Dreaming in Ensemble
A revelatory new account of Black innovation in American opera, showing how composers, performers, and critics redefined the genre both aesthetically and politically in the early twentieth century. The inauguration of a "golden age" in Black opera is often dated to 1955, when Marian Anderson became the first Black singer to perform in a leading role at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Yet Anderson's debut was actually preceded by a rich Black operatic tradition that developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Lucy Caplan tells the stories of the Black composers, performers, critics, teachers, and students who created this vibrant opera culture, even as they were excluded from the genre's most prominent institutions. Their movement, which flourished alongside the Harlem Renaissance, redefined opera as a wellspring of aesthetic innovation, sociality, and antiracist activism. Caplan argues that Black opera in the early twentieth century had decidedly countercultural ambitions. In opera's sonic grandeur and dramatic maximalism, artists found creative resources for expressing the complexity of Black life. The protagonists of this story include composers Harry Lawrence Freeman and Shirley Graham, whose operas boldly interpreted Black diasporic history; performers Caterina Jarboro and Florence Cole-Talbert, who both starred in the racially fraught role of Aida; and critics Sylvester Russell and Nora Holt, who wrote imaginatively about the genre in the Black press. Yet Caplan also focuses on the many Black students, amateurs, opera house staff, and listeners who contributed indelibly to opera's meanings. With the creation of new companies, choruses, and audiences, opera not only circulated in the Black public sphere but itself became a public sphere with radical potential.
Music and Devotion in New Spain
Much engagement with the cathedral music of New Spain has been through lens of exoticism. This book challenges this view by uncovering how colonial repertories mixed European aesthetics with locally composed pieces to create canons both tailored to local liturgies and shaped by European tradition. Building upon material from the archives of Mexico City, Durango, and Puebla cathedrals, author Drew Edward Davies examines how composers, some of them priests, communicated theological doctrine through music genres. The book also offers a new understanding of cultural encounter, both by assessing how music was used for indoctrination and by rethinking stereotypes in villancicos through the lens of topic theory. Illuminating the unique mix of devotional subjects stressed in New Spain, Davies argues that topicality rather than style differentiated New Spanish musical repertory from that of Europe. Concluding with a history of the early music movement's revival of New Spanish music beginning in the 1960s, Davies suggests that exoticism and the imagination continue to shape performances in ways that may not be plausible historically, but nonetheless resonate with audiences in the contemporary world. In so doing, he invites performers and scholars alike to engage with broader repertories of New Spanish music moving forward.
Under Pressure
In 1981, David Bowie and Queen both happened to be in Switzerland: They met and made "Under Pressure." Recorded on a lark, the song broke the path for subsequent pop anthems. In Under Pressure, Max Brzezinski tells the classic track's story, charting the relationship between pop music, collective politics, and dominant institutions of state, corporations, and civil society. Brzezinski shows that, like all great pop anthems, "Under Pressure" harnesses collective sentiments in order to model new ways of thinking and acting. As we continue to live under the sign of the global oppressive power the song names, analyzes, and attempts to move beyond, we remain, in Bowie and Freddie Mercury's phrase, under pressure.
Concerto for Piano and Strings, Op. 32
Classical contemporary composition for Piano and String Orchestra by Avraham Chachamovits
Legendary Bluesman Of The Past
This book is written and compiled in loving memory of blues players from the past. Many Blues Players have inspired musicians from all over the world, including me. My first Introduction to Blues was an album that my father bought me by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, which started me off as a Blues player. Later, I started playing blues slide guitar and became a big Fan of Robert. Johnston, I decided to learn 29 of his songs. He also painted some pictures of his friends and other Blues Players of the past. I hope you enjoy reading this book and flicking through all the Artwork.
We're Having Much More Fun
In We're Having Much More Fun Judith A. Peraino and Tom McEnaney celebrate the ways punks have built and documented their own misfit collectives since the mid-1970s, assembling alternative worlds of riotous music, art, fashion, and writing. This book ranges across the United States and over multiple generations, highlighting the diverse people who make punk happen. Over four hundred color images of rare flyers, photos, zines, letters, and more showcase the creative and political energy that has fueled punk from the start. New interviews and essays featuring Aaron Cometbus, Anna Joy Springer (Blatz, Gr'ups, and Cypher in the Snow), Fayette Hauser (on Tomata du Plenty), Ian MacKaye (Dischord Records and Fugazi), Jayne County, KK Barrett and Tommy Gear (the Screamers), Mart穩n Sorrondeguy (Los Crudos and Limp Wrist), Orlando Xavier (Special Forces and United Blood), Sylvia Reed (on Anya Phillips), and Victoria Ruiz (Downtown Boys)--as well as captions by additional artists, photographers, and fans--tell the stories behind the images, music, and scenes. Every page is an invitation from punk's past and present to build your own future.
