The symphony retained its primacy as the most prestigious large-scale orchestral form throughout the first half of the twentieth century, particularly in Britain, Russia and the United States. Likewise, Australian composers produced a steady stream of symphonies throughout the period from Federation (1901) through to the end of the 1950s. Stylistically, these works ranged from essays in late nineteenth-century romanticism, twentieth-century nationalism, neo-classicism and near-atonality. Australian symphonies were most prolific during the 1950s, with 36 local entries in the 1951 Commonwealth Jubilee Symphony competition. This extensive repertoire was overshadowed by the emergence of a new generation of composers and critics during the 1960s who tended to regard older Australian music as old-fashioned and derivative. The Australian Symphony from Federation to 1960 is the first study of this neglected genre and has four aims: firstly, to show the development of symphonic composition in Australia from Federation to 1960; secondly, to highlight the achievement of the main composers who wrote symphonies; thirdly, to advocate the restoration and revival of this repertory; and, lastly, to take a step towards a recasting of the narrative of Australian concert music from Federation to the present. In particular, symphonies by Marshall-Hall, Hart, Bainton, Hughes, Le Gallienne and Morgan emerge as works of particular note.

A powerful and thought provoking memoir from one of the world's most successful orchestral conductors, whose life story, talent and dedication to music is an inspiration to read. A tragic car accident when Welser-Moest was a student shaped both his career and approach to music in the most profound and unexpected way, while the book documents an insider's view of the complex relationships between an opera house, its orchestra, the conductor and singers, and the creative struggle by all these parts to achieve perfection in every performance. Welser-Moest's book was published in Austria in July 2020 and rapidly became a no 1 bestseller. It remains a bestseller in the German language today. This edition will satisfy all lovers of opera and classical music who are English language readers.

This directory is the most comprehensive index of music written for orchestra with chorus in print today. Offering performance information about choral works by more than 900 conductors, the more than 3,500 entries include such details as instrumentation, languages, timings, publishers, and composer information in an easy-to-follow reference style. Users can also browse categorized appendices of works, composers, and popular and original titles.

Robert Schumann was a unique personality in 19th century music: a celebrated music critic and champion of new composers as well as a talented performer and composer himself, he did much to modernize the literature and performance style for the piano. This book covers the key period of c. 1815-55, exploring how the generation that came after Beethoven was central in reshaping and refining the conception of the concerto style, and particularly the piano concerto. It relates Schumann's own compositional development to his musical environment, recreating the exciting milieu in which Schumann and his contemporaries lived and worked. Written in scholarly, but non-technical language, "Robert Schumann and the Development of the Piano Concerto" will appeal to college and conservatory teachers and students, as well as music connoisseurs. Also includes 60 musical examples.

This is a groundbreaking study of the prestigious Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics during the Third Reich. Making extensive use of archival material, including some discussed here for the very first time, Fritz Tr mpi offers new insight into the orchestras' place in the larger political constellation. Tr mpi looks first at the decades preceding National Socialist rule, when the competing orchestras, whose rivalry mirrored a larger rivalry between Berlin and Vienna, were called on to represent "superior" Austro-German music and were integrated into the administrative and social structures of their respective cities becoming vulnerable to political manipulation in the process. He then turns to the Nazi period, when the orchestras came to play a major role. As he shows, each philharmonic, in its own unique way, became a tool of soft power by showcasing Germanic culture through the mass media, performances for troops and the general public, and fictional representations in literature and film. Accompanying these propaganda efforts was an increasing radicalization of the orchestras, which ranged from the dismissal of Jewish members to the programming of ideologically appropriate repertory all in the name of racial and cultural purity. Richly documented and refreshingly nuanced, The Political Orchestra is a bold exploration of the ties between music and politics under fascism.

Philip Hale (1854-1934) helped put Boston on the Transatlantic map through his music writing. Mitchell reconstructs Hale's oeuvre to produce an authoritative account of the role the Boston Symphony played in the international world of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music.

From Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring to Gustav Holst's The Planets and Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, Masterworks of 20th-Century Music collects over 100 of the most celebrated and frequently played compositions by world composers. Based on the author's survey of dozens of American orchestras, these are works that we all recognize, but whose history we may not know. Each entry gives the reader a wealth of information about: the composer, when and where the piece was first performed, the "style" of the composition, and a basic analysis of the music. From the general reader to the music scholar, this book will prove a source of valuable information and a constant pleasure.

