Music reviews and criticism Books
Duke University Press Soundtrack Available
Book SynopsisFrom the silent era to the present day, popular music has been a key component of the film experience. This title aims to fill this gap, as its contributors provide detailed analyses of individual films as well as historical overviews of genres, styles of music, and approaches to film scoring.Trade Review“Soundtrack Available represents a great leap forward in the analysis of film soundtracks. It is a smart, lively book that moves nicely between the detailed analysis of individual cases and broader, theoretical issues. The editors are to be commended for a collection which covers so many historical periods and national cinemas, and for staking out exciting new directions for scholarship. At the same time, this is a compelling, refreshingly jargon-free read for the non-specialist interested in film, music, or media.”—Will Straw, McGill University“From Bollywood to Hollywood, Wim Wenders to Wong Kar-Wai, popular music permeates movies. Rigorous scholarship has finally begun to catch up with this phenomenon to make sense of its rich and varied cultural meanings. Wocjik’s and Knight’s first-rate collection is muscular, theoretically informed, historically textured, and full of exciting discoveries for all interested in the confluence of pop music, film, and identity.”—Claudia Gorbman, University of WashingtonTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Overture / Arthur Knight and Pamela Robertson Wojcik I. Popular vs. “Serious” Cinema and Popular Song: The Lost Tradition / Rick Altman Surreal Symphonies: “L’Age d’or and the Discreet Charms of Classical Music / Priscilla Barlow “The Future’s Not Ours to See”: Song, Singer, and Labryinth in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much / Murray Pomerance “You Think They Call Us Plastic Now . . . “: The Monkees and Head / Paul B. Ramaeker II. Singing Stars Real Men Don’t Sing Ballads: The Radio Crooner in Hollywood, 1929–1933 / Allison McCracken Flower of the Asphalt: The Chanteuse Realiste in 1930s French Cinema / Kelley Conway The Embodied Voice: Song Sequences and Stardom in Popular Hindi Cinema / Neepa Majumdar III. Music as Ethnic Marker Music as Ethnic Marker in Film: The “Jewish” Case / Andrew P. Killick Sounding the American Heart: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Contemporary American Film / Barbara Ching Crossing Musical Borders: The Soundtrack for Touch of Evil / Jill Leeper Documented/Documentary Asians: Gurinder Chadha’s I’m British But . . . and the Musical Mediation of Sonic and Visual Identities / Nabeel Zuberi IV. African American Identities Class Swings: Music, Race, and Social Mobility in Broken Strings / Adam Knee Borrowing Black Masculinity: The Role of Johnny Hartman in The Bridges of Madison County / Krin Gabbard V. Case Study: Porgy and Bess It Ain’t Necessarily So That It Ain’t Necessarily So: African American Recordings of Porgy and Bess as Film and Cultural Criticism / Arthur Knight “Hollywood Has Taken On a New Color”: The Yiddish Blackface of Samuel Goldwyn’s Porgy and Bess / Jonathan Gill VI. Contemporary Compilations Picturizing American Cinema: Hindi Film Songs and the Last Days of Genre / Corey K. Creekmur Popular Songs and Comic Allusion in Contemporary Cinema / Jeff Smith VII. Gender and Technology The Girl and the Phonograph; or the Vamp and the Machine Revisited / Pamela Robertson Wojcik Bibliography Contributors Index
£27.90
Duke University Press Books Singing the Classical Voicing the Modern
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£24.99
MD - Duke University Press Singing the Classical Voicing the Modern
Book SynopsisReveals how Karnatic music emerged as India's classical music through a particular politics of voice that developed in the crucible of colonial modernity, nationalist ideology, and South Indian regional politics.Trade Review“Singing the Classical, Voicing the Modern ranks as one of the most important contributions to South Asian music studies in recent years.” -- Rolf Groesbeck * Ethnomusicology *“Brilliant and essential are two words that are best avoided in any review, and though I made every effort to resist, I cannot properly conclude without invoking them. I have hardly scratched the surface of this well-supported, provocative, multifaceted text. Weidman’s book deserves multiple close readings and further discussion by anyone interested in the processes and politics involved in the cultural construction of aesthetics. Those who have specific interest in Indian Classical music, Karnatic music, or the postcolonial negotiation will be well rewarded by this brilliant and essential read.” -- Joshua S. Levin * American Anthropologist *“In this fascinating study Amanda J. Weidman brings postcolonial theory to bear upon music, a field of endeavour largely neglected by postcolonial scholarship in general. . . . [T]his book is well-written and cogently argued, and it should be suitable for use in graduate classrooms. It should also be of particular interest to anyone interested in postcolonial theory, modernity, performance and Indian music more generally.” -- Joshua Tucker * Social Anthropology *“This work will be indispensable to anyone interested in South Indian musical culture and wishing to go beyond encyclopedia articles.” -- B. Nettl * Choice *“Through analysis of music theory treatises, advertisements and other media, and drawing from contemporary feminist theory, linguistic anthropology, and musicology, Weidman pieces together an erudite study of the political and historical roots of one of India’s cherished musical traditions. Her theoretical framework deserves special attention; it engages productively with historical detail in order to conceptualize the role of music in producing modes of South Indian subjectivity and modernity. . . . What makes this book exemplary is Weidman’s painstaking historiography, her postcolonial stance, and her commitment to putting Karnatic music in its social context.” -- Chloe Coventry * Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology *“Weidman should be commended for her thoroughly interdisciplinary effort in undertaking such a complex and problematic task, for understanding the importance of performance and history, and for taking account of modern technology in writing that history. The book opens the way for area specialists, anthropologists, and music scholars alike to produce work that takes seriously the place of music in debates about modernity, especially in colonial contexts.” -- Sindhumathi Revuluri * Journal of Asian Studies *“Weidman’s is one of the best books I’ve read about a contemporary musical tradition.” -- Ian Bedford * The Australian Journal of Anthropology *“Weidman’s narrative traverses the various modes of ethnography beginning from her own experience as a student of Carnatic classical music, . . . These various strands are sutured into a perceptive narrative which has the multiple facets of being partly a social history of Carnatic music, partly a theoretical exposition of the politics of voice as well as an eminently readable account of the interaction of cultural and aesthetic forms with larger political structures. . . . [W]e must make mention, enviously, of Weidman’s writing which is crisp and simple and yet capable of carrying complex ideas within a sparse and measured prose.” -- Ashwin Kumar * Economic and Political Weekly *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations xii Acknowledgements ix Note on Transliteration of Spelling xvii Introduction 1 1. Gone Native?: Travels of the Violin in South India 25 2. From the Palace to the Street: Staging “Classical” Music 59 3. Gender and the Politics of Voice 111 4. Can the Subaltern Sing?: Music, Language, and the Politics of Voice 150 5. A Writing Lesson: Musicology and the Birth of the Composer 192 6. Fantasic Fidelities 245 Afterword: Modernity and the Voice 286 Notes 291 Works Cited 325 Index 343
£80.10
Duke University Press Music Sound and Technology in America
Book SynopsisAn anthology of primary documents that collects material from the end of the 19th century up through World War II on the material history of sound technologies and music in America. It is divided into three sections: on the phonograph, sound in the cinema (including musical accompaniment), and music on radio.Trade Review“Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era. . . . [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now.” - Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal“A fascinating new book on early media. . . . A delightful read.” - Steve Ramm, In the Groove“The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent ‘aha!’ moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age.” - James M. Keller, Santa Fe New MexicanTaylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media. . . . Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” - N. Newman, Choice“Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents’ scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users’ expectations ossified… What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control.” - Emily Bick, The Wire“As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable.” - Victoria Willis, Popular Music and Society“This is a much needed anthology…. We owe the three editors a considerable debt for doing the necessary research and for organizing and explaining the value of what they have unearthed.” - European Journal of Communication"Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history."—Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922–1952“A fascinating new book on early media. . . . A delightful read.” -- Steve Ramm * In the Groove *“As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable.” -- Victoria Willis * Popular Music and Society *“Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era. . . . [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now.” -- Andy Battaglia * Wall Street Journal *“Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents’ scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users’ expectations ossified… What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control.” -- Emily Bick * The Wire *“The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent ‘aha!’ moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age.” -- James M. Keller Santa Fe * Santa Fe New Mexican *Taylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media. . . . Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” -- N. Newman * Choice *“Although the book is aimed at scholars and students (the book would work admirably as a reader for any number of courses in music, media studies, or history), Music, Sound, and Technology in America will appeal to nearly anyone who has an interest in exploring further the fascinating early history of phonography, cinema, and radio from the perspective of its founders, critics, and consumers. Truly a landmark documentary in every way, this collection should go a long way in stimulating further historical work in the field.” -- Rob Haskins * ARSC Journal *Table of ContentsGeneral Introduction: Music Technologies in Everyday Life / Timothy D. Taylor 1 Part 1. Sound Recording Introduction / Mark Katz 11 Sound Recording: Readings 29 Predictions 29 The Listener and the Phonograph 44 Learning to Listen 44 The Phonograph in Everyday Life 48 The Phonograph and Music Appreciation 65 Men, Women, and Phonographs 70 Music and the Great War 78 Performers and the Phonograph 84 In the Recording Studio 84 The Phonograph and Music Pedagogy 94 The Phonograph and the Composer 104 The Composer in the Machine Age 104 The Phonograph as a Compositional Tool 110 Phonograph Debates 113 Con 113 Pro 126 Part II. Cinema Introduction / Tony Grajeda 137 Cinema: Readings 145 Technologies of Sight and Sound 145 Sounds of the Cinema: Illustrated Song Slides; The Role of the Voice (lecturers, actors); Incidental Musics, Special Effects, Ballyhoo, and Noise of the Audience 153 Playing to the Pictures 173 Performative Accompaniment 173 The Organist of the Picture Palace 192 Conducting and Scoring to the Movies 200 Taste, Culture, and Educating the Public 212 Responding to the Talkies 226 Part III. Radio Introduction / Timothy D. Taylor 239 Radio: Readings 255 Radio as Dream, Radio as Technology 255 Early Broadcasts: Performer and Listener Impressions 266 Radio in Everyday Life 275 Healing 279 Economics of Radio Broadcasting 285 Advertising 288 Music on the Radio 301 Con 301 Pro 305 What Do Listeners Want? 311 Crooning 316 Radio Behind the Scenes 324 Getting on the Air 324 Talent 340 Production behind the Scenes 344 Composing for the Radio 354 How to Listen to Music on the Radio 361 Notes 367 References 387 Index 399
£999.99
Duke University Press Records Ruin the Landscape
Book SynopsisJohn Cage's disdain for records was legendary. It was shared by other experimental and avant-garde musicians in the 1960s. Scholar and longtime musician David Grubbs explores the present-day musical landscape, as listeners encounter experimental music through the recorded artifacts of composers and musicians who largely disavowed recordings.Trade Review“An engaging book.” -- David Revill * Times Higher Education *“For compositions whose whole raison d’être is to generate a drastically different realization with every performance . . . no recording of any one performance could be said to ‘be’ the piece. . . . David Grubbs’s exhaustively researched Records Ruin the Landscape explores this dilemma specifically as it affected the generation of avant-garde composers who hit their stride in the sixties, John Cage being the most prominent and outspoken among them.” -- Dave Mandl * Los Angeles Review of Books *“The premise of [Grubbs’s] understandably authoritative first book is that experimental music’s flowering in the 1960s . . . was incompatible with the limitations of orthodox recording formats. . . . With an engaging frankness . . . Grubbs contrasts this tendency with his own fan-by appetite for records and the documentary efficacy of the contemporary digital realm, concluding positively that the latter potentially offers unmediated, universal access to the panoply of esoteric music—something unthinkable in the 1960s.” -- David Sheppard * Mojo *“The risk writers run, of course, with the big questions approach, is universalising their personal narrative in order to present the big answer. Grubbs is too skilled and self-aware to run into this problem. His breadth of research in musicology and aesthetic theory is balanced in this short and engaging book with candid writing about his own experiences of recordings of experimental music. . . . It is testament to Grubbs’s sensitivity as a writer that a sympathetic picture emerges of these musicians, who seem often to be railing against hierarchies they can’t quite help being part of.” -- Frances Morgan * The Wire *"One of the chief joys of this book is that [it] seeks to rediscover the avant-gardes of the 1960s in all their spontaneity, in their present-ness, as if unfolding these mavericks from their own perspectives, without benefit of current hindsight. We learn, reading this book, what the future looked like to the past. Records Ruin the Landscape seeks to prestidigitate the landscape of the 1960s back to life. For this, one should be thankful—including for the recordings that allow David Grubbs’ act of imagination and scholarship to have taken place." -- Daniel Herwitz * Critical Inquiry *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction 1 1. Henry Flynt on the Air 19 2. Landscape with Cage 45 3. John Cage, Recording Artist 67 4. The Antiques Trade: Free Improvisation and Record Culture 105 5. Remove the Records from Texas: Online Resources and Impermanent Archives 135 Notes 167 Selected Disography 195 Bibliography 199 Index 209
