studied with Charles Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, many of her compositions also garnered accolades from peers and established musical figures such as Gustav Holst, Donald Francis Tovey, and Henry Wood, among others. With access to a wealth of documentation previously unavailable, this book explores Maconchy's life and music within a greater consideration of the social and political context of the world in which she lived. While the influence of Bartók has been well documented, this book reveals the equally potent influence of Vaughan Williams on Maconchy's musical idiom. This book also discusses Maconchy's foray into administration and her advocacy of young composers through her work as the first woman to be elected Chairman of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain in 1959 and President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music following the death of Benjamin Britten in 1976. It will be required reading for those interested in the lives of women composers, twentieth-century British music, and musical modernism.Trade ReviewThis authoritative and intriguing book is both well-researched and generously illustrated. Erica Siegel writes with passion in an engaging, fluent and readable style. The book will appeal to lovers of Maconchy's music, devotees of English music and those with an interest in female composers. * MusicWeb International *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 An Unexpected Talent, 1907-23 2 The Royal College of Music, 1923-9 3 Prague, Paris, Vienna, and London, 1929-31 4 An Expansion of Style, 1932-5 5 A Growing Reputation, 1936-9 6 Darker Days Ahead, 1939-45 7 Balancing Motherhood and a Career, 1946-50 8 Glimmers of Hope, 1951-5 9 A Musical Block and an Operatic Solution, 1956-9 10 Administrative Diversions, 1959-66 11 Of Ageing and Critics, 1967-73 12 Recognition at Last, 1973-7 13 Sunset before Twilight, 1978-94 Epilogue Chronological List of Works Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisMusic gives specific meanings to our lives, but also to how we experience death; it forms a central part of death rituals, consoles survivors, and celebrates the deceased. Music & Death investigates different musical engagements with death. Its eleven essays examine a broad range of genres, styles and periods of Western music from the Middle Ages until the present day. This volume brings a variety of methodological approaches to bear on a broad, but non-exhaustive, range of music. These include musical rituals and intercessions on behalf of the departed. Chapters also focus on musicians' reactions to death, their ways of engaging with grief, anger and acceptance, and the public's reaction to the death of musicians. The genres covered include requiem settings, operas and ballets, arts songs, songs by Leonard Cohen and the B-52s, and instrumental music. There are also broader reflections regarding the psychological links between creative musical practice and the overcoming of grief, music's central role in shaping a specific lifestyle (of psychobillies) and the supposed universalism of Western art music (as exemplified by Brahms). The volume adds many new facets to the area of death studies, highlighting different aspects of "musical thanatology". It will appeal to those interested in the intersections between western music and theology, as well as scholars of anthropology and cultural studies. CONTRIBUTORS: Matt BaileyShea, Alexandra Buckle, Peter Edwards, Richard Elliott, Nicole Grimes, Mieko Kanno, Kimberly Kattari, Wolfgang Marx, Fred E. Maus, Jillian C. Rogers, UtaSailer and Miriam Wendling.Table of ContentsIntroduction Wolfgang Marx Part I. Facets of Ritual: Requiems and Other Funeral Music 1 Construction and Instruction: Medieval and Early Modern Masses for the Dead Miriam Wendling 2 Commemorating the Elite Body in the Fifteenth Century Alexandra Buckle 3 Types of Mercy and Non-liturgical Dramaturgy: The Musical Requiem as a Concert Piece Wolfgang Marx Part II. Negotiating Memory and Loss 4 'Aber auf einmal...': Death, Distance, and Intimacy in Song Matt BaileyShea 5 Manifestations of Death in the Music of Johannes Brahms Nicole Grimes 6 Through the Tears of Others: Staging Grief and French Identity in Interwar Musical Theatre Jillian C. Rogers 7 Leaving the Table: Intimations of Mortality in Leonard Cohen's Late and Posthumous Work Richard Elliott Part III. Reflecting Death to Re-Evaluate Life 8 Death in Music and Music in Death: Reflections on Mortality and Listening in the Performances of Marino Formenti Peter Edwards and Uta Sailer 9 The Day the Music Died: Searching for New Practices of Sharing in the Aftermath of the Death of a Composer in Western Art Music Mieko Kanno 10 Imagining an Undead Carnival: Psychobilly Fantasies of an Idealistic Afterlife Kimberly Kattari 11 The B-52s, Loss, and Defiance Fred E. Maus Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSchöffer's Cantiones tell a fascinating story of South-North, Catholic-Protestant co-operation. The Cantiones quinque vocum selectissimæ (Strasbourg: Peter Schöffer the Younger, 1539) are a collection of 28 Latin five-voice motets by composers including Gombert, Willaert, and Jacquet of Mantua. This was Schöffer's first book of Latin motets as well as his last ever musical publication; he was granted an imperial privilege to print it by King Ferdinand I. The pieces had been sent to Schöffer by Hermann Matthias Werrecore, the choirmaster of the Duomo of Milan. However, this was at a time when no liturgical Latin choral singing took place in Strasbourg, following one of the harshest reformations - musically-speaking - across Europe. This book comprises a critical study of the anthology in terms of the circumstances of its assemblage and printing, its confessional significance, and the music itself. It considers the nature of the connection between Schöffer and Werrecore, and why a Protestant publisher based in Protestant Germany would try to sell Latin music that was endorsed by a Catholic monarch and emphatically had no chance of being performed in church in its place of publication. In addition, the monograph includes considerations of the motets themselves, brief biographical details of the composers - including the lesser-known ones (e.g. Ferrariensis, Sarton, Billon) - and a full list of all concordant sources. It will be of interest to performers and scholars alike, combining elements of historical research, musical criticism and - via the transcriptions hosted online - performance.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Catholic Music in a Protestant City? Part I: The Story 1. Peter Schöffer the Younger 2. The Cantiones in Context 3. The Milan Connection Part II: The Music 4. The Gombert Motets 5. The Motets of Jacquet of Mantua and Adrian Willaert 6. The Remaining Composers of the Cantiones Epilogue Appendix 1: Paratexts Appendix 2: Motet Texts and Translations Appendix 3: Extant Exemplars of the Cantiones Anthology and its Motet Concordances Appendix 4: Discography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA pioneering work which delves into and reveals the links between music, moral instruction and social reform. This book discusses the role of music in programmes of personal improvement and social reform in nineteenth-century Britain. The pursuit of morality through music was designed not just to improve personal and communal character but to affect social change and transformation. The book examines the musical education of children, women and men through a variety of literature published for various educational settings including mechanics' institutes. It also considers the role of music in narratives of social programs and community-building projects that sought to promote utility, well-being and freedom from the strictures of Christianity as the dominant moral and cultural force. The first book to connect the threads between music, moral instruction and social reform across the educational life cycle in nineteenth-century Britain, it shows how these threads are found in unlikely places, such as games, manners books, economics treatises and short stories. It deftly illustrates the links between everyday life, popular culture and discourses of morality and social reform of the period.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1 Morality 1. Elementary Instruction 2. Manners and Etiquette 3. Mechanics' Institutes Part 2 Social Reform 4. Political Economy - William Stanley Jevons 5. Philanthropy - Hannah More and Octavia Hill 6. Utopia - Auguste Comte and Malcolm Quin Afterword Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines Ian McEwan's ability to discern in his writing sentiments that easily resonate with musicians, explores the value of music in exhibiting McEwan's views on the world, and presents his perspective on religion's role within society. The majority of characters in Ian McEwan's novels are educated members of the middle class, but without any great private financial means and certainly no great affluence. Despite different occupations, whether scientist (Solar), musician (On Chesil Beach, Amsterdam) or surgeon (Saturday), they are faced with moral, ethical, religious and personal dilemmas that bear resonance to a contemporary audience. Classical music is present throughout McEwan's writings (including his recent Lessons, 2022), mostly not as an accompanying theme but as a necessary part of life's pleasures and for some, essential needs. The combination of music and the unforgettable narrative moments create a unique space for McEwan to translate his views on the world. The value of music, not least as a complementary presence to silence, is portrayed not just as the source of comfort but as a known presence that is dependable to an individual on a near spiritual level. Within his writings there is also a clear understanding of the role of the Church of England as a societal, cultural and established presence within British society. In the literary descriptions of McEwan and other authors this often extends beyond the immediate theological and ecclesiastical concerns of the day. McEwan's writings demonstrate a perceptive knowledge of the nuances of this highly specific cultural dynamic. McEwan's ability to discern sentiments that easily resonate with musicians place his contribution to the field of music and literature studies in a singular position among living writers discussing classical music in Britain. This book provokes questions for those who encounter these areas for the first time in McEwan's writings, and it offers a place of sustained enquiry for those who have experienced these fields first-hand, whether as listeners, performers, congregants, audience members or scholars across literary, musical or ecclesiastical fields. Iain Quinn's book will be of interest to scholars and students of contemporary British literature, as well as those interested in words and music studies more generally.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Question of Religion: An Atheist's Portrayal of the Church of England 2. The Value of Sublimity: Solitude, Voyeurism, and the Transcendental 3. From Gilbert and Sullivan to Mozart: Influences and Perceptions of Music in Society 4. 'Don't Make Fun of the Fair': The Composer in Twentieth-Century Britain Appendix: Interview with Ian McEwan Interview with Michael Berkeley Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers a major new contribution to understanding Schubert's creative approach and the gothic imagination more generally.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers the first comprehensive account of a centuries-old tradition of encrypting covert messages into music, from the Middle Ages to the present day.Question: What do J. S. Bach, beef cabbage, coffee, the SATOR Square, and Marlene Dietrich have in common?Answer: Composers have enciphered these and many other words into music.Since time immemorial riddles have intrigued us, partly for their mirthful manner of connecting incongruous ideas, partly for their arresting way of opening fresh perspectives on our shared human condition. When we think of riddles, we normally recall verbal conundrums from cultures around the globe. But riddles can penetrate non-verbal aspects of our existence as well. Masking messages in music so that they lurk beneath the sonorous surface is an august Western tradition spanning the Middle Ages to the present. Known as musical cryptography, these puzzling pursuits form the subject of this book, construed broadly enough to capture not just musical ciphers and codes but also a curiosity shop of related techniques, which arguably can advance the greater virtue. They entertain, edify, and enthral, but also bewitch and bewilder, and, when unsolved, perplex and perturb.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvidence indicates that the concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn etc were performed as chamber music, not the full orchestral works commonly assumed. The concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and their contemporaries are some of the most popular, and the most frequently performed, pieces of classical music; and the assumption has always been they were full orchestral works. This book takes issue with this orthodox opinion to argue quite the reverse: that contemporaries regarded the concerto as chamber music. The author surveys the evidence, from surviving printed and manuscript performance material, from concerts throughout Europe between 1685 and 1750 (the heyday of the concerto), demonstrating that concertos were nearly always played one-to-a-part at that time. He makes a particularly close study of the scoring of the bass line,discussing the question of what instruments were most appropriate and what was used when. The late Dr RICHARD MAUNDER was Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.Trade ReviewThis is a fascinating book that every baroque soloist and conductor should read and I'm sure it will have a profound influence on the performance of these works in the future - -- Adrian Butterfield * EARLY MUSIC TODAY *Maunder's book is thorough, thought provoking and packed with minute, fascinating detail. - -- Andrew Manze * EARLY MUSIC *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe works of twenty composers from the golden age of English romantic song, major figures - Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Ireland, Gurney, Warlock and Finzi - studied alongside the lesser-known. Constantly illuminating. JOHN STEANE, GRAMOPHONE The composers in this book represent the outstanding songwriters from what we can now see as the golden age of English romantic song. As well as the major figures - Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Ireland, Gurney, Warlock and Finzi - there are chapters on lesser-known composers, such as Denis Browne and Charles Orr. Detailed consideration is given to three songwriters who have sufferedunaccountable neglect, Arthur Somervell, Armstrong Gibbs and Herbert Howells, and there are chapters on Elgar, Delius and Holst, whose reputations were made in other fields but whose contribution to English song is nevertheless important. Also taking their rightful places in the book are Frank Bridge, Arnold Bax, George Butterworth and E.J. Moeran. Each chapter begins with a discussion of its composer's song-output and of the poets and poetry he sets, and goes on to give an account of the influences on him and the hallmarks of his style; the songs are then discussed in detail, focusing on the major works. The text is illustrated with musical examples and there is a comprehensive bibliography and index. TREVOR HOLD was a composer and poet who wrote extensively on English song. His setting of Laurie Lee's 'Day of these Days' won the English Poetry and Song Society/English Music Society 2002 GoldenJubilee Song Competition. He died in January 2004.Trade ReviewHold brings a composer's sensibility to his task, notably in his analytical discussion, and fully understands the nature of the marriage effected, and the difficulties involved, in the song-composer's art of blending poetry with music. He is a real companion on his reader's journey of discovery... The text [is] unfailingly readable and astute in judgement. * JOHN TALBOT, BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER *First-class...one of the most important treatises on the subject yet written...[Hold] writes superbly, urbanely and - more important - carefully...Highly recommended. * THE SINGER *Constantly illuminating. * JOHN STEANE, GRAMOPHONE *This deeply considered, beautifully produced book...will be the standard work on the subject for the foreseeable future. * MUSIC & VISION *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis monograph investigates the promotion and consumption of high musical culture among leisured society in Victorian London, by focusing on the activities of the concert manager John Ella and his Musical Union. This monograph investigates the promotion and consumption of high musical culture among leisured society in Victorian London, by focusing on the activities of the concert manager John Ella and his Musical Union [1845-81], an eminent, long-lived institution for chamber music, much fêted across Europe in its day. It combines a biography of Ella with a social-economic history of the Musical Union, its players, repertoire and audiences, and sets them against the gradually shifting contexts for London concerts, chamber music and cultural life. Ella's extraordinary life story, which began in provincial, artisan-class obscurity and ended in the upper echelons of London society, shapes thenarrative. Such themes as entrepreneurship, concert management, taste shaping, music appreciation and elite social networks are discussed throughout, as is the curious interplay between the desire to 'sacralize' chamber music, especially Beethoven's, on the one hand, and the need to survive amid the increasing commercial imperatives of London concert life on the other. CHRISTINA BASHFORD is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Trade Review[B]ashford's book expertly relates her thorough documentation of Ella's life and professional activities to the broader social, cultural, and musical Victorian context, offering us a model example of how good scholarship can make even one enabler of music, relevant all of music and Victorian culture. * NABMSA Newsletter *[This] study not only meets a need in Victorian cultural history but prompts applications to our day...of interest to anyone working on nineteenth-centiry performing arts, in Britain or elsewhere. * VICTORIAN STUDIES *The first of its kind...As such it takes its responsibility very seriously, and as a consequence it does not disappoint...It is a model of modern musicological biography, and for that Christina Bashford is to be highly praised. -- Bennett Zon * MUSIC & LETTERS *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Case for Ella From Leicester to London, 1802-29 Successes, Frustrations, Ambitions, 1828-44 Establishing the Musical Union, 1845-8 Consolidation and Expansion, 1849-57 New Spaces, 1858-68 Adapting to Survive, 1868-79 Endings (1880-88) and Legacy

