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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Composers & musicians
Fourth volume of Carl Francis Glasenapp's Life of Richard Wagner.
Show Tunes fully chronicles the shows, songs, and careers of the
major composers of the American musical theatre, from Jerome Kern's
earliest interpolations to the latest hits on Broadway. Legendary
composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Porter, Berlin, Bernstein, and
Sondheim have been joined by more recent songwriters like Stephen
Schwartz, Stephen Flaherty, Michael John LaChiusa, and Adam
Guettel. This majestic reference book covers their work, their
innovations, their successes, and their failures. Show Tunes is
simply the most comprehensive volume of its kind ever produced, and
this newly revised and updated edition discusses almost 1,000 shows
and 9,000 show tunes. The book has been called "a concise skeleton
key to the Broadway musical" (Variety) and "a ground-breaking
reference work with a difference" (Show Music)-or, as the
Washington Post observed, "It makes you sing and dance all over
your memory."
Michael Christoforidis is widely recognized as a leading expert on one of Spain's most important composers, Manuel de Falla. This volume brings together both new chapters and revised versions of previously published work, some of which is made available here in English for the first time. The introductory chapter provides a biographical outline of the composer and characterisations of both Falla and his music during his lifetime. The sections that follow explore different facets of Falla's mature works and musical identity. Part II traces the evolution of his flamenco-inspired Spanish style through contacts with Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, while Part III explores the impact of post-World War I modernities on Falla's musical nationalism. The final part reflects on aspects of Falla's music and the politics of Spain in the 1930s and 1940s. Situating his discussion of these aspects of Falla's music within a broader context, including currents in literature and the visual arts, Christoforidis provides a distinctive and original contribution to the study of Falla as well as to the wider fields of musical modernism, exoticism, and music and politics.
Following their first tour to Japan in 1966, the Beatles would become an important part of Japan's postwar cultural development and its deepening relationship with the West. By the 1960s Japan's dramatic rise in prosperity and the self-confidence of the country's 'economic miracle' period were yet to come; it was not, at this stage, considered a fully-fledged partner of the West. All these potential developments were consolidating around the time of the 1966 tour. The Beatles' concerts in Tokyo contributed to the construction of a new Japanese national identity and introduced Japan as a new potential market to UK and US music producers, broadening the country's transnational cultural links. This book explores the Beatles' engagement with Japan within the larger context of the country's increased global connection and large-scale economic, social and cultural change. It describes the great impact of the Beatles' contentious 1966 tour, which took place amid public displays of both euphoric 'Beatlemania' and angry protests, and discusses the lasting impression of this tour on Japanese culture and identity to the present day. The Beatles' relationship with Japan did not end after their departure; this book also examines the Beatles' subsequent contacts with Japan, including John Lennon's marriage and artistic partnership with Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney's later Japanese tours and the warm reception the ex Beatles and their musical legacy have received over the years.
No musical entity has been more closely associated with EGuitar WorldE magazine over the years than Edward Van Halen a the man who in the late seventies and early eighties changed the course of guitar history. This collection of classic and new interviews with the great Edward tells the real story behind his earth-shaking technique brilliant songwriting and relationship with both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. This is the authoritative book a revised and updated with new exclusive interviews and information on one of the greatest rock bands of all time and the guitar god at the center of it all.
The Unsung Songwriters is dedicated to a period in the history of American music that author Warren Vache calls the "Golden Age of Songwriting," and to the men and women who made it great. Contrary to the widely held opinion that most of our hit and standard songs were composed by a handful of top writers Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, Porter, and Rodgers the fact is that the vast majority of them were written by relatively unknown composers. In this definitive reference work to the "unsung songwriters," you will find Al Neiberg, the author of "It's the Talk of the Town," Maceo Pinkard, the mind behind "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Sugar," Harry Woods for "Try a Little Tenderness," J. Fred Coots for "You Go to My Head," and many more.
