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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Composers & musicians
A remarkable feminist history and biography that features fragments
from the five-decade career of an iconic artist. 'Through this
deeply personal take, the real significance of Faithfull as an
irrepressible female icon shines through.' SHINDIG 'Excellent . . .
Pearson deserves the widest possible audience.' POPMATTERS First as
a doe-eyed ingenue with 'As Tears Go By', then as a gravel-voiced
phoenix rising from the ashes of the 1960s with a landmark punk
album, Broken English, and finally as a genre-less icon, Marianne
Faithfull carved her name into the history of rock 'n' roll to
chart a career spanning five decades and multiple detours. Why,
then, was Faithfull absent from the male-dominated history of the
British Invasion? Putting memoir on equal footing with biographical
accounts, historian Tanya Pearson writes about Faithfull as an avid
fan, recovered addict and queer musician at a crossroads. Whether
exploring Faithfull's rise to celebrity, her drug addiction and
fall from grace as a spurned 'muse' or her reinvention as a sober,
soulful chanteuse subverting all expectations for an ageing woman
in music, Pearson reaffirms the deep connection between creator and
listener in this remarkable feminist history of the iconic artist.
'Witty, passioante, and provactive. Finally, a feminist
appreciation for Marianne Faithfull.' VIVIEN GOLDMAN, author of
Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly
Styrene to Pussy Riot 'With vulnerability and a smart sense of
humor, Tanya Pearson exposes the profoundly misogynistic music
industry that abused Marianne Faithfull . . . heroic and
hiliarious.' JD SAMSON, of LeTigre and MEN MUSIC MATTERS: SHORT
BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE - Why Solange Matters by Stephanie
Phillips - Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson - Why
Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson
One evening, journalist Eric Siblin attended a recital of Johann
Sebastian Bach's "Cello Suites" and began an epic quest that would
unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. Winner
of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Nonfiction and the McAuslan First
Book Prize, "The Cello Suites" weaves together three dramatic
narratives: the disappearance of Bach's manuscript in the
eighteenth century; Pablo Casals's discovery and popularization of
the music in Spain in the late-nineteenth century; and Siblin's
infatuation with the suites in the present day. The search led
Siblin to Barcelona, where Casals, just thirteen and in possession
of his first cello, roamed the backstreets with his father in
search of sheet music and found Bach's lost suites tucked in a dark
corner of a store. Casals played them every day for twelve years
before finally performing them in public. Siblin pursues the
mysteries that continue to haunt this music more than 250 years
after its composer's death: Why did Bach compose the suites for the
cello, then considered a lowly instrument? What happened to the
original manuscript? A seamless blend of biography and music
history, "The Cello Suites" is a true-life journey of discovery,
fueled by the power of these musical masterpieces.
The first large-scale study of the music of Herbert Howells,
prodigiously gifted musician and favourite student of the
notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Herbert
Howells (1892-1983) was a prodigiously gifted musician and the
favourite student of the notoriously hard-to-please Sir Charles
Villiers Stanford. Throughout his long life, he was one of the
country's most prominent composers, writing extensively in all
genres except the symphony and opera. Yet today he is known mostly
for his church music, and there is as yet relatively little serious
study of his work. This book is the first large-scale study of
Howells's music, affording both detailed consideration of
individual works and a broad survey of general characteristics and
issues. Its coverage is wide-ranging, addressing all aspects of the
composer's prolific output and probing many of the issues that it
raises. The essays are gathered in five sections: Howells the
Stylist examines one of the most striking aspect of the composer's
music, its strongly characterised personal voice; Howells the
VocalComposer addresses both his well-known contribution to church
music and his less familiar, but also important, contribution to
the genre of solo song; Howells the Instrumental Composer shows
that he was no less accomplished for his work in genres without
words, for which, in fact, he first made his name; Howells the
Modern considers the composer's rather overlooked contribution to
the development of a modern voice for British music; and Howells in
Mourning explores the important impact of his son's death on his
life and work. The composer that emerges from these studies is a
complex figure: technically fluent but prone to revision and
self-doubt; innovative but also conservative; a composer with an
improvisational sense of flow who had a firm grasp of musical form;
an exponent of British musical style who owed as much to
continental influence as to his national heritage. This volume,
comprising a collection of outstanding essays by established
writers and emergent scholars, opens up the range of Howells's
achievement to a wider audience, both professional and amateur.