Read more less

Book SynopsisEmslie's study of Wagner's creativity examines the centrality of love - and its obverse, hate - to the composer's world view. Richard Wagner and the Centrality of Love is a bold book which argues that Wagner's music dramas cannot be understood if treated separately from his essays, his life, the intellectual and artistic climate of his day, and the broader history of Germany. Wagner attempts a range of reconciliations that are radical in content and form and appear to succeed partly because he is in well-nigh complete command of the aesthetic product; not only text and music, but also production practice. Nonetheless, all the reconciliations ultimately break down, but in a manner that is illuminating. This is not a celebration of the seamless work of art, but a radical unpicking of the seemingly seamless. 'Love' is the central organising concept of the whole Wagnerian project. Love - sexual and spiritual, egotistical and charitable, love of the individual and of the race - is the key Wagnerian driving force. And therefore so is hate. Of course Wagner cannot employ love without its opposite, and it is critically significant that his anti-semitism is based upon his view that the Jews are 'loveless'. The book handles Wagner's anti-semitism (andthe ongoing row about it) in a unique way, in that it is shown to be aesthetically and intellectually productive (for him!). This leads to a radical reinterpretation of Wagner's music dramas. BARRY EMSLIE is an independent scholar who lives and teaches in Berlin.Trade ReviewEmslie makes some important points with clarity and precision. ... [He] rightly emphasises the importance of Wagner's prose works, not just the well-known theoretical tracts but lesser-known essays such as 'Die Wibelungen' and 'Jesus von Nazareth' as central to the Wagnerian project. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *[P]rovides an impressively wide-ranging setting for discussion of Wagner on the whole. [...] it is fitting that the book emanates from this country's most ambitious medieval publishers who also have an impressively expanding music list. * TLS *Emslie's... entertainingly opinionated examination of Wagner's operas offers a psychological study of the composer, a guide to his often contradictory writings and an up-to-the minute commentary on interpretation. * . *One of the Financial Times' books of the year 2010 * . *Discussing the operas in chronological order, Emslie charts the many manifestations of love in Wagner from the fraternal to the eternal...The result is a fascinating read offering challenging new perspectives that take one back to the music to listen anew...surely the essential Wagner book of the year. -- Michael Quinn * CLASSICAL MUSIC *This new study offers a lively introduction to anyone seeking to understand [Wagner's ideas]...his highly opinionated survey brings fresh air to the debate. -- Andrew Clark * FINANCIAL TIMES *This book has one thinking about Wagner as most do not...I would recommend any serious Wagner-lover, perhaps Wagner-hater, to read it. -- Michael Tanner * OPERA *Emslie...writes engagingly, carrying one along with his way of thinking, and driving one to think for oneself...I enjoyed reading [this book]. It has given me much to ponder, much to contest. -- Mark Berry * WAGNER JOURNAL *Table of ContentsIntroduction or the Uses of Love Sensuality and spirituality in the early music dramas Music and the eternal feminine (a) Music, philosophy and religion (b) Art and the woman The Ring of the Nibelung (a) Contradiction, disorder and musical language (i) Plot (ii) Meaning (iii) Theory (b) The Pagan Ring (i) Pantheism (ii) Incest Love and Death: Tristan und Isolde (a) Schopenhauer betrayed and/or corrected (b) Identity (c) Words and Music The Mastersingers of Nuremberg (a) Words and Music Again (b) Language and Volk (c) Love, hate and anti-semitism Parsifal (a) Kundry (b) The Grail Contradictions and Speculations

