Music reviews and criticism Books

3187 products


  • Editions Notre Savoir Analyse afrocentrique du patriarcat

    1 in stock

    1 in stock

    £32.92

  • The The Isley Brothers 33

    Bloomsbury Publishing USA The The Isley Brothers 33

    Book SynopsisDarrell M. McNeill is a Santa Barbara-based producer, musician, composer, arranger, contractor, promoter, critic, and journalist. He is director of operations for the Black Rock Coalition (BRC), a grassroots 501c3 advocacy, promotion and production nonprofit for artists of color who defy the music industry's stereotypical constructs regarding Black music, and has written for publications such as The Village Voice, VIBE, SPIN, and RAVERS.

    £9.49

  • Punk Spirit

    Bloomsbury Academic Punk Spirit

    1 in stock

    1 in stock

    £27.75

  • Bloomsbury Academic Cant Stop the Grrrls

    £18.58

  • Bloomsbury Academic Punk Revolution

    £19.50

  • Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams  Place

    The University of Chicago Press Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams Place

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAny listener knows the power of music to define a place, but few can describe the how or why of this phenomenon. This title showcases how American jazz defined a culture particularly preoccupied with place. It analyzes both the performances and cultural context of leading jazz figures, including the many famous venues where they played.Trade Review"In Lonesome Roads, Andrew Berish has done scholars and fans of American music a great service. Beyond unearthing a treasure trove of information on musical and cultural life in the United States during the 1930s and '40s, Berish sheds welcome light on what the swing era's various sounds and grooves - both 'sweet' and 'hot' - meant to the people who created, listened to and danced to them. His interpretations of jazz's role in shaping experiences of space, place, and time for musicians and their audiences are simply brilliant. Clear and engaging from start to finish, this is an outstanding book." (David Ake, University of Nevada, Reno)"

    1 in stock

    £91.20

  • Civic Jazz

    The University of Chicago Press Civic Jazz

    Book SynopsisJazz is born of collaboration, improvisation, and listening. This book weaves an argument about how individuals can preserve and improve civic life in a democratic culture. It will appeal to scholars across disciplines as diverse as political science, performance studies, musicology, and literary criticism.Trade Review"A provocative, well-written, original study of how Kenneth Burke and jazz musicians in performance both explore the complications of achieving e pluribus unum-the 'impossible American ought,' the many-in-one, the one-in-the-many." (Walton Muyumba, Indiana University)

    £24.00

  • Four Last Songs  Aging and Creativity in Verdi

    The University of Chicago Press Four Last Songs Aging and Creativity in Verdi

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAging and creativity can have a particularly difficult relationship for artists, who often face age-related problems at a time when their audience's expectations of their talents are at a peak. The authors explore this issue through close looks at those who created some of the world's most beloved and influential operas.Trade Review"This is an excellent book with implications and resonances that reach far beyond the study of the four composers. It displays a tremendous range of knowledge across a spectrum of disciplines: musicology, critical theory, humanistic gerontology. The Hutcheons are pioneers in creating such a synthesis. Timely in its arguments, Four Last Songs will appeal widely and make a powerful impact." -Gordon McMullan, King's College London

    1 in stock

    £76.00

  • Message to Our Folks The Art Ensemble of Chicago

    The University of Chicago Press Message to Our Folks The Art Ensemble of Chicago

    Book Synopsis

    £28.00

  • Four Last Songs Aging and Creativity in Verdi

    The University of Chicago Press Four Last Songs Aging and Creativity in Verdi

    Book SynopsisAging and creativity can seem a particularly fraught relationship for artists, who often face age-related difficulties as their audience's expectations are at a peak. In Four Last Songs, Linda and Michael Hutcheon explore this issue via the late works of some of the world's greatest composers. Giuseppe Verdi (1813 1901), Richard Strauss (1864 1949), Olivier Messiaen (1908 92), and Benjamin Britten (1913 76) all wrote operas late in life, pieces that reveal unique responses to the challenges of growing older. Verdi's Falstaff, his only comedic success, combated Richard Wagner's influence by introducing young Italian composers to a new model of national music. Strauss, on the other hand, struggling with personal and political problems in Nazi Germany, composed the self-reflexive Capriccio, a life review of opera and his own legacy. Though it exhausted him physically and emotionally, Messiaen at the age of seventy-five finished his only opera, Saint Fran ois d'Assise, which marked the pi

    £17.00

  • Deep Refrains Music Philosophy and the Ineffable

    The University of Chicago Press Deep Refrains Music Philosophy and the Ineffable

    Book Synopsis

    £31.00

  • Strange Footing  Poetic Form and Dance in the

    The University of Chicago Press Strange Footing Poetic Form and Dance in the

    Book Synopsis

    £31.00

  • Shakespeares Lyric Stage  Myth Music and Poetry

    The University of Chicago Press Shakespeares Lyric Stage Myth Music and Poetry

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to have an emotional response to poetry and music? And, just as important but considered less often, what does it mean not to have such a response? What happens when lyric utteranceswhich should invite consolation, revelation, and connectionsomehow fall short of the listener's expectations? As Seth Lerer shows in this pioneering book, Shakespeare's late plays invite us to contemplate that very question, offering up lyric as a displaced and sometimes desperate antidote to situations of duress or powerlessness. Lerer argues that the theme of lyric misalignment running throughout The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Henry VIII, and Cymbeline serves a political purpose, a last-ditch effort at transformation for characters and audiences who had lived through witch-hunting, plague, regime change, political conspiracies, and public executions. A deep dive into the relationship between aesthetics and politics, this book also explores what Shakespearean lyric is able to recupera

    1 in stock

    £76.00

  • Shakespeares Lyric Stage Myth Music and Poetry in

    The University of Chicago Press Shakespeares Lyric Stage Myth Music and Poetry in

    Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to have an emotional response to poetry and music? And, just as important but considered less often, what does it mean not to have such a response? What happens when lyric utteranceswhich should invite consolation, revelation, and connectionsomehow fall short of the listener's expectations? As Seth Lerer shows in this pioneering book, Shakespeare's late plays invite us to contemplate that very question, offering up lyric as a displaced and sometimes desperate antidote to situations of duress or powerlessness. Lerer argues that the theme of lyric misalignment running throughout The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Henry VIII, and Cymbeline serves a political purpose, a last-ditch effort at transformation for characters and audiences who had lived through witch-hunting, plague, regime change, political conspiracies, and public executions. A deep dive into the relationship between aesthetics and politics, this book also explores what Shakespearean lyric is able to recupera

    £24.00

  • The Trouble with Wagner

    The University of Chicago Press The Trouble with Wagner

    20 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis analysis of Wagner’s vexed legacy is heightened by the author’s own experience as a dramaturg working on Wagner at the Berlin State Opera.

    20 in stock

    £30.40

  • Pick Up the Pieces  Excursions in Seventies Music

    The University of Chicago Press Pick Up the Pieces Excursions in Seventies Music

    Book SynopsisGives a panoramic view of 1970s music and culture through seventy-eight essays that allow readers to dip in and out of the decade at random or immerse themselves completely in Corbett's chronological journey.

