Voices Found: Free Jazz and Singing contributes to a wave of voice studies scholarship with the first book-length study of free jazz voice. It pieces together a history of free jazz voice that spans from sound poetry and scat in the 1950s to the more recent wave of free jazz choirs. The author traces the developments and offers a theory, derived from interviews with many of the most important singers in the history of free jazz voice, of how listeners have experienced and evaluated the often unconventional vocal sounds these vocalists employed. This theory explains that even audiences willing to enjoy harsh sounds from saxophones or guitars often resist when voices make sounds that audiences understand as not-human. Experimental poetry and scat were combined and transformed in free jazz spaces in the 1960s and 1970s by vocalists like Yoko Ono (in solo work and her work with Ornette Coleman and John Stevens), Jeanne Lee (in her solo work and her work with Archie Shepp and Gunter Hampel), Leon Thomas (in his solo work as well as his work with Pharoah Sanders and Carlos Santana), and Phil Minton and Maggie Nicols (who devoted much of their energy to creating unaccompanied free jazz vocal music). By studying free jazz voice we can learn important lessons about what we expect from the voice and what happens when those expectations are violated. This book doesn't only trace histories of free jazz voice, it makes an attempt to understand why this story hasn't been told before, with an impressive breadth of scope in terms of the artists covered, drawing on research from the US, Canada, Wales, Scotland, France, The Netherlands, and Japan.

Have you ever been carried away by a piece of classical music? In this funny, evocative, personal book, previously published as 'Music for the People: The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Classical Music', Gareth takes us on a journey of musical discovery that explains and entertains in equal measure. Have you ever been carried away by a piece of classical music? The sad song of a single violin might make us cry, but the idea of finding out more about classical music can often be intimidating. There are musical terms we don't recognise, dead composers we can't connect with, and a feeling that we were never given the right tools to appreciate, understand, and most importantly, enjoy classical music. So who better to cut through the misconceptions and the jargon than the star of BBC2's Bafta award-winning series The Choir, Gareth Malone. Over the course of three series, Gareth has unearthed a passion for classical music in schoolchildren, reluctant teenage boys, and even a whole town. With his infectious enthusiasm and gift for explanation, Gareth's very personal narrative will provide a foundation of classical music understanding and give the reader the tools to appreciate a whole new world of music - from Bach to Beethoven and beyond. So whether you want to learn more about the great composers, introduce an almost infinite variety into your iPod playlist, or are just curious about what you might be missing out on, Gareth Malone's Guide to Classical Music will leave you entertained, informed and completely inspired.

(Piano). New collection for intermediate to early advanced level pianists. Includes: Adventures of Ivan * Gayaneh's Dance * Fugue * Ten Pieces for the Young Pianist * and Sabre Dance from Gayaneh .

(Faber Piano Adventures ). The pieces were carefully selected for musical moments of drama, mystery, suspense, and excitement. Paired with each composition is a famous poem. Contents include: Allegro con Fuoco (Diabelli) * Avalanche (Heller) * Etude in C Minor (Bertini) * The Ghost in the Fireplace (Kullack) * Storm and Stress (Gurlitt) * The Wild Horseman (Schumann).

What makes a classical song a song? In a wide-ranging 2004 discussion, covering such contrasting composers as Brahms and Berberian, Schubert and Kurtag, Jonathan Dunsby considers the nature of vocality in songs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The essence and scope of poetic and literary meaning in the Lied tradition is subjected to close scrutiny against the backdrop of 'new musicological' thinking and music-theoretical orthodoxies. The reader is thus offered the best insights available within an evidence-based approach to musical discourse. Schoenberg figures conspicuously as both songsmith and theorist, and some easily comprehensible Schenkerian approaches are used to convey ideas of musical time and expressive focus. In this work of scholarship and theoretical depth, Professor Dunsby's highly original approach and engaging style will ensure its appeal to all practising musicians and students of Romantic and modern music.