Read more less

Book SynopsisMusic at German Courts serves to illustrate the extraordinary diversity of eighteenth-century German court music establishments without losing sight of what these Kapellen had in common. What was musical life at German courts really like during the eighteenth century? Were musical ensembles as diverse as the Holy Roman Empire's kaleidoscopic political landscape? Through a series of individual case studies contributed by leading scholars from Germany, Poland, the United States, Canada, and Australia, this book investigates the realities of musical life at fifteen German courts of varied size (ranging from kingdoms to principalities), religious denomination, and geographical location. Significant shifts that occurred in the artistic priorities of each court are presented through a series of "snapshots"- in effect "core sample" years - which highlight both individualand shared patterns of development and decline. What emerges from the wealth of primary source material examined in this volume is an in-depth picture of music-making within the daily life of individual courts, featuring acast of music directors, instrumentalists, and vocalists, together with numerous support staff drawn from across Europe. Music at German Courts serves to illustrate the extraordinary diversity of eighteenth-century German court music establishments without losing sight of what these Kapellen had in common. SAMANTHA OWENS is Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. BARBARA M. REUL is Associate Professor of Musicology at Luther College, University of Regina, Canada. JANICE B. STOCKIGT is a Principal Fellow of the University of Melbourne, Australia. Contributors: DIETER KIRSCH, URSULA KRAMER, MICHAEL MAUL, MARY OLESKIEWICZ, SAMANTHA OWENS, RASHID-S. PEGAH, BÄRBEL PELKER, BARBARA M. REUL, WOLFGANG RUF, BERT SIEGMUND, JANICE B. STOCKIGT, MICHAEL TALBOT, RÜDIGER THOMSEN-FÜRST, ALINA ZORAWSKA-WITKOWSKA, STEVEN ZOHNTrade ReviewUltimately, this book is to be highly recommended: it will make a valuable and indispensable addition to the libraries of both scholars of eighteenth-century music and those from other disciplines who want to expand their knowledge of the role of music [...] in the self-fashioning and sustenance of European monarchic structures. * NOTES *This book is one of the most important contributions to our understanding of the context of the music most familiar to musicians and concert-goers today. [...] The editors have gathered an expert team; their own contributions are paradigms of accessibility. I commend this important book to every serious musician's book shelf. * STRINGENDO *The editors of this volume are [...] to be congratulated on assembling a systematically organized collection of essays by an impressive international panel of scholars, each of whom is an expert on a particular court and its archival sources. [...] It includes much new and occasionally surprising information, and a substantial amount of material made available in English for the first time. * MUSICOLOGY AUSTRALIA *The detail presented in this book is remarkable [...] a useful book which extends our knowledge of courtly music-making in Germany during this time, and it will undoubtedly be of value to scholars of the period. * THE CONSORT *[A] valuable resource for any historical musicologist investigating this extraordinarily productive and fascinating period of German music history, and I hope it encourages and enables more research in this area, and ultimately more performances of its many forgotten treasures. * CONTEXT *[T]he treasures in [the book's] 500 pages will satisfy a whole range of other music historical interests for years to come. The personnel lists, mini biographies and sheer number of name references to rulers and the musicians in their employ are invaluable. * MUSICAL TIMES *[A] fascinating picture emerges of the birth and nurture of a rich musical tradition which continues today in democratic form with the unequalled wealth of German musical performance in virtually every German town. * CLASSICAL MUSIC *[T]his valuable book provides a reliable source of information for anyone interested in 18th-century music in Germany. [...] there is an abundance of knowledge here from which everyone can draw. * EARLY MUSIC REVIEW *Table of ContentsForeword by Michael Talbot 'Das gantze Corpus derer...musicirenden Personen': An Introduction to German Hofkapellen - 'Das gantze Corpus derer...musicirenden Personen': An Introduction to German Hofkapellen - Barbara Reul The Court of Saxony-Dresden - Janice Stockigt The Saxon Court of the Kingdom of Poland - Alina Zorawska-Witkowska The Court of Brandenburg-Prussia - Mary Oleskiewicz The Palatine Court in Mannheim - Bärbel Pelker The Court of Württemberg-Stuttgart - The Court of Saxony-Gotha-Altenburg - Bert Siegmund The Courts of Saxony-Weissenfels, Saxony-Merseburg and Saxony-Zeitz - Wolfgang Ruf The Court of Anhalt-Zerbst - Barbara Reul The Court of Sondershausen - Michael Maul The Court of Würzburg - Dieter Kirsch The Court of Hesse-Darmstadt - Ursula Kramer The Court of Baden-Durlach in Karlsruhe - Rüdiger Thomsen-Fürst The Court of Brandenburg-Culmbach-Bayreuth - Rashid-S Pegah 'Die vornehmste Hof-Tugend': German Musicians' Reflections on Eighteenth-Century Court Life -

Read more less

Book SynopsisNow available in paperback to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his death, this biography corrects many of the myths surrounding the often controversial Thomas Beecham. Thomas Beecham was one of Britain's greatest conductors of orchestral music and opera as well as an entrepreneur and impresario of exceptional energy and brilliant wit. This acclaimed biography places him - musically, politicallyand socially - in the troubled times in which he lived and corrects the stories and myths, many of them Beecham's own making, that have grown up around this uniquely gifted and controversial figure. Drawing upon extensive research, Lucas presents new material on his early years, his complicated private life, his father's catastrophic attempt to buy a large part of Covent Garden - which brought the family to its knees financially - and the orchestras andopera companies that Beecham founded. New light is shed on his visits to Nazi Germany and his view of its leaders, as well as the much misunderstood and previously unchronicled years of the Second World War, which he spent in Australia and America. Thomas Beecham: An Obsession with Music will remain the standard biography for years to come. JOHN LUCAS was on the staff of the Observer for 25 years, completed Peter Heyworth's monumentalbiography of Otto Klemperer, wrote Genius of Valhalla, the biography of Reginald Goodall, and is responsible for the current entries on Beecham and Klemperer in the New Grove .Trade ReviewThis book [...] is a must. * THE DELIAN *This marvellous book is very readable with many anecdotes and witty asides, much like Beecham himself. [...] Lucas's formidable amount of research is impressive [...] Reprinted in paperback for the 50th anniversary of Beecham's death, this book is excellent value for money. * STRINGENDO *This is the best biography of a musician I have read for a very long time...one which all genuine music lovers should possess. International Record Review * . *Beecham's insensitivities...have to be seen in the context of his kindnesses, which were numerous and generous. Lucas holds the two in balance, which is an asset of his enthralling book. -- Glasgow] Herald, Conrad WilsonJohn Lucas's brimming biography...reminds us just how much...we owe him. -- Sunday Times, David CairnsLucas has excelled himself: this is in every way a magnificent achievement...the wit, exuberance and professionalism of his subject come across wonderfully well. Classic FM Magazine [Book of the Month, 5 Stars] * . *Impeccably researched...Lucas is excellent on the visits to Australia and America. Spectator * . *[Beecham's] rackety private life makes for many an entertaining page in... [this] thorough study of a man who changed the face of British music for ever. -- David Mellor, Mail on SundayNot only a very good biography, it is, in the circumstances, an extraordinarily concise one. -- Richard Osborne * The Oldie *[Beecham] meets his match in his engaging and erudite biographer. Opera * . *Lucas' thorough, exhaustive and often highly amusing biography will...re-establish Beecham as one of the foremost musical personalities of the last hundred years. Classical Music * . *Remarkably thorough...A good read...and a solidly informative biography. BBC Music Magazine * . *Lucas [expands upon Beecham's international reputation] with the sort of balanced judgments and care for detail that bring fresh perspective. Financial Times * . *A quite spectacular biography. This England * . *A fully comprehensive chronicle of...an extraordinary life...in a wealth of mesmerising detail, whole swathes of which have previously been completely unknown. Classic Record Collector * . *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first genuinely interdisciplinary study of creativity in early modern England In the seventeenth century, the concept of creativity was far removed from most of the fundamental ideas about the creative act - notions of human imagination, inspiration, originality and genius - that developed in the eighteenthand nineteenth centuries. Instead, in this period, students learned their crafts by copying and imitating past masters and did not consciously seek to break away from tradition. Most new material was made on the instructions of apatron and had to conform to external expectations; and basic tenets that we tend to take for granted-such as the primacy and individuality of the author-were apparently considered irrelevant in some contexts. The aim of this interdisciplinary collection of essays is to explore what it meant to create buildings and works of art, music and literature in seventeenth-century England and to investigate the processes by which such creations came into existence. Through a series of specific case studies, the book highlights a wide range of ideas, beliefs and approaches to creativity that existed in seventeenth-century England and places them in the context of the prevailing intellectual, social and cultural trends of the period. In so doing, it draws into focus the profound changes that were emerging in the understanding of human creativity in early modern society - transformations that would eventually lead to the development of a more recognisably modern conception of the notion of creativity. The contributors work in and across the fields of literary studies, history, musicology, history of art and history of architecture, and their work collectively explores many of the most fundamental questions about creativity posed by the early modern English 'creative arts'. REBECCA HERISSONE is Head of Music and Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Manchester. ALAN HOWARD is Lecturer in Music at the University of East Anglia and Reviews Editor for Eighteenth-Century Music. Contributors: Linda Phyllis Austern, Stephanie Carter, John Cunningham, Marina Daiman, Kirsten Gibson, Raphael Hallett, Rebecca Herissone, Anne Hultzsch, Freyja Cox Jensen, Stephen Rose, Andrew R. Walkling, Amanda Eubanks Winkler, James A. Winn.Trade ReviewThe volume's interdisciplinary approach, contextualizing concepts of creativity across the cultural milieu of seventeenth-century England, is one of its strengths. * RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY *Will be of enormous help to anyone wishing to understand more about 17th-century culture in general; and the high quality of the chapters will ensure a long life as a standard reference source and as a stimulant for future research. * EARLY MUSIC *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Rebecca Herissone 'Big with New Events and some Unheard Success': Absolutism and Creativity at the Restoration Court - Andrew R. Walkling Creativity on Several Occasions - James A. Winn Author, Musician, Composer: Creator? Figuring Musical Creativity in Print at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century - Kirsten Gibson Published Musical Variants and Creativity: An Overview of John Playford's Role as Editor - Stephanie Carter Space, Text and Creativity in the Late Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - Raphael Hallett The 'Artificial Sceane': The Re-creation of Italian Architecture in John Evelyn's Diary - Anne Hultzsch Telling what is Told: Originality and Repetition in Rubens's English Works - Marina Daiman Plagiarism at the Academy of Ancient Music: A Case Study in Authorship, Style and Judgement - Stephen Rose A meeting of Amateur and Professional: Playford's 'Compendious' Collection of Two-Part Airs, Court-Ayres (1655) - John Cunningham 'Creating' Cato in Early Seventeenth-Century England - Freyja Cox Jensen 'Our Friend Venus Performed to a Miracle': Anne Bracegirdle, John Eccles and Creativity - Amanda Eubanks Winkler Music and Manly Wit in Seventeenth-Century England - Linda Phyllis Austern

