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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Composers & musicians
With hits including `Child in Time', and the iconic `Smoke on the Water', Deep Purple established themselves as one of Britain's greatest rock bands From the moment he saw Elvis Presley on screen, Ian Gillan, a working class teenager from Hounslow, was inspired to become a rock star. That wish was to come true when the opportunity arose to join Deep Purple, and global fame soon followed. The ensuing years were thrilling but punishing. The band recorded six albums in just four years and tensions within the band, as well as issues with alcohol, brought Ian to breaking point. Ian describes the rock `n' roll lifestyle in disarming detail while never taking himself too seriously, making this an entertaining read for any rock fan.
U2's significant career far exceeds that of most average successful rock bands, with a prolific output of thirteen well-received studio albums and a sometimes relentless touring schedule. The band is famous for uniquely drawing together music, art, faith, and activism, all within a lucrative career that has given each of these elements an unusual degree of social and cultural resonance. Broad-minded musically and intellectually, U2'soutput is thematically rich, addressing a slew of topics, from questions of faith to anxieties about commercialism to outright political statements. With one of the largest fan bases in the history of rock music, U2 and their work require contextualization and exploration. In U2: Rock 'n' Roll to Change the World, Timothy D. Neufeld takes up this challenge. Neufeld explores U2's move from the youthful idealism of a band barely able to play instruments through its many phases of artistic expression and cultural engagement to its employment of faith and activism as a foundation for its success. This book outlines how U2 reshaped the very musical and even political culture that had originally shaped it, demonstrating through close readings of its musical work the dynamic interplay of artistic expression and social engagement.
A memoir by the woman who knew Bob Marley best--his wife, Rita.
In this well-written work, the author argues that the present situation regarding the music of the classical tradition is fundamentally untenable. While change is, of course, inevitable, the author posits that teachers of the classical music tradition, nonetheless, have a moral responsibility to do as much as possible to advocate and work toward goals that will hasten and most positively influence the direction of change. The author believes that the present relationship between the music of the Western classical tradition and the culture of the present is an unhealthy one. The music of dead composers comprises the overwhelming preponderance of music heard today, especially in the larger venues such as symphony halls and opera houses. Specifically, the author argues that we must promote and provide for (at least) an equal place in our teaching, recordings, and performances for the music of composers who are living at the time we undertake these activities. He further advocates that this is not simply a matter of currency, it is a matter of cultural vibrancyeven survivaland it is an ethical and aesthetic concern toward which we must direct our most serious attention and effort. As both a singer and a teacher, the author delivers a resounding perspective in this book. He also brings the important insights of others from other fields such as literature, philosophy, and theater. The authors discussions revolve around the situation of classical music, a situation that in many ways exemplifies the gradual transformation of the rationalization of the world, into the radical commodification of the world. This outcome will be shown to be intimately linked to ethical and aesthetic issues, whichwill be developed by means of an extended consideration of the conflict between the rational and the a-rational as it plays itself out in contrasts between music, art, and literature, and science and philosophy. The book delves into the problem of teaching music, particularly the problems commonly dealt with in the teaching studio. Teachers of the Western music tradition have developed tried and true techniques for dealing with these problems as they occur in teaching, generally by helping students toward an understanding of historical, musical, technical and stylistic problems, among a host of others. These common problems of teaching are, however, symptomatic of very deep, complicated, and endemic philosophical issues that have, so far, been insufficiently discussed in a form that might be useful to teachers, performers, and lovers of the music of the Western classical music tradition. The most unique contribution of these discussions is the investigation into what is not discussed to any depth in pedagogy bookswhat lies behind or beneath these commonly experienced problems. This is a critical book for collections in music.
(Amadeus). Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years details Toscanini's magnificent and heroic 17 years (1937-1954) conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The archival broadcast recordings documented and reassessed in this lively account comprise the most complete recorded legacy of Toscanini's orchestral conducting career. The broadcast recordings include his readings of many scores for which he left no approved recording, and his NBC career included performances of works he never conducted before coming to the network. The concerts and the broadcasts were immensely popular, and for generations Toscanini's name became synonymous with conducting. His legendary art and fiery personality also engendered controversy that has yet to subside, but this account takes on the challengers, accepting neither hero worship nor criticism that ignores the evidence.
