Composers and songwriters Books

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Book SynopsisThe BBC Proms Guide is the official companion to the world's greatest classical music festival.

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Book SynopsisThis is about The Small Faces as a live act. The band’s trajectory; the good gigs and the not-so-good; the perception of the band through the critical eyes of fellow musicians, managers and fans. The story from their first to last live gigs.Table of Contents1. The Starlight Club 2. The First gigs ‘Up North’ 3. Mod v Scream 4. Jimmy Winston’s Last Gigs 5. Ian McLagan and the Real ‘Lisztomania’ 6. The Pressure Grows 7. Small Faces meet The Beatles 8. Flying Ashtrays in Boston 9. Big Things in Small Packages 10. An Inspiration 11. Who Pulled the Plug? 12. Thank you and Goodnight 13. Festival of The Flower Children 14. Australia 15. Soaking Up the Sound 16. Slaves Take a Rest 17. Pent-up Energy and Aggression 18. In the Lock-up 19. Marshalls Left Behind 20. A New Type of Venue 21. Derek Wadsworth and friends 22. Tumbling Walls 23. Happy Birthday, Kenney! 24. The Magic Bus Tour 25. First Rehearsals 26. The Roundhouse 27. “They’re Just Not Listening!” 28. A Leap into the Dark 29. Small Faces on Ice 30. Drum Duets 31. Frightening the Teenyboppers 32. A Free Gig? 33. A George Michael Connection 34. The Bubbles Club and Peter Frampton 35. When the Bell Tolls - Alexandra Palace 36. Far from the Madding Crowd 37. In the Abyss Part Two Biographies and recollections of musicians from The Small Faces brass section 38. Lyn Dobson 39. Derek Wadsworth 40. Eddie Thornton 41. Harry Beckett 42. Brian Smith 43. Johnny Marshall 44. Don Fay 45. Peter Coe

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Book SynopsisBrand new and revised edition of the best selling guide to Bob Dylan. Includes bigraphy, full discography (inc Rough & Rowdy Ways)

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Book SynopsisThe True Performing Of It places the two writers side by side and examines the resultant analogies in their work that spring from this positioning. After a teasing prologue, the book begins by reflecting on the significance of Dylan's remarks on Shakespeare when accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature, before examining their shared Bardic qualities, and their position of being feted for their undoubted literary qualities despite both being primarily artists of live performances of drama and music. The movement from 'low' to 'high' art is traced and its implications explored in depth and detail, as is the fierce opposition that the parallel theatrical and musical transitions from communal folk art to professional entertainment engendered. The parallels in their approaches to performing art, use of language and source material form core chapters of the book. The last section of the book is an in-depth focus on The Tempest and Tempest as specific examples of the theories and generalitie

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Book SynopsisFollowing in the spirit and style of Scored to Death (2016), his popular first book of interviews with horror music greats, J. Blake Ficheras Scored to Death 2 collects 16 brand-new, info-packed, terrifyingly entertaining interviews with renowned composers who have provided the music for some of horrors most revered films, film franchises, and TV shows, including Get Out, Us, Martin, Re-Animator, The Walking Dead, Puppet Master, Saw, Creepshow, Day of the Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, Dark Shadows, Burnt Offerings, The Terminator, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Ring, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Audition, Ghoulies, Happy Death Day, It Follows, Gretel & Hansel, and many more! Interviewed are composer-director-producer John Harrison and eminent scary-good composers Michael Abels, Richard Band, Charlie Clouser, Brad Fiedel, Joe LoDuca, Donald Rubinstein, John Massari, Bear McCreary, Craig Safan, Kenji Kawai, Holly Amber Church, Koji Endo, Robert Cobert, Rob, and Disasterpeace, all bookended by a Foreword by writer-director Eli Roth and an Afterword by composer Christopher Young.

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Book SynopsisText in Danish with an introduction in German. The Lumbye-catalogue is a catalogue of printed ballet and dance compositions by the Danish composer H C Lumbye. It provides us with a chronological survey of his printed works including a detailed index. The works were performed by Tivoli's orchestra which he conducted from its establishment in 1843. Co-published by The Royal Library in Copenhagen and Museum Tusculanum Press.

