The first extensive study of the life and music of the Swiss composer, Richard Flury (1896-1967). The late-Romantic composer Richard Flury (1896-1967) was born in Biberist, a tiny town outside the Baroque city of Solothurn in northern Switzerland. He went to school in Solothurn, later taught there, conducted its orchestra, andhad his operas and ballets performed at the local theatre by its semi-professional ensemble. But Flury was more than just another conservative composer stuck in the provinces. His teachers included Ernst Kurth and JosephMarx of Vienna, and his music was performed by conductors such as Felix Weingartner and Hermann Scherchen and star instrumentalists like Wilhelm Backhaus and Georg Kulenkampff. His first opera was conducted by a former student ofBerg and Schoenberg who became his staunch advocate, and during the Second World War Flury worked closely with several Jewish emigre writers and musicians from Germany and Czechoslovakia. In his music of the early 1930s, the influence of Berg and Hindemith became apparent as Flury dabbled in modernism and free tonality before moving back to a more traditionalist stance; but he was also a fine tunesmith who loved writing Viennese waltzes and violin miniatures after the manner of Kreisler. In both his aesthetic and his career, Flury offers a fascinating case of a man negotiating constantly between the centre and the periphery - and composing some very good music in the process.The book includes a 23 track CD of Flury's music. CHRIS WALTON teaches music history at the Basel University of Music in Switzerland. He is the author of Othmar Schoeck: Life and Works (2009) and Richard Wagner's Zurich: The Muse of Place (2007).

Written late in his life, J. S. Bach's The Art of Fugue has long been admired-in some quarters revered-as one of his masterworks. Its last movement, Contrapunctus 14, went unfinished, and the enigma of its incompleteness still preoccupies scholars and musical conductors alike. In 1881, Gustav Nottebohm discovered that the three subjects of the movement could be supplemented by a fourth. In 1993, Zoltan Goencz revealed that Bach had planned the passage that would join the four subjects in an entirely unique way. This section has not survived, but, as Goencz notes, it must have been ready in the earliest phase of composition since Bach had created the expositions of the first three subjects from its "disjointed" parts. Goencz then boldly took on the task of reconstructing the original "template" by putting together the once separate pieces. In Bach's Testament: On the Philosophical and Theological Background of The Art of Fugue, Goencz probes the philosophic-theological background of The Art of Fugue, revealing the special structures that supported the 1993 reconstruction. Bach's Testament investigates the reconstruction's metaphysical dimensions, focusing on the quadruple fugue. As a summary of Zoltan Goencz's extensive research over many years, which resulted in the completion of the fugue, this work explores the complex combinatorial, philosophical and theological considerations that inform its structure. Bach's Testament is ideally suited not only to Bach scholars and musicologists but also intellectual historians with particular interests in 18th-century religious and philosophical ideas.

Tangle of Matter & Ghost: Leonard Cohen's Post-Secular Songbook of Mysticism(s) Jewish & beyond analyzes the lyrical poetry of Leonard Cohen through a post-secular lens. The volume fuses sophisticated theory and popular culture with critical analysis that is lacking in most of the rock n' roll biographies about Leonard Cohen. How does this mystical maestro's songbook emerge to illuminate questions of meaning making in a post-secular context when correlated with thinkers like Charles Taylor, Edward S. Casey, Jurgen Habermas, Slavoj Zizek, Jeffrey Kripal and Harold Bloom along with others. Cohen's mysticism is also analyzed in relationship to Kabbalah, Hasidism and Rinzai Buddhism. Tangle of Matter & Ghost presents a unique inter-disciplinary approach to Jewish philosophy and literary studies with wide appeal for diverse audiences and readership.

Following methods known to have been adopted by Bach himself, the exercises provided in chorale harmonization are graded in such a way as to encourage the student to develop both technique and imagination within a closely-defined framework. The instrumental counterpoint section is based on Bach's two-and three-part Inventions. By close analysis the author helps the reader to recognize the procedures Bach adopted in various musical situations. The exercises are taken largely from Bach's keyboard works.