Recognized for its distinctive musical features and its connection to periods of social innovation and ferment, the genre of psychedelia has exerted long-term influence in many areas of cultural production, including music, visual art, graphic design, film, and literature. William Echard explores the historical development of psychedelic music and its various stylistic incarnations as a genre unique for its fusion of rock, soul, funk, folk, and electronic music. Through the theory of musical topics-highly conventional musical figures that signify broad cultural concepts-and musical meaning, Echard traces the stylistic evolution of psychedelia from its inception in the early 1960s, with the Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver and the Kinks and Pink Floyd, to the German experimental bands and psychedelic funk of the 1970s, with a special emphasis on Parliament/Funkadelic. He concludes with a look at the 1980s and early 1990s, touching on the free festival scene, rave culture, and neo-jam bands. Set against the cultural backdrop of these decades, Echard's study of psychedelia lays the groundwork and offers lessons for analyzing the topic of popular music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
In Robert Ward's The Crucible: Creating an American Musical Nationalism, Robert Paul Kolt explores the life of the American composer Robert Ward through an examination of his most popular and enduring work, The Crucible. Focusing on the musical-linguistic relationships within the opera, Kolt demonstrates Ward's unique synthesis of text and music, one that lends itself to the perception of American musical nationalism. This book contains the most thorough and in-depth biography of Ward yet in print. Based on interviews with the composer, Kolt presents new information about Ward's life and career, focusing on his opera and examining the formation and construction of The Crucible's libretto and score, in turn offering new insights into the process of composing an opera. Kolt observes how the libretto's linguistic aspects helped Ward formulate the opera's melodic and rhythmic musical material. A detailed and unique analysis of the opera, particularly the musical and linguistic techniques Ward employed, demonstrates how these techniques lend themselves to the opera's reception as a work of American musical nationalism. The book also provides yet unpublished information on Arthur Miller's play, examining how it came to be written and soon after became the basis for Ward's work. Several appendixes provide a fuller picture, including a deleted scene from Miller's play and Ward's version of the scene, a chronological overview of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and illustrations and photo reproductions from Ward's manuscript.
'En France, tout finit par des chansons' is the well-known phrase which sums up the importance of chanson for the French. A song tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages and troubadours of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, chanson is part of the texture of everyday life in France - a part of the national identity and a barometer of popular taste. In this first study of chanson in English, Peter Hawkins examines the background to the genre and the difficulties in defining what is and what is not chanson. The focus then moves to the development of the singer-songwriter of chanson from 1880 to the present day. This period saw the emergence of national icons from Aristide Bruant at the end of the nineteenth century through to internationally recognized musicians such as Jacques Brel and Serge Gainsbourg. Each of these figures used chanson to express the particular moral dilemmas, tragic situations and moments of euphoria particular to themselves and their times. The book provides bibliographies, discographies and details of video recordings for each of the singer-songwriters that it discusses. It is both an essential reference guide to the genre and a useful case history of the adaptation of an ancient form to the demands of the modern mass media.
Mabel Daniels (1877-1971): An American Composer in Transition assesses Daniels within the context of American music of the first half of the twentieth century. Daniels wrote fresh sounding works that were performed by renowned orchestras and ensembles during her lifetime but her works have only recently begun to be performed again. The book explains why works by Daniels and other women composers fell out of favor and argues for their performance today. This study of Daniels's life and works evinces transition in women's roles in composition, the professionalization of women composers, and the role that Daniels played in the institutionalization of American art music. Daniels's dual role as a patron-composer is unique and expressive of her transitional status.
Adele needs no introduction. From humble beginnings she has come to be a globally recognized icon. Her first album shot her to fame and the second consolidated her position as a singing/songwriting superstar with lasting, global appeal. She has already won more than 40 industry awards, including 11 Billboard Music Awards, a BRIT award, and eight Grammy awards. She has broken record after record: first artist to sell more than 3m albums in a year in the UK, first living artist to have two top five hits in both the UK singles and albums charts simultaneously since the Beatles, the first artist in history to lead the Billboard chart concurrently with three number ones, 21 is the longest running number one album by a female solo artist on the UK chart and in the US it held the top position for longer than any other album since 1993.