One of the greatest of the pianists after the time of Liszt, Ferruccio Busoni was a turn-of-the-century composer whose music has recently begun to be taken very seriously in academic circles and among contemporary performers. This work is the first volume to offer a comprehensive, annotated bibliography covering a wide range of published and unpublished materials, including Busoni's librettos and his perceptive essays on the future of music. It also provides a brief biography and detailed listings of Busoni's compositions, together with an extensive discography. The list of works presents information on original works, cadenzas, transcriptions, editions, and performances. The discography lists transcriptions and arrangements in addition to recordings of original works. Piano rolls and recordings by Busoni are included. Among the subject categories in the bibliography are Busoni's writings; a guide to the contents of the editions of his writings; his correspondence; studies and commentaries on Busoni's composition, performances, and writings; and personal reminiscences by those who knew him. Up-to-date information about new editions and reprints of Busoni's works is given. An appropriate addition to library music collections, this work is a valuable resource for both musicologists and performers.
A biography of the conductor Mitropoulos. He was an advocate of difficult modern music and an early champion of Mahler; his performances brought the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra into the first rank of American orchestras.
Fromental Halevy, best known for his opera La Juive, captured the romantic and contentious spirit of his time. His was one of the most eventful eras in French history, ranging from the fall of Napoleon to the establishment of the Second Empire, and he took part in what was happening around him, often reflecting it in his music. As a composer, Halevy regarded opera as a magic spectacle fusing drama, music, dance and art. His work - innovative, demanding, captivating - included more than 30 grand operas and operas comiques, almost all widely performed and many immensely popular throughout nineteenth century Europe and the United States. And, loyal to his Jewish faith, Halevy set to music several psalms for liturgical use in French synagogues. Wagner, for all his virulent anti-Semitism, hailed "Halevy's brilliant energy that has sped French grand opera along a new road". This book, our century's first full-length biography of Halevy, which includes previously unpublished excerpts from his diaries and correspondence, illuminates that road.
The American singer and guitarist Ramblin' Jack Elliott (1931- ) is a seminal figure in the folk music revivals of the United States and Great Britain. Declared an American treasure by former President Bill Clinton, Elliott has traveled and performed for more than 50 years, and his life and career neatly parallel the ascension of folk music's "renaissance" from the 1940s through the present day. Ramblin' Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway is the first complete biography of this important figure in the history of folk music. Elliott's music and Beat-era sensibility influenced countless artists in the fields of folk, rock, and country and western music, and Hank Reineke provides the full story of Elliott's relationships and influences. Most notably, his associations with Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan are well-documented: Elliott is considered Guthrie's most famous protege and Elliott mentored Dylan in his early career. Reineke also recounts how Elliott's life intersected with Derroll Adams, Jack Kerouac and the Beats, Princess Margaret, James Dean, and scores of others. The book examines the full breadth of Elliott's career, discussing how the rough-edged cowboy singer survived in the music industry and eventually won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording and the prestigious National Medal of the Arts. In addition to the biography, Reineke has amassed the first exhaustive and comprehensive discography of albums from the singer's notable back-catalog (1955-2009), including nearly 60 LP and CD issues, many rare and sought-after 78rpm discs, EPs, and 45rpm recordings, as well as a number of contributions to compilations, soundtracks, festival recordings, and guest appearances. This impressive volume is rounded out with a bibliography, an index, and more than 30 photographs, making this a must-have for scholars and fans of American folk music."
This innovative account of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership provides a unique insight into the experience of both attending and performing in the original productions of the most influential and enduring pieces of English-language musical theatre. In the 1870s, Savoy impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte astutely realized that a conscious move to respectability in a West End which, until then, had favored the racy delights of burlesque and French operetta, would attract a new, lucrative morally 'decent' audience. This book examines the commercial, material and human factors underlying the Victorian productions of the Savoy operas. Unusually for a book on 'G&S', it focuses on people and things rather than author biography or literary criticism. Examining theatre architecture, interior design, marketing, and typical audiences, as well as the working conditions and personal lives of the members of a Victorian theatre-company, 'Respectable Capers' explains how the Gilbert and Sullivan operas helped to transform the West End into the family-friendly 'theatre land' which still exists today.
