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Books > Music > Composers & musicians
Offering insight into the creative processes of a contemporary
composer, "Tinman" presents 150 vignettes from author David Cope's
life. Some of the notable individuals discussed in this innovative
biography are John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez,
Aaron Copland, Warren Zevon, Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, Douglas
Hofstadter, Arthur Knight, Danny Glover, Steven Spielberg, George
Lucas, Dorothy Freeman, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Philip
Jos Farmer. "Tinman" offers a fond music journey including two
encounters with Bach, Rachmaninoff's classic "Prelude in isharp
minor," Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony," Pierre Boulez, and the
sadness of Igor Stravinsky's death.
The title, borrowed from L. Frank Baum's book "The Wizard of Oz,"
is an aphorism affectionately attached to Cope in the late 1990s.
The reference reflects the many attitudes about his work with his
computer music program, "Experiments in Musical Intelligence";
critics felt the results of this program lack heart.
Though "Tinman" covers many other aspects of Cope's life-from his
love of the cello, to his days as a graduate student at the
University of Southern California, and to his work as a composer,
author, and teacher-the main theme centers on his search for
self-identity.
"A frank, intriguing memoir."
--People "Painfully shrewd, and written with real delicacy and
pathos."
--The New York Times Book Review "Home reflects the very qualities
that first made the working-class English singer a star 45 years
ago: intelligence, gentle humor, and a clear, sweet, surprisingly
powerful voice . . . In warmly nostalgic later chapters, the book
begins to glow."
--Entertainment Weekly "A delightful remembrance of her own
childhood, and an engrossing prelude to her cinematic career . . .
Andrews is an accomplished writer who holds back nothing while
adding a patina of poetry to the antics and anecdotes throughout
this memoir of bittersweet backstage encounters and theatrical
triumphs."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Frank and fascinating . . .
Andrews comes across as plainspoken, guilelessly charming and
resoundingly tough."
--Time In Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, Julie Andrews takes her
readers on a warm, moving, and often humorous journey from a
difficult upbringing in war-torn Britain to the brink of
international stardom in America.
Bill Anderson is one of the most successful songwriters,
performers, and personalities in country music history. Known as
"Whisperin' Bill" to generations of fans, Anderson's soft
vocalisations and spoken lyrics are the hallmarks of his style. A
long-standing member of the weekly Grand Ole Opry radio program and
stage performance in Nashville, he also discovered future Country
Music Hall of Famer Connie Smith and wrote her first hits, toured
with Johnny Cash, hosted his own television show, sang eighty
charting singles and thirty-seven Top Ten country music hits, and
wrote songs recorded by James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Louvin
Brothers, Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, and many more. Anderson's
current and reinvigorated career is covered in this revision and
expansion of his 1989 autobiography. Over the past twenty years, he
has won two Country Music Association Song of the Year prizes, been
nominated for GRAMMY awards, won the Academy of Country Music's
Song of the Year distinction, and had works recorded by superstars
Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Alison Krauss, George Strait, Vince
Gill, Elvis Costello, and many more. In 2001, he entered the
Country Music Hall of Fame. Whisperin' Bill: An Unprecedented Life
in Country Music presents a portrait of a long-gone Nashville and
introduces readers to the famous and fascinating characters who
helped build what is now known as country music. Richly illustrated
with black-and-white photos of Anderson interacting with the
superstars of American roots music, including such legends as Patsy
Cline, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner, this autobiography highlights
Anderson's trajectory in the business and his influence on the
past, present, and future of this dynamic genre.
In this book, the work of legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
is explored, emphasizing the way text and music work together to
create an artistic statement in her recorded songs. Few
singer-songwriters have been as influential as Joni Mitchell. Her
song "Both Sides, Now" has been recorded over 640 times, while Bill
and Hillary Clinton credit her "Chelsea Morning" as the inspiration
for their daughter's name. The Words and Music of Joni Mitchell
surveys the entire output of this legendary artist, from her 1968
debut album Song to a SeagulI to her 2007 album Shine. After a
brief overview of Mitchell's career and a chapter that explains
some of the important technical features of the guitar styles upon
which she draws, the book offers an in-depth discussion of every
song Mitchell wrote and recorded. Proceeding chronologically
through Mitchell's albums, author James Bennighof clarifies the
musical content of the songs and the personality behind the music.
