Bringing together much-loved masterpieces with exciting new works, this accessible and inspiring guide is a celebration of classical music. With pieces ranging from Vaughan Williams's 'The Lark Ascending' and Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Symphony to the scores for Avatar and Assassin's Creed, every entry puts the piece of music into context, providing fascinating insights into the inspirations behind each work and enhancing your listening experience. Organised into occasions and themes, the book features music to accompany you through your day, from getting up and getting dressed to running, reading, walking the dog, cooking, taking a bath, going to sleep and everything in between. You'll also find expert curations of the world's most romantic music and the greatest Christmas works as well as compositions that celebrate the natural world and mark births and marriages. Perfect for classical music enthusiasts as well as anyone looking for an enjoyable introduction to this genre, this is the definitive modern guide to classical music.

This fourth edition of Art Song in the United States, 1759 2011 covers songs for solo voice and piano by American composers from the mid-18th through the early 21st centuries. The book is structured as an annotated bibliography with approximately 2,850 numbered entries listed alphabetically by composer and title and indexed in various ways to help teachers and singers locate the particular song they require for practice or performance. This edition adds eleven years worth of new works, anthologies, and collections (about 450 new entries), reflecting the relatively recent outpouring of song compositions by American composers and a wealth of new song anthologies and collections. This bibliography features information on each song or song cycle or set. Users will find critical data on the poet, publisher and copyright date, key, vocal range, vocal tessitura, meter(s), tempo, length, difficulty of vocal line and piano score, most suitable voice type, mood and subject of the text, and brief description of the vocal line and piano score. It also includes commentary on special difficulties for performers and possible uses of the song in programming. In addition, individual titles of composite works are given, and those that appear in collections are indexed to the list of collections in the front matter. Composer, poet, special characteristics/subject, and title indexes and even discographic lists recordings where available all aid researchers in finding songs. The primary audiences for this bibliography are voice teachers and singers in search of appropriate art songs for their students or themselves, as well as libraries with collecting interests in music and American literature."

Cesar Franck (1822 1890), Belgian born and French domiciled, was one of the most remarkable composers of the 19th century. A number of his works are commonly recorded such as his Symphony in D Minor, Symphonic Variations, Violin Sonata, and the ever-popular Panis Angelicus and yet 38 years have elapsed since a biography of him appeared in English. Now with Cesar Franck: His Life and Times, R. J. Stove fills this gap in the history of late 19th-century classical music with a full-length study of the man and his music. Drawing on sources never before cited in English, Stove paints a far more detailed picture of this great musician and deeply loved man, whose influence in both his native and adopted lands was exceptional. Stove carefully delves into intimate matters of Franck s life, including his resilience in the face of his exploitation as a child prodigy at the piano, his development from a shy and harassed piano teacher into one of the most sought-after luminaries of Paris s Conservatoire, and the truth behind Franck s alleged affair with one of his students. Throughout his study, Stove interweaves panoramic surveys of the political and social scene in Belgium and France, contextualizing Franck s achievements in his historical milieu, from his rise as a recognized master of the organ to his dealings with significant composers such as Liszt, Gounod, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Chabrier, and others. Cesar Franck: His Life and Times is an engagingly written biography sure to interest classical music listeners of all stripes."

A fascinating history of the piano explored through 100 pieces chosen by one of the UK's most renowned concert pianists "Tomes . . . casts her net widely, taking in chamber music and concertos, knotty avant-garde masterworks and (most welcome) jazz."-Richard Fairman, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2021: Classical Music" "[One of] the most beautiful books I got my hands on this year. . . . About the shaping of this maddening, glorious, unconquerable instrument."-Jenny Colgan, Spectator, "Books of the Year" An astonishingly versatile instrument, the piano allows just two hands to play music of great complexity and subtlety. For more than two hundred years, it has brought solo and collaborative music into homes and concert halls and has inspired composers in every musical genre-from classical to jazz and light music. Charting the development of the piano from the late eighteenth century to the present day, pianist and writer Susan Tomes takes the reader with her on a personal journey through 100 pieces including solo works, chamber music, concertos, and jazz. Her choices include composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Gershwin, and Philip Glass. Looking at this history from a modern performer's perspective, she acknowledges neglected women composers and players including Fanny Mendelssohn, Maria Szymanowska, Clara Schumann, and Amy Beach.