Compositional Process in Elliott Carter's String Quartets is an interdisciplinary study examining the evolution and compositional process in Elliott Carter's five string quartets. Offering a systematic and logical way of unpacking concepts and processes in these quartets that would otherwise remain opaque, the book's narrative reveals new aspects of understanding these works and draws novel conclusions on their collective meaning and Carter's place as the leading American modernist. Each of Carter's five string quartets is driven by a new idea that Carter was exploring during a particular period, which allows for each quartet to be examined under a unique lens and a deeper understanding of his oeuvre at large. Drawing on key ideas from a variety of subjects including performance studies, philosophy, music cognition, musical meaning and semantics, literary criticism, and critical theory, this is an informative volume for scholars and researchers in the areas of music theory and musicology. Analyses are supplemented with sketch study, correspondence, text manuscripts, and other archival sources from the Paul Sacher Stiftung, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library.

A humorous look at the accomplishments of America's Seventh Army Symphony during its 10-year, European tour-of-duty from 1952-1962. The United States once maintained a symphony orchestra, the Seventh Army Symphony, based in Stuttgart, Germany. Formed in 1952 as a public relations measure, it was intended to demonstrate to the Europeans, and the Germans in particular, that American soldiers were young men of culture capable of appreciating and performing the music of Beethoven, Brahms, and other great composers with feeling and understanding. In this the orchestra was extremely successful, touring repeatedly throughout (West) Germany, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In spite of the great acclaim and enthusiasm with which it was received throughout Europe, the orchestra encountered difficulty and some outright hostility from the U.S. Army itself, which did not quite know what to do with a symphony orchestra in its midst. Therefore, in addition to paying tribute to the important work the orchestra did inthe field of cultural relations, this book chronicles the many humorous incidents that arose out of the perennial friction between the rather unmilitary orchestra and the "regular Army" personnel with whom it came in direct contact.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This beautifully illustrated reference is a guide to the history of music, instruments of the orchestra and the most influential classical composers. All sections of the orchestra are covered: strings, woodwind and brass, percussion, keyboards and the voice, as well as historical, rare and non-Western instruments. An authoritative guide to over 100 of the most famous classic composers then follows. From Bach to Xenakis all styles of compositions from medieval times to the present day are included. The fascinating lives of the great composers are detailed, the places where they lived and worked, scenes from their ballets or operas, and examples of original scripts. This comprehensively updated new edition is illustrated with over 1000 photographs and illustrations.

Originally published in 2003, Charles Edward Horn's Memoirs of His Father and Himself is an annotated collection of the memoirs of Charles Edward Horn. They include an account of Horn's father, Charles Frederick Horn, who arrived penniless in London in 1782 and rose to become music master to Queen Charlotte. Today he is most remembered for his pioneering publications of J.S. Bach's music in England. Charles Edward Horn's memoir covers his activities in England and Ireland and provide numerous details of English musical life in the Georgian era not previously known to scholars. They are supplemented in this book by transcripts of four other autobiographical accounts of the Horns, a summary of their extant correspondence and a chronology of their activities.

This monograph carries out an in-depth investigation into compositional processes, shedding new light on the components and conditions that constitute artistic agency. Artistic agency relies on the interlocking of such activities that emerge from various propositional and non-propositional (experiential, corporeal, sensory) forms of knowledge - listening, feeling, imagining, trying out, reflecting, noting and correcting, which represents a small selection of the multifaceted composing activities. The book develops an understanding of artistic agency and mastery in its fundamentally social nature, through the important, though largely ignored output of creative compositional processes. Using a mixture of case studies and theoretical frameworks, this book will appeal to sociologists, musicologists, creative studies scholars, and artists, particularly those who teach composition or research on this topic, as well as students of MA- and PhD-level.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

The first edition of Black Women in American Bands & Orchestras (a Choice Outstanding Academic Book in 1982) was lauded for providing access to material unavailable in any other source. To update and expand the first edition, Handy has revised the profiles of members featured in the first edition, corrected omissions, and added personal and career facts for new faces on the scene. Profiles are presented under the headings of orchestras and orchestra leaders, string players, wind and percussion players, keyboard players, and non-playing orchestra/band affiliates. Features 100 photographs.

In this second edition of Orchestral "Pops" Music: A Handbook, Lucy Manning brings forward to the present her remarkable compendium of information about this form of orchestral music. Since the appearance of the first edition in 2009, this work has proven critical to successful "pops" concert programming. With changes in publishers and agents, the discontinuation of the publication of certain original material or, worst of all, presses going out of business, music directors, orchestra conductors, and professional instrumentalists face formidable challenges in tracking down accurate information about this vast repertoire. This revised handbook alleviates the time-consuming task of researching these changes by offering a list of works for orchestral "pops" concerts that is comprehensive, informative, and current. Manning's emphasis on clarity and accuracy gives users an indispensable tool for gathering vital information on the style, instrumentation, and availability of the repertoire listed, as well as notes on its performance. The user-friendly appendices include expanded instrumentation choices, easy-to-find durations, and handy title cross-references. In addition to corrections and updates, this new edition of Orchestral "Pops" Music includes at least 1,000 new title listings. Orchestral "Pops" Music: A Handbook is the ideal tool for working conductors and orchestral librarians, as well as music program directors at colleges, conservatories, and orchestras.