    £26.00

  • A Portrait in Four Movements

    The University of Chicago Press A Portrait in Four Movements

    Book Synopsis

    £24.00

  • Film Music Memory Cinema and Modernity

    The University of Chicago Press Film Music Memory Cinema and Modernity

    5 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    5 in stock

    £98.80

  • Film Music Memory

    The University of Chicago Press Film Music Memory

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £33.25

  • Making It Up Together  The Art of Collective

    The University of Chicago Press Making It Up Together The Art of Collective

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"Tilley has written one of the most important monographs in the field of music in general, and ethnomusicology in particular, that I have encountered in the last fifty years. In my mind there is no question that in the future, scholars, students, and readers interested in music, music performance, and musical behavior in cultural context will ensure they are grounded in a study of her work and how she has framed it here." * Notes *“Both a closely argued and densely textured work on Balinese musical practices and an inter-/multi-musical exploration of collective improvisation as a process, Making It Up Together is a demonstration of and argument for music theory and analysis as a method for ethnomusicological and comparative research.” -- Gabriel Solis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, author of "Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" and "Monk’s Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making"“In this innovative book, Tilley employs two Balinese gamelan-based case studies as the basis of a broadly cross-cultural examination of collective musical improvisation. This is highly original work that importantly expands the scope of research on gamelan, cross-cultural improvisation, ethnomusicology, and analytical approaches to world music. A game-changer!” -- Michael B. Bakan, Florida State University, author of "Speaking for Ourselves: Conversations on Life, Music, and Autism" and "Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences in the World of Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur"Table of ContentsNotes on Pronunciation Prelude 1 The Complicated Story of Improvisation: Models and Methods, Creativity and Conceptual Space 2 Finding an Unspoken Model: The Boundaries of Reyong Norot 3 Analyzing Improvisations on a Known Model: The Freedom of Reyong Norot 4 Analyzing Collectivity: Models and Interactions in Practice 5 Unraveling Unconscious Models: The Boundaries of Kendang Arja 6 Beyond Generalizations: The Freedom of Kendang Arja Postlude Acknowledgments Glossary of Frequently Used Terms Notes References Index

    £91.00

  • Making It Up Together

    The University of Chicago Press Making It Up Together

    Book Synopsis

    £31.00

  • London Voices 18201840

    The University of Chicago Press London Voices 18201840

    Book SynopsisLondon, 1820. The British capital is a metropolis that overwhelms dwellers and visitors alike with constant exposure to all kinds of sensory stimulation. Over the next two decades, the city's tumult will reach new heights: as population expansion places different classes in dangerous proximity and ideas of political and social reform linger in the air, London begins to undergo enormous infrastructure change that will alter it forever. It is the London of this period that editors Roger Parker and Susan Rutherford pinpoint in this book, which chooses one broad musical categoryvoiceand engages with it through essays on music of the streets, theaters, opera houses, and concert halls; on the raising of voices in religious and sociopolitical contexts; and on the perception of voice in literary works and scientific experiments with acoustics. Emphasizing human subjects, this focus on voice allows the authors to explore the multifaceted issues that shaped London, from the anxiety surroundin

    £53.20

  • Nadia Boulanger and Her World

    The University of Chicago Press Nadia Boulanger and Her World

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTrade Review“As editor and contributor Brooks has done a fine job, mixing judiciously chosen source materials with carefully researched scholarly articles, plus photographs, scores and handwritten documents. Her book fulfills an academic agenda but, more importantly, to read it feels like spending time in Boulanger’s world, understanding a little better who she was and what she experienced as a human being.” * The Wire *"This publication joins a growing list of scholarly works about Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) and her sister, Lili (1893–1918). . . but the present volume evaluates new sources and leads to several reassessments. The maturity of these essays makes the book particularly compelling. Each contributor pays meticulous attention to details at every level: the book is marked by in-depth presentation of ideas; clear, nuanced, and explicit analysis; and excellent documentation that often adds context, source details, locations of the many primary sources consulted, and other useful information. This book is about the world Boulanger occupied and about the world she created: space and visibility for Lili’s compositions, placement of Gabriel Fauré at the center of French modern music for American audiences, links to new music and international connections for Polish musicians, and especially encouragement for the 50-plus who were her students." * Choice *"Nadia Boulanger and Her World offers a variety of new perspectives on a well-known figure... In eight full-length essays and five substantive introductions to excerpted primary sources, Brooks and the book’s nine other contributors present Boulanger as a master musician whose performances, pedagogy, and social dexterity placed her at the center of twentieth-century art music in Europe and the United States." * Journal of the American Musicological Society *Table of ContentsPreface: The Only Woman in the Picture Acknowledgments Permissions and Credits The Strange Fate of Boulanger and Pugno’s La ville morte ALEXANDRA LAEDERICH TRANSLATED BY CHARLOTTE MANDELL Serious Ambitions: Nadia Boulanger and the Composition of La ville morte JEANICE BROOKS AND KIMBERLY FRANCIS From the Trenches: Extracts from the Final Issue of the Paris Conservatory Gazette EDITED BY NADIA AND LILI BOULANGER SELECTED, INTRODUCED, AND ANNOTATED BY ANNEGRET FAUSER TRANSLATED BY ANNA LEHMANN From Technique to Musique: The Institutional Pedagogy of Nadia Boulanger MARIE DUCHÊNE-THÉGARID TRANSLATED BY MIRANDA STEWART Nadia Boulanger’s 1935 Carte du Tendre INTRODUCED BY MARIE DUCHÊNE-THÉGARID INTRODUCTION TRANSLATED BY ANNA LEHMANN 36 rue Ballu: A Multifaceted Place CÉDRIC SEGOND-GENOVESI TRANSLATED BY ANNA LEHMANN “What an Arrival!”: Nadia Boulanger’s New World (1925) NADIA BOULANGER TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY JEANICE BROOKS AFTERWORD BY GAYLE MURCHISON Modern French Music: Translating Fauré in America, 1925–45 JEANICE BROOKS For Nadia Boulanger: Five Poems by May Sarton MAY SARTON INTRODUCED BY JEANICE BROOKS Friend and Force: Nadia Boulanger’s Presence in Polish Musical Culture ANDREA F. BOHLMAN AND J. MACKENZIE PIERCE “What Awaits Them Now?”: A Letter to Paris ZYGMUNT MYCIELSKI TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY J. MACKENZIE PIERCE A Letter from Professor Nadia Boulanger TRANSLATED BY J. MACKENZIE PIERCE The Beethoven Lectures for the Longy School INTRODUCED BY CÉDRIC SEGOND-GENOVESI TRANSLATED BY MIRANDA STEWART Boulanger and Atonality: A Reconsideration KIMBERLY FRANCIS Why Music? Aesthetics, Religion, and the Ruptures of Modernity in the Life and Work of Nadia Boulanger LEON BOTSTEIN Index Notes on the Contributors

    1 in stock

    £87.40

  • Sound and Affect

    The University of Chicago Press Sound and Affect

    Book SynopsisThere is no place on earth that does not echo with the near or distant sounds of human activity. More than half of humanity lives in cities, meaning the daily soundtrack of our lives is filled with soundwhether it be sonorous, harmonious, melodic, syncopated, discordant, cacophonous, or even screeching. This new anthology aims to explore how humans are placed in certain affective attitudes and dispositions by the music, sounds, and noises that envelop us. ?Sound and Affectmaps a new territory forinquiryat the intersection of music, philosophy,affect theory,and sound studies.The essaysinthis volumeconsiderobjects and experiencesmarked by thecorrelation of sound and affect, in music and beyond: the voice,as it speaks, stutters, cries, or sings; music, whether vocal, instrumental, ormachine-made;andour sonic environments, whether natural orartificial, andhow they provoke responses in us.Farfrom being stable, correlations of sound and affect are influencedand even determinedby factors aTrade Review“Lochhead, Mendieta, and Smith have assembled a powerful compendium of theoretical and historical essays on sound and affect. This volume represents a synthesis of three rapidly growing areas of new research: affect theory, sound studies, and philosophically inflected music studies. Sound and Affect will make a significant and lasting impact in many fields. It is the type of publication that will challenge current assumptions about method and stimulate the growth of new forms of inquiry.” * Roger Mathew Grant, Wesleyan University *“‘Soundscape’ has become a common term, but most actual soundscapes remain unheard with any degree of specificity. This affecting collection helps remedy that state. It offers multiple entry points into what it regards as ‘sonic affective regimes,’ vibratory fields that impact broad swaths of eco-social life. Sound and Affect covers an astonishing range of topics, figures, and periods. One finds Plato and Ludacris, Proust and Phil Collins, Monk, Deleuze, and the Jesuit Marin Mersenne, and topics swing from desire to labor to the accented voice. Multidisciplinary in the richest sense, the book is a boon for sound studies, the philosophy of music, and musicology, and a primer for those who want to listen better and think more trenchantly about what they hear.” * John Lysaker, Emory University *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Judith Lochhead, Eduardo Mendieta, and Stephen Decatur SmithPart 1. Sounding the Political Chapter 1. Waves of Moderation: The Sound of Sophrosyne in Ancient Greek and Neoliberal Times Robin James Chapter 2. The Politics of Silence: Heidegger’s Black NotebooksAdam KnowlesPart 2. Affect, Music, Human Chapter 3. Sign, Affect, and Musicking before the Human Gary Tomlinson Chapter 4. Human Beginnings and Music: Technology and Embodiment Roles Don Ihde Chapter 5. The Life and Death of Daniel Barenboim James CurriePart 3. Voicings and Silencings Chapter 6. The Philosopher’s Voice: The Prosody of Logos Eduardo Mendieta Chapter 7. Late Capitalism, Affect, and the Algorithmic Self in Music Streaming Platforms Michael Birenbaum QuinteroPart 4. Affective Listenings Chapter 8. Music, Labor, and Technologies of Desire Martin Scherzinger Chapter 9. Musical Affect, Autobiographical Memory, and Collective Individuation in Thomas Bernhard’s CorrectionChristopher HaworthPart 5. Temporalities of Sounding Chapter 10. The “Sound” of Music: Sonic Agency and the Dialectic of Freedom and Constraint in Jazz Improvisation Lorenzo C. Simpson Chapter 11. Merleau-Ponty on Consciousness and Affect through the Temporal Movement of Music Jessica Wiskus Chapter 12. A. N. Whitehead, Feeling, and Music: On Some Potential Modifications to Affect Theory Ryan DohoneyPart 6. Theorizing the Affections Chapter 13. Delivering Affect: Mersenne, Voice, and the Background of Jesuit Rhetorical Theory André de Oliveira Redwood Chapter 14. Mimesis and the Affective Ground of Baroque Representation Daniel Villegas Vélez Chapter 15. Affect and the Recording Devices of Seventeenth-Century Italy Emily Wilbourne Chapter 16. Immanuel Kant and the Downfall of the AffektenlehreTomás McAuley Acknowledgments List of Contributors Bibliography Index