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Book SynopsisIn 2012 the Rolling Stones celebrate their 50th anniversary. Their story – the band's meteoric rise to fame, the Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones and Altamont scandals, the groundbreaking hits – is the stuff of twentieth century legend, and core to popular culture.Trade Review'The Stones are lucky to have found a biographer of Philip Norman's class'Pete Townshend 'An elegiac book, a record of evanescence as much as of durability, and it reminds us of an epoch that threw up lions with no more energy than it threw out losers'The Times ‘Wonderfully unravels the social history of that extraordinary time, and does not pull any punches’Daily Telegraph ‘Details their amazing career and lifestyle…After reading this account one cannot help but marvel that they have survived’Daily Express ‘Read it as a cautionary tale of success becoming excess…read it through a haze of nostalgia that will send you back to the early indifferently produced LPs – and the singles whose power derives from the simplest riffs and the most indelible memories of the Sixties. But read it’John Walsh in Books and Bookmen

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Book SynopsisThrust into the fast-paced, hard-rocking spotlight, Fieldy became a rock star, and he acted like one, notorious not only for his one-of-a-kind bass lines, but also for his hard-partying, womanising, bad-boy ways. With photos and stories, this title tells the story of rock and redemption.

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Book SynopsisHeart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. In this book, they recount a journey that has taken them from a gypsy-like life to the frozen back roads of Vancouver, where they got their start as a band, to the pinnacle of success - and sometimes excess.Trade Review"Righteously entertaining...[it] shows just what it's like to be a woman who rocks, then and now." -- New York Daily News "Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson-better known as the faces and voices of Heart-look back on the personal and professional struggles and triumphs that define their legacy as one of rock's pioneering female-fronted, creatively autonomous acts." -- USA Today "Thorough and entertaining...[Kicking and Dreaming is] satisfying for its breadth and spirit...the Wilsons write movingly and with a sense of humor." -- Miami Herald "An interesting duet that details precisely how women truly rock." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited memoir from the legendary guitarist and cofounder of the seminal British band The Smiths.An artist who helped define a period in popular culture, Johnny Marr tells his story in a memoir as vivid and arresting as his music. The Smiths, the band with the signature sound he cofounded, remains one of the most beloved bands ever, and have a profound influence on a number of acts that followed—from the Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, and Radiohead to Oasis, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys.Marr recalls his childhood growing up in the northern working-class city of Manchester, in a house filled with music. He takes us back to the summer of 1982 when, at eighteen, he sought out one Stephen Morrissey to form a new band they called The Smiths. Marr invites fans on stage, on the road, and in the studio for the five years The Smiths were together and how after a rapid ascent, the working-class teenage rock star enjoyed and battled with the perks of success until

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Trade Review"Hilarious and Heartbreaking. Comedy shouldn't take courage, but it made an exception for Bassem." -- Jon Stewart "A smart, refreshing and hilariously funny account." -- Salon.com "An entertaining and eminently readable book about a Middle Eastern country written for Americans. If you have been bluffing your way through political conversations pretending to know the differences between Islamists and secular Muslims, Youssef's book is an easy, painless way to rectify that error." -- The Ringer If you want to understand the Arab Spring-even though it was really the African Spring, set off by a 'small puny motherfucking country called Tunisia'-then this odd book is just the guide. -- Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Reading Sweat the Technique is like listening to a classic Rakim track with the same codification, spirituality, and simple-complexity that will make the reader press rewind and start at page one several times over.” — East Bay Express "Rakim and music journalist Bakari Kitwana offer a road map guiding readers to the source of his inspiration and the reason behind his career longevity: his unmatched skills on the mic. . . Their work reflects hip-hop's role as an innovative conduit of Black experiences." — Literary Hub “Sweat the Technique is the hip-hop version of Stephen King’s On Writing.” — Medium “Reflections on a life of artistic commitment during hop-hop’s golden age. . . insightful.” — Kirkus Reviews “[Sweat the Technique] joins the best of rap history and criticism and has the potential to inspire a new age of rap lyricism.” — Booklist

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Book SynopsisOver the last century tonality has adapted and persisted in remarkable ways. In Pieces of Tradition, Daniel Harrison explores the modern endurance of tonal music, examining works by masters such as Shostakovich and Hindemith alongside music by Leonard Bernstein and Brian Wilson.Table of Contents1. Inheritance 2. Overtonality 3. Geography 4. Harmony 5. Styles Acknowledgments Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Charles Munch, D. Kern Holoman provides the first full biography of this giant of twentieth-century music, tracing his dramatic survival in occupied Paris, his triumphant arrival at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and his later years, when he was a leading cultural figure in the United States, a man known and admired by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy.Trade ReviewA fascinating read. Holoman's passion for and knowledge of his subject is quite compelling. In contemporary discussions of the great conductors of that era, Munch tends to be relatively overlooked. Holoman makes a persuasive historical case for Munch's importance, both to musical life in France and to the evolution of the Boston Symphony. Along the way, he also provides a detailed look at what life was like for conductors (and orchestras) in the middle part of the twentieth century. * Aaron Sherber, Music Director and Conductor, Martha Graham Dance Company *A joy to read: well-conceived, well-executed, well-written. Holoman's combination of musical and literary skill brings twentieth-century culture to life throughout, on both sides of the Atlantic. 'Ah, qu'il était beau!' and he still is, in Holoman's vivid biography. * Thomas Kelly, Harvard University *Charles Munch * the musical icon. When you played a concert with Charles Munch or attended one of his performances as a listener, it was not just a concert. It was an event. He never used the same palette twice. As a player, you had to give 110% of yourself, or be left out of the music. This book is an excellent portrayal of this musical phenomenon!Vic Firth *The qualities that marked D. Kern Holoman's biography of Berlioz and his epic The Société des Concerts du Conservatoire * the grand sweep combined with the minute attention to detail, the narrative flair, the breadth of human sympathy, the evocation of the musician's existence, which, as himself a conductor and organiser of concerts, he understands so wellshine out in this new book. Charles Munch's life, spanning three continents and two world wars, raises fascinating issuespersonal, social, political, as well as musical. Reading it, we learn both about the teeming, intricate world of mid-twentieth-century music and about the struggles and achievements of one of its best-loved and most committed practitioners. Holoman has a remarkable story to tell and he tells it superbly.David Cairns *Among its other virtues, D. Kern Holoman's warmly sympathetic new biography sheds necessary light on an already forgotten chapter from the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Few readers of this book will be prepared to discover what was expected of a Boston Symphony music director as of 1949, when Charles Munch took over from Serge Koussevitzky * Munch was to stay put in Boston; guest conductors were a rarity. And there was new music on virtually every subscription concert. A lot has changed since then.Joseph Horowitz, author of Classical Music in America: A History *A book such as this has been needed for quite a while...Very strongly recommended: it is a masterly study. * Musical Opinion *Beautifully written and arranged in every respect...Accessible to a wide audience...Recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1 Strasbourg, Paris, Leipzig : September 1891 - October 1932 ; 2 Paris : November 1932 - May 1938 ; 3 The Societe des Concerts : June 1938 - May 1945 ; 4 Leaving France : June 1945 - September 1949 ; 5 Winning Boston : October 1949 - June 1951 ; 6 Boston after Koussevitzky : July 1951 - July 1956 ; 7 The Iron Curtain and Beyond : August 1956 - August 1958 ; 8 Shifting Perspectives in Boston : September 1958 - April 1962 ; 9 Paris, Again : May 1962 - August 1966 ; 10 The Orchestre de Paris : September 1966 - November 1968 ; 11 An Eternal Smile ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Trade Review"Not simply an illuminating and informative book but a lively and fascinating one....The clearest, most vivid, and most credible picture known to this reviewer of this most 'universal' of musical geniuses."--Roger Sessions, The New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisThis volume includes over a hundred interviews, critical essays, reviews and memoirs, as well as Ellington's own writings, to provide an historical anthology about this leading American jazz musician. It provides insights into Ellington's work and reveals the profound impact his music has made.Trade Review`gripping, constantly fascinating miscellany of writings about and by Ellington...Tucker's book is full of classic descriptions of him at work, in a swaying train compartment or on a bus, with a manuscript pad on his knee and his hat tilted back on his head.' Humphrey Carpenter, Sunday Times`meticulous collation of critical responses' Times Literary Supplement'It would have been possible to put together a perfectly decent anthology of pieces from easily available sources, but Mark Tucker has done much better than that' Observer'A valuable book has just been published: The Duke Ellington Reader.' Alun Morgan, Kent Today/Kent Messenger'comprehensive collection of writings on the composer' Andy Hamilton, The Wire'Mark Tucker's splendid volume ... offers a rich harvest of information and insight without attempting a final appraisal - which is just how Duke would have wanted it.' Geoffrey Smith, Country Life, April 1994'All his admirers will want to own The Duke Ellington Reader, admirably selected and edited by a professor of music at Columbia University.' The London Review of Books. Nov '94a carefully selected anthology of well-known and fugitive pieces, offers multiple perspectives on an elusive reader, sardonic and mocking genius who transcended the constraints of white racism and paternalism...deserves serious attention. Mark Tucker, an authority on Ellington's early life, provides succinct introductions to this and another hundred 'Selections' in a compilation which is both a joy to read and an indispensible addition to American Studies, Ellingtonia and jazz criticism. * American Studies vol 29 part 1 *this mighty tome on a giant of jazz will please new and old aficionados ... "any book that brings together a selection of articles and reviews from these magazines, and some lesser known ones, is to be welcomed, and THE DUKE ELLINGTON READER is a must for fans of his music." * Colin Cooper, Beat Scene, No. 23 *

