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King Arthur in Music (Hardcover)
Richard Barber; Contributions by Derek Watson, Jeremy Dibble, Jerome V. Reel, Michael Hurd, …
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R2,191
Discovery Miles 21 910
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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A survey of the influence of the Arthurian legends on musical
works. King Arthur in Music is the first book to be devoted to the
subject. The range of musical material is too wide for a single
author to tackle satisfactorily, and the nine contributors to this
volume are experts in the very different fields involved. The first
essay, by Robert Shay, deals with the late seventeenth century
semi-opera King Arthur, while the final essay by William Everitt
looks at the appearances of Arthur on stage and screen and the
scores that have accompanied these. Between these two extremes, the
main body of the book deals largely with opera as we now understand
it, from Wagner's 'Tristan' and 'Parsifal' to Harrison Birtwistle's
'Sir Gawain and the GreenKnight'. Some works have never been
performed, such as Hubert Parry's 'Guenever' and Rutland Boughton's
Arthurian cycle, while others have only recently been staged or
revived, such as Isaac Albeniz's 'Merlin' and Ernest Chausson's 'Le
roi Artus', both striking post-Wagnerian works in very different
styles: 'Merlin', for instance, begins with a passage based on
Gregorian chant. The range of music is therefore wider than one
might at first suspect, and other aspects of Arthurian music are
brought out in the introduction, which is a general survey of the
field, and in Jerome V.Reel's comprehensive listing of Arthurian
musical items which is printed as an appendix. Contributors ROBERT
ADLINGTON, RICHARD BARBER, WALTER A. CLARK, JEREMY DIBBLE, WILLIAM
A. EVERITT, TONY HUNT, MICHAEL HURD, JEROME V. REEL, NIGEL SIMEONE,
ROBERT SHAY, DEREK WATSON.
Born in Gloucester in 1890 Ivor Gurney began writing songs and
poems in his teens, taking his inspiration from the Severn Valley
countryside he grew up in. Sent to the Western Front during the
First World War Gurney experienced the desolation and horror of
war, which made a profound impression on him. At his death in 1937
he was beginning to be acknowledged as one of England's finest
composers but it took several more decades for his work as a war
poet to be fully appreciated.
The composer Michael Hurd - also a native of Gloucester -
explores the life of a man who was deeply affected by what he saw
in the trenches and who ended his days in a lunatic asylum.
Charting his life from childhood and family to student days in
London, where one of his tutors was Vaughan Williams, to his time
at the Front and his final disintegration into madness, Hurd
captures the essence of this exceptional man in a lively and
compelling narrative. First published in 1978 "The Ordeal of Ivor
Gurney" includes a wealth of previously unpublished material and is
a moving and extraordinary account of a tragic genius.
Biographical insights into two outstanding musical personalities
and commentary on the vitality of the British musical scene of the
period. The letters that passed, on an almost daily basis, between
the composers Howard Ferguson and Gerald Finzi provide not only a
fascinating commentary on the British musical scene of the period
1926-1956, but also what amounts to a unique dual-biography of two
remarkable, though very different, personalities. Their lives,
their loves, their enthusiasms and their prejudices are laid bare
with a rare degree of candour, so that we learn not only what it
was liketo be witness to an art that was enjoying an unprecedented
explosion of creative vitality, but also how they came to explore
and consolidate their own exceptional talents. Biographical
background narratives provide links that make clear what intimate
correspondents inevitably take for granted, and explanations are
given for references that the passage of time has made obscure.
Their lives are thus revealed in all their diversity - tragedy and
comedy, achievement and frustration, justifiable pride and
unreasoning prejudice playing equal parts in this absorbing tale of
two outstanding musical personalities of the twentieth century.
'Way of the Witness' presents itself to you as a companion and
journal, with whom to maintain your journey. Drawing upon messages
from 'Enter the Witness' and 'Reference Point,' it engages your
active sense for processing these materials. The activities are
simply presented and easily managed, as they supplement a lifetime
already rich with experience. We are ever with you through this
process. - The Gathering
As the fourth book in the "Enter the Witness" series, "There is
Nowhere Else" acquaints its readers with the presence of
individuals called 'Invisibles.' These guides reveal additional
secrets toward a successful management of Reality's challenges.
From the very start, 'Enter the Witness' draws you into a state of
virtual communication with beings beyond your planetary experience.
They've come to assist you in the realization of your current
circumstances, and with an offer of certain rescue. Ever felt as if
you didn't quite belong here? Ever wondered if there was more to
this life? You're ready to begin! On a deeper level, 'Enter the
Witness' presents thematically, with an emphasis upon the concept
of the Witness, as valued and described in traditions such as
Hinduism and Buddhism. Easily accessible in language and
perspective, this book draws the reader into a virtual dialogue
with personalities who suggest the nature of human existence as
being one of illusion. These personalities also arrive in the form
of new psychological archetypes, enabling reader connections on a
symbolic level. Through means direct and indirect, the reader
gradually moves into a deeper understanding of this important
concept.
At a time when "Friday night lights" shone only on white high
school football games, African American teams across Texas burned
up the gridiron on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The segregated
high schools in the Prairie View Interscholastic League (the
African American counterpart of the University Interscholastic
League, which excluded black schools from membership until 1967)
created an exciting brand of football that produced hundreds of
outstanding players, many of whom became college All-Americans,
All-Pros, and Pro Football Hall of Famers, including NFL greats
such as "Mean" Joe Green (Temple Dunbar), Otis Taylor (Houston
Worthing), Dick "Night Train" Lane (Austin Anderson), Ken Houston
(Lufkin Dunbar), and Bubba Smith (Beaumont Charlton-Pollard).
Thursday Night Lights tells the inspiring, largely unknown story of
African American high school football in Texas. Drawing on
interviews, newspaper stories, and memorabilia, Michael Hurd
introduces the players, coaches, schools, and towns where African
Americans built powerhouse football programs under the PVIL
leadership. He covers fifty years (1920-1970) of high school
football history, including championship seasons and legendary
rivalries such as the annual Turkey Day Classic game between
Houston schools Jack Yates and Phillis Wheatley, which drew
standing-room-only crowds of up to 40,000, making it the largest
prep sports event in postwar America. In telling this story, Hurd
explains why the PVIL was necessary, traces its development, and
shows how football offered a potent source of pride and ambition in
the black community, helping black kids succeed both athletically
and educationally in a racist society.
Texans in World War II offers an informative look at the challenges
and changes faced by Texans on the home front during the Second
World War. This collection of essays by leading scholars of Texas
history covers topics from the African American and Tejano
experience to organized labor, from the expanding opportunities for
women to the importance of oil and agriculture. Texans in World War
II makes local the frequently studied social history of wartime,
bringing it home to Texas.An eye-opening read for Texans eager to
learn more about this defining era in their state's history, this
book will also prove deeply informative for scholars, students, and
general readers seeking detailed, definitive information about
World War II and its implications for daily life, economic growth,
and social and political change in the Lone Star State.
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