PHILLIP COOKE is Lecturer in Composition at theUniversity of
Aberdeen. DAVID MAW is Tutor and Research Fellow in Music at Oriel
College, Oxford, holding Lectureships also at Christ Church, The
Queen's and Trinity Colleges. CONTRIBUTORS: Byron Adams, Paul
Andrews, Graham Barber, Jonathan Clinch, Phillip A. Cooke, Jeremy
Dibble, Lewis Foreman, Fabian Huss, David Maw, Diane Nolan Cooke,
Lionel Pike, Paul Spicer, Jonathan White. Foreword by John Rutter.
When Peter Gabriel left rock royalty Genesis in 1975 for personal
reasons, his musical future was full of uncertainty. But within 18
months he returned in style with his debut solo album and a hit
single 'Solsbury Hill'. It set him on a path that has allowed his
talent to blossom through the decades. Never one to stand still,
Gabriel has constantly reinvented himself, never afraid to
experiment and explore new musical avenues. His willingness to
collaborate with all manner of people has also resulted in film
scores and joint projects with a diverse range of artists from Kate
Bush to Martin Scorcese, as well as Sinead O'Connor, King Crimson's
Robert Fripp and Coldplay's Chris Martin. His passion for World
Music has seen his long-standing commitment to the WOMAD Festival
and outside of music political activism and humanitarian issues
have played a big part in his life. With Gabriel now in his seventh
decade A Life In Vision is a chronological, visual biography of his
extraordinary and colourful career. From the early days of Genesis
through to the present day it is crammed full of glorious
photography, much of which is previously unpublished, along with a
timeline narrative by Genesis aficionado Alan Hewitt.
Berlioz frequently explored other worlds in his writings, from the
imagined exotic enchantments of New Zealand to the rings of Saturn
where Beethoven's spirit was said to reside. The settings for his
musical works are more conservative, and his adventurousness has
instead been located in his mastery of the orchestra, as both
orchestrator and conductor. Inge van Rij's book takes a new
approach to Berlioz's treatment of the orchestra by exploring the
relationship between these two forms of control - the orchestra as
abstract sound, and the orchestra as collective labour and
instrumental technology. Van Rij reveals that the negotiation
between worlds characteristic of Berlioz's writings also plays out
in his music: orchestral technology may be concealed or
ostentatiously displayed; musical instruments might be
industrialised or exoticised; and the orchestral musicians
themselves move between being a society of distinctive individuals
and being a machine played by Berlioz himself.
Pink Floyd are one of the most innovative and enduringly successful
bands in history. 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, though far from the
first concept album, established a new model for quasi-symphonic,
long-form investigations into the human condition. It is a record
of thoughtfully poignant lyrics and some of the most powerful,
genre-defining rock music ever made. Roger Waters, Rick Wright,
Nick Mason and the tragically brilliant Syd Barrett fused English
whimsy with electrifying voyages through inner and outer space.
Their underground gigs are the stuff of psychedelic legend, but
between 1968 and 1971, with Barrett replaced by David Gilmour,
their sonic inquiries were never braver. Some were delivered
instantly while others were revealed slowly, but all played crucial
parts in rock's development. During the 1970s, the music matured as
the messages darkened. While Floyd continued to prove that
emotional weight can be forged from deceptively modest
arrangements, the band's live spectaculars reached a pitch of
technical complexity and extravagance none has matched. With
insightful analysis and witty objectivity, Richard Butterworth
appraises afresh Pink Floyd's official recorded canon, from 'Arnold
Layne' to The Endless River and beyond to 2022 and the first
all-new Floyd music for 28 years.