In the years following the 1960s Beatle fans around the world were twice-stunned: in 1970 when their beloved group disbanded and ten years later when the murder of John Lennon ended a decade of hope that somehow the Fab Four would reunite. Between those milestones were astounding highs and unfathomable lows. George Harrison's 1971 benefit for the suffering of Bangladesh showed the world the possibilities of rock's altruism while Lennon asked the world to imagine universal peace before sitting out half the decade to raise his son. Ringo Starr the most overlooked Beatle carved himself a surprising niche in film before launching a string of hit singles. And Paul McCartney widely seen as the instigator of the Fabs' breakup became one of rock's most beloved performers racking up record-breaking smashes that climaxed with a triumphant world tour in 1976.THEFab Four FAQ 2.0E picks up the story where the acclaimed EFab Four FAQE left off. Loaded with images of rare period ephemera including periodicals single sleeves and movie stills this is the first comprehensive biography of all four ex-Beatles. This book covers everything from their recording careers in the decade after the band's dissolution to the musicians they played with the bands they influenced the manifestations of latter-day Beatlemania and the constant clamor for reunion expressed by fans and a sometimes a by the four themselves.
The first full length study of Sir George Thomas Smart (1776-1867), musical animateur and early champion of the music of Beethoven Sir George Thomas Smart (1776-1867) was a significant musical animateur of the early nineteenth century, who earned his living primarily as a conductor but was also significant as an organist, composer and recorder of events. Smart established successful and pioneering London concert series, was a prime mover in the setting up of the Philharmonic Society and the Royal Academy of Music, and taught many of the leading singers of the day, being well versed in the Handelian concert tradition. He also conducted the opera at the Covent Garden Theatre and introduced significant new works to the public - he was most notably an early champion of the music of Beethoven. His journeys to Europe, and his contacts with the leading European musical figures of the day (including Weber, Meyerbeer, Spohr, and Mendelssohn), were crucial to the direction music was to take in nineteenth-century Britain. This detailed account of Smart's life and career presents him within the context of the vibrant concert life of London and wider European musical culture. It is the first full length, critical study of this influential musical figure. JOHN CARNELLEY is Deputy Director of Music and Head of Academic Music, Dulwich College, London. He holds a PhD in Historical Musicology from the University of London (Goldsmiths College) and has previously published research on the eighteenth-century organ manuscripts of John Reading, held in the Dulwich College Archive.
The carillon, the world's largest musical instrument, originated in the sixteenth century when inhabitants of the Low Countries started to produce music on bells in church and city towers. Today, carillon music still fills the soundscape of cities in Belgium and the Netherlands. Since World War I, carillon music has become popular in the United States, where it adds a spiritual dimension to public parks and university campuses. Singing Bronze opens up the fascinating world of the carillon to the reader. It tells the great stories of European and American carillon history: the quest for the perfect musical bell, the fate of carillons in times of revolt and war, the role of patrons such as John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Herbert Hoover in the development of American carillon culture, and the battle between singing bronze and carillon electronics. Richly illustrated with original photographs and etchings, Singing Bronze tells how people developed, played, and enjoyed bell music. With this book, a fascinating history that is yet little known is made available for a wide public.
Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was Victorian Britain's most celebrated and popular composer, whose music to this day reaches a wider audience than that of any of his contemporaries. Yet the comic operas on which Sullivan's reputation is chiefly based have been consistently belittled or ignored by the British musicological establishment, while his serious works have until recently remained virtually unknown. The time is thus long overdue for scholarly re-engagement with Sullivan. The present book offers a new appraisal of the music of this most notable nineteenth-century British composer, combining close analytical attention to his music with critical consideration of the wider aesthetic and social context to his work. Focusing on key pieces in all the major genres in which Sullivan composed, it includes accounts of his most important serious works - the music to The Tempest, the 'Irish' Symphony, The Golden Legend, Ivanhoe - alongside detailed examination of the celebrated comic operas created with W.S. Gilbert to present a balanced portrayal of Sullivan's musical achievement.