£72.25
Duke University Press Records Ruin the Landscape
Book SynopsisJohn Cage's disdain for records was legendary. It was shared by other experimental and avant-garde musicians in the 1960s. Scholar and longtime musician David Grubbs explores the present-day musical landscape, as listeners encounter experimental music through the recorded artifacts of composers and musicians who largely disavowed recordings.Trade Review“An engaging book.” -- David Revill * Times Higher Education *“For compositions whose whole raison d’être is to generate a drastically different realization with every performance . . . no recording of any one performance could be said to ‘be’ the piece. . . . David Grubbs’s exhaustively researched Records Ruin the Landscape explores this dilemma specifically as it affected the generation of avant-garde composers who hit their stride in the sixties, John Cage being the most prominent and outspoken among them.” -- Dave Mandl * Los Angeles Review of Books *“The premise of [Grubbs’s] understandably authoritative first book is that experimental music’s flowering in the 1960s . . . was incompatible with the limitations of orthodox recording formats. . . . With an engaging frankness . . . Grubbs contrasts this tendency with his own fan-by appetite for records and the documentary efficacy of the contemporary digital realm, concluding positively that the latter potentially offers unmediated, universal access to the panoply of esoteric music—something unthinkable in the 1960s.” -- David Sheppard * Mojo *“The risk writers run, of course, with the big questions approach, is universalising their personal narrative in order to present the big answer. Grubbs is too skilled and self-aware to run into this problem. His breadth of research in musicology and aesthetic theory is balanced in this short and engaging book with candid writing about his own experiences of recordings of experimental music. . . . It is testament to Grubbs’s sensitivity as a writer that a sympathetic picture emerges of these musicians, who seem often to be railing against hierarchies they can’t quite help being part of.” -- Frances Morgan * The Wire *"One of the chief joys of this book is that [it] seeks to rediscover the avant-gardes of the 1960s in all their spontaneity, in their present-ness, as if unfolding these mavericks from their own perspectives, without benefit of current hindsight. We learn, reading this book, what the future looked like to the past. Records Ruin the Landscape seeks to prestidigitate the landscape of the 1960s back to life. For this, one should be thankful—including for the recordings that allow David Grubbs’ act of imagination and scholarship to have taken place." -- Daniel Herwitz * Critical Inquiry *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction 1 1. Henry Flynt on the Air 19 2. Landscape with Cage 45 3. John Cage, Recording Artist 67 4. The Antiques Trade: Free Improvisation and Record Culture 105 5. Remove the Records from Texas: Online Resources and Impermanent Archives 135 Notes 167 Selected Disography 195 Bibliography 199 Index 209
£18.89
Duke University Press Microgroove
Book SynopsisMicrogroove continues John Corbett's exploration of diverse musics, with essays, interviews, and musician profiles that focus on jazz, improvised music, contemporary classical, rock, folk, blues, post-punk, and cartoon music, as well as painting, design, dance, and poetry.Trade Review"Corbett has just published a terrific new anthology of his writing called Microgroove, the long-delayed follow-up to his 1994 book Extended Play. . . . There's a lot of great stuff in the new book—which went through multiple iterations over the years, scrapped and revisited several times—but in his introduction to a piece called 'Twenty-Seven Enthusiasms: A Spontaneous Listening Session,' Corbett expresses a major part of what makes his work so special. 'Show-and-tell was always my favorite part of school,' he writes, eventually explaining that 'you accumulate things not to own them, but to share them.' It's what he's done as a writer, a music presenter, and, in recent years, a gallerist, at Corbett vs. Dempsey." -- Peter Margasak * Chicago Reader *"One of the more interesting features of Microgroove is the inclusion of multiple pieces on some of the artists. This allows Corbett to consider them from different angles or over time, providing a fuller picture of their art in the process. That, combined with the eclectic scope of Corbett’s interests, makes of Microgroove a rich, multifaceted survey of some of the more challenging artists of the last two decades." -- Daniel Barbiero * Avant Music News *"The far-ranging scope of the 53 essays and interviews collected in these nearly 500 pages, dating from 1993 to just last year, reminds us that even within music’s commercially neglected fringes complex gradations of sub-genre exist, separating the hardcore avant-garde devotee from one who thinks they’re down because they own a copy of Space Is the Place. ... But first and foremost [Corbett] is a devotee of challenging and outré sounds, and his essays are most compelling when he dives headfirst into his chronicles with a fan’s enthusiasm and verve. ...These pieces beautifully balance serious musical scholarship and critical analysis with the kind of collar-grabbing, “give-this-a-listen” excitement that draws us all to music in the first place." -- Matt R. Lohr * JazzTimes *"Corbett, like the best kind of record store crate digger, pinpoints the association between acknowledged innovators and the achievements of lesser-known figures. . .. [T]he book’s key achievement is how Corbett’s psychiatrist-like probing questions elicit the most definitive and/or instructive statements about their art from certain musicians." -- Ken Waxman * MusicWorks *"John Corbett is a smart guy who really, really loves music, and his intelligence and enthusiasm come through in every one of the essays and articles in this volume of his collected writings.... Anyone interested in what was happening on the cutting edge of music during the years these articles appeared needs to read this anthology of John Corbett’s writing." -- Ed Hazell * ARSC Journal *"John Corbett's singular critical voice is wildly alive in his latest book, a compendium of previous writings, sober reflections, clever visuals, idiosyncratic interviews, and post-genre insights into the thriving ecology of knowledge that is the contemporary music scene. At once this is a book that takes its place alongside other distinctive voices in the pell-mell topography of recent musical criticism, from Greg Tate and Lester Bangs to Nat Hentoff and Nate Chinen, and the work of an itinerant witness bearing testimony marked by a vast respect and love for improvised musicking and musical diversity.... Microgroove is an eloquent, readable, playful testimony to the otherness of music as an allegory for creative freedom and as a generative social practice that refuses limitations." -- Daniel T. Fischlin * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Table of ContentsPreface: Tympanum of the Other Frog xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction 1 One. On The Road, Into The Cul-De-Sac Joe Harriott and Bernie McGann: Flying without Ornette 15 Michael Hurley: Jocko's Lament 21 Mayo Thompson: Genre of One 33 John Stevens: Unpopular Populists 36 Peter Brötzmann Tentet: Freeways 40 Steve Lacy: Sojourner Saxophone 49 David Grubbs: Postcards from the Edge 57 Voice Crack: From Nothing to Everything 67 Two. Exigeneses Of Creative Music Milford Graves: Pulseology 71 Out of Nowhere: Deleuze, Gräwe, Cadence 79 Carla Bley and Steve Swallow: Feeding Quarters to the Nonstop Mental Jukebox 85 Misha Mengelberg: No Simple Calculations for Life 93 Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink: Natural Inbuilt Contrapuncto 109 Form Follows Faction? Ethnicity and Creative Music 116 Anthony Braxton: Ism vs. Is 123 Anthony Braxton: Bildungsmusik—Thoughts on Composition 171 129 Paul Lowens: Lo Our Lo 132 Clark Coolidge: The Improvised Line 136 Nathaniel Mackey: Steep Incumbencies 142 Sun Ra: From the Windy City to the Omniverse—Chicago Life as a Street Priest of D.I.Y. Jazz 153 Fred Anderson: The House That Fred Built 162 Three. Ululations And Other Vocal Stimulants Sun Ra: Queer Voice 169 Jaap Blonk: Uncommon Tongue 170 PJ Harvey: Mother's Tongue 179 Aural Sex: The Female Orgasm in Popular Sound (coauthored with Terri Kapsalis) 182 Liz Phair and Lou Barlow: On Music, Sex, TV, and Beyond 194 Liz Phair and Kim Gordon: Exile in Galville? 205 Koko Taylor: The Blue Queen Cooks 212 Brion Gysin and Steve Lacy: Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permuted 217 Four. The Horn Section Ornette Coleman: Doing Is Believing 233 Roscoe Mitchell: Citizen of Sound 244 Fred Anderson and Von Freeman: Tenacity 250 George Lewis: Interactive Imagination 258 Mats Gustafsson: MG at Half-C 264 Ken Vandermark: Six Dispatches from the Memory Bank 270 Ken Vandermark and Joe McPhee: Mutual Admiration Society 278 Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker: Bring Something to the Table 285 Five. Track Marks Oncology of the Record Album 297 Discaholic or Vinyl Freak? Mats Gustafsson Interrogates John Corbett 301 Twenty-Seven Enthusiasms: A Spontaneous Listening Session 308 A Very Visual Kind of Music: The Cartoon Soundtrack beyond the Screen 313 R. L. Burnside and Jon Spencer: Fattening Frogs for Snake Drive 322 Before and After Punk: The Comp as Teaching Tool 331 Raymond Scott: Cradle of Electronica 336 Six. Melodic Line and Tone Color Peter Brötzmann: Graphic Equalizer 343 Albert Oehlen: Bionic Painting 347 Albert Oehlen: Mangy—A Conversation and a Playlist 352 Christopher Wool: Impropositions—Improvisation, Dub Painting 359 Christopher Wool: Into the Woods—Six Meditations on the Interdisciplinary 366 Sun Ra: An Afro-Space-Jazz Imaginary—The Printed Record of El Saturn 371 Seven. The Texture Of Refusal Helmut Lachenmann: Hellhörig, or the Intricacies of Perceptiveness 379 Guillermo Gregorio: Madi Music 387 Experimental Oriental: New Music and Other Others 391 Afterword: A Concise History of Music 417 Grooving On: Selected Listening 423 Credits 443 Index 447
£27.90
Duke University Press Microgroove
Book SynopsisMicrogroove continues John Corbett's exploration of diverse musics, with essays, interviews, and musician profiles that focus on jazz, improvised music, contemporary classical, rock, folk, blues, post-punk, and cartoon music, as well as painting, design, dance, and poetry.Trade Review"Corbett has just published a terrific new anthology of his writing called Microgroove, the long-delayed follow-up to his 1994 book Extended Play. . . . There's a lot of great stuff in the new book—which went through multiple iterations over the years, scrapped and revisited several times—but in his introduction to a piece called 'Twenty-Seven Enthusiasms: A Spontaneous Listening Session,' Corbett expresses a major part of what makes his work so special. 'Show-and-tell was always my favorite part of school,' he writes, eventually explaining that 'you accumulate things not to own them, but to share them.' It's what he's done as a writer, a music presenter, and, in recent years, a gallerist, at Corbett vs. Dempsey." -- Peter Margasak * Chicago Reader *"One of the more interesting features of Microgroove is the inclusion of multiple pieces on some of the artists. This allows Corbett to consider them from different angles or over time, providing a fuller picture of their art in the process. That, combined with the eclectic scope of Corbett’s interests, makes of Microgroove a rich, multifaceted survey of some of the more challenging artists of the last two decades." -- Daniel Barbiero * Avant Music News *"The far-ranging scope of the 53 essays and interviews collected in these nearly 500 pages, dating from 1993 to just last year, reminds us that even within music’s commercially neglected fringes complex gradations of sub-genre exist, separating the hardcore avant-garde devotee from one who thinks they’re down because they own a copy of Space Is the Place. ... But first and foremost [Corbett] is a devotee of challenging and outré sounds, and his essays are most compelling when he dives headfirst into his chronicles with a fan’s enthusiasm and verve. ...These pieces beautifully balance serious musical scholarship and critical analysis with the kind of collar-grabbing, “give-this-a-listen” excitement that draws us all to music in the first place." -- Matt R. Lohr * JazzTimes *"Corbett, like the best kind of record store crate digger, pinpoints the association between acknowledged innovators and the achievements of lesser-known figures. . .. [T]he book’s key achievement is how Corbett’s psychiatrist-like probing questions elicit the most definitive and/or instructive statements about their art from certain musicians." -- Ken Waxman * MusicWorks *"John Corbett is a smart guy who really, really loves music, and his intelligence and enthusiasm come through in every one of the essays and articles in this volume of his collected writings.... Anyone interested in what was happening on the cutting edge of music during the years these articles appeared needs to read this anthology of John Corbett’s writing." -- Ed Hazell * ARSC Journal *"John Corbett's singular critical voice is wildly alive in his latest book, a compendium of previous writings, sober reflections, clever visuals, idiosyncratic interviews, and post-genre insights into the thriving ecology of knowledge that is the contemporary music scene. At once this is a book that takes its place alongside other distinctive voices in the pell-mell topography of recent musical criticism, from Greg Tate and Lester Bangs to Nat Hentoff and Nate Chinen, and the work of an itinerant witness bearing testimony marked by a vast respect and love for improvised musicking and musical diversity.... Microgroove is an eloquent, readable, playful testimony to the otherness of music as an allegory for creative freedom and as a generative social practice that refuses limitations." -- Daniel T. Fischlin * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Table of ContentsPreface: Tympanum of the Other Frog xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction 1 One. On The Road, Into The Cul-De-Sac Joe Harriott and Bernie McGann: Flying without Ornette 15 Michael Hurley: Jocko's Lament 21 Mayo Thompson: Genre of One 33 John Stevens: Unpopular Populists 36 Peter Brötzmann Tentet: Freeways 40 Steve Lacy: Sojourner Saxophone 49 David Grubbs: Postcards from the Edge 57 Voice Crack: From Nothing to Everything 67 Two. Exigeneses Of Creative Music Milford Graves: Pulseology 71 Out of Nowhere: Deleuze, Gräwe, Cadence 79 Carla Bley and Steve Swallow: Feeding Quarters to the Nonstop Mental Jukebox 85 Misha Mengelberg: No Simple Calculations for Life 93 Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink: Natural Inbuilt Contrapuncto 109 Form Follows Faction? Ethnicity and Creative Music 116 Anthony Braxton: Ism vs. Is 123 Anthony Braxton: Bildungsmusik—Thoughts on Composition 171 129 Paul Lowens: Lo Our Lo 132 Clark Coolidge: The Improvised Line 136 Nathaniel Mackey: Steep Incumbencies 142 Sun Ra: From the Windy City to the Omniverse—Chicago Life as a Street Priest of D.I.Y. Jazz 153 Fred Anderson: The House That Fred Built 162 Three. Ululations And Other Vocal Stimulants Sun Ra: Queer Voice 169 Jaap Blonk: Uncommon Tongue 170 PJ Harvey: Mother's Tongue 179 Aural Sex: The Female Orgasm in Popular Sound (coauthored with Terri Kapsalis) 182 Liz Phair and Lou Barlow: On Music, Sex, TV, and Beyond 194 Liz Phair and Kim Gordon: Exile in Galville? 