Read more less

Book SynopsisSeparating fact from fiction, this book explores how the legendary violinist challenged the very notion of what it meant to be a musician. Our inherited image of Nicolo Paganini as a 'demonic violinist' has never been analysed in depth. What really made him 'demonic'? This book investigates the legend of Paganini. Separating fact from fiction, it explains how the virtuoso violinist challenged the very notion of what it meant to be a musician. Mai Kawabata considers Paganini's performance innovations, violin techniques and musical ethos in the light of contemporary attitudes towards musicand the supernatural, gender, sexuality, violence, heroism and masculinity as well as conceptions of power. The many perceptions of Paganini as demonic - Faust, magician, devil, rake/libertine, Napoleon - were inter-related but not equivalent. A swirl of cultural factors coalesced in the performer to create that phenomenon of Romanticism, a larger-than-life Gothic villain. Kawabata shows how the idea of virtuosity spiralled out of control, acquiring a potent, overwhelmingly negative aura in the process, as the mythology surrounding Paganini outlived and outgrew the man to monstrous proportions. An appendix brings together late nineteenth-century British press and literature coverage of Paganini that contributed to the developing myth surrounding the now famous composer and performer. MAI KAWABATA is Lecturer in Music at the University of East Anglia and a professional violinist.Trade ReviewThe wealth of primary source materials, the original approach to the subject matter, and the convincing analyses of Paganini's music and performance style make this book a valuable contribution to the Paganini literature. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Fascinating. * MUSICAL TIMES *Table of ContentsIntroduction 'Demonic' Violinist, Magical Virtuosity Hypereroticism and Violence Sovereignty, Domination, and Conquest Paganini's Legacies Epilogue: Paganinian Mythology Appendix: Paganiniana in the British Press (1840-1900) Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first book to describe Arturo Toscanini's activities - the life he led, his concerts and recording sessions - during his visits to London and elsewhere in Britain in the years 1900-1952. During the 1930s Arturo Toscanini conducted many concerts broadcast by the BBC from London's Queen's Hall, where he also made some unsurpassed recordings. Drawing on newly researched material in British and American archives, Christopher Dyment reveals how the most renowned and influential conductor of the twentieth century, notoriously microphone-shy though he was, came to conduct so frequently in London, a tale replete with unexpected twists, turns and ingenious stratagems. Toscanini's dominating influence on London critics and audiences in the period covered by the narrative, extending through to his final appearances at the Royal Festival Hall in 1952, is copiously documented from contemporary sources. Dyment also presents fresh evidence showing how the remarkable combination of passionate conviction and architectural mastery that characterised Toscanini's conducting was grounded not only in his obsessive study of the score but also in his awareness of performing traditions dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. This book will fascinate those with a particular interest in Toscanini's career and recorded legacy. It is also essential reading for anyone with an interest in the history of conducting and recording in the first half of the twentieth century, set against the vividly evoked backdrop of London's concert scene of the period. This comprehensive study includes both an annotated table of all Toscanini's London concerts and his EMI discography. CHRISTOPHER DYMENT has written extensively about historic conductors since the 1970s, particularly Felix Weingartner and Arturo Toscanini. His first book, on Weingartner, was published in 1976.Trade Review[A] definitive scholarly study. FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE A remarkable volume. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *This excellent book provides detailed accounts of Toscanni's London concerts and recordings, and their critical reception ... Dyment's book, beautifully produced, is essential reading and thoroughly recommended. CLASSICAL MUSIC's Books of the Year, December 2013 * . *An outstanding new book.which covers in detail every aspect of the great conductor's visits. * INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW *This book, an exhausting, exhilarating read, unearths a huge chunk of how much we still haven't learned about Arturo Toscanini. * OPERA NEWS *Christopher Dyment has produced a major scholarly work, one that is a welcome reference tool and adds considerably to Toscanini's profile. * FANFARE *Dyment has unearthed a great wealth of background material [...] [he] has the knack of leading the reader onwards to find out what happens next, rather as in a good detective novel, through the quality and expressive nature of his writing style. * CLASSICAL RECORDINGS QUARTERLY *Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Dyment's book, beautifully produced, is essential reading and thoroughly recommended. * CLASSICAL MUSIC *[A]n unreserved recommendation for Dyment, whose beautifully styled prose is a joy to read and whose extensive research can only serve to enhance our understanding of this towering figure. * GRAMOPHONE *Table of ContentsForeword by Harvey Sachs Introduction Arturo Toscanini - Chronicle of a life, 1867-1957 1900-30: Towards the Philharmonic Tour 1931-35: The London Music Festival 1935 Recording the 1935 concerts 1936-37: The London Music Festival 1937 The first HMV recording session Autumn 1937: Two choral concerts and more records 1938: The London Music Festival 1938 1939: The last London Music Festival 1940-45: War efforts and beyond 1946-51: La Scala 1951-52: Royal Festival Hall The London recordings - a study in style Annex A. Discography of EMI recordings 1935-51 Annex B. The Concerts 1930-52: Programmes and Recordings Annex C. Brahms and Toscanini: an historical excursus Sources and Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new biography examines the life and work of Lionel Tertis, almost solely responsible for the rise of the viola in the twentieth century. Lionel Tertis [1876-1975] stands in the company of Ysaÿe, Kreisler, Casals, Thibaud and Rubinstein as one of the greatest instrumentalists - and arguably the greatest viola player - of all time. Such composers as Arnold Bax, Holst, and Vaughan Williams all wrote significant works for him; he was a member of a number of prominent string quartets; and he was later to design and promote his own 'Tertis model' viola. He is virtually synonymous with the increasing importance of the viola as a solo and recital instrument alongside the violin and the cello. This biography, the first full-length survey of his life, tells how he rose from humble beginnings to become 'the father of themodern viola'. It explores in detail his long and distinguished career, persuading composers to write works for the viola, arranging existing works for the instrument, editing and performing the music, teaching and coaching in Great Britain, and his performances in the United States. JOHN WHITE is a prominent viola teacher and performer; in 2000 he was awarded the International Viola Society's highest award for distinguished scholarship and contributions to the viola.Trade ReviewIn this exhaustively researched and compellingly written biography John White encapsulates this noble man and artist as never before...White's achievement is to bring not only his subject fully to life but also the times in which he lived via an impressive range of articles, recollections, reviews and letters...magnificent. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [Julian Haylock] *A finely woven narrative drawn from a rich array of primary sources. -- Richard Osborne * THE OLDIE *White, himself a distinguished violist, has written a highly informed and engaging biography...He offers an abundance of correspondence, articles, personal recollections and tributes; these, complemented by touching photographs, vividly bring to life Tertis's indomitable, sometimes fearsome, yet lovable character and even physical presence...This book is a must for violists and lovers of the instrument, and will interest many beyond this sphere. -- Nathaniel Vallois * THE STRAD *With a variety of endearing photographs and a useful discography...the book contains a wealth of characterful detail...many things to be grateful for. -- Benjamin Ivry * CLASSIC RECORD COLLECTOR *John White's superb full length biography...all of us with an interest in the heartland of the British musical renaissance should lose no time in getting this book. * BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER *The detailing and readability of this magnificent book from John White, the doyen of the viola and viola literature, is remarkable...anyone with an interest in the English musical renaissance will find the pages thronged with composers from that era. A well structured, sturdy and fascinating account of a life - a crusade for the viola and its repertoire. * MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL *This book belongs in the library of every school of music and in the personal library of every serious violist. NEWSLETTER of the * CANADIAN VIOLA SOCIETY *Hopefully this book, easily one of the greatest ever written about a violist, will find its way into hundreds of studios and libraries...and put Lionel Tertis' fascinating life and achievements into proper perspective. * JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY *Table of ContentsThe Tertis Family Early Career The First World War Chamber Music Players American Tours Return to the Royal Academy of Music The Elgar and Walton Concertos The BBC Orchestra, Delius, Bax and Vaughan Williams A Shock Retirement The Richardson-Tertis Viola The Second World War Promoting the Tertis Model Viola Return to America and Eightieth Birthday Celebrations Second Marriage and Last Appearance TV Profile and Ninetieth Birhtday Final Years

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new wave of scholarship inspired by the ways the writers and musicians of the long nineteenth century themselves approached the relationship between music and words. Words and Notes encourages a new wave of scholarship inspired by the ways writers and musicians of the long nineteenth century themselves approached the relationship between music and words. Contributors to the volume engage in two dialogues: with nineteenth-century conceptions of word-music relations, and with each other. Criss-crossing disciplinary boundaries, the authors of the book's eleven essays address new questions relating to listening, imagining and performing music, the act of critique, and music's links with philosophy and aesthetics. The many points of intersection are elucidated in an editorial introduction and via a reflective afterword. Fiction and poetry, musicography, philosophy, music theory, science and music analysis all feature, as do traditions within English, French and German studies. Wide-ranging material foregrounds musical memory, soundscape and evocation; performer dilemmas over the words in Satie's piano music; the musicality of fictional and non-fictional prose; text-setting and the rights of poet vs. composer; the rich novelistic and critical testimony of audience inattention at the opera;German philosophy's potential contribution to musical listening; and Hoffmann's send-ups of the serious music-lover. Throughout, music - its composition, performance and consumption - emerges as a profoundly physical and social force, even when it is presented as the opposite. PHYLLIS WELIVER is Associate Professor of English, Saint Louis University. KATHARINE ELLIS is Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the University of Bristol. Contributors: Helen Abbott, Noelle Chao, Delia da Sousa Correa, Peter Dayan, Katharine Ellis, David Evans, Annegret Fauser, Jon-Tomas Godin, Cormac Newark, Matthew Riley, Emma Sutton, Shafquat Towheed, Susan Youens, Phyllis WeliverTable of ContentsIntroduction: Approaches to Word-Music Studies of the Long Nineteenth Century - Phyllis Weliver and Katharine Ellis Losing Sense, Making Music: What Erik Satie's Music and Poetry do for Each Other - Peter Dayan Not Listening in Paris: Critical and Fictional Lapses of Attention at the Opera - Cormac Newark New Expectations: How to Listen to Sonata Form, 1800-1860 - Jon-Tomas Godin The Science of Musical Memory: Vernon Lee and the Remembrance of Sounds Past - Shafquat Towheed Musical Listening in The Mysteries of Udolpho - Noelle Chao Katherine Mansfield and Nineteenth-Century Musicality - Delia da Sousa Correa E.T.A. Hoffmann Beyond the 'Paradigm Shift': Music and Irony in the Novellas 1815-1819 - Fiction as Musical Critique: Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out and the Case of Wagner - Emma Sutton Théodore de Banville and the Mysteries of Song - David Evans Performing Poetry as Music: How Composers Accept Baudelaire's Invitation to Song - Helen Abbott The Grit in the Oyster, or How to Quarrel with a Poet - Susan Youens Afterword: Wording Notes: Musical Marginalia in the Guise of an Afterword - Annegret Fauser