The traditions of piano teaching have remained virtually unchanged for generations, beginning with the influential technique of Muzio Clementi (1752-1832), the first composer-pedagogue of the instrument. His was followed by an explosion of sometimes bizarre teaching systems, perhaps most notably Hanon's "The Virtuoso Pianist"-exacting drills of reinforcement by repetition, often to the disillusionment of beginners. Some 150 years later, these methods-considered absurd or abusive by many students-have evolved and persevered as part of music curricula in higher education. Reflecting the author's belief that learning piano is both gratifying and exasperating, this book critically examines two centuries of teaching practices and encourages instructors to seek more efficient and inspiring exercises.

The power of music, the way it works on the mind and heart, remains an enticing mystery. Now two noted writers on classical music, Michael Steinberg and Larry Rothe, explore the allure of this melodious art--not in the clinical terms of social scientists--but through stories drawn from their own experience. In For the Love of Music, Steinberg and Rothe draw on a lifetime of listening to, living with, and writing about music, sharing the delights and revelatory encounters they have had with Mozart, Brahms, Stravinsky, and a host of other great (and almost-great) composers. At once highly personal and immediately accessible, their writings shed light on those who make music and those who listen to it--drawing readers into the beautiful and dangerous terrain that has meant so much to the authors. In recounting how they themselves came to love music, Steinberg and Rothe offer keys for listening. You will meet the man who created the sound of Hollywood's Golden Age and you will learn how composers have addressed issues as contemporary as AIDS and the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Honoring God and the City presents the first detailed history of musical activities at Venetian lay confraternities, societies that were crucial to the cultural and ceremonial life of Venice. Based on over two decades of research in Venetian archives, musicologist Jonathan Glixon traces musical practices from the origins of the earliest confraternities in the mid-thirteenth century to their suppression under the French and Austrian governments in the early nineteenth century.
Glixon first discusses the scole grandi, the largest and most important of the Venetian confraternities. Scole grandi hosted some of the most elaborate musical events in the Venetian calendar, including lavish annual festivities for each scola's patron saint and often enlisting such high-profile musicians as Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi. Glixon places detailed descriptions of these events in the context of the scole grandi's long histories, as the roles of salaried musicians, singers, string players, and organists evolved over the centuries.
The book's second part is concerned with the scole piccole, the numerous smaller confraternities born in churches throughout Venice. These local organizations, usually consisting of a modest number of salaried musicians augmented by hired players, took part in annual festivities and performances and played a crucial role in local cultural life.
Detailed appendixes include a calendar of musical events at all Venetian confraternities in the early eighteenth century and a complete listing of musicians for an important seventeenth century festival. The result of painstaking research, Honoring God and the City demonstrates the vital role of confraternitiesin the musical and ceremonial life of Venice.

Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion charts a path through American music and musical life using as guides the words of composers, performers, writers and the rest of us ordinary folks who sing, dance, and listen. The anthology of primary sources contains about 160 selections from 1540 to 2000. Sometimes the sources are classics in the literature around American music, for example, the Preface to the Bay Psalm Book, excerpts from Slave Songs of the United States, and Charles Ives extolling Emerson. But many other selections offer uncommon sources, including a satirical story about a Yankee music teacher; various columns from 19th-century German American newspapers; the memoirs of a 19th-century diva; Lottie Joplin remembering her husband Scott; a little-known reflection of Copland about Stravinsky; an interview with Muddy Waters from the Chicago Defender; a letter from Woody Guthrie on the "spunkfire" attitude of a folk song; a press release from the Country Music Association; and the Congressional testimony around "Napster." "Sidebar" entries occasionally bring a topic or an idea into the present, acknowledging the extent to which revivals of many kinds of music play a role in American contemporary culture. This book focuses on the connections between theory and practice to enrich our understanding of the diversity of American musical experiences. Designed especially to accompany college courses which survey American music as a whole, the book is also relevant to courses in American history and American Studies.