Contemporary Orchestration: A Practical Guide to Instruments, Ensembles, and Musicians teaches students how to orchestrate for a wide variety of instruments, ensembles, and genres, while preparing them for various real-world professional settings ranging from the concert hall to the recording studio. Unlike most orchestration texts, it includes coverage of contemporary instruments and ensembles alongside traditional orchestra and chamber ensembles.

Features

• Practical considerations: Practical suggestions for choosing a work to orchestrate, and what to avoid when writing for each instrument.
• Pedagogical features
• • In the Profession: Professional courtesies, considerations and expectations.
  • Building the Score: Step-by-step construction of an orchestration.
  • Scoring Examples: Multiple scoring examples for each instrument.
  • Exercises: Analyzing, problem solving, and creating orchestration solutions.
• Critical Thinking: Alternate approaches and solutions.

This is the first book to describe Arturo Toscanini's activities - the life he led, his concerts and recording sessions - during his visits to London and elsewhere in Britain in the years 1900-1952. During the 1930s Arturo Toscanini conducted many concerts broadcast by the BBC from London's Queen's Hall, where he also made some unsurpassed recordings. Drawing on newly researched material in British and American archives, Christopher Dyment reveals how the most renowned and influential conductor of the twentieth century, notoriously microphone-shy though he was, came to conduct so frequently in London, a tale replete with unexpected twists, turns and ingenious stratagems. Toscanini's dominating influence on London critics and audiences in the period covered by the narrative, extending through to his final appearances at the Royal Festival Hall in 1952, is copiously documented from contemporary sources. Dyment also presents fresh evidence showing how the remarkable combination of passionate conviction and architectural mastery that characterised Toscanini's conducting was grounded not only in his obsessive study of the score but also in his awareness of performing traditions dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. This book will fascinate those with a particular interest in Toscanini's career and recorded legacy. It is also essential reading for anyone with an interest in the history of conducting and recording in the first half of the twentieth century, set against the vividly evoked backdrop of London's concert scene of the period. This comprehensive study includes both an annotated table of all Toscanini's London concerts and his EMI discography. CHRISTOPHER DYMENT has written extensively about historic conductors since the 1970s, particularly Felix Weingartner and Arturo Toscanini. His first book, on Weingartner, was published in 1976.

A companion to his The Symphony: A Listener's Guide , Steinberg's new book covers the orchestral concerto repertoire from Bach to the present and featuring all instruments.

Described by music critic Alex Ross as "the most original musical thinker of our time" and having received innumerable accolades in a career spanning over fifty years, composer Steve Reich is considered by many to be America's greatest contemporary composer. His music, however, remains largely underresearched. Rethinking Reich redresses this imbalance, providing a space for prominent and emerging scholars to reassess the composer's contribution to music in the twentieth century. Featuring fourteen tightly focused and multifarious essays on various aspects of Reich's work-ranging from analytical, aesthetic, and archival studies to sociocultural, philosophical, and ethnomusicological reflections-this edited volume reveals new insights, including those enabled by access to the growing Steve Reich Collection at the Paul Sacher Foundation archive, the premier institution for primary research on twentieth-century and contemporary classical music. This volume takes on the timely task of challenging the hegemony of Reich's own articulate and convincing discourses on his music, as found in his Writings on Music (OUP, 2002), and breaks new ground in the broader field of minimalism studies.

As West Africa's oldest form of popular music, Highlife was the soundtrack of the independence era and its influence still resonates widely today. Highlife Giants is an intimate portrait of the pioneering artistes of West Africa's vibrant music scene from the 1920s onwards. It is packed full of inside information from interviews with stars including E.T Mensah, Kofo Ghanaba, Bobby Benson and Ignace De Souza, revealing priceless behind-the-scene moments such as Louis Armstrong giving Eddie Okonta a trumpet with a golden mouthpiece after seeing him perform. Together with an illuminating account of Highlife's instruments, rhythms and influences, Highlife Giants comprehensively charts the development of this rich and varied popular music, which has come to influence contemporary West African music such as Afrobeat and hiplife. Highlife remains crucial in generating social commentary and protest, and contributing to the consolidation of a pan-African musical identity. This book will enthrall readers wishing to delve into the rich musical history of West Africa.