    £91.00

  • Sound and Affect  Voice Music World

    The University of Chicago Press Sound and Affect Voice Music World

    Book SynopsisTrade Review“Lochhead, Mendieta, and Smith have assembled a powerful compendium of theoretical and historical essays on sound and affect. This volume represents a synthesis of three rapidly growing areas of new research: affect theory, sound studies, and philosophically inflected music studies. Sound and Affect will make a significant and lasting impact in many fields. It is the type of publication that will challenge current assumptions about method and stimulate the growth of new forms of inquiry.” * Roger Mathew Grant, Wesleyan University *“‘Soundscape’ has become a common term, but most actual soundscapes remain unheard with any degree of specificity. This affecting collection helps remedy that state. It offers multiple entry points into what it regards as ‘sonic affective regimes,’ vibratory fields that impact broad swaths of eco-social life. Sound and Affect covers an astonishing range of topics, figures, and periods. One finds Plato and Ludacris, Proust and Phil Collins, Monk, Deleuze, and the Jesuit Marin Mersenne, and topics swing from desire to labor to the accented voice. Multidisciplinary in the richest sense, the book is a boon for sound studies, the philosophy of music, and musicology, and a primer for those who want to listen better and think more trenchantly about what they hear.” * John Lysaker, Emory University *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Judith Lochhead, Eduardo Mendieta, and Stephen Decatur SmithPart 1. Sounding the Political Chapter 1. Waves of Moderation: The Sound of Sophrosyne in Ancient Greek and Neoliberal Times Robin James Chapter 2. The Politics of Silence: Heidegger’s Black NotebooksAdam KnowlesPart 2. Affect, Music, Human Chapter 3. Sign, Affect, and Musicking before the Human Gary Tomlinson Chapter 4. Human Beginnings and Music: Technology and Embodiment Roles Don Ihde Chapter 5. The Life and Death of Daniel Barenboim James CurriePart 3. Voicings and Silencings Chapter 6. The Philosopher’s Voice: The Prosody of Logos Eduardo Mendieta Chapter 7. Late Capitalism, Affect, and the Algorithmic Self in Music Streaming Platforms Michael Birenbaum QuinteroPart 4. Affective Listenings Chapter 8. Music, Labor, and Technologies of Desire Martin Scherzinger Chapter 9. Musical Affect, Autobiographical Memory, and Collective Individuation in Thomas Bernhard’s CorrectionChristopher HaworthPart 5. Temporalities of Sounding Chapter 10. The “Sound” of Music: Sonic Agency and the Dialectic of Freedom and Constraint in Jazz Improvisation Lorenzo C. Simpson Chapter 11. Merleau-Ponty on Consciousness and Affect through the Temporal Movement of Music Jessica Wiskus Chapter 12. A. N. Whitehead, Feeling, and Music: On Some Potential Modifications to Affect Theory Ryan DohoneyPart 6. Theorizing the Affections Chapter 13. Delivering Affect: Mersenne, Voice, and the Background of Jesuit Rhetorical Theory André de Oliveira Redwood Chapter 14. Mimesis and the Affective Ground of Baroque Representation Daniel Villegas Vélez Chapter 15. Affect and the Recording Devices of Seventeenth-Century Italy Emily Wilbourne Chapter 16. Immanuel Kant and the Downfall of the AffektenlehreTomás McAuley Acknowledgments List of Contributors Bibliography Index

    £31.00

  • Feasting and Fasting in Opera

    The University of Chicago Press Feasting and Fasting in Opera

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisFeasting and Fasting in Opera shows that the consumption of food and drink is an essential component of opera, both on and off stage. In this book, opera scholar Pierpaolo Polzonetti explores how convivial culture shaped the birth of opera and opera-going rituals until the mid-nineteenth century, when eating and drinking at the opera house were still common. Through analyses of convivial scenes in operas, the book also shows how the consumption of food and drink, and sharing or the refusal to do so, define characters' identity and relationships. Feasting and Fasting in Opera moves chronologically from around 1480 to the middle of the nineteenth century, when Wagner's operatic reforms banished refreshments during the performance and mandated a darkened auditorium and absorbed listening. The book focuses on questions of comedy, pleasure, embodiment, and indulgencelooking at fasting, poisoning, food disorders, body types, diet, and social, ethnic, and gender identitiesin both tragic aTrade Review”Polzonetti allows himself some nostalgia for the world we have lost, including the experience of eating at the opera, and speculates that operagoers of the past may have possessed ‘a better economy of attention’, which ‘did not include pretending to be engaged when they were not ‘." * Times Literary Supplement *"Feasting and Fasting in Opera is a highly singular book, which is to be expected given that gastromusicology—itself a highly singular term—is associated with one person and one person alone. Pierpaolo Polzonetti has set out to explore how convivial pleasures animated life on both sides of the boundary separating the stage from the world, a boundary that, as he demonstrates, was far more porous before Wagner tacked a 'no food or drink' sign to the door at Bayreuth and locked us all in the dark." * Journal of the American Musicological Society *"Producers of modern entertainments should find useful information about alternative uses of food and drinks, especially if they are considering re-introducing feasting into operatic performances. Thus, this book is for researchers in this field and for opera-buffs." * Pennsylvania Literary Journal *"Brilliant. . . [Polzonetti] demonstrates in delectable prose that food and drink–including how and when they are consumed, and situations in which an individual refrains from eating or refuses to dine with another—are central to a major Western cultural institution: opera." * The Arts Fuse *"The meat of the book is the role of food and drink in an opera’s narrative and music." * UC Davis College of Letters and Science *"Feasting and Fasting in Opera constitutes a novel and welcome link of musicology and food studies. . . Further, it reminds readers how gastronomic pleasures were once blended with the opera going experience, an infusion we might do well to reinstate." * Gastronomica *“Who knew that food and opera are, and have always been, intimately connected? With his humanistic learning, linguistic virtuosity, and trademark tasty wit, Polzonetti takes us from classical texts to cannibalism and on to Callas. Historical recipes are a bonus for readers interested in a more multi-modal experience of Polzonetti’s brilliant work.” -- Mary Hunter, Bowdoin College“Opera and feasting go splendidly together: we want to combine an evening at the opera with a good dinner, even if we are no longer allowed, as we once were, to take our refreshments during a performance. Even so, no one until now has explored the proximity of opera and food in such depth and with such illuminating insights as Pierpaolo Polzonetti. This is the book to turn to if you want to understand that we owe the birth of opera not only to the learned disputations in Renaissance academies, but also to the elaborate multi-media banqueting practices of the period. Polzonetti is attuned to the significance of what and how the audiences ate during performances until the practice was eliminated during the nineteenth century, victim of middle-class propriety. He is just as attuned to the significance of what and how was consumed by the protagonists of Italianate opera from Monteverdi through Mozart, to Verdi and Puccini. This book offers a feast as delicious as it is nutritious, but be forewarned: reading it will make you hungry.” -- Karol Berger, Stanford University“Polzonetti cleverly weaves together the history of opera with a beloved culture of delicious Italian food, and then some!” -- Francesca Zambello, Artistic and General Director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera“Food and the opera have certainly always gone together—before, during, and after the show. Today, eating at the opera is no longer considered respectful, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those restrictions are lifted in the near future. Theatergoers would be jealous of the spreads that are backstage in the dressing room areas, and even the little snacks that some performers hide in their costumes in case of an emergency. I just love this book. It’s making me hungry!” -- Nathan Gunn, co-director, Lyric Theatre at Illinois