In this thorough research guide to the career and music of Bill Dixon the author has documented how Dixon refined a sonically unique pan-tonal language of trumpet playing. As a trumpeter, composer, educator, and theoretician, Bill Dixon has politically and musically influenced many phases of the development of Black music in the second half of the 20th century. This authoritative guide details information about the life and music of Bill Dixon. Bill Dixon comments throughout the text on the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of his career as it unfolds between performances and recordings. The recollections of those who have collaborated with Bill Dixon over the years supplement the thorough research here presented on the life and career of Bill Dixon and, additionally, the New York avant garde artistic sphere in which he worked. Bill Dixon has refined a sonically unique pan-tonal language of trumpet playing. As a trumpeter, composer, educator, and theoretician, Bill Dixon has politically and musically influenced many phases of the development of Black music in the second half of the 20th century. This authoritative guide details information about the life and music of Bill Dixon. Bill Dixon comments throughout the text on the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of his career as it unfolds between performances and recordings. The recollections of those who have collaborated with Bill Dixon over the years supplement the thorough research here presented on the life and career of Bill Dixon and subsequently, on the New York avant garde artistic sphere in which he worked. Music and music history scholars, especially those interested in jazz and Black music, will be attracted to the wealth of information provided, often from primary sources, on Bill Dixon and Black music through the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The discography included encompasses issued and non-issued recordings as well as listings for every known Bill Dixon performance. Collaborations with dancers, directors, filmmakers and painters, among others, are also documented.
The first performance of Handel’s 'Messiah' in Dublin in 1742 is now legendary. Gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to come without hoops in their skirts in order to fit more people into the audience. Why then, did this now famous and much-loved oratorio receive a somewhat cool reception in London less than a year later? Placing Handel’s best-known work in the context of its times, this vivid account charts the composer’s working relationship with his librettist, the gifted but demanding Charles Jennens, and looks at Handel’s varied and evolving company of singers together with his royal patronage. Through examination of the composition manuscript and Handel’s own conducting score, held in the Bodleian, it explores the complex issues around the performance of sacred texts in a non-sacred context, particularly Handel’s collaboration with the men and boys of the Chapel Royal. The later reception and performance history of what is one of the most successful pieces of choral music of all time is also reviewed, including the festival performance attended by Haydn, the massed-choir tradition of the Victorian period and today’s ‘come-and-sing’ events.
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) was one of the first modern Spanish composers to achieve international recognition. During a 1916 visit to the United States his opera Goyescas was premiered by the Metropolitan Opera and his symphonic poem, Dante, by the Chicago Symphony. Granados was also especially admired in Paris, where he knew Saint-Saens, d'Indy, and Faure. He had composed a remarkable body of work and was also at the height of his career as a concert pianist at his untimely death while a passenger on a torpedoed British ship. The biographical study, the first in English, draws on primary sources in English, Spanish, French, Catalan, and other languages. This material is carefully documented in the extensive annotated bibliography along with contemporaneous and recent analytical studies and other sources. Granados's oeuvre presents cataloging problems due to his habit of reworking pieces, long-delayed publication, and arbitrary opus numbers. In the Works and Performances section, however, every effort has been made to offer publication dates, manuscript locations, and information on premieres. Representative arrangements of his works by other composers are also given. An appendix classifies the works by scoring. A selective discography is also provided, and all parts of the volume are fully cross-referenced and indexed. Granados is placed in the context of the international artistic scene at the turn of the century, and a chronology notes related events.
Karel Husa is a Czechoslovakian-American composer and educator who has made important contributions to modern musical literature. Especially well known for his compositions for wind band, Husa is also in constant demand as a guest conductor and lecturer throughout the musical world. This volume provides a complete guide to his compositions and to recordings of his work, together with a full bibliography. Following a brief biography is a list of Husa's compositions, arranged by genre. Each entry includes the date of composition, duration of the work, and the performance medium, as well as details relating to the commission, premiere, and publication. The discography of commercially produced recordings of Husa's music is arranged alphabetically and supplies information on label and label number, date of issue, contents, and performers. The bibliography is comprehensive, listing writings by and about Husa and annotating each work cited. Systematic cross-referencing is used throughout the book. A convenient resource for musicians and musicologists, this bio-bibliography is an appropriate choice for music and academic libraries.