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Book SynopsisGeorge Schuyler, a renowned and controversial black journalist of the Harlem Renaissance, and Josephine Cogdell, a blond, blue-eyed Texas heiress and granddaughter of slave owners, believed that intermarriage would invigorate the races, thereby producing extraordinary offspring. Their daughter, Philippa Duke Schuyler, became the embodiment of this theory, and they hoped she would prove that interracial children represented the final solution to America''s race problems. Able to read and write at the age of two and a half, a pianist at four, and a composer by five, Philippa was often compared to Mozart. During the 1930s and 40s she graced the pages of Time and Look magazines, the New York Herald Tribune, and The New Yorker. Philippa grew up under the adoring and inquisitive eyes of an entire nation and soon became the role model and inspiration for a generation of African-American children. But as an adult she mysteriously dropped out of sight, leaving America to wonder what had happeneTrade ReviewThis enthralling, heartbreaking book restores to attention Philippa Schuyler, child prodigy of the 1930s, pianist, composer, Harlem's Mozart, "the Shirley Templey of American Negroes" ... This tragic tale is a stimulating addition to the record of race relations in America, as well as a monument to an extraordinary woman.' The New York Times Book Reviewan incisive and readable biography of an intriguing figure * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisDesigned for general readers and scholars, this study explores the Lutheran commentary in Bach's St. John Passion and suggests that fostering hostility to Jews is not its subject or purpose. Also included are a literal, annotated translation of the libretto and an appendix discussing anti-Judaism and Bach's other works.Trade ReviewThe most important and lasting item to have emerged from this Passion season ... may turn out to be a little book of great complexity by Michael Marissen. ... [It] provides a model of how to deal with a piece of music grown controversial: not through avoidance, not through bowdlerization, but by supplying the richest and most provocative context in which to understand and interpret the work. * James R. Oestreich, The New York Times *The value of having the libretto, German and English, printed after the essay part of the book, quite apart from the supplementary and supporting material, is considerable * Jewish Culture and History *Particularly deserving of praise is the fine translation of the Passion text from German * Religious Studies Review *

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Book Synopsis'Something to Live For' investigates and analyses the entire oeuvre of Billy Strayhorn, who, for over 30 years, was the musical collaborator of Duke Ellington. Nearly 70 music examples, drawn directly from his original autograph scores, provide insight into the development of Strayhorn's own musical language and style.Trade Review"An epochal work--groundbreaking, fearless, sensitive, and exquisitely modulated, much like the music it illuminates. Something to Live For is the best possible book about Billy Strayhorn's art and a highwater mark of music scholarship."--David Hajdu, author of Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn "The celebration of Billy Strayhorn's life and legacy continues with Walter van de Leur's magnificent new book. Something to Live For immediately takes its place as an absolutely indispensable addition to the history of the Ellington orchestra and American music in general."--Ellingtonia "Richly provocative.... There is a real intellectual hunger in this exploration to identify the unique glory and lasting contribution Strayhorn made to the art of jazz.... Jazz musician and historian Van de Leur subjects Billy Strayhorn's musical arrangements to deep scrutiny and credibly finds them original, undervalued, frequently misattributed, and tasting of the sublime."--Kirkus Review "In this exemplary work, combining meticulous, dedicated research and brilliant analytic illumination, Van de Leur has brought Strayhorn, the musician, and his legacy into full and unobstructed view at last, thus deepening our understanding of Ellingtonia. Indispensable!"--Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University "For lovers of Ellingtonia, jazz, and twentieth-century music, Walter van de Leur's new book is indeed Something to Live For. The first in-depth study of the music of composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn, this volume is meticulously researched, clearly written, and enriched with excerpts from Strayhorn's autograph scores. For the first time, we can learn the details of Strayhorn's monumental 28-year contribution to the Duke Ellington Orchestra and music he wrote for other contexts. Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn sets a new standard of excellence for jazz musicology."--Bill Kirchner, Composer-arranger, saxophonist, jazz historian, producer, educator, and editor of The Oxford Companion to Jazz "Richly provocative.... There is a real intellectual hunger in this exploration to identify the unique glory and lasting contribution Strayhorn made to the art of jazz.... Jazz musician and historian Van de Leur subjects Billy Strayhorn's musical arrangements to deep scrutiny and credibly finds them original, undervalued, frequently misattributed, and tasting of the sublime."--Kirkus Review "The celebration of Billy Strayhorn's life and legacy continues with Walter van de Leur's magnificent new book. Something to Live For immediately takes its place as an absolutely indispensable addition to the history of the Ellington orchestra and American music in general."--Ellingtonia "This scholarly evaluation of Strayhorn's compositions still manages to pay homage to the visionary force behind some of the 20th century's greatest music."--Publishers Weekly "An epochal work--groundbreaking, fearless, sensitive, and exquisitely modulated, much like the music it illuminates. Something to Live For is the best possible book about Billy Strayhorn's art and a highwater mark of music scholarship."--David Hajdu, author of Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn "Van de Leur posits that Strayhorn was not merely Ellington's alter ego but a distinctly different composer who had a direct influence on Ellington's music...this evaluation of Strayhorn's compositions manages to pay homage to the visionary force behind some of the 20th century's greatest music."--Publishers Weekly "In this exemplary work, combining meticulous, dedicated research and brilliant analytic illumination, Van de Leur has brought Strayhorn, the musician, and his legacy into full and unobstructed view at last, thus deepening our understanding of Ellingtonia. Indispensable!"--Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University "For lovers of Ellingtonia, jazz, and twentieth-century music, Walter van de Leur's new book is indeed Something to Live For. The first in-depth study of the music of composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn, this volume is meticulously researched, clearly written, and enriched with excerpts from Strayhorn's autograph scores. For the first time, we can learn the details of Strayhorn's monumental 28-year contribution to the Duke Ellington Orchestra and music he wrote for other contexts. Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn sets a new standard of excellence for jazz musicology."--Bill Kirchner, Composer-arranger, saxophonist, jazz historian, producer, educator, and editor of The Oxford Companion to JazzTable of Contents1. Fantastic Rhythm: The Pittsburgh Years ; 2. The Renaissance of Arranging: First Works for and with Duke Ellington ; 3. The Strayhorn Effect: A New Way of Writing for Jazz Orchestra ; 4. Thinking with the Ear: Strayhorn's Musical Fingerprints ; 5. Writing and Arranging Companions: Credited and Uncredited Collaborations ; 6. "He is He and I am Me": The Ellington-Strayhorn Collaboration ; 7. Wounded Love: Away from the Ellington Organization ; 8. Masterpieces by STrayhorn: Writing for Albums ; 9. The Whodunnit Game: The Mature Style of Billy Strayhorn ; 10. North by Southwest: The Final Years ; 11. Conclusion ; Appendix A: Score of Scores: Manuscripts at the Duke Ellinton and Billy Strayhorn Collections ; Appendix B: Billy Strayhorn's Works on Record ; Appendix C: Billy Strayhorn's Works on Record (posthumously premiered) ; Appendix D: The Compositions of Billy Strayhorn