205 Koko Taylor: The Blue Queen Cooks 212 Brion Gysin and Steve Lacy: Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permuted 217 Four. The Horn Section Ornette Coleman: Doing Is Believing 233 Roscoe Mitchell: Citizen of Sound 244 Fred Anderson and Von Freeman: Tenacity 250 George Lewis: Interactive Imagination 258 Mats Gustafsson: MG at Half-C 264 Ken Vandermark: Six Dispatches from the Memory Bank 270 Ken Vandermark and Joe McPhee: Mutual Admiration Society 278 Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker: Bring Something to the Table 285 Five. Track Marks Oncology of the Record Album 297 Discaholic or Vinyl Freak? Mats Gustafsson Interrogates John Corbett 301 Twenty-Seven Enthusiasms: A Spontaneous Listening Session 308 A Very Visual Kind of Music: The Cartoon Soundtrack beyond the Screen 313 R. L. Burnside and Jon Spencer: Fattening Frogs for Snake Drive 322 Before and After Punk: The Comp as Teaching Tool 331 Raymond Scott: Cradle of Electronica 336 Six. Melodic Line and Tone Color Peter Brötzmann: Graphic Equalizer 343 Albert Oehlen: Bionic Painting 347 Albert Oehlen: Mangy—A Conversation and a Playlist 352 Christopher Wool: Impropositions—Improvisation, Dub Painting 359 Christopher Wool: Into the Woods—Six Meditations on the Interdisciplinary 366 Sun Ra: An Afro-Space-Jazz Imaginary—The Printed Record of El Saturn 371 Seven. The Texture Of Refusal Helmut Lachenmann: Hellhörig, or the Intricacies of Perceptiveness 379 Guillermo Gregorio: Madi Music 387 Experimental Oriental: New Music and Other Others 391 Afterword: A Concise History of Music 417 Grooving On: Selected Listening 423 Credits 443 Index 447
£89.10
Duke University Press Improvisation and Social Aesthetics
Book SynopsisAddressing a diverse set of improvised art and music forms—from jazz and cinema to dance and literature—this volume traces how the social, political, and the aesthetic relate within the context of improvisation.Trade Review"An indispensable collection that cracks open a site for more rich and interdisciplinary work." -- Dan DiPiero * boundary 2 *"[Readers] will be more than rewarded by the insight it offers into the social aesthetics of improvisation, issues you will no longer be able to ignore as you listen to your next improv recording or attend your next improv concert." -- Lawrence Joseph * Musicworks *"Through both their rigorous theoretical grounding and curation of such a brilliant array of cross-disciplinary contributions, Born, Lewis and Straw offer a thoroughly inspiring set of tools for the academy to begin theorizing where, how and for whom art’s social mediations are occurring. I cannot recommend it highly enough." -- Toby Young * Visual Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. What is Social Aesthetics? / Georgina Born, Eric Lewis, and Will Straw 1 Part I. The Social and the Aesthetic 1. After Relational Aesthetics: Improvised Music, the Social, and (Re)Theorizing the Aesthetic / Georgina Born 33 2. Scripting Social Interaction: Improvisation, Performance, and Western "Art" Music / Nicholas Cook 59 3. From the American Civil Rights Movement to Mali: Reflections on Social Aesthetics and Improvisation / Ingrid Monson 78 4. From Network Bands to Ubiquitous Computing: Rich Gold and the Social Aesthetics of Interactvity / George E. Lewis 91 Part II. Genre and Defintion 5. The Social Aesthetics of Swing in the 1940s: Or the Distribution of the Non-Sensible / David Brackett 113 6. What Is "Great Black Music"? The Social Aesthetics of the AACM in Paris / Eric Lewis 135 7. Kenneth Goldsmith and Uncreative Improvisation / Darren Wershler 160 Part III. Sociality and Identity 8. Strayhorn's Queer Arrangements / Lisa Barg 183 9. What's Love Got to Do with It? Creating Art, Creating Community, Creating a Better World / Tracey Nicholls 213 10. Improvisation in New Wave Cinema: Beneath the Myth, the Social / Marian Froger, translated by Will Straw 233 Part IV. Performance 11. Social Aesthetics and Transcultural Improvisation: Wayde Compton and the Performance of Black Time / Winfried Siemerling 255 12. Devices of Existence: Contact Improvisation, Mobile Performances, and Dancing through Twitter / Susan Kozel 268 13. The Dramaturgy of Spontaneity: Improvising the Social in Theater / Zoë Svendsen 288 References 309 Contributors' Biographies 335 Index 339
£112.20
Duke University Press Terminated for Reasons of Taste
Book SynopsisIn Terminated for Reasons of Taste, veteran rock critic Chuck Eddy brings lost, ignored, and maligned pop music to the fore, considering marginalized styles and artists right alongside pop music's heavyweights like Bruce Springsteen, the Beastie Boys, and Taylor Swift.Trade Review"Taking his cue from rock writer Lester Bangs and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Eddy consistently assumes the literary character of a victimized, knowledgeable, smart-ass rock writer who has just uncovered the latest hidden musical treasure." -- David P. Szatmary * Library Journal *"Eddy's smarts, freakish knowledge of the obscure, and some hilarious takedowns make the collection feel like hanging out with a cool uncle who gifts you music knowledge nuggets impossible to find elsewhere." -- Libby Webster * Austin Chronicle *"Terminated for Reasons of Taste reads like an eclectic Spotify mix on shuffle. . . . Eddy’s knowledgeable and clever writing makes even his most exploratory essays feel less like indulgent ‘Think Pieces’ and more like listening to a clerk at a store that sells records to a very diverse customer base: no judgment, no arrogance, just a pure love of music and some honest opinion." -- Eric Rovie * PopMatters *"Can we talk for a second about what a good year Duke University Press is having with rock critic anthologies? They’ve released Greg Tate’s long-awaited FlyBoy 2: The Greg Tate Reader and this tasty slab by Austin-based, Detroit-reared critic Chuck Eddy . . . . This collection draws from such diverse outlets as the Village Voice, Creem magazine, Rhapsody.com, music message boards, and Eddy’s high school newspaper and presents all sides of the seasoned scribe: combative and thoughtful, contrary and compelling." -- Joe Gross * Austin American-Statesman *"Prioritising enjoyment over critical dogma with a rigour that becomes almost ideological, Eddy scrapes off the barnacles of conventional wisdom to help the music he loves sail into uncharted realms of aesthetic scrutiny. . . . [A] selection which blends Eddy’s ‘proper’ Village Voice journalism with fanzine clippings and message board posts seamlessly enough (and with a sufficient absence of 'generational kvetching') to suggest music writing might have a future as well as a past." -- Ben Thompson * Mojo *"A challenging and rewarding book for those interested in music history and criticism, and a quirky introduction to so much of what has passed for popular music over the decades. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." -- R. D. Cohen * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Introduction. Sold a Decade at a Time 1 1. B.C. The Best Songs of 1930 11 Depression Music 13 Country Rap Prehistory 15 Country Songs I 17 Niela Miller: Songs of Leaving 25 '60s Catholic Folk Mass 27 Country Songs II 28 CB Jeebies 39 Can't Fool Mother Nature 40 Prog on the Prairie: Midwestern Bands Roll Over Beethoven 41 Past Expiry Hard Rock Dollar Bin 44 Sonic Taxonomy: Fake New Wave 56 Inventing Indie Rock 64 Urinals→No Age 67 2. 80s Sonic Taxonomy: Unsung '80s R&B Bands 77 Country Rap: The 80s 85 Sonic Taxonomy: Old Old Old School Rap Albums 87 Public Enemy Do the Punk Rock 96 Beastie Boys: Lay It Down, Clowns 98 Aerosmith, Endangered No More 105 Metallica: Kill 'Em All Turns 30 110 Fates Warning and Possessed Open Up and Say . . . Ahh! 113 Dead Milkmen vs. Thelonious Monster: Battle of the Lame 114 Einstürzende Neubauten / Killdozer: The Graystone, Detroit, 11 June 1986 116 New Wave über Alles 118 Frank Chickens→M.I.A. 124 Owed to the Nightingales 127 Mekons Stumble toward Oblivion 130 Mekons: So Good It Hurts 132 Pet Shop Boys: 18 Shopping Days Left 133 Billy Joel: It's Not His Fault! 135 John Hiatt: Bring the Family 139 John Anderson Serves the Doofus Majority 140 Country Songs III 142 The '80s: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 145 3. 90s TLC and Kris Kross: Women and Children First 157 Cause & Effect: Trip 160 The Cure: Spectrum, Philadelphia, 16 May 1992 161 SOS from the Metal of Nowhere 163 Motörhead Überkill 164 Pankow and Treponem Pal Ring in Desert Storm 168 How Nirvana Didn't Kill Hair Metal 170 Sponge: From Grunge to Glam 171Radio On Reviews I 172 Travis Marries a Man! 178 John Mellencamp: Dance Naked 179 Sawyer Brown: Café on the Corner 181 Patricia Conroy: A Bad Day for Trains 182 Grupo Exterminador: Dedicado a Mis Novias 183 When FSK Plays, Schnitzel Happens 184Radio On Reviews II 185 Alanis Morissette: Addicted to Love 189 4. '00s Singles Again: Backstabs in the Material World 197 Bruce Springsteen: Working on a Dream 202 Frat Daze, Clambake, Anyways, It's Still Country Soul to Kenny Chesney 204 Country Music Goes to Mexico 204 September 11: Country Music's Response 204 Battle of the Country Hunks 214 Country Songs IV 217 The Ladies of Triple A 222 Anvil Won't Go Away 225 Excellent Boring Metal from Germany 227 The Many Ideas of Oneida 228 Next Little Things 232 5. '10sSingles Jukebox Reviews 248 The Dirtbombs: Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey! 252 Redd Kross: Researching the Blues 256 Mayer Hawthorne←Robert Palmer 258 Kanye West: VEVO Power Station, Austin, 20 March 2011 261 Taylor Swift and Ke$ha: Not So Different 263 Ke$ha: Warrior 267 Strange Brew: Metal's New Blare Witch Project 269 Metal's Severed Extremities 275 Walking Dead: The Divided States of Metal 278 Voivod: Target Earth 281 Merchandise: Totale Nite 285 Mumford and Sons: Babel 287 The Gospel Truth 289 Southern Soul Keeps On Keepin' On 293 Jamey Johnson Sprawls Out 297 Country Songs V 300 Bro-Country Isn't as Dumb as It Looks 302 Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves Are What They Are 304 When the Angels Stopped Watching Mindy McCready 308 Conclusion. I Am the World's Forgettin' Boy 311 Index 315
£75.65
Duke University Press Improvisation and Social Aesthetics
Book SynopsisAddressing a diverse set of improvised art and music forms—from jazz and cinema to dance and literature—this volume traces how the social, political, and the aesthetic relate within the context of improvisation.Trade Review"An indispensable collection that cracks open a site for more rich and interdisciplinary work." -- Dan DiPiero * boundary 2 *"[Readers] will be more than rewarded by the insight it offers into the social aesthetics of improvisation, issues you will no longer be able to ignore as you listen to your next improv recording or attend your next improv concert." -- Lawrence Joseph * Musicworks *"Through both their rigorous theoretical grounding and curation of such a brilliant array of cross-disciplinary contributions, Born, Lewis and Straw offer a thoroughly inspiring set of tools for the academy to begin theorizing where, how and for whom art’s social mediations are occurring. I cannot recommend it highly enough." -- Toby Young * Visual Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. What is Social Aesthetics? / Georgina Born, Eric Lewis, and Will Straw 1 Part I. The Social and the Aesthetic 1. After Relational Aesthetics: Improvised Music, the Social, and (Re)Theorizing the Aesthetic / Georgina Born 33 2. Scripting Social Interaction: Improvisation, Performance, and Western "Art" Music / Nicholas Cook 59 3. From the American Civil Rights Movement to Mali: Reflections on Social Aesthetics and Improvisation / Ingrid Monson 78 4. From Network Bands to Ubiquitous Computing: Rich Gold and the Social Aesthetics of Interactvity / George E. Lewis 91 Part II. Genre and Defintion 5. The Social Aesthetics of Swing in the 1940s: Or the Distribution of the Non-Sensible / David Brackett 113 6. What Is "Great Black Music"? The Social Aesthetics of the AACM in Paris / Eric Lewis 135 7. Kenneth Goldsmith and Uncreative Improvisation / Darren Wershler 160 Part III. Sociality and Identity 8. Strayhorn's Queer Arrangements / Lisa Barg 183 9. What's Love Got to Do with It? Creating Art, Creating Community, Creating a Better World / Tracey Nicholls 213 10. Improvisation in New Wave Cinema: Beneath the Myth, the Social / Marian Froger, translated by Will Straw 233 Part IV. Performance 11. Social Aesthetics and Transcultural Improvisation: Wayde Compton and the Performance of Black Time / Winfried Siemerling 255 12. Devices of Existence: Contact Improvisation, Mobile Performances, and Dancing through Twitter / Susan Kozel 268 13. The Dramaturgy of Spontaneity: Improvising the Social in Theater / Zoë Svendsen 288 References 309 Contributors' Biographies 335 Index 339
£27.90
Duke University Press Vinyl Freak