(Guitar). A Modern Approach to Classical Guitar is designed for anyone just learning to play guitar. Written by one of the premier classical guitarists of our time and based on years of teaching students of all ages, this revised edition includes many new pieces and an in-depth introduction to two-part music (thumb-and-fingers technique) the heart of the classical style Book 1 includes: rest stroke and free stroke, how to read music, playing in open position, sharps and flats, basic notes and dotted notes, time signatures (4/4, 3/4, 2/4), melody with bass accompaniment, solos and duets, and more

(Boosey & Hawkes Voice). This selection was made with student singers and pianists in mind. These are 12 of the most tangible, useful and approachable of Britten's jewel-like folksong settings. Includes historical notes on the songs. The CD of performances by professional singers will aid in familiarizing students and teachers with these expressive lyrical works. Contents: The Ash Grove * At the mid hour of night * The Brisk Young Widow * Come you not from Newcastle? * Early one morning * Greensleeves * I will give my love an apple * O Waly, Waly * Sail on, sail on * The Salley Gardens * Sweet Polly Oliver * There's none to soothe. 48019746 High Voice, Book/CD $17.95 48019747 Medium/Low Voice, Book/CD $17.95

We're all familiar with the image of a fierce and scowling Beethoven, struggling doggedly to overcome his rapidly progressing deafness. That Beethoven continued to play and compose for more than a decade after he lost his hearing is often seen as an act of superhuman heroism. But the truth is that Beethoven's response to his deafness was entirely human. And by demystifying what he did, we can learn a great deal about Beethoven's music. Perhaps no one is better positioned to help us do so than Robin Wallace, who not only has dedicated his life to the music of Beethoven but also has close personal experience with deafness. One day, Wallace's late wife, Barbara, found she couldn't hear out of her right ear-the result of radiation administered to treat a brain tumor early in life. Three years later, she lost hearing in her left ear as well. Over the eight and a half years that remained of her life, despite receiving a cochlear implant, Barbara didn't overcome her deafness or ever function again like a hearing person. Wallace shows here that Beethoven didn't do those things, either. Rather than heroically overcoming his deafness, Beethoven accomplished something even more challenging: he adapted to his hearing loss and changed the way he interacted with music, revealing important aspects of its very nature in the process. Wallace tells the story of Beethoven's creative life, interweaving it with his and Barbara's experience to reveal aspects that only living with deafness could open up. The resulting insights make Beethoven and his music more accessible and help us see how a disability can enhance human wholeness and flourishing.

This convenient publication in Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics collects Mozart's most often-played violin concertos in one affordable volume.

The lute was one of the most important instruments in use in Europe from late medieval times up to the eighteenth century. Despite its acknowledged importance, this study is the first ever comprehensive work on the instrument and its music, apart from performance studies or bibliographical and reference publications. The book focuses on the lute's history, but also contains chapters on the lute in concert, lute song accompaniment, the thearbo, and the lute in Scotland. Written for the music student, the serious listener, the player, maker, and lute enthusiast, Spring makes available for the first time over 40 years of musical scholarship previously the preserve of academic journals.

The allure of tango - both the dance and its music - is an extraordinary and enduring phenomenon. This book brings together a collection of classic Argentinean tangos from the golden age of the 1920s, 30s and 40s together with some more recent examples of tango nuevo by Astor Piazzolla.

How do the arts give us pleasure? Covering a very wide range of artistic works, from Auden to David Lynch, Rembrandt to Edward Weston, and Richard Strauss to Keith Jarrett, Pleasure and the Arts offers us an explanation of our enjoyable emotional engagements with literature, music, and painting. The arts direct us to intimate and particularized relationships - with the people represented in the works, or with those we imagine produced them. When we listen to music or look at a purely abstract painting, or when we drink a glass of wine, can we enjoy the experience without verbalizing our response? Do our interpretative assumptions, our awareness of technique, and our attitudes to fantasy, get in the way of our appreciation of art, or enhance it? As the book examines these questions and more, we discover how curiosity drives us to enjoy narratives, ordinary jokes, metaphors, and modernist epiphanies, and how narrative in all the arts can order and provoke intense enjoyment. Pleasurable in its own right, Pleasure and the Arts presents a sparkling explanation of the enduring interest of artistic expression.

These wonderful teaching pieces by the Russian keyboard pedagogue and composer are now available in convenient individual editions.