The Road
THE ROAD is an illuminating selection of photographs spanning iconic punk rock guitarist Brian Baker's many years of global touring with Bad Religion, Dag Nasty, and other bands. The images are intelligent and arresting, reflecting time spent both inside and outside the bubble of backstages and tour buses. While touring is easily glamorized, all traveling musicians know that twenty-two hours of every day lack the lights, glitter, and other rock-and-roll trappings. For Baker, some of that time is spent photographing what interests him most in his surroundings. As revealed in The Road, his fascinations range from bizarre highway signage; to unsettling figurines, mannequins, and statuettes; to religious iconography that carries extra weight when one considers the ethos of a band called Bad Religion; to steaming cups of espresso and classic diner meals; to guitars, guitars, and more guitars; and so much more. The Road is designed in collaboration with award-winning photographer and curator Jennifer Sakai. Music lovers across the globe will revel in a Brian Baker's-eye view of the landscapes he inhabits, and gain insight into the sometimes disquieting and always beautiful imagery that seizes his attention and engages his obsessions.
Swiz
SWIZ WAS A WASHINGTON, D.C.-BASED hardcore punk band that existed from April of 1987 through August of 1990, cutting their teeth and carving their place in the scene that birthed trailblazers and contemporaries like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Dag Nasty, Fugazi, Ian MacKaye, Dave Grohl, and Henry Rollins. Featuring original Dag Nasty singer Shawn Brown, Swiz's faster, darker, and more aggressive take on the D.C. sound ran counter to the melodic, experimental, and poppy direction the scene had been leaning toward in the years before Nirvana broke the underground. In the thirty-five years since their demise, Swiz's popularity and infamy have only grown. This first in-depth look into the band is timed perfectly to coincide with the 2025 release of their remastered musical catalog by Dischord Records.The volume is penned by all of the band members, combining historical interviews and personal journals, with present-day conversations, anecdotes, recollections, and reflections yielding new poetry and prose. The writing is complemented by over one hundred unpublished images. This mix of styles touches on band facts and timelines while also spotlighting the negative space around the band: personal and interpersonal moments of its members and the broader community and culture in which they were immersed. Swiz is a deep dive into the band and its members, a celebration of warped memory, and a unique snapshot of a time and scene that continues to inspire musicians, artists, and fans alike.
Kylie Minogue: Album by Album
A celebration of the Australian pop icon who topped album charts across five decades.Kylie Minogue is an Australian pop icon who has sold over 80 million records worldwide. The pint-sized pop princess showed us she had the 'wow' factor when she first graced our screens as Charlene Mitchell in Neighbours in 1986. She 'did it again' (and again and again) through her numerous incarnations. From her early days as PWL's pop puppet, to the ultimate puppet master that she has transformed into today. Kylie achieved a massive musical milestone in 2020--being the first woman to top the album charts in five consecutive decades. She is one of our nation's most beloved pop princesses, or arguably - if you ask her legion of fans (me included) - THE most beloved Pop Queen.Kylie Minogue: Album by Album explores in detail Ms Minogue's extensive repertoire, spanning more than three decades. It commemorates this unique artist's genuinely exceptional, unmatched, and often under-appreciated career. The author is both a fan and a music critic, who examines Kylie's life and career from both perspectives. You will discover how Kylie became a pop icon, how she reinvented herself over the years, and how she influenced the music industry with her style and sound. This book is not just another biography, or discography critique; it is a unique analysis of Kylie's musical legacy and cultural impact. Whether you are a die-hard fan or curious listener, this book will give you a deeper appreciation of Kylie Minogue and her music.
You Are My Sunshine
In You Are My Sunshine, Robert Mann weaves together the birth of country music, Louisiana political history, World War II, and the American civil rights movement to produce a compelling biography of one of the world's most popular musical compositions. This is the story of a song that, despite its simple, sweet melody and lyrics, holds the weight of history within its chords. The song's journey to global fame began in 1939, when two obscure "hillbilly" groups recorded it. By the century's end, it was a cultural phenomenon covered by hundreds of artists spanning every genre. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2012. At the center of this story is Jimmie Davis, who capitalized on his country music stardom to win two terms as Louisiana's governor. In 1940, Davis became the third artist to record "Sunshine," after he bought it and claimed it as his composition. The song became his anthem and a staple of his political rallies, radiating warmth and wholesomeness. Its sunny tune encouraged listeners to forget Davis's earlier recording career, marked by risqu矇 blues recordings that clashed with the upright, gospel-singing image he later cultivated. As "You Are My Sunshine" grew in popularity, so did its link to Louisiana's "singing governor." In 1977, the Louisiana Legislature made it a state song. In this biography, equal parts the story of Davis and the odyssey of his song, we discover that "Sunshine" shaped the early rise of country music but became tangled in Davis's pro-segregation policies, briefly overshadowing its legacy. You Are My Sunshine explores the song's contested origins, its rise to legendary status, and its ongoing resonance with millions. This is more than the story of a simple song; it's a biography of a cultural icon, enduring and ubiquitous as sunshine itself.