Book SynopsisMusic writer, curator, and collector John Corbett burrows deep inside the record collector's mind, documenting and reflecting on his decades-long love affair with vinyl. Discussing more than 200 rare and out-of-print LPs, Corbett combines memoir and criticism to explain what makes vinyl special and what drives collectors everywhere.Trade Review"Vinyl Freak could have easily been a stale trip down memory lane by a record collector. Yet Corbett takes an almost philosophical look at how music passes through listening mediums and what that means for listeners. As a result, the text will appeal to both vinyl freaks and non-freaks as it speaks to the transience of pop culture and its intersection with everyday lives." -- Amanda McCorquodale * Foreword Reviews *"... since the discussion is at least as much about the music being collected as the vinyl package, there is also a lot of intriguing music in the book. Much (but not all) of it jazz, and all of it worth seeking out: it comes with Corbett's highest recommendation." -- Mark Sullivan * All About Jazz *"[A] fascinating look at a subculture og hard-core collectors and a gold mine of information about various kinds of music and recording esoterica.... The illustrations of the record covers under review are fascinating and the author's musical savvy is daunting. This lively book could appeal to a wide range of readers." -- David Keymer * Library Journal *"... one of the most readable books about the arcane magic of hunting down and listening to rare and unusual albums, or even rediscovering them from your own collection." -- Jon Newey * Jazzwise *"As a person who is not quite an over-the-top Sun Ra aficionado but is certainly more than a casual fan, I am forever grateful for Corbett’s obsession. As a person who is always interested in discovering new and obscure music, I am also forever grateful for Corbett and his publisher compiling this collection of reviews. Although I read several of them in their original incarnation in Downbeat, this little book is now my reference guide for music I need to check out. Thanks again, John Corbett." -- Ron Jacobs * Counterpunch *"[Corbett's] new book digs deep into the culture of the vinyl lover and digs even deeper into his personal record collection. In the process, he exposes a beautiful and dusty world largely forgotten but kept alive by that dead medium known as the vinyl record." -- Christopher Laird * PopMatters *"Corbett really is an 'equal opportunity ear filler' and is willing to acquire the music he really enjoys in any format. With Vinyl Freak John Corbett invites us to join him in the pleasure of discovering new sounds to indulge our ears. So what are you waiting for? You’ve been invited. Highly Recommended!" -- Chris De Chiara * Avant Music News *"Corbett still has an obscene record collection, but he's realized that his greatest mission is to share and educate—to arrange things so that others can experience the joy that he does. As much as anything I've read by him, Vinyl Freak does precisely that." -- Peter Margasak * Chicago Reader *"John Corbett is one of my favourite music writers. This book gathers up his elegaic and highly informative columns for Vinyl Freak magazine along with a series of mediations or essays on his love of music, an engaging mix of autobiography, reflection and storytelling. There are lots of colour pictures of record sleeves too." -- Rupert Loydell * International Times *"Corbett's deep knowledge in his chosen fields yields many valuable insights about records you may never have even heard of, let alone heard. Sure, he appreciates the classics, but he favours outliers. Admirably, he wants to broaden the canon (it would behoove readers to keep a notebook handy to tabulate all the records for which they should search).... And that is the motor of Vinyl Freak: an insatiable desire for the next revelatory recording, offering a thrilling portal to discover a hidden facet of your identity through a work of art. And if it impresses your mates or seduces a potential lover, so much the better." -- Dave Segal * The Wire *"John Corbett revels in the knowledge he's gained from a life spent rooting round shops and chats with like-minded souls. It's the final section that will resonate with most, detailing his experience unearthing an entire house-worth of Sun Ra memorabilia, it is so vividly written that you can almost sense his pulse racing as he ecstatically rifles through priceless artefacts." * Record Collector *"Corbett writes with both enthusiasm and a keen ear, the upshot of which is that high-dollar rarities and cheapies that shred get near-equal attention." -- Clifford Allen * New York City Jazz Record *"John Corbett shows how vinyl collecting serves archival and perhaps even societal purposes. By actively reanimating obscure and hard to find vinyl, he demonstrates that 'vinyl freaks' make worlds available that otherwise might be lost. Vinyl Freak opens up a world of vinyl, revealing recordings, musicians, as well as cultural history, that remain written in the grooves of decades-old records." -- Janet Borgerson & Jonathan Schroeder * Popular Music and Society *“Vinyl Freak is a good read, a well-written collection that helps with the fun and overwhelming project of trying to come to grips with the huge amount of music preserved in the LP era. I cannot imagine even casual collectors making it through Vinyl Freak without adding several items to their wants lists.” -- Carlos Peña * ARSC Journal *"The spirit of this book, it’s generosity and enthusiasm all work to support John’s preferred status as a 'Freak' not a 'Snob.' I love records. I love books. A beautiful book about crazy rare and out-of-print records?! Heaven." -- Jeff Tweedy * Amazon Book Review *Table of ContentsTrack One / Formation of a Freak 1 Track Two / "News of My Death, Greatly Exaggerated," Quoth the Record 5 Column One / 2000–2003 Philly Joe Jones, Philly Joe Jones 15 Paul Gonsalves, Cookin' 16 Takashi Furuya with the Freshmen, Fanky Drivin' 18 Carsten Meinert Kvartet, To You 20 Melvin Jackson, Funky Skull 21 Gloria Coleman Quartet featuring Pola Roberts, Soul Sisters 23 Elmo Hope Ensemble, Sounds from Rikers Island 24 Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Brotherhood 26Morris Grants Presents J.U.N.K. 28 Tom Stewart, Sexette / Quintette 30 Kenny Graham and His Satellites, Moondog and Suncat Suites 31 John Coltrane, Cosmic Music 33 André Hodeir, Jazz et Jazz: Jazz Experiments; Triple Play Stereo, Pop+Jazz=Swing; Bill Russo Orchestra, Stereophony 35 George Davis Sextet, various acetates 37 Staffan Harde, Staffan Harde 39 Art Pepper, Chile Pepper 42 Jack Wilson, The Jazz Organs 43 Craig Harris, Tributes 45 Quintet Moderne, The Strange and the Commonplace 46 A. K. Salim, Afro-Soul / Drum Orgy 48 Tristan Meinecke, home recordings, 1939–43 50 Chico Hamilton Quintet, Sweet Smell of Success 52 Lehn-Strid, Here There; Klapper-Küchen, Irregular 54 Bill Leslie, Diggin' the Chicks; Thornel Schwartz with Bill Leslie, Soul Cookin' 55 Tony Scott and His Buddies, Gypsy 57 Herbie Mann, Great Ideas of Western Mann 58 Track Three / Freek, Not Snob 61 Column Two . 2004–2006 Afreaka!, Demon Fuzz 69 Contemporary Sound Series 70 Beaver Harris / Don Pullen 360-Degree Experience, A Well-Kept Secret 72 Mike Osborne Trio, Border Crossing 73 The Three Souls, Dangerous Dan Express 75 Steve Lacy, Raps 77 Halki Collective, Halki Collective 79 The Amran-Barrow Quartet, The Eastern Scene 80 Charlie Parke acetates 82 Tommy "Madman" Jones, A Different Sound and Just Friends 84 New York Art Quartet, Mohawk 86 Paul Gonsalves / Tubby Hayes, Just Friends; Paul Gonsalves All Stars Featuring Tubby Hayes, Change of Setting 88 Anthony Braxton, New York, Fall 1974 90 Herbie Fields Sextet, A Night at Kitty's 91 Air, 80° Below '82 93 Guy Warren with Red Saunders Orchestra, Africa Speaks—American Answers! 94 Barry Altschul, Another Time, Another Place 96 The Korean Black Eyes, "Higher" 97 Rufus Jones, Five on Eight 99 Johnny Shacklett Trio, At the Hoffman House 100 The Mad-Hatters, The Mad-Hatters at Midnight 102 Klaus Doldinger, Doldinger Goes On 103 Max Roach, Solos 105 Dick Johnson, Most Likely . . . 106 Phil Seaman, The Phil Seamen Story 108 Paul Smoker Trio, QB 109 Khan Jamal, Drumdance to the Motherland; Franz Koglmann, For Franz / Opium 111 Track Four / Brand New Secondhand: Record Collector Subcultures 113 Column Three / 2006–2012 Walt Dunn, seven-inch singles 123 Leonard Feather, The Night Blooming Jazzmen 125 Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Modern Jazz Expressions 126 Archie Shepp, Plays the Music of James Brown; Cozy Eggleston, Grand Slam 128 Black Grass, Black Grass 129 Yoke & Yohs seven-inch 45 The Bill Dixon Orchestra, Intents and Purposes 132 Orchestre Régional de Mopti, Orchestre Régional de Mopti 134 The Jihad, Black & Beautiful . . . Soul & Madness 136 Milford Graves / Don Pullen, Milford Graves & Don Pullen at Yale University 137 Heikki Sarmanto Sextet, Flowers in the Water; G.L. Unit, Orangutang! 139 Ernie and Emilio Caceres, Ernie & Emilio Caceres 141 Maarten Altena, Papa Oewa 142 London Experimental Jazz Quartet, Invisible Roots 144 Sunny Murray, Big Chief; Solidarity Unit, Inc., Red, Black, and Green 146 Dick Wetmore, Dick Wetmore 147 United Front, Path with a Heart 149 Joseph Scianni, Man Running 150 The Residents, The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles 152 John Carter / Bobby Bradford Quartet, Flight for Four and Self Determination Music 153 Johnny Lytle Trio, Blue Vibes 155 Orchid Spangiafora, Flee Pasts Ape Elf 156 Noah Howard, Space Dimension 158 Baikida Carroll, The Spoken Word 159 Randy Weston, Blues 161 Charles Bobo Shaw Human Arts Ensemble Çonceré Ntasiah 163 Lee "Scratch" Perry, Double-7 164 Eddie Shu / Joe Roland / Wild Bill Davis, New Stars—New Sounds 166 Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley, Ailanthus / Altissima 167 Unidentified Kenyan Highlife Band, seven-inch test pressing 169 Track Five / Specialty of the House 173 Track Six / Anything Can Happen Day: Sun Ra, Alton Abraham, and the Taming of the Freak 221 Column Four / 2016 Le Sun-Ra and his Arkistra, "Saturn" seven-inch single; Tom Prehn Quartet, Axiom 243 Track Seven / Run-Off Groove 247 Acknowledgements 249
£75.65
Duke University Press Listening for Africa
Book SynopsisDavid F. Garcia examines the work of a wide range of musicians, dancers, academics, and activists between the 1930s and the 1950s to show how their belief in black music's African roots would provide the means to debunk racist ideologies, aid decolonization of Africa, and ease racial violence.Trade Review“Listening for Africa is a book that deserves to be read carefully and slowly. It is a work of sensitive and rigorous archival research combined with a sophisticated theoretical framework.” -- Ryan T. Skinner * American Anthropologist *“Scholars of Africanisms and race relations will appreciate Garcia's message. Recommended.” -- K. W. Mukuna * Choice *"An interesting and insightful read. . . . With an extensive bibliography at the end, this book will be of much interest to a wide variety of scholars interested in sound studies: anthropologists, musicologists, cultural studies scholars, and critical race theorists, to name a few. Garcia’s work gives scholars new tools to examine racial motivations behind music studies and discussions of music and sound, and new ways to discuss how that affects our writing, scholarly discussions and consensus, and the cultural influences of that information." -- Chelsea Adams * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Listening for Africa ambitiously and provocatively weaves together multiple strands of a rich, complex, and decidedly important tale: how academics and artists of diverse backgrounds engaged and promoted the African origins of diasporic black music and dance. . . . The best parts of the book were so ear-opening that I wished I was reading the first volume of a historical trilogy on the locus of artistic and intellectual biography at formative moments in the disciplinary organization of anthropology and ethnomusicology." -- Steven Feld * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Theoretically ambitious and meticulously researched. . . sure to become a classic account of the discursive construction of blackness through music." -- Michael Birenbaum Quintero * Journal of Popular Music Studies *"This impressive monograph is an archaeology of knowledge via several intersecting fields—anthropology, comparative musicology, folklore, African American, and dance studies—and interrogates the performances of an African past as manifested in Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, and African American contexts." -- Joel Dinerstein * African American Review *"Listening for Africa is an immensely useful study, documenting as it does the roles of numerous actants who otherwise do not appear in the established histories of jazz." -- Bruce Johnson * Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Analyzing the African Origins of Negro Music and Dance in a Time of Racism, Fascism, and War 21 2. Listening to Africa in the City, in the Laboratory, and on Record 74 3. Embodying Africa against Racial Oppression, Ignorance, and Colonialism 124 4. Disalienating Movement and Sound from the Pathologies of Freedom and Time 173 5. Desiring Africa, or Western Civilization's Discontents 221 Conclusion. Dance-Music as Rhizome 268 Notes 277 Bibliography 323 Index 345
£112.20
Duke University Press Listening for Africa
Book SynopsisDavid F. Garcia examines the work of a wide range of musicians, dancers, academics, and activists between the 1930s and the 1950s to show how their belief in black music's African roots would provide the means to debunk racist ideologies, aid decolonization of Africa, and ease racial violence.Trade Review“Listening for Africa is a book that deserves to be read carefully and slowly. It is a work of sensitive and rigorous archival research combined with a sophisticated theoretical framework.” -- Ryan T. Skinner * American Anthropologist *“Scholars of Africanisms and race relations will appreciate Garcia's message. Recommended.” -- K. W. Mukuna * Choice *"An interesting and insightful read. . . . With an extensive bibliography at the end, this book will be of much interest to a wide variety of scholars interested in sound studies: anthropologists, musicologists, cultural studies scholars, and critical race theorists, to name a few. Garcia’s work gives scholars new tools to examine racial motivations behind music studies and discussions of music and sound, and new ways to discuss how that affects our writing, scholarly discussions and consensus, and the cultural influences of that information." -- Chelsea Adams * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Listening for Africa ambitiously and provocatively weaves together multiple strands of a rich, complex, and decidedly important tale: how academics and artists of diverse backgrounds engaged and promoted the African origins of diasporic black music and dance. . . . The best parts of the book were so ear-opening that I wished I was reading the first volume of a historical trilogy on the locus of artistic and intellectual biography at formative moments in the disciplinary organization of anthropology and ethnomusicology." -- Steven Feld * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Theoretically ambitious and meticulously researched. . . sure to become a classic account of the discursive construction of blackness through music." -- Michael Birenbaum Quintero * Journal of Popular Music Studies *"This impressive monograph is an archaeology of knowledge via several intersecting fields—anthropology, comparative musicology, folklore, African American, and dance studies—and interrogates the performances of an African past as manifested in Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, and African American contexts." -- Joel Dinerstein * African American Review *"Listening for Africa is an immensely useful study, documenting as it does the roles of numerous actants who otherwise do not appear in the established histories of jazz." -- Bruce Johnson * Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Analyzing the African Origins of Negro Music and Dance in a Time of Racism, Fascism, and War 21 2. Listening to Africa in the City, in the Laboratory, and on Record 74 3. Embodying Africa against Racial Oppression, Ignorance, and Colonialism 124 4. Disalienating Movement and Sound from the Pathologies of Freedom and Time 173 5. Desiring Africa, or Western Civilization's Discontents 221 Conclusion. Dance-Music as Rhizome 268 Notes 277 Bibliography 323 Index 345