Being an American Romantic composer, Gottschalk was one of the first classically trained pianists to incorporate examples of Creole, Latin American, and Afro American dance rhythms within European musical forms.

(Vocal Collection). This is the most serious and useful collection yet published of solo arias from oratorios, masses and cantatas. The literature was confined to work by major composers, and by-passes the dated oratorio literature found in previous collections. The most famous music is here, and so is interesting and less famous music by masters. There are new music engravings for each aria, and extensive historical notes and translations. Solo instrumental obbligato parts, which can be cut from the book, are included on appropriate selections.

What does classical music mean to the Western World? How has it transformed over the centuries? With such a rich tradition, what relevance does it have today? Julian Johnson inspires readers to explore the field, and examines how music is related to some of the big ideas of Western experience including spirituality, emotion, the weight of history, and self identity.

Provides examples that instructors can readily apply in their teaching, enabling deeper inclusion of Black composers in the music theory curriculum on a practical level This book includes discussion of a wide variety of genres, including: jazz and popular music (including R&B, funk, and pop), string quartets, piano pieces, concertos, symphonies, and art songs Addresses Black composers and musicians working in a wide range of musical styles, including classical and popular works

Putting forward an extensive new argument for a humanities-based approach to big-data analysis, The Music in the Data shows how large datasets of music, or music corpora, can be productively integrated with the qualitative questions at the heart of music research. The author argues that as well as providing objective evidence, music corpora can themselves be treated as texts to be subjectively read and creatively interpreted, allowing new levels of understanding and insight into music traditions. Each chapter in this book asks how we define a core music-theory topic, such as style, harmony, meter, function, and musical key, and then approaches the topic through considering trends within large musical datasets, applying a combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative interpretation. Throughout, several basic techniques of data analysis are introduced and explained, with supporting materials available online. Connecting the empirical information from corpus analysis with theories of musical and textual meaning, and showing how each approach can enrich the other, this book provides a vital perspective for scholars and students in music theory, musicology, and all areas of music research.

Agile, flexible and never afraid of controversial innovations (such as abandoning traditional 'black tie' evening dress for its players or giving amplified concerts with creative lighting at the Hammersmith Apollo), the LCO has surfed the waves of history. It has travelled from the early days of broadcasting - which other orchestras shunned, fearing it spelt the end of 'live' music - through the difficult days of the Second World War, when London's largest concert hall was bombed, and the thrill of being invited to play at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, to a triumphant return and reinvention after the Covid-19 pandemic when its comeback programmes included Concerto for Turntables by the composer Sergei Prokofiev's grandson Gabriel Prokofiev, featuring DJ Mr Switch. Author and music critic Jessica Duchen traces the LCO's history from the beginning under its founding conductor, the entrepreneurial Anthony Bernard from London's East End, whose contacts included Britain's first female MP, the American Nancy Astor (who kindly lent her house for the orchestra's first concert) and leading composers like Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams, up to its current Artistic Director, Christopher Warren-Green, who ensures the LCO continues to delight its devoted audiences at home and abroad with an eclectic and diverse programme of music. Over the years it has performed dozens of world or UK premieres by composers including Stravinsky, Falla, Delius and even Mozart. This engaging book teems with entertaining stories: the composer who relished riding naked on a motor bike in the Gloucestershire countryside, the oboe player who taught her daughter's boyfriend, Paul McCartney, to play the recorder for a much-loved Beatles song, and the times the LCO travelled the length and breadth of the US in a country & western tour bus straight out of Nashville. It adds up to a fascinating celebration of over 100 years of classical music, as well as giving unique insider glimpses into this vibrant and much loved orchestra.