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Book SynopsisUsing sketches and other documentary evidence, this study is an investigation of composition in Renaissance music. It sets out the indispensable background to an inquiry and into the fundamental processes of Renaissance composition.Trade Reviewthe most comprehensive and enlightening study of Renaissance musical compostion yet written ... This excellent book is important not only for its general theory but for its illumination of the everyday * Anthony Pryer, TLS 29/10/99 *

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Book SynopsisUnder a totalitarian regime, can art and artists be innocent? This questions and its implications are explored in Michael Kater's broad survey of musicians, and the music they composed and performed during the Third Reich.Trade ReviewThe merit of the book lies in its detailed factual picture of the background for music and musicians in those troubled times. * Ralph F. Wells, Richard Strauss Society *A very readable and intriguing book for those interested in the impact of Nazism on cultural life in Germany. * Ralph F. Wells, Richard Strauss Society *Mr. Kater...has extracted masses of information from far-flung sources, including public and private archives in Germany and elsewhere, and has drawn level-headed, intelligent conclusions from his research....The broadest and clearest study of classical music in Hitler's Germany that has appeared to date....Mr. Kater's treatment of the complicated--and hotly debated--case of the conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler is thorough and convincing....A great deal more is packed into [this book], including fresh looks at the Wagner family's complicity with the Nazis and the cases of Paul Hindemith...and Herbert von Karajan....Anyone interested in the depressing but fascinating subject of art and politics will find this book exceptionally worthwhile. * The Wall Street Journal *Kater...has done prodigious primary research, much of it in hitherto unexamined files, to emerge with a mountain of fresh material....Anyone seriously interested in the interface of art and a peculiarly threatening political culture will find [this book] endlessly fascinating. * Publishers Weekly *[Gives] more analytical attention to the entire [Nazi] era's secrets. Kater...has combed newspaper archives, studied economic statistics, interviewed surviving composers and meticulously correlated information from denazification proceedings. His account...is the most throrough and nuanced now available of Nazi musical alliances, allegiances and ambiguities....Brings us to a more complicated understanding without tolerating latent defenses of old friends or 'Vissi d'Arte' alibis. * New York Times Book Review *Fills a conspicuous lacuna in 20th-century musicology. Kater...presents a detailed, disturbing, but always compelling account....There is a great deal here to engage scholars and professional musicians as well as general readers interested in the study of music and ideology. Highly recommended for all libraries. * Library Journal *The best source of information about conductors and other musicians in the Third Reich is now Mr. Kater's book, dense with facts, many of them newly unearthed. * New York Times *[An] impressive new book...far and away the finest and canniest treatment of the Nazi musical nightmare to date, presents an excellent case study of two conductors who were judged not ideologically but aesthetically. * The New Yorker *This absorbing study provides a painful reminder of the degree to which musicians were prepared to compromise their artistic integrity in order to appease the political hierarchy during the Third Reich. * Music Magazine *This work, with its emphasis on the social and political nature of music and the political attitude of musicians during the Nazi regime, is the first of its kind. It will be of interest to scholars and general readers eager to understand Nazi Germany, to music lovers and to anyone interested in the interchange of music and politics, and culture and ideology. * Avid-Magazine *...a well informed study of the state of serious or classical music....Kater is extemely knowledgable about the varieties of political allegiances deployed by the musical fraternity....[His] almost-encyclopedic study of these musicians' activities in the Third Reich reveals a great deal more than was hitherto documented about the least desirable sides of these men's characters. * Vancouver Sun *The most authoritative account to date of music and musicians in the Third Reich. * American Historical Review *This book bears many of the hallmarks of Kater's earlier work on jazz: resourceful research, copious documentation, straightforward writing, and a good working knowledge of music. Perhaps of even greater importance is that this book, like the one on jazz, succeeds brilliantly in conveying a sense of the ambiguities and contradictions of musical life in Nazi Germany...never before has the readiness of large numbers of German musicians, both major and minor, to acquiesce or cooperate actively in the purge of their colleagues, been as thoroughly and persuasively documented...offers fascinating portraits of several of the century's most important musical figures, such as Bruno Walter, Arnold Schonberg, Otto Kelmperer, and Kurt Weill. Kater has performed a valuable service by bringing their stories together in one place, integrating them into a study whose main focus is on what took place inside Germany's borders. * Central European History *In assembling this material, Kater has surely written the definitive study of the musician in the Third Reich (carefully documented with sixty-nine pages of detailed notes). It will prove indispensable for students of the culture of the period. * German History *Table of Contents1: National Socialism, The Third Reich, and the Music Scene 2: Musical Professionalism and Political Compromise 3: Persecuted and Exiled Jewish and Anti-Nazi Musicians 4: Music in the Institutions 5: Dissonance and Deviance