£27.90
Duke University Press Black and Blur
Book SynopsisIn Black and Blur—the first volume in his consent not to be a single being trilogy—Fred Moten engages in a capacious consideration of the place and force of blackness in African diaspora arts, politics, and life, exploring a wide range of thinkers, musicians, and artists.Trade Review"Simply put, Moten is offering up some of the most affecting, most useful, theoretical thinking that exists on the planet today.... Moten’s work makes the activities of reading and thinking feel palpably fresh, weird, and vital." -- Maggie Nelson * 4Columns *"Some readers will come here because of The Feel Trio, because of The Undercommons. Some because Moten is the activists’ theorist, the contemporary art institution’s darling, because of performance studies, jazz studies, literature. Some readers will come here to encounter a brain that is at once more erudite, generous, capacious, fierce, jokey and infuriating than most others on the planet right now. Everybody ought to arrive here to be schooled and troubled, elated and confused, invited and indicted by a sparklingly original vision for black study." -- Nabil Kashyap * Full Stop *"It's this spirit of the collective effort of study and exchange and resonance, the effort to keep the channels open and keep listening, that has made Moten (or, maybe, 'Moten/s') such a celebrated thinker. At the end of sentences like these, you want to say something like Amen." -- Jess Row * Bookforum *"Be ready to be wowed; be ready to be challenged; most of all, be ready for the long haul. It is, apparently, the first in a planned trilogy. Moten is tracking his own course, and it’s fast-moving and spectacular." -- Patrick James Dunagan * Rain Taxi *"At a time when both theory and criticism are frequently and convincingly attacked as exhausted forms, Moten’s trilogy has reinvented both. . . . In its mixture of theoretical complexity and disarming directness, Moten’s beautifully written trilogy offers the sheer pleasure of art." -- Lidija Haas * Vulture *"2018 must go down for me as the year of Fred Moten’s trilogy: Black and Blur, Stolen Life, and The Universal Machine. You could say they’re essays about art, philosophy, blackness, and the refusal of social death, but I think of them more as a fractal universe forever inviting immersion and exploration, a living force now inhabiting my bookshelf." -- Maggie Nelson * Bookforum *"My favorite book(s) of 2018 are the three volumes of Fred Moten’s consent not to be a single being, individually titled Black and Blur, Stolen Life, and The Universal Machine. In this collection of essays stretching back fifteen years, Moten challenges the reader to imagine a radically interconnected aesthetic and political sphere that stretches from Glenn Gould to Fanon to Kant to Theaster Gates, sometimes in the space of a single sentence. This trilogy is one of the great intellectual adventures of our era." -- Jess Row * Bookforum *"A brilliant collection of essays, part of a series that investigates notions of Blackness and its representation. This is writing and practice that summons the irregular and the resistant.” -- Katrina Palmer * The Art Newspaper *Table of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xv 1. Not In Between 1 2. Interpolation and Interpellation 28 3. Magic of Objects 34 4. Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia 40 5. Taste Dissonance Flavor Escape (Preface to a Solo by Miles Davis) 66 6. The New International of Rhythmic Feel/ings 86 7. The Phonographic Mise-en Scène 118 8. Line Notes for Lick Piece 134 9. Rough Americana 147 10. Nothing, Everything 152 11. Nowhere, Everywhere 158 12. Nobody, Everybody 168 13. Remind 170 14. Amuse-Bouche 174 15. Collective Head 184 16. Cornered, Taken, Made to Leave 198 17. Enjoy All Monsters 206 18. Some Extrasubtitles for Wildness 212 19. To Feel, to Feel More, to Feel More Than 215 20. Irruptions and Incoherences for Jimmie Durham 219 21. Black and Blue on White. In and And Space 226 22. Blue Vespers 230 23. The Blur and Breathe Books 245 24. Entanglement and Virtuosity 270 25. Bobby Lee's Hands 280 Notes 285 Works Cited 317 Index 329
£75.65
Fordham University Press Hits Philosophy in the Jukebox
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A writer of exquisite sensitivity and wit, as well as of impeccable clarity... A fascinating and thoroughly unique contribution to the study of popular culture, music, and more." -- -Gil Anidjar Columbia University
£24.29
Fordham University Press Speaking of Music
Book SynopsisA collection of essays that address the ways that writers, musicians, philosophers, politicians, critics, and scholars speak of music from varying standpoints and in varying ways. An introduction to the volume identifies common themes and issues.Trade Review"A rare, useful, and rich book, destined to attract musicologists, philosophers, theorists of all sorts, and philosophers of language." -- -Pierre Saint-Amand Brown University "Throughout the book there are imaginative insights and unique perspectives that challenge preconceptions and give new directions for further investigation." -- -Kenneth Gloag Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Speaking of Music: A View across Disciplines and a Lexicon of Topoi Keith Chapin and Andrew H. Clark Speaking of Music Lawrence Kramer Waiting for the Death Knell: Speaking of Music (So to Speak) Laura Odello Mattheson's Words, Bach's Silence: Humanist and Professional Ways of Speaking of Music Keith Chapin Making Music Speak Andrew H. Clark Rousseau: Music, Language, and Politics Tracy B. Strong Listening to Music Lawrence M. Zbikowski Mi manca la voce: How Balzac Talks Music-or How Music Takes Place-in Massimilla Doni John T. Hamilton Speaking of Music in the Romantic Era: Dynamic and Resistant Aspects of Musical Genre Matthew Gelbart Weather Reports: Discourse and Musical Cognition Per Aage Brandt Messiaen, Deleuze, and the Birds of Proclamation Sander van Maas Parole, parole: Tautegory and the Musicology of the (Pop) Song Peter Szendy Speaking of Microsound: The Bodies of Henri Chopin Kiene Brillenburg Wurth On the Ethics of the Unspeakable Jairo Moreno Recit Recitation Recitative Jean-Luc Nancy Notes List of Contributors Index
£74.70
Fordham University Press Speaking of Music Addressing the Sonorous
Book SynopsisA collection of essays that address the ways that writers, musicians, philosophers, politicians, critics, and scholars speak of music from varying standpoints and in varying ways. An introduction to the volume identifies common themes and issues.Trade Review"A rare, useful, and rich book, destined to attract musicologists, philosophers, theorists of all sorts, and philosophers of language." -- -Pierre Saint-Amand Brown University "Throughout the book there are imaginative insights and unique perspectives that challenge preconceptions and give new directions for further investigation." -- -Kenneth Gloag Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Speaking of Music: A View across Disciplines and a Lexicon of Topoi Keith Chapin and Andrew H. Clark Speaking of Music Lawrence Kramer Waiting for the Death Knell: Speaking of Music (So to Speak) Laura Odello Mattheson's Words, Bach's Silence: Humanist and Professional Ways of Speaking of Music Keith Chapin Making Music Speak Andrew H. Clark Rousseau: Music, Language, and Politics Tracy B. Strong Listening to Music Lawrence M. Zbikowski Mi manca la voce: How Balzac Talks Music-or How Music Takes Place-in Massimilla Doni John T. Hamilton Speaking of Music in the Romantic Era: Dynamic and Resistant Aspects of Musical Genre Matthew Gelbart Weather Reports: Discourse and Musical Cognition Per Aage Brandt Messiaen, Deleuze, and the Birds of Proclamation Sander van Maas Parole, parole: Tautegory and the Musicology of the (Pop) Song Peter Szendy Speaking of Microsound: The Bodies of Henri Chopin Kiene Brillenburg Wurth On the Ethics of the Unspeakable Jairo Moreno Recit Recitation Recitative Jean-Luc Nancy Notes List of Contributors Index
£29.70
Fordham University Press Thresholds of Listening
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays addresses recent and historical changes in the ways in which listening has been conceived as a cultural agency and act. It argues that listening, by emancipating from an essentially implied, passive-receiving, and subjected position, has become an explicit factor in culture and the object of proactive collective and individual politics.Trade Review"Thresholds of Listening intervenes into an extraordinarily wide range of subjects, ranging from masochism and torture at one extreme to Cage and Kafka at the other. Chapters zoom by at high speed, covering enormous ground and wrestling on all fronts with music's potential value as a transformative biopolitical praxis. The level of scholarship is excellent, and van Maas's cast of contributors includes stellar names alongside emerging scholars. This is less a book about listening to music than a virtuosic inquiry into the relationships between listening, hearing, sound, and space and an investigation of the limits of the human body." -- -Anthony Gritten Royal Academy of Music "Clearly the scholarship that underpins Thresholds of Listening is generally very thorough and 'experimental,' which tests conventional understandings of scholarship. Given its unique qualities, I would rate this book as an important contribution that will be useful across a number of disciplines, from musicology and music theory to philosophy and literary theory, but also touching upon certain strands of science." -- -Kenneth Gloag Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsContents Introduction Sander van Maas 1. The Auditory Re-turn (The Point of Listening) Peter Szendy 2. Dear Listener ...: Music and the Invention of Subjectivity Lawrence Kramer 3. Scenes of Devastation: Interpellation, Finite and Infinite Sander van Maas 4. Positive Feedback: Listening Behind Hearing David Wills 5. Antennas Have Long Since Invaded Our Brains: Listening to 'the Other Music' in Friedrich Kittler Melle Kromhout 6. Movement at the Boundaries of Listening, Composition, and Performance Jason Freeman 7. The Biopolitics of Noise: Kafka's 'Der Bau' Anthony Adler 8. Torture as an Instrument of Music John Hamilton 9. Stop it, I Like it! Embodiment, Masochism and Listening for Traumatic Pleasure Robert Sholl 10. Sounds of Belonging: Accented Writing in Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight Liedeke Plate 11. Back to the Beat: Silent Orality in Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries Kiene Brillenburg Wurth 12. The Discovery of Slowness in Music Alexander Rehding 13. Negotiating Ecstasy: Electronic Dance Music and the Temporary Autonomous Zone Andrew Shenton Notes List of Contributors Index
£92.70
Fordham University Press Thresholds of Listening Sound Technics Space
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays addresses recent and historical changes in the ways in which listening has been conceived as a cultural agency and act. It argues that listening, by emancipating from an essentially implied, passive-receiving, and subjected position, has become an explicit factor in culture and the object of proactive collective and individual politics.Trade Review"Thresholds of Listening intervenes into an extraordinarily wide range of subjects, ranging from masochism and torture at one extreme to Cage and Kafka at the other. Chapters zoom by at high speed, covering enormous ground and wrestling on all fronts with music's potential value as a transformative biopolitical praxis. The level of scholarship is excellent, and van Maas's cast of contributors includes stellar names alongside emerging scholars. This is less a book about listening to music than a virtuosic inquiry into the relationships between listening, hearing, sound, and space and an investigation of the limits of the human body." -- -Anthony Gritten Royal Academy of Music "Clearly the scholarship that underpins Thresholds of Listening is generally very thorough and 'experimental,' which tests conventional understandings of scholarship. Given its unique qualities, I would rate this book as an important contribution that will be useful across a number of disciplines, from musicology and music theory to philosophy and literary theory, but also touching upon certain strands of science." -- -Kenneth Gloag Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsContents Introduction Sander van Maas 1. The Auditory Re-turn (The Point of Listening) Peter Szendy 2. Dear Listener ...: Music and the Invention of Subjectivity Lawrence Kramer 3. Scenes of Devastation: Interpellation, Finite and Infinite Sander van Maas 4. Positive Feedback: Listening Behind Hearing David Wills 5. Antennas Have Long Since Invaded Our Brains: Listening to 'the Other Music' in Friedrich Kittler Melle Kromhout 6. Movement at the Boundaries of Listening, Composition, and Performance Jason Freeman 7. The Biopolitics of Noise: Kafka's 'Der Bau' Anthony Adler 8. Torture as an Instrument of Music John Hamilton 9. Stop it, I Like it! Embodiment, Masochism and Listening for Traumatic Pleasure Robert Sholl 10. Sounds of Belonging: Accented Writing in Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight Liedeke Plate 11. Back to the Beat: Silent Orality in Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries Kiene Brillenburg Wurth 12. The Discovery of Slowness in Music Alexander Rehding 13. Negotiating Ecstasy: Electronic Dance Music and the Temporary Autonomous Zone Andrew Shenton Notes List of Contributors Index
£27.90
Fordham University Press The MuchatOnce Music Science Ecstasy the Body
Book SynopsisIn this capstone work of his career, Bruce W. Wilshire builds on William James’s concept of the much-at-once to develop a holistic philosophy of the experiencing body, giving special attention to the importance of music, and engaging a rich array of thinkers and composers ranging from Jefferson and James to Beethoven and Mahler.Trade Review"The Much-at-Once is an extraordinary edifice, a cathedral of concepts, a summa of Bruce Wilshire's distinguished and diverse writings. It is unprecedented in our time." -- -Edward S. Casey Stony Brook University, SUNY "For decades, the late Bruce Wilshire has showered us with incandescent prose, teaching us to reflect and see beyond the banal, the habitual, the perpetual vises that often render our experiencing inert. In this last bequest from Wilshire, he teaches us how to listen, how to hear." -- -John J. McDermott University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities in Medicine, Texas A&M UniversityTable of ContentsForeword by Edward S. Casey Preface Prologue Part I: Music, Ecstasy, the Body 1. Music, the Body, Existence 2. Splitting of Sacred from Secular? 3. Where Are We? Locations and Dis-locations 4. Breaking the Trance of Mentalism Lingering Afterword Part II: Music, Art, Science, Genius 5. Fugal Strands to Be Woven 6. The United States: Experimental Nation 7. Music of Science, Thought, and the Body 8. The Mind of Music Final Benediction: Ritual as Music Appendixes A. More on Fugue, Mind, and Self B. Can Brain Science Tell Us Who We Are? C. The Body-Schema and Dimensions of Empathy Afterword by Gil Wilshire Works Cited Index