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe tradition of Old Hispanic liturgical chant is here examined through a new methodology, enabling striking new insights into its use. Medieval Iberian liturgical practice was independent of the Roman liturgy. As such, its sources preserve an unfamiliar and fascinating devotional journey through the liturgical year. However, although Old Hispanic liturgical chanthas long been considered one of the most important medieval chant traditions, what musical notation to survive shows only where the melodies rise and fall, not precise intervals or pitches. This lack of pitch-readable notation has prevented scholars from fully engaging with the surviving sources - a gap which this book aims to fill, via a new methodology for analysing the melodies and the relationship between melody and text. Focussing on three genres of chant sung during the Old Hispanic Lent (the threni, psalmi, and Easter Vigil canticles), the book takes a holistic view of the texts and melodies, setting them in the context of their liturgical and intellectual surroundings, and, for the Easter Vigil, exploring the relationship between different Old Hispanic traditions and other western liturgies. It concludes that the theologically purposeful text selections combine with carefully shaped melodies to guide the devotional practice of their hearers. Emma Hornby is a Reader in Music , University of Bristol; Rebecca Maloy is Associate Professor of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder.Trade ReviewHornby and Maloy's deep excavation into the Old Hispanic chant repertoire provides the kind of serious, detailed scholarship that is so essential to understanding medieval culture in all its complexity. * RELIGION AND THE ARTS *Hornby and Maloy have successfully challenged long-standing assumptions about Old Hispanic liturgies and have provided a wealth of readings of its texts, enriched by a convincing appraisal of its silent music. * RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY *Table of ContentsIntroduction Thematic Congruity in the Old Hispanic Lenten liturgies The threni The Melodic language of the Old Hispanic Lenten Psalmi Words and Music in the Psalmi The Easter Vigil Canticles Afterword: The relationship between the Old Hispanic traditions A and B Appendix 1: A guide to reading Old Hispanic notation Appendix 2: The threni texts Appendix 3: The threni Appendix 4: The Lenten psalmi in León 8 Appendix 5: The Lenten psalmi in T5, compared with León 8 Appendix 6: Easter Vigil Canticles in León 8 and T5 Appendix 7: Comparison of some Old Hispanic benedictiones in León 8, T5, T4, T7 and Aemil 30 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe definitive study of the LaSalle Quartet, for forty years the premier exponent of 'the new music' for string quartet. The LaSalle Quartet (1946-1987) was the premier exponent of 'the new music' for string quartet. Founded in 1946 at the Julliard School in New York, it became famous for its performances of works by the Second Viennese School and its commissioning of many new pieces by contemporary post-war composers. As a result, the quartets by Lutoslawski, Ligeti and Nono have since entered the standard repertory, sitting comfortably next to those by Schoenberg, Berg andWebern. The LaSalle Quartet's brilliant advocacy of the quartets by Alexander Zemlinsky resulted in best-selling recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. In an informative and critical dialogue between new and old, the LaSalleQuartet was also an incisive interpreter of the classical quartet repertory; many of its recordings are still in print. Its record as a teaching quartet is equally impressive, numbering among its students at the University of Cincinnati the Alban Berg, Brahms, Prazak, Artis, Buchberger, Ponche and Vogler Quartets. The LaSalle Quartet's founder and first violinist, Walter Levin, is himself a highly influential teacher whose students have included the conductor James Levine and the violinist Christian Tetzlaff, as well as many third-generation string quartets. This book, based on extensive interviews with Walter Levin conducted by Robert Spruytenburg over five years, is in equal measure autobiography, history of the Quartet, reminiscences of the contemporary composers who figured so prominently in its career, and penetrating commentary on the LaSalle Quartet's wide-ranging repertory. All these aspectsare artfully woven into a uniquely valuable, informative and entertaining document of musical life in the twentieth century. ROBERT SPRUYTENBURG lives in Basel. He was introduced to Walter Levin in 1988 and took part inhis chamber music courses. Since 2003, Spruytenburg has been working on the LaSalle Quartet's archives located at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. He is a frequent contributor to classical music programmes for Swiss radio.Trade ReviewAn absolutely magnificent book! The information is totally fascinating ... A thoroughly engaging book for professionals students and amateurs alike. * STRINGENDO *Charming, revealing and compelling ... an essential addition to the literature on 20th-Century music, one that should be on the reading list of all string players who aspire to a professional career. Warmly recommended. [Five stars out of five, Editor's choice] * CLASSICAL MUSIC *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first large-scale study of the music of Herbert Howells, prodigiously gifted musician and favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was a prodigiously gifted musician and the favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Throughout his long life, he was one of the country's most prominent composers, writing extensively in all genres except the symphony and opera. Yet today he is known mostly for his church music, and there is as yet relatively little serious study of his work. This book is the first large-scale study of Howells's music, affording both detailed consideration of individual works and a broad survey of general characteristics and issues. Its coverage is wide-ranging, addressing all aspects of the composer's prolific output and probing many of the issues that it raises. The essays are gathered in five sections: Howells the Stylist examines one of the most striking aspect of the composer's music, its strongly characterised personal voice; Howells the VocalComposer addresses both his well-known contribution to church music and his less familiar, but also important, contribution to the genre of solo song; Howells the Instrumental Composer shows that he was no less accomplished for his work in genres without words, for which, in fact, he first made his name; Howells the Modern considers the composer's rather overlooked contribution to the development of a modern voice for British music; and Howells in Mourning explores the important impact of his son's death on his life and work. The composer that emerges from these studies is a complex figure: technically fluent but prone to revision and self-doubt; innovative but also conservative; a composer with an improvisational sense of flow who had a firm grasp of musical form; an exponent of British musical style who owed as much to continental influence as to his national heritage. This volume, comprising a collection of outstanding essays by established writers and emergent scholars, opens up the range of Howells's achievement to a wider audience, both professional and amateur. PHILLIP COOKE is Lecturer in Composition at theUniversity of Aberdeen. DAVID MAW is Tutor and Research Fellow in Music at Oriel College, Oxford, holding Lectureships also at Christ Church, The Queen's and Trinity Colleges. CONTRIBUTORS: Byron Adams, Paul Andrews, Graham Barber, Jonathan Clinch, Phillip A. Cooke, Jeremy Dibble, Lewis Foreman, Fabian Huss, David Maw, Diane Nolan Cooke, Lionel Pike, Paul Spicer, Jonathan White. Foreword by John Rutter.Trade ReviewA major advance towards a fuller and more balanced understanding of the composer. * THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL MUSICAL ASSOCIATION *Superb and highly welcome addition to the literature on Howells ... goes a very considerable way towards demonstrating that this neglect is indeed highly unjust ... Unprecedented insight into both known and unfairly neglected corners of his oeuvre and should be keenly sought by anyone with an interest in his work and English music in the twentieth century. * CHOMBEC News *Now we can all appreciate these works afresh, with the useful and pertinent insights afforded by this welcome volume. * INTERNATIONAL PIANO *Eye opening dimensions ... fascinating ... Above all, this collection of essays emphasises purely and simply what a sophisticated and accomplished composer he was - headed up by a cameo of a foreword in which Howells enthusiast John Rutter expertly and engagingly sets the scene. * CLASSICAL MUSIC, December 2013 *The first large-scale and in-depth survey of his music ... Phillip A. Cooke and David Maw have curated and contributed to an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand fully Howells's contribution to his musical landscape. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, February 2014 *Table of ContentsForeword - John Rutter Introduction: Paradox of an establishment composer - David Maw 'In matters of art friendship should not count': Stanford and Howells - Jonathan White Howells and Counterpoint - Lionel Pike Window on a Complex Style: Six Pieces for Organ - Diane Nolan Cooke 'Hidden Artifice': Howells as Song-Writer - Jeremy Dibble A 'Wholly New Chapter' in Service Music: Collegium Regale and the Gloucester Service - Phillip A. Cooke Howells's Use of the Melisma: Word Setting in his Songs and Choral Music - Paul Spicer 'From Merry Eye to Paradise': the Early Orchestral Music of Herbert Howells - Lewis Foreman Lost, Remembered, Mislaid, Re-written: A documentary study of In Gloucestershire - Paul Andrews Style and Structure in the Oboe Sonata and Clarinet Sonata - Fabian Huss 'Tunes all the way'? Romantic Modernism and the Piano Concertos of Herbert Howells - Jonathan Clinch 'a "modern"...but a Britisher too': Howells and the Phantasy - David Maw Austerity, Difficulty and Retrospection: The Late Style of Herbert Howells - Phillip A. Cooke 'In Modo Elegiaco': Howells and the Sarabande - Graham Barber On Hermeneutics in Howells: Some Thoughts on Interpreting his Cello Concerto - Jonathan Clinch Musical Cenotaph: Howells's Hymnus Paradisi and Sites of Mourning - Byron Adams Appendix: Catalogue of the Works of Herbert Howells - Paul Andrews Bibliography of Works Cited

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines Czech musical culture c. 1600-1750 and the society that created and shaped it Traditional polemical histories of Bohemia and Moravia identify the period from the early seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century as a "period of darkness" - particularly in terms of Czech-language culture. This book challengesthat interpretation from the perspective of musical culture and demonstrates that this was actually a vibrant, productive and innovative period, both for music in the Czech language and instrumental music. By focussing on the distinctive nature of Czech-language education and devotional traditions (rehabilitated along Catholic lines after the Thirty Years War), the book reveals a new understanding of Czech musical practices and repertoires as a beguiling blend of the older, non-conformist, vernacular traditions with the new, theatrical, Italian styles and genres. Drawing on a broad range of genres including sonatas, concertos, oratorios, Passion music, masses, motets, litanies andoperas, Bohemian Baroque reveals a fascinating culture and repertoire that have long been overlooked. In the Czech lands, seventeenth-century courtly life emerged in a much different way from many other European countries. Bohemian Baroque underscores the prominent role of rural life in shaping musical culture more broadly in Bohemia and Moravia and consequently draws attention to the works and environments of composers whose careers were primarily in the Czech lands (in contrast to the traditional focus on more famous émigré composers). The book also considers the influence of Germanic traditions on Czech musical culture; several areas of overlap reveal newly identified examples of shared repertoires-in some cases, German and Czech even appear within a single work. Taken as a whole, Bohemian Baroque posits a new paradigm in which received notions of "Czechness" in the musical culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries might be reconsidered. Bohemian Baroque will be required reading for anyone interested in the music of the Habsburg Empire and Central Europe, cultural history, or baroque music more generally. Students and scholars of musical style and music and identity will equally find much of interest here. Robert G. Rawson is Reader in Musicology and Performance at Canterbury Christ Church University.Trade Review[P]rovides a detailed and thorough study of music of the Bohemian Baroque. Rawson's understanding of the complex, blended culture of the time and place is noteworthy and provides an ideal backdrop for the discussion of the musical practices and repertoire. * SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC *Unique and engaging. * SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL *Bohemian Baroque emphasizes the vibrant networks of Baroque music-making, uncovers long-forgotten connections, and forges scholarly dialogue in twenty-first-century Europe. * MUSIC & LETTERS *Rawson's book is an extremely valuable and timely reassessment of a musical (and literary) culture that has languished in obscurity ... The musical culture of the Bohemian baroque has finally received the scholarly attention it deserves. * SLAVIC REVIEW *An admirably sensitive appraisal of a musical culture that has for too long remained in the dark while opening up numerous avenues for further research. * EARLY MUSIC *Rawson has mastered the Czech language ... Fascinating ... Rawson is a skilful guide. * MUSICAL TIMES *It fills a unique niche that has to date been unoccupied on the shelves of our music libraries, and paves the way for the search for Czech music at a more fundamental level. * THE CONSORT *Table of ContentsIntroduction National Narratives and Identities Cultural and Musical Idioms of Town and Country Devotional Practices and the Culture of Conversion 'Thither From the Country'-Village Life and Education Christmas Pastorellas 'Melancholy Ditties about Dirt and Disorder' Musical Devotions and the (re)Engineering of Patron Saints Between Venice and Prague-the Vivaldi Connection Identity on the Stage