    7 in stock

    £38.00

  • The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold

    The University of Chicago Press The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold

    Book SynopsisThe frank, funny, and unforgettable autobiography of a living legend of Chicago blues. Trade Review“Billy Boy Arnold’s great Vee-Jay sides were a big influence on me when I was first starting out. The first two singles I ever played on were covers of Billy Boy Arnold tunes that I recorded with The Yardbirds. I'm very happy to see Billy Boy Arnold's amazing personal story finally appear in print.” * Eric Clapton, Grammy Award-winning member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame *"A lively, illuminating memoir. . . Arnold’s heartfelt, honest, insider’s view of Chicago blues from the 1940s onward will be essential to anyone interested in blues and the origins of rock and roll.” * Library Journal *"A treasure for blues historians and fans alike. . . . The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold is a highly recommended jewel, both as a document of blues history, a documentary of African-American life in the aftermath of the Great Migration, the story of electric Chicago Blues, and lots of deep insight on the South Side music scene, told by one of the last insiders around." * Pop Culture Shelf *"Four stars. This unparalleled memoir of living history is not only billed as a dream, it actually reads like one. . . . Anyone with an interest in the classic era of Chicago blues will want to savor every detail, insight, and anecdote in Billy Boy’s incredible eye-witness account of how it went down back in the day." * Shindig! *"Recommended. . . Long overdue. . . Arnold alone was on the scene for the entire evolution of the Chicago blues style, and he transmits the story from his encyclopedic memory." * Choice *“No one has lived the Chicago blues like Billy Boy Arnold, and no one has more stories. This book is a journey through eighty years of history with an incredible supporting cast and a particularly charming and observant guide, who saw it all and is still making wonderful music.” * Elijah Wald, Grammy Award winner and author of Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues *“The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold is in every respect not just excellent but exemplary: a blues autobiography to be reckoned with. Arnold—by dint of his unusually long career, his exceptionally detailed memory, and his many friendships with key figures on the scene—is the only one who can tell this particular story. His shrewd, candid appraisals of his peers, leavened with quirky detail, add significantly to our understanding of postwar Chicago blues.” * Adam Gussow, author of Whose Blues?: Facing Up to Race and the Future of the Music *“Harmonica legend Billy Boy Arnold tells his life story with the help of writer Kim Field. At 86, he’s still standing, telling stories with heart and humor.” * DownBeat *“Arnold narrates in his own distinctive and trustworthy voice, capably facilitated by musician and writer Kim Field. And an amazing story it is. It seems nearly more than an autobiography, as it presents the back-history of an era. . . Arnold is a satisfied man who acknowledges that his is a life well-lived. Kim Field lets that come through loud and clear in Arnold’s own voice. Arnold, who has contributed so much to blues and rock history, adds immeasurably to that history with this outstanding biography.” * Living Blues *“An extremely fascinating read. . . Arnold’s voice inhabits these pages.” * Blues Music *"This is one of the most readable blues biographies of all time. . . . Billy Boy is a walking encyclopaedia of the blues, sharp as a tack with an excellent memory." * Blues & Rhythm *“Arnold narrates in his own distinctive and trustworthy voice, capably facilitated by musician and writer Kim Field. And an amazing story it is. It seems nearly more than an autobiography, as it presents the back-history of an era. . . Arnold is a satisfied man who acknowledges that his is a life well-lived. Kim Field lets that come through loud and clear in Arnold’s own voice. Arnold, who has contributed so much to blues and rock history, adds immeasurably to that history with this outstanding biography.” * Living Blues *“An extremely fascinating read. . . Arnold’s voice inhabits these pages.” * Blues Magic *"For anyone with an interest in blues music, this book is a must-read. In telling the story of Billy Boy Arnold, it also provides readers with first-hand details and descriptions of a golden era of the Chicago blues tradition. Most highly recommended!" * Blues Blast Magazine *Table of ContentsPreface Billy Boy Arnold Introduction Kim Field Chapter One: Born in Chicago Chapter Two: Sonny Boy Williamson Chapter Three: Billy Boy Chapter Four: “Juke” Chapter Five: Bo Diddley Chapter Six: Bluesman Chapter Seven: The Blues Breaks Out Chapter Eight: All around the World Chapter Nine: My Blues Dream Acknowledgments Discography Index

    £27.00

  • Hearing Beethoven

    The University of Chicago Press Hearing Beethoven

    Book SynopsisWallace demystifies the narratives of Beethoven’s approach to his hearing loss and instead explores how Beethoven did not "conquer" his deafness; he adapted to life with it.Trade Review"In this pathbreaking book, Wallace demystifies the longstanding romance of Beethoven's deafness by bridging memoir and musicology in an exciting new way that speaks to a broad audience of readers. Of notable significance is his detailed attention to the innovative means by which Beethoven used his instrument--the piano--to discover and harness the multisensory acuities of his body in the face of his progressive hearing loss, accommodations that afforded a new, experimental orientation towards his musical craft that ultimately led to some of his most celebrated aesthetic breakthroughs."--Jessica Holmes, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music "This is a special book. Readers interested in Beethoven's biography will learn many new things, thanks to Robin Wallace's knowledge and scholarship. But just as valuable is his personal account of his wife Barbara's deafness, which deeply engages our sympathy and gives us insight into the human condition."--Lewis Lockwood, Harvard University "Wallace offers a probing examination of Beethoven's creative process and how he turned his hearing loss to his advantage. [He] interweaves the personal experiences of his late wife, Barbara, who also became deaf. . . . [The book] deepens readers' knowledge of Beethoven's artistic life while broadening their understanding of hearing and loss. Highly recommended."-- "Library Journal" "Wallace's striking volume is a detailed, erudite study of the effect of deafness on Beethoven's music and character, but it is also a deeply personal account of Wallace's late wife's experience of deafness. This unlikely combination works beautifully and provides a convincing and moving probe into Beethoven's essence. Throughout the entire book, one senses the author's profound love and admiration for his lost wife and for Beethoven himself."--Harvey Sachs, author of The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 "Wallace provides a new and unique perspective on Beethoven's deafness. He combines a gripping and poignant personal narrative with the knowledge and skill of a seasoned researcher and musician. The book both reads like a novel and provides vivid insight into how Beethoven confronted the loss of a composer's most important asset. In weaving the personal and the scholarly, Wallace has created an intimate account of how Beethoven's deafness can be found in his music as well as how it shaped him as a person. In fact, in this book we see the human side of Beethoven in a way that has never before been portrayed." --Michael Broyles, author of Beethoven in AmericaTable of ContentsPreface Introduction: A Road Trip to Texas 1 · Beethoven’s Deafness: What We Know, What We Can Only Guess 2 · 2003: A Sudden Case of Deafness 3 · The Deaf Composer 4 · Deafness, Vocation, Vision 5 · The Artifacts of Deafness 6 · Ears, Eyes, and Mind 7 · Hearing through the Eyes Epilogue: Embracing Wholeness Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