£999.99
Fordham University Press Of Stigmatology
Book SynopsisTrade Review"To the now of the point, Heidegger opposes the ecstasy of time. For the past of the point, Deleuze substitutes becoming without history. Both, Peter Szendy objects, are but different ways of punctuating. Cuts, blows, silences, blanks: these stigmata are all irreducible, as are punctuation marks in a text. From ontology to linguistics, from learned treatise to comic book, the grace of this fascinating text brings being back to the infinity of its cut." -- -Catherine Malabou Kingston University "Peter Szendy's brilliant reflections on the punctuation of experience make for a magnificent composition: a new philosophy of the sensible focused on how one feels oneself feeling, and an investigation of 'how one makes a point' philosophically and emotively. Never before have exclamation points, dashes, interrogatives, full stops, and quotation marks been treated so existentially; never before has the musicality of existence been so keenly tied to its notation; never before has the distance between points been used so effectively as a measure of life-span. In the "pows!" and "blams" of comic-book blows, glimmers of political violence come into focus. This is an amazing work of philosophy, aesthetics, media, and critique!!!" -- -Emily Apter New York UniversityTable of ContentsStigmatology From the Rubrica to the Smiley, A Portable History The Point of (No) Monument, or Tristram's Cut (Un)pointings P.S.: On Restitching (Lacan vs. Derrida) Phrasing, Or the Holes in Meaning The Dotted Lines of Auscultation Monauralisms, Or the Bubble of Quotation Marks Punctum Saliens, or the Salient Point The Point of the Overcast Stitch Ekphrasis General Chatter Punctuation and Politics, Or the Dot Above the I Final Survey
£54.00
Fordham University Press Shattering Biopolitics Militant Listening and
Book SynopsisFailures to listen or mishearings can be a matter of life and death. Shattering Biopolitics elaborates the intimate and complex relation between life and sound in philosophy, political theory, and sound-art.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations | ix Prologue | 1 1 Shatter | 7 Excursus 1: Calculation and Stricture in Mendi + Keith Obadike’s Numbers Station | 38 2 The Rhythm of Life | 49 Excursus 2: Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Phonetic Border-Crossings | 91 3 Mouth(piece) | 100 Excursus 3: Sharon Hayes’s Addresses | 145 4 A Use of Ears | 158 Excursus 4: The Drive to Listen in Ultra-red’s Militant Sound Investigations | 191 Acknowledgments | 207 Notes | 209 Selected Bibliography | 233 Index | 243
£85.50
Library of Congress Let the People Hear It
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£20.57
Boydell Press On Mahler and Britten
Book SynopsisCritical essays and studies reflecting the latest thinking on two major figures in 20c music.In this Festschrift for Donald Mitchell, the foremost authority on the life and works of Gustav Mahler and Benjamin Britten, distinguished composers, scholars, colleagues and friends from around the world have written on aspects of these two composers closest to Mitchell's heart, producing a volume which not only reflects some of the latest thinking on this pair of remarkable figures in the music of our century, but which also pays full tribute to the impact of Mitchell's own work on these composers over the last fifty years. The volume includes the fullest bibliography of Mitchell's writings yet compiled.Table of ContentsPart 1 On Mahler: Mahler and Viennese Modernism, Paul Banks; Gustav Mahlers sprache, Herta Blaukopf; Mahler and the BBC, Asa Briggs; Gustav Mahler - memories and translations, Peter Franklin; Mahler and the New York Philharmonic - the truth behind the legend, Henry-Louis de la Grange; Vestdijk on Mahler, 1924-69, Eveline Nikkels; Mahler on Stamps, Gilbert Kaplan; Mahler and self-renewal, Colin Matthews; in search of Mahler's childhood, David Matthews; a new transition - pages from the Third Movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony, Edward R. Reilly; the song of the Earth - some personal thoughts, Peter Sculthorpe; Mahler the factual, Erwin Stein; Mahler and Pfitzner - a parallel development, John Williamson. Part 2 On Britten: from No to Nebuchadnezzar, Mervyn Cooke; Britten and his fellow composers, David Drew; a (Far Eastern) note on "Paul Bunyan", Somsak Ketukaenchan; the key to the parade, Oliver Knussen; notes on a theme from "Peter Grimes", Ludmila Kovnatskaya; the making of Auden's "Hymn for St Cecilia's Day", Edward Mendelson; Edinburgh diary 1968, Kathleen Mitchell; towards a genealogy of "Death in Venice", Christopher Palmer; Venice, 1954, Myfanwy Piper; on the sketches for "Billy Budd", Philip Reed; "Abraham and Isaac Revisited" - reflections on a theme and its inversion, Eric Roseberry; not all the way to the tigers - Britten's "Death in Venice", Edward W. Said; Donald Mitchell as publisher - a personal recollection, Peter du Sautoy; writing and copying - a superficial survey of Benjamin Britten's music, Rosamund Strode; along the knife-edge - the topic of transcendence in Britten's musical aesthetic, Arnold Whittall; a bibliography of Donald Mitchell's writings, Maureen Buja.
£25.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Making of Peter Grimes Essays
Book SynopsisHistoric accounts and new material illuminate the creation, early history and artistic intentions of Britten's first opera.The premiere of Peter Grimes on 7 June 1945 announced the emergence of the first great composer of opera in English since Purcell. Surviving documents offer evidence of the complex interaction of differing ideas about the possible shape and content of the new work, most notably the composition draft, which these essays are particularly concerned to illuminate. They juxtapose historic material with fresh studies: three items written by members of theteam involved in the 1945 production are set alongside specially-commissioned articles, with the three-fold intention of presenting the views of some of the creators of the opera, outlining the work's early history, and offeringcontemporary perspectives on its historical context and its message.Professor PAUL BANKS is Research Development Fellow at the Royal College of Music.Contributors: PAUL BANKS, PHILIP BRETT, BENJAMIN BRITTEN, ERIC CROZIER, DONALDMITCHELL, PETER PEARS, PHILIP REED, ROSAMUND STRODE. Packed away in its pages is a very large amount of new information. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT A fitting tribute to the opera's enduring international stature, and undoubtedly [a] significant achievement in Britten studies. MUSIC AND LETTERSTrade ReviewPacked away in its pages is a very large amount of new information. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT A fitting tribute to the opera's enduring international stature, and undoubtedly [a] significant achievement in Britten studies. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Table of ContentsPreface - Paul Banks Peter Grimes (1965) - Eric Crozier
£27.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Britten and the Far East
Book SynopsisInvestigation into the influence of Eastern music on Britten's composition.Benjamin Britten's interest in the musical traditions of the Far East had a far-reaching influence on his compositional style; this book is the first to investigate the highly original cross-cultural synthesis he was able to achieve through the use of material borrowed from Balinese, Japanese and Indian music. Britten's visit to Indonesia and Japan in 1955-6 is reconstructed from archival sources, and shown to have had a profound impact on his subsequent work: the techniques of Balinese gamelan music were used in the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas (1957), and then became an essential feature of Britten's compositional style, at their most potent in Death in Venice(1973). The No drama and Gagaku court music of Japan were the inspiration for the trilogy of church parables Britten composed in the 1960s. The precise nature of these influences is discussed; Britten's sporadic borrowings from Indian music are also fully analysed. There is a survey of critical responses to Britten's cross-cultural experiments. Dr MERVYN COOKE lectures in music at the University of Nottingham.Trade ReviewFor anyone wanting to get to grips with Britten's music and his eclectic compositional style - crucial reading. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Fascinating and persuasive blend of documentary and critical study. * MUSICAL TIMES *An intelligent and detailed study. * THE JAPAN SOCIETY *Table of ContentsList of illustrations viii List of musical examples on compact disc x Acknowledgements xi Glossary of Indonesian and Japanese terms xiii 1 Making Tonic and Dominant Seem like Ghosts 1 2 Britten and Colin McPhee 23 3 Bali 50 4 The Prince of the Pagodas 90 5 Japan 112 6 From No to Church Parable: the Evolution of Curlew River, 1956-64 130 I The No Theatre 130 II Sumidagawa and the Curlew River libretto 137 III Curlew River and the dramatic style of No 153 IV Curlew River and European mediaeval drama 160 V The musical style of Curlew River: No and Gagaku 165 7 The Later Church Parables 190 I The Burning Fiery Furnace 190 II The Prodigal Son 205 8 Stylistic Synthesis: Death in Venice 220 9 The Composer and his Critics 245 Bibliography 259 Index 272
£25.64
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Mozarts Piano Concertos Dramatic Dialogue in the
Book SynopsisThe theoretical and musical background to the relationship between the piano and orchestra in Mozart's concertos.The interactive relationship between the piano and the orchestra in Mozart's concertos is an issue central to the appreciation of these great works, but one that has not yet received serious attention, a gap which this new study seeks to remedy by exploring the historical implications and hermeneutic potential of dramatic dialogue. The author shows that invocations of dramatic dialogue are deeply ingrained in late-eighteenth-century writings on instrumental music, and he develops this theme into an original and highly positive view of solo/orchestra relations in Mozart's concertos. He analyses behavioural patterns in the concertos and links them to theoretical discussion oflate-eighteenth-century drama and to analogous relational development in Mozart's operas Idomeneo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.Mozart's piano concertos emerge afresh from this new approach as an extraordinary medium of Enlightenment, as significant in their way as the greatest late-eighteenth-century operatic and theatrical works. SIMON P. KEEFE is James Rossiter Hoyle Chair of Music, University of Sheffield.Trade ReviewKeefe's book unites concepts from eighteenth-century music theory, drama, opera, and instrumental music in an illuminating matrix. Closely focused ... this masterly study will expand every reader's appreciation of Mozart's most original genre. NOTES [Andrew Willis] This closely written and thoroughly researched study adds much to our appreciation of the concept of dramatic dialogue in Mozart's mature piano concertos ... What Keefe does offer us is fascinating ... His book is of value in that the higher meaning of these subtle works is often obscure [...] he does much to make it clearer. INTERNATIONAL PIANO A lucid, enthusiastic study, carefully documented, and on the whole wearing lightly the author's hugely impressive learning - he knows the works intimately, and is also very well informed about more general considerations. PETER BRANSCOMBE The book has a great deal to offer ... an impressive accomplishment. -- David Breitman * MOZART SOCIETY OF AMERICA NEWSLETTER *Table of ContentsHeinrich Christoph Koch's Commentary on the Late-Eighteenth-Century Concerto: Towards an Understanding of Dialogue, Drama and Solo/Orchestra Relations in Mozart's Piano Concertos
£76.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Best Years of British Film Music 19361958
Book SynopsisA study of the British contribution to film music, detailing the idiosyncracies of British film, and showing how the differences between it and Hollywood affected composers on both sides of the Atlantic.Jan Swynnoe's study is concerned with the special British contribution to film music, detailing how the idiosyncracies of British film, and of the British character, set it apart from its Hollywood counterpart. She shows how the differences between the two industries in all aspects of film making variously affected composers on both sides of the Atlantic.In the mid 1930s, when film composers in America were perfecting the formulae of the classical Hollywood score, film music in Britain scarcely existed; within a year or so, however, top British composers were scoring British films. How this transformation was brought about, and how established British concert composers, including Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax, faced the challenge of the exacting and often bewildering art of scoring for feature film, is vividly described here, and the resulting scores compared with the work of seasoned Hollywood composers. JAN SWYNNOE researched the material on which her book is based over several years, at the same time pursuing her musical life as pianist, percussionist and composer.Trade ReviewThis acute and entertaining book will be indispensable for film-music buffs and enthusiasts for British music generally. Swynnoe writes out of deep knowledge and love of the subject. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE A timely and persuasive critical work on British film scoring, the book makes a significant contribution to a subject which has been largely neglected. ALBION An extremely interesting book on a subject which has barely begun to be explored in detail.. Equally valuable as a contribution to the cartography of the lost continent of British music as it is to that of British cinema. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH CINEMA & TELEVISION *Table of ContentsDifferences between British aand American films - a historical perspective; formulae in the classical Hollywood score; a comparison between British and American composers in their approach to film scoring; British composers' use of themes for narrative development; Arnold Bax's musico-dramatic treatment of "Oliver Twist"; three other first attempts at feature film scoring - "49th Parallel", "The Halfway House" and "Blue Scar"; dialogue scoring of British films of the 1930s; the impact of the Second World War on British films, and developments in dialogue scoring in the 1940s; a look at some British films scored by foreign composers; the decline of British cinema in the 1950s and the consequences for British film scores.