What's it like to grow up on a small farm in Illinois only to find yourself, some 20 years later, performing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House? And then to travel the world, singing in historic theaters from La Scala in Milan to Vienna, Paris, London, and beyond? Former Met star Sherrill Milnes tells all in this completely updated, first-time-in-paperback edition of his very successful biography.
The musical dramas of Richard Wagner have, for the last 150 years, thrilled and amazed listeners everywhere. In "Wagner Moments", author J.K. Holman has assembled 100 such moments, from the living and dead, famous and not so famous, from Charles Baudelaire to Placido Domingo, musicians and non-musicians. Mr. Holman edits these stories and asides, placing them in their biographical and historical context to the certain enjoyment of Wagner aficionados everywhere.
Smith explores Pete Townshend's artistic struggle between his own creative impulses and those of the commercial public. Faced with a modern version of the minstrel's dilemma, Townshend, early in his career, ignored his creative instincts to satisfy commercial agendas. After his success, he slowly withdrew to resolve his conflict between creativity and commercialism. Townshend's creative vision unfolds against the conflicts and compromises battled with the entertainment industry. A common theme, that of the seeker, weaves throughout the various phases of Townshend's career and highlights his own quest for complete artistic expression free from compromise. In "The Minstrel's Dilemma," Townshend is shown as a musician confronting the same battles begun by early minstrels and later fought by composers such as Beethoven and Mozart. He is referred to as a rock auteur, creating music that reflects his personal experiences and creative views. He is called a seeker, in search of artistic freedom toward personal expression. And at the end of his thirty-year struggle he is a true artist, able to live up to audience expectation while attending to his own artistic impulses.
Every recorded performance of Mahler shymphonies--and Das Lied--from 1924 until press time! What a labor and how sorely needed! Music Journal In the past 25 years a revival of interest in the music of Gustav Mahler has resulted in nearly 300 new recordings of his symphonies. The breadth and complexity of these works, together with the plethora of recent releases, signals the need for a guide that will be useful both to novice and the experienced collector. Lewis M. Smoley's book fills this need, providing critical analysis and specific recording information for all known recordings of Mahler's symphonies as well as indexes by conductor, orchestra, and label. The result of extensive research, this volume includes many recordings that have not appeared in previous listings. Recording made around the world from 1924 through 1986 are treated in chapters devoted to each of the 11 symphonies--including Das Lied von der Erde and the unfinished 10th. Listings are arranged alphabetically under the name of the conductor and analyzed in terms of quality of performance, specific interpretation and interpretive styles, and sonics. Recordings of special merit are noted. Entries supply information about reissues as well as original pressings, type of recording, and alternative versions of some of the scores. Cross-referenced indexes list conductor, orchestra, vocal soloists, chorus, and record label for the recordings discussed. The foreword and preface place Mahler's recorded symphonies in perspective and discuss some of the interpretive and textual issues that continue to be debated. This single-volume guide is appropriate for both the average listener and the serious enthusiast, and will also be a valuable addition to the collections of music schools and conservatories.
Esteemed by many of his most distinguished contemporaries, including Arnold Schoenberg, Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942) was a protege of Brahms and Mahler. Despite this, he was overshadowed by the composers of the second Viennese school, and for many years after his death was remembered merely as the brother-in-law of Schoenberg. But with centenary celebrations of Zemlinsky's birth, scholars began a careful examination of his works and realized they had discovered a forgotten master. Zemlinsky's wonderful melodic gift was manifested in operas, choral works, chamber music, and symphonic pieces, but was realized most fully in his more than one hundred songs. In this important new study--the first such work in English--Lorraine Gorrell focuses on these songs, revealing the ways in which they represented a bridge between the 19th-century romantic lied and the 20th-century avant-garde. Of interest to scholars studying both the German art song and the development of the second Viennese school, Gorrell's work uses Zemlinsky's songs as a lens through which to examine an important, highly influential musical figure.
