Biography: arts and entertainment Books

Book SynopsisWith this new collection of interviews, readers will recognise the themes that motivate Steven Spielberg, the cinematic techniques he employs to create his feature films, and the emotional connection he has to his movies. The result is a nuanced and engaging portrait of the most popular director in American cinema history.

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Book SynopsisThoughtful and passionate, Ang Lee humbly reveals here a personal journey that brought him from Taiwan to his chosen home in the United States as he struggled and ultimately triumphed in his quest to become a superb filmmaker. Ang Lee: Interviews collects the best interviews of this reticent yet bold figure.

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Book SynopsisThe compelling life story of Armenian ceramicist David Ohannessian, whose work changed the face of Jerusalem—and a granddaughter's search for his legacy. Along the cobbled streets and golden walls of Jerusalem, brilliantly glazed tiles catch the light and beckon the eye. These colorful wares—known as Armenian ceramics—are iconic features of the Holy City. Silently, these works of ceramic art—art that also graces homes and museums around the world—represent a riveting story of resilience and survival: In the final years of the Ottoman Empire, as hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forcibly marched to their deaths, one man carried the secrets of this age-old art with him into exile toward the Syrian desert. Feast of Ashes tells the story of David Ohannessian, the renowned ceramicist who in 1919 founded the art of Armenian pottery in Jerusalem, where his work and that of his followers is now celebrated as a local treasure. Ohannessian's life encompassed some of the most tumultuous upheavals of the modern Middle East. Born in an isolated Anatolian mountain village, he witnessed the rise of violent nationalism in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, endured arrest and deportation in the Armenian Genocide, founded a new ceramics tradition in Jerusalem under the British Mandate, and spent his final years, uprooted, in Cairo and Beirut. Ohannessian's life story is revealed by his granddaughter Sato Moughalian, weaving together family narratives with newly unearthed archival findings. Witnessing her personal quest for the man she never met, we come to understand a universal story of migration, survival, and hope.Trade Review"Feast of Ashes is a passionate journey of discovery, an exemplary work of craft and design history, and a powerful narrative of the meaning of family identity. An extraordinary book—I loved it." -- Edmund de Waal * author of The Hare with Amber Eyes and The White Road *"Feast of Ashes is a lovingly crafted account of family, loss, and home. Chronicling the last century's unresolved tragedies and injustices on a most personal level, Sato Moughalian forces us to acknowledge what these events have truly cost us all—a necessary insistence, if we ever hope to be free of the grievous mistakes we too oft repeat." -- Alia Malek * author of The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria *"Feast of Ashes is an exceptional story of Armenian artisanship and one of its luminaries, David Ohannessian. As told by his granddaughter, Sato Moughalian, the tumultuous events at the end of the Ottoman Empire and the lasting legacy of Armenian ceramics unfold through her family history." -- Dickran Kouymjian * author of The Arts of Armenia *"A hundred years after David Ohannessian brought the art of Armenian ceramics to Jerusalem, his creations still glint from the walls of buildings and in cabinets there—and still testify to his singular talents, his mastery of a time-honored tradition, and his admirably stubborn belief in the possibility that beauty might emerge even out of terrible suffering. With love, care, and an attention to detail as exacting as his own, Sato Moughalian offers a moving tribute to her grandfather and his radiant handiwork." -- Adina Hoffman * author of Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architects of a New City *"Sato Moughalian embarks on a sweeping journey from the Armenian Genocide to the present day to tell the story of how her grandfather became a master ceramist. Feast of Ashes is a compelling, brilliant work, revealing how one survivor of that infamous crime honored Armenian culture and created glorious art." -- David Scheffer * former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, author of All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals *"Sato Moughalian is a born storyteller. Her account of the remarkable life of her grandfather, the Armenian ceramicist and tile-maker David Ohannessian, should be read by artists, by historians of the Middle East and, above all, by anyone sensitive to the power of the human spirit to make great art in the face of persecution, migration, and exile." -- Tanya Harrod * coeditor of The Journal of Modern Craft *"More than merely a tribute to the talents of her grandfather, Moughalian's book is a work of alchemy—combining the personal, tragic history writ large, and the somehow uplifting power of enduring art." -- Elizabeth Taylor * National Book Review *"Feast of Ashes bridges the fields of Ottoman history and Armenian art to recount the many stories that objects, alone, cannot." -- Norah Lessersohn * and Erin Piñon, Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies *"Moughalian has crafted a narrative that is as lyrical as it is compelling. She relates the tragedy and triumph of Ohannessian's personal adventures with a compassion and intimacy matched by impressive research into the broader historical context." -- Matthew Kalman * The Times of Israel *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsPrelude: The Search chapter abstractPrelude: The author, an immigrant growing up in the United States, discovers a passion to discover more about the life and art of her grandfather, David Ohannessian, who founded the art of Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem in 1919. To learn about her heritage, she must confront her family's traumatic experience during the Armenian Genocide and search for the art and other traces her grandfather left behind. 1Mouradchai: The Armenian Village chapter abstractThis chapter explores the ethnically Armenian mountain village in western Anatolia in which David Ohannessian was born in 1884 and where his ancestors lived for four centuries. The narrative describes daily life, wedding customs, the agriculture, and commerce of the village, and the encroachment of economic and social factors from the larger world on the inhabitants of this isolated hamlet at the end of the nineteenth century. 2Eskishehir: The Engagement chapter abstractThe Ohannessian family resettles in Eskishehir, where David Ohannessian attends a French Catholic school, and discovers a variety of possible professions in a larger and more European-influenced city. The chapter briefly reviews the presence and distribution of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the challenges faced by this minority. David Ohannessian falls in love with Victoria Shahbazian and asks for her hand in marriage. 3Constantinople and the Art of Kutahya chapter abstractIn 1902, David Ohannessian spends several months in Constantinople and discovers his vocation: ceramic-making. He moves to Kutahya to apprentice in the craft and learns that the region is rich in the clays and other minerals that gave rise to the art of glazed painted ceramics around the fifteenth century. The chapter follows the tradition of ceramic making in Kutahya in the ensuing eras. By 1907, Ohannessian masters the art and following year, he married and deepened his connection to the city's longstanding Armenian community. 4Kutahya: Princes, Sheikhs, and a Baronet chapter abstractOhannessian establishes an independent ceramics studio in Kütahya, the Société Ottomane de Faïence, and enters partnerships with Mehmet Emin and Garabed and Harutyun Minassian to tile the growing number of buildings in the new Ottoman revivalist style and to produce glazed pottery for domestic sales and export. The 1908 Revolution brought a surge of interest in nationalist architecture along with many orders for new works as well as tiles to restore important mosques through Ottoman and Arab territories—Bursa, Konya, Mecca, Damascus, and Cairo. Ohannessian meets Mark Sykes, who commissions several substantial orders for his baronial estate in Yorkshire, Sledmere House. As Ohannessian and his partners work with architect Ahmet Kemalettin on new buildings and restorations, they become intimately acquainted with ceramic traditions from the thirteenth through the eighteenth centuries and amass a technical knowledge and a wide-ranging decorative repertoire. The Great War begins. 5Exile chapter abstractHuge numbers of Balkan Muslim refugees enter western Anatolia, posing new threats to Greek and Armenian communities. As the Ottoman Empire embarks on battles along its borders, the government places blame for early defeats on Armenians, painting them as traitorous and disarming Ottoman Armenian soldiers. On April 24, in the capital, Ottoman police and irregular forces round up more than two hundred of the most influential Armenian intellectuals, merchants, priests, and artists, and deport them into the interior, where many of them are murdered. The entire village of Mouradchai is deported on twenty-four hours' notice. In Kutahya, Ohannessian is arrested and then deported with his family. 6In the Mountains, Aleppo, and Meskene chapter abstractThe Ohannessian family follows the path of deportation taken by Armenians living in the western provinces of Anatolia—traveling by train to Bozanti, and traversing the Taurus Mountains, the province of Adana, and the Amanus Mountains. The family enters the community of Armenian refugees in Aleppo, but is deported again, this time to Meskene, the site of a desert death camp near the Euphrates. The Ohannessians return to Aleppo. After the British take the city, Mark Sykes finds Ohannessian subsisting as a refugee and recommends him to Ronald Storrs, the new Military Governor of Jerusalem, to produce new tiles for the planned British restoration of the Dome of the Rock. 7Jerusalem I: The Haven chapter abstractThe Ohannessians arrive in Jerusalem and join other Armenian survivors in the Convent of St. James. Ohannessian meets with Ernest T. Richmond, the consulting architect brought by the British to evaluate the Dome of the Rock. Ohannessian experiments with tile making using the unsatisfactory local materials. He returns to Kütahya to recruit workers and obtain clays and other minerals. Ohannessian trains Armenian orphans in the art of ceramic making. Outbreaks of violence between Jerusalem's Arab and Jewish communities in 1920 and 1921 lead to the establishment of the Supreme Muslim Council as a vehicle for greater Arab self-governance. The SMC appoints Ahmet Kemalettin to oversee the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque. Ohannessian and his artisans are dismissed from the project, but continue to produce ceramics, perfect their technique given the lack of materials in Palestine's parched environment, and forge relations with distributors. 8Jerusalem II: The Feast chapter abstractOhannessian's studio adds workers, begins to exhibit at international expositions, and receives many commissions for tiled works in Jerusalem, transferring the Ottoman tradition of glazed, painted tile ornaments for domestic architecture to Jerusalem and creating elaborate tiled installations in new government and private structures. He establishes distribution outlets in Europe, the United States, Africa and through the Middle East. Arab-Jewish tensions lessen with the outbreak of World War II, but intensify upon its conclusion. 9The Scattering chapter abstractOne by one, members of the Ohannessian family leave Jerusalem, terrified by the intensifying violence. Thousands of Palestinian Armenians flock to St. James Armenian Convent seeking refuge. The Ohannessians leave for Damascus and then Egypt. Fimi Ohannessian finds a job in the British Council Library in Cairo and survives Black Saturday, the arson and violent destruction of 400 British and European-related businesses in the downtown district. The family flees Cairo's violence for Beirut and scatter after Ohannessian's death in 1953. Postlude: The Return chapter abstractThe author decides to write a biography of her grandfather and travels to the places in Turkey where he lived and worked. She locates the remnants of Ohannessian's birth village and travels there. She searches for his surviving works in the world today.

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Book SynopsisA biography of the "Cinderella" of Egyptian cinema—the veneration and rumors that surrounded an unparalleled career, and the gendered questions that unsettled Egyptian society. Layla Murad (1918-1995) was once the highest-paid star in Egypt, and her movies were among the top-grossing in the box office. She starred in 28 films, nearly all now classics in Arab musical cinema. In 1955 she was forced to stop acting—and struggled for decades for a comeback. Today, even decades after her death, public interest in her life continues, and new generations of Egyptians still love her work. Unknown Past recounts Murad's extraordinary life—and the rapid political and sociocultural changes she witnessed. Hanan Hammad writes a story centered on Layla Murad's persona and legacy, and broadly framed around a gendered history of twentieth-century Egypt. Murad was a Jew who converted to Islam in the shadow of the first Arab-Israeli war. Her career blossomed under the Egyptian monarchy and later gave a singing voice to the Free Officers and the 1952 Revolution. The definitive end of her cinematic career came under Nasser on the eve of the 1956 Suez War. Egyptians have long told their national story through interpretations of Murad's life, intertwining the individual and Egyptian state and society to better understand Egyptian identity. As Unknown Past recounts, there's no life better than Murad's to reflect the tumultuous changes experienced over the dramatic decades of the mid-twentieth century.Trade Review"A fascinating and fun read, Unknown Past carefully documents Layla's story, fills voids, and makes important interventions into debates on her life and legacy. Just as Layla's life was bigger than the screen, this book goes beyond the history of cinema to illuminate questions about religion, society, gender, and politics."—Beth Baron, The Graduate Center and City College, City University of New York, author of The Orphan Scandal"Bringing together biography and history, Unknown Past examines transformations in midcentury Egypt through the life of the hugely popular Layla Murad. Unraveling rumors and debunking myths, Hanan Hammad draws attention to the social pressures Murad faced as a working woman, as a Jew, as a wife, and as a mother."—Deborah Starr, Cornell University, author of Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema"Unknown Past is meticulously researched and vividly written. Hanan Hammad unpacks, in a careful, clear-headed, and brave manner, all the myths surrounding Egypt's beloved star Layla Murad, from her career's entanglement in the Arab-Israel conflict to her premature retirement. An essential read."—Ted Swedenburg, University of Arkansas, editor of Palestine, Israel, and the Politics of Popular Culture"Unknown Past: Layla Murad, the Jewish-Muslim Star of Egypt is a descriptively compelling and detailed account of the life and work of a culturally, artistically, and politically influential Egyptian woman through modern Egypt's complicated and perilous times. A consummate work of impeccable scholarship, no Egyptian Cinema or 20th Century Egyptian Biography collection would be complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of a copy of Unknown Past." -Julie Summers, Reviewer's Bookwatch"This is the kind of book any aspiring scholar should want to write at least once during their career: Hammad both lucidly engages relevant academic literature and tells a fascinating story for nonspecialist readers new to one of the dizzying number of disciplines into which she intervenes."—Abe Silberstein, Cineaste"[Unknown Past is] a story not only about religion and ethnicity in the Arab world, but also one about how being female can amplify the effects of being a minority in a society that is not as 'modern' as it prides itself on being."—Lauren Hakimi, The Forward"This engaging text sheds new light on old questions and provides greater depth to this Golden Age star.... Ultimately, readers see Murad as a complex, multidimensional individual—acelebrity, wife, lover, mother, and businesswoman. Recommended."—M. L. Russell, CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction: Why Layla Murad? 1. The Schoolgirl: Making Layla Murad 2. The Country Girl: Branding Layla Murad 3. Adam and Eve: Interfaith Family, Fame, and Gossip 4. The Blow of Fate: The Politics of Boycotting Israel 5. The Unknown Lover: Layla Murad and the Free Officer 6. The Starling of the Valley: Remembering Layla Murad Conclusion: Can an Egyptian Be a Single Mother and a Jew?

