The music of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Michael Colgrass is the music of our time. His works have been commissioned, performed and recorded by major symphony orchestras and noted soloists around the world, and his distinctive voice - steeped in a number of musical histories and styles - has been praised and lauded by critics and audiences alike. Colgrass' "uncanny ability to write accessible music that simultaneously challenges the intellect and stirs the emotions" is the subject of this book. Colgrass' artistic development; the evolution of his work towards "a polyphony of musics"; and his background in acting and theater training are examined at length. Two particular works - Deja vu and Winds of Nagual - are considered in some detail. Colgrass' recent works have involved fusing the many layers of cultural styles, moving towards a grand synthesis of his "counterpoint of characters." Musicians, performers, conductors, admirers of Colgrass' works, wind band enthusiasts, and devotees of contemporary music will all find A Counterpoint of Characters stimulating reading.

The illustrious career of the Brazilian singer Elizeth Cardoso goes way back to when she was a lounge and radio singer in the 1930s and `40s. In fact, French vocal icon Edith Piaf was counted among her many admirers, and Cardoso was revered in Brazil the way Mahalia Jackson and Frank Sinatra were in the USA. While Cardoso preferred samba, she actually recorded the first full bossa nova album (with songs by Tom Jobim) in 1958. In 1966, she got together with peer Ciro Monteiro for a whirlwind tour of bossa nova favorites--A BOSSA ETERNA consists of medleys of Brazilian songs, both well-known and not.

First published in 1890, The Sign of Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. The story is complex, involving a secret between four ex-cons from India and a hidden treasure. More complex than the first Holmes novel, The Sign of Four also introduces the detective's drug habit and leaves breadcrumbs for the reader that lead toward the final resolution. Readers are offered an explanation of the mystery from the killer's perspective, encouraging a sense of sympathy with the condemned that the previous book also lacked. Any fan of the mystery genre should consider this book a must-read. Scottish surgeon and political activist SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930) turned his passions into stories and novels, producing fiction and nonfiction works sometimes controversial (The Great Boer War, 1900), sometimes fanciful (The Coming of the Fairies, 1922), and sometimes legendary (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892).

Viviane, a beautiful Celtic princess, unwittingly unravels the spell that binds the spirit of the evil Idoc within a circle of tall stones. Once released, the sorcerer-priest uses his powers to deliver vengeance upon those responsible for his original enslavement - including the Princess Viviane. With Idoc in possession of the body of Prince Caradawc, her betrothed, Viviane can no longer judge safely between friend and foe, between this life and previous incarnations. Yet to rescue Caradawc from his nightmare, she must risk everything to reach the dreaded dark tower where Idoc waits. And, to ensure victory over evil, she must seek out Lucifer's Emerald. She journeys through dreams and nightmare, beauty and horror, good and evil to save her lover and destroy the sorcerer-priest. This is a quest for spiritual grace which is beautifully depicted and includes all the timeless ingredients of legend.