Each brief essay describes how important musical features—such as
instrumentation, idiosyncratic guitar tunings, harmonic structure,
form, and elements of melody and rhythm—interact with the text of
the song to create the unforgettable artistic statements for which
Mitchell is celebrated.
The Great Tompall: Forgotten Country Music Outlaw provides an
in-depth look at the life of one of country music's least
recognized - but most iconic and influential performers and
business owners. Given unprecedented access to Tompall, this book
tells his story through his own words and through the words of
those who knew him best as the result of many lengthy interviews.
In addition to providing never-before known information about
Tompall, this book provides historical information about Nashville
and gives a glimpse of what country music was like during the 1960s
up to the 1990s. If you are a "classic" or an "outlaw" country
music fan you will not want to miss out on this highly acclaimed
gem.
A pathbreaking study of the Parisian press's attempts to claim
Richard Wagner's place in French history and imagination during the
unstable and conflict-ridden years of the Third Reich. Richard
Wagner was a polarizing figure in France from the time that he
first entered French musical life in the mid nineteenth century.
Critics employed him to symbolize everything from democratic
revolution to authoritarian antisemitism. During periods of
Franco-German conflict, such as the Franco-Prussian War and World
War I, Wagner was associated in France with German nationalism and
chauvinism. This association has led to the assumption that, with
the advent of the Third Reich, the French once again rejected
Wagner. Drawing on hundreds of press sources and employing close
readings, this book seeks to explain a paradox: as the German
threat grew more tangible from 1933, the Parisian press insisted on
seeing in Wagner a universality that transcended his Germanness.
Repudiating the notion that Wagner stood for Germany, French
critics attempted to reclaim his role in their own national history
and imagination. Claiming Wagner for France: Music and Politics in
the Parisian Press, 1933-1944 reveals how the concept of a
universal Wagner, which was used to challenge the Nazis in the
1930s, was gradually transformed into the infamous collaborationist
rhetoric promoted by the Vichy government and exploited by the
Nazis between 1940 and 1944. Rachel Orzech's study offers a close
examination of Wagner's place in France's cultural landscape at
this time, contributing to our understanding of how the French
grappled with one of the most challenging periods in their history.
The diva – a central figure in the landscape of contemporary
popular culture: gossip-generating, scandal-courting,
paparazzi-stalked. And yet the diva is at the epicentre of creative
endeavours that resonate with contemporary feminist ideas, kick
back against diminished social expectations, boldly call-out casual
sexism and industry misogyny and, in terms of hip-hop, explores
intersectional oppressions and unapologetically celebrates
non-white cultural heritages. Diva beats and grooves echo across
culture and politics in the West: from the borough to the White
House, from arena concerts to nightclubs, from social media to
social activism, from #MeToo to Black Lives Matter. Diva: Feminism
and Fierceness from Pop to Hip-Hop addresses the diva phenomenon
and its origins: its identity politics and LGBTQ+ components; its
creativity and interventions in areas of popular culture (music,
and beyond); its saints and sinners and controversies old and new;
and its oppositions to, and recuperations by, the establishment;
and its shifts from third to fourth waves of feminism. This
co-edited collection brings together an international array of
writers – from new voices to established names. The collection
scopes the rise to power of the diva (looking to Mariah Carey,
Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Grace Jones, and Aaliyah), then
turns to contemporary diva figures and their work (with Beyoncé,
Amuro Namie, Janelle Monáe, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Shakira,
Jennifer Lopez, and Nicki Minaj), and concludes by considering the
presence of the diva in wider cultures, in terms of gallery
curation, theatre productions, and stand-up comedy.
Silent Films/Loud Music discusses contemporary scores for silent
film as a rich vehicle for experimentation in the relationship
between music, image, and narrative. Johnston offers an overview of
the early history of music for silent film paired with his own
first-hand view of the craft of creating new original scores for
historical silent films: a unique form crossing musical boundaries
of classical, jazz, rock, electronic, and folk. As the first book
completely devoted to the study of contemporary scores for silent
film, it tells the story of the historical and creative evolution
of this art form and features an extended discussion and analysis
of some of the most creative works of contemporary silent film
scoring. Johnston draws upon his own career in both contemporary
film music (working with directors Paul Mazursky, Henry Bean,
Philip Haas and Doris Doerrie, among others) and in creating new
scores for silent films by Browning, Melies, Kinugasa, Murnau &
Reiniger. Through this book, Johnston presents a discussion of
music for silent films that contradicts long-held assumptions about
what silent film music is and must be, with thought-provoking
implications for both historical and contemporary film music.