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Book SynopsisIn this carefully researched book, Weinstein uncovers sketches and routines filled with Jewish phrases, allusions, jokes, songs, and stories. His music and comedy not only shaped the history of popular entertainment, but also provide a foundation for ongoing efforts to redefine Jewish culture and build community in contemporary America.

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Book SynopsisDudley Riggs didn’t have to run away from home to join the circus. Home was the circus. Son of the acclaimed aerial flyers Riggs and Riggs, he made his circus debut as a polar prince parading in a wagon pulled by a polar bear. At the age of five, he graduated to a risqué vaudeville act during the circus off- season; at eight, he outgrew his cutes (and his child stardom) and joined his high-flying parents on the trapeze. Eventually he had to learn to “fly funny” because he grew too tall to fly straight. In one way or another, Riggs has been flying ever since.The rest, as they say, is history. And what a story it is. In Flying Funny, Riggs shares many highs and lows while describing circus life and the evolution of America’s popular entertainment during the twentieth century. From his early life in circus and vaudeville to his creation of the Brave New Workshop, we see how his show business experience and instincts helped him create in Minneapolis what became the “next wave” in American entertainment—improvisation. As a young man, Riggs lost everything in a tornado, got an education on the fly, and sailed with the All American circus to post–war Japan. On a slow boat home and restless about his future, he developed the idea of Word Jazz—creating a script on stage as it is being performed—and shortly after he opened the Instant Theater in New York. Later, he moved to Minneapolis where he founded the Brave New Workshop, launching the careers of comic greats such as Penn and Teller, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Louie Anderson, Peter Tolan, Pat Proft, Nancy Steen, Liz Winstead, Al Franken and many others. Today, the Brave New Workshop thrives as the longest running improvisational theater in America. From flying funny on the trapeze to theater without a net, Dudley Riggs’s story is filled with hearty laughs and eyebrow-raising insights. With a wry sense of humor and infectious warmth, he shares the exhilaration of flying whether through the air or on the stage.Trade Review"Dudley Riggs not only brought comedy to thousands of people, he paved and provided a safe environment for artists to stretch the boundaries beyond the norm. He made people think, but mostly he made them laugh their asses off. He’s an American institution, a Minnesota treasure, and my earliest mentor and friend. If you love show biz, comedy, the circus, or just want to laugh your ass off, you’ll get his book Flying Funny!"—Louie Anderson"The great Dudley Riggs is a titan of comedy. There was no laughter west of the Mississippi before him. He let us perform at his theater when we were just getting started, so we owe him a blurb. So buy this book."—Penn & Teller"It’s a lucky person who finds their wings in order to fly in this life. Dudley Riggs had the good fortune of being born on the high wire with no other option but to fly. And fly he did! Life without a net is a brave and honorable journey, and Dudley shares exactly this in his story. One can equate Riggs’s big-top lifestyle to their own everyday circus and perhaps find some wings of their own."—Mo Collins"Always wanted to run away with the circus . . . but your busy schedule never allowed it? Well, this book is the answer. It will pull you by the sleeve and set you on the tightrope or the flying trapeze . . . until you find yourself landing on the stage of an improv theater. Bravo, Maestro Dudley Riggs!"—Philippe Petit, high wire artist and author"Riggs is known nationally as founder of the Minneapolis-based Brave New Workshop, but his memoir Flying Funny: My Life without a Net doesn’t dwell on the comedy club. It’s about growing up among circus people, his brief career as an aerialist and the ‘stubborn, recurrent notion I had of creating an original scene onstage while performing it.’"—Pioneer Press"Like Riggs himself, his book is warm and a bit bashful in tone, avoiding the acres of melodrama and flamboyant flimflam found in many show business autobiographies. It reads like the work of a man with more good cheer than worry, making it through life’s travails without deep scars on his body or spirit. "—Star Tribune"The book is as entertaining as Riggs’ life and career and is recommended."—Circus Report and Show Biz USA"In this amusing memoir the ex-acrobat is still flying funny."—SpectacleTable of ContentsContentsForewordPreface1. The Polar Prince2. Vaudeville3. The World’s Fair4. The Riggs Brothers Circus5. School on the Road6. The Circus at War7. The Great Alberty8. Flying Funny9. Clown Diplomacy10. Fliffus It is!11. Word Jazz12. Change the Act?13. Yes . . . Please!14. Instant Theater15. New Ideas16. Theater Without a NetAcknowledgments

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Book SynopsisFor the first three decades of the twentieth century, the Marchesa Luisa Casati astounded Europe. She was infamous for her evening strolls—naked beneath her furs, parading cheetahs on diamond-studded leashes. Artists such as Man Ray and Augustus John painted, sculpted, and photographed her; writers, including Jean Cocteau, Ezra Pound, and Jack Kerouac, praised her strange beauty; celebrities and royalty from around the world were amazed and awed by her lavish parties and spectacles at her homes in Italy and France. The extravagance ended in 1930 when Casati was more than twenty-five million dollars in debt, but she continued her iconoclastic and creative pursuits until her death in London in 1957. Her legacy continues, especially in contemporary fashion, with John Galliano, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, Karl Lagerfeld, and other designers inspired by her remarkable style. Fully authorized, completely updated, and richly illustrated, this is the fantastic story of the Marchesa Casati.Trade Review"Fascinating . . . with or without her cheetahs, the Marchesa Casati’s circus of the self makes her a natural for the new millennium."—Vanity Fair"A meticulously researched biography, Infinite Variety is as much art history as chronicle of personal obsession."—New York Times"Ryersson and Yaccarino are judicious historians of frivolity who capture the tone of a life that was obscenely profligate yet strangely pure."—The New Yorker"Beautifully written . . . Prepare to be astonished."—ELLETable of ContentsForeword Quentin CrispIntroduction: Siren of the Century Dream Child A Slow Awakening1001 Nights on the Grand CanalThe Basilisk’s StareTigress on CapriMedusa in PearlsDragonfly in AmberEpilogue: Phoenix RisingAfterwordFrancesca GranataAcknowledgmentsNotesSelect BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAn expansive and revelatory study of Robert Smithson’s life and the hidden influences on his iconic creations This first biography of the major American artist Robert Smithson, famous as the creator of the Spiral Jetty, deepens understanding of his art by addressing the potent forces in his life that were shrouded by his success, including his suppressed early history as a painter; his affiliation with Christianity, astrology, and alchemy; and his sexual fluidity. Integrating extensive investigation and acuity, Suzaan Boettger uncovers Smithson’s story and, with it, symbolic meanings across the span of his painted and drawn images, sculptures, essays, and earthworks up to the Spiral Jetty and beyond, to the circumstances leading to what became his final work, Amarillo Ramp.While Smithson is widely known for his monumental earthwork at the edge of the Great Salt Lake, Inside the Spiral delves into the arc of his artistic production, recognizing it as a response to his family’s history of loss, which prompted his birth and shaped his strange intelligence. Smithson configured his personal conflicts within painterly depictions of Christ’s passion, the rhetoric of science fiction, imagery from occult systems, and the impersonal posture of conceptual sculpture. Aiming to achieve renown, he veiled his personal passions and transmuted his professional persona, becoming an acclaimed innovator and fierce voice in the New York art scene.Featuring copious illustrations never before published of early work that eluded Smithson’s destruction, as well as photographs of Smithson and his wife, the noted sculptor Nancy Holt, and recollections from nearly all those who knew him throughout his life, Inside the Spiral offers unprecedented insight into the hidden impulses of one of modern art’s most enigmatic figures. With great sensitivity to the experiences of loss and existential strife that defined his distinct artistic language, this biographical analysis provides an expanded view of Smithson’s iconic art pilgrimage site and the experiences and works that brought him to its peculiar blood red water.Trade Review "Only someone who has immersed themselves in the life and art of Robert Smithson for forty years could have written a biography as deep and engaging as Inside the Spiral. Suzaan Boettger illuminates the artist’s religious thought, examines the complexities of his gender identity, and takes a psychoanalytic lens to his sources and esoteric symbolism, bringing coherence to our understanding of this remarkably complicated artist, his body of work, and his writings. A monumental achievement."—Jonathan Fineberg, University of the Arts, author of Modern Art at the Border of Mind and Brain "Suzaan Boettger’s long-awaited Inside the Spiral: The Passions of Robert Smithson is the first biography of this 'enantiomorphic' artist, whose oeuvre encompassed geological and sacred time alongside the moment of the snapshot, the 'dematerialized' theorizing and mapping of the non-site alongside the absolute site-specificity—viewable from outer space—of the Great Salt Lake. Boettger reveals fascinating and hitherto unexplored aspects of Smithson’s earliest formation, including his status as a 'replacement child' for a dead older brother, while her fearless exploration of the artist’s Christological bent, his hermeticism, and his difficult navigation of sexuality yields nuanced psychological insight. Unburdened by academic jargon, the work is supported by extensive reference to Smithson’s writings, notes, interviews, library, and other records, of which Boettger has long been recognized as the foremost scholar."—Judith Rodenbeck, University of California, Riverside "This book sheds important new light on Robert Smithson. Meticulously researched and wide-ranging in scope, it explores the intricate connections between Smithson’s personal history and his art. While revealing a great deal of new information about Smithson’s life and psychology, Suzaan Boettger also engages with his art in a focused and detailed way and writes about individual works with great perceptiveness. Readers will come away from this book with a fresh and enlarged understanding of Smithson’s life and art."—Jack Flam, editor of Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings"[An] extensive biography of an artist I have stood by for some fifty years which is impossible not to consider definitive, particularly in its investigation of the artist’s unconscious as well as conscious motives."—Joseph Masheck, The Brooklyn Rail "That his art appears larger after reading Inside the Spiral is as much credit to his own capacious imagination as it is to Boettger’s ingenious attempts to contain it."—Artforum"Inside the Spiral is one of the most informative and well written biographies I have ever had the pleasure of reading. To use the American vernacular, Suzaan Boettger can write like 'hot-damn'!" —Robert Maddox-Harle, Leonardo Reviews

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Book SynopsisBen Hecht had seen his share of death-row psychopaths, crooked ward bosses, and Capone gun thugs by the time he had come of age as a crime reporter in gangland Chicago. His grim experience with what he called “the soul of man” gave him a kind of uncanny foresight a decade later, when a loose cannon named Adolf Hitler began to rise to power in central Europe.In 1932, Hechtsolidified his legend as ""the Shakespeare of Hollywood"" with his thriller Scarface, the Howard Hughes epic considered the gangster movie to end all gangster movies. But Hecht rebelled against his Jewish bosses at the movie studios when they refused to make films about the Nazi menace. Leveraging his talents and celebrity connections to orchestrate a spectacular one-man publicity campaign, he mobilized pressure on the Roosevelt administration for an Allied plan to rescue Europe's Jews. Then after the war, Hecht became notorious, embracing the labels “gangster” and “terrorist” in partnering with the mobster Mickey Cohen to smuggle weapons to Palestine in the fight for a Jewish state.The Notorious Ben Hecht: Iconoclastic Writer and Militant Zionist is a biography of a great twentieth century writer that treats his activism during the 1940s as the central drama of his life. It details the story of how Hecht earned admiration as a humanitarian and vilification as an extremist at this pivotal moment in history, about the origins of his beliefs in his varied experiences in American media, and about the consequences. Who else but Hecht could have drawn the admiration of Ezra Pound, clowned around with Harpo Marx, written Notorious! and Spellbound with Alfred Hitchcock, launched Marlon Brando's career, ghosted Marilyn Monroe's memoirs, hosted Jack Kerouac and Salvador Dalí on his television talk show, and plotted revolt with Menachem Begin? Any lover of modern history who follows this journey through the worlds of gangsters, reporters, Jazz Age artists, Hollywood stars, movie moguls, political radicals, and guerrilla fighters will never look at the twentieth century in the same way again.Table of Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Prelude: The Lost Land of Boyhood Part I: THE NEWSPAPERMAN The Chicago School of Journalism Chapter 1: The Chicago School Chapter 2: Shades of Black: The Stages of Hecht's Cynicism Chapter 3: Propagandist in Training Chapter 4: The Journalist and the Gangster Part II: THE WRITER The Chicago Renaissance and Hollywood Chapter 5: The Chicago Renaissance: Little Children of the Arts Chapter 6: Crying in the Wilderness Chapter 7: The Un-Jewish Jew Chapter 8: Return Part III: THE ZIONIST From Humanist to Public Enemy Chapter 9: Jewish Knights: The Bergson Group Chapter 10: "Champion in Chains" Chapter 11: Campaign for a Jewish Army Chapter 12: "A Challenge to the Soul of Men" Chapter 13: "One of the Greatest Crimes in History" Chapter 14: Blood and Fire Chapter 15: Only Thus Part IV: THE MEMOIRIST Writing about L.A.'s Al Capone Chapter 16: "Some Kind of Strength" Chapter 17: Champion in Chains, Revisited Chapter 18: The Old New Journalist Chapter 19: Time Out for Psychology Conclusion Selected Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisHarry Fenn was one of the most skilled and successful illustrators in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a time when illustrated periodicals and books were the primary means of sharing visual images. Fenn’s work fostered pride in America s scenic landscapes and urban centers, informed a curious public about foreign lands, and promoted appreciation of printed pictures as artworks for a growing middle class. Arriving in New York from London in 1857 as a young wood engraver, Fenn soon forged a career in illustration. His tiny black-and-white wood engravings for Whittier’s Snow-Bound (1868) surprised critics with their power, and his bold, innovative compositions for Picturesque America (1872 74) were enormously popular and expanded the field for illustrators and publishers. In the 1880s and 90s, his illustrations appeared in many of the finest magazines and newspapers, depicting the places and events that interested the public from post-Civil War national reconciliation to the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 to the beginnings of imperialism in the Spanish-American War.This handsomely designed volume documents Fenn’s prolific career from the 1860s until his death in 1911. Sue Rainey also recounts his adventurous sketching trips in the western United States, Europe, and the Middle East, which enhanced his reputation for depicting far-flung places at a time when the nation was taking a more prominent role on the world stage.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding Rainer Werner Fassbinder introduces scholars and students to the controversial and prolific but brief career of a filmmaker hailed as one of the New German Cinema's most talented exponents. Combining a chronological survey with a thematic exploration, Wallace Steadman Watson reviews the entirety of Fassbinder's artistic output, focusing specifically on fifteen of the filmmaker's thirty-eight feature-length works. Watson's interpretations of these films, all of which he studied in Germany, scrutinise the financial constraints, material conditions, and script development involved in their production.Watson draws on a wide assortment of Fassbinder interviews—many of which are not available in English—and on theoretical and critical approaches employed in the Frankfort School, performance and reception theories, gay and lesbian film theory, and studies of melodrama and camp. Watson also incorporates his own interviews with Fassbinder's mother and with the woman who served as Fassbinder's film editor and companion during the final four years of his life.