This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera conductors of the twentieth century. From child prodigy pianist and composer to world-renowned conductor, Szell's career spanned seven decades, and he led most of the great orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Chicago Symphonies, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Opera, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. A protege of composer-conductor Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, his crowning achievement was his twenty-four-year tenure as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra, transforming it into one of the world's greatest ensembles, touring triumphantly in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, South Korea, and Japan. Michael Charry, a conductor who worked with Szell and interviewed him, his family, and his associates over several decades, draws on this first-hand material and correspondence, orchestra records, reviews, and other archival sources to construct a lively and balanced portrait of Szell's life and work from his birth in 1897 in Budapest to his death in 1970 in Cleveland. Readers will follow Szell from his career in Europe, Great Britain, and Australia to his guest conducting at the New York Philharmonic and his distinguished tenure at the Metropolitan Opera and Cleveland Orchestra. Charry details Szell's personal and musical qualities, his recordings and broadcast concerts, his approach to the great works of the orchestral repertoire, and his famous orchestrational changes and interpretation of the symphonies of Robert Schumann. The book also lists Szell's conducting repertoire and includes a comprehensive discography. In highlighting Szell's legacy as a teacher and mentor as well as his contributions to orchestral and opera history, this biography will be of lasting interest to concert-goers, music lovers, conductors, musicians inspired by Szell's many great performances, and new generations who will come to know those performances through Szell's recorded legacy.

Evidence indicates that the concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn etc were performed as chamber music, not the full orchestral works commonly assumed. The concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and their contemporaries are some of the most popular, and the most frequently performed, pieces of classical music; and the assumption has always been they were full orchestral works. This book takes issue with this orthodox opinion to argue quite the reverse: that contemporaries regarded the concerto as chamber music. The author surveys the evidence, from surviving printed and manuscript performance material, from concerts throughout Europe between 1685 and 1750 (the heyday of the concerto), demonstrating that concertos were nearly always played one-to-a-part at that time. He makes a particularly close study of the scoring of the bass line,discussing the question of what instruments were most appropriate and what was used when. The late Dr RICHARD MAUNDER was Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.

This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera conductors of the twentieth century. From child prodigy pianist and composer to world-renowned conductor, Szell's career spanned seven decades, and he led most of the great orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Chicago Symphonies, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Opera, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. A protege of composer-conductor Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, his crowning achievement was his twenty-four-year tenure as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra, transforming it into one of the world's greatest ensembles, touring triumphantly in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, South Korea, and Japan. Michael Charry, a conductor who worked with Szell and interviewed him, his family, and his associates over several decades, draws on this first-hand material and correspondence, orchestra records, reviews, and other archival sources to construct a lively and balanced portrait of Szell's life and work from his birth in 1897 in Budapest to his death in 1970 in Cleveland. Readers will follow Szell from his career in Europe, Great Britain, and Australia to his guest conducting at the New York Philharmonic and his distinguished tenure at the Metropolitan Opera and Cleveland Orchestra. Charry details Szell's personal and musical qualities, his recordings and broadcast concerts, his approach to the great works of the orchestral repertoire, and his famous orchestrational changes and interpretation of the symphonies of Robert Schumann. The book also lists Szell's conducting repertoire and includes a comprehensive discography. In highlighting Szell's legacy as a teacher and mentor as well as his contributions to orchestral and opera history, this biography will be of lasting interest to concert-goers, music lovers, conductors, musicians inspired by Szell's many great performances, and new generations who will come to know those performances through Szell's recorded legacy.

"Serving Genius" tells the life story of Carlo Maria Giulini, one of the most renowned and beloved conductors of the twentieth century. Detailing Giulini's extraordinary professional career, Thomas D. Saler also chronicles Giulini's personal life, including his musical awakening while growing up amid the spectacular beauty of the Dolomite mountains, his years as a student in Rome's Academy of St. Cecilia, his conscription into the Italian army during World War II, his nine months in hiding for his anti-fascist and pacifist beliefs, and his selfless devotion to his wife, Marcella.

A humble master who shunned the limelight, Giulini took a deeply emotional and subjective approach to making music. Saler provides uniquely detailed analysis of Giulini's nuanced musicianship and the way he conveyed that musicianship to the orchestra through physical gestures. Meditating on the very art of conducting at which Giulini excelled, Saler discusses each of the conductor's major musical appointments, including stints with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. The book also addresses his repertoire of choice, leadership style, and moral framework.

Drawing on extensive interviews with Giulini's family, music critics, arts administrators, orchestra members, and collaborating soloists, "Serving Genius" draws out the personal amid the professional life of this giant among twentieth-century conductors.