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Book SynopsisThis is an authoritative English-language biography of Dmitriy Shostakovich (1906-75), the internationally acclaimed composer who was the foremost musical "voice" of Soviet Russia. It includes never-before-published details on the composer's life, works, and times. A detailed worklist, a glossary of names, an extensive bibliography, and pictures are also supplied.Trade ReviewLaurel E. Fay's painstakingly researched Shostakovich: A Life has given us the long-awaited authoritative biography, taking full advantage of the post-Soviet Opening-up of archives to provide the best assemblage of factual information on Shostakovich's life and work in any language."--David Fanning, Music and Letters Laurel E. Fay's painstakingly researched Shostakovich: A Life has given us the long-awaited authoritative biography, taking full advantage of the post-Soviet Opening-up of archives to provide the best assemblage of factual information on Shostakovich's life and work in any language."--David Fanning, Music and Letters "Rather than continue a debate in which "the true-believing Communist citizen-composer is inverted into an equally unconvincing caricature of a lifelong closet dissident," Fay sets out to describe the composer based on the existing factual record of is life. It is a remarkably straightforward, non-sensationalized treatment of the composer's life and work. As such, it is a sorely needed contribution to a field that has been overheated with controversy. One may now approach his oeuvre and see it for what it is: an embittered, poignant and ultimately compelling musical diary of our time."-The Nation "The rest of us can nevertheless be grateful for [Fay's] humble and herculean efforts, thanks to which Shostakovich can no longer be discussed in terms of black or white; her work has begun to make it possible to focus on the lasting inner life of the music and to think of the music's creator in fuller human terms."--The Boston Sunday Globe "The combined effects of scholarly incompetence, deliberate obfuscation, and the imposition of political agendas have made it nearly impossible to get a clear picture of the life of Shostokovich, one of the most fascinating figures in the cultural life of the twentieth century. Laurel Fay, the most patient of scholars, has done an amazing job of getting the material sorted out so as to be able to tell the compelling story of this troubled life. She is calm, bound by no political parti pris, and when even she has been defeated in her research she is not afraid to say 'I don't know'. Long awaited, this is an immensely important book and hugely welcome."--Michael Steinberg, author of The Symphony: A Listener's Guide and The Concerto: A Listener's Guide (OUP). "Fay's Shostokovich is not only the best biography in English or in any other West European language, it offers readers a factual accuracy and balanced perspective unmatched in post-Soviet era publications by Shostakovich specialists in the composer's homeland. Undaunted by the lurid debates surrounding Shostakovich's purported lifelong dissidence and the covert meaning of his music, Fay has produced exactly what we need at this stage in Shostokovich scholarship; a reliable and basic life and works--clear-eyed, straightforward, copiously researched, sympathetic, objective, and uncluttered by Cold-War and post-Cold-War myths."--Malcolm Hamrick Brown, Professor Emeritus of Music, Indiana University, and Founding Editor, Russian Music Studies