Homesick Blues
Homesick Blues explores how artists, fans, amateur practitioners, and others have used music to tell stories of everyday life in Japan from the late 1940s to 2018, a practice that author Scott Aalgaard calls "musical storytelling." At its core, musical storytelling is a political practice, presenting world-producing potentials as social actors generate and share stories of themselves and others in ways that intersect with and inform social and political life. Sometimes, musical storytelling is used by powerful entities to reinforce dominant geopolitical, cultural, or economic visions. More often, it is deployed as a means of interfering in or redirecting those visions. In all cases, attending to musical storytelling helps reveal the complex and unexpected ways that everyday life has been imagined and critiqued across disparate moments in modern Japanese history. Aalgaard pushes beyond the upheavals of the 1960s and early 1970s, challenging well-established characterizations of these years as fleeting moments when critical politics in Japan reached an apex, and an end. Instead, he asserts that musical storytelling is robust and ongoing, and proposes more nuanced and comprehensive understandings of critical political and cultural engagement in modern Japan. Homesick Blues is comprised of five chapters, each of which addresses specific instances of musical storytelling in the contexts of their own political, economic, and social histories. From postwar jazz to contemporary rock, from 1960s "anti-war folk" to Japanese pops (enka) and the "girls' rock" of the 1980s, the book explores the political uses of music, reassesses "protest music," and grapples with the complex political-ness of artists, many of whom have continued to interrogate conditions of everyday life well into the contemporary moment. Homesick Blues assembles a diverse ensemble of voices, some of whom appear in English-language scholarship for the first time, including industry stakeholders, rock stars, fans, newscasters, Kyoto-based folk singers, jazz singers, karaoke enthusiasts, and even US military personnel. An equally diverse selection of scholarship and methodology, from ethnomusicology to literary studies, from philosophy to history, creates a richly interdisciplinary and accessible analysis of musical modes of politics.
Tribute
Discover the powerful story of Bob Marley, the legendary reggae musician and cultural icon, in this 22-page comic book biography from TidalWave Comics. Follow Marley's journey from his childhood in Jamaica to his rise as a global music phenomenon. With vibrant artwork and a narrative that captures his spirit, this comic delves into Marley's struggles, triumphs, and unwavering commitment to justice, peace, and unity. Witness how his music transcended boundaries, spreading messages of love and resilience that continue to inspire generations worldwide. From iconic songs to unforgettable moments in his life, this tribute explores the making of a man whose legacy remains timeless. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer, this comic book offers an intimate look at Marley's influence and the enduring power of his music and message.
Uncommon People
When Miranda Sawyer interviewed Liam Gallagher in 1994, his gag wishing Damon Albarn would die of AIDS became front-page news all over the world. This fascinating pop history, exploring the moment British music suddenly meant everything, explains why. Picking out twenty key songs, delving into the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators, UNCOMMON PEOPLE takes us back to when Jarvis Cocker became a national hero, films like Trainspotting were international hits, rave became what everybody did - and it felt like the revolution was happening. Initially a mocking tabloid nickname, Britpop became an unexpected musical movement created by squatters, activists, students and kids barely out of school and their songs have proved timeless. Exploring the era's most definitive anthems - Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Garbage, Supergrass, Radiohead, Underworld, PJ Harvey, The Prodigy and more - Miranda Sawyer transports us back to the beating heart of the nineties, to relive the mad exhilaration of what it was like to hear these songs for the very first time - and what it was like to make them. Based on amazing new interviews with the leading figures, this book offers a backstage pass to all the most interesting bits of Britpop's Greatest Hits. Forget New Labour, forget earnest theories about trends, this book is all about the music, the people and being right there, right now.
Frank Woeste Libretto Dialogues
The Libretto Dialogues is a captivating collection of compositions by Frank Woeste, featuring contributions from notable musicians Dave Douglas, Ryan Keberle, Sylvain Rifflet, and Olivier Ker Ourio. Originally composed as duos, these pieces are adaptable for any instrument or ensemble, making them suitable for performers of all levels. