Art music, orchestral and formal music Books
ABC Books Whole Notes
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£15.29
The History Press Ltd Beethoven
Book SynopsisA concise biography of one of the world's most influential composers
£10.44
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Ashgate Research Companion to Experimental
Book SynopsisThe recent resurgence of experimental music has given rise to a more divergent range of practices than has previously been the case. The Ashgate Research Companion to Experimental Music reflects these recent developments by providing examples of current thinking and presenting detailed case studies that document the work of contemporary figures. The book examines fourteen current practitioners by interrogating their artistic practices through annotated interviews, contextualized by nine authored chapters which explore central issues that emerge from and inform these discussions. Whilst focusing on composition, the book also encompasses related aspects of performance, improvisation and sonic art. The interviews all explore how the selected artists work, focusing on the processes involved in developing their recent projects, set against more general aesthetic concerns. They aim to shed light on the disparate nature of current work whilst seeking to find possible points of contact. Many oTrade ReviewThis fine collection of essays and interviews casts light on, through, and around the fabric of experimental music, woven as it is from threads first spun by John Cage in the 1950s. Whether tracing single lines or analyzing complex patterns, the authors”composers and performers, more than scholars”write with a clarity and focus that derives from decades of practical experience. Their work illuminates not only a half-century of invention but also the present and future of what has become, paradoxically, an experimental 'tradition'. William Brooks, University of York, UK ’Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.’ Choice ’British composer and experimentalist James Saunders has produced an excellent Companion... the result is an extensive, non-prescriptive resource, ideally matching its subject-matter.’ The Wire ’This is fascinating, with artist statements coming from the likes of Phill Niblock and Chris Hobbs discussing his radiophonic 'MERZsonata' in two different chapters, not to mention the interest in soundscape, phonography, and so on.’ Organised Sound ’A central strength of this book is the obvious engagement of the authors in the experimental tradition. All, in some way, are active in the creation and performance of experimental music and their observations are clearly informed by their practical experience and personal familiarity with the subject. Their insights allow for rare glimpses into a scene that is often marginalized and not fully understood.’ Canadian Association of Music Libraries ReviewTable of ContentsContents: Foreword; Preface; Part I: Why experimental? Why me?, Christopher Fox; Writing, music, Michael Pisaro; A prescription for action, Philip Thomas; Open sources: words, circuits, and the notation/realization relation in live electronic music, Ronald Kuivila; Instrumentalizing: approaches to improvising with sounding objects in experimental music, Andy Keep; Free improvisation in music and capitalism: resisting authority and the cults of scientism and celebrity, Edwin Prévost; Beyond the soundscape: art and nature in contemporary phonography, Will Montgomery; Soundwalking: aural excursions into the everyday, John Levack Drever; 'We have eyes as well as ears...': experimental music and the visual arts, David Ryan. Part II: Fourteen musicians, James Saunders; Antoine Beuger; Laurence Crane; Rhodri Davies; Christopher Fox; Bernhard Günter; Bryn Harrison; Philip Jeck; Alvin Lucier; Phill Niblock; Evan Parker; Tim Parkinson; Jennifer Walshe; Manfred Werder; Christian Wolff; Bibliography; Index.
£128.25
Not Stated FRANCK LORGANISTE
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£15.15
Cornell University Press Franz Liszt
Book SynopsisThe second volume in Alan Walker's magisterial biography of Franz Liszt.Trade Review"Alan Walker's biography of Liszt ... has been widely hailed as a groundbreaking work of scholarship... Not only did his dogged research correct numerous, mostly damaging preconceptions aobut Liszt, but his cogent musical analyses made the case for the importance of the music... Love him or hate him as a saint or a sinner, Liszt still has the capacity to stir great passions ... and Mr. Walker has done a great service in correcting many misconceptions and thus raising the question about the true character of Liszt."-Johanna Keller, The New York Times. January 14, 2001 "You can't help but keep turning the pages, wondering how it will all turn out: and Walker's accumulated readings of Liszt's music have to be taken seriously indeed."-D. Kern Holoman, New York Review of Books "A conscientious scholar passionate about his subject. Mr. Walker makes the man and his age come to life. These three volumes will be the definitive work to which all subsequent Liszt biographies will aspire."-Harold C. Schonberg, Wall Street Journal "What distinguishes Walker from Liszt's dozens of earlier biographers is that he is equally strong on the music and the life. A formidable musicologist with a lively polemical style, he discusses the composer's works with greater understanding and clarity than any previous biographer. And whereas many have recycled the same erroneous, often damaging information, Walker has relied on his own prodigious, globe-trotting research, a project spanning twenty-five years. The result is a textured portrait of Liszt and his times without rival."-Elliot Ravetz, Time "The prose is so lively that the reader is often swept along by the narrative... This three-part work ... is now the definitive work on Liszt in English and belongs in all music collections."-Library Journal
£22.79
Taylor & Francis Inc Francois Hunten 17931878
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£84.99
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Chopin Selected Works for Piano Book 2
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£999.99
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Piano Repertoire Romantic 20th Century 1
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£7.45
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Essential Piano Repertoire Level Two
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£8.22
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Hanon The Virtuoso Pianist Part 1
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£7.45
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Beethoven Sonata quasi una Fantasia Op. 27 No. 2
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£7.80
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. BartÃk Selections from For Children Vol. 1
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£8.22
Kjos (Neil A.) Music Co ,U.S. Contrasts in Style Book Two
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£8.22
Quercus Publishing Leningrad Siege and Symphony
Book SynopsisShostakovich''s Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 August, 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Pray God, there never will be again. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation. The assembled musicians - scrounged from frontline units and military bands, for only twenty of the orchestra''s 100 players had survived - were so hungry, many feared they''d be too weak to play the score right through. In these, the darkest days of the Second World War, the music and the defiance it inspired provided a rare beacon of light for the watching world.Setting the composition of Shostakovich''smost famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of themost tragic periods in histoTrade ReviewA Spectator Book of the Year * Spectator *Like a movie camera, [Moynahan] zooms in and out on the besieged civilians, the bitterly cold troops on the city's edge and the simultaneous efforts of Shostakovich to set these experiences to music from the relative safety of evacuation... This multi-perspective approach makes for a gripping story... Moynahan's Leningrad: Siege and Symphony vividly brings to life a hero city that refused to die. * The New York Times Book Review *A passionate and moving book...nothing short of masterly. * Wall Street Journal *A narrative that is by turns painful, poignant and inspiring * Minneapolis Star Tribune *Moynahan...is a vivid writer, and his account bulges with the reminiscences and contemporaneous accounts of participants; the accumulation of individual experience sears his narrative while sometimes threatening to overwhelm it. He reaches into the guts of the city to extract some humanity from the blood and darkness, and at its best Leningrad captures the heartbreak, agony and small salvations in both death and survival...Moynahan's descriptions of the battlefield, which also draw from the diaries of the cold, lice-ridden, hungry combatants, are haunting. * Washington Post *As Moynahan reveals, the real story of the symphony's genesis and its triumph was more complex and more tragic than is generally understood...Combining a full description of the birth of the Seventh Symphony with a rich and horrifying account of the hell that was Leningrad under siege, this selection brings new depth and drama to a key historical moment * Booklist *Brian Moynahan interweaves three gripping stories in this compelling kaleidoscope of war-ravaged Leningrad: Hilter's 900-day siege, Stalin's purges that decimated the city's professional and cultural leaders and Dmitri Shostakovich's desperate struggle to write his haunting Seventh Symphony. Its performance by half-starved musicians between bouts of German shelling attests to the triumph of the human spirit amidst the greatest upheaval of the twentieth century. * Angela Stent, author of The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century and professor at Georgetown University *Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a remarkable achievement. Brian Moynahan holds the reader in suspense while teaching an important chapter in the history of the Second World War. His magnificent tale portrays the terror within and without Leningrad during its heroic defiance of the Nazi conquerors and subtle resistance to its Stalinist masters. Like Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, this is a triumph * Charles Glass, author of Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation and The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II *A stupendous story, driven by a furious narrative yet biblical in its thematic confrontations of beauty and evil. It's vivid in three dimensions: The Red Army's battles with Hitler's war machine; the ordeals of the Russian people terrorized by the malevolent maniac in the Kremlin; and throughout the faint but swelling counterpoint of hope as the great Dmitri Shostakovich struggles to write the score of his Seventh Symphony to express the soul of his martyred city . . . This is history to cherish. * Sir Harold Evans, Editor at Large at Reuters, author of The American Century, and publisher of The Russian Century *Beautifully written and profoundly moving, Leningrad is a stunning, haunting book that has stayed with me long after I turned the last page. * James Holland, Dam Busters *'A bold attempt to set the composition of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony within the extraordinary context of its times' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday. * Mail on Sunday *'A really gripping read ... the narrative is fantastic, very skilfully done ... I couldn't put it down. It's like reading a novel' Professor Erik Levi, Music Matters BBC Radio 3. * BBC Radio 3 *'The scale of Leningrad's suffering and the lasting impact of [Shostakovich's] inspirational music are brilliantly captured in this extraordinary book ... Unique, a powerful and redemptive piece of work' Curtis Hutchinson, Military History Monthly. * Military History Monthly *'The extraordinary tale of the symphony and the city that inspired it, an engrossing, finely researched new book' Petroc Trelawny, Catholic Herald. * Catholic Herald *'Tolstoyan ... Moynahan's account is by far the fullest and most compelling I've read ... it's certainly hard to read his gripping, skilfully woven account without emotion' Stephen Walsh, Spectator. * Spectator *Table of ContentsDramatis Personae. Maps. Overture. Terror. War. To Mid-September 1941. To Mid-October 1941. October 1941. November 1941. December 1941. New Year. January 1942. February 1942. March 1942. April-May 1942. June 1942. July 1942. Symphony No. 7. Farewell. Notes. Bibliography. Acknowledgements. Index.
£12.34
Not Stated Hymns and Wedding Music for All Harps
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£20.25
Bittern Press Knowing Britten
Book SynopsisKnowing Britten is a vivid and insightful account of Steuart Bedford's long association with both Britten the man and his music - 2021 Book of the Year -Presto MusicThe conductor and pianist Steuart Bedford (1939-2021) could not remember a time when he did not know Benjamin Britten. His mother, Lesley Duff, sang with the English Opera Group in the premieres of The Rape of Lucretia and Albert Herrring in the late 1940s, and the family was closely involved with Britten and Pears for many years. Following his music studies and time on the music staff at Glyndebourne, Bedford joined the English Opera Group, gradually becoming Britten's trusted surrogate conductor. As Britten's health began to fail, he took on responsibility for the premiere performances of Britten's final opera, Death in Venice, including its US premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the dramatic cantata Phaedra among others.Trade ReviewA deeply heartfelt account with a wealth of personal photos.... A loving tribute to two great musicians, a must for Britten fans. -- Susan Pierotti * Stringendo, Journal of the Australian Strings Association *Table of ContentsTable of Contents: 1. My mind beats on 2. A thirst, a leaping, wild unrest, a deep desire 3. Should I give up the fruitless struggle with the word? 4. So be it 5. What lies in wait for me here? 6. My head is heavy, my eyelids ache 7. I must go elsewhere, I must find a clearer sky, a fresher air 8. How much better to live, not words but beauty, to exist in it, and of it 9. The power of beauty sets me free 10. Yet I am driven on 11. O voluptuous days, O the joy I suffer 12. So the moments pass 13. And now, Paedrus, I will go No epilogue, I pay you for your play needs no excuse Acknowledgements Index
£22.50
Cambridge University Press Chinese Émigré Composers and Divergent Modernisms
Book SynopsisThis Element examines the factors that drove the stylistic heterogeneity of Chen Yi and Zhou Long after the Cultural Revolution. The author proposes personal factors that shaped their modernism despite their shared experiences of the Cultural Revolution and education.
£17.00
Taylor & Francis Ltd Expanding the Canon
Book SynopsisDirectly addressing the underrepresentation of Black composers in core music curricula, Expanding the Canon: Black Composers in the Music Theory Classroom aims to both demonstrate why diversification is badly needed and help faculty expand their teaching with practical, classroom-oriented lesson plans that focus on teaching music theory with music by Black composers.This collection of 21 chapters is loosely arranged to resemble a typical music theory curriculum, with topics progressing from basic to advanced and moving from fundamentals, diatonic harmony, and chromatic harmony to form, popular music, and music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Some chapters focus on segments of the traditional music theory sequence, while others consider a single style or composer. Contributors address both methods to incorporate the music of Black composers into familiar topics, and ways to rethink and expand the purview of the music theory curriculum. A foreword Table of ContentsForeword PHILIP EWELLIntroduction MELISSA HOAG1 Our Field at Its Best TERESA L. REEDPART ONE: Fundamentals and Diatonic Harmony 2 Rethinking Music Fundamentals: Centering the Contributions of Black MusiciansUZEE BROWN JR.3 Change from the Middle, Right from the Beginning: Strategies for Incorporating Black Composers in a Music Fundamentals Course ROBIN ATTAS4 Rhiannon Giddens and Francis “Frank” Johnson in the First-Year Theory Classroom JAN MIYAKE5 From Counterpoint to Small Forms: A Cross-Stylistic Approach to Centering Black Artists in the Theory Core KRISTINA L. KNOWLES AND NICHOLAS J. SHEAPART TWO: Chromaticism and Other Advanced Topics 6 Modal Mixture MITCHELL OHRINER7 “Elite Syncopations” and “Euphonic Sounds”: Scott Joplin in the Aural Skills Classroom AMY FLEMING8 Modulation ALAN REESEPART THREE: Form 979 A Jazz-Specific Lens: Methodological Diversity in the Music Theory Core BEN GEYER10 Of Simple Forms and Firsts: On Francis Johnson and Harry Burleigh HORACE J. MAXILE, JR.11 A Trio of Art Songs on Texts by Langston Hughes MELISSA HOAG12 Teaching Sonatas Beyond “Mostly Mozart” AARON GRANT AND CATRINA KIMPART FOUR: Popular Music 13 Expanding the Scope of Analysis in the Popular Music Classroom ZACHARY ZINSER14 Formal Structures and Narrative Design in Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid CORA S. PALFY15 Diving Deeper into Rhythm and Meter Through Drum Parts in Twenty-First-Century Pop DAVID GEARY16 Developing Contemporary Rhythm Skills Through Contemporary R&B TREVOR DE CLERCQ17 Structural Shifts and Identity in Music by Ester Rada ROSA ABRAHAMSPART FIVE: Twentieth-Century Music 18 Inclusivity and the “Perfect Teaching Piece” in the Undergraduate Post-Tonal Classroom CARA STROUD19 Dream Variations: An Analytical Exploration of Florence Price’s “My Dream” LEIGH VANHANDEL20 Teaching Twentieth-Century Stylistic Pluralism Through the Music of George Walker OWEN BELCHER21 Teaching Julia Perry’s Homunculus C.F. KENDRA PRESTON LEONARDIndex
£39.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Tradition Community and Nationhood in Richard
Book SynopsisSince its premiere in 1868, Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg has defied repeated upheavals in the cultural-political landscape of German statehood to retain its unofficial status as the German national opera. The work's significance as a touchstone of national culture survived even such troubling episodes as its public endorsement in 1933 as the most German of all German operas' by Joseph Goebbels or the rendition in previous years by audiences at Bayreuth of both national and Nazi-party anthems at the work's culmination. This chequered reception history and apparent propensity for reinterpretation or reclamation has long fuelled debates over the socio-political meanings of Wagner's musical narrative. On the question of Beckmesser, for instance, heated arguments have surrounded the existence of antisemitic stereotypes in the work as well as their possible indication of a racial-political dimension to Sachs's restoration of Nuremberg society. Through a combination of mus
£154.56
Taylor & Francis Teaching Canonic Opera and Musical Theater with Intention
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£62.58
Taylor & Francis Positioning Creativity in Ethnomusicology
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£62.58
Taylor & Francis Ltd Women Unsilenced
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£39.99
Cambridge University Press Mahler in Context
Book SynopsisMahler in Context explores the institutions, artists, thinkers, cultural movements, socio-political conditions, and personal relationships that shaped Mahler''s creative output. Focusing on the contexts surrounding the artist, the collection provides a sense of the complex crosscurrents against which Mahler was reacting as conductor, composer, and human being. Topics explored include his youth and training, performing career, creative activity, spiritual and philosophical influences, and his reception after his death. Together, this collection of specially commissioned essays offers a wide-ranging investigation of the ecology surrounding Mahler as a composer and a fuller appreciation of the topics that occupied his mind as he conceived his works. Readers will benefit from engagement with lesser known dimensions of Mahler''s life. Through this broader contextual approach, this book will serve as a valuable and unique resource for students, scholars, and a general readership.Trade Review'… a gold mine for those interested in all aspects of Central European culture from around 1900. Highly recommended.' M. Dineen, ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements: List of abbreviations: Part I. Formation: 1. Family life Stephen McClatchie; 2. A childhood in bohemia: early teachers and friends Reinhold Kubik; 3. Music in Iglau, 1860–75 Timothy Freeze; 4. Student culture in 1870s Vienna Caroline A. Kita; 5. Viennese musical associates, 1875-1883 Charles Youmans; 6. Becoming a conductor: the early years in Mahler's career Peter Revers; 7. Between 'Thrice Homeless' and 'To the Germans in Austria': political conditions in Mahler's Europe Margaret Notley; Part II. Performance: 8. Operatic and orchestral repertoire Anna Stoll Knecht; 9. Collaborators Anna Harwell Celenza; 10. A perfect storm: Mahler's New York Joseph Horowitz; 11. Celebrity Eva Giloi; Part III. Creation: 12. The composer 'goes to press': Mahler's dealings with engravers and publishers in Vienna around 1900 Renate Stark-Voit; 13. Mahler and program music Constantin Floros; 14. Intertextuality in Mahler Vera Micznik; 15. The symphony, 1870-1911 David Larkin; 16. Mahler and the visual arts of his time Martina Pippal; 17. Mahler and modernism Marilyn L. McCoy; 18. Reception in Vienna Kevin C. Karnes; 19. Mahler's press from London to Los Angeles Karen Painter; Part IV. Mind, Body, Spirit: 20. Organized religion Stephen McClatchie; 21. German idealism Morten Solvik; 22. Nietzsche Lesley Chamberlain; 23. Fechner Michael Heidelberger; 24. Literary enthusiasms Jeremy Barham; 25. Romantic relationships Charles Youmans; 26. Mahler and death Carl Niekerk; Part V. Influence: 27. Posthumous reputation, 1911 to World War II Stephen Downes; 28. Mahler and the second Viennese school Wolfgang Rathert; 29. The Mahler revival James L. Zychowicz; 30. Broader influence Thomas Peattie; 31. Adorno Roger Allen; 32. Influences in literature Matthew Werley; 33. Mahler on disc Richard Wattenbarger; 34. Film and recent popular culture Peter Franklin.
£93.99
Cambridge University Press Understanding the Old Hispanic Office
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£28.49
Taylor & Francis Music and Medieval Manuscripts
Book SynopsisThe interdisciplinary approach of Music and Medieval Manuscripts is modeled on the work of the scholar to whom the book is dedicated. Professor Andrew Hughes is recognized internationally for his work on medieval manuscripts, combining the areas of paleography, performance, liturgy and music. All these areas of research are represented in this collection with an emphasis on the continuity between the physical characteristics of medieval manuscripts and their different uses. Albert Derolez provides a landmark and controversial essay on the origins of pre-humanistic script, while Margaret Bent proposes a new interpretation of a famous passage from a fifteenth-century poem by Martin Le Franc. Timothy McGee contributes an innovative essay on late-medieval music, text and rhetoric. David Hiley discusses musical changes and variation in the offices of a major saintâs feast, and Craig Wright presents an original study of Guillaume Dufay. Jan Ziolkowski treats the topic of neumed classics, aTrade Review'... well worth dipping into: you will probably read more than you intended.' Early Music Review '... a rewarding volume both to dip into and to use for specialised reference purpose. Its diversity should attract a wide range of readers...' Church Music Quarterly '... [a] fine collection...' Notes ’In this collection of essays, edited by a musicologist with profound interests in paleography (John Haines) and a codicologist who is a specialist in the performance of early music (Randall Rosenfeld), a diverse group has 'written well', offering a 'good day' to scholars and performers alike... [a] fine collection...’ MuseTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; Andrew Hughes in focus; Part I Paleography: The script reform of Petrarch: an Illusion?, Albert Derolez; Tres digiti scribunt: a typology of late-antique and medieval pen grips, Randall Rosenfeld; Erasures in 13th-century music, John Haines; Part II Music: The musical stanzas in Martin Le Franc's Le Champion des Dames, Margaret Bent; Women's lament and the Neuming of the classics, Jan M. Ziolkowski; Baghdadi rhythmic theories and practices in 12th-century Andalusia, George Dimitri Sawa; Problems and possibilities in the performance of Trent 93's Polyphonic Introits, Brian E. Power; Music, rhetoric and the emperor's new clothes,Timothy J. McGee; Part III Drama: 15th-century Yorkshire drama: a hypothesis, Alexandra F. Johnston; Civic musicians in Wales and the Marches, 1430-1642, David Klausner; A few odd visits: unusual settings of the Visitatio sepulchri, Carol Symes; Part IV Liturgy: Dufay's motet Balsamus et munda cera and the papal ceremony of the Agnus Dei, Craig Wright; Origins and affiliations of the pre-sarum office for Anne in the Stowe breviary, Sherry Reames; Early cycles of office chants for the Feast of Mary Magdalene, David Hiley; The Kenilworth Missal (Chichester cathedral, MS Med. 2), Richard Pfaff; Publications of Andrew Hughes; Index.
£53.99
Hal Leonard Corporation Favorite Piano Works
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£17.58
Rowman & Littlefield Daniels Orchestral Music
Book SynopsisDaniels' Orchestral Music is the gold standard reference for conductors, music programmers, librarians, and any other music professional researching an orchestral program. This sixth edition, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the original work, includes over 14,000 entries with a vast number of new listings and updates.
£120.65
ALFRED PUBLISHING CO.(UK)LTD GIANT BOOK OF CLASSICAL SHEET MUSIC
Book Synopsis80 masterworks arranged for easy piano. It includes 1812 overture by Tchaikovsky, Air on the G String by Bach and the ode to joy by Beethoven.
£20.66
Orion Publishing Co Michael Tippett
Book Synopsis''A delight to read'' Philip Pullman''Essential reading ... a genuine landmark publication'' Tom ServiceA BBC Radio 4 ''Book of the Week''The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the twentieth century. But little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this long-awaited first biography, Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and penetrating insight. His achievement is to have enriched our understanding not only of Tippett but of the twentieth century. Figures such as T.S. Eliot, E.M. Forster, Barbara Hepworth, and W.H. Auden jostle in the cast list. An Edwardian world of gaslight and empire cedes to turmoil and warfare and his operas'' game-changing attitudes to gay and civil rights, against a backdrop of the Cold War and the Space Race.The result is a landmark in the study of twentiethTrade ReviewA delight to read ... Oliver Soden's vivid biography of this major figure in twentieth-century music brings Tippett very clearly to life -- Philip PullmanCompelling ... an exceptional piece of work ... The joy of Soden's biography is largely in its novelistic grasp of the telling details ... It has so much to say about the 20th century from an unusual and compelling angle that it ought to appeal to many readers who don't necessarily find themselves deep in the world of art music ... The Britten bibliography may be 100 times the size, but it contains hardly anything as brilliant as this book. Let the revival begin -- Philip Hensher * The Spectator *Exhaustively researched, lovingly detailed, epic in scale, revelling in gossip, stuffed with information, this book furnishes every event ... from birth to death, with comment, observation, quotation ... [A] super-abundant, loving account. Its like will not come again -- Fiona Maddocks * Observer *[A] narrative in which readers can effortlessly lose themselves. Anyone wishing to discover the life of Tippett as a way into his music - his works include A Child of Our Time, five operas and four symphonies - will find in Soden's book meticulously researched biographical detail and a good story well told ... Soden's biography paints an authoritative, intricate portrait of Tippett, providing a stunning, delicate and engrossing portrayal of the composer as very much a child of his time -- Yvonne Sherratt * Literary Review *That rarest of things: a genuine landmark publication ... As much a biography of the twentieth century as it's about Tippett's music ... Essential reading -- Tom Service * Music Matters on BBC Radio 3 *A beautifully written, emotionally comprehensive account of one of our finest twentieth-century composers. Tippett's burning idealism and frequent impracticality - in matters of both music and love - shines through Soden's sensitive prose, and his conjuring of the spirit of the place in the diary entries that intersperse the chapters is exceptionally well done -- Nicholas Kenyon * Times Literary Supplement Summer Books *[E]xcellent ... The challenge to a biographer is to make us feel the of a talent unfolding in slow obedience to its own laws. Soden succeeds at this difficult task wonderfully well. The early chapters are especially rewarding, summoning up the Edwardian ambience of Tippett's country childhood ... Soden is especially good at tracing Tippett's increasing involvement in Leftwing politics, which eventually led to membership of a Trotskyite Militant faction - an episode Tippett was keen to gloss over in later life ... Soden doesn't shrink from suggesting that Tippett's cold determination to protect his inner life at times caused huge damage to those near him. It's a measure of his searching and beautifully written biography that, despite that, Tippett comes across as essentially generous and lovable. The exultation of his music finds its echo in the passionate intensity of his life -- Ivan Hewett * Daily Telegraph *[T]horoughly researched ... [Soden] tells the story of this socially fertile life with skill -- Michael Henderson * The Times *This first full biography of Tippett is a treasure trove of detailed information and yet it reads as compellingly as a thriller or psychological novel ... [T]o get inside the mind, and under the skin, of such a complex figure so completely is nothing short of miraculous -- Geraint Lewis * Gramophone *[A] page-turner of a biography whose irresistible brio drills deep into a psychologically complex man, painting a portrait studded wit fraught emotional entanglements and passionately-held political affiliations. On both counts Soden's formidable research is able to contradict previous erroneous claims ... His verve and flair for lassoing a vivid simile are illuminating, and he's happy to spice up the narrative with dissenting views ... [U]nputdownable, [the biography] crackles with a life force worthy of Tippett himself -- Paul Riley * BBC Music Magazine *I very much enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. Soden writes with a rare poetic quality and imagination - especially elusive qualities when one is describing music -- Philip Borg-Wheeler * Classical Music magazine *Oliver Soden is a young but impressive writer who has taken on the task of re-evaluating Tippett. And he does it well, with a generosity of spirit that's arguably too forgiving of Tippett's failings as a human being (which were many) but properly celebrates his strengths as a creative artist (which were legion) -- Michael White * CATHOLIC HERALD *Oliver Soden's Michael Tippett was exemplary and placed this wonderful, neglected, undeniably silly composer in his world of political idealism and radical experiments -- Philip Hensher * THE SPECTATOR 'Books of the Year' *In a strong year for books on music, Oliver Soden's generous, game-changing biography of Michael Tippett topped the list -- Fiona Maddocks, best classical music of 2019 * Observer *Soden spent three years writing his book, and clearly developed a strong bond with his subject . . . Soden soaks up the atmosphere of the places where Tippett lived and worked. He strikes gold on one trip when he unearths the autograph manuscript of the First Piano Sonata. As a final coup de théâtre he produces a long tube that Soden knows, even before he opens it, must contain Tippett's ashes. . . It would be going too far to claim that the revival of Tippett's reputation rests in Soden's hands, but any such revival must begin with his plea that we listen to Tippett again, with fresh ears * London Review of Books *
£13.49
Hal Leonard Corporation Piano Sonatas Volume 1
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£29.25
Hal Leonard Corporation Piano Sonatas Volume 2
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£29.25
Hal Leonard Corporation Arias for Soprano Complete Package
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£42.75
Pan Macmillan Handel in London: The Making of a Genius
Book Synopsis'How refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel’s divinity.' - Donna Leon, author of Handel's Bestiary and the Inspector Brunetti mysteriesHandel in London tells the story of a young German composer who in 1712, followed his princely master to London and would remain there for the rest of his life. That master would become King George II and the composer was George Frideric Handel.Handel, then still only twenty-seven and largely self-taught, would be at the heart of musical activity in London for the next four decades, composing masterpiece after masterpiece, whether the glorious coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest, operas such as Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and Alcina or the great oratorios, culminating, of course, in Messiah. Here, Jane Glover, who has conducted Handel’s work in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, draws on her profound understanding of music and musicians to tell Handel’s story. It is a story of music-making and musicianship, of practices and practicalities, but also of courts and cabals, of theatrical rivalries and of eighteenth-century society. It is also, of course, the story of some of the most remarkable music ever written, music that has been played and sung, and loved, in this country – and throughout the world – for three hundred years.Trade ReviewRemarkable ... Glover's command of detail is impressive ... Her beautiful descriptions of Handel's music sent me again and again, in mid-chapter, to my LPs and CDs to play the arias she had just described ... Handel in London is a delight to read, -- Richard Stokes * Financial Times *Written in elegant prose that wears its author's scrupulous scholarship lightly ... Glover deftly weaves musical analysis into her biographical flow. Her greatest achievement, however, is to give life and music a political and social context. -- Richard Morrison * The Times *Beautifully written ... This book's main achievement, though, is to evoke with admirable clarity and sympathy the rich, interdependent symbiosis between Handel, his singers, his audiences, the royal family and the great capital city that housed their life and work. -- Jessica Duchen * Sunday Times *Lively and warm ... It's refreshing to read a chronicle of Handel's years in London written by a renowned conductor and musicologist ... She wants us to love Handel's music as much as she does and she writes convincingly and fully about each work, singling out her favourite arias for mention, but always in a way that's readable by a music-loving lay person. -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Country Life *Inspiring and reassuring ... told with fluency * Spectator *Handel’s workload leaves one breathless. Reading, in Jane Glover’s beautiful prose, about the astonishing succession of masterpieces he composed is almost overwhelming. As is the schedule for the singers and musicians who learned one lengthy opera whilst performing another. I now have a much clearer picture of the man himself as he adapted his operas to suit the singers at his disposal, rewriting arias and nurturing young artists, and of his generosity in all he did for the Foundling Hospital. I’m full of admiration for the subject of the book, as I am for its author. -- Dame Felicity LottBehind Jane Glover's baton lurks a brilliant explainer in words, as well as music, able to unravel the threads of musical technique, performance history, and social and political events, exploring each before braiding them tightly together to weave a brightly coloured tapestry of Handel, of his music, and of the world about him. Handel in London is an education, and a delight. -- Judith FlandersAs an experienced international conduction who once told an interviewer that her ambition was to conduct Handel's entire dramatic oeuvre (has she yet achieved this? I wonder), Jane Glover is ideally placed to show us how these pieces continue to glitter ... [she] turns our gaze towards the creative artist, resilient and inspired, and asks us to listen ever more attentively to his tuneful voice. -- Jonathan Keates * Literary Review *Delightfully readable, informed and enlivened like no other Handel biography by Jane Glover’s understanding of a professional music director’s life. -- Dr Ruth Smith, author of Handel's Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century ThoughtJane Glover gives us a welcome portrait of Handel as a hard-working composer and conductor. She makes us feel the bruising schedule he set for himself, and for all who worked with him, from the point of view of a conductor who knows full well what it takes to mount Handel’s great opera or oratorios. She details Handel’s uncanny ability to choose his singers when given the opportunity, and she illustrates his amazing skill for writing to the strengths of all his singers, while also bringing to life the characters they portrayed. -- Professor Ellen T. HarrisHow refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel’s divinity. -- Donna LeonGlover’s story sweeps us away with her practitioner’s musical insights, her attention to historical detail, and her placing of Handel’s work in social and political context, which few of his biographers have attempted before. Handel in London is an unputdownable read. -- Hugh Canning * Opera *Glover tells [Handel’s] story with easy scholarship, placing Handel in the midst of the city’s turbulent social life, beset by aristocratic factions and temperamental prima donnas. Out of this maelstrom, great music flourishes -- Richard Fairman 'Books of the Year' * Financial Times *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Foreword Section - iii: Author’s Note Section - iv: Preface Chapter - 1: EARLY YEARS ‘An infant rais’d by thy command’ [Saul] Chapter - 2: LONDON, 1710 ‘Populous cities please me then’ [L’Allegro] Chapter - 3: THE FINAL STUART YEARS ‘Cease, ruler of the day, to rise’ [Hercules] Chapter - 4: HANOVER IN LONDON ‘From mighty kings he took the spoil’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 5: THE LAUNCH OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Music, spread thy voice around’ [Solomon] Chapter - 6: THE FORTUNES OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Ah! think what ills the jealous prove’ [Hercules] Chapter - 7: NEW BEGINNINGS ‘Now a different measure try’ [Solomon] Chapter - 8: NEW ENDINGS ‘Toss’d from thought to thought I rove’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 9: DEFIANCE ‘All danger disdaining’ [Deborah] Chapter - 10: RECOVERY AND REINVENTION ‘Strange reverse of human fate’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 11: ‘Hallelujah’ Chapter - 12: WINDING DOWN ‘Great in wisdom, great in glory’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 13: THE FINAL ACT ‘With honour let desert be crown’d’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Section - v: Afterword Acknowledgements - vi: Acknowledgements Section - vii: Bibliography Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index
£21.25
Pan Macmillan Mozart in Italy: Coming of Age in the Land of
Book Synopsis'I couldn’t put it down' - Joanne Lumley At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover.Father and son travelled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the carnivalesque birthplace of public opera. All the while Mozart was absorbing Italian culture, language, style and art, and honed his craft. He met the challenge of writing Italian opera for Italian singers and audiences and provoked a variety of responses, from triumph and admiration to intrigue and hostility: in a way, these Italian years can be seen as a microcosm of his whole life.Evocative, beautifully written and with a profound understanding of eighteenth-century classical music, Mozart in Italy reveals how what he experienced during these Italian journeys changed Mozart – and his music – for ever.Trade ReviewYou don’t have to be able to hum Mozart to find this book utterly engrossing. As a fan of both the fabled composer and Dame Jane Glover, Mozart in Italy is a match made in heaven. I couldn’t put it down. -- Joanna LumleyBrimming with life, Glover’s vibrant account of Mozart’s unique and absorbing adolescence is joyously rewarding. * The Toronto Star *
£21.25
Hal Leonard Corporation Claude Debussy: 16 Piano Favorites
Book Synopsis
£15.19
Hal Leonard Corporation Andrea Bocelli - Si
£15.19
WW Norton & Co Poulenc: The Life in the Songs
Book SynopsisFrancis Poulenc (1899–1963) is widely acknowledged as one of the twentieth century’s most significant masters of vocal music—solo, choral and operatic—quite apart from his achievements in instrumental spheres. But what it cost him has been underestimated. In this seminal biography, which will serve as the definitive guide to the songs, Graham Johnson shows that it is in Poulenc’s extraordinary songs and seeing how they fit into his life—his hidden sexuality, addiction and all—that we discover the composer’s essential artistic being. With Jeremy Sams’s song translations, the first in over forty years, and the insight that comes from a lifetime of performing this music, Johnson provides an essential volume for singers, pianists, listeners and readers interested in the artistic milieu of modernism in the first half of the twentieth century.Trade Review"Admirably written, long-pondered and scrupulously researched… Johnson proves a marvellous guide to [Poulenc’s songs’] various qualities and the contexts in which they emerged." -- Rupert Christiansen - Literary Review""...an entertaining and learned new biography... [Johnson] has unparalleled practical knowledge of the terrain... [his] real concern is the music: [he is] convinced of its complexity, depth and importance... The translations (by Jeremy Sams ) also make this a valuable compendium, not to say a triumph of copyright clearance." -- Oliver Soden - The Observer"…an absolutely indispensable listening guide to the songs themselves, yet the wealth of information it contains gives us so much more. [This] marvellous book… sends you back to listen to Poulenc's music anew, with a greatly enriched understanding both of the man and his world." -- Tim Ashley - Gramophone"...a vital new book on the songs which are here placed ingeniously in the context of the composer's life... the definitive guide to Poulenc's melodies..." -- Jon Tolansky - Classical Music"If ever such a book as this was needed, this is it. Graham Johnson's masterly study cannot be improved upon in terms of detail, musical understanding and thoroughgoing grasp of the subject. It is beautifully written, chock-full of apposite detail and is superbly illustrated... This wonderful and deeply original study will disabuse any who continue to underestimate Poulenc's genius. It is a major achievement by any benchmark... this outstanding volume deserves a place in any self-respecting musicians' library." -- Musical Opinion"And if Wagner sounds too daunting for Christmas, try Graham Johnson's Poulenc: The Life in the Songs which presents the 20th century’s most loveable composer in terms that manage to be serious but entertaining – as you'd expect from someone with Johnson's unique authority as a performer, raconteur and scholar. Joyfully enlightening." -- Westminster Extra
£35.99
Hal Leonard Corporation Classical Cello Duets: Arranged by Mr. & Mrs.
Book Synopsis
£17.99
Fonthill Media Ltd Nigel Kennedy Uncensored!
Book SynopsisNigel Kennedy changed the course of classical music in the late 1980s with his interpretation of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’. He was revolutionary: in his performance and presentation; in his technique and his open-minded attitude. A natural boundary-pusher and musical adventurer, Nigel Kennedy blew minds - and sales records - as he became the best-selling violinist of all time. Instead of an Introduction, Nigel opens with a tongue-in-cheek ‘Warning’: readers should beware of his politically incorrect writing style and his frank take on the BBC, record companies, the Bavarian Police and any other ‘self-appointed wielders of power.’ It sets the tone for a truly original memoir that is as playful, unconventional and carefully executed as his music. The book is structured like a musical performance, with ‘Interludes’, ‘Outros’ and an ‘Encore’ separating the regular chapters which cover Nigel’s life story, from his humble beginnings and scholarship to the newly created Yehudi Menuhin School - and then New York at The Juilliard School - to his flourishing career and break-through as a world-class superstar. ‘Interludes’ cover subjects varying from Nigel’s best and worst gigs (“It might seem strange that shit gigs stick in the mind so much more than the good ones but I suppose it makes sense…”), to run-ins with rock stars and Police forces around the world. His anecdote on the London Metropolitan Police’s handling of a noise complaint at an after-show all-star jam is particularly funny: “These guys (the Met) were cheerful, they dealt with the situation and didn’t escalate the problem when there wasn’t one. 10/10” ‘Outros’ cover Nigel’s thoughts on classical music today - fascinating reading from the perspective of a virtuoso - to Brexit, where the spelling of the word alone leaves the reader in little doubt as to which side of the fence the author sits. ‘Encores’ is a comprehensive section on Nigel’s recorded output, covering his early classical work, the Four Seasons and later albums. There are insights into his work with rock musicians including Robert Plant, the late drummer Michael Lee, Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman, and producers Eddie Kramer (Jimmy Hendrix) and John Leckie (Stone Roses). Nigel’s writing on Gershwin, Yehudi Menuhin, Stephan Grappelli (‘my biggest inspiration’), Jimi Hendrix and the Doors is compelling. Nigel writes of his interests outside music - boxing and football - which provide inspiration and balance to his creative output (on Aston Villa - “a true blessing for me to have an outlet in which I was surrounded by normal, honest, hard-working people who did ‘proper jobs’”). There is a splendid chapter on ‘Kitchen Golf’, a not-without-risk variation of the game, conjured up with close friend and mischief-maker Gary Lineker, during a messy late night kitchen session. “My whole life has been spent breaking down barriers between people and this book is proof of that.” states Nigel in his ‘Warning’. It’s a Mission Statement borne out in ‘Uncensored’ with aplomb.
£21.25
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Music of James MacMillan
Book SynopsisKnown for his orchestral, operatic and choral works, James MacMillan (b. 1959) appeals across the spectrum of contemporary music making. James MacMillan appeals across the spectrum of contemporary music making and is particularly celebrated for his orchestral, operatic and choral pieces. This book, published in time to mark the composer's sixtieth birthday, is thefirst in-depth look at his life, work and aesthetic. From his beginnings in rural Ayrshire and his early work with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, through the international breakthrough success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie,the continuing success of works such as the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmaneul and his choral pieces, to his current position as one of the most prominent British composers of his generation, the book explores MacMillan's compositional influences over time. It looks closely at his most significant works and sets them in a wider context defined by contemporary composition, culture and the arts in general. The book also considers MacMillan's strong Catholic faith and how this has influenced his work, along with his politics and his on-going relationship with Scottish nationalism. With the support of the composer and his publisher and unprecedented access to interviews and previously unpublished materials, the book not only provides an appraisal of MacMillan's work but also insights into what it means to be a prominent composer and artist in the twenty-first century. PHILLIP A. COOKE is a Composer and Senior Lecturer and Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen. He has previously co-edited The Music of Herbert Howells for Boydell.Trade ReviewSurvey[s] the various stages of MacMillan's career: the 'sudden surge of new works' following his return to Glasgow in 1988 and the rock-style 1990 Proms reception that greeted Isobel Gowdie; the ensuing period of sustained success up to the opera Inès de Castro in 1996; the 'consolidation' years to 2000, peaking with the epic oratorio Quickening...and the bitterness and ultimate stylistic turnaround in the decade following Scotland's Shame. * THE SCOTSMAN *Well-researched and readable...reveals the fascinating development of the enigmatic and pre-eminent Scottish composer, Sir James MacMillan...delivers facts and anecdotes that vividly depict MacMillan as a fascinating figure whose tremendous musical skills now bask in worldwide fame. * BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER *A stellar career...Sir James' dominance of Scottish Classical music of his prominence internally is clear from this year's Edinburgh International Festival programme, where the world premiere of his fifth symphony is the highlight of a full programme celebrating his 60th birthday. * THE TIMES *Sketch[es] in the important parts of his life story...deal[ing] mainly with [James MacMillan's] thoughts on the music of the 20th century and his own journey through its later years and the opening decades of the 21st. * THE HERALD *Uncovers much of what it means to be a classical composer in the 21st century. * CHOIR & ORGAN *Table of ContentsThe Keening - Cumnock, Edinburgh and Durham The Tryst - Glasgow and the road to Isobel Gowdie Scots Songs - The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, Tuireadh and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel A Different World - Visitatio Sepulchri, Seven Last Words from the Cross and Inés de Castro Changed - Triduum and Quickening Raising Sparks - 'Scotland's Shame', politics and A Scotch Bestiary A New Song - Mass and MacMillan's choral renaissance After Virtue - Symphony No. 3, The Sacrifice and the St John Passion Serenity - Violin Concerto, Clemency and the St Luke Passion Tu es Petrus - Bellahouston Park and the return to Cumnock List of Works and Recordings Bibliography Index
£31.50
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Measure: In Pursuit of Musical Time
Book SynopsisWINNER of the 2023 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award Follows the fascinating story of musical timekeeping, beginning in an age before the existence of external measuring devices and continuing to the present-day use of the Smartphone app. The book opens with an exploration of musical time keeping as expressed in the artwork and musical writing of the Renaissance, sources that inform our early understanding of an age when music making was bound up with motions of the body and the pulsing of the human heart. With the adoption of the simple pendulum and the subsequent incorporation of tempo-related language, musicians gained the ability to communicate concepts of speed and slowness with ever-increasing precision. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries witnessed the development of a diverse array of musical time-keeping devices, yet it was not until the nineteenth century that a single device combined the critical elements of accuracy, functionality and affordability. Enter the metronome: portable and affordable, a triumph of innovation that enabled musicians to establish and faithfully reproduce musical time with accuracy and ease. From Beethoven to Ligeti, Moskovitz looks to a number of distinguished composers who used or refused this revolutionary machine and explores the complicated relationship that unfolded between the metronome, the musical world and practitioners in other disciplines who sought to exploit its potential. Engagingly written, Measure: In Pursuit of Musical Time will appeal to professionals and amateurs alike.Trade ReviewThrough its historical depth, vivid explanations, and engaging narrative, Measure provides a valuable resource for those seeking to think more pointedly about the history of and ideas surrounding musical time. With this book, readers will find a captivating journey into the heartbeat of music itself. -- Katie Bank * H-NET REVIEWS *This is a fascinating study of the history of keeping time in music, from pulse to pendulum to metronome. It reminds us that such seemingly dry and rigorous methods were developed to preserve a composer's intentions or to perfect a performer's rhythm, thus allowing for maximum freedom and faithful inspiration in performance. * Stephen Hough, pianist, composer, writer. *Table of ContentsIntroduction HANDS 1 Hand and Heart 2 Motion and Rest PENDULUMS 3 A Logically Ordered Universe 4 A Line, a Weight and a Nail 5 Court and Académie 6 New Systems 7 Curiosities and Chronometers 8 Revolutionary Minds 9 Clockwork 10 Hammers, Dials and Barrels METRONOMES 11 Winkel's Prototype 12 Maelzel's Metronome 13 Composer's Calibrations 14 An Incomparable Lack of Judgement 15 New Currents 16 Metronome Sense Afterword: Last Object Works Cited