Guillaume de Machaut was the foremost poet-composer of his time. Studies look at all aspects of his prodigious output. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is regarded as the greatest French poet-composer of the middle ages, as he was during his lifetime. A trained secretary, with a passion for collecting, copying and ordering his own work, the numberof surviving notated musical works attributed to him far exceeds that of any of his contemporaries. All the main genres of song - lais, virelais, balades, and rondeaux - together with Machaut's motets, and his famous Masscycle are considered here from a variety of perspectives. These incorporate the latest scholarly understanding of both Machaut's poetry and music, and the material form they take when notated in the surviving manuscripts. The bookthus presents a detailed picture of the current range of interpretative approaches to Machaut's music, focusing variously on counterpoint, musica ficta, text setting, musico-poetic meanings, citation and intertextuality, tonality, and compositional method. Several of Machaut's works are discussed by a pair of contributors, who reach conclusions at times mutually reinforcing or complementary, at times contradictory and mutually exclusive. That Machaut's music thrives on such constructive debate and disagreement is a tribute to his scope as an artist, and his musico-poetic achievement. Contributors: JENNIFER BAIN, MARGARET BENT, CHRISTIAN BERGER, JACQUES BOOGAART,THOMAS BROWN, ALICE V. CLARK, JANE E. FLYNN, JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, KARL KUEGLE, ELIZABETH EVA LEACH, DANIEL LEECH-WILKINSON, ETER M. LEFFERTS, WILLIAM PETER MAHRT, KEVIN N. MOLL, VIRGINIA NEWES, YOLANDA PLUMLEY, OWEN REES, ANNE STONE. ELIZABETH EVA LEACH lectures in music at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Twelve internationally-known keyboard artists entertainingly discuss their daily lives of practicing and performing in informative interviews, including reflections on learning new music, reviving repertoire, performing, controlling nerves, recording sessions, playing with ensemble groups, touring, playing in competitions, and the future of the piano. The pianists interviewed include: Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jorge Bolet, John Browning, Bella Davidovich, Misha Dichter, Janina Fialkowska, Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, Andre-Michel Schub, Abbey Simon, Ralph Votapek, and Andre Watts.
Sergei Rachmaninoff the last great Russian romantic and arguably the finest pianist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries wrote 83 songs, which are performed and beloved throughout the world. Like German Lieder and French melodies, the songs were composed for one singer, accompanied by a piano. In this complete collection, Richard D. Sylvester provides English translations of the songs, along with accurate transliterations of the original texts and detailed commentary. Since Rachmaninoff viewed these "romances" primarily as performances and painstakingly annotated the scores, this volume will be especially valuable for students, scholars, and practitioners of voice and piano."
Moby Grape are a genuine cult phenomenon. Their story, a mixture of myth and truth, is a cautionary tale, a triumph, and a tragedy all at once. Though they are seen as a symbol of 1960s San Francisco, Moby Grape were never actually a part of the city s counterculture movement. Yet they were immersed in it, sharing stages with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, and many more. Moby Grape s five members came together from very different backgrounds, bursting onto the San Francisco scene in the fall of 1966. With their diverse pedigree, they were nothing less than musical alchemists, yet they were also rebels. Their blending of genres within a tight songwriting framework contrasted sharply with that of many of their SF peers. Following the release of the band s debut album in 1967, you could see everyone from Ringo Starr to Jimi Hendrix sporting a `Moby Grape Now! button. But in the months that followed, they were dogged by mismanagement, bad marketing, a scandalous drug bust, and general rock n roll mayhem. It seemed like it was all over in 1969, but in 1971 Moby Grape staged rock s first full-on reunion. Since then, they have fought to retain ownership of their own name, while two members of the band struggled with homelessness and mental illness. Despite all of this, they produced one of the best albums of the era, and today they are heralded by countless luminaries of rock music and rock criticism, from Robert Plant to Robert Christgau, Tom Waits to Greil Marcus. Drawing on extensive interviews with the surviving members of the band, What s Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean? finally tells the full story of one of the great cult bands of the 60s.