In addition, The Tone Clock contains a broad selection of Peter
Schat's polemical writings, embracing historical, political,
aesthetic and environmental perspectives. His book is not just of
interest to composers, but it also provides a valuable insight for
anyone interested in the development of twentieth-century
music.
Peter Schat, a former pupil of Pierre Boulez, exposes more than a
new theory of music in The Tone Clock. Although he is a
long-experienced serialist composer, in devising and using his tone
clock system he has reached the clarity and simplicity which
comprise two of his major compositional aims. His book, profusely
illustrated with clearly analysed musical examples, will enable
other composers to achieve similar aims in their own way, while
remaining faithful to their own musical personalities.
A former pupil of Pierre Boulez, Peter Schat is a well-known Dutch
contemporary serialist composer.
Mozart's greatest works were written in Vienna in the decade before
his death (1781-1791). This biography focuses on Mozart's dual
roles as a performer and composer and reveals how his compositional
processes are affected by performance-related concerns. It traces
consistencies and changes in Mozart's professional persona and his
modus operandi and sheds light on other prominent musicians,
audience expectations, publishing, and concert and dramatic
practices and traditions. Giving particular prominence to primary
sources, Simon P. Keefe offers new biographical and critical
perspectives on the man and his music, highlighting his
extraordinary ability to engage with the competing demands of
singers and instrumentalists, publishing and public performance,
and concerts and dramatic productions in the course of a hectic,
diverse and financially uncertain freelance career. This
comprehensive and accessible volume is essential for Mozart lovers
and scholars alike, exploring his Viennese masterpieces and the
people and environments that shaped them.
In this compact introduction to the life and work of eminent
African American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978),
Catherine Parsons Smith tracks the composer's interrelated careers
in popular and concert music. Still merged both musical traditions
in his work, studying composition with George W. Chadwick at the
New England Conservatory, collaborating with Langston Hughes on
Troubled Island, and working as a commercial arranger and composer
on Broadway and radio during the Harlem Renaissance. Still also
played in the pit band for Shuffle Along, served as recording
director for the first Black-owned record label, Black Swan, and
arranged music for artists such as Sophie Tucker, Paul Whiteman,
and Artie Shaw. Best known for his Afro-American Symphony and other
works that drew heavily on black American musical heritage, Still
struggled against financial hardship and declining attention to his
work, which he attributed to political and racist conspiracies.
This "dean of Afro-American composers" created his own, unique
version of musical modernism, influencing commercial music,
symphonic music, and opera in the process.
In the '80s, the Birmingham, England, band Duran Duran became
closely associated with new wave, an idiosyncratic genre that
dominated the decade's music and culture. No album represented this
rip-it-up-and-start-again movement better than the act's
breakthrough 1982 LP, Rio. A cohesive album with a retro-futuristic
sound-influences include danceable disco, tangy funk, swaggering
glam, and Roxy Music's art-rock-the full-length sold millions and
spawned smashes such as "Hungry Like the Wolf" and the title track.
However, Rio wasn't a success everywhere at first; in fact, the LP
had to be buffed-up with remixes and reissued before it found an
audience in America. The album was further buoyed by colorful music
videos, which established Duran Duran as leaders of an MTV-driven
second British Invasion, and the group's cutting-edge visual
aesthetic. Via extensive new interviews with band members and other
figures who helped Rio succeed, this book explores how and why Rio
became a landmark pop-rock album, and examines how the LP was both
a musical inspiration-and a reflection of a musical, cultural, and
technology zeitgeist.
Derek Taylor's iconic memoir is a rare opportunity to be immersed
in one of the most whirlwind music sensations in history:
Beatlemania. As Time Goes By tells the remarkable story of Taylor's
trajectory from humble provincial journalist to loved confidant
right at the centre of the Beatles' magic circle. In charming,
conversational prose, Taylor shares anecdotes and reminiscences so
vivid and immediate that you find yourself plunged into the beating
heart of 1960s counterculture. Whether watching the debut
performance of 'Hey Jude' in a country pub or hearing first-hand
gossip about a star-studded cast of characters, Taylor's unique
narrative voice forges an autobiography like no other. Reissued
here in a brand new edition with a foreword by celebrated writer
Jon Savage, this long-admired memoir is a cult classic of the genre
awaiting a new readership.