    £18.00

  • Vaughan Williams and His World

    The University of Chicago Press Vaughan Williams and His World

    Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPermissions and Credits Acknowledgments Ralph Vaughan Williams: Man and Music—An IntroductionByron Adams and Daniel M. Grimley Vaughan Williams and CambridgeJulian Rushton Vaughan Williams and the Royal College of MusicErica Siegel Vaughan Williams’s “The Letter and the Spirit” (1920)Introduced and Annotated by Ceri Owen Modernist Image in Vaughan Williams’s JobPhilip Rupprecht “Finest of the Fine Arts”: Vaughan Williams and FilmAnnika Forkert Pilgrim in a New-Found-Land: Vaughan Williams in AmericaByron Adams Vaughan Williams’s Lecture on the St. Matthew Passion (1938)Introduced and Annotated by Eric Saylor Vaughan Williams’s Common GroundSarah Collins and Daniel M. Grimley Tracing a Biography: Michael Kennedy’s Correspondence Concerning The Works of Ralph Vaughan WilliamsIntroduced and Annotated by Daniel M. Grimley and Byron Adams “His own idiom”: Vaughan Williams’s Violin Sonata and the Development of His Melodic StyleO. W. Neighbour Critical Reception: Early Performances of the Symphony No. 9 in E MinorIntroduced and Annotated by Alain Frogley Goodness and Beauty: Philosophy, History, and Ralph Vaughan WilliamsLeon Botstein Index Notes on the Contributors

    £85.00

  • Berlioz and His World

    The University of Chicago Press Berlioz and His World

    Book SynopsisA collection of essays and short object lessons on the composer Hector Berlioz, published in collaboration with the Bard Music Festival. Hector Berlioz (18031869) has long been a difficult figure to place and interpret. Famously, in Richard Wagner's estimation, he hovered as a transient, marvelous exception, a composer woefully and willfully isolated. In the assessment of German composer Ferdinand Hiller, he was a fleeting comet who does not belong in our musical solar system, the likes of whom would never be seen again. For his contemporaries, as for later critics, Berlioz was simply too strangeand too noisy, too loud, too German, too literary, too cavalier with genre and form, and too difficult to analyze. He was, in many ways, a composer without a world. Berlioz and His World takes a deep dive into the composer's complex legacy, tracing lines between his musical and literary output and the scientific, sociological, technological, and political influences that shaped him. Compri

    £28.00

  • Id Fight the World

    The University of Chicago Press Id Fight the World

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £49.40

  • Id Fight the World

    The University of Chicago Press Id Fight the World

    Book SynopsisIn I’d Fight the World Peter La Chapelle traces the bonds between country music and politics from the rise of amateur fiddler-politicians to twentieth-century figures like Pappy O’Daniel, Roy Acuff, George C. Wallace, Al Gore, Sr., and Richard Nixon, who all played or harnessed music for electoral success.

    £19.00

  • After the Silents

    Columbia University Press After the Silents

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisViewing more than two hundred films from the period, Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in Hollywood’s initial developmentTrade ReviewSlowik not only sketches out the important trends and developments of this nascent period of classical film music history but also makes a compelling argument that there are important continuities that connect the mature silent period with the early sound period. -- Jeff Smith, author of The Sounds of Commerce: Marketing Popular Film Music With a thorough investigation of hundreds of conversion-era feature films, Michael Slowik has provided an important revision of film music history to account for a wide range of scoring practices. After the Silents is impressive scholarship and a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in film sound. -- Jennifer Fleeger, author of Sounding American: Hollywood, Opera, and Jazz Scholars interested in film music will enjoy Slowik's discussion of the differences in film scoring practices across studios and in B films versus mainstream, higher-budget films... Recommended. Choice Slowik offers a comprehensive and compelling analysis of the evolving and diverse musical landscape of early sound film and revises our understanding of the development of the classical Hollywood film score. Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. A Wide Array of Choices: Musical Influences in the 1920s 2. Music in Early Synchronized and Part-Talking Films, 1926-1929 3. Toward a Sparse Music Style: Music in the 100 Percent Talkie, 1928-1931 4. Interlude: The Hollywood Musical, 1929-1932 5. Music and Other Worlds: The Hollywood Film Score, 1931-1933 6. Reassessing King Kong; or, The Hollywood Film Score, 1933-1934 Conclusion Appendix: Chronological Filmography, 1926-1934 Notes Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £87.40

  • Singing in the Wilderness

    University of Illinois Press Singing in the Wilderness

    Book SynopsisBeginning with two turn-of-the-century operas - Frederick Delius' "A Village Romeo and Juliet" and Claude Debussy's "Pellias et Mlisande" - that present humankind as lost in a tangled wood that is at once internal and external, this title develops the theme of wilderness in sociological, psychological, ecological, and even geological terms.Trade Review"[Demonstrates Mellers'] capacious knowledge of musical sound, the urge to connect it with other social and artistic phenomena, and a striking use of evocative language... [Mellers is] a storyteller concocting a plausible tale in which issues of political power, cultural agency and specific facts about melody, harmony and rhythm are interwoven and dropped into the reader's lap... How gratifying it is that Mellers is still on the scene, exercising his sharp ear, broad learning, uncanny responsiveness and quicksilver imagination." -- Richard Crawford, Times Literary Supplement "Every cultivated musician will profit from reading almost any publication of Mellers whose productivity as author and composer has spanned half a century... If used in conjunction with a substantial library of recorded music, this book will serve as a reference for a course devoted to unjustly neglected work." -- Choice

    £23.39

  • Robert Johnson Mythmaking and Contemporary

    University of Illinois Press Robert Johnson Mythmaking and Contemporary

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisMississippi bluesman Robert Johnson died young and left behind just twenty-nine recorded songs. But the legacy, legends, and lore surrounding him loom large in American music history. Merging literary analysis with cultural criticism and biographical study, Patricia R. Schroeder explores Johnson''s ongoing role as a cultural icon. Schroeder''s detailed analysis engages key images and myths about the blues musician (such as the Faustian crossroads exchange of his soul for guitar virtuosity). Navigating the many competing interpretations that swirl around him, Schroeder reveals the cultural purposes served by the stories and the storytellers. The result is a fascinating examination of the relationships among Johnson''s life, its subsequent portrayals, and the forces that drove the representations.Offering penetrating insights into both Johnson and the society that perpetuates him, Robert Johnson, Mythmaking, and Contemporary American Culture is essential reading for blueTrade ReviewCertificate of Merit for Best Research in Recorded Blues by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC), 2005. "Patricia Schroeder's book is intellectually generous and morally acute. She is sensitive both to what is lost when Robert Johnson is disappeared from history into myth, and what is gained when both the man and his work become the common property--the imaginative free field--of all those, like Schroeder herself, who could never have encountered Johnson or his songs in their own place and time."--Greil Marcus"Patricia Schroeder's masterful study of Robert Johnson touches the virtual and the historical, from websites to short stories, documentary films to recent legends. Venturing well beyond the bluesman's Mississippi home and the records he made in the late 1930s, she shows how our modern world has embraced him as a complex and emblematic figure."--Stephen WadeTable of ContentsIntroduction: Mythologies of Robert Johnson; Robert Johnson as contested space; The invention of the past; The paradox of authenticity; The new cultural politics difference; Virtual Robert Johnson; Conclusion: Robert Johnson, a strange attractor

    1 in stock

    £20.89

  • The String Quartets of Beethoven

    University of Illinois Press The String Quartets of Beethoven

    Book SynopsisA collection of original works by leading international scholars who draw on a variety of historical sources and analytical approaches to offer fresh insights into the aesthetics of the quartets. Includes an appendix with the chronology and sources of the quartets and a detailed bibliography.Trade Review"As other scholars read and digest the ideas expressed in these essays, they will be encouraged to reexamine works both by Beethoven and other composers in light of the concepts and methodologies presented here. This book is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in Beethoven’s quartets, or any facet of Beethoven’s music, as well as for libraries serving research and graduate programs in music history, musicology, or music theory."--Notes"In these studies of Beethoven's life and music, Kinderman brings together essays that will please historians, critics, and music theorists. This impressive volume is important not only to the study of the string quartets, but to how we understand Beethoven's music in general."--Christopher A. Reynolds, professor of music, University of California, Davis

    £87.55

  • John Dygons Proportiones practicabiles secundum Gaffurium

    MO - University of Illinois Press John Dygons Proportiones practicabiles secundum Gaffurium

    Book SynopsisJohn Dygon was the prior of St Augustine's monastery in Canterbury when Henry VIII dissolved the English Catholic Church during the 1530s and reorganized it under royal control. This volume features these two treatises, providing a transcription and English translation. It provides an example of musical scholarship from the early Tudor period.Trade Review"Theodor Dumitrescu's study, edition, and translation of Dygon's works is exemplary in every respect. . . . The book sheds light on aspects of English musical culture that go well beyond the specific topics covered in the treatises and provides valuable insights into musical relations between England and the continent in the early decades of the sixteenth century."--Renaissance Quarterly