Hearing Rhythm and Meter: Analyzing Metrical Consonance and Dissonance in Common-Practice Period Music is the first book to present a comprehensive course text on advanced analysis of rhythm and meter. This book brings together the insights of recent scholarship on rhythm and meter in a clear and engaging presentation, enabling students to understand topics including hypermeter and metrical dissonance. From the Baroque to the Romantic era, Hearing Rhythm and Meter emphasizes listening, enabling students to recognize meters and metrical dissonances by type both with and without the score. The textbook includes exercises for each chapter and is supported by a full-score anthology. PURCHASING OPTIONS Textbook (Print Paperback): 978-0-8153-8448-9 Textbook (Print Hardback): 978-0-8153-8447-2 Textbook (eBook): 978-1-351-20431-6 Anthology (Print Paperback): 978-0-8153-9176-0 Anthology (Print Hardback): 978-0-367-34924-0 Anthology (eBook): 978-1-351-20083-7

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.

Contents: Haydn Sonatas: C major, G major, D major, C# minor, E minor * Mozart Sonatas: C major (K. 565), F major (K. 280), F major (K. 332), G major (K. 283), A major (K. 331) * Beethoven Sonatas: G minor, Op. 49, No. 1; G major, Op. 49, No. 2; G major, Op. 79; E major, Op. 14, No. 1; G major, Op. 14, No. 2.

Why do we feel the need to perform music in a historically informed style? Is this need related to wider cultural concerns? In this challenging study, John Butt sums up recent debates on the nature of the early music movement, calling upon a seemingly inexhaustible fund of ideas gleaned from historical musicology, analytic philosophy, literary theory, historiography and theories of modernism and postmodernism. He develops the critical views of both supporters and detractors, claiming ultimately that it has more intellectual and artistic potential than its detractors may have assumed.

What does it mean to say that music is deeply moving? Or that music's aesthetic value derives from its deep structure? This study traces the widely employed trope of musical depth to its origins in German-language music criticism and analysis. From the Romantic aesthetics of E. T. A. Hoffmann to the modernist theories of Arnold Schoenberg, metaphors of depth attest to the cross-pollination of music with discourses ranging from theology, geology and poetics to psychology, philosophy and economics. The book demonstrates that the persistence of depth metaphors in musicology and music theory today is an outgrowth of their essential role in articulating and transmitting Germanic cultural values. While musical depth metaphors have historically served to communicate German nationalist sentiments, Watkins shows that an appreciation for the broad connotations of those metaphors opens up exciting new avenues for interpretation.

This book answers questions from real classical music lovers about things they have always wondered but didn't know whom to ask. The information in this book is not readily found in music history or appreciation books, nor can it be found on line. Questions explored are: Do string players in orchestras get paid more because they play more than other instruments? Why does an orchestra tune to an oboe when there are electronic tuners? How does a composer decide what key to compose in? Why is the 1812 Overture played on the 4th of July? And many, many more! The answers represent behind the scenes, real world, insights into how classical musicians view and discuss these questions. There is even some insight into the jokes classical musicians find funny. This book is intended for the person who loves listening to classical music, either live or recorded and will provide hours of enjoyment as the reader invariably shakes his or her head and asks in wonderment "Who knew!"

(String Method). For unaccompanied violin.

Few genres of the last 250 years have proved so crucial to the course of music history, or so vital to public musical experience, as the symphony. This Companion offers an accessible guide to the historical, analytical and interpretative issues surrounding this major genre of Western music, discussing an extensive variety of works from the eighteenth century to the present day. The book complements a detailed review of the symphony's history with focused analytical essays from leading scholars on the symphonic music of both mainstream composers, including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and lesser-known figures, including Carter, Berio and Maxwell Davies. With chapters on a comprehensive range of topics, from the symphony's origins to the politics of its reception in the twentieth century, this is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the history, analysis and performance of the symphonic repertoire.