Paul Robeson: A Life of Activism and Art is the biography of an African American icon and a demonstration of historian Lindsey R. Swindall's knack for thorough, detailed research and reflection. Paul Robeson was, at points in his life, an actor, singer, football player, political activist and writer, one of the most diversely talented members of the Harlem Renaissance. Swindall centers Robeson's story around the argument that while Robeson leaned toward Socialism, a Pan-African perspective is fundamental to understanding his life as an artist and political advocate. Many previous works on Robeson have focused primarily on his involvement with the US Communist Party, paying little attention to the broader African influences on his politics and art. With each chapter focused on a decade of his life, this book affords us a fresh look at his story, and the ways in which the struggles, successes and studies of his formative years came to shape him as an artist, activist and man later on. Robeson's story is one not simply of politics and protest, but of a man's lifelong evolution from an athlete to an entertainer to an indispensible man of letters and African American thought. Swindall neatly outlines the events of Robeson's life in a way that freshly presents him as a man whose work was influenced by more than just his circumstances, but by a spirit rooted in dedication to the African's place in American art and politics.

In Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831): A Bio-Bibliography, Anna E. Kijas examines the career of the highly-influential Polish pianist and composer. Kijas focuses on Szymanowska's life from her days as a young artist to her public concert tours between 1822 and 1828 to the last three years of her life in St. Petersburg. Kijas examines the daily aspects of touring, including organizing concerts, securing transportation and lodging, and managing finances, and she reviews Szymanowska's reception in the cities in which she performed, paying attention to her repertoire, the critic's remarks, ticket prices, and other artists on the program. Separated into Works, Discography, and Literature, the bibliography lists more than 100 compositions for piano, voice, and chamber ensemble. The discography provides details for CD, LP, and cassette recordings between 1960 and the present, and the literature section examines more than 120 primary source documents such as 19th-century reviews and advertisements, personal correspondence, journals, and scrapbooks. Secondary sources include articles, books, and essays about Szymanowska as a composer and pianist. Complete with a list of sources and an index, this comprehensive reference provides insight into the struggles and accomplishments related to concert life for a professional woman in early 19th-century Europe.

In Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles, Revised Edition, Kenneth Womack brings the band's story vividly to life-from their salad days as a Liverpool Skiffle group and their apprenticeship in the nightclubs and mean streets of Hamburg through their early triumphs at the legendary Cavern Club and the massive onslaught of Beatlemania itself. By mapping the group's development as an artistic fusion, Womack traces the Beatles' creative arc from their first, primitive recordings through Abbey Road and the twilight of their career. In this revised edition, Womack addresses new insights in Beatles-related scholarship since the original publication of Long and Winding Roads, along with hundreds of the group's outtakes released in the intervening years. The updated edition also affords attention to the Beatles' musical debt to Rhythm and Blues, as well as to key recent discoveries that vastly shift our understanding of formative events in the band's timeless story.

Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, modern composers living in Vienna near the turn of the 20th century, are examined in a broad artistic context illustrating how their works grew from earlier Viennese musical developments. Presenting a coherent analysis of a central school of modern musical composition, the essays compare the artists' music to that in the nonmusical arts in Vienna at the time. A prominent musical phenomenon during the period, the Second Viennese School of Music would exert a profound impact on European and American composers in the decades following World War II. The recent discoveries and critical perspectives on the composers discussed in these essays detail new information on central aspects of their work, including the origins of atonal composition, the 12-tone method, and the literary models that often inspired their works. Coherent and current, this collection of essays offers unique insight into the personalities and artistic accomplishments of these three major figures who intoduced modernism to music.

Contributing to the continuing fascination with the modern culture produced in Vienna and other European cities near the turn of the century, these clear, accessible writings on the Second Viennese School will appeal to musicians and scholars alike. Each chapter, written by a different specialist, focuses on the artistic milieu of these three composers, avoiding a particular hypothesis and offering instead a broad, multifaceted discussion. This selection of new knowledge about aspects of the composers' work complements the valuable information also detailed about their music.