Internationally renowned scholars and performers present a wide range of new analytical, historical and critical perspectives on some of Mozart's most popular chamber music: his sonatas with violin, keyboard trios and quartets and the quintet with wind instruments. The chapters trace a broad chronology, from the childhood works, to the Mannheim and Paris sonatas with keyboard and violin, and the mature compositions from his Vienna years. Drawing upon the most recent research, this study serves the reader, be they a performer, listener or scholar, with a collection of writings that demonstrate the composer's innovative developments to generic archetypes and which explore and assess Mozart's creative response to the opportunities afforded by new and diverse instrumental combinations. Manners of performance of this music far removed from our own are revealed, with concluding chapters considering historically informed practice and the challenges for modern performers and audiences.
Charles Ives, perhaps the quintessential American composer of the twentieth century, drew on his childhood experiences in a small New England town in his music. Through his close relationship with his father, George, a Civil War bandmaster, Ives developed a powerful feeling for nineteenth-century rural America. This book--the first full-scale psychoanalytic biography of a major composer--examines the lives of the two men and shows how a knowledge of their relationship as father and son, teacher and pupil, is central to an understanding of Ives's work. Stuart Feder, a psychoanalyst with training in musicology, demonstrates that George exerted so pervasive an influence on Charles's creative life that Ives's music may be seen as the result of an unconscious fantasy of posthumous collaboration between father and son. The music bears George's mark, not only in its incorporation of hymn tunes, parlor ballads, Civil War marches, and other homely sources that derived from his youth, but also in its use of technical musical devices attributed to George. Moreover, the span of Ives's creative life reveals another connection to his father: Charles's musical productivity began to wane in his forties, as he approached the age at which his father died. Dr. Feder examines the influence of George's teaching and storytelling on Charles's years as a composer. Ives's later decline is traced psychologically and medically. Using Ives's music as an essential part of his data, Dr. Feder demonstrates how music can illuminate and be expressive of the inner life of its creator.
Dual natures comprised Chopin's personality. On one hand, he was a highly creative romantic idealist and on the other, a realist trying to cope with the world at large. Documentary evidence illustrates the disparities in his personality as a reflection of these two diverse aspects of his psyche. Of special interest are five previously unpublished letters in English and the unfolding of Chopin's controversial relationships with Tytus Woyciechowski, Julian Fontana, George Sand, and Solange Sand. This critical portrayal of Chopin's personality traces his journeys and experiences from Warsaw to Paris and reveals, among other characteristics and traits, Chopin's developmental problems during his adolescence, his unattractive behavior in his relationship with Julian Fontana, and George Sand's unrequited love for Chopin. The culture of the time and the atmosphere surrounding Chopin's relationships emerge in the detailed evidence presented. The book is divided into two parts. The first is relevant to Chopin's youth in Warsaw. His relationship with Tytus Woyciechowski during the formative years in Warsaw significantly impacted Chopin's emotional development. The second part of the book focuses on Chopin's adult years in Paris including his liaison with George Sand, which is considered through her daughter, Solange, and four friends and acquaintances common to both Sand and Chopin. The text is extensively annotated and this research of Chopin's life and personality will appeal to both the Chopin scholar and enthusiast. It will also be of interest to students of French Romantic literature, Romantic music, and Polish music of the nineteenth century.
In this book, follow the career of Carrie Underwood as she goes from the American Idol competition to worldwide celebrity. Carrie Underwood: A Biography follows the singer from a small town in Oklahoma to the stages of the most prestigious concert halls in the world. Along the way, fans will read about this girl-next-door's decision to compete on American Idol and her subsequent triumph there, about her first recordings in Nashville and her platinum albums, and about her sold-out concert tours with superstars like Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Urban. But the book isn't only about Underwood as a celebrity. It is also about how she uses that celebrity to do good works, including speaking out for the Humane Society of the United States, participating in a song that benefited Stand Up For Cancer, doing public service announcements for the Do Something youth organization, and touring for the USO. |
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