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis heavily illustrated publication considers the importance of art and design in the lives of composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears. Anyone who has visited the Red House in Aldeburgh will have been struck by the range and quality of art collected by Benjamin Britten and, in particular, by Peter Pears. A Musical Eye is illustrated with more than 200 worksfrom the Britten-Pears collection and considers more widely the importance of art and design in their lives and work. There is also a comprehensive checklist of over 300 paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures in the collection with details including size, medium, date and purchase price. The book is edited by former Britten-Pears Foundation Curator Judith LeGrove, who also explains how the collection evolved and provides a checklist of keyworks. Colin Matthews, who worked with Britten and is now BPF's Director of Music, provides an introduction, while the current Curator at The Red House, Caroline Harding, uses correspondence in the BPF archive to explore the patronage by Britten and Pears of a wide range of artists. Julian Potter writes on the friendship between his mother, the artist Mary Potter, and Britten. Broadening the scope of the visual arts, architectural historian AlanPowers considers the buildings commissioned or modified by Britten and Bloomsbury; Britten's work for film; Sidney Nolan's artistic responses to Britten's music; and the designs for Britten's stage works, most notably by John Piper.Trade ReviewThis fascinating collection ... provides a rich and timely conspectus of the synaesthetic background to the life and work of Britten and Pears ... I cannot recommend this book too highly to anyone with the least interest in Britten or indeed the visual arts, let alone both: it is thoughtful and perceptive, authoritative yet sensitive, enlightening, stimulating and produced to a befittingly attractive technical standard. * SPIRITED MAGAZINE, December 2013 *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn indispensable biography for anyone interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century. To the economist and ballet enthusiast John Maynard Keynes he was potentially the most brilliant man he'd ever met; to Dame Ninette de Valois he was the greatest ballet conductor and advisor this country has ever had; to the composer Denis ApIvor he was the greatest, most lovable, and most entertaining personality of the musical world; whilst to the dance critic Clement Crisp he was quite simply a musician of genius. Yet sixty years after his tragic earlydeath Constant Lambert is little known today. As a composer he is remembered for his jazz-inspired The Rio Grande but little more, and for a man who selflessly devoted the greater part of his life to the establishment of English ballet his work is largely unrecognized today. This book amply demonstrates why he deserves to be held in greater renown. With numerous music examples, extensive appendices and a unique iconography, every aspect of thecareer and life of this extraordinary, multi-talented man is examined. It looks not only at his music but at his journalism, his talks for the BBC, his championing of jazz (in particular Duke Ellington), and - more privately - his long-standing affair with Margot Fonteyn. This is an indispensable biography for anyone interested in Constant Lambert, ballet and British musical life in the first part of the twentieth century. STEPHEN LLOYD is a writer on British music and author of William Walton: Muse of Fire (Boydell, 2001).Trade ReviewLloyd is the first biographer to tell the full unexpurgated story. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Terrific. * THE GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Intensely researched ... Lloyd covers every aspect of the man's life ... there is scarcely a dull page throughout the book. [Five stars] * CLASSICAL MUSIC *A model of meticulous scholarship, as authoritative as it is compendious. ... The result is both majestic and moving. * THE GUARDIAN *This magisterial book is the best possible case for a Lambert revival. No Lambert enthusiast should miss it. * GRAMOPHONE *This magnificent book is a wholly remarkable achievement ... This book is more than valuable, appearing at a time when one had begun to imagine that studies of this importance and quality were in serious danger of dying out. Stephen Lloyd has restored this reader's faith in British musical scholarship and the publishers equally deserve our praise for the distinguished manner in which this book is presented. * MUSICAL OPINION *[A] monumental new biography ... a superb resource, thoroughly researched and rich in appendices. * DANCING TIMES *A revelation ... well researched and well written ... this fine biography enables us to put Lambert's life and achievements objectively in context. * ELGAR SOCIETY JOURNAL *I strongly recommend this book to all to share my fascination for a long-lost era when giants walked the earth ... If Constant Lambert himself is now a somewhat obscure figure to many, this book should bring him into a much clearer focus. * RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS SOCIETY JOURNAL *Full of great names ... it's a wonderful history of British music at that period. An intriguing and marvellous book ... [with a] tremendous amount of research. * BBC RADIO 3, MUSIC MATTERS *Fascinating ... This is a very detailed account of a working life ... Stephen Lloyd gives us a satisfying number of letters both to and from Lambert, allowing us a sense of his enchanting voice. * THE SPECTATOR *Lambert's fascinating, multifaceted personality and Lloyd's informed insights keep us turning the pages. (Four stars out of five.) * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *As close to definitive as a biography can be. Mr Lloyd gets absolutely everything right ... Far more important, Mr. Lloyd makes a compelling case for Mr. Lambert's continuing significance ... I hope it soon finds its way into the hands of a smart orchestral conductor looking for an underappreciated composer to champion. * WALL STREET JOURNAL *Table of ContentsA Meteor Fell . . . 1905-1914 At Christ's Hospital 1914-1922 The College 'Whizz-Kid' 1922-1926 Diaghilev and Disagreement 1925-1926 Early Ballets and Philip Heseltine 1926-1927 The Rio Grande and Jazz 1927-1930 Camargo and the Birth of British Ballet 1928-1931 Marriage and Journalism 1931 A Permanent Post 1932-1934 Let's to Billiards - Music Ho! 1934 Elgar and Delius; Enter Fonteyn 1934 Van Dieren and Walton 1935 Pestilence and Apparitions 1936 Checkmate and Horoscope 1937-1938 Double Bishops and Limericks 1939-1940 Escape from Holland 1940-1943 Small Fish and Large Cats 1944-1945 The Second Mrs Lambert 1945-1946 The Third Programme and The Fairy Queen Snakes and Tiresias Appendix 1: The Compositions of Constant Lambert Appendix 2: Synopsis of Tiresias Appendix 3: A Constant Lambert Discography Appendix 4: Constant Lambert's Journalism Appendix 5: Constant Lambert's Talks for the BBC Appendix 6: Constant Lambert's BBC Talks on Modern Dance Music (Jazz) Appendix 7: Constant Lambert's Third Programme Broadcasts Appendix 8: Constant Lambert's Conducting Engagements at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Appendix 9: A Dance to the Music of Time: Anthony Powell, Hugh Moreland and Constant Lambert Appendix 10: C. B. Rees on Constant Lambert Appendix 11: A Constant Lambert Iconography Appendix 12: Lambert's Limericks and Other Verses Appendix 13: Vic-Wells/Sadler's Wells London Repertoire Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn exploration of how music and musicians have moved between North America and Europe and the positive exchanges that have resulted. Throughout the 20th century, exchanges between North America and Europe were vital to the development of musical life on both sides of the Atlantic, shifting from a postcolonial imbalance of cultural power at the opening of the century to an increasing sense of encounters between equals. There were productive exchanges of all sorts and in both directions, with ever-shifting dynamics over time. American musicians studied in Europe; European musicians visited the U.S. or were driven into exile there, orchestras and soloists crisscrossed the ocean to give concert tours; music festivals attracted an international clientele; and printed music, recordings, journalism, radio, and eventually the internet flowed freely within a transatlantic circuit. This volume, based on the papers presented at an international conference held at Harvard University and the University of Munich (2008/2009), explores how music and musicians - both Europeans and Americans - have moved across cultures, creating mutual benefit as well as occasional misunderstanding. It includes contributions by leading historians, theorists, and scholars of American studies as well as interviews with two prominent "transatlantic" composers of today, Betsy Jolas and Steve Reich. The main chapters of the book are devoted to the following topics: "Performing National Identity", "Touring onthe Other Side", "Networks of Pedagogy and Patronage", "Exile and Emigration", "Wartime Concerns", "Cultural Politics on the Cold War", "Technological Intersections", "Institutional Havens and Confrontations", "Musical Languages:Concergences and Divergences", "Questioning Hierarchies, Challenging Boundaries". This volume has been edited by Felix Meyer, Carol J. Oja, Wolfgang Rathert and Anne C. Shreffler.Trade ReviewBeautifully produced ... a welcome overview of numerous current avenues of research into musical culture in the twentieth century. * TEMPO *Overall, this is an interesting collection which covers an aspect of music not often discussed, that of the cross-pollination of musical ideas between the New World and Old. It offers to students, scholars, and music lovers an in-depth look at changes in musical style facilitated by globalization. * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe story of a fascinating, controversial man who influenced almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study, based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical, passionate and engaging music to life once more. Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts. A fascinating, controversial man, George Dyson touched almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. This seminal book, examining every aspect of his long, colourful career, re-establishes him as the towering figure he undoubtedly was in his time. PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer.Trade ReviewIncisive, to the point, pithy, and observant. * CHURCH TIMES *It is a remarkable effort of research and scholarship enhanced by the author being a distinguished composer and choral conductor in his own right: not surprisingly, he is particularly good on every aspect of Dyson's music. This [study of Dyson] is built to last. * GRAMOPHONE *Dyson's musical output is discussed extensively by Spicer... [whose] scrupulous contextualising of [these works] undoubtedly makes you listen with fresh understanding and enhanced empathy. BBC MUSIC * MAGAZINE *Compelling and valuable ... This material brings the book alive, and helps hold even the casual reader for page after page ... It is a great achievement and I marvel out how Paul Spicer found the time to research and write such a complete exposition, development and recapitulation of his subject. He is warmly to be congratulated and the book equally warmly to be welcomed. * ORGANISTS REVIEW *It is a strength of this book that Spicer's discussion of the music is both approachable and readable, and in this regard falls very much in the 'life and works' treatment of traditional musicology ... Spicer gives us a very well documented trail that tells us a great deal about the events of [Dyson's] life. * MUSICAL TIMES *First rate, thoroughly researched biography. It is the best kind of musical biography in that it not only gives a detailed insight into Dyson's life and music, but covers so many other related subjects. I cannot imagine any Dyson enthusiast or lover of British music wanting to be without this fine volume. * THE CLASSICAL REVIEWER *Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements 'A veritable muck midden' The Royal College of Music and the Mendelssohn Scholarship 1900-7 The Mendelssohn Scholarship 1904-7 Earning a living Dyson's War, 1914-16 Wellington College Winchester College Winchester works: The Canterbury Pilgrims, St.Paul's Voyage to Melita, The Blacksmiths Winchester towards London Major Works 1937-43 Director of the Royal College of Music [1938-52] The first five terms The war years [1939-45] seen through Dyson's College addresses The Royal College of Music 1945-47 The Royal College of Music 1947-52: Rebuilding, development and endgames Major Works 1948-52 Return to Winchester and Retirement Carnegie Trust, final works and endings Select Bibliography Appendix 1: List of Dyson's works Appendix 2: List of texts used in Dyson's works Appendix 3: List of performances of The Canterbury Pilgrims conducted by Dyson Appendix 4: Select Bibliography of Works on Dyson Appendix 5: Discography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is the most authoritative and up-to-date source of quick reference on the Baroque composer and theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) This book is the most authoritative and up-to-date source of quick reference on the Baroque composer and theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), covering every significant area of his life and creative activity. In particular,the dictionary and work-list provide the reader with easy access to a wealth of cross-referenced material. The dictionary highlights recent discoveries and developments, and corrects a number of errors and misunderstandings. It includes entries on institutions, places, individuals, genres, instruments, technical terms, iconography, editions, specific works and publications, and caters for the fact that some users will be at least as interested in Rameau'stheoretical writings as in his life and music. Performers too are well served by the range of entries, many of which illuminate aspects of Rameau's notation and performance practice that can prove puzzling to the non-specialist. The biographical chapter not only provides relevant factual information but also draws attention to significant patterns in Rameau's life and work. This book counters the widespread perception of the composer as a dry, irascible, unsociable individual, revealing him in a far more sympathetic light by giving due weight to hitherto little-known information. GRAHAM SADLER is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hull, Research Professor at Birmingham Conservatoire and Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He is known internationally as an authority on French music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Trade ReviewA work for the specialist library, performer and musicologist. * REFERENCE REVIEWS *The greatest strength of this compilation is its author's stunning expertise, evident on every page. * EARLY MUSIC REVIEW *[T]his volume can be highly recommended to anyone interested in French baroque music in general and Rameau in particular. * THE CONSORT *Second in the promising 'Boydell Composer Compendium Series,' . . . Sadler's work is passionately and exhaustively researched, elegantly organized, and gracefully documented. Sadler (emer., Univ. of Hull, UK) has published on Rameau for 40 years, and for this volume's central dictionary and its surrounding biography, works list, and bibliography he has selected and woven together details to produce a work that is brilliant and beautiful. . . . [E]xcellent as both resource and model. * CHOICE *Indispensable for anyone wanting to quickly discover useful facts and scholarly information about every conceivable Ramellian subject . . . The compendium is a monumental dissemination of scholarship transformed into an engaging and user-friendly handbook, and hopefully it can reignite interest in a broader revival of Rameau's music. * GRAMOPHONE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Biography Dictionary Works Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisCasts new and valuable light on English musical history and on Enlightenment culture more generally. This is a book guaranteed to make waves. It skilfully weaves the story of one key musical figure into the story of one key institution, which it then weaves into the general story of music in eighteenth-century England. Anyone reading it will come away with fresh knowledge and perceptions - plus a great urge to hear Cooke's music.' Michael Talbot, Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Liverpool and Fellow of the British Academy. Amidst the cosmopolitan, fashion obsessed concert life of later eighteenth century London there existed a discrete musical counterculture centred round a club known as the Academy of Ancient Music. Now largely forgotten, this enlightened school of musical thinkers sought to further music by proffering an alternative vision based on a high minded intellectual curiosity. Perceiving only ear-tickling ostentation in the showy styles that delighted London audiences, they aspired to raise the status of music as an art of profound expression, informed by its past and founded on universal harmonic principles. Central to this group of musical thinkers was the modest yet highly accomplished musician-scholar Benjamin Cooke, who both embodied and reflected this counterculture. As organist of Westminster Abbey and conductor of the Academy of Ancient Music for much of the second half of the eighteenth century, Cooke enjoyed prominence in his day as a composer, organist, teacher, and theorist. This book shows how, through his creativity, historicism and theorising, Cooke was instrumental in proffering an Enlightenment-inspired reassessment of musical composition and thinking at the Academy. The picture portrayed counters the current tendency to dismiss eighteenth-century English musicians as conservative and provincial. Casting new and valuable light on English musical history and on Enlightenment culture more generally, this book reveals how the agenda for musical advancement shared by Cooke and his Academy associates foreshadowed key developments that would mould European music of the nineteenth century and after. It includes an extensive bibliography, a detailed overview of the Cooke Collection at the Royal College of Music and a complete list of Cooke's works. TIM EGGINGTON is College Librarian at Queens'College, Cambridge.Trade ReviewAn essential read for those with interests in the advancement of music and musical thought in eighteenth-century London and its context within enlightenment ideals. * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *This is an important book that deserves to be part of any reading list on the music of the English Enlightenment. * MUSICAL TIMES *Tim Eggington has deepened our knowledge about the subject by findings a wide range of sources and raiding major issues regarding musical, aesthetic and social aspects of this unique English institution. * MUSIC & LETTERS *In this book Tim Eggington has for the first time provided a detailed and in-depth study of the original Academy of Ancient Music and the work of Benjamin Cooke, and in doing so has addressed a significant gap in the history of eighteenth-century English music. He convincingly shows that the Academy was a major engine of musical creativity, education, erudition and internationalism, and effectively cemented the very idea of an historical musical canon in English minds. This sturdily bound book is surely a valuable contribution to the history of English music. * BRIO *This well-written book is a useful addition to scholarship on operatic singers and is recommended to anyone with an interest in Italian opera during the second half of the 18th century. * EARLY MUSIC *This is an important book that deserves to be part of any reading list on the music of the English Enlightenment. * THE MUSICAL TIMES *A valuable addition to 18th century English music. * EARLY MUSIC REVIEW *[Eggington] demonstrates Cooke's innovative references to various old styles with deliberation and taste, and argues that Cooke deserves a prominent position among 18th-century composers. Recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Academy of Ancient Music: foundation and early years Cooke: upbringing, education and career Cooke and the Academy of Ancient Music, 1752 - 1784 Musical discovery in the age of Enlightenment: history, theory and the Academy of Ancient Music Musical Conjectures (1769) Cooke's part songs and orchestral anthems The Morning Hymn and Collins's Ode Epilogue Appendices Work-List Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn-depth case-studies of significant aspects of early twentieth-century English music-theatre, which engage with notions of Englishness and the idea of a 'musical renaissance' Masques, Mayings and Music-Dramas comprises a sequence of in-depth case-studies of significant aspects of early twentieth-century English music-theatre. Vaughan Williams forms a central thread in this discussion, and Stratford-upon-Avon serves as a geographical focus-point for mediating conflicting visions of an English musical tradition. But the reach of the book is much wider, shedding new light on English Wagnerism (at Glastonbury especially) andon the reception of Wagner's ideas as a point of emulation and resistance. No less significant is the discussion of Purcell and the seventeenth-century masque - one of the primary sources for re-imagining an English dramatic tradition - and the more familiar images of the May festival, the Mummers' play and the pageant play, which are tellingly re-contextualised. The book also looks at the associations between Vaughan Williams, the theatre artist Edward Gordon Craig and the impresario Serge Diaghilev. The sequence is framed by the image of the pilgrim-vagabond Vaughan Williams's setting of the poetry of Matthew Arnold and Robert Louis Stevenson as a metaphor and paradigm for his creative career and personal progress. The book not only sheds light on the activities and ambitions of principal agents but also illuminates a particularly dynamic moment in the re-emergence of a distinctively English music-theatrical practice: one especially concerned with calling on aspects of the past to help to secure a worthwhile future. Notions of Englishness turn out to be less insular than sometimes thought and the idea of a 'musical renaissance' more complex when the case-studies are understood in their proper historical context. Scholars and students of twentieth-century English music, theatre and opera will find this volume indispensable. Roger Savage isHonorary Fellow in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He has published widely on theatre and its interface with music from the baroque to the twentieth century in leading journals and books.Trade ReviewFascinating [and] illuminating. * CHOICE *[A] rewarding glimpse of formative times, one that leaves you wanting more. Four stars out of five * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Books to Make a Traveller of Thee: Pilgrims, Vagabonds and the Monodramas of Vaughan Williams A Quarry for Profitable Working: Staging the Masques of Ben Jonson in London and Stratford-upon-Avon, 1903-1912 The Edens of Reginald Buckley: Temples and Tetralogies at Bayreuth, Stratford and Glastonbury 'One of the Greatest Composers the World has Ever Seen': Vaughan Williams and the Purcell Revival 'What About an English Ballet?': Edward Gordon Craig, Music-Theatre and Cupid and Psyche Alice Shortcake, Jenny Pluckpears and the Stratford-upon-Avon Connections of Sir John in Love Bringing in the May: Alice Gomme, Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Crystal Palace Vaughan Williams, the Romany Ryes and the Cambridge Ritualists Appendices