    £29.70

  • Gallus Dresslers Praecepta musicae poeticae

    University of Illinois Press Gallus Dresslers Praecepta musicae poeticae

    Book SynopsisNew scholarship on sixteenth-century composer and theorist Gallus DresslerTrade Review"Forgacs skillfully deciphers numerous puzzles unsolved by previous scholars. . . . A solid addition to the available scholarship on Renaissance music theory. Forgacs's careful analysis and expert interpretation of Dressler's text deserve enthusiastic praise."--Renaissance Quarterly “Dressler holds our attention because he embodies the later 16th century’s newly found interest in theorizing what makes good and bad composition, as well as correct and incorrect. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in 16th-century theory.”--Early Music

    £35.10

  • Creative Life  Music Politics People and Machines

    MO - University of Illinois Press Creative Life Music Politics People and Machines

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisLuminous essays on the nexus of music, politics, and technologyTrade Review"The most lucid philosophical work on music, culture and politics since Steve Reich's Writings on Music."--The Wire“A humble yet powerful reminder of the importance of being true to your ethics and clear about your motivations.”--Fundamentally Sound"This unusual memoir, which takes the reader on an amazing odyssey that begins with Ostertag's life as a musician in 1978 New York and ends 30 years later in San Francisco with his writing a book to explain the creative life. . . . Recommended."--Choice "Its intensity, clarity and directness are refreshingly tonic at a time when the art world often seems sunk to its neck in academicism, careerism and outright fraud."Fuse"Creative Life is a wonderful read, and it made my head whirl. Ostertag tells stories from his own experience as an artist and political activist. He searches for the connections and differences in the illumination sought by the artist and the insight sought by the activist, and he explores the quest for transcendence and universality that unites art and politics and also helps explain their divergence. There are no answers here, but rather a brilliant contemplation of the discontent and yearning that motivates our better natures."--Frances Fox Piven, author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America"Unique and engaging. Creative Life spins an intriguing narrative, builds a compelling argument about the nature of art and politics, and raises a stimulating set of questions for politically engaged art in an age of digital technologies."--Jonathan Scott Lee, author of Jacques Lacan"For the last thirty years, I've come to rely on Bob Ostertag to claw away at the superficial and often misleading 'official' versions of all things cultural and political and get simply and unpretentiously to the real heart of the matter. His passionate engagement can be felt on every page of this wonderful (re)collection."--Fred Frith, musician and composer"Creative Life is an oasis for anyone who is still making socially conscious art in today's increasingly bleak political and environmental reality. From the war zones of rural El Salvador to the new music basements of New York City, Ostertag's story becomes a way for us all to consider what role we want to play in the world and how to reconcile our politics with our poetics."--Mike Bonanno, media artist, The Yes Men "Ostertag 'comes out' again, here in a brilliant social and political memoir smack-dab in the middle of yet another musical revolution. A must read!"--Alvin Curran, musician and composer, Musica Elettronica Viva "Ostertag gives us a personal and substantive account of his life as an artist and activist committed to engagement and creativity in both the political and musical realms. An insightful observer of culture, he sees both the forest and the trees, and deftly unifies the details of his experiences with the larger social context in which they fit."--Carla Kihlstedt, musician and composer, Tin Hat Trio "Nothing like Creative Life has ever been produced by a major publisher. Few chronicles of the lives of late-twentieth-century American composers or improvisers exist, and even fewer first-person narratives exist in which the composer takes the time to critically examine his or her life practice. Bob Ostertag's brand of politics, however, demands that he do just that. Ostertag adopts a clear-eyed, forthright stance concerning the integration of radical politics and radical music through his own experiences at the center of an important New York musical scene and in historically and politically crucial regions of the world. He refuses to appropriate sounds and gestures unreflectively from his surroundings, despite the technological ease with which he could have done so as an expert in electronic media technique. Perhaps he regards this as just one more way in which the people whose life-and-death struggles he chronicles so sensitively--people with whom he has lived, worked, and shared danger--need not fear appropriation from him.One sees how Ostertag's political thinking is clarified through his involvement with music; in fact, this book shows how music can be deployed as a tool for actually theorizing the social world. One even dares to imagine that Creative Life will bridge the divide between Ostertag's two theaters of operations, and help them to radicalize each other."--George E. Lewis, MacArthur Fellow, Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia University, and author of A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental MusicTable of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiINTRODUCTION 1 Art and Politics after September 11 2 Early Years 151. CENTRAL AMERICA 25 El Salvador, 1988: Absolute Diabolical Terror 25Sooner or Later 38 Nicaragua 1990: Power Outage 40 Creative Politics 542. THE BALKANS 69 The Balkans 2000: Tour Journal 69 Program Notes for Yugoslavia Suite 1013. QUEERS 105Desert Boy on a Stick 105All the Rage, Spiral, and PantyChrist 115 Why I work with Drag Queens 1304. MUSIC AND MACHINES 134Between Science and Garbage 134 Living Cinema Manifesto 147 Human Bodies, Computer Music 149 Why Computer Music Is So Awful 159CONCLUSION 163 The Professional Suicide of a Recording Musician 163NOTES 173BIOGRAPHY 177SOURCES 187CREDITS 190INDEX 191

    1 in stock

    £77.35

  • King of the Queen City

    MO - University of Illinois Press King of the Queen City

    Book Synopsis King of the Queen City is the first comprehensive history of King Records, one of the most influential independent record companies in the history of American music. Founded by businessman Sydney Nathan in the mid-1940s, this small outsider record company in Cincinnati, Ohio, attracted a diverse roster of artists, including James Brown, the Stanley Brothers, Grandpa Jones, Redd Foxx, Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett, Ike Turner, Roy Brown, Freddie King, Eddie Vinson, and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson. While other record companies concentrated on one style of music, King was active in virtually all genres of vernacular American music, from blues and R & B to rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing, and country. A progressive company in a reactionary time, King was led by an interracial creative and executive staff that redefined the face and voice of American music as well as the way it was recorded and sold. Drawing on personal interviews, research in newspapers and periodicals, anTrade Review Awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) for Best Research in Record Labels, 2010. "Fascinating biography on Syd Nathan's King Records. 4 stars."--MOJO "This is a remarkable achievement. . . . Jon Hartley Fox is to be thanked for his impressive addition to the popular music literature."--Jazz & Blues Report"In Jon Hartley Fox's well-researched new book, he shows how label founder Syd Nathan, a brusque, cigar-chomping record man with a knack for spotting recording talent and hits, built King to provide music by and for 'the little people' the majors ignored."-American Songwrite "Fox and the University of Illinois Press have given us an important book about a very important operation. Thank you."--Oxford American"As entertaining and dynamic a story as the music that inspired it."--Metro Times "Fox makes a great case for the influence and importance of King Records, touching on the label's efforts in chapters dedicated to each style of music the label recorded. One chapter is appropriately dedicated to the label's biggest star, James Brown, and Fox talks about the label's interracial staff and early 'do it yourself' aesthetic with lively prose that will entertain any reader."--About.com: Blues“An interesting but complicated book. . . . I highly recommend it.”--Appalachian Heritage"A much needed glimpse of an underappreciated pop culture institution."--Publishers Weekly "An absorbing read. 4 stars"--Record Collector "An excellent biography of an independent label that became a major player in the record game."--Downbeat "A superb book."--Nashville City Paper "A fine book written with love and care by somebody who knows the business and the music, and hasn't lost his way." --NoDepression.com "In its time--1943 to the late 1960s--King Records was absolutely unique, and it deserves a unique account of its history. King of the Queen City is that account: focused, thoroughly researched, well written, and filled with vital information about America's most important independent record label."--Nolan Porterfield, author of Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of America's Blue Yodeler "As a longtime fan of King artists such as Freddie King, Wade Mainer, and the Spirit of Memphis, I have waited patiently for someone to write a book about King Records. King of the Queen City relates the fascinating story of Syd Nathan's life's work and his sometimes eccentric record company."--Kip Lornell, author of The NPR Curious Listener's Guide To American Folk MusicTable of ContentsForeword by Dave Alvin; Preface; 1. Syd Starts A Record Company: The Early Years, 1943-1944 1; 2. The Hillbilly Boogie: Country Music on King Records, Part 1 19; 3. The King Gets A Queen: The Short but Important Life of Queen Records 37; 4. Henry Glover: An Unsung Hero of American Music 43; 5. Good Rockin' Tonight: Rhythm & Blues on King Records, 1947-1954 52; 6. Where The Hell's The Melody? Country Music on King Records, Part 2 69; 7. Business As Usual Was Pretty Unusual: Behind the Scenes at King Records 81; 8. Masters of the Groove: Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett and The Honkin' Tenors 103; 9. I'll Sail My Ship Alone: Country Music on King Records, Part 3 120; 10. Record Man: Ralph Bass and Federal Records 140; 11. The Sixty-Minute Men: Rhythm & Blues Vocal Groups on King Records 153; 12. You Give Me Fever: Solo R & B Singers on King Records 176; 13. Every Time I Feel The Spirit: Black Gospel Music on King Records 191; 14. How Mountain Girls Can Love: Bluegrass Music on King Records 207; 15. Let's Have A Natural Ball: The Blues on King Records 226; 16. That Ain't Nothin' But Right: Rockabilly and Rock and Roll on King Records 248; 17. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business: Mr. James Brown 269; 18. Brother Claude Ely and Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis: The Rest of the Catalog 290; 19. Life After Death: King Records, 1968-2007 299; 20. 'We Broke the Shit Down': The Meaning of King Records 318; Chapter Notes 333; Sources 352; Index