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Book SynopsisAmy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944), the most widely performed composer of her generation, was the first American woman to succeed as a creator of large-scale art music. Her Gaelic Symphony, given its premiere by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first work of its kind by an American woman to be performed by an American orchestra. Almost all of her more than 300 works were published soon after they were composed and performed, and today her music is finding new advocates and audiences for its energy, intensity, and sheer beauty. Yet, until now, no full-length critical biography of Beach''s life or comprehensive critical overview of her music existed. This biography admirably fills that gap, fully examining the connections between Beach''s life and work in light of social currents and dominant ideologies. Born into a musical family in Victorian times, Amy Beach started composing as a child of four and was equally gifted as a pianist. Her talent was recognized early by BostoTrade ReviewAward-winning study... her music... is enjoying a revival of interest that is richly deserved and long overdue. Block's book is a thorough, academic study of Beach's life and work. She handles the musical elements with both sharp analytic skills and considerable sensitivity. It is a satisfying and illuminating read and hopefully will encourage more musicians to delve into the music itself - which, by the way, is strong, beautiful and filled with Beach's individual musical voice. * Jessica Duchen, Classical Music 17/06/2000. *Block's patient reconstruction of the complex mediations that shaped Beach's career is a refreshing change from the one dimensional revisionism of some recent biographies ... painstaking reconstruction of a career suspended awkwardly between genius and conventional restraint. * Brian Morton, Times Higher Education Supplement *Table of Contents1: A Prodigy's New England Upbringing 2: The Cheneys and the Marcys 3: A Prodigy Despite Her Mother 4: The Making of a Composer: I 5: Two Ways of Looking at a Marriage 6: The Making of a Composer: II 7: Becoming Mistress of Her Craft 8: Reaching Out to the World 9: "One of the Boys" 10: Amy Beach's Boston 11: The Composer at the Keyboard: Beach Plays Beach 12: "A Veritable Autobiography"?: The Piano Concerto 13: The Composer's Workshop 14: Choral Music 15: The Chambered Nautilus 16: Europe and a New Life 17: "Lion of the Hour" 18: My Old New Hampshire House 19: At the MacDowell Colony: "Solitude in Silence" 20: Caring 21: A Fascinating New York Life 22: Beach the Modernist? 23: Reckonings 24: Harvest Time Postlude: The Legacy Appendix: Catalog of Works Music's Ten Commandments as Given for Young Composers

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Book SynopsisRuthe Seeger was a prominent American avant-garde composer of the 1920s. After her marriage, she became involved in the American folk song movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Caught in domestic life, this creative woman never fully realised her potential.Trade ReviewJudith Tick's sympathetic and vastly detailed study of her protagonist's works, life and times already reads like a classic. * BBC Music Magazine *

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Book SynopsisCharles Mingus was one of the most innovative jazz musicians of the 20th century. This new biography by the acclaimed music critic Gene Santoro argues that Mingus was not only a great musician and composer but a central character in the postwar American cultural renaissance.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Physically bearish and imposing, Mingus always seemed even larger psychically, a figure to fill the room, alter the vibes, suck up all the air - a cross between Falstaff and Othello. In his marvellous hall of mirrors, Myself When I Am real, Gene Santoro has grasped him whole, or at least as whole as one can expect from mere prose. Some passages suggest the hammering rhythms of a drum solo, others the sprawl of a Mingusian piano meditation. It is a stunning achievement. * Gary Giddins, author of Visions of Jazz *Mingus's creative turbulence comes alive. we see how his life and times, including his battles with racism and the musci business and himself, were intimately entwined with his remarkable music. * Cassandra Wilson *An admirably objective attempt to come to terms with the personal and musical complexity that was Charles Mingus. Gene Santoro's comprehensively researched and critically insightful book makes Mingus as fascinating and as outrageous as Mingus himself seemed to have always wanted to be. * Albert Murray, author of Stomping the Blues *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Prologue: Better Get It In Your Soul ; 1. Growing Up Absurd ; 2. Black Like Me ; 3. Making the Scene ; 4. Life During Wartime ; 5. Portrait of the Artist ; 6. The Big Apple, or On the Road ; 7. Pithecanthropus Erectus ; 8. Mingus Dynasty ; 9. Camelot ; 10. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady ; 11. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest ; 12. Beneath the Underdog ; 13. Let My Children Hear Music ; 14. Changes ; 15. Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid, Too ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Discography ; Acknowledgements ; Index