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first full-length study devoted to Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870), pianist, conductor and composer. This book, the first full-length study devoted to Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870), explores how the son of middle-class Jewish parents in Prague became one of the most important musicians of his era, achieving recognition and world-wide admiration as a virtuoso pianist, conductor and composer, a sought-after piano teacher, and a pioneer in the historical performance of early music. Placing Moscheles' career within the context of the social, political and economic milieu in which he lived, the book offers new insights into the business of music and music making; the lives and works of his contemporaries, such as Schumann, Meyerbeer, Chopin, Hummel, Rossini, Liszt, Berlioz and others; the transformation of piano playing from the classical to romantic periods; and the challenges faced by Jewish artists during a dynamic period in European history. A section devoted to Moscheles' engagement as both a performer and editor with the music of J. S. Bach and Handel enhances our understanding of nineteenth-century approaches to early music, and the separate chapters that detail Moscheles' interactions with Beethoven and his extraordinarily close relationship with Mendelssohn adds considerably to the existing literature on these two masters. MARK KROLL has earned worldwide recognition as a harpsichordist, scholar and educator during a career spanning more than forty years. Professor emeritus at Boston University, Kroll has published scholarly editions of the music of Hummel, Geminiani, Charles Avison and Francesco Scarlatti, and is the author of Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Musician's Lifeand World; Playing the Harpsichord Expressively; and The Beethoven Violin Sonatas.Trade ReviewIgnaz Moscheles [has] never been the object of a serious biography . . . the originality of this biography is that it reveals the multiple activities of this indefatigable musician, pianist, orchestra conductor, advocate of the music of Beethoven and proponent of Mendelssohn's, one who introduced early music and, before Liszt, the piano recital. . . . Written with a fluidity and clarity welcome to French reader . . . Kroll has recreated with remarkable care and thoroughness the career of [Moscheles] . . . the link with Beethoven, his friendship with Mendelssohn, his organization of historical concerts and the invention of the recital and, finally, his Jewishness. . . . [P]rovides a new light on European musical life in the nineteenth century through the prism of the activities of one of its key players [for] all those interested in the cultural life of the nineteenth century. * REVUE DE MUSICOLOGIE *[T]he first full-length examination of the composer to be published. . . . Will be of hugely significant interest to a wide range of musical historians and listeners. Primarily as, this is the first major study of the composer to be published in the 20th/21st centuries . . . Historians majoring on Beethoven, Bach and Handel will discover detailed information about their subjects. The examination of Moscheles' friendship with Mendelssohn is inspiring and is the underpinning of much further investigation. * MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL *Fascinating reading, and highly recommended. * EMAG *The last few years have witnessed increasing awareness of the compositions of Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870). . . . Mark Kroll has now completed these achievements with a full-length study of Moscheles's multifarious activities as composer, performer, teacher, conductor, close associate of Felix Mendelssohn, avid promoter of the music of Beethoven and indefatigable disseminator of pre-19th century music. * EARLY MUSIC *It is safe to assume that Ignaz Moscheles and the Changing World of Musical Europe is currently the most complete and accurate account of Moscheles, while paving the way for other research projects on the composer. . . . What Kroll has successfully established here is that, to adopt his own words, 'Moscheles was and remains a man worth knowing. * AD PARNASSUM *Fascinating reading, and highly recommended. * EARLY MUSIC AMERICA *Table of ContentsPreface From Prague and Vienna to England, 1794-1825 A Home in England, 1825-1846 Leipzig, 1846-1870 The Pianist, The Pedagogue and his Pianos Encounters with Beethoven and his Music A Friendship Like No Other: Mendelssohn and Moscheles Le Concert C'est Moscheles: Historical Soirées and the Invention of the Solo Piano Recital The Jewish Musician Reminiscences of Moscheles' Family by his Great-Great-Grandson Henry Roche - Henry Roche