How big an act was the Kingston Trio? Big enough that the their first 19 albums not only reached Billboard's Top 100, but 14 of them entered the top 10, with five albums alone hitting the no. 1 spot! At the height of their popularity, the Kingston Trio was arguably the most popular vocal group in the world, having single-handedly ushered in the folk music boom of the late '50s and early '60s. Their meteoric rise quite literally paved the way for Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Peter, Paul & Mary; and the many acts that followed in their wake. With the release of their version of "Tom Dooley" in fall 1958, the Kingston Trio changed American popular music forever, inspiring legions of young listeners to pick up guitars and banjoes and join together in hootenannies and sing-alongs. In Greenback Dollar: The Incredible Rise of The Kingston Trio, the first in-depth biography of America's first recording super-group, William J. Bush retraces the band members' personal and professional lives, from their rapid rise to stardom to their early retirement in 1967. Through interviews with Trio members, their families, and associates, Bush paints a detailed portrait of the Trio's formative early years and sudden popular success, their innovations in recording technology, pioneering of the college concert and intensive tour schedule, their impact on and response to the '60s protest movement, the first break-up of the Trio with Dave Guard's departure, and its re-formation with John Stewart. Lovers of folk music and students and scholars of the history of popular music and the music business, the counterculture movement, and the American folk tradition will find in Greenback Dollar a remarkably detailed view of the musical and cultural legacy that resulted in the Kingston Trio receiving a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Originally published in 2003, Edvard Grieg and his Songs examines the lifetime of Edvard Grieg. His songs were among his most popular and well-known works and both historians and critics have seen in them, Grieg at his most sophisticated and innovative. Important in and of themselves, the songs also illuminate critical aspects of his other works such as his musical impressionism, his use of folk music as a source of inspiration, and his novel approach towards harmony. Fifty of Grieg's most important songs form the focus of this book. Each song is discussed individually and within the wider context of the composer's output. The book provides a translation of the lyrics, and analysis of the poem and a description of the song's form, melody, tessitura, harmony, rhythm and accompaniment, together with suggestions for interpretation. In addition to this, the book gives a brief biography of Grieg, with a chapter that analyses his approach to song writing.

The Pre-history of 'The Midsummer Marriage' examines the early collaborative phase (1943 to 1946) in the making of Michael Tippett's first mature opera and charts the developments that grew out of that phase. Drawing on a fascinating group of Tippett's sketchbooks and a lengthy sequence of his letters to Douglas Newton, it helps construct a narrative of the Tippett-Newton collaboration and provides insights into the devising of the opera's plot, both in that early phase and in the phase from 1946 onwards when Tippett went on with the project alone. The book asks: who was Newton, and what kind of collaboration did he have-then cease to have- with Tippett? What were the origins of and shaping factors behind the original scenario and libretto-drafts? How far did the narrative and controlling concepts of Midsummer Marriage in its final form tally with-and how far did they move away from-those that had been set up in the years of the two men's collaboration, the 'pre-historic' years? The book will be of particular interest to scholars and researchers in opera studies and twentieth-century music.

Identity and Diversity in New Music: The New Complexities aims to enrich the discussion of how musicians and educators can best engage with audiences, by addressing issues of diversity and identity that have played a vital role in the reception of new music, but have been little-considered to date. Marilyn Nonken offers an innovative theoretical approach that considers how the environments surrounding new music performances influence listeners' experiences, drawing on work in ecological psychology. Using four case studies of influential new music ensembles from across the twentieth century, she considers how diversity arises in the musical environment, its impact on artists and creativity, and the events and engagement it makes possible. Ultimately, she connects theory to practice with suggestions for how musicians and educators can make innovative music environments inclusive.

John Dowland: A Research and Information Guide offers the first comprehensive guide to the musical works and literature on one of the major composers of the English Renaissance. Including a catalog of works, discography of recordings, extensive annotated bibliography of secondary sources, and substantial indexes, this volume is a major reference tool for all those interested in Dowland's works and place in music history, and a valuable resource for researchers of Renaissance and English music.

This title was first published in 2002. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of Britain's most distinguished composers. This source book documents as much of the material on his music as is available to 2001. As Richard McGregor points out in his foreword to the volume, Stewart Craggs has made valuable advances in sorting out the origins of many unknown works and gleaning details of many private compositions. The book also supplies details of those unknown works which haven't appeared in any previous catalogues, including broadcasts of early works from the BBC Archives. With information given on first performances, manuscript locations and recordings, in addition to details of composition dates, authors/librettists, durations, commissions and dedications amongst much else, this book is a key reference source for all those interested in Peter Maxwell Davies and his music.