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Book SynopsisA seasoned jazz critic draws on his interviews of forty musicians, from Slide Hampton and Bucky Pizzarelli to Dee Dee Bridgewater and Diana Krall, illuminating their lives, careers, and art.Trade Review"W. Royal Stokes has contributed invaluably to jazz history from the inside. Living the Jazz Life is particularly unique because it focuses on how these diversified players became jazz musicians."--Nat Hentoff "Like a long jam session."--Kirkus Reviews "W. Royal Stokes has contributed invaluably to jazz history from the inside. Living the Jazz Life is particularly unique because it focuses on how these diversified players became jazz musicians."--Nat Hentoff "A pleasing...collection of generally insightful conversation, spawned by a nicely modest interlocuter."--Kirkus Reviews "Like a long jam session."--Kirkus Reviews

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Book Synopsis'Composers of the Nazi Era' is the final book in the trilogy on music and musicians in the Third Reich. This provides a detailed examination of the careers of eight prominent German composers who lived and worked among the dictatorship of the Third Reich.Trade ReviewA very impressive achievement - for two reasons above all. First, the range of Kater's research and documentation is awe-inspiring. Second, Kater sets out neither to canonise nor demonise ... Ultimately, this is a book which provokes thoughts rather than spelling them out ... Kater doesn't offer answers, but after reading his book, we can at least see the questions more clearly. * Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine *Kater's background knowledge is impressive, and he refuses to oversimplify or to make facile judgements. * Times Literary Supplement *What do artists do in the face of tyranny, and how can creativity thrive under fascism? ... This last book of a trilogy of music and musicians in the Third Reich is intended to present a closer look at each of the people studied ... Especially compelling is the book's description of the Nazi Bureaucracy as regards art and culture before, during, and just after the Second World War. * Music Educators Journal *With this volume, Kater has completed a remarkable trilogy of books about music during the Nazi era ... Kater is rigorous in his attention to detail; his research is up-to-date, and his conclusions are persuasive. This book - indeed, the entire trilogy - should be a part of every collection. * Library Journal *A largely successful effort to clarify the motives and behaviors of some representative men during a fascinatingly ugly chapter of human history, without appearing to sit in judgment so much as to illuminate various noble, deplorable, and frequently contradictory phenomena of human character ... Meticulously documented. * The Washington Post *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Werner Egk: The Enigmatic Optimist ; 2. Paul Hindemith: The Reluctant Emigre ; 3. Kurt Weill: A Survivor on Two Continents ; 4. Karl Amadeus Hartmann: The Composer as Dissident ; 5. Carl Orff: Man of Legend ; 6. Hans Pfitzner: Magister Teutonicus Miser ; 7. Arnold Schoenberg: Musician of Contrasts ; 8. Richard Strauss: Jupiter Compromised ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe Muse That Sings is a collection of interviews with 25 various American composers, born between 1930 and 1960, who explain how they think in sound, mould musical ideas, and ultimately transfer sonic creations to the printed page.Trade ReviewThe effect on the reader is astonishing as one after another of these composers is revealed, warts and all, to be desperately and wonderfully human. * David McGowan, American Music Teacher *Engaging and inspirinig. * Chamber Music Magazine *The Must That Sings [is] a book which will prove fascinating to those with an interest in contemporary musical composition, and in the creative process in general ... Every decade needs a book like this, for ideas and tastes will always change and it will always require the work of scholars to document how the creative minds of an age think about their art. Ann McCutchan has provided such a work. * The Ithaca Times *These interviews with 25 composers are distilled to short, informal yet highly focused discussions ... [McCutchan] allows the voices of the composers--most of whom live and work in the U.S. and were born between 1930 and 1960--to come through with candor ... These intimate snapshots of creative artists contemplating their role and function at the end of the 20th century succeed not only in shedding light on the creative process, but in dispelling many of the negative stereotypes attached to contemporary music." --Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsAlphabetical List of Composers ; Foreword by Leonard Slatkin (Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra) ; Introduction ; 1. Eric Stokes (b. 1930) ; 2. Steve Reich (b. 1936) ; 3. William Bolcom (b. 1938) ; 4. John Corigliano (b. 1938) ; 5. John Harbison (b. 1938) ; 6. Joan Tower (b. 1938) ; 7. John Adams (b. 1947) ; 8. Claude Baker (b. 1948) ; 9. Dan Welcher (b. 1948) ; 10. Daniel S. Godfrey (b. 1949) ; 11. Fred Lerdahl (b. 1949) ; 12. Shulamit Ran (b. 1949) ; 13. Christopher Rouse (b. 1949) ; 14. Steven Stucky (b. 1949) ; 15. Libby Larsen (b. 1950) ; 16. Lois V Vierk (b. 1951) ; 17. John Zorn (b. 1953) ; 18. Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) ; 19. James Mobberley (b. 1954) ; 20. Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955) ; 21. Bright Sheng (b. 1955) ; 22. Richard Danielpour (b. 1956) ; 23. David Lang (b. 1957) ; 24. Sebastian Currier (b. 1959) ; 25. Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960)

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