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Book SynopsisChet Atkins called Lenny Breau (1941-1984) ""the greatest guitarist who ever walked the face of the earth."" Breau's astonishing virtuosity influenced countless performers, but unfortunately it came at the expense of his personal relationships. Ron Forbes-Roberts analyzes Breau and his recordings to reveal an enormously gifted man and the inner workings of his music.Trade Review"Forbes-Roberts walks the line between adulation and research, music nerd and general interest reporter, with aplomb, and most importantly delivers a very readable account of a personality most readers should find endearing (if heart-breaking)." - Boston Phoenix "[A] thorough and fascinating biography, which includes a discography and analysis of Breau's recordings." - Toronto Globe and Mail "Forbes-Roberts does a credible job of depicting the variables that fostered Breau's total devotion to his instrument and subsequent descent into heroin addiction. Where Forbes-Roberts does his best work, though, is in his technical explanations of Breau's unique guitar system and his comprehensive critical analyses of the artist's recording sessions." - All About Jazz"

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Book SynopsisWilliam Vacchiano (1912–2005) was principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic from 1942 to 1973, and taught at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music, Queens College, and Columbia Teachers College. While at the Philharmonic, Vacchiano performed under the batons of Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Leonard Bernstein and played in the world premieres of almost 200 pieces by such composers as Vaughan Williams, Copland, and Barber. Vacchiano was important not only for his performances, but also for his teaching.His students have held the principal chairs of many major orchestras and areprominent teachers themselves, and they have enriched non-classical music as well. Two of his better known students are Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. Last Stop, Carnegie Hall features an overview of the life of this very private artist, based on several personal interviews conducted by Brian A. Shook and Vacchiano's notes for his own unpublished memoir. Shook also interviewed many of his students and colleagues and includes a chapter containing their recollections. Other important topics include analyses of Vacchiano's pedagogical methods and his interpretations of important trumpet pieces, his 'rules of orchestral performance,' and his equipment. A discography, a bibliography of Vacchiano's own works, and lists of his students and the conductors and players with whom he performed round out this richly illustrated examination of one of the most influential trumpet players and teachersof the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisThe New Yorker recently referred to Pat Metheny as 'possibly the most influential jazz guitarist of the past five decades.' A native of Lee's Summit, Missouri, just southeast of Kansas City, Metheny started playing in pizza parlors at age fourteen. By the time he graduated from high school he was the first-call guitarist for Kansas City jazz clubs, private clubs, and jazz festivals. Now 66, he attributes his early success to the local musical environment he was brought up in and the players and teachers who nurtured his talent and welcomed him into the jazz community. Metheny's twenty Grammys in ten categories speak to his versatility and popularity. Despite five decades of interviews, none have conveyed in detail his stories about his teenage years. Beneath Missouri Skies also reveals important details about jazz in Kansas City during the sixties and early seventies, often overlooked in histories of Kansas City jazz. Yet this time of cultural change was characterized by an outstanding level of musicianship. Author Carolyn Glenn Brewer shows how his keen sense of ensemble had its genesis in his school band under the guidance of a beloved band director. Drawn from news accounts, archival material, interviews, and remembrances, to which the author had unique access, Beneath Missouri Skies portrays a place and time from which Metheny still draws inspiration and strength.Trade ReviewBrewer presents a very detailed yet balanced view of Metheny's musical growth, and the KC area musicians that were part of that development. That approach gives the reader an insight into the overall KC jazz scene at the time." - Terry Perkins, reviewer for Downbeat magazine

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Book SynopsisAlthough in 2000 he became the first sideman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “King Curtis” Ousley never lived to accept his award. Tragically, he was murdered outside his New York City home in 1971. At that moment, thirty-seven-year-old King Curtis was widely regarded as the greatest R & B saxophone player of all time. He also may have been the most prolific, having recorded with well over two hundred artists during an eighteen-year span. Soul Serenade is the definitive biography of one of the most influential musicians of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Timothy R. Hoover chronicles King Curtis’s meteoric rise from a humble Texas farm to the recording studios of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New York City as well as to some of the world’s greatest music stages, including the Apollo Theatre, Fillmore West, and Montreux Jazz Festival. Curtis’s “chicken-scratch” solos on the Coasters’ Yakety Yak changed the role of the saxophone in rock & roll forever. His band opened for the Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965. He also backed his “little sister” and close friend Aretha Franklin on nearly all of her tours and Atlantic Records productions from 1967 until his death. Soul Serenade is the result of more than twenty years of interviews and research. It is the most comprehensive exploration of Curtis’s complex personality: his contagious sense of humor and endearing southern elegance as well as his love for gambling and his sometimes aggressive temperament. Hoover explores Curtis’s vibrant relationships and music-making with the likes of Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Isaac Hayes, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Moore, Donny Hathaway, and Duane Allman, among many others.

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Book SynopsisGrammy Award–winning pianist, bandleader, and composer Cedar Walton (1934–2013) is a major figure in jazz, associated with a variety of styles from bebop to funk and famous for composing several standards. Born and raised in Dallas, Walton studied music in Denver, where he jammed with musicians such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. In 1955, Walton moved to New York, immediately gaining recognition from notable musicians and nightclub proprietors. When Walton returned to the U.S. after serving abroad in the Army, he joined Benny Golson and Art Farmer’s Jazztet. Later, he became both pianist and arranger for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Next, he worked as part of Prestige Records’s house rhythm section, recording with numerous greats and releasing his own albums. One hallmark of Walton’s impact is his numerous long-term collaborations with giants such as trombonist Curtis Fuller and drummer Billy Higgins. By the end of his career, Walton’s discography, as both band member and bandleader, included many dozens of vaunted recordings with some of the most notable jazz musicians of the 1960s through the first decade of the twenty-first century. Ben Markley conducted more than seventy-five interviews with friends and family members, musicians who played with or were otherwise influenced by Walton, and industry figures such as club owners. Musicians interviewed include such stars as Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, and Ron Carter. Walton’s wife Martha shared her extensive archives of photos, ephemera such as fliers and tour itineraries, and letters.

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Book SynopsisThroughout his career Oliver Stone (b. 1946) has broken traditions and challenged audiences with a series of daring, angry, violent, and often confrontational films. Politically charged movies such as Nixon (1995), JFK (1991), and Wall Street (1987), and his Vietnam trilogy of Platoon (1986), Born on the 4th of July (1989), and Heaven and Earth (1993) provoke and enrage critics and audiences from all ideological walks. In a short time, Stone has established himself as one of the most admired and most reviled directors in American cinema. Ranging from 1981 to 1997, the fifteen conversations featured in Oliver Stone: Interviews reveal a man frustrated by what he sees as the hypocrisies of American politics, of conservatism, and of the Hollywood film industry. But the conflicts and tensions these issues generate spellbind him. In the interviews, Stone comes off as a man as brash, outspoken, confident, and complicated as his movies. His obsessions -- the 1960s, the ways in which Vietnam shaped the country, the nature of violence, and the role of the media in shaping it -- resurface again and again, no matter what film Stone is discussing. Though the subjects of Nixon, JFK, Born on the 4th of July, The Doors (1991), and Heaven and Earth are rooted in the turbulent 1960s, Stone as interviewee and filmmaker is firmly entrenched in the present. He fiercely discusses how the attitudes and political effects of the 1960s have defined later decades and generations, as he talks about his satire of the stock market (Wall Street, 1987) and media exposure (Natural Born Killers, 1994). Bolts of the director's raw wit and enthusiasm for the cinema shine through all of Stone's ferocious rage. Stone loves writing as well as directing. Whether discussing his screenplays written for other directors -- which include Scarface (1983), Midnight Express (1978), or Conan the Barbarian (1982, with director John Milius) -- or his own films, Stone emphasizes how crucial screenwriting is to making great movies. ""Directing is a natural extension of writing,"" he says in a 1987 interview with Michel Ciment. ""A director can always pull through with noise everywhere and his colleagues around. I don't think a good director can make a good film with a bad screenplay, but a bad director can deliver an acceptable film if he has a good screenplay. So for me, that's the number one priority."" Charles L. P. Silet is a professor of English at Iowa State University.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first collection of interviews with John Ford (1895--1973), whom many aficionados of fine films consider not only the major American filmmaker but also one of the most extraordinary American artists of the twentieth century. Among the world's filmmakers who have been devotees of Ford's work are Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Wim Wenders, and Orson Welles, who, when asked from whom he learned how to make Citizen Kane, exclaimed ""John Ford, John Ford, John Ford!"" And yet, Ford, unquestionably a giant of the international film world, is far less known, his genius less recognized, although his accomplishments comprise perhaps the best film biography of all time (Young Mr. Lincoln), the best war film (They Were Expendable), a masterly romance (The Quiet Man), a sublime film of childhood (How Green Was My Valley), classic adaptations from fiction (The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home), and the American Western, on which he left his indelible signature (Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Searchers). Although his was a brilliant career, Ford was not a self-promoter. He refused to discuss his film art. In fact, with interviewers he proved to be gruff and impatient. With those who asked him intellectual questions he was downright cantankerous. His sarcasm, impatience, and occasional mean-spiritedness were quick to surface during interviews. The legend is that he was the interviewee from hell. Yet there were times when he let the walls down and spoke openly and even generously. This book includes at least a dozen such lucid encounters with him, many reprinted for the first time. Also for the first time, several French interviews have been translated into English and show how with French critics Ford enjoyed making conversation. Included too are interviews newly discovered and not listed previously in any bibliography, as well as his poignant and revelatory interviews granted when he knew he was dying. Gerald Peary, a professor of communication and journalism at Suffolk University in Boston, is a film critic for the Boston Phoenix and editor of Quentin Tarantino: Interviews (University Press of Mississippi).

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Book SynopsisIn full command of both Hollywood stylistics and camp aesthetics, Spain's Pedro Almodóvar (b. 1951) has become a master of the audacious and the unorthodox, of the permissive and the polemical. Pedro Almodóvar: Interviews documents the 22-year-long cinematic career of the most internationally celebrated Spanish art-film director since Luís Buñuel. Many of these interviews, from French, Italian, and Spanish periodicals, appear for the first time in English. Almodóvar's early cinematic ventures in Super 8 and 16mm in the 1970s marked and memorialized the rise of the Movida, Madrid's underground vanguard artistic movement. Almodóvar's critical success in his native Spain came with What Have I Done to Deserve This? Almodóvar made his mark in the United States with his kitschy, melodramatic comedy and Academy Award nominee Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and his outlandish and irreverently funny Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! For all its taboo-breaking plots, eccentric characterizations, and explosive palettes, Almodóvar's cinema of excess has matured into one of tender compassion. All About My Mother, winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and of Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, and his fourteenth feature to date, Talk to Her, winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, 2003, cement Almodóvar's commitment to characters on the margins and to social critique. Covering more than two decades, the interviews collected here trace Almodóvar's journey from the small village of Calzada de Calatrava to Madrid, from his humble and Catholic provincial upbringing to his superstar status as Spain's leading postmodern auteur. Originally published in Spain, France, Italy, and the United States, these conversations disclose as much about Almodóvar's personal biography as they do about his thematic universe, his directorial personality, and his maturing style. Paula Willoquet-Maricondi is assistant professor of media arts at Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, New York. She is the co-editor of Peter Greenaway's Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema.

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Book SynopsisThis collection of interviews with the renowned filmmaker, animator, artist, and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe covers the phases of his career from his early work as a cartoonist and animator through his most recent and most difficult projects.Among many subjects, Gilliam discusses his formative years as an artist and humor-magazine cartoonist, his move from the United States to England, his entry into British television, and his success as resident animator for the Monty Python's Flying Circus television show.As co-director of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and as director of Jabberwocky Gilliam made his advent as a maker of feature films, followed by such popular movies as Time Bandits and The Fisher King. A mixture of critical acclaim and film-studio animosity greeted his epic Brazil. Gilliam discusses all these, as well as the damage The Adventures of Baron Munchausen did to his career and the disasters that plagued his attempt to film a time-travel comedy called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote after the commercial disappointment of his unexpectedly acerbic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In his conversations with a diverse array of interviewers Gilliam talks about an eclectic succession of topics, including his idiosyncratic tastes in painting and architecture, his fascination with the art and history of medieval Europe, his outspoken hostility for the commercial film industry, his views on comedy, fantasy, and film, and his philosophical perspectives on contemporary society.""I like the idea,"" he says, ""of actual demons sucking your brains out--envy and greed, these things being tangible. It's somehow on a common level, a more sensible way of dealing with the world. . . .""Trade Review"I like the idea of amazing and astounding people. That's great, and that's what I do for a living." - Terry Gilliam"

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Book SynopsisThe imagination of Walt Disney (1901-1966) is still seen in theme parks throughout the world bearing his name, on numerous live-action films and television specials, on toys and assorted merchandise, and on an international corporation known both for the high quality of its creative output and its ubiquity. Walt Disney: Conversations collects interviews and profiles of the man who created Mickey Mouse, and produced such full-length animated classics as Snow White, Cinderella, Fantasia, Bambi, The Lady and the Tramp, Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio, along with countless short cartoons. Bringing together over twenty pieces from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, this book traces Disney's career from the early classic Steamboat Willie to the construction of Disneyland, and the live-action ventures The Mickey Mouse Club and Mary Poppins. Walt Disney: Conversations shows how Disney saw his productions as shapers of popular culture and reveals how firmly he understood the issues of his time. Featuring an interview conducted by producer Cecil B. DeMille, Disney's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and rarely seen pieces from the Disney corporation's archives, Walt Disney: Conversations reveals a complex visionary whose impact on animation, live-action film, television, and theme parks has never been equaled.

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Book SynopsisThe previously unpublished autobiography and additional essays by the orchestrator-composer of some of America's most important musical theatre productions. The remarkable career of composer-orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett [1894-1981] encompassed a wide variety of both "legitimate" and popular music-making in Hollywood, on Broadway, and for television. Bennett is principally responsible for what is known worldwide as the "Broadway sound" and for greatly elevating the status of the theater orchestrator. He worked alongside Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, and Frederick Loewe on much of the Broadway canon, eventually providing orchestrations for all or part of more than 300 musicals between 1920 and 1975. This work is the first publication of Bennett's autobiography, which was written in thelate 1970s. It also includes eight of his most important essays on the art of orchestration. George J. Ferencz is Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater.Table of ContentsThe Bennett Family Tree Growing Up in Freeman To New York, 1916 To Paris, 1926 Rodgers and Hart in London To Hollywood, 1930 Hollywood Beckons Again Russell Bennett's Notebooks and Other Adventures in Network Radio Victory at Sea The Sound of Music Remembrances "The Bohemians" Eight Selected Essays by Robert Russell Bennett

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Book SynopsisThe first English translation of the correspondence between two composers and friends. Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht was a conductor and composer. His friendship with Claude Debussy began in 1911 (although they had met previously), and he soon became one of the Master's closest friends. This book is the first publication, in the original French and in English translation, of the correspondence between these two musicians. Beginning rather formally in 1912, with the salutation "Mon cher Inghelbrecht," the correspondence soon became much moreintimate, with Debussy addressing Inghelbrecht as "Mon cher ami" or "Cher Inghel." Although Debussy had a reputation for being cold and distant and for avoiding strangers, this was just his way of maintaining his privacy. This aloofness enabled him to express in private the warmth he felt toward those few close friends whose intimacy he needed and cherished. Inghelbrecht was in the forefront of this group. Their friendship was based not only on a mutual respect for each other's talents as artists and musicians, but also on the sharing of intimate secrets and warm feelings. Inghelbrecht's wife would later write that her husband retained the mark Debussy left on him. "For him, he was a beacon, a guide. And he had the deep joy of being able, up until his last days, to bring to life with passion, with all his talent-the works of a man who had been for a few years his friend." Margaret G. Cobb, the"doyenne of Debussy scholars," brings to life these two talented men. She enriches Richard Miller's idiomatic translation of the letters with copious notes and wonderful illustrations to illuminate a great musical friendship. Margaret G. Cobb is also the author of The Poetic Debussy, available from the University of Rochester Press. In 2002 she was awarded the title of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government'sMinistère de la Culture et de la Communication.Trade ReviewA wonderful book, one that will be welcomed by everyone interested in French modernist music. The richness of the lives that unfold from the pages of these letters is engrossing, and the translation is superb. Margaret Cobb's meticulous work on Debussy has long been deeply admired by her devotees, and this book adds so much to our understanding of an enigmatic composer and of one of his close collaborators. -- -- Carolyn Abbate (Princeton University), author of Voices: Opera and Musical Narrative in the Nineteenth Century .The friendship recounted in this book is one that echoes in the legendary Debussy recordings of the 1950s and 1960s conducted by D. E. Inghelbrecht. Among the many endearing glimpses here of two strong artistic personalities is their shared love of Musorgsky and Chabrier, and a telling blend of wit with uncompromising artistic aims. This is a book to put an extra spring into our playing of Debussy. -- -- Roy Howat, pianist, author of Debussy in Perspective: A Musical Analysis , and Editorial Board member of the Oeuvres Complètes de Claude Debussy .Elegant and easily accessible. . . . By 1914 [the composer-conductor Inghelbrecht] had become the recipient of some of Debussy's wonderful revelations, such as the Jacques-Émile Blanche portrait showing him like 'a cream cheese that has had too many late nights' [p. 47]. . . . Beautifully produced and illustrated, and should be owned by all who love Debussy. -- Robert Orledge * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Table of ContentsList of Letters List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments D.E. Inghelbrecht: A Biography Letters from Debussy to Inghelbrecht Appendix A: Letter from Inghelbrecht to Debussy Appendix B: Letters from Inghelbrecht to d'Annunzio Appendix C: Letters from Chouchou Debussy to Inghelbrecht Biographies Bibliography Discography Index

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Book SynopsisFor the Enrichment of Community Life is the first part of the history of the Eastman School of Music, beginning with the events that led to the establishment of the school in 1921 and ending in 1932 with the death of the school's benefactor, George Eastman. It was Eastman -- the founder of Eastman Kodak, and Rush Rhees -- the remarkable president of the University of Rochester, who really made it all possible. The story related here is not simply that of a music school. It also involves a symphony orchestra, an American opera company, a ballet company, a school of dance and drama, a music library, and a commercial radio station dedicated to broadcasting live classical music. It includes efforts to support the musical education of Rochester's elementary and secondary school children and the involvement of the symphony orchestra in their musical education. It is the story of the school's Eastman Theatre, which became the location of concerts and recitals by the world greatest musicians. Upon the facade of the Eastman Theatre is the inscription "For the Enrichment of Community Life," words selected by Rush Rhees to dedicate the theater to that purpose. In a broader sense also, these words embody the mission of the Eastman School of Music.

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Book SynopsisLetters I Never Mailed: Clues to a Life, by Alec Wilder, in a new, annotated edition with introduction and supplementary material by David Demsey, foreword by jazz pianist Marian McPartland, and photographs by Louis Ouzer. Letters I Never Mailed: Clues to a Life, by Alec Wilder, in a new, annotated edition with introduction and supplementary material by David Demsey, foreword by jazz pianist Marian McPartland, and photographs by Louis Ouzer. Alec Wilder is a rare example of a composer who established a reputation both as a prolific composer of concertos, sonatas, and operas, and as a popular songwriter [including the hit "I'll Be Around"]. He was fearsomely articulate and had a wide and varied circle of friends ranging from Graham Greene to Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz. Letters I Never Mailed, hailed at its first publication [in 1975, by Little, Brown], tells the story of Wilder's musical and personal life through unsent "letters" addressed to various friends. In it, he shares his insights -- and sometimes salty opinions -- on composing, musical life, and the tension between art and commercialism. Thisnew, scholarly edition leaves Wilder's original text intact but decodes the mysteries of the original through an annotated index that identifies the letters' addressees, a biographical essay by David Demsey, and photographs by renowned photographer and lifelong friend of Wilder, Louis Ouzer. David Demsey is Professor of Music and coordinator of jazz studies at William Paterson University and an active jazz and classical saxophonist. He is co-author of Alec Wilder: A Bio-Bibliography [Greenwood Press] and has contributed to The Oxford Companion to Jazz.Trade Review[This] is an excellent book that may well rekindle a broader interest in the composer, a Rochester icon. . . . The letters in Letters I Never Mailed were, of course, a literary device. Wilder hated writing about himself and used supposed correspondence as a way to discuss his life obliquely. For that reason, Demsey's introductory biography is helpful since it clarifies details that Wilder often left deliberately vague. The new edition includes one other welcome addition, the photos of Wilder's dearest friend, Lou Ouzer, the famed Eastman photographer. DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, Dec. 2005 [John Pitcher] In Letters I Never Mailed: Clues to a Life, Alec Wilder wanted to reveal himself, but not entirely. And so he left unidentified the individuals to whom many of the letters were written. The detective work of David Demsey gives us a much better understanding of the enigma that was Alec Wilder. -- -- Marian McPartland, renowned jazz pianist, recording artist, and host for over 25 years of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (National Public Radio)Alec Wilder was one of the great composers of modern times. He wrote a suite for me with concert band. Nobody could play the last movement. When I asked him about all the difficult notes in my part, he said, 'That's what you would have played if you had improvised!' In this new edition, David Demsey has been responsible for allowing people to understand some of Alec's equally mysterious letters, helping readers to better know one of my favorite people. -- -- Jazz Trumpeter Clark TerryThis memoir is as odd, curmudgeonly, imaginative, funny, and charming as its author, who was one of the glorious eccentrics of American music. First published in 1975, five years before Wilder's death, it has now been annotated by David Demsey, who has managed to identify almost everyone addressed by Wilder. * WHOLENOTE *Table of ContentsForeword by Marian McPartland Preface to the Annotated Edition by David Demsey Introduction to the Annotated Edition: A Brief Wilder Biography by David Demsey Letters I Never Mailed Annotated Addressee List Selected Compositions by Alec Wilder Selected Discography Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA new, deeply researched biography of the great French organist, who composed some of the best-loved works in the organ repertory -- and the masterful Requiem. Maurice Duruflé: The Man and His Music is a new biography of the great French organist and composer (1902-86), and the most comprehensive in any language. James E. Frazier traces Duruflé's musical training, his studies withTournemire and Vierne, and his career as an organist, church musician, composer, recitalist, Conservatoire professor, and orchestral musician. Frazier also examines the career and contributions of Duruflé's wife, the formidable organist Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier. Duruflé brought the church's unique language of plainsong into a compelling liaison with the secular harmonies of the modern French school (as typified by Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas)in works for his own instrument and in his widely loved masterpiece, the Requiem Op. 9 for soloists, chorus, organ, and orchestra. Drawing on the accounts of those who knew Duruflé personally as well as on Frazier's own detailed research, Maurice Duruflé offers a broad sketch of this modest and elusive man, widely recognized today for having created some of the greatest works in the organ repertory -- and the masterful Requiem. James E. Frazier holds advanced degrees in philosophy, organ, theology, and sacred music from St. Alphonsus College, Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary, Hartt School of Music, the Yale University Divinity School, and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He served Episcopal churches in Hartford, Connecticut, and St. Paul, Minnesota, as organist and director of music. For ten years he was director of music for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.Trade ReviewA mine of information . . . a veritable tale of our times. -- Andrew Thomson * MUSICAL TIMES *Provides significant insight into Duruflé's works and the relatively secretive life he and his wife led. . . . Frazier's research is excellent. . . . An important contribution. -- Brian Doherty * CHOICE *Frazier's exploration of arabesque in architecture and music and his treatment of musical luminosity are memorably insightful and reveal a thoughtful understanding of Duruflé's work. . . . An interesting and well-constructed view of Duruflé's world, and a highly informative text as well. -- Steven Plank * CHOIR & ORGAN *A work of unprecedented scope and depth, . . . [Frazier's book] is a biography abundantly rich in detail; though it declines the tone of a hagiography, it is obviously a labor of love. . . . Frazier skillfully illuminates the contexts in which Duruflé's life unfolded . . . [and] Frazier's survey of Duruflé's compositions is particularly strong. . . . A special pleasure of the book is the chapter on [Duruflé's future wife, and a world-renowned organist,] Marie-Madeleine Chevalier . . . Frazier's book will no doubt stand as a defining work in Duruflé scholarship and nurture scholars of 20th-century French organ music for years to come. -- Lawrence Archbold * AMERICAN ORGANIST *One of the best musical biographies I have read for many years: sound in musical and, for the most part, in historical judgment . . . , sympathetic without being sycophantic, and most gracefully written. Duruflé deserves no less. -- Roger Nichols * GRAMOPHONE *[Frazier] sees Duruflé as a compelling figure, given over to the same foibles and doubts we all have. Frazier's ability to obtain primary sources lends credence to his observations. This is a superb work, one to be valued by music historians and organists alike. -- Donald Metz * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *This substantial study . . . although sympathetic . . . is not a work of hagiography. . . .[The author argues that] the somewhat short-lived revival of Gregorian chant in the French church . . . [during] Duruflé's composing life was a happy coincidence from which music was the main beneficiary [notably through the widely beloved Requiem]. . . . The very considerable value of this book lies in its personal evaluation of a man whose personality is likely to remain something of a mystery but whose music has already transcended his life. -- Bret Johnson * TEMPO *Table of ContentsDuruflé's Childhood and Early Education Life at the Cathedral Choir School Lessons with Charles Tournemire Lessons with Louis Vierne The Conservatoire Student Duruflé's Distinctions The Contested Successions at Notre-Dame and Sainte Clotilde Duruflé's Peforming Career The Orchestral Musician The Poulenc Organ Concerto Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatoire Marie-Madeleine Chevalier Overview of Duruflé's Compositions Duruflé's Compositions: Their Genesis and First Performance Duruflé's Role in the Plainsong Revival The Vichy Commissions The Requiem The Musical History of Saint Étienne-du-Mont The Organs at Saint Étienne-du-Mont Duruflé as Organist and Teacher Duruflé and Organ Design The Church in Transition The North American Tours The Man Duruflé

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Book SynopsisA celebration of Sinatra's enduring impact on American entertainment and cultural life. For nearly sixty years, Frank Sinatra [1915-98] triumphed in concert, in the recording studio, on television, and on the big screen, refashioning his image to suit the temper of the times. Sinatra did it "his way," remaining bothelusive and alluring, and appealing to men and women alike. This collection analyzes the qualities that ensured Sinatra's staying power: his impeccable musicality, his charisma, his tough-mindedness, and even his peccadilloes. The contributors to this volume evaluate Sinatra's impact on all areas of entertainment, and examine many of the cultural forces he influenced and was influenced by, including Bing Crosby, Elvis, the "Beats," the Beatles, and Rock 'n' Roll. What emerges is a portrait of an artist, entertainment icon, and legendary symbol of popular culture. This appreciation of the Sinatra phenomenon celebrates his enduring impact on American entertainment and cultural life. Contributors: Blaine Allan, Samuel L. Chell, David Finck, Joseph Fioravanti Jeanne Fuchs, Philip Furia, Roger Gilbert, Ruth Prigozy, Walter Raubicheck, Lisa Jo Sagolla, Ron Simon, Arnold Jay Smith, James F. Smith, Patric M. Verrone, David Wild Jeanne Fuchs is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and Languages at Hofstra University; Ruth Prigozy is Professor of English at Hofstra University.Trade ReviewThe breadth of topics, discussed with concision, makes this book surprisingly brisk reading for those wanting to revisit quickly a number of aspects of Sinatra's career. * RONSLATE.COM, March 11, 2008 *A long-awaited collection of essays gathered from a famed 1998 conference at Hofstra University . . . probes various aspects of Sinatra's influence in his long career. . . . David Finck and Samuel L. Chell dissect Sinatra's vocal artistry in two succinct and exceptionally precise pieces in this collection. -- Benjamin Schwarz * ATLANTIC MONTHLY, June/July 2007 *It is doubtful that there will be another book dedicated so heavily to the nuts and bolts of what went into being Frank Sinatra.! -- Robert W. Rice * SING OUT! March 2008 *A kaleidoscopic view of a multi-faceted man, this compendium benefits greatly from its various viewpoints and offers fresh insight into the Sinatra legend. -- -- Michael FeinsteinFrom musical phrasing to comic strips, this compact but wide-ranging book marks a new stage in an emerging field that must now be called 'Sinatra Studies.' The variety of perspectives and topics has something to offer everyone who listens to, watches, and thinks about American popular culture. -- -- Jeffrey Magee, Associate Professor of Musicology, University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignTable of ContentsThe Musical Skills of Frank Sinatra - David Finck Frank Sinatra's Artistry and the Question of Phrasing - Kathryn Crosby Hanging on a String of Dreams: Delirium and Discontent in Sinatra's Love Songs - Joseph Fioravanti Jazzin' Sinatra: Three "Understated" Arrangers: George Siravo, Johnny Mandel, and Quincy Jones - Arnold Jay Smith They Can't Take That Away from Me: Frank Sinatra and His Curious but Close Relationship with the Rock and Roll GenerationGeneration - David Wild Dick Haymes: Sinatra Stand-In or the Real Thing? - Ruth Prigozy Singing in the Moment: Sinatra and the Culture of the Fifties - Roger Gilbert Frank Sinatra Meets the Beats - Blaine Allan Sinatra in (Lyrical) Drag - Philip Furia Sinatra Meets Television: A Search for Identity in Fifties America - Ronald C. Simon Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley: The Taming of Teen Idols and The Timex Show - James F. Smith Frank Sinatra: Dancer - Jeanne Fuchs Dancing to Sinatra: The Partnership of Music and Movement in Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite - Lisa Jo Sagolla From Sam Spade to Tony Rome: Bogart's Influence on Sinatra's Film Career - Walter Raubicheck Sinatra Satire: Fifty Years of Punch Lines - Patric M. Verrone

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Book SynopsisPlaces the Swiss composer Schoeck, master of a late-Romantic style both sensuous and stringent, in context and gives insight into his increasingly popular musical works. The work of the late-Romantic Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) has in recent years enjoyed a surge of interest. His 300 songs with piano accompaniment are now all on CD, as are his orchestral song cycles and five of his eight stage works. Yet despite an impressive discography featuring names such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Lucia Popp and Ian Bostridge, no biographical study of Schoeck has ever been available in English. Chris Walton, authorof Richard Wagner in Zurich: The Muse of Place, charts the turbulent course of Schoeck's life and career with care and candor, from a rampant youth to midlife monogamy and an old age ravaged by fears of neglect. He tracesSchoeck's relationships to musicians such as Max Reger, Ferruccio Busoni, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Paul Hindemith, and Igor Stravinsky, and to writers Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, and James Joyce. New light is also shed on Schoeck's uneasy relationship with Nazi Germany and its culmination, for him, in public humiliation and private catastrophe. As an accompanist, Schoeck was an arch-Romantic master of rubato; as a conductor, he was a fervent champion of the new; and in his compositions, he moved from late-Romanticism through a modernist vortex to emerge in full mastery of an individual musical language both sensuous and stringent. In this thorough new biography, Waltonplaces Schoeck the man and the artist squarely in the context of his time. Chris Walton is Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and Managing Director of the Orchestre Symphonique Bienne in Switzerland. He is the recipient of the 2010 Max Geilinger Prize honoring exemplary contributions to the literary and cultural relationship between Switzerland and the English-speaking world.Trade ReviewWalton replaces [Schoeck's] bland self-portrait with a veritable fresco in bright, contrasting colors. The visual images he has chosen to reproduce are equally revelatory. -- Georges Starobinski * DISSONANCE: SWISS MUSIC JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH AND CREATION *Chris Walton's . . . most readable monograph . . . combines profound scholarship with humour and entertainment, [and] succeeds brilliantly in bringing to life every area of its wide-ranging subject matter: the complex psychology of the composer, his fine musical oeuvre, the stimulating cultural context, the menace of Nazism during the 1930s and 40s, and above all the underrated country of Switzerland itself. -- Andrew Thomson * MUSICAL TIMES *Schoeck achieved in his best works an astonishing synthesis of Romantic and modernist styles. . . . Walton narrates Schoeck's tale in highly readable, occasionally witty prose...[R]eads as easily as a novel. . . . He has incorporated materials only recently released from private archives and had exclusive access to family members' personal recollections. . . . An unvarnished portrait of the man, yet one that still champions Schoeck the artist. -- Arlo McKinnon * OPERA NEWS *[An] unjustly neglected 20th-century master. Walton unearths vital links between Schoeck's wayward personal life and his creativity and -- best of all -- makes you want to hear the music. * FINANCIAL TIMES *Chris Walton narrates the tale of this important Swiss composer with a light touch, yet also with ample authority, backed by complete command of all the documentary sources. The result is a major contribution to our understanding of the contexts and forces-including modernism and resistance to it, and the complex cultural politics of the Nazi era-that affected art music during the first half of the twentieth century. -- : Tradition and Innovation and the Cambridge Introduction to Serialism -- Arnold Whittall, author of Exploring Twentieth-Century Music: Tradition and Innovation and the Cambridge Introduction to SerialismWalton writes superbly; his is a compelling narrative convincingly told. It will be of interest . . . to anyone engaged with the music and literature of the first half of the 20th century. . . . Highly recommended for any music collections serving the post-secondary level or above. The volume has been carefully edited, and the text is generously supplemented with copious illustrations and carefully chosen musical examples. -- John Schuster-Craig * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Schoeck and the Swiss Childhood and Youth Wolf amidst the Sheep Leipzig, Munich, and an Awful Little Moustache Back in the Fold Hermann Hesse, via the Dentist Look Back in Melancholy Chamber Music The Art of Counterpoint Busoni The Picture on the Wall Touch of Venus Silent Bronze Sucking Sweet Folly Self Portrait, with Sandwich Elegy Goodbye to Geneva The Bee in the Rose Raging Queen Storms in the Pigeon Loft Into the Vortex Wrong-Note Rag Hildebill Variations and Fugue on an Age-Old Theme Put to the Wheel Gisela Lost in the Stars Whores and Madonnas ". . . he can write music all right . . ." Tea with (Ms.) Hitler Aryanizing Music Arms and the Man Castles in the Air Goering's Bullshit Collapse The People at Home The Reckoning Transfigured Summer Nights Silent Lights Fair Measure Rather Nice Horn Sleepless in Wollishofen Echoes and Elegies Running on Empty Epilogue Othmar Schoeck: Concise Work Catalogue and Discography Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBrings to light the life and work of one of France's most distinguished musicians in the most complete biography in any language of Charles-Marie Widor. Widor: A Life beyond the Toccata brings to light the life and work of one of France's most distinguished musicians in the most complete biography in any language of Charles-Marie Widor. He is considered one of the greatestorganists of his time, a prolific composer in nearly every genre, professor of organ and composition at the Paris Conservatory, academician and administrator at the Institute of France, journalist, conductor, music editor, scholar, correspondent, inspired visionary, and man of deep culture. An appendix constitutes the most complete listing ever compiled of Widor's oeuvre. Each work is dated as accurately as possible and includes the publisher, platenumber, dedicatee, and relevant commentary. Another appendix lists Widor's complete published writings, other than the scores of press reviews he penned over several decades. Widor: A Life beyond the Toccata illuminates the life and work of one of France's most distinguished yet neglected musicians of the belle époque. JOHN R. NEAR is Professor Emeritus of Music, Principia College.Trade ReviewA book to treasure. -- John Henderson * CHURCH MUSIC QUARTERLY *Invaluable. . . . In Near's genial, well-paced narrative, a portrait of a highly erudite and humorous man emerges -- Widor's intimate recollections of such luminaries as Rossini, Anton Rubinstein and Liszt fizz with vitality. . . . A rich source of contemporary material and . . . a lively picture of Parisian musical life from the 1860s to 1937. . . . Beautifully produced and designed. -- Jeremy Nicholas * GRAMOPHONE *Excellent translation. . . . A fruitful resource for scholars and Francophiles alike. * CHOICE *Eminently readable [with] photographs not to be found in the published sources. . . . A treasure chest. . . . The final word on the life of a truly great man. . . . A standard of reference and essential reading for all devotees of the French Romantic school. -- Harold Fabrikant * ORGAN AUSTRALIA *John R. Near has honoured his subject by combining powerfully muscular English prose with research so staggeringly comprehensive as to be what fashionable circles would call 'a game-changer.' . . . New insights aplenty. . . . A pleasure to read and to own. -- R. J. Stove Complete review reprinted at http://www.rjstove.net/articles/Widor-Organ_Salisbury.pdf * THE ORGAN *The definitive work about the composer of one of the two most famous organ pieces in the world [the Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5]. John Near struck pay dirt when he located a 103-page manuscript of an unpublished 'Souvenirs Autobiographiques' [that] allows Widor to speak for himself and allows his biographer many opportunities to elucidate those events. Absolutely indispensable! -- Rollin Smith * THE AMERICAN ORGANIST *John Near -- editor of the critical edition of Widor's ten organ symphonies -- is unquestionably the authority on the organist-composer. In this book he gives us an encyclopedic memoir, containing many new details about Widor's life and work. Without any doubt this biography will remain the definitive resource in the organ world and beyond. * . *Daniel Roth, Organiste-titulaire du grand orgue de l'Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris * . *The documentation is wonderfully rich -- would that we had something comparable for earlier composers. . . . A major achievement. . . . A wealth of revealing information. -- Peter Williams * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *Detailed, richly documented account of Widor's long and fascinating life. . . Definitive. * MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION *Table of ContentsForeword by Kurt Lueders Preface Introduction: "Sunday Morning in a Paris Organ Loft," by T. Carl Whitmer Widor's Ancestry, Musical Education, and Heritage (1844-63) The First Creative Period (1864-79) The Years of Mastery (1880-94) The Twilight of Widor's Compositional Career (1895-1909) Mr. Widor, Member of the Institute of France (1910-37) Appendix One: Published Literary Works Appendix Two: List of Musical Works Appendix Three: A Cross-Section of Musicians during Widor's Life Appendix Four: Chronology

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited memoir of Julius Rudel, the legendary opera conductor and arts administrator, gives insight into his ground-breaking repertory choices and his collaborations with Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo, and others. As a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy, Julius Rudel escaped from Austria after the Nazi invasion and moved to New York, where he began his career as an unpaid musical assistant and worked his way up through the ranks of the newly formed New York City Opera, being named in 1957 as the company's general director and principal conductor. Later, he became the first artistic director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In his twenty-two-year leadership of New York City Opera, Rudel challenged audiences with new and unusual repertoire -- including fifteen world premieres and three seasons consisting entirely of American operas -- turning the popularly priced "People's Opera" intothe most influential and daring opera company in the United States. Rudel writes in detail of his unusual repertoire choices and of the political battles behind New York City Opera's move to Lincoln Center in 1966, and hereminisces about his legendary collaborations with Beverly Sills (on Handel's Giulio Cesare and Donizetti's "Three Queens") and Plácido Domingo (on Ginastera's Don Rodrigo) -- and about his work with other extraordinary talents including Norman Treigle, Phyllis Curtin, William Ball, Frank Corsaro, Tito Capobianco, Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, Harold Prince, and Gian Carlo Menotti. First and Lasting Impressions givesa rare personal look into Julius Rudel's career as a conductor and administrator during the glory years of New York City Opera. Julius Rudel was general director and principal conductor of New York City Opera from 1957to 1979, and since that time has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and many of the world's other great opera houses. Rebecca Paller, a curator at the Paley Center for Media in New York, has written about the arts for publications including Opera News, Opera, Vogue, Playbill, Symphony, and American Theatre.Trade ReviewIn his remarkable career at New York City Opera, Julius Rudel enriched and enlarged the lives of music-loving New Yorkers. This book, coauthored with Rebecca Paller, is a fascinating account of how his devotion to music -- music, not marketing -- helped shape an era. I am particularly happy to have Maestro Rudel's version of his long and complicated working relationship with Beverly Sills. -- -- Brian Kellow, features editor, Opera NewsJulius Rudel offers us direct insight into his rise through the ranks to become the director of one of America's most vibrant cultural institutions in the twentieth century, the New York City Opera. Evident on nearly every page is that same abiding dedication, guiding spirit, and bold imagination that helped to transplant a largely foreign art form and root it deep in America's artistic soil. This book will prove fascinating to opera singers, lovers of opera, especially American opera, not to mention interested teachers, pianists, voice coaches, orchestra and choral conductors. -- -- Michael V. Pisani, Vassar CollegeHe looks back at his career with a good humour which suggests how he survived. . . . He and his co-author write engagingly. . . . Interesting for most opera-lovers, and, for those with transatlantic [i.e., American] viewpoints, fascinating. -- Michael Scott Rohan * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *Julius Rudel has a great tale to tell. . . . Any reader with an interest in Rudel, in New York City Opera, or in the running of an opera company will devour it cover to cover. -- Fred Cohn * OPERA NEWS *Highly informative, entertaining . . . autobiography by conductor Rudel and a biography in his words of the New York City Opera. . . . A loving memoir, brutally frank, but never vindictive. Powerful, even emotional working associations with great artists: Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, Phyllis Curtin, John Alexander, Richard Cassilly, and dozens more. . . . A most humane gentleman. -- Charles H. Parsons * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Early Life in Vienna and the Shadow of the Swastika "The People's Opera" Takes Flight: The Early Years of New York City Opera The Flying Baton: A Company in Transition A Lighter Muse: Broadway Musicals Brush Up Your Shakespeare and Return to Vienna Inheriting the Wind All-American Intermezzo: The Company Way Politics and Acoustics: The Move to Lincoln Center Tintinnabulation: Don Rodrigo and a Young Star Named Domingo A Summer Idyll: The Magic of Caramoor Giulio Cesare and the Sills Phenomenon The Kennedy Center: From Concept to Opening Glory Days Jon Vickers: The Third Time Was Not the Charm Reversal of Fortune Life after New York City Opera Appendix: The Three American Seasons of New York City Opera Index

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Book SynopsisFirst English-language study of Anton Heiller (1923-1979), one of the twentieth-century's most influential organists Anton Heiller is one of the twentieth century's most renowned and influential organists. Born in 1923, Heiller was trained in Vienna and rose to prominence quickly, giving his first solo recital at the age of twenty-two. Before concentrating on the organ exclusively, he was a successful conductor of the symphonic repertoire, and, from 1945 until his untimely death in 1979, he was professor of organ at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.His interpretations of Bach, which included registration and articulation, as well as a consideration of the theological underpinnings, would change the way Bach is played. Anton Heiller: Organist, Composer, Conductorprovides an assessment of Heiller's works and teaching, while also examining his complex personality, one torn between strong religious devotion and the world of artistry. The narrative also offers a unique view of the organ worldin the decades after World War II, featuring the important organs, builders, and organists across North America and Europe. Peter Planyavsky was Anton Heiller's successor as an organ professor in Vienna, and organist of St. Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna from 1969 through 2004. He is also a prolific composer, improviser, and conductor. Christa Rumsey, a former student of Heiller's, translated the book from the original German.Trade ReviewHistory has already recognized Anton Heiller as a significant figure in 20th-century music, probably the most influential organist of his time. . . .Through his genius and personal charisma, he achieved what others could not: he brought the organ into the mainstream of music where it belongs. Planyavsky's biography delivers this message, while giving a complete picture of Heiller's life and work. . . . Belongs in the personal library of any serious organist. Through this book a great organist continues to interest and also to teach later generations of organists. A comparison . . . demonstrates not only an accurate but sensitive treatment of the original [German text]. * THE AMERICAN ORGANIST *The biographical chapters make . . . fascinating reading . . . [No chapter] is more gripping than the chapter devoted to 'Haarlem and the Rest of Europe.' . . . Christa Rumsey has done a sterling service for English-speaking readers by her elegant translation of an important book. -- Bruce Steele * ORGAN AUSTRALIA *A remarkable book [about] one of the greats of the mid-twentieth century. Packed with facts and stories. Christa Rumsey's excellent, flowing translation [is] a pleasure to read. * SYDNEY ORGAN JOURNAL *The text flows effortlessly. . . . The story is vibrant and gives extremely good insight into life between World War II and 1979 in Austria and life in Vienna in particular. Of interest to any interested in organ music and, in particular, developments in the early to mid-twentieth century. * ORGAN MUSIC SOCIETY OF ADELAIDE NEWSLETTER *Peter Planyavsky's book accomplishes a difficult task: that of doing justice to the life of a monumental musician. Planyavsky, himself an organist of international prominence, avoids the pitfall of presenting Heiller as primarily an organist, instead presenting a compelling picture of Heiller as the complete musician, giving ample room to a discussion of his career as a conductor as well as to a discussion of his many compositions. The result is a comprehensive and engaging account of a person who was a dominant figure in European musical culture for several decades of the twentieth century and whose influence was felt far beyond the circle of the Viennese musical scene. -- -- William Porter, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester)Table of ContentsVery Early, Very Fast, Very Steep Beginning in the Golden West: Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Switzerland Haarlem and the Rest of Europe Heiller and America Short Midday, Long Sunset All the Registers of a Soul Compositions before ca. 1956 Compositions after ca. 1956 What He Thought, How He Played Appendix: Organ Specifications Chronology Notes List of Compositions Discography Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects

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Book SynopsisRevealing unpublished interviews with John Cage and some of his closest colleagues, including Virgil Thomson, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pauline Oliveros, Merce Cunningham, and David Tudor. John Cage, one of America's most renowned composers from the 1940s until his death in 1992, was also a much-admired writer and artist, and a uniquely attractive personality able to present his ideas engagingly wherever he went. In CageTalk: Dialogues with and about John Cage, Peter Dickinson showcases a collection of vividly revealing and unpublished interviews given by Cage in the late 1980s for a BBC Radio 3 documentary. For this paperback edition, Dickinson presents a new preface noting developments in Cage criticism since the book's publication in 2006, updated comments from several of the original interviewees, and a new interview with Christian Wolff. CageTalk also features earlier BBC interviews with Cage, including ones by renowned literary critic Frank Kermode and art critic David Sylvester. In addition, there are discussions of Cage with Bonnie Bird, Earle Brown, Merce Cunningham,Minna Lederman, Otto Luening, Jackson Mac Low, Peadar Mercier, Pauline Oliveros, John Rockwell, Kurt Schwertsik, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Virgil Thomson, David Tudor, LaMonte Young, and Paul Zukovsky. Most of these interviews weregiven to Peter Dickinson but there are others in which with Rebecca Boyle, Anthony Cheevers, Michael Oliver, and Roger Smalley were the interviewers. Peter Dickinson, British composer and pianist, is Emeritus Professor,University of Keele and University of London, and has written or edited several books about twentieth-century music, including Copland Connotations [Boydell Press, 2002] and The Music of Lennox Berkeley [Boydell Press, 2003].Trade ReviewForeWord Magazine selected this title as one of its top music books from University Presses for 2006. * . *Ideal introduction to Cage. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *The first-hand accounts related by Cage's colleagues offer new insights and a palpable vibrancy. . . . A sense of intimacy and richness of anecdotal detail. . . . Merit[s] study by all with an interest in the composer. -- Charles Madsen * BULLETIN OF THE SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC *We hear Cage in his own words, in conversations conducted between 1966 and 1988, and put in the context of interviews with close colleagues such as pianist David Tudor, choreographer Merce Cunningham and fellow composers including Earle Brown and Virgil Thomson. . . . Dickinson's approach to collecting these interviews is methodical and fastidious. . . . [His] introductory chapter is . . . cogent. -- Philip Clark * GRAMOPHONE *This book is no eulogy compendium. Instead, the interviewees simply give us what we would all prefer to have, which is a diverse set of instructive, good-humoured accounts of their dealings with the book's subject. . . . Informative and entertaining -- often amusing: Stockhausen's thinly-veiled tetchiness makes for a diverting subtext, while Virgil Thomson refers to Cage's former wife Xenia as 'the Eskimo.' Technically, too, this book is a success, with its comprehensive references, its proper indexing and, joy of joys, footnotes . . . on the page you're actually on. A valuable and enjoyable read which I unreservedly recommend. Five stars (out of five). -- Roger Thomas * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *A lively compilation of dialogues with and about Cage . . . [opening with Dickinson's] useful introductory overview.. . . [Cage's] influence burns brighter than ever. -- Fiona Maddocks * THE SPECTATOR *Essential reading for anyone interested in the music of our time. * WHOLENOTE *Cage's engaging manner radiates from these pages. . . . CageTalk is excellent, leaving one with feelings of affection toward its subject. -- John Robert Brown * CLASSICAL MUSIC *A real treasure house of fascinating exchanges. . . . An entertaining perspective on [Cage's] inventive and imaginative world of sound, visual imagery and movement. -- Patrick Standford * MUSIC AND VISION DAILY *Recommended to all music libraries, [and] specialists concerned with...[Cage's] enduring work. -- Brett Boutwell * JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC *Table of ContentsIntroduction by Peter Dickinson John Cage Merce Cunningham Bonnie Bird David Tudor Jackson Mac Low Minna Lederman Virgil Thomson Otto Luening Karlheinz Stockhausen Earle Brown Kurt Schwertsik La Monte Young John Rockwell Pauline Oliveros Paul Zukofsky Cage with David Sylvester and Roger Smalley Cage with Frank Kermode Cage with Michael Oliver About Musicircus, Cage with Peter Dickinson Introducing Roaratorio, Cage, Cunningham, and Peadar Mercier with Peter Dickinson Europeras and After, Cage with Anthony Cheevers

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Book SynopsisUp-close and personal views, by the renowned music critic and orchestra administrator, of musical luminaries from Alfred Brendel to Jessye Norman and beyond. Star Turns and Cameo Appearances is the entertaining and insightful memoir by veteran music critic Bernard Jacobson. Its pages are populated by eminent composers ranging from Hans Werner Henze to Andrzej Panufnik and by renowned performers, including Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Sviatoslav Richter, and Jessye Norman. As a music critic and orchestra administrator, Jacobson has had the opportunity to observe these outstanding musicians andmany of their colleagues at close quarters. Assisting Riccardo Muti at the Philadelphia Orchestra for eight years, he saw sides of that maestro not visible to the music-loving public. Throughout Star Turns and Cameo Performances, Jacobson adds his own sensitive and sympathetic view to public perceptions of musical luminaries of yesterday and today, helping to explain and illuminate their artistry. Bernard Jacobson has worked in the music field for over fifty years, including stints as recording executive, music critic of the Chicago Daily News, artistic director and adviser for international orchestras in Holland, and visiting professor at Roosevelt University's Chicago Musical College. He has also performed and recorded as narrator of concert works and opera.Trade ReviewWill appeal to many different music professionals as well as a number of music-lovers. Without exception, Jacobson's remarks show knowledge and heart beautifully combined, the writing eloquent and perceptive. Star Turns and Cameo Appearances offers an intimate and rewarding look at one of the most distinguished music professionals of the 20th century and, perhaps more important, one for whom new music and the classics generally held equal value. -- Rob Haskins * ARSC JOURNAL *I have admired and continue to admire the great musical culture of Bernard Jacobson, whom I have known since my time in Philadelphia in the 1980s. His deep understanding of the world of the arts and his wit and elegant writing make Star Turns particularly interesting and charming. -- -- Riccardo Muti, conductor, music director, Chicago Symphony Orchestra[This] remarkable memoir is a musical journey from the perspective of a writer, music critic, music publisher, and a man who has been intimately involved with the classical music world. His extraordinary life's work, knowledge, and integrity have been a great inspiration to me, and this beautifully written memoir now affords others a window into his lifelong devotion to and love of music on the deepest level. -- -- Gerard Schwarz, conductor and composerAn extraordinarily vivid and intriguing glimpse of the humans inside the classical music giants, of the last fifty years -- an invaluable and rare account from a man who's heard it all. -- -- Roxanna Panufnik, composerBernard Jacobson has been one of the most illuminating writers about classical music over the past decades, a critical intelligence to reckon with -- the sort of critic (all too rare) with whom performers can engage in fruitful dialogue. His memoirs of a life in music are fascinating stuff. -- -- Ian Bostridge, tenorA fascinating tour through the classical music world from the 1960s to today. Jacobson has worked with and has stories to tell about most of the major and minor figures of music in England and America of the last fifty years. His analysis of Riccardo Muti as a man, a conductor, and a leader is worth the whole book. It's an involving book, and I feel privileged to have read it. -- -- Speight Jenkins, general director, 1983-2014, Seattle OperaTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments "Till Ready," to 1960 Inside the Record Industry, 1960-64 Freelance in London and New York, 1964-67 Chicago Years, 1967-73 Exchanging Criticizing for Supporting, 1973-76 The Pastoral Dream, 1976-79 Inside Music Publishing, 1979-84 Philadelphia, First Installment, 1984-91 Back to Holland, 1992-95 Philadelphia, Second Installment, 1996-2005 West Coast Years, 2005-14 Philadelphia, Yet Again, 2014-? Afterword Index

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Book SynopsisIn the bleak cage of the Soviet Union, a brilliant pianist, inspired by the music of Olivier Messiaen, survived and triumphed. This is his story, told partly in his own words. Interlacing material from previously unknown Russian archives, original recordings, photographs, and essays, Gregory Haimovsky: A Pianist's Odyssey to Freedom is the story of an extraordinary Russian concert pianist who, fighting the cultural prohibitions of the USSR, eventually succeeded in performing and recording major works by the prominent French composer Olivier Messiaen. At the lowest point of his life, expelled from Moscow and exiled to a small provincial city, Haimovsky discovered Messiaen's oeuvre uncatalogued and hidden in the library of the Union of Soviet Composers. Haimovsky's intense studies and Soviet premieres of these banned compositions healed and liberated his mind, spirit, and artistic imagination. Messiaen's music also deepened and fueled Haimovsky's fierce personal and musical opposition to Soviet political and cultural doctrines. Told partly in Haimovsky's own words and supplemented by interviews with several performers who worked with him between 1960 and 1972 as well as stories from his correspondence with major Russian artists, writers, and musicians of the time, Marissa Silverman's vivid narrative sheds new light on relationships between twentieth-century Russian music, Soviet politics, and the culture wars that raged during and after Stalin's barbaric rule. Marissa Silverman is Associate Professor of Music at the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University.Trade ReviewCompelling accounts . . . The courageous and critical role of the Soviet pianist in bringing Messiaen's music to the Russian public . . . takes this biography into interesting and heretofore under-researched territory. Silverman's text provides an important account of the lived experience of a Jewish artist during and after World War II, presenting a direct glimpse at the anti-Semitism rampant during this time. A powerful testament to the salvific power of music, providing an undeniable antidote to 'afflictions of the spirit. * THE RUSSIAN REVIEW *Silverman's writing is scholarly but engaging. Numerous conversations and interviews with [Haimovsky] are amply quoted in the book. Numerous sources are cited and often quoted at length. [I have listened to Haimovsky's recording of the Debussy Preludes] back-to-back with Walter Gieseking's classic recording and prefer Haimovsky's. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Skilfully recounted episodes and anecdotes make this book very readable. Melissa Silverman has successfully performed a labour of love which, it must be hoped, will not only paint a picture of a great man, but also of a whole era in Soviet life, both provincial and metropolitan, through a sensitive and perceptive musician's eyes. It deserves to be widely read. * SLAVONIC AND EAST EUROPEAN REVIEW *Part history of the Soviet Union, part passionate protest against Stalin's campaign against Soviet Jewry, part crusade for the acceptance of modern classical music in the USSR (in this case, Olivier Messiaen), part tribute to the life of work of Haimovsky, who fought for honesty and freedom in cultural life in the USSR and suffered for it. * SCRSS DIGEST (SOCIETY FOR CO-OPERATION IN RUSSIAN AND SOVIET STUDIES) *For a non-musicologist such as myself, this is an accessible book which tells a compelling story. Haimovsky's personal qualities of courage and integrity are convincingly displayed, and the Russian word 'grazhdantsvennost', a blend of the concepts of generosity and citizenship, perhaps best expresses his personality, exemplified by his tireless attempts both to fight a brutal system and to fulfil the artist's mission, to transmit aesthetic and spiritual values through their work. --Douglas Mark Ponton, University of Catania for * JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES *A talented pianist, who was not always prepared to toe the official line. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *Table of ContentsIntroduction A Pianist Is Born A Concert Pianist in Exile Spirituality, Love, and Color: Understanding Messiaen's Music From Thaw to Frost: Neonationalism and the Messiaen Premieres in the USSR Haimovsky and Grazhdanstvennost' Appendix 1: Selected Performances of the Music of Olivier Messiaen by Gregory Haimovsky, 1964-72 Appendix 2: Selected Writing by Gregory Haimovsky on the Music of Olivier Messiaen Notes Index

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Book SynopsisBrings to light the life and work of one of France's most distinguished musicians in the most complete biography in any language of Charles-Marie Widor. Widor: A Life beyond the Toccata brings to light the life and work of one of France's most distinguished musicians in the most complete biography in any language of Charles-Marie Widor. He is considered one of the greatestorganists of his time, a prolific composer in nearly every genre, professor of organ and composition at the Paris Conservatory, academician and administrator at the Institute of France, journalist, conductor, music editor, scholar, correspondent, inspired visionary, and man of deep culture. An appendix constitutes the most complete listing ever compiled of Widor's oeuvre. Each work is dated as accurately as possible and includes the publisher, platenumber, dedicatee, and relevant commentary. Another appendix lists Widor's complete published writings, other than the scores of press reviews he penned over several decades. Widor: A Life beyond the Toccata illuminates the life and work of one of France's most distinguished yet neglected musicians of the belle époque. JOHN R. NEAR is Professor Emeritus of Music, Principia College.Trade ReviewIlluminating… * THE SYDNEY ORGAN JOURNAL *This book provides everything needed for an overdue revaluation of the composer, recognising his wide range far beyond the organ loft. * MUSICAL OPINION *A book to treasure. -- John Henderson * CHURCH MUSIC QUARTERLY *Invaluable. . . . In Near's genial, well-paced narrative, a portrait of a highly erudite and humorous man emerges -- Widor's intimate recollections of such luminaries as Rossini, Anton Rubinstein and Liszt fizz with vitality. . . . A rich source of contemporary material and . . . a lively picture of Parisian musical life from the 1860s to 1937. . . . Beautifully produced and designed. -- Jeremy Nicholas * GRAMOPHONE *Excellent translation. . . . A fruitful resource for scholars and Francophiles alike. * CHOICE *Eminently readable [with] photographs not to be found in the published sources. . . . A treasure chest. . . . The final word on the life of a truly great man. . . . A standard of reference and essential reading for all devotees of the French Romantic school. -- Harold Fabrikant * ORGAN AUSTRALIA *John R. Near has honoured his subject by combining powerfully muscular English prose with research so staggeringly comprehensive as to be what fashionable circles would call 'a game-changer.' . . . New insights aplenty. . . . A pleasure to read and to own. -- R. J. Stove, Complete review reprinted at http://www.rjstove.net/articles/Widor-Organ_Salisbury.pdf * THE ORGAN *The definitive work about the composer of one of the two most famous organ pieces in the world [the Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5]. John Near struck pay dirt when he located a 103-page manuscript of an unpublished 'Souvenirs Autobiographiques' [that] allows Widor to speak for himself and allows his biographer many opportunities to elucidate those events. Absolutely indispensable! -- Rollin Smith * THE AMERICAN ORGANIST *John Near -- editor of the critical edition of Widor's ten organ symphonies -- is unquestionably the authority on the organist-composer. In this book he gives us an encyclopedic memoir, containing many new details about Widor's life and work. Without any doubt this biography will remain the definitive resource in the organ world and beyond. -- Daniel Roth, Organiste-titulaire du grand orgue de l'Église Saint-Sulpice, ParisThe documentation is wonderfully rich -- would that we had something comparable for earlier composers. . . . A major achievement. . . . A wealth of revealing information. -- Peter Williams * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *Detailed, richly documented account of Widor's long and fascinating life. . . Definitive. * MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION *Table of ContentsForeword by Kurt Lueders Preface Introduction: "Sunday Morning in a Paris Organ Loft," by T. Carl Whitmer Widor's Ancestry, Musical Education, and Heritage (1844-63) The First Creative Period (1864-79) The Years of Mastery (1880-94) The Twilight of Widor's Compositional Career (1895-1909) Mr. Widor, Member of the Institute of France (1910-37) Appendix One: Published Literary Works Appendix Two: List of Musical Works Appendix Three: A Cross-Section of Musicians during Widor's Life Appendix Four: Chronology

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Book SynopsisA deeply researched biography of the great French organist, who composed some of the best-loved works in the organ repertory -- and the masterful Requiem. Maurice Duruflé: The Man and His Music is a new biography of the great French organist and composer (1902-86), and the most comprehensive in any language. James E. Frazier traces Duruflé's musical training, his studies withTournemire and Vierne, and his career as an organist, church musician, composer, recitalist, Conservatoire professor, and orchestral musician. Frazier also examines the career and contributions of Duruflé's wife, the formidable organist Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier. Duruflé brought the church's unique language of plainsong into a compelling liaison with the secular harmonies of the modern French school (as typified by Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas)in works for his own instrument and in his widely loved masterpiece, the Requiem Op. 9 for soloists, chorus, organ, and orchestra. Drawing on the accounts of those who knew Duruflé personally as well as on Frazier's own detailed research, Maurice Duruflé offers a broad sketch of this modest and elusive man, widely recognized today for having created some of the greatest works in the organ repertory -- and the masterful Requiem. James E. Frazier holds advanced degrees in philosophy, organ, theology, and sacred music from St. Alphonsus College, Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary, Hartt School of Music, the Yale University Divinity School, and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He served Episcopal churches in Hartford, Connecticut, and St. Paul, Minnesota, as organist and director of music. For ten years he was director of music for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.Trade ReviewA mine of information . . . a veritable tale of our times. -- Andrew Thomson * MUSICAL TIMES *Provides significant insight into Duruflé's works and the relatively secretive life he and his wife led. . . . Frazier's research is excellent. . . . An important contribution. -- Brian Doherty * CHOICE *Frazier's exploration of arabesque in architecture and music and his treatment of musical luminosity are memorably insightful and reveal a thoughtful understanding of Duruflé's work. . . . An interesting and well-constructed view of Duruflé's world, and a highly informative text as well. -- Steven Plank * CHOIR & ORGAN *A work of unprecedented scope and depth, . . . [Frazier's book] is a biography abundantly rich in detail; though it declines the tone of a hagiography, it is obviously a labor of love. . . . Frazier skillfully illuminates the contexts in which Duruflé's life unfolded . . . [and] Frazier's survey of Duruflé's compositions is particularly strong. . . . A special pleasure of the book is the chapter on [Duruflé's future wife, and a world-renowned organist,] Marie-Madeleine Chevalier . . . Frazier's book will no doubt stand as a defining work in Duruflé scholarship and nurture scholars of 20th-century French organ music for years to come. -- Lawrence Archbold * AMERICAN ORGANIST *One of the best musical biographies I have read for many years: sound in musical and, for the most part, in historical judgment . . . , sympathetic without being sycophantic, and most gracefully written. Duruflé deserves no less. -- Roger Nichols * GRAMOPHONE *[Frazier] sees Duruflé as a compelling figure, given over to the same foibles and doubts we all have. Frazier's ability to obtain primary sources lends credence to his observations. This is a superb work, one to be valued by music historians and organists alike. -- Donald Metz * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, *This substantial study . . . although sympathetic . . . is not a work of hagiography. . . .[The author argues that] the somewhat short-lived revival of Gregorian chant in the French church . . . [during] Duruflé's composing life was a happy coincidence from which music was the main beneficiary [notably through the widely beloved Requiem]. . . . The very considerable value of this book lies in its personal evaluation of a man whose personality is likely to remain something of a mystery but whose music has already transcended his life. -- Bret Johnson * TEMPO *Table of ContentsDuruflé's Childhood and Early Education Life at the Cathedral Choir School Lessons with Charles Tournemire Lessons with Louis Vierne The Conservatoire Student Duruflé's Distinctions The Contested Successions at Notre-Dame and Sainte Clotilde Duruflé's Peforming Career The Orchestral Musician The Poulenc Organ Concerto Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatoire Marie-Madeleine Chevalier Overview of Duruflé's Compositions Duruflé's Compositions: Their Genesis and First Performance Duruflé's Role in the Plainsong Revival The Vichy Commissions The Requiem The Musical History of Saint Étienne-du-Mont The Organs at Saint Étienne-du-Mont Duruflé as Organist and Teacher Duruflé and Organ Design The Church in Transition The North American Tours The Man Duruflé

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Book SynopsisDespite appearing in twenty-eight movies in little over a decade, Carole Landis (1919-1948) never quite became the major Hollywood star her onscreen presence should have afforded her. Although she acted in such enduring films as A Scandal in Paris and Moon over Miami, she was most often relegated to supporting roles. Even when she played the major role in a feature, as she did in The Powers Girl and the film noir I Wake Up Screaming!, she was billed second or third behind other actors. This biography traces Landis's life, chronicling her beginnings as a dance hall entertainer in San Francisco, her career in Hollywood and abroad, her USO performances, and ultimately her suicide. Using interviews with actors who worked with Landis, contemporary movie magazines and journals, and correspondence, biographer Eric Gans reveals a tragic figure whose life was all too brief. Landis's big break came in 1940 with Hal Roach's One Million B.C. She appeared in thirteen Twentieth Century-Fox pictures between 1941 and 1946. In 1942-43, Landis entertained troops in England and North Africa in the only all-female USO tour. The trip led to her memoir, Four Jills in a Jeep, and a Fox movie of the same title. After her last American film in 1947, she completed two projects in England while having an affair with married actor Rex Harrison. Tormented by a love that could not lead to matrimony and depressed about growing older, she took a fatal drug overdose on July 5, 1948.

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Book SynopsisDominicus Lampsonius's The Life of Lambert Lombard (1565) is the earliest published biography of a Netherlandish artist. This neo-Latin account of the life of the painter, architect, and draftsman Lambert Lombard of Liege offers a theoretical exposition on the nature and ideal practice of Netherlandish art, emphasizing Lombard's intellectual curiosity, interest in antiquity, attentive study of the human body, and exemplary generosity as a teacher. This volume offers the first English edition of the The Life of Lambert Lombard, complemented by a new translation of the inscriptions Lampsonius composed to accompany the Effigies of Several Famous Painters from the Low Countries (1572), a cycle of twenty-three engraved portraits of Netherlandish artists developed in collaboration with the print publisher Hieronymus Cock. Together, The Life of Lambert Lombard and Effigies established frameworks for a distinctly Netherlandish history of art. Responding to a growing sense of Netherlandish cultural and political identity on the eve of the Dutch Revolt, these texts proposed a critical alternative to Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists and its Italian model of art historical development, celebrating local ingenuity and skill. They remain the starting point for any history of the northern Renaissance.Trade Review"With exemplary clarity and critical acumen, Edward Wouk, Helen E. B. Dalton, and Julene Abad Del Vecchio's superb translation of two crucial texts on art by Dominicus Lampsonius, humanist man of letters and painter, demonstrates how this important art theoretician promulgated an alternative historiography of art, and specifically, an alternative to Vasari's Vite, viewing northern workshop practice through the lens of Latin rhetorical and poetic sources, both ancient and modern. This edition of Lampsonius's The Life of Lambert Lombard and Effigies of Several Famous Painters from the Low Countries will prove as canonical as the source texts it now makes widely accessible."--Walter S. Melion, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History, Emory University;; "Readers of this superb volume, which provides an introduction to Dominicus Lampsonius and English translations of two of his theoretical texts, will benefit from Edward Wouk's remarkable erudition, clarity, and insights into European art. Presenting debates about the stakes that gave rise to Lampsonius's publications, Wouk weaves together encounters, collaborations, and connections drawn from letters, texts, stories, language, and the graphic arts. This nuanced retelling of artistic engagement with antiquity, local traditions, and practices on both sides of the Alps creates a dynamic picture of trans-European exchanges, processes of translation, and Netherlandish inventiveness."-- Bronwen Wilson, Professor of Renaissance and Early Modern Art, UCLA;; "Begun as a long-distance conversation with Vasari, whose Lives of the Artists established the modern historiography of art with Italy as its origin and center, Dominicus Lampsonius's writings offer a vital alternative: a decentering counter-history of artistic ideas, practices, techniques and developments flourishing north of the Alps. Edward Wouk's clear and copiously annotated translations of Lampsonius's elusive texts will greatly expand our understanding of the European tradition." -Joseph Leo Koerner, Harvard University ;; “In this book, Edward Wouk generously makes available in English translation two foundational works in the literature of Netherlandish art. Beyond this, he provides a meticulously documented and rigorously argued introduction that significantly advances the revolution in the understanding of elite art in the sixteenth-century Netherlands that has taken place since the publication of Walter Melion’s Picturing the Netherlandish Canon in 1991. The book really is essential reading for everyone seriously interested in this topic.” —Joanna Woodall, The Courtauld Institute of Art

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Book Synopsis"For over fifty years, Barbara T. Smith has been at the forefront of artistic movements in California. Her work across many mediums explores concepts that strike at the core of human nature, including sexuality, physical and spiritual sustenance, technology, and death. In this memoir, Smith weaves together descriptive accounts of her pioneering performances with an intimate narrative of her life. The Way to Be covers the years 1931 to 1981, up to the artist’s fiftieth birthday, resulting in an exhaustive catalogue of her early work. It reveals the personal stories and events behind her pieces and the challenges she faced in an art world dominated by sexism and machismo. Drawing on Smith’s archive at the Getty Research Institute, this enthralling book presents previously unpublished notes, documents, photographs, and firsthand accounts of her life and practice, as well as her more recent reflections on the past. The Way to Be demonstrates Smith’s lasting contributions to the field of contemporary art and provides an engaging commentary on a recent period of great cultural and political change. "

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Book SynopsisJoe Davis, the focus of The Melody Man enjoyed a 50-year career in the music industry, which covered nearly every aspect of the business. He hustled sheet music in the 1920s, copyrighted compositions by artists as diverse as Fats Waller, Carson Robison, Otis Blackwell, and Rudy Vallee, oversaw hundreds of recording session, and operated several record companies beginning in the 1940s. Davis also worked fearlessly to help insure that black recording artists and song writers gained equal treatment for their work. Much more than a biography, this book is an investigation of the role played by music publishers during much of the twentieth century. Joe Davis was not a music ""great"" but he was one of those individuals who enabled ""greats"" to emerge. A musician, manager, and publisher, his long career reveals much about the nature of the music industry and offers insight into how the industry changed from the 1920s to the 1970s. By the summer of 1924, when Davis was handling the ""Race talent"" for Ajax records, he had already worked in the music business for most of a decade and there was more than five decades of musical career ahead of him. The fact that his fascinating life has gone so long under-appreciated is remedied by the publication of Never Sell A Copyright. Originally published in England, in 1990, Never Sell a Copyright: Joe Davis and His Role in the New York Music Scene, 1916-1978 was never released in the United States and available in a very limited print run in England. The author, noted blues scholar and folklorist Bruce Bastin, has worked with fellow music scholar Kip Lornell to completely update, condense, and improve the book for this first-ever American edition.

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Book SynopsisGloria Swanson: Ready for Her Close-Up shows how a talented, self-confident actress negotiated a creative path through seven decades of celebrity. It also illuminates a little-known chapter in American media history: how the powerful women of early Hollywood transformed their remarkable careers after their stars dimmed. This book brings Swanson (1899-1983) back into the spotlight, revealing her as a complex, creative, entrepreneurial, and thoroughly modern woman.Swanson cavorted in slapstick short films with Charlie Chaplin and Mack Sennett in the 1910s. The popularity of her films with Cecil B. DeMille helped create the star system. A glamour icon, Swanson became the most talked-about star in Hollywood, earning three Academy Award nominations, receiving 10,000 fan letters every week, and living up to a reputation as Queen of Hollywood. She bought mansions and penthouses, dressed in fur and feathers, and flitted through Paris, London, and New York engaging in passionate love affairs that made headlines and caused scandals.Frustrated with the studio system, Swanson turned down a million-dollar-a-year contract. After a wild ride making unforgettable movies with some of Hollywood's most colorful characters--including her lover Joseph Kennedy and maverick director Erich von Stroheim--she was a million dollars in debt. Without hesitation she went looking for her next challenge, beginning her long second act.Swanson became a talented businesswoman who patented inventions and won fashion awards for her clothing designs; a natural foods activist decades before it was fashionable; an exhibited sculptor; and a designer employed by the United Nations. All the while she continued to act in films, theater, and television at home and abroad. Though she had one of Hollywood's most famous exit lines--""All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up""--the real Gloria Swanson never looked back.

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Book SynopsisWhen Elvis Presley first showed up at Sam Phillips's Memphis-based Sun Records studio, he was a shy teenager in search of a sound. Phillips invited a local guitarist named Scotty Moore to stand in. Scotty listened carefully to the young singer and immediately realized that Elvis had something special. Along with bass player Bill Black, the trio recorded an old blues number called ""That's All Right, Mama."" It turned out to be Elvis's first single and the defining record of his early style, with a trilling guitar hook that swirled country and blues together and minted a sound with unforgettable appeal. Its success launched a whirlwind of touring, radio appearances, and Elvis's first break into movies. Scotty was there every step of the way as both guitarist and manager, until Elvis's new manager, Colonel Tom Parker, pushed him out. Scotty and Elvis would not perform together again until the classic 1968 ""comeback"" television special. Scotty never saw Elvis after that.With both Bill Black and Elvis gone, Scotty Moore is the only one left to tell the story of how Elvis and Scotty transformed popular music and how Scotty created the sound that became a prototype for so many rock guitarists to follow. Thoroughly updated, this edition delivers guitarist Scotty Moore's story as never before

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Book SynopsisAnthony Minghella: Interviews is an illuminating anthology of in-depth conversations with this important contemporary film director and producer. The collection explores Minghella's ideas on every aspect of the cinematic creative process including screenwriting, acting, editing, the use of music in film, and other topics concerning the role of the film director. Minghella (1954-2008) was a highly regarded British playwright (Made in Bangkok), and television writer (Inspector Morse) before turning to film directing with his quirky, highly regarded first film, Truly, Madly, Deeply, in 1990. He went on to direct an extraordinary trilogy of large-scale films, all adapted from significant works of contemporary literature. Minghella's 1996 adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's poetic novel The English Patient was the director's most critically and commercially successful film and went on to win dozens of awards around the world, including nine academy awards. Minghella followed this film with his entertaining, elegant adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, a film that enjoyed great critical and commercial success and featured some of the best acting of the 1990s by its talented cast of young, rising stars, Jude Law, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Minghella's ambitious adaptation of Charles Frazier's American Civil War romance, Cold Mountain, was released in 2003, and firmly marked Minghella as a director of intimate, yet large-scale epic cinema worthy of David Lean. Although Minghella was a successful film director and producer, he was also an important part of the cultural life of the U.K. He was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2001 for his contributions to culture, and he was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the British Film institute from 2004 to 2007.

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Book SynopsisIn the 1960s and 1970s, Randy Wood was a forerunner in the vintage instrument industry. Known as the instrument repairman to the stars, the list of Wood’s clients reads like a Hall of Fame roster: Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Billy Gibbons, Bill Monroe, Keith Richards, Roy Acuff, Ricky Skaggs, and Hank Williams Jr. . . . to name a few. In Randy Wood: The Lore of the Luthier, Daniel Wile traces the life and work of a man who quietly influenced a hidden history of bluegrass and country music.In his twenties, Wood vowed to avoid complacency in his work. What started simply as a quest to find fulfillment turned into a career that has shaped a generation of musicians, professional and amateur alike. Through his incredible gift for lutherie, Wood brought cherished pre-WWII instruments back to life, many of which were considered beyond repair. He crafted his own instruments as well, based on what he learned from vintage instruments, and these instruments found their way into the hands of some of the most renowned musicians, thanks in part to Wood’s strategic location in Nashville during the resurgence of country music in the 1970s. Humble, unassuming, and unfazed by the presence of celebrities, Wood has spent his life devoted to building and repairing stringed instruments.Wood also built community. After tiring of big-city Nashville, he retreated to the Georgia coast, where his home shop became a hub of bluegrass activity. He eventually opened a new shop near Savannah, where a new generation of friends and strangers can come in, visit, and pick a little. Randy’s stories, complemented with those of his friends and family, create a compelling picture of a modest man with a talent for his craft, a genuine care for people, and the courage to follow his passion.

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Book SynopsisAfter he died in the back seat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams—a frail, flawed man who had become country music’s first real star–instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Having hit the heights with simple songs of despair, depression and tainted love, he would become in death a template for the rock generation to follow. Mark Ribowsky weaves together the first fully realised biography of Williams in a generation. Examining his music while re-creating days and nights choked in booze and desperation, he traces the rise of this legend—from the dirt roads of Alabama to the immortal stage of the Grand Ole Opry and to a lonely end on New Year’s Day, 1953. This original work uncovers the real Hank beneath the myths that have long enshrouded his legacy.Trade Review"... Mark Ribowsky... has done a commendably thorough job." -- The Times"...Hank is a timely biography…" -- The New York Times Book Review"Many biographies have been written about him but none gives such detail of his drinking, sexual abandon and many misadventures as this." -- The Irish Times

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