£76.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd How We Hear Music
Book SynopsisCovers much of the acoustics a student needs, without mathematics or scientific background.Choice Outstanding Academic Title A survey of intervals and scales, tone pitch, loudness and time in Western music raises many questions about the hearing mechanism and throws doubt on the conventional role of harmonics. James Beament's account of how musical sounds are coded by the ear and the brain's processing units, provides answers to most of these questions. It concludes that music started with simple instruments which voices imitated, and that the need to know sound direction determined the characteristics of hearing. This book will interest students, practising musicians and music psychologists, and assumes no scientific knowledge. The late ProfessorSir JAMES BEAMENT was a distinguished scientist and musician, who taught and examined music students at Cambridge University.Trade ReviewInformed by a broad expertise comprehending all of the disciplines for which human hearing is pertinent. Beament['s] model for the hearing of music...is not only the most speculative section of the book but also the most brilliant. Recommended warmly... it should find a niche in virtually every college, university and professional music library. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsPart 1 Preliminaries. Part 2 Aural archaeology. Part 3 Hearing selects intervals. Part 4 The beguiling harmonic theory. Part 5 The imitating voice. Part 6 Hearing simultaneous pitches. Part 7 Patterns in harmony. Part 8 Loudness: the basic dynamic scale. Part 9 Music through the hearing machine. Part 10 A sense of direction. Part 11 Time and rhythm. Part 12 Conclusions.
£19.99
University of Glasgow Music Department Our awin Scottis use
Book SynopsisEdited from unpublished material after the author's death, this book is of great importance to anyone with an interest in Scotland's musical history.This collection of studies presents unpublished material from the book Isobel Woods Preece was planning at the time of her death. It contains articles published by her and extracts from her dissertation on the Carvor Choirbook. There are also newly written chapters on medieval chant and polyphony by Warwick Edwards and on the music of the Reformed Church by Gordon Munro. Both scholarly and accessible, this work will be of importance to all with an interestin Scotland's Christian musical heritage. ISOBEL WOODS PREECE (1956-1997) was a major pioneer within Scottish music research. A graduate of the University of Glasgow, she subsequently become a Rotary International Graduate Fellow at Princeton University, where she wrote her doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Margaret Bent. She held the posts of lecturer, and later senior lecturer, in the Music Department at the University of Newcastle, where she was greatly respected as a scholar, teacher, administrator, conductor and performer.
£33.25
Toccata Press The VillaLobos Letters
Book SynopsisPresents for the first time the complete surviving correspondence of the outstanding Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos [1887-1959], one of the most colourful figures in twentieth-century music.This complete edition of the letters of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, collected for the first time in any language, details his stay in the Paris of the 1920s, his work in Brazil and the 1930s and `40s and his international travels as conductor of his own music. The letters also discuss commissions for ballets, concertos and other works. Lisa M. Peppercorn, who knew Villa-Lobos, is the acknowledged expert on the life and music of this colourful figure, and she gives a detailed commentary on the events giving rise to the letters. A chronology gives a detailed account of Villa-Lobos' life, which is thoroughly illustrated with photographs of the persons and places associated with Villa-Lobos, facsimiles of works and concert programmes, and so on. The letters thus form a guide to the most productive years of his life.
£16.14
Toccata Press The Harmonious Musick of John Jenkins I
Book SynopsisThis first volume of a projected two volume study of the music of John Jenkins concentrates exclusively on his consorts for viols.John Jenkins (1592-1678) was both the most prolific and most esteemed of English composers between the death of Byrd and the rise of Purcell. During his long life he was employed as a resident musician in East Anglian noble households and became a court musician to Charles II in his later years.This is the first in a two-volume study of Jenkins and his music. It presents a biographical introduction to the composer then concerns itself exclusively with the superb consorts for viols which dominate the early part of the composer's career. It is profusely illustrated with music examples and discusses virtually every work in this form. ANDREW ASHBEE is an internationally renowned expert on C17th English instrumental music, has edited a number of volumes of music from the period, and is an author, broadcaster and lecturer.Trade ReviewAshbee's...scholarship is exemplary and his book is easy to read...an extremely important contribution to our knowledge of English music of the seventeenth century, and will no doubt be the standard work on Jenkins for some time to come. * LUTE SOCIETY JOURNAL *One could not have a more sure-footed guide. * JOURNAL OF THE VIOLA DA GAMBA SOCIETY *
£18.99
Toccata Press Szymanowski on Music Selected Writings of Karol
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive selection of Szymanowski's writings to be published in English, containing all the most important of the composer's essays and interviews.Karol Szymanowski [1882-1937] is now widely acknowledged to be the most important Polish composer since Chopin. He was also a considerable thinker on musical topics: the role of music in society, the goal of musical education, thepurpose of criticism, the nature of Romanticism, the hallmarks of national identity - indeed, he was passionately concerned with the emergence of the Polish voice in music, and the role of Chopin in particular. Szymanowski on Music is the first comprehensive selection of his writings to be published in English. It contains all the most important of the composer's essays and interviews, throws light on the trying conditions under which he was obliged to work in the 1920s and '30s, especially in education, and gives perceptive assessments of the work of some of the major composers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - Wagner, Strauss, Stravinsky, Ravel, Satie and others - and the trends they embodied. A number of pieces of a more biographical nature are also included. Overall it provides, in the words of the translator Alistair Wightman, `abundant evidence of the breadth and depthof Szymanowski's personal culture, and at the same time a telling demonstration of his search for an all-embracing humanistic synthesis'. Dr Wightman faces his pioneering translations from Szymanowski's Polish originals with an extensive introductory essay that places his literary activities in the context of his life and career. This book will be a vital element in the rediscovery of the music of one of the twentieth century's most appealing composers.
£31.50
Toccata Press Havergal Brian on Music Volume Two European and
Book SynopsisThis second volume of Brian's writings shows him to have been one of the most perceptive commentators on contemporary music in the twentieth century.In this second volume of selections from his journalism, written over four decades between 1907 and 1946, the maverick English composer Havergal Brian [1876-1972] directs his enquiring mind at the music being composed in France,Germany, Italy and elsewhere, while he and his British contemporaries were fighting to establish new music at home. Richard Strauss figures prominently among the composers discussed, beginning with reviews of Hallé and Queen's Hall concerts in 1907 and 1910. But even Strauss was not treated as lavishly as another whose music clearly fascinated Brian deeply: Arnold Schoenberg. From Gurrelieder to the Violin Concerto, Brian emerges as one of Schoenberg's most sympathetic and understanding champions among the English critical fraternity in the inter-War period. Other composers featured include Bartók, Berg, Busoni, Debussy, Dohnányi, Dukas, Glazunov, Grieg, Hindemith, Kilpinen, Lehár,Mahler, Messager, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Respighi, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Sousa, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Tailleferre and Varèse - as well as figures now obscure such as Alfred Bruneau, August Bungert, César Géloso and Wilhelm Kienzl. Malcolm MacDonald's introductions and annotations provide the background to each piece and cast light on Brian's more obscure references.Trade Review[E]ine... wichtige Veröffentlichung, gerade weil man einen durch Musikjournalismus gefilterten Blick auf das Musikleben der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, vor allem der 30er Jahre erhält. Die * MUSIKFORSCHUNG *A fascinating read. * THE DELIAN *This second volume of Brian's writing...makes for tantalising reading...What Malcolm MacDonald's meticulously annotated volume shows is the work of a highly intelligent commentator...at the critical vanguard. [Editor's Choice] * CLASSICAL MUSIC [Editor's Choice] *A body of writing second to none for its insight into the musical world of the earlier twentieth century, as one of its most pertinent commentators saw it.music journalism such as Brian's is a salutary reminder of what ought to be possible. * INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW *MacDonald's editing is up to its usual high standards - his footnotes alone make fascinating reading. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *[B]oth a work of scholarship and an important historical source for an understanding of the British music of the early 20th century. * ELGAR FOUNDATION *This is a golden treasury of fascinating journalism from a period in British musical history that can easily be bypassed when leaping from Elgar to Britten and beyond, and penned by a writer of great skill, broad musical perception and understanding, and above all the insights of a remarkable composer. * MUSIC & VISION DAILY *
£40.50
Toccata Press Martinu and the Symphony
Book SynopsisThe first systematic assessment of the symphonic style of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu [1890-1959], tracing the evolution of his musical language and including detailed analyses of all six symphonies.Over the past few decades the music of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) has enjoyed a slow but steady rise in popularity, and his six symphonies, written between 1942 and 1953, have now been recorded many times; concert performances are on the increase, too. But Martinu and the Symphony is not only the first book in English intended to help the music-lover to a deeper understanding of these glorious works - it is by far the most comprehensive work on the subject in any language. Each Symphony is examined in turn, the analyses revealing what makes each creation so individual yet also so clearly part of a close-knit family of works and identifying the elements of his melodic, harmonic and instrumental style which produce Martinu's very personal vibrant and organic symphonic manner.Martinu and the Symphony is illustrated with almost 200 musical examples, taken not only fromthe Symphonies but also from his other works for large orchestra. His path to symphonic mastery is examined in unprecedented detail: attention is at last paid to the early orchestral works which, although largely unperformed andunpublished even now, afford fascinating glimpses of the composer to come. A study of the late triptychs The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca and The Parables rounds out this appraisal of Martinus enthralling symphonic and orchestral legacy.Trade ReviewCrump quotes with approval Martinu's injunction to composers to 'be wary of false magnitude' [...]. He has evidently taken that injunction to heart and applied it to his own writing, and in the process he has produced an engaging book that should do much to enhance the esteem of a unique and treasurable corner of the symphonic repertory. * MUSIC & LETTERS *Crump provides... a sequence of magnificently enlarged programme essays that will surely resonate with the composer's admirers and also provoke wider interest. ... [Crump's] passion is infectious. * TLS *Crump's comprehensive investigation of Martinu's symphonic legacy is a particularly welcome occasion. ... [the author's] musical descriptions provide a personal perspective that acts as a counterweight to the more formal analysis. This dual approach seems perfectly suitable, and indeed reflects the music of Martinu itself. * MLA NOTES *This is the first book in English on this topic intended to help the music-lover to a deeper understanding of the Symphonies and orchestral music of Martinu. The author identifies the elements of his melodic, harmonic and instrumental style which produce Martinu's very personal vibrant and organic symphonic manner. The book is illustrated with almost 200 musical examples, taken not only from the Symphonies but also from Martinu's other works for large orchestra. * MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL *Dans la langue de Shakespeare (quoique dans un style facilement abordable), Michael Crump nous invite à une exploration très pédagogique des ouvres symphoniques du maître de Poliuka. [...] Crump livre également -en trois chapitres séparés- une brillante synthèse analytique sur le style mélodique, l'harmonie et l'art de l'orchestration de Martinu [...] Cet ouvrage trouve une place de choix dans la bibliothèque des admirateurs de Martinu. * CRESCENDO *[A] major study of his music, based round his set of six Symphonies, is to be welcomed in the wake of the anniversary of his death. Michael Crump really knows his Martinu, and he obviously wants to share his enthusiasm with us [...] handsomely produced. * MUSICAL POINTERS *
£45.00
Toccata Press Comrades in Art
Book SynopsisThe correspondence of the composer-pianists Percy Grainger [1882-1961] and Ronald Stevenson [b. 1928], together with Stevenson's writings on Grainger and two interviews with Stevenson.In 1957 the Australian-American composer Percy Grainger, then 75 and in failing health, received a letter from another pianist-composer, the young Ronald Stevenson, writing from his home in West Linton, below Edinburgh. That firstcontact - requesting Grainger's reminiscences of Ferruccio Busoni, with whom he had studied - led to an exchange of 32 letters over the four years before Grainger's death in February 1961. The two men soon found that, despite their 46-year age-difference, they had many affinities. Both were pianists of staggering abilities and composers who combined a love for folk-music and working-class art with an aesthetic that proposed a `world music' to include the farthest reaches of humanity. Both made an art of piano transcription of a wide variety of works and were champions of little-known music and composers. And both revered the work of Walt Whitman, that great poet of inclusivity,the pioneering spirit and the open road. This book presents both the complete Grainger-Stevenson correspondence and Ronald Stevenson's many articles and lectures on Grainger and his music, edited by Teresa Balough, whosetwo interviews with Stevenson open and close the volume - which includes a CD of a lecture-recital on Grainger that Stevenson presented in Grainger's home in White Plains, New York, in 1976.Trade ReviewThis is a welcome addition to the Grainger literature in this fiftieth anniversary of his death. [...] there is much to enjoy and to think about from the pen and voice of a very fine composer [...] reflecting and illuminating our understanding of Grainger. [...] the book is beautifully produced, with many attractive and revealing illustrations. * DELIUS SOCIETY JOURNAL *Comrades in Art is a highly entertaining portrait of two composers: Percy Grainger and Ronald Stevenson. ... [A] must have for the Grainger enthusiast. The book is attractive in organization and content... . Comrades in Art is more than just the correspondence between two composers. It is a study of the music of Grainger and its place in music culture through the eyes of a scholarly admirer. * TEMPO *Ronald Stevenson proves himself an eloquent Grainger devotee, in his writings, in interview with Teresa Balough, and on the accompanying CD, noting the connection between Grainger and Busoni, the shared devotion he had to Whitman, and delight in Kipling. Stevenson is clearly a pianist in the Grainger manner, robust and forthright. It is a joy. * MUSIC & VISION DAILY *The subsequent, if short, correspondence ranged widely and they discovered common interests, folk music and the poetry of Walt Whitman among them. Perhaps Grainger's most astonishing claim is that he was the real pioneer in most aspects of modern music. [...] There is a lot of material available about Grainger and this unabashed tribute is a complement to that. And we get to make closer acquaintance with Ronald Stevenson along the way. * FANFARE *Fascinating and entertaining reading...The men correspond with a style and grace that seems remote in this e-mail age....Reading these letters...will have you fired up about two under-appreciated musical free-thinkers. * SCOTSMAN *