Read more less

Book SynopsisA lavishly-illustrated and meticulously-documented catalogue of the Cobbe Collection, which includes over forty keyboard instruments around half of which were owned and played by composers such as Purcell, Mahler, Chopin and Elgar. The keyboard repertoire comprises one third of the whole of Western music. The very instruments chosen by composers themselves form the heart of the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands. The eighteen owned or played by Purcell, JohannChristian Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Mahler and Elgar, to name a few, are the largest group assembled anywhere of these tangible and audible relics connecting with the musical minds of the past. The collection otherwise comprises a further twenty or so instruments that were chosen to represent instrument-makers who were highly regarded or patronised by composers, all maintained in playing order. Each entry in this lavishly-illustrated catalogue includes a history of the piece, its provenance, technical data and colour photographs of the instrument and notable details. Here, for example, is the piano on which Chopin played his final public concert; we learn of the strips of lead that Mahler had fixed to the hammers in the bass register and that Elgar's Broadwood was delivered to Worcester by river. More than simply a catalogue of a collection, this volume will fascinate anyone with an interest in keyboard music, as well as music historians, instrument makers and restorers, and those concerned with issues of 'authentic' performance. ALEC COBBE has collected musical instruments owned bycomposers for many years. He is also a distinguished designer, and specialises in the decor and hanging of pictures in stately homes; in early 2014 an exhibition of his work was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum.Trade Review[This] volume is remarkably well-prepared and written, offers a wide and interesting variety of stories and instruments, and is one of the most enjoyable readings in the area of musical instrument collection catalogues. * BRIO *Organologists and amateur music enthusiasts alike can benefit from this volume [and] its specific information on individual instruments and its clear explanations of technical terms. . . . [T]he combination of such a beautiful presentation, clear and often elegant prose, and interesting historical anecdotes and interpretations makes this book ideal for both coffee tables in music lovers' homes or reference sections of well stocked music libraries. * MUSIC RESEARCH FORUM *Short, eminently readable essays furnish a bit of history about each instrument, along with tabulations of the provenance and technical specifications (sometimes illustrated with additional close-up photographs). The volume is handsomely produced and thoroughly fascinating. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Photographs are high quality reproductions. . . . This book will appeal to musicians, cultural geographers, and historians. Recommended. * CHOICE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIndispensable reading for historians and musicologists as well as those interested in Wagner's philosophy and the aesthetics of music. Despite the enormous and accelerating worldwide interest in Wagner leading to the bicentenary of his birth in 2013, his prose writings have received scant scholarly attention. Wagner's book-length essay on Beethoven, written to celebrate the centenary of Beethoven's birth in 1870, is really about Wagner himself rather than Beethoven. It is generally regarded as the principal aesthetic statement of the composer's later years, representing a reassessment ofthe ideas of the earlier Zurich writings, especially Oper und Drama, in the light of the experience gained through the composition of Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the greater part of DerRing des Nibelungen. It contains Wagner's most complete exegesis of his understanding of Schopenhauer's philosophy and its perceived influence on the compositional practice of his later works. The essay also influenced the young Nietzsche. It is an essential text in the teaching of not only Wagnerian thought but also late nineteenth-century musical aesthetics in general. Until now the English reader with no access to the German original has been obliged to work from two Victorian translations. This brand new edition gives the German original and the newly translated English text on facing pages. It comes along with a substantial introduction placing the essay not onlywithin the wider historical and intellectual context of Wagner's later thought but also in the political context of the establishment of the German Empire in the 1870s. The translation is annotated throughout with a full bibliography. Richard Wagner's Beethoven will be indispensable reading for historians and musicologists as well as those interested in Wagner's philosophy and the aesthetics of music. ROGER ALLEN is Fellow and Tutor in Music at St Peter's College, Oxford.Trade ReviewThis new translation will make it easier for those interested in Wagner to comprehend the musician's elusive philosophy on music, and will place this, the best-known of the composer's writings on Beethoven, in historical context. * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *This is a publication built to last. * THE WAGNER JOURNAL *Table of ContentsIntroduction Richard Wagner's Beethoven [German text and English translation] Appendix: 'Beethoven u[nd] d[ie] deutsche Nation [German Text] Select Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn essential book for scholars and students of renaissance music, as well as the history of music publishing and print. The Renaissance composer and organist Thomas Morley (c.1557-1602) is best known as a leading member of the English Madrigal School, but he also built a significant business as a music publisher. This book looks at Morley's pioneering contribution to music publishing in England, inspired by an established music printing culture in continental Europe. A student of William Byrd, Morley had a conventional education and early career as a cathedral musician both in Norwich and at St Paul's cathedral. Morley lived amongst the traders, artisans and gentry of England's major cities at a time when a market for recreational music was beginning to emerge. His entrepreneurial drive combinedwith an astute assessment of his market resulted in a successful and influential publishing business. The turning point came with a visit to the Low Countries in 1591, which gave him the opportunity to see a thriving music printpublication business at first hand. Contemporary records provide a detailed picture of the processes involved in early modern music publishing and enable the construction of a financial model of Morley's business. Morley died too young to reap the full rewards of his enterprise, but his success inspired the publication by his contemporaries of a significant corpus of readily available recreational music for the public. Critical to Morley's successwas his identification of the sort of music, notably the Italianate lighter style of madrigal, that would appeal to amateur musicians. Surviving copies of the original prints show that this music continued to be used for severalgenerations: new editions in modern notation started to appear from the mid eighteenth century onwards, suggesting that Morley truly had the measure of the market for recreational music. Thomas Morley: Elizabethan Music Publisher will be of particular interest to scholars and students of renaissance music, as well as the history of music publishing and print. Tessa Murray is an honorary research fellow at the University of Birmingham.Trade ReviewA final impressive aspect of this interesting and informative book is the amount of source material used in creating it. . . . Each chapter demonstrates that . . . [Murray] knows how to use them in support of her arguments. Two well-constructed indexes complete a book that very successfully presents us with a more rounded, and multi-faceted, portrait of Thomas Morley. . . . There is much to learn here, and much to think about. * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *It is difficult to imagine a group more indebted, or, indeed, more beholden, to the great English Renaissance musician Thomas Morley than ourselves -- the readers of these pages -- as Tessa Murray's new and comprehensive study here under review amply reveals. * EARLY MUSIC *[W]ith massive reference and exceptionally useful appendices, giving a fine, detailed background to the whole topic. . . . [T]he sheer range of factual information [Murray's book] provides . . . all this is enormously useful. * MUSICAL TIMES *Fantastic study of the life of one of the English composers least visited by musicologists ... a remarkable perspective on the world of music publishing and printing in the British Isles ... an indispensable tool ... An excellent work carried out by Tessa Murray, whom Boydell Press has had the wisdom to publish for the benefit of passionate scholars, interpreters and readers of this fascinating period. * DOCENOTAS *Table of ContentsIntroduction Childhood and Early Career From Church Musician to Entrepreneur The Market for Recreational Music The Establishment of Music Printing in London Morley's Monopoly Morley's Publishing Business Morley's Printing Business Morley and the Madrigal Morley's Other Publications Music Publishing after Morley Morley's Legacy Appendices Bibliography

Read more less