Roger Daltrey is the voice of a generation. That generation was the first to rebel, to step out of the shadows of the Second World War... to invent the concept of the teenager. This is the story from his birth at the height of the Blitz, through tempestuous school days to his expulsion, age 15, for various crimes and misdemeanours within a strict school system. Thanks to Mr Kibblewhite, his authoritarian headmaster, it could all have ended there. The life of a factory worker beckoned. But then came rock and roll. He made his first guitar from factory off-cuts. He formed a band. The band became The Who - Maximum R&B - and, by luck and by sheer bloody-mindedness, Roger Daltrey became the frontman of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. This is the story of My Generation, Tommy and Quadrophenia, of smashed guitars, exploding drums, cars in swimming pools, fights, arrests and redecorated hotel rooms. But it is also the story of how that post-war generation redefined the rules of youth. Out of that, the modern music industry was born - and it wasn't an easy birth. Money, drugs and youthful exuberance were a dangerous mix. This is as much a story of survival as it is of success. Four years in the making, this is the first time Roger Daltrey has told his story. It is not just his own hilarious and frank account of more than 50 wild years on the road. It is the definitive story of The Who and of the sweeping revolution that was British rock 'n' roll.

Saxophonist, multi-wind player, arranger, composer, music director, theater works producer, educator, and visionary, Pat Patrick performed with Duke Ellington's and Quincy Jones' orchestras, Thelonious Monk, Mongo Santamaria, Nat King Cole, James Moody, Eric Dolphy, Marvin Gaye, Patti Labelle, and Billy Taylor. Most of his career, however, was spent laying down the baseline grooves on the baritone saxophone with the indefinable Sun Ra Archestra for over 35 years. Based on research in the recently opened archive of personal papers, artifacts, scrapbooks, music, news clippings and photographs, Pat Patrick: American Musician and Cultural Visionary, explores the life and influence of this important musical man-behind-the-scenes. Musicologist Bill Banfield weaves a treasure trove of primary source material-including interviews with Patrick's family, friends, and associates-into a tapestry of Patrick's remarkable life as the musical right hand of some of America's greatest Black musical artists.

Since ascending onto the world stage in the 1990s as one of the premier bassists and composers of his generation, William Parker has perpetually toured around the world and released over forty albums as a leader. He is one of the most influential jazz artists alive today. In Universal Tonality historian and critic Cisco Bradley tells the story of Parker's life and music. Drawing on interviews with Parker and his collaborators, Bradley traces Parker's ancestral roots in West Africa via the Carolinas to his childhood in the South Bronx, and illustrates his rise from the 1970s jazz lofts and extended work with pianist Cecil Taylor to the present day. He outlines how Parker's early influences-Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and writers of the Black Arts Movement-grounded Parker's aesthetic and musical practice in a commitment to community and the struggle for justice and freedom. Throughout, Bradley foregrounds Parker's understanding of music, the role of the artist, and the relationship between art, politics, and social transformation. Intimate and capacious, Universal Tonality is the definitive work on Parker's life and music.

Vladimir de Pachmann was perhaps history's most notorious pianist. Widely regarded as the greatest player of Chopin's works, Pachmann embedded comedic elements-be it fiddling with his piano bench or flirting with the audience-within his classic piano recitals to alleviate his own anxiety over performing. But this wunderkind, whose admirers included Franz Liszt and music critic James Gibbons Huneker (who cheekily nicknamed Pachmann the "Chopinzee"), would by the turn of the century find his antics on the concert stage scorned by critics and out of fashion with listeners, burying his pianistic legacy. In Chopin's Prophet: The Life of Pianist Vladimir de Pachmann, the first biography ever of this remarkable figure, Edward Blickstein and Gregor Benko explore the private and public lives of this master pianist, surveying his achievements within the context of contemporary critical opinion and preserving his legacy as one of the last great Romantic pianists of his time. Chopin's Prophet paints a colorful portrait of classical piano performance and celebrity at the turn of the 20th century while also documenting Pachmann's attraction to men, which ultimately ended his marriage but was overlooked by his audiences. As the authors illustrate, Pachmann lived in a radically different world of music making, one in which eccentric personality and behavior fit into a much more flexible, and sometimes mysterious, musical community, one where standards were set not by certified experts with degrees but by the musicians themselves. Detailing the evolution of concert piano playing style from the era of Chopin until World War I, Chopin's Prophet tells the fantastic and true story of an artist of and after his time.