This interdisciplinary volume enters the scholarly conversation about Bruce Springsteen at the moment when he has reinforced his status of global superstar and achieved the status of social critic. Covering musical and cultural developments, chapters primarily consider work Springsteen has released since 9/11-that is, released during a period of continued global unrest, economic upheaval, and social change-under the headings Politics, Fear and Society; Gender and Sexual Identity; and Toward a Rhetoric of Springsteen. The collection engages Springsteen and popular music as his contemporary work is just beginning to be understood in terms of its impact on popular culture and music, applying new areas of inquiry to Springsteen and putting Springsteen fan writing within the same binding as academic writing to show how together they create a more nuanced understanding of an artist. Established and emerging Springsteen scholars approach work from disciplines including rhetoric and composition, historical musicology, labor studies, American history, literature, communications, sociology, theology, and government. Offering context, critique, and expansive understanding of Springsteen and his work, this book contributes to Springsteen scholarship and the study of popular music by showing Springsteen's broadening academic appeal as well as his escalating legacy on new musicians, social consciousness, and contemporary culture.
Experience spiritual encouragement from the Queen of Country Music with this collection of devotionals and uplifting lyrics. It's been over sixty years since the late Loretta Lynn first rose to stardom, transforming from a coal miner's daughter to the Queen of Country Music. Loretta knew she was blessed-to record music, to sing her songs to such great crowds, and to write books. A Song and A Prayer is a collection of devotionals combined with song lyrics that delivers a unique form of worship. Inspired by her songwriting sessions with Kim McLean (a fellow songwriter, music producer, as well as ordained minister and reverend doctor), Loretta's love of God is felt on every page of this book. Readers will learn to experience and maintain an intimate one-on-relationship with God. This volume will become a cherished companion for Loretta Lynn fans and readers everywhere as they strive to live each precious moment to the fullest and happiest. Through A Song and A Prayer, readers of all faiths and walks of life will have the opportunity to bask in a month's worth of spiritual encouragement. Loretta's thoughts and lyrics not only capture the presence of God, but also capture a presence that transcends Christianity-the spirit of creativity. In a busy world, Loretta's lyrics and prayers remind readers that God loves them more than they could imagine.
The publication of Martin Popoff's Uriah Heep: A Visual Biography is something of a bitter-sweet pill given recent events. Following the sad loss of Lee Kerslake in September 2020, Popoff - having interviewed various band members over the past few years - was all set to conduct another interview with Ken Hensley in mid November when the tragic news of Ken's sudden departure reached Heep fans around the world. Undeterred, the decision that had already been made to immortalise Uriah Heep with a comprehensive visual biography remained. Popoff's celebrated and detailed timeline takes us through more than fifty years of massive rock history from this much-loved band. From the early days with legendary front man David Byron, through the John Lawton years; the John Sloman and Pete Goalby fronted periods and from 1986 with Bernie Shaw taking centre stage; all eras are comprehensively covered. This differs from previous Uriah Heep books through the inclusion of so many previously unpublished photos, along with rare memorabilia and artefacts that makes this an indispensable addition to the vast Uriah Heep catalogue.
(Book). Many books about Hendrix concentrate on showmanship and rock-and-roll excess, but Keith Shadwick's Jimi Hendrix: Musician brings to Hendrix's musical legacy as a guitarist, singer, and composer a depth of analysis missing from other accounts of his career, placing Hendrix's work in the broadest possible musical context, encompassing rock, pop, soul, funk, jazz, blues, fusion, and a range of classical disciplines. The book was first published in 2003; sadly, Shadwick died from cancer in 2008 at the age of 57. This new edition in a compact format is published as a tribute to Shadwick, who was described in his obituary in the UK newspaper The Independent as "an authority on classical music who also wrote in-depth biographies of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. He was a jazzer who rocked and championed Gorecki."
In this book, Ronald Ebrecht has meticulously studied each of Durufle's works and put together the first book to discuss in detail all of Durufle's music. With encouragement from Durufle's editor and the foundation established in his name, Ebrecht has compiled copious examples from manuscript sources to be published for the first time along with the little-known contextualizing works of Messiaen and Barraine. Most widely known for his masterpiece Requiem, the composer's orchestral gems are analyzed alongside his delightful miniature: the orchestration of the Sicilienne. The organ works which set the standard for virtuosity at conservatories around the world are given new insightful and thorough evaluation by Ebrecht, whose long association with late 19th and early 20th century France and French music affords illuminating connections between Durufle and his predecessors and successors with sweeping insight and minute detail. |
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