A group of resourceful kids start "solution-seekers.com," a website where "cybervisitors" can get answers to questions that trouble them. But when one questioner asks the true meaning of Christmas, the kids seek to unravel the mystery by journeying back through the prophecies of the Old Testament. What they find is a series of "S" words that reveal a "spectacular story " With creative characters, humorous dialogue and great music, The "S" Files is a children's Christmas musical your kids will love performing.

In the 1930s swing music was everywhere-on radio, recordings, and in the great ballrooms, hotels, theatres, and clubs. Perhaps at no other time were drummers more central to the sound and spirit of jazz. Benny Goodman showcased Gene Krupa. Jimmy Dorsey featured Ray McKinley. Artie Shaw helped make Buddy Rich a star while Count Basie riffed with the innovative Jo Jones. Drummers were at the core of this music; as Jo Jones said, "The drummer is the key-the heartbeat of jazz." An oral history told by the drummers, other musicians, and industry figures, Drummin' Men is also Burt Korall's memoir of more than fifty years in jazz. Personal and moving, the book is a celebration of the music of the time and the men who made it. Meet Chick Webb, small, fragile-looking, a hunchback from childhood, whose explosive drumming style thrilled and amazed; Gene Krupa, the great showman and pacemaker; Ray McKinley, whose rhythmic charm, light touch, and musical approach provided a great example for countless others, and the many more that populate this story. Based on interviews with a collection of the most important jazzmen, Drummin' Men offers an inside view of the swing years that cannot be found anywhere else.

Bolcom's commission was originally to write a duet piece for Metropolitan Opera stars soprano Benita Valente and mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos. However, while the composition was in development, Troyanos unexpectedly died. The design was then changed, representing the late mezzo-soprano with a viola instead. The composer selected three poems about the acceptance of death for the set: "Ailey, Baldwin, Floyd, Killens and Mayfield" (Maya Angelou), "'Tis not that Dying hurts us so" (Emily Dickinson), and "Let Evening Come" (Jane Kenyon). Let Evening Come was recorded by soprano Benita Valenti, pianist Cynthia Raim and violist Michael Tree, and released on Centaur Records.

In 1893 the composer Antonin Dvorak prophesied a "great and noble" school of American classical music based on the searing "negro melodies" he had excitedly discovered since arriving in the United States a year before. But while Black music would found popular genres known the world over, it never gained a foothold in the concert hall. Joseph Horowitz ranges throughout American cultural history, from Frederick Douglass and Huckleberry Finn to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and the work of Ralph Ellison, searching for explanations. Challenging the standard narrative for American classical music fashioned by Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, he looks back to literary figures-Emerson, Melville and Twain-to ponder how American music can connect with a "usable past". The result is a new paradigm, that makes room for Black composers, including Harry Burleigh, Nathaniel Dett, William Dawson and Florence Price, to redefine the classical canon.

Founded in 1935, The American Record Guide is America's oldest classical music review magazine. In 1987, when Donald Vroon assumed its editorship, he took on the Herculean task of writing editorials on a vast array of subjects, amassing a wealth of commentary and criticism on not only the foibles and failings, but glimmers of light in American culture. A staunch defender of the highbrow pleasures of good music composed, played, and heard with intelligence, Vroon takes no prisoners in assessing the challenges and failures and possible successes that confront America's future as a nation of music listeners. In Classical Music in a Changing Culture: Essays from The American Record Guide, Vroon delves into a variety of topics: orchestra finances, contemporary music, classical music marketing, attracting young crowds, musical aesthetics, the future of classical music, the sale and distribution of music in the modern era; the decline of American culture and its causes; the role of misguided ideologies that affect American music, from political correctness to multiculturalism to period performance practice, and the true richness of our music and its subculture. As Vroon argues, since all criticism is cultural criticism, music criticism in the broadest sense-from its composition to its distribution to its reception-is a window onto broader culture issues. Classical Music in a Changing Culture should appeal to anyone serious about classical music and worried about its increasing marginalization in our contemporary culture. These essays are not written for specialists but for thinking readers who love music and care about its place in our lives.