    £22.79

  • Serving Genius  Carlo Maria Giulini

    MO - University of Illinois Press Serving Genius Carlo Maria Giulini

    Book SynopsisTells the life story of Carlo Maria Giulini, one of the renowned and beloved conductors of the twentieth century. Detailing Giulini's professional career, this book also chronicles Giulini's personal life, including his musical awakening while growing up amid the spectacular beauty of the Dolomite mountains.Trade Review"A thorough, balanced and illuminating portrait of the charismatic Italian as man and maestro."--Chicago Tribune"It was wonderful to get to know the man we have met so often in his music-making."--American Record Guide"A fascinating full account."--Los Angeles Times"[A] highly illuminating biography."--The Spectator"Highly readable and musically substantive. Strongly recommended."--Classical.Net"This engaging and extensive biography shows why Carlo Maria Giulini stood apart from other maestri, and above the fray: because of his gentle humanity, his spiritual resonance with music, and his uncompromising seriousness of purpose. This is certainly a book I will recommend to all the conductors I encounter, as well as others because it captures the essence of an uncommonly inspired and inspiring human being."--Kenneth Kiesler, conductor, director of orchestras at the University of Michigan, and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak and Conductors Programme at the National Arts Centre of Canada"Thomas D. Saler's biography of the conductor Carlo Maria Giulini is worthy of the noble, deceptively complex subject. Saler paints an extraodinarily sensitive, comprehensive and illuminating portrait of an artist who was selflessly dedicated to his art. The author's enthusiasm is palpable, his reportage elevated by rare knowledge and passion."--Martin Bernheimer, 1982 Pulitzer Prize Winner for CriticismTable of ContentsPreface — ix Acknowledgments — xiii Abbreviations — xv 1. Beauty and Betrayal — 1 2. Mastering the Melodrama — 15 3. Prometheus in London — 33 4. Amore: The Chicago Years — 52 5. Molto, Molto, Espressivo — 87 6. Out of Eden — 117 7. Peace, Love, and Pleated Pants — 126 8. Days of Wine and Roses — 139 9. Wearing the Garment of Tragedy — 173 Notes — 189 Interview List — 213 Index — 215 Illustrations follow page — 86

    £26.09

  • Difficult Rhythm  Music and the Word in E.M. Forster

    MO - University of Illinois Press Difficult Rhythm Music and the Word in E.M. Forster

    Book SynopsisRecording the important role of music in the life and work of British author E. M. ForsterTrade Review"Astute and well informed. . . . Fillion's extremely fine study is surely one that scholars will draw on with admiration and pleasure."--Review of English Studies"A very comprehensive and perceptive assessment of the role of music in E. M. Forster’s life and work."--Music and Letters"A significant reassessment of one of the twentieth century's finest writers. By paying nuanced attention to the comprehensive role of music in Forster's novels and aesthetics, Fillion finds a new keynote to Forster's literary art. To read his novels without this perspective in play is to miss much."--Scott G. Burnham, author of Beethoven Hero"Briskly written and highly readable."--Times Literary Supplement"Difficult Rhythm is a tasty read, indeed. Fillion impressively and gracefully shows how Forster's engagement and fascination with music in his works articulates his evolving social, political, and ideological concerns."--Todd Avery, author of Radio Modernism: Literature, Ethics, and the BBC, 1922–1938"These works continue testifying to the quality of Fillion's contribution to Forster scholarship and interdisciplinary research."--Polish Journal of English Studies"Fine's documentation of the more recent growth of sacred and secular step teams outside of the realm of Black Greek Letter Organizations, the strength of her arts and performance-related scholarship, and her discussion of the intersections of African and African American aesthetics make this an important book that adds tremendously to our understanding of an important aspect of twentieth and twenty-first century African American and American popular culture."--Journal of African American History"The history, culture, politics, and art of this African-American performance artform is examined in-depth; black-and-white photographs embellish this impressive, scholarly, highly recommended contribution to Black American cultural studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists."--Bookwatch “Elizabeth Fine takes us on a journey of discovery with Soulstepping, all the way back to its African roots and all the way up to our moment. All groups have dance steps that the group performs together for the pure joy of celebrating life. Soulstepping brings out that joy, that exhilaration, that love of life. This celebration is long overdue.”--Nikki Giovanni “Elizabeth Fine has produced a labor of love. Soulstepping is thorough and true to the African American spirit she discovered more completely as she traveled through history to bring to light this remarkable phenomenon, one that would otherwise exist only for those fortunate enough to have been present late at night perhaps at an African American fraternity or sorority event on an American college or university campus.”--Michael V. W. Gordon, Professor of Music Emeritus at Indiana University School of Music and First Executive Director of the National Pan-Hellenic CouncilTable of ContentsList of Abbreviations ix List of Musical Examples xiii List of Figures xv Preface xvii 1. E. M. Forster's Life in Music 1 2. "Creating" Lucia: The Voice of Luisa Tetrazzini in Where Angels Fear to Tread 24 3. Wagnerism, "Decadent" Wagnerites, and Wagnerian Motives in The Longest Journey 39 4. "New Woman" or "Piano Girl": Lucy's Music in A Room with a View 56 5. Not Listening to Beethoven and Brahms at the Queen's Hall: Music as Vision in Howards End 79 6. Tchaikovsky and the Deflowering of Masculine Love in Maurice 93 7. "Beethoven's Piano Sonatas" (1939-40) and the Twilight of the Hero 108 8. Claggart's Monologue and the Art of Collaboration in Billy Budd 123 9. Conclusion: Difficult Rhythm, Prophetic Song 138 Appendix A: Forster's Known Ballets Russes Attendance 145 Appendix B: Forster's Known Opera Attendance 146 Notes 151 Works Cited 173 Index 189