First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &
Francis, an informa company.
Paul Gemignani is one of the titans of the modern musical theater
industry. Serving as musical director for more than forty Broadway
productions since 1971, his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim,
Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Hal Prince, Michael
Bennett, and Alan Menken have led to countless accolades for his
collaborators, but due to the near invisible position of the
musical director in the Broadway industry, Gemignani's story is
often overlooked. GEMIGNANI seeks to not only bring the reader into
the orchestra pit to learn Gemignani's story, but also to educate
the reader about the crucial role a music director plays in
bringing some of the most iconic musicals in Broadway history to
life. Born into a second-generation Italian American family during
the aftershocks of the Great Depression, Gemignani worked his way
up from playing percussion in USO bands to conducting before
Leonard Bernstein, all before becoming a pivotal player in the team
that brought some of the most successful musicals of the late
twentieth century to the stage. Sweeney Todd, Evita, Merrily We
Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods
would be quite different without his key contributions, and many of
the sonic markers we now associate with the postmodern musical
theater can be traced to Gemignani's careful curiosity to expand
the bounds of what was possible.
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.
Born out of a union of club bands on the burgeoning Austin bohemian
scene and a pronounced taste for hallucinogens, the 13th Floor
Elevators were formed in late 1965 when lyricist Tommy Hall asked a
local singer named Roky Erickson to join up with his new rock
outfit. Four years, three official albums and countless acid trips
later, it was over: the Elevators' pioneering first run ended in a
dizzying jumble of professional mismanagement, internal arguments,
drug busts and forced psychiatric imprisonments. In their short
existence, however, the group succeeded in blowing the lid off the
budding musical underground, logging early salvos in the
counter-cultural struggle against state authorities, and turning
their deeply hallucinogenic take on jug-band garage rock into a new
American institution called psychedelic music. Before the hippies,
before the punks, there were the 13th Floor Elevators: an unlikely
crew of outcast weirdo geniuses who changed culture
'I will always believe in the strength we have as women.' As the
queen of pop music since the glory days of Destiny's Child to her
incredible solo career, Beyonce is one of the most inspiring and
powerful women in music. The Little Book of Queen Bey is a
collection of the most iconic quotes from a woman who needs no
introduction. When it comes to self-love, empowerment and
sisterhood, Beyonce has more wisdom than anybody. From how to be an
independent woman to positive affirmations that will give you hope,
The Little Book of Queen Bey is the perfect gift for fans of the
goddess of pop. Prepare to be inspired.
This Companion provides a comprehensive analysis and appraisal of
all of Scott's available (published and unpublished) music and a
broad picture of his entire output in literary, dramatic and
philosophical genres. Cyril Scott (1879-1970) was an English
composer, writer and poet. He was a prolific composer-pianist
writing over 400 works including four symphonies, three operas and
concerti for piano, violin, cello, oboe and harpsichord.
Oftenperforming his own compositions he became a pioneer of British
piano music, and his music was admired by composers as diverse as
Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky and Percy Grainger, the last a
lifelong friend. A true polymath, Scottwas also the author of
forty-one books, including two autobiographies and one unpublished
memoir, on subjects ranging from music, alternative medicine and
humour to occultism, theosophy and Christianity. In addition, he
wrote poems and plays and painted watercolours. This Companion
explores the life and work of this remarkably creative man. It
provides a comprehensive analysis and appraisal of all the
available music and includes a complete catalogue of his musical
works, along with a discography. Several works completely unknown
to the musical world, both music and literary (such as the memoir
'Near the End of Life'), are here newly catalogued and discussed.
