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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Composers & musicians
Whilst these records were being conceived, rehearsed, recorded and
produced, Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood made hundreds of images.
These ranged from obsessive, insomniac scrawls in biro to
six-foot-square painted canvases, from scissors-and-glue collages
to immense digital landscapes. They utilised every medium they
could find, from sticks and knives to the emerging digital
technologies. The work chronicles their obsessions at the time:
minotaurs, genocide, maps, globalisation, monsters, pylons, dams,
volcanoes, locusts, lightning, helicopters, Hiroshima, show homes
and ring roads. What emerges is a deeply strange portrait of the
years at the commencement of this century. A time that seems an age
ago - but so much remains the same.
Since the time of his death, Dmitri Schostakovich's place in the
pantheon of 20th century composers has become more commanding and
more celebrated, while his musical legacy, with all its wonderfully
varied richness, is performed with increasing frequency throughout
the world. This seemingly endless surge of interest can be
attributed , at least in part, to 'Testimony'. The powerful memoirs
the ailing composer dictated to the young Russian musicologist
Solomon Volkov.
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Born to Run
(Paperback)
Bruce Springsteen
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R581
R543
Discovery Miles 5 430
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Diary of a Redneck Vampire is the journal of a 23 year-old female
drummer, begun shortly after auditioning for the all-male heavy
metal band The Redneck Vampires in 1993. New to the band, Flo finds
herself the only girl in a man's world, and she kept this diary to
deal with her changing life. She captures the band's plight as they
tour North America, living on stranger's couches, fighting among
themselves, getting and losing record deals, and performing for
just enough cash to make it to the next town. In addition to the
pursuit of rock stardom, Flo also seriously studied the pagan
religion of Wicca, and her spiritual life grows and changes as the
pages turn. You will laugh at the idiocy, experience the raging,
energetic crowds from the view of a drummer playing on stage, and
recognize the struggle bands go through to meet their definition of
success. Full of the drugs, the drama, and the dreams of rock and
roll, Diary of a Redneck Vampire pushes limits and exposes the ugly
truth of the beginning stages of a band in their struggle to make
it in the music industry, shared uniquely from the perspective of a
female participant.
One of Lawrence Welk's most beloved entertainers, an Emmy Award
winner and a Las Vegas headliner, Roberta Linn captured the hearts
of fans nationwide. Her inspiring story unfolds in the pages of
"Not Now, Lord, I've Got Too Much to Do."Born in a small Iowa town
to a farmer's daughter and a minor league baseball player, Roberta
discovered her talent for performing at a young age. She played in
film productions and worked with big names stars like Shirley
Temple, Cary Grant, and Clark Gable. At the age of thirteen, she
fabricated her true age and enlisted in the Women's Army Corps,
entertaining the troops of World War II.From 1950 to 1955, Roberta
became Lawrence Welk's first television 'Champagne Lady," and she
was displayed on magazine covers around the country. But the
harshness of celebrity life finally took its toll, and Roberta's
ill health led to a medicine-induced coma in 1958. Her amazing
recovery reinforced her faith, and she continued to find success in
her career. Both moving and uplifting, "Not Now, Lord, I've Got Too
Much to Do" showcases the triumph of one of the most popular
entertainers of Hollywood's golden age.
Paul Marie Thodore Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931), was a composer and
teacher. He initially read law and then moved to music. He studied
under Csar Franck at the Conservatoire de Paris. He co-founded the
Schola Cantorum in 1894.
This was the first attempt at a full length biography of Bach and a
critical apreciation of his work as composer and performer.
Translated by Walter Emery in 1941-1942 with introductory notes and
two appendices, but not published in his lifetime. Walter Emery,
musicologist, specialised in the works J.S. Bach.
In 1812, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote three letters to an unnamed
woman, whom he called "Immortal Beloved." The letters were
discovered after Beethoven's death and ever since their discovery,
there has been speculation regarding whom that Immortal Beloved
might have been. In Beethoven's Immortal Beloved: Solving the
Mystery, Edward Walden carefully and meticulously presents his case
that the woman who Beethoven loved was Bettina Brentano, an
artistic and talented musician in her own right. Setting the
foundation for his argument, Walden begins the book with a general
historical and sequential narrative that interweaves the lives of
the three principle protagonists: Beethoven, the writer Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, and Bettina Brentano. Walden explores in
detail the key elements of the factual narrative and shows how
those elements support his claim that Bettina was the Immortal
Beloved. In addition, Walden addresses the attacks other Beethoven
scholars have made against Bettina and reveals how such attacks
were mistaken or unjustified. Thoroughly and rigorously researched,
yet presented in a clear and engaging style, Beethoven's Immortal
Beloved will appeal to Beethoven scholars, music lovers, and
general readers alike, who will be captivated by the solving of
this fascinating mystery.
Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California
Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book
on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the
most significant and influential artists of the 20th century.
Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well
as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an
instant classic. An intimate look at Brian's rollercoaster of a
life and career, it's told through the eyes of those who were there
during Wilson's most legendary productions including Pet Sounds and
Good Vibrations. Revised and updated, God Only Knows covers the
decades since the 1985 edition, including Brian's first acclaimed
solo album, his startling return to live performing, the landmark
Pet Sounds tour, the "All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson" (which Leaf
wrote and produced) and the triumphant and miraculous Brian Wilson
Presents SMiLE world premiere in London. Filled with surprising
revelations, insight and behind-the-scenes detail, this
indispensable book written by renowned Brian Wilson expert David
Leaf also features forewords by Jimmy Webb, the Bee Gees' Barry
Gibb and Melinda Wilson, Brian's wife.
Foster Hirsch, using Weill's letters, journals, and notes, and
interviewing Weill's friends and colleagues, writes about his life,
his experimental, political composing in Germany, his Broadway
music in America - both aspects of his work being a source of
controversy among music lovers for years. Lotte Lenya said, "There
is no American Weill, there is no German Weill. There is no
difference between them. There is only Weill." Hirsch details the
writing, casting, and production of Weill's eleven hit shows. He
writes about Weill's years in Hollywood and the friends he made and
lost along the way. He evokes Weill's complicated, intense
collaborations with Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Langston Hughes, Alan
Jay Lerner, Elmer Rice, Moss Hart, and Ira Gershwin. In this book
Hirsch has given us a vivid portrayal of a remarkable artist and a
fabulous era of American musical theatre.
'With disarming candour and courage, Martha tells us of finding her
own voice and peace as a working artist and mother. Her story is
made more unique because of the remarkably gifted musical family
she was born into' EMMYLOU HARRIS Born into music royalty, daughter
of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and sister to singer
Rufus Wainwright, Martha grew up in a world filled with
incomparable folk legends. With the same emotional honesty that has
come to define her music Martha describes her tumultuous
public-facing journey from awkward, earnest and ultimately
rebellious daughter, through her intense competition and ultimate
alliance with her brother, Rufus, to the heartbreaking loss of
their mother and finally discovering her voice as an artist. With
candour and grace she writes of becoming a mother herself and
making peace with her past struggles with Kate and her younger
self. Ultimately, this book offers a thoughtful and deeply personal
look into the extraordinary life of one of the most talented
singer-songwriters in music today.
The first thorough examination of the most renowned and influential
organist in early twentieth-century Germany and of his complex
relationship to his country's tumultuous and shifting
sociopolitical landscape. In the course of a multifaceted career,
Karl Straube (1873-1950) rose to positions of immense cultural
authority in a German musical world caught in unprecedented
artistic and sociopolitical upheaval. Son of a German
harmonium-builder and an intellectually inclined English mother,
Straube established himself as Germany's iconic organ virtuoso by
the turn of the century. His upbringing in Bismarck's Berlin
encouraged him to develop intensive interests in world history and
politics. He quickly became a sought-after teacher, editor, and
confidante to composers and intellectuals, whose work he often
significantly influenced. As the eleventh successor to J. S. Bach
in the cantorate of St. Thomas School, Leipzig, he focused the
choir's mission as curator of Bach's works and, in the unstable
political climate of the interwar years, as international emissary
for German art. His fraught exit from the cantorate in 1939 bore
the scars of his Nazi affiliations and issued in a final decade of
struggle and disillusionment as German society collapsed.
Christopher Anderson's book presents the first richly detailed
examination of Karl Straube's remarkable life, situated against the
background of the dynamic and sometimes sinister nationalism that
informed it. Through extensive examination of primary sources,
Anderson reveals a brilliant yet deeply conflicted musician whose
influence until now has been recognized, even hailed, but little
understood.
No Better Boy tells the story of a master of traditional Irish
music: the legendary East Clare fiddler Paddy Canny, whose haunting
music was remarkable for its virtuosity and sophistication. In the
1950's, when he was in his thirties, and at the pinnacle of his
career, Paddy Canny became an international radio star, played solo
in Carneige Hall, toured England with the renowned Tulla Ceili
Band, and made a much-loved recording. All were extraordinary
achievements for a man raised on a marginal farm, where the
gramophone records that inspired him were accessible only through
the good grace of neighbours. In richly evocative prose, Helen
O'Shea distils stories of success and adversity that Paddy Canny
told to family and friends, to radio interviews and historians.
These stories illuminate the rural life in mid-twentieth-century
Ireland, major social and economic changes, and the decline and
revival of traditional music and dancing. A compelling story told
with passion and insight, this is a book for readers with an
interest in Ireland's social history and for music lovers
everywhere. No Better Boy includes annotated transcriptions of
music played by Paddy Canny and his contemporaries, sourced from
archives and personal collections as well as commercial recordings.
Memories of You is a compilation of author Veta Gardner's
recollections of her marriage with The Coaster's lead singer Carl
Gardner. She tells of his early days struggling to be discovered as
an artist, his successes, and their life together on the road with
The Coasters. They had 17 wonderful years before tragedies began to
complicate their lives. Last year Veta lost Carl to devastating
illnesses and, in Memories of You, she shares that emotional
journey.
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