    £77.35

  • Music and the Wesleys  Music and the Wesleys

    University of Illinois Press Music and the Wesleys Music and the Wesleys

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe music, religion, and relationships of the exceptional Wesley familyTrade Review"A major contribution to our understanding of church music, the Wesley family, and concert life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by leading experts in the field. There is truly no competitor for this volume."--David W. Music, author of Christian Hymnody in Twentieth-Century Britain and America: An Annotated Bibliography"Excellent collection of essays. . . . The Wesley family was a remarkable dynasty and Music and the Wesleys is a significant contribution to the examination of their legacy."--The Journal of the Association of Anglican MusiciansTable of ContentsEditors' Preface vii Family Tree ix Abbreviations xi Introduction xiiiNicholas Temperley PART 1: MUSIC AND METHODISM 1. John Wesley, Music, and the People Called Methodists 3Nicholas Temperley 2. Charles Wesley and the Music of Poetry 26J. R. Watson 3. Psalms and Hymns and Hymns and Sacred Poems: Two Strands of Wesleyan Hymn Collections 41Robin A. Leaver 4. John Frederick Lampe's Hymns on the Great Festivals and Other Occasions 52 Martin V. Clarke 5. Methodist Anthems: The Set Piece in English Psalmody (1750-1850) 52Sally Drage 6. The Music of Methodism in Nineteenth-Century America 77Anne Bagnall Yardley 7. Eucharistic Piety in American Methodist Hymnody (1786-1889) 88Geoffrey C. Moore 8. The Musical Settings of Charles Wesley's Hymns (1742 to 2008) 103Carlton R. YoungPART 2: THE WESLEY MUSICIANS 9. Style, Will, and the Environment: Three Composers at Odds with History 121Stephen Banfield 10. Charles Wesley's Family and the Musical Life of Bristol 141Jonathan Barry 11. Pictorial Precocity: John Russell's Portraits of Charles and Samuel Wesley 154Peter S. Forsaith 12. Harmony and Discord in the Wesley Family Concerts 164Alyson McLamore 13. Father and Sons: Charles, Samuel, and Charles the Younger 175Philip Olleson 14. Samuel Wesley as an Antiquarian Composer 183Peter Holman 15. The Anthem Texts and Word Setting of Sebastian Wesley 200Peter Horton 16. The Legacy of Sebastian Wesley 216Stephen Banfield and Nicholas Temperley Appendix 1: Catalogue of Compositions by Charles Wesley the Younger 231 Methodist Hymnals Cited 242 Bibliography 245 Contributors 263 Index 267

    1 in stock

    £81.90

  • The The TheoreticalPractical Elements of Music

    University of Illinois Press The The TheoreticalPractical Elements of Music

    Book SynopsisThe first English translation of a foundational treatise in music theory

    £54.40

  • Charles Ives in the Mirror

    MO - University of Illinois Press Charles Ives in the Mirror

    Book SynopsisLocating representations of Ives within American cultural historyTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Title, 2013. "An engaging and comprehensive account of the reception history of Charles Edward Ives. . . .The book will undoubtedly become an essential tool for the study of Ives."-- Choice"David Paul's interest lies with how Ives's reflection is colored by the viewpoints of other Americans. He has written the first book-length reception history of the composer since his relatively recent passing in 1954… He asks his readers to embrace and even celebrate subjectivity, both in their understanding of Ives as a historical figure and universally in history at large."--Notes "The depth of Paul's historical perspective speaks for itself."--Gramophone“Paul has crafted an ambitious intellectual history, putting Ives at the centre of diverse forces, including the history of twentieth-century composition, the legacy of transcendentalism, the cultural marketing of the Cold War and the rise of American Studies and American Musicology. This is not a book about Ives’s music or his life, but rather a meta history that focuses on the composer’s advocates, critics and chroniclers. Essentially, it probes the complex ways in which a gifted creative artist achieves broad-based fame, and then, in a sense, becomes public property—a figure to be reviled or adored or forgotten as time marches on.”—Times Literary Supplement"By virtue of its depth of insight, its wide remit, and its succinct yet highly detailed presentation, this remarkable book is a considerable addition to the existing scholarship on this most fascinating of musical figures."--David Nicholls, author of John Cage"An outstanding work. Until now no one has created, in a single narrative, the story of how Charles Ives' music moved from the far outer fringes to the central core of American musical culture, and David Paul has done this in an exemplary manner. It is a tour-de-force in both its breadth and its insights."--Michael Broyles, author of Beethoven in America

    £33.30

  • In Her Own Words

    University of Illinois Press In Her Own Words

    Book SynopsisWith personal anecdotes and sometimes surprising intimacy and humour, these wide-ranging conversations represent the diversity of women composing music in the United States from the mid-twentieth century into the twenty-first.Trade Review"This collection of interviews with women composers presents an exquisite picture of the power and beauty of human creativity. Each woman speaks with an eloquence, a force, or a poetry that distinguishes her as a vibrant, compelling artist."--Kristina G. Boerger, associate professor of music and director of choral activities, Carroll University"This book significantly advances knowledge of female composers and their works. . . . Kelly demystifies the individual creativity of composers whose works reflect compositional commonalities and differences within contemporary art music. Recommended."--Choice"A telling exploration of the role of women composing in the US across the last half-century and more, and a discussion of the status afforded them in a still largely androcentric industry. Jennifer Kelly brings an informed sensibility to bear that prompts much revealing commentary by her individual subjects in an intelligently structured volume ... it is an essential read."--Classical Music"The depth and breadth of Jennifer Kelly's impressive project is matched by the intellectual power, spirituality, dedication, and sheer honesty of the interviewees. Moreover, it serves as an indispensable resource for scholarly research and for university-level gender studies and women in music classes."--Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music

    £87.55

  • Roots of the Revival

    MO - University of Illinois Press Roots of the Revival

    Book SynopsisFrom work songs to skiffle, from the Weavers in Greenwich Village to Burl Ives on the BBC, this book offers a wide-ranging consideration of a time, a movement, and a transformative period in American and British pop culture.Trade Review"Much has been written about the folk revival, but this book is unusual in examining its progression in both the US and Britain. Folk-music fans might be unaware that there was strong interest in American and British folk music before the highly publicized revival, and Cohen and Donaldson have done that important research. Highly Recommended."--Choice“The hugely engaging tome focuses its attention primarily on 1950 to 1958 or what you can think of as the period between the blacklisting of the Weavers and the rise of the Kingston Trio. . . . What Cohen and Donaldson’s book does so effectively is it maps the development chronologically, so it’s easy to see how we got from the Weavers to skiffle via the ‘Rock Island Line’ and finally to Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village. . . . Roots of the Revival is accessible and, for anyone with even a passing interest in folk music, absolutely fascinating.”— Shire Folk"Roots of the Revival is an indispensable text for scholars interested in the relationship between 'folk' and 'pop' at midcentury. It is more than simply a prehistory of 1960s folk activities, instead demonstrating how musicians, folklorists, and audiences navigated the concerns and events particular to the decade."--Notes"Although there are other books and memoirs about the American folk revival, and some treatment of the revival in England, no one has thought to compare and analyze both of them together."--Richard Weissman, author of Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution: Music and Social Change in America"A detailed account of the revival's factual history and many revealing anecdotes about its participants… Roots of the Revival is a significant addition to the scholarship on the 1950s folk music revival."--Journal of Folklore Research"A solidly researched, well-written account of a significant decade in American and English vernacular music history."--Western Folklore

    £77.35

  • Sounds of the New Deal

    University of Illinois Press Sounds of the New Deal

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisAt its peak, the Federal Music Project (FMP) employed nearly 16,000 people who reached millions of Americans through performances, composing, teaching, and folksong collection and transcription. In Sounds of the New Deal , Peter Gough explores how the FMP''s activities in the West shaped a new national appreciation for the diversity of American musical expression. From the onset, administrators and artists debated whether to represent highbrow, popular, or folk music in FMP activities. Though the administration privileged using good music to educate the public, in the West local preferences regularly trumped national priorities and allowed diverse vernacular musics to be heard. African American and Hispanic music found unprecedented popularity while the cultural mosaic illuminated by American folksong exemplified the spirit of the Popular Front movement. These new musical expressions combined the radical sensibilities of an invigorated Left with nationalistic impulses. At the sameTrade Review"Gough has produced an informative, useful, and notable work that sheds new light on the New Deal and the little-known FMP. He deserves praise for his efforts."--Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society "Peter Gough has written a history of an unprecedented government venture, the Federal Music Project (FMP), with a focus on the largest territory in the program: the American West… Sounds of the New Deal: The Federal Music Project in the West is an intriguing narrative."-- American Historical Review“Those interested in the culture of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal will find Gough’s book instructive. Recommended.”--Choice "For any student of the Great Depression--particularly the new deal--this tome will be a welcome source, reflecting a unique and rich time for American music."--The Journal of Arizona History "In Sounds of the New Deal, historian Peter Gough helps to address a research gap long unwarranted. Gough's monograph is concise but rich in detail. Accessible and at points enlivened with some of the insider drama of personnel and personality, the book will resonate with interdisciplinary readers and specialists. It is fine work on a worthy topic."--Western American Literature "An interesting and informative book about the WPA's Federal Music Project (FMP) and its influence and effect on the American West. Gough makes good use of sources to weave a passionate and driven narrative."--The Annals of Iowa

    2 in stock

    £87.55

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