Altogether, thevolume gives a broad picture of Scott's entire
output in literary, dramatic and philosophical genres. LEWIS
FOREMAN has published many books and articles on music. His Boydell
titles include Bax: A Composer and hisTimes (2007), The John
Ireland Companion (2011) and with Susan Foreman Felix Aprahamian
(2015). DESMOND SCOTT is the son of Cyril Scott. He was an actor,
theatre director and TV writer. He is also a sculptor and
past-President of the Sculptors Society of Canada. He has
contributed to The New Percy Grainger Companion (Boydell Press,
2010) and has published articles in musical journals on Cyril
Scott. LESLIE DE'ATH isProfessor, Faculty of Music, Wilfrid Laurier
University, Waterloo, Canada. He is Associate Editor of the Journal
of Singing, a pianist, conductor and opera director. He has
recorded Scott's complete solo piano music for Dutton.
Contributors: PETER ATKINSON, MARTYN BRABBINS, LESLIE DE'ATH, PETER
DICKINSON, LEWIS FOREMAN, KATHERINE HUDSON, VALERIE LANGFIELD ,
KURT LELAND, STEPHEN LLOYD, STEVEN MARTIN, ROHINTEN DADDY MAZDA,
RICHARD PRICE, EDMUND RUBBRA, DESMOND SCOTT, MARTIN YATES
This long-awaited study of the life and music of Anglo-Irish
composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) finally provides a full
biography of the last senior figure in early twentieth-century
British Music to have been without one. This long-awaited study of
the life and music of Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran
(1894-1950) finally provides a full biography of the last senior
figure in early twentieth-century British Music to have been
without one. Although Moeran's work was widely performed during his
lifetime, he suffered neglect in the years following his death. It
was not until a re-awakening of appreciation for the music of the
folksong-inspired English pastoralism in the latter part of the
twentieth century that Moeran's tuneful, well-crafted and
approachable music began to attract a new audience. However, widely
accepted misconceptions about his life and character have obscured
a clearunderstanding of both man and composer. Written with the
benefit of access to previously unknown or unresearched archives,
Ernest John Moeran: His Life and Music strips away a hitherto
unchallenged mythological framework, and replaces it by a
thorough-going examination and analysis of the life and work of a
musician that may reasonably be asserted as having been unique in
British music history.
Richard Wagner is one of the most controversial figures in Western
cultural history. He revolutionized not only opera but the very
concept of art, and his works and ideas have had an immeasurable
impact on both the cultural and political landscapes of the late
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From 'absolute music' to
'Zurich' and from 'Theodor Adorno' to 'Hermann Zumpe', the
vividly-written entries of The Cambridge Wagner Encyclopedia have
been contributed by recognized authorities and cover a
comprehensive range of topics. More than eighty scholars from
around the world, representing disciplines from history and
philosophy to film studies and medicine, provide fascinating
insights into Wagner's life, career and influence. Multiple
appendices include listings of Wagner's works, historic
productions, recordings and addresses where he lived, to round out
a volume that will be an essential and reliable resource for
enthusiasts and academics alike.
How did Ludwig van Beethoven help overthrow a tsarist regime? With
the establishment of the Russian Musical Society and its affiliated
branches throughout the empire, Beethoven's music reached
substantially larger audiences at a time of increasing political
instability. In addition, leading music critics of the
regime began hearing Beethoven's dramatic works as nothing less
than a call to revolution. Beethoven in Russia deftly explores the
interface between music and politics in Russia by examining the
reception of Beethoven's works from the late 18th century to the
present. In part 1, Frederick W. Skinner's clear and sweeping
review examines the role of Beethoven's more dramatic works in the
revolutionary struggle that culminated in the Revolution of 1917.
In part 2, Skinner reveals how this same power was again harnessed
to promote Stalin's campaign of rapid industrialization. The
appropriation of Beethoven and his music to serve the interests of
the state remained the hallmark of Soviet Beethoven reception until
the end of communist rule. With interdisciplinary appeal in the
areas of history, music, literature, and political thought,
Beethoven in Russia shows how Beethoven's music served as a call to
action for citizens and weaponized state propaganda in the great
political struggles that shaped modern Russian history.
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