£36.00
Toccata Press Stravinsky the MusicMaker
Book SynopsisHans Keller's text and Milein Cosman's vibrant illustrations combine to produce a unique and enlightening book on Stravinsky.Stravinsky the Music-Maker is the third incarnation of a book that has been greeted with superlatives on each previous appearance. Hans Keller and Milein Cosman collaborated down the decades of their married life, Keller'spen analysing music, Cosman's catching its makers at work. Stravinsky was a source of fascination for them both, and their Stravinsky at Rehearsal appeared in 1962, to be expanded, two decades later, as Stravinsky Seen and Heard. Stravinsky the Music-Maker offers the most generous compilation of their work yet: it includes Keller's complete articles on Stravinsky, written between 1954 and 1980, and augments Cosman's celebrated prints and drawings with a number not previously published. The introduction, by the composer Hugh Wood, sites the Keller-Cosman partnership in the framework of the British musical life they enriched.HANS KELLER (1919-85) fled Austria in1938 and became a commanding critical voice in British music journalism and on the BBC from the end of the war until his death. He is the author of numerous books, many illustrated by his wife Milein Cosman, including Criticism (Faber), The Great Haydn String Quartets (Dent), Essays on Music (CUP), Jerusalem Diary, Film Music and Beyond and Music and Psychology (all Plumbago). A critic of insight and integrity throughout his life, he remains a powerful influence to this day.Trade ReviewOne writer and musicologist who embarked upon a deep study of the essence of Stravinsky, was the great Hans Keller - a Viennese intellectual who became a cultural Svengali at the BBC in the 1960s [...] This extremely well-produced, well-organised book [is] a fitting tribute, both to the critic and his composing hero. [...] what undoubtedly 'lightens the load' of this Stravinsky treasury, are the many curious and engaging illustrations from the pen of Keller's wife, the artist Milein Cosman. [...] Cosman's work provides the ideal epilogue to this survey of a great man's life. * QUARTERLY REVIEW *Now there is more than ever to provide insight into the variety, profundity, breadth and genius... of Stravinsky's work. It's meticulously-produced, well-indexed, closely annotated and referenced. ... [a] useful and recommendable book which you should certainly consider adding to your collection if you are interested in Stravinsky's work at all. * CLASSICAL.NET *
£36.00
Toccata Press Composing in Words
Book SynopsisAn anthology of the writings of the English composer William Alwyn [1905-85].The English composer William Alwyn was not only one of the most versatile creative figures of his age, writing music for the concert hall, recital room, operatic stage and film screen; he was also a virtuoso instrumentalist and conductor, the teacher of some of the most important composers of the succeeding generation, and the founder of a number of influential music committees such as the Composers' Guild of Great Britain. Alwyn was a gifted writer, too,alive to literature and art - especially pre-Raphaelite painting, on which he was an authority - as well as to music, and Composing in Words presents his most important writings: the autobiographical essay Winged Chariot; the diary, Ariel to Miranda, in which he chronicled the composition of his Third Symphony; an extract from Early Closing, Alwyn's reminiscences of his Northampton childhood; and essays on film music, and on other composers, among them Elgar, Bax and Puccini.Trade ReviewCertainly, Composing in Words offers much to the reader curious about the man and ideas behind the film and concert scores. Yet it is also to be recommended to those who want to know more about British music of this period, and about those who contributed to it. * MUSIC AND LETTERS *Admirably presented and edited...there's certainly something for everyone, and the wide interests and erudition of William Alwyn are impressively displayed. * GRAMOPHONE *A rewarding collection. * CHOICE *The reader will be impressed by the presentation of this volume...the editor has not imposed himself on the text, but has allowed Alwyn's voice to come through both loud and clear. It is a book that is essential and will long be in demand as research in William Alwyn and exploration of his music continues over the coming years. * MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL *
£31.50
Toccata Press Ludvig IrgensJensen The Life and Music of a
Book SynopsisThe first English language discussion of the life and music of this twentieth century Norwegian composer.The Norwegian composer Ludvig Irgens-Jensen (1894-1969) was one of the towering creative figures of his native land, although his dignified and powerful music does not receive the attention its quality deserves, either at home orabroad. The success of his dramatic symphony Heimferd (Homecoming) in 1930 brought him national fame, but the post-War triumph of modernism, coupled with his personal modesty, pushed Irgens-Jensen's tonal music into the shadows: its contrapuntally based textures and its modally tinged harmonies were seen as things of the past. But a growing number of recordings is revealing him as one of the most distinguished and distinctive voices in twentieth-century music, a figure of international importance who wrote music of striking nobility and strength of purpose - with some meltingly lovely melodic lines. Arvid O. Vollsnes' Ludvig Irgens-Jensen: The Life and Music of a Norwegian Composer is the first discussion in English of this profoundly decent man and his life-enhancing music. A review of the original Norwegian publication of this book in Aftenposten, the main Norwegian daily paper, described it as 'a gripping biographical portrait. As well as Irgens-Jensen's life we get a broad picture of Norwegian musical life from the 1920s to his death in 1969'. A CD of extracts from Irgens-Jensen's works has been prepared to accompany the English edition, providing readers with an introduction to his highly individual and immediately appealing sound-world.Trade ReviewThis is thorough and solid first biography and Vollsnes is a passionate advocate of his subject. Beryl Foster's translation . . . is clear and nuanced. * GRAMOPHONE *Vollsnes . . . gives Irgens-Jensen's work the scholarly scrutiny it deserves, in the full context of the composer's eventful life. Extensive appendices, a discography, an index, and an accompanying music CD round out this superb resource especially recommended for music scholars and college library collections. * MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW *
£42.75
Toccata Press Szymanowskis King Roger
Book SynopsisA guide to the origins and music of Szymanowski's exquisitely beautiful opera King Roger.Karol Szymanowski (1881-1937), the most important Polish composer after Chopin, wrote only two operas, the second of which, King Roger, completed in 1924, is a masterpiece. After decades of neglect this magnificent work hasbegun to receive more attention around the world, and this first extended study of King Roger investigates its origins, uncovers its ideology, examines its music and documents its history. The book opens with an outline of the role the theatre played in Szymanowski's career, from his early operetta, Lottery for Husbands, and the rousing ballet panotmime, Harnasie, based on legends from the Polish highlands. Intracing the evolution of King Roger from conception to completion, Alistair Wightman, one of the leading Szymanowki scholars, examines the contribution of the co-librettist, Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, and serveys the various strands which make up its ideology, from Euripides The Bacchae and Plato Phaedrus and The Symposium to works by Pater, Nietzsche, Merezhkovsky and Micinski. He charts Szymanowski's fascination with the historical background of the opera, the world of the twelfth-century ruler of Norman Sicily, Roger II (1095-1154). Szymanowski's own novel, Efebos, written in 1918-19 and only partially preserved offers intriguing parallels with hisopera. ALISTAIR WIGHTMAN has written extensively about Polish music of the early twentieth century and his translation, Szymanowski on Music was published by Toccata Press in 1999.Trade ReviewWightman writes with a deep love of the opera...Valuable for marshalling so much material on King Roger in relatively few pages, this book is an inspiring read. -- John Allison * BBC MUSIC *This impressive book delves deep into the opera, relating its composition from idea to completion, discusses its ideology . . . and its performance history . . . richly detailed. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *
£23.75
Pembles Publications Making Music
Book SynopsisThe story of singer Norman Platt's life in music and the rise and fall of the renowned Kent Opera Company.Norman Platt was seized by music at the age of five as a boy in industrial Lancashire, played professionally at the age of nine and made music in one form or another until his death in 2004. He sang in the choirs of King's CollegeCambridge and St Paul's Cathedral, was a founder member of the legendary Deller Consort and toured with Britten's English Opera Group. He was a principal at Sadler's Wells and broadcast regularly with the BBC. Yet, as theTimes obituarist wrote, "Norman Platt was probably as famous for his battles to save Kent Opera in the 1980's as he was founding the company in the first place in 1969. His was a long and thankless battle against the ArtsCouncil, which had decided by the end of the 1980's that the country had one opera company too many. Unfortunately his outspoken attacks on funding policies made him enemies in high places, which left the company vulnerable when the axe fell."Making Music, warmly received on publication in 2001, is the story of Norman Platt's life in music. At its heart is the story of the Kent Opera, which featured conductor Roger Norrington, directors likeJonathan Miller and Nicholas Hytner, and singers of the calibre of Jill Gomez and Felicity Palmer. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the realities of the arts in the modern world.Trade ReviewWe now have from the Kent Opera's guiding light this well-written and evocative chronicle of its all-too-brief existence. -- Alan Blyth * GRAMOPHONE *This is the story of a small, seditious miracle...His story is deeply troubling but strangely inspiring. It is not a denunciation but a profession of faith. -- Michael Oliver * INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW *To read [this book] is to be reminded of Platt's uncanny ability, genius even, for spotting and enabling talent. -- Rodney Milnes * THE TIMES *
£9.31
Sounding Art Press The Turn of the Screw
Book SynopsisThese 33 paintings by acclaimed artist Jane Mackay are a visual reaction to Britten's opera, accompanied by an introduction and commentary by musicologist Andrew Plant.Of their adaptation of Henry James' allusive short story, librettist Myfanwy Piper wrote that she and Britten intended to 'recreate it for a different medium.' This concept is developed further in Jane Mackay's 33 paintings: a visual reaction to the music rather than illustrations to particular scenes, occupying a unique position between abstract and figurative art. Musicologist Andrew Plant, formerly of the Britten-Pears Library, provides an introductionand commentary and there is a preface by the distinguished countertenor James Bowman. Bringing together the entire series exhibited during the 2004 Aldeburgh Festival, these paintings are occasionally John Piper-esque in their figurative elements and hints of an unseen world. Now available from Boydell & Brewer, this imaginative interpretation of Britten's The Turn of the Screw will be an essential addition to the library of all opera lovers. Limited to 300 signed and numbered copies. JANE MACKAY has broadcast widely on radio and television and has held numerous solo exhibitions, including shows at the Florence Biennale and London's Wigmore Hall. She isalso a choral singer and oboist. ANDREW PLANT has contributed to a number of scholarly publications and was formerly Curator of Exhibitions at the Britten-Pears Library. He now teaches in Windsor and appears regularly as a recital accompanist.
£999.99
Thylacine Press Dragonkind
Book SynopsisThe ancient dragon Federigo il Barbarossa, more commonly known as Fred, reminisces about the good old days when he and his cohorts ruled the world, before, alas, they got above themselves and were slapped down, permanently as it turned out. During their abandoned spree, he and his fellows created creatures at will, sometimes to help out and some just because they could: the griffin, the opinicus, the basilisk, the hydra, the unicorn, the Pegasus, the questing beast, She that lives in Ness, and others. Richly illustrated with 45 stunning black and white drawings. MICHAEL MCCARTHY was a recognised expert in the field of ecclesiastical heraldry.
£14.24
Carquinez Press Work and Sing A History of Occupational and
Book SynopsisIn this wide-ranging and accessible survey of American labour songs, Ronald D. Cohen chronicles the history behind the work songs of cowboys, sailors, hoboes, and others, as well as the singing culture of groups ranging from the Industrial Workers of the World to Pete SeegerTrade Review"Recommended."--Choice"As entertaining to read as it is comprehensive. . . . Performers and collectors will relish the additional bonus of a 250-songbook bibliography. Recommended."--Sing Out!"Work and Sing is the product of exhausting and skillful scholarly labor, and it is something to sing about. Fascinating and definitive."--David Hajdu, music critic for The New Republic"Music was the universal language that brought workers together no matter what their backgrounds or native tongues. Ronald D. Cohen tells this story better than anyone in Work and Sing, capturing the diversity and power of these songs and celebrating the people who made them."--Ted Gioia, author of Work Songs
£18.89
Johns Hopkins University Press Rock Star
Book SynopsisFilled with memorable photographs, Rock Star will appeal to anyone interested in modern American popular culture or music history.Trade ReviewElvis was the prototype, but he wasn't a template. Shumway's other examples of the rock star share a penchant for capturing and expressing social issues and cultural conflicts in both their songs and how they present themselves, onstage and off. -- Scott McLemee Inside Higher Ed Will appeal to anyone interested in modern American popular culture or music history. -- Marshal Zerigue New Books Rock Star: The Making of Musical Icons from Elvis to Springsteen... will appeal both to music readers and college-level audiences who follow social and cultural trends. This makes for a much wider-ranging survey than your typical music book can offer. Midwest Book Review A minor masterpiece... Clear, stimulating prose. The Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsForward: The Rock Star as Metaphor Anthony DeCurtisPreface1. Reflections on Stardom and Its Trajectories2. Watching Elvis3. James Brown: Self-Remade Man4. Bob Dylan: The Artist5. The Rolling Stones: Rebellion, Transgression, and Excess6. The Grateful Dead: Alchemy, or Rock & Roll Utopia7. Joni Mitchell: The Singer-Songwriter and the Confessional Persona8. Bruce Springsteen: Trapped in the Promised LandConclusion: Where Have All the Rock Stars Gone?NotesIndex
£999.99
Johns Hopkins University Press Putting Modernism Together
Book SynopsisGoing beyond merely explaining how the artists in these genres achieved their peculiar effects, he presents challenging new analyses of telling craft details which help students and scholars come to know more fully this bold age of aesthetic extremism.Trade ReviewScholarly and impressive... Such a thorough consideration of the interconnectedness of modernism illuminates how truly revolutionary this artistic movement was. ChoiceTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsIntroduction. Modernist TransvaluationI. Two Originary Texts1. Baudelaire and Symbolism2. Nietzsche and the DionysiacII. Isms3. Impressionism4. Expressionism5. Futurism6. Cubism7. Abstractionism8. Primitivism9. Imagism10. Neoclassicism11. Dadaism12. Surrealism13. Aestheticism14. Corporealism15. Totalizing Art16. Communism, Fascism, and Later ModernismEpilogue. The End of Modernism?Notes
£46.35
MP-NCA Uni of North Carolina Battle Hymns The Power and Popularity of Music
Book Synopsis
£999.99