Steve Beresford's polymathic activities have formed a prism for the
UK improv scene since the 1970s. He is internationally known as a
free improviser on piano, toy piano and electronics, composer for
film and TV, and raconteur and Dadaist visionary. His résumé is
filled with collaborations with hundreds of musicians and other
artists, including such leading improvisers as Derek Bailey, Evan
Parker and John Zorn, and he has given performances of works by
John Cage and Christian Marclay. In this book, Beresford is heard
in his own words through first-hand interviews with the author.
Beresford provides compelling insight into an extensive range of
topics, displaying the broad cultural context in which music is
embedded. The volume combines chronological and thematic chapters,
with topics covering improvisation and composition in jazz and free
music; the connections between art, entertainment and popular
culture; the audience for free improvisation; writing music for
films; recording improvised music in the studio; and teaching
improvisation. It places Beresford in the context of improvised and
related musics – jazz, free jazz, free improvisation – in which
there is growing interest. The linear narrative is broken up by
'interventions' or short pieces by collaborators and commentators.
Choice Magazine (a major library review magazine): "After an
introductory section on the history of the piano, particularly as
reflected in and influenced by works of the major composers for the
instrument, this interesting and informative book describes various
compositional "schools," from Austro-German, French, and Italian
through English, American, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and others.
This section constitutes a brief course in music history beginning
with the Renaissance. ... The body of the work consists of
historical and stylistic sketches of 17 composers, with brief
remarks about several works of each, and lists of selected works,
ending with a complete work or movement. These sketches are
exceptionally well written, assuming an intelligent reader, and
convey a great deal of information concisely.... this book contains
much well-organized and useful material. For libraries serving
serious amateur pianists, high school upward. ******************
Booklist (The book review magazine of the American Library
Association): This authoritative volume will make a solid addition
to the public library music collection. After offering a brief
opening chapter on the evolution of the piano as instrument and the
changing styles of technique, author Pat Hammond provides
opinionated but well-reasoned analyses of the works of the major
piano composers, with focus on the Baroque era (Bach and Handel),
the Classical age (Haydn, Mozart Beethoven), Romanticism (Schubert,
Chopin Liszt, and others), Impressionism (Debussy) and Modernism
(Bartok). This book's unique feature is its inclusion of musical
examples of each composer's work, which are meant to be played as
one reads along. Pertinent biographical material is also featured
for the great masters. Appendixes include a suggested
twentieth-century piano repertoire and a bibliography. Piano music
- Bibliography ******************* Clavier Magazine "Compiled and
annotated by Patricia Fallows-Hammond. Suitable as a reference
source, this handbook supplies concise biographical and stylistic
sketches of composers and annotation of selected compositions. ...
Fallows-Hammond has a knack for setting and maintaining an
appropriate level of sophistication. Writing in a crisp, direct
style, she steers the student toward complicated subjects and gives
them a palpable hold on them. To explain the concept of the
concerto grosso, for example, she explains that, "In Handel's time,
Concerto Crosso meant a small group of instruments playing in
contrast to a larger body of strings." Her synopsis of the
development of sonata form is equally apt....Commentary on the
composers is well-researched and written at a uniform level of
detail that will make it useful to a wide
audience....Fallows-Hammond does a good job of compiling accurate
information on the composers she has chosen. If the contents of the
book serve your purposes, you will find this handbook a handy
reference source. " **************** The American Organist "The
author has created a self-instruction course which gives
information about the evolution of the piano and changing styles in
piano technique, and then discusses topics with emphasis on special
composers: ..... Piano students seeking background information will
profit from this book. Recommended for public libraries."
******************** Keyboard Magazine "Patricia Fallow-Hammond's
302 page study embraces the proposition that historical context is
an important, and frequently neglected, element in building an
understanding of classical repertoire. .... she has assembled a
fairly basic catalogue of keyboard works, arranged chronologically
by composer, and preceded each list with a short biography relating
milestones from each composer's life. ....... Her decision to
further enlighten the reader with short samples of their handiwork
is a happy extra addition. Her efficiency at summarizing and
packaging that line is what makes her debut in print a success."