This original new book has a unique focus on diva camp as popular music praxis. The author analyses case studies of diva concert tour shows in order to present a performance studies reading of camp, the culture-sharing process of production, and audience reception. Detailed case studies include contemporary stars Madonna, Kylie, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and a look at audience drag. The book contains detailed descriptions of artists’ performances, along with the analysis of exciting and popular contemporary performers. The emphasis on camp is particularly interesting, as thinking about queerness has pushed camp into the background in recent years. This is an interesting and exciting revival of the question of camp in contemporary queer performance. The book considers and investigates the relationship between camp theory as an academic subject and the figure of the diva as one that utilizes and expresses camp in various ways. It seeks to establish how camp is appropriated or owned by the diva and how this impacts on, and is in turn appropriated and owned by, the audience. Primary readership will be among researchers and educators working in the fields of cultural studies, performance studies, theatre studies, music studies, LGBTQ+ studies, critical race studies, as well as undergraduate students interested in these topics. It will be a useful classroom resource and addition to recommended reading lists. The Music Diva Spectacle may have interest for more general readers with an interest in the subjects of the case studies, but the main focus is on the academic market.

Populism and nationalism in classical music held a significant place between the world wars with composers such as George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein creating a soundtrack to the lives of everyday Americans. While biographies of these individual composers exist, no single book has taken on this period as a direct contradiction to the modernist dichotomy between the music of Stravinsky and Schoenberg. In Nationalist and Populist Composers: Voices of the American People, Steve Schwartz offers an overdue correction to this distortion of the American classical music tradition by showing that not all composers of this era fall into either the Stravinsky or Schoenberg camps. Exploring the rise and decline of musical populism in the United States, Schwartz examines the major works of George Gershwin, Randall Thompson, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Kurt Weill, Morton Gould, and Leonard Bernstein. Organized chronologically, chapters cover each composer's life and career and then reveal how key works participated in populist and nationalist themes. Written for the both the scholar and amateur enthusiast interested in modern classical music and American social history, Nationalist and Populist Composers creates a contextual frame through which all audiences can better understand such works as Rhapsody in Blue, Appalachian Spring, and West Side Story.

In African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story, scholar and musician Bruce Conforth tells the story of one of the most unusual collections of African American folk music ever amassed-and the remarkable story of the man who produced it: Lawrence Gellert. Compiled between the World Wars, Gellert's recordings were immediately adopted by the American Left as the voice of the true American proletariat, with the songs-largely variants of traditional work songs or blues-dubbed by the Left as "songs of protest." As both the songs and Gellert's standing itself turned into propaganda weapons of left-wing agitators, Gellert experienced a meteoric rise within the circles of left-wing organizations and the American Communist party. But such success proved ephemeral, with Gellert contributing to his own neglect by steadfastly refusing to release information about where and from whom he had collected his recordings. Later scholars, as a result, would skip over his closely held, largely inaccessible research, with some asserting Gellert's work had been doctored for political purposes. And to a certain extent they were correct. Conforth reveals how Gellert at least "assisted" in the creation of some of his more political material. But hidden behind the few protest songs that Gellert allowed to become public was a vast body of legitimate African America folksongs-enough to rival the work of any of his contemporary collectors. Had Gellert granted access to all his material, scholars would have quickly seen that it comprised an incredibly complete and diverse collection of all African American song genres: work songs, blues, chants, spirituals, as well as the largest body of African American folktales about Irish Americans (what were referred to as "One Time I'shman" tales). It also included vast swaths of African American oral literature collected by Gellert as part of the Federal Writers' Project. In African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics, Conforth brings to light for the first time the entire body of work collected by Lawrence Gellert, establishing his place, and the place for the material he collected, within the pages of American folk song scholarship. In addition to shedding new light on the concept of "protest music" within African American folk music, Conforth discusses the unique relationship of the American Left to this music and how personal psychology and the demands of the American Communist party would come to ruin Gellert's life. African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of American social and political history, African American studies, the history of American folk music, and ethnomusicology.