£18.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Ralph Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult
Book SynopsisThe first detailed study of the working relationship and productive friendship between Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and Adrian Boult (1889-1983). From 1918 onwards, Boult became one of Vaughan Williams's most important interpreters, giving the world premieres of the Pastoral, Fourth and Sixth Symphonies, performing almost all his major works (not only at home but with some of the world's greatest orchestras), and working in close collaboration with the composer on major projects including the first complete recording of Vaughan Williams's symphonies. Boult continued to be the most devoted advocate of Vaughan Williams's music to the end of his long career. As this book shows, Boult's scores include numerous annotations derived from conversations and correspondence with Vaughan Williams and these provide important evidence of the composer's wishes including adjustments to orchestration, comments on interpretation, dynamics, phrasing and revisions to Vaughan Williams's notoriously unreliable metronome marks. The evidence of these scores is considered alongside the extensive correspondence between Vaughan Williams and Boult, Boult's private diaries and other relevant documents including contemporary press reports. The book includes three substantial supplements: a detailed description of Boult's marked scores, a comprehensive list of Boult's Vaughan Williams performances and a discography including surviving recordings of unpublished broadcasts. It will be indispensable reading for scholars and students of Vaughan Williams and historical conducting, Vaughan Williams enthusiasts and those interested in the history of recorded music.Trade ReviewAnother new book Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult, by Nigel Simeone, analyses the crucial creative partnership Vaughan Williams had with Boult, who conducted the premieres of three of his symphonies, and recorded the first cycle of them. The collaboration continued posthumously: throughout the 1960s and 1970s Boult recorded and performed his friend's works, conducting his centenary concert in 1972. Simeone's achievement is to have analysed the scores Boult used when conducting, and the annotations he added following conversations with the composer. -- Simon Heffer * The Telegraph *In Simeone's hands, Boult's commitment to his composer and Vaughan Williams' rugged, self-deprecating character tell an enormously valuable story -- Sir Mark Elder, conductorIt is the revelation of the interaction between these two towering figures in British music that makes this such an important book -- Sir Andrew Davis, conductor[T]he much-respected musicologist Nigel Simeone has provided a definitive account of the relationship between the two men which throws much light on their working practices. One might have thought that such an examination had appeared before, but ... the level of attention and scholarship given here is unprecedented.... Simeone's is perhaps one of the most valuable books on the composer to appear in some time.... It goes without saying that any admirer of Vaughan Williams should have Simeone's study on their shelves; his reserves of insight and elegantly expressed enthusiasm are to be found in abundance here. -- Barry Forshaw * Classical CD Choice *Simeone's exploration of the intensely nourishing relationship between these two giants of British music-and Boult's characteristically selfless dedication and steadfast commitment to this repertoire right to the end [...]-makes for consistently absorbing reading. As an unabashed RVW/Boult obsessive, I devoured this book and unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone of a similar mindset. -- Andrew Achenbach * Gramophone *Well written and eminently readable, this book will take its place on the shelf of classic Vaughan Williams literature. * Fontes Artis Musicae *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. First Encounters and A Sea Symphony 2. A London Symphony 3. A Pastoral Symphony and Boult on Conducting in the 1920s 4. Job: 'To Adrian Boult' 5. Symphony No. 4 in F minor 6. Wartime Tensions 7. Symphony No. 5 in D major 8. Symphony No. 6 in E minor 9. Sinfonia antartica and the Last Two Symphonies 10. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Other Orchestral Works 11. Choral and Vocal Works 12. Vaughan Williams, Boult and The Pilgrim's Progress Appendix 1: Annotations on Boult's Working Scores Appendix 2: Boult's Vaughan Williams Performances: A Chronology Appendix 3: Discography Bibliography Index
£45.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Britten’s Donne, Hardy and Blake Songs: Cyclic
Book SynopsisPresents a first analytical study that looks at the overarching designs of Benjamin Britten's John Donne, Thomas Hardy and William Blake solo song cycles. By questioning when a group of songs ought to be understood not merely as a collection, but as a cycle, Sly shows that Britten's personal selection and arrangement is indispensable to understanding these cycles' extra-musical communication. The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Winter Words (poems by Hardy) and Songs and Proverbs of William Blake - composed in 1945, 1953 and 1965 respectively - each represent a philosophical exploration. The terrains set out by the three poets are distinct, but also engage one another in important and unexpected ways. Their cyclic architectures are expressed not only in their poetic arrangement, but in their musical settings. Key relationships and motive remain central for Britten. Keys convey a network of interconnections, create groupings of songs, and establish levels of tonal affinity or distance. Motive - often intervals that can fit into any melodic, harmonic or rhythmic context - is used to create aural affinities between or among individual songs. This book also offers a broader narrative revealing Britten's evolving philosophical convictions in post-war Britain. While it may not be the case that Britten intended any broader philosophical comment, the works together outline the cold and brittle state that emerges from loss and aligns with their composer's increasingly stark outlook on humanity.Table of ContentsPreface 1: Britten's Clever Subconscious 2: The Holy Sonnets of John Donne 3: Winter Words 4: Songs and Proverbs of William Blake Coda Bibliography Index
£66.50
Granta Books Mozart in Motion: His Work and His World in
Book Synopsis'A dazzling celebration and recalibration of Mozart's genius, written with an energy to match its subject' Ian Bostridge Mozart is one of the most familiar and beloved icons of our culture, but how much do we really understand of his music, and what can it reveal to us of the great composer? In exhilarating, transformative prose, Patrick Mackie mixes biographical storytelling with deep dives into the experience of listening to Mozart''s music to reveal a musician in dialogue with culture at its most sweepingly progressive, when Europe was caught between two historical worlds. We follow Mozart from his adolescence in Salzburg to his early death; from his close and rivalrous relationship with his father to his romantic attachments; from his hugely successful operas to intimate compositions on the keyboard. Mackie leads the reader through the major and lesser-known moments of the composer''s life and brings alive the teeming, swivelling, modernity of eighteenth-century Europe. In this era of rococo painting, surrealist aesthetics and political turbulence, Mozart reckoned with a searing talent which threatened to overwhelm him, all the while pushing him to extraordinary feats of musicianship. Returned to the volatility of the eighteenth century, we hear Mozart''s music in all its audacious vividness, gaining fresh perspectives on why his works still move us so intensely today, as we continue to search for a modernity he imagined into being.Trade ReviewAn exhilarating and stimulating new survey of one of our civilization's greatest creative figures. Mackie sheds new light on both Mozart's music and his motivation, with an often piercingly original sideways glance - typically, Mackie ends his molto allegro romp through the works not with Mozart's famous unfinished Requiem but with a tiny keyboard Gigue that sums up his genius -- Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director, Barbican CentreThis book is like a set of virtuoso cadenzas on themes from Mozart's life and works: improvisatory, thought-provoking, quirky and constantly inventive -- Stephen HoughA dazzling celebration and recalibration of Mozart's genius, written with an energy to match its subject -- Ian Bostridge, author of Schubert's Winter JourneyWritten with the kind of energy and inventiveness of its subject, Mozart in Motion brings Mozart and his milieu into focus in a startling and original way. At once vividly evocative and dazzlingly informative and informed, this book changes the way we think about how art works, and how writing about art should work -- Adam PhillipsAs "kaleidoscopic" as the composer's own genius... an immersive and thought-provoking experience that will send you back to Mozart's oeuvre with a renewed appetite * Financial Times *Some sections flare into flame... he brings into vivid life the decadence of 18th-century Paris as it slides towards the Revolution... this book is as much about literary virtuosity as anything else * BBC Music Magazine *A brilliant whirlwind of a book that makes us listen to Mozart's music in new ways and brings new ideas about the enlightenment, modernity, the rococo, Goethe, Kant, Prince -- Lara Feigel, Books of the Year * White Review *Patrick Mackie's book places us firmly in [a] new world, and that's the best part of it - a feeling of looking over Mozart's shoulder * TLS *[Mackie's] sentences sizzle and explode from the page like an elaborate firework display... Luminous * Morning Star *Erudite, ambitious and elegantly written . . . Mackie's assertions about the ways Mozart's identification with his era come through in the music are intriguing and insightful . . . His writing is fresh and imaginative, showing feeling for the musical character and dramatic narrative of a piece * New York Times Book Review *An exemplary intervention in this kind of cultural critique . . . Mackie is a sensitive and highly intelligent appraiser of musical form, with a gift for analyzing Mozart's music as the dynamic enactment-rather than the simple expression-of larger cultural and biographical energies * New Yorker *[A] stimulating, often profound exploration... Mr. Mackie gives us fresh, revealing and poetic perceptions... He demonstrates persuasively-and passionately-how the nuances of a Mozart score don't merely reflect but embody the central concerns of biography and history... Such resonant understanding of the deep implications of Mozart's music is the main reason to read yet another book on Mozart, though I don't want to minimize Mr. Mackie's excellence as a traditional biographer * Wall Street Journal *Mackie's extraordinary knowledge, thoughtful insights, and exemplary prose make the book insightful, thought provoking, and enjoyable. Reading the essays is like attending a concert with a friend who is exceptionally well-read and articulate. Rare is the reader who will digest these essays without immediately wanting to listen to whatever piece of music has just been examined * Christian Science Monitor *Writing a biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart nowadays is no easy task . . . But Patrick Mackie exploits his background in both poetry and academia in an effort to bring Mozart to life in new ways . . . The result is still a familiar portrait of Mozart, but one that is painted in new colors * Associated Press *A book that will unquestionably stand among the more poignant investigations of Mozart and his genius, Mozart in Motion . . . is a serious study of the composer's character and music as it first within the context of European manners and mores in the second half of the eighteenth century * Chicago Review of Books *Delightfully instructive... Mackie achieves for Mozart what Mozart himself did for music, time and time again: to make the old new, and intelligible as such * New Criterion *Ambitious and brilliant: a book that rethinks Mozart's place in history and one that should win him new fans along the way... A unique, wide-ranging study of the canonical composer * Kirkus Reviews *In an intriguing blend of biography and deft musical analysis, poet Mackie creates a gallery of the composer's masterpieces expertly framed in the cultural setting of eighteenth-century Europe... Clear and insightful... After perusing the pages of this thoughtful and beautifully written book, readers will want to discover, or rediscover, the timeless music of this beloved composer * Booklist *Patrick Mackie's vibrant biography has something of the 18th-century dash and panache that he evokes in Mozart . . . Mr. Mackie is a soloist who writes on a world stage with a sententiousness that made 18th-century biography seem not merely the story of another's life, but a story that could only emanate from a singular voice that had something unique to tell us * New York Sun *Mackie's prose gathers momentum by tackling the music's rich contradictions . . . If Mackie's voice flirts with pretense, a close reading reveals keen ears and a lively imagination, especially for opera fans . . . Mackie challenges received ideas and offers descriptions that may yet prove worthy of his subject * Truthdig *
£10.44
Elliott & Thompson Limited Refiner's Fire: The Academy of Ancient Music and
Book SynopsisFinancial Times – BEST BOOKS OF 2023 PRESTO MUSIC – BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023 ‘This superb account of how that glorious institution came into being will give you deep and abiding pleasure’ Stephen Fry When harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood and record producer Peter Wadland founded the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973, their mission was to create Britain’s first orchestra devoted to recording baroque and classical music on period instruments. They went on to change the musical world. Their success brought the AAM global fame – bringing historically informed performance into the mainstream and putting Vivaldi into the pop charts. But then the orchestra faced a new challenge: reinventing itself to survive and thrive in the world its own success had created. For the first time, Richard Bratby tells the story of this trailblazing orchestra and the people who shaped it: fifty years of innovation, exploration and musical adventure, from the pioneering days of the early 1970s to new directions – and new triumphs – in the 21st century. ‘An uplifting, anecdote-packed account of the Academy of Ancient Music […]’ Lucie Skeaping ‘The refiner’s fire of AAM still burns brightly: this book tells us why. From the Marquis of Granby to the Hollywood Bowl; an illuminating account of a musical revolution.’ Catherine Bott ‘Using a mass of archival material and many interviews, Refiner’s Fire is a lively account of the orchestra’s history, of Christopher Hogwood himself and of the other essential players (literal and figurative).’ Emma Kirkby Trade Review‘Born in the heat of the period performance revolution, UK ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Bratby charts the history not just of an orchestra, but of a movement that led to a permanent upheaval in the art and business of making classical music.’ Financial Times "If like me you have derived deep and abiding pleasure from the Academy of Ancient Music, then this superb account of how that glorious institution came into being will give you deep and abiding pleasure too. Impossible to read without leaping for your collection or streaming platform and reminding yourself of just how magnificent the AAM was, is, and - we have good reason to believe - will continue to be." Stephen Fry “An uplifting, anecdote-packed account of the Academy of Ancient Music to mark the orchestra's 50th anniversary including everything from the achievements (and occasional disputes) that ran through the years of the ‘early music revival’ to the detailed life and work of that much-admired, multi-talented father of the AAM Christopher Hogwood.” Lucie Skeaping "Richard Bratby’s story of a musical revolution is frank and full of insight, with illuminating comments from AAM members past and present. The refiner’s fire of AAM still burns brightly: this book tells us why. From the Marquis of Granby to the Hollywood Bowl; an illuminating account of a musical revolution." Catherine Bott "To do justice in a single volume to the first fifty years of AAM was a huge challenge, and Richard Bratby has really pulled it off. Using a mass of archival material and many interviews, Refiner’s Fire is a lively account of the orchestra’s history, of Christopher Hogwood himself and of the other essential players (literal and figurative). AAM has come a long way; for those of us who were part of the journey there is much in this story to savour, some to surprise, even to shock, but what we can clearly recognise is the enduring vigour and imagination that should take the orchestra-and-choir through the decades to come." Emma Kirkby ‘[…] this measured, well-researched, cogently plotted and readable history does affectionate justice to the outsize achievements of a pioneering, influential and still relevant ensemble.’ Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone magazine
£21.25
Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd First Repertoire Pieces for Flute: Edited by
Book Synopsis22 pieces for flute and piano selected and edited by Peter Wastall, now refreshed and repackaged to fulfil the needs of the next generation of musicians.Providing the perfect ''next step'' for students reaching the end of Peter Wastall''s award-winning Learn As You Play method books, this charming collection of repertoire is ideally suited for students of Grade 3-5 standard.Each piece is now complemented by useful practice and performance tips and piano accompaniment. Demonstration and accompaniment tracks are available online.Instrumentation:flute and piano
£999.99
Hal Leonard Europe Limited Ludovico Einaudi: The Violin Collection
Book Synopsis
£18.99
Canterbury Press Norwich Great Sacred Music
Book SynopsisGreat Sacred Music, a free lunchtime event of spoken word and music for choirs and congregations, is a regular feature of the life at witness of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Each week, a themed programme is offered which combines music with stories of how the pieces came to be written and some reflections on the theme. As well as a celebration of music, it has proved to be instrumental in the mission of St Martin's, attracting many people to the church.Great Sacred Music offers 52 complete and ready-to-use choral music-themed programmes for occasional celebrations in local churches, or as an alternative to evensong. All the sheet music chosen is available from the RSCM, or recordings can be downloaded from YouTube for churches which do not have choirs. Scripts for introducing the theme and stories about the music are included.Choral music is one of the great treasures of the Anglican tradition. Great Sacred Music will support the missional work of the church in drawing in people who would not ordinarily attend a service, but who enjoy its rich musical heritage.
£16.14