'Looking back at The Libertines is like catching flashes of
sunlight between buildings as you race by on a train. An old film
reel where the spools are weathered and worn, leaving empty frames
on the screen...' In the final years of the last millennium, Carl
Barat and Pete Doherty forged a deep musical bond, formed The
Libertines and set sail for Arcadia in the good ship Albion; a
decade later, Carl would emerge from his second band, the Dirty
Pretty Things, after one of the most significant - and turbulent -
rock 'n' roll trajectories of recent times. Threepenny Memoir
navigates the choppy waters of memory, and gives an inside look at
life in the eye of the storm, chronicling how a pair of romantics
armed with little more than poetry and a punk attitude inspired
adoration in millions worldwide - and proceeded to tear apart
everything they had. With unflinching honesty but real warmth, Carl
- who has recently performed with The Libertines for the first time
since 2004, and released a solo album - looks back at the creative
highs and the drug-addled lows of life with both bands, as well as
giving an intimate account of the people and places that have
informed his songwriting. From Camden bedsits, impromptu gigs and
minesweeping drinks in the Dublin Castle to Japanese groupies,
benders in Moscow and chatting to Slash, Threepenny Memoir charts a
fantastic course through recent musical history. And, in the
aftermath, Carl reflects on the pressures - both external and
self-inflicted - that led to each band's demise, and on the
challenges and rewards that life as a solo artist now holds.
Interest in Pink Floyd remains as intense as ever even 40 years
after the release of Dark Side of the Moon, with lavish box-sets
collecting demos and out-takes, and Roger Waters' world tours of
The Wall playing to packed stadiums. Now, Mark Blake's superbly
comprehensive and engrossing history of the group, rightly
acclaimed as the definitive book on the band, has been fully
revised and extended with new interviews to bring the story up to
date with the recent appearances of David Gilmour and Nick Mason
with Roger Waters at a London date on his The Wall tour.
Examining, for the first time, the compositions of Johann Joseph
Fux in relation to his contemporaries Bach and Handel, The Musical
Discourse of Servitude presents a new theory of the late baroque
musical imagination. Author Harry White contrasts musical
"servility" and "freedom" in his analysis, with Fux tied to the
prevailing servitude of the day's musical imagination, particularly
the hegemonic flowering of North Italian partimento method across
Europe. In contrast, both Bach and Handel represented an autonomy
of musical discourse, with Bach exhausting generic models in the
mass and Handel inventing a new genre in the oratorio. A potent
critique of Lydia Goehr's seminal The Imaginary Museum of Musical
Works, The Musical Discourse of Servitude draws on Goehr's
formulation of the "work-concept" as an imaginary construct which,
according to Goehr, is an invention of nineteenth-century reception
history. White locates this concept as a defining agent of automony
in Bach's late works, and contextualized the "work-concept" itself
by exploring rival concepts of political, religious, and musical
authority which define the European musical imagination in the
first half of the eighteenth century. A major revisionist statement
about the musical imagination in Western art music, The Musical
Discourse of Servitude will be of interest to scholars of the
Baroque, particularly of Bach and Handel.
This in-depth, research-based book profiles the band that shaped a
generation and changed the face of music forever. What makes a
legend? The Beatles: A Musical Biography attempts to answer that
question by taking an in-depth look at the band that changed pop
music. Examining the events and ideas that influenced each album
and many songs, the book seeks to explain what drove the Beatles to
make music, as well as what drove the music itself. While the
biography covers the musical history and achievements of the band,
it also looks at what was happening in the lives of John, Paul,
George, and Ringo during the Beatle years, exploring their personal
drives and aspirations and their relationships with each other.
Readers will come away from this book with a far better
appreciation of the Lads from Liverpool-and of what was really
going on underneath those oh-so-controversial haircuts. Ten
original photos depict the Beatles from their humble beginnings to
the height of their success An epilogue discusses the period after
the breakup A timeline features major events and achievements of
the Beatles Includes discographies of singles and albums and a list
of awards
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger
Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain
imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed
pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we
have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting,
preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger
Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and
hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone
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