American organist David Craighead's influence in the United States and abroad is widespread and extensive: 37 years as professor of organ at the Eastman School of Music, 48 years as church organist at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York, and 64 years performing in over 275 cities as a concert organist. His name has become synonymous with excellence in organ pedagogy and performance in the 20th century. In David Craighead: Portrait of an American Organist, Tandy Reussner presents the full story of the artist's life, told with quotes and anecdotes from Craighead himself as well as from his fellow colleagues and former students. Reussner references historical events in the framework of Craighead's life, from changes in pipe organ construction to the riots of the 1960s, to provide the full context of a musician in 20th-century America. The book also contains facsimiles of musical examples, personal memorabilia, letters, and recital programs. Additional reference information includes a complete listing of his recitals from 1942 to 1998, a comprehensive list of his repertoire, a full discography, and a unique compilation of photos.

Bringing together well-known writers with composers and performers, this volume gives a complete overview of Holt's creative work up to 2015. British composer Simon Holt (b. 1958) has been a leading presence in contemporary music since the early 1980s and Kites. His output is diverse, comprising chamber music, concertos for diverse instruments, songs, piano musicand opera. Holt is a composer who demands unusual commitment from his interpreters - the intricate sound-worlds he creates often contain complex, rich textures, offset by 'still centres' - for the purpose of making music which speaks with extraordinary power. Bringing together well-known writers with composers and performers, this volume gives a complete overview of Holt's creative work up to 2015 and Fool is hurt. It uses a variety of approaches to help readers, listeners and players to find ways into the pieces and to understand the influence of visual art and poetry on Holt's work. Colour illustrations, music examples, tables and sketch facsimiles offer a rounded impression of Holt's inspiration and thought to date. Also included are a wide-ranging conversation between Simon Holt and the artist Julia Bardsley, and a text by the conductor Thierry Fischer. The volume also offers the first detailed catalogue of Holt's compositions, drawn up together with the composer. It reveals that the last twenty years have seen no slowing-up in his rate of creative production, notwithstanding that the nature of his writing has changed during this time. DAVID CHARLTON is Professor Emeritus of Music History, Royal Holloway, University of London. Contributors: JULIA BARDSLEY, DAVID BEARD, DAVID CHARLTON, THIERRY FISCHER, ANTHONY GILBERT, STEPHEN GUTMAN, MELINDA MAXWELL, RICHARD MCGREGOR, STEPH POWER, PHILIP RUPPRECHT, SIMON SPEARE, REBECCA THUMPSTON, EDWARD VENN

Antonio Carlos Jobim has been called the greatest of all contemporary Brazilian songwriters. He wrote both popular and serious music and was a gifted piano, guitar and flute player. One of the key figures in the creation of the bossa nova style, Jobim's music made a lasting impression worldwide, and many of his songs are now standards of the popular music repertoire. In The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, one of the first extensive musicological analyses of the Brazilian composer, Peter Freeman examines the music, philosophy and circumstances surrounding the creation of Jobim's popular songs, instrumental compositions and symphonic works. Freeman attempts to elucidate not only the many musical influences that formed Jobim's musical output, but also the stylistic peculiarities that were as much the product of a gifted composer as the rich musical environment and heritage that surrounded him.

In a career that spanned nearly five decades, Dorothy Fields penned the words to more than four hundred songs, among them mega-hits such as "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "If My Friends could See Me Now." While Fields's name may be known mainly to connoisseurs, her contributions to our popular culture--indeed, our national consciousness--have been remarkable.
In I Feel a Song Coming On, Charlotte Greenspan offers the most complete, serious treatment of Fields's life and work to date, tracing her rise to prominence in a male-dominated world. Born in 1904 into a show business family--her father, Lou Fields, was a famed vaudeville comedian turned Broadway producer--Fields first teamed with songwriter Jimmy McHugh in the late 1920s and went on to a series of Hollywood collaborations with Jerome Kern, including the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers classic Swing Time. With her brother Herbert, she co-authored the books for several of Cole Porter's Broadway shows, as well as for Irving Berlin's phenomenally successful Annie Get Your Gun. More stage hits would follow, among them Redhead and Sweet Charity, as Fields remained active right up to her death in 1974. Fields's lyrics--colloquial, urbane, sometimes slangy, sometimes sensuous--won her high praise from later generation songwriters including Stephen Sondheim and Fred Ebb, and her stellar career opened a path for other women in her profession, among them Betty Comden, Dory Previn, and Marilyn Bergman.
Meticulously researched and filled with sharp insights, this lively biography not only illuminates Fields's life but also offers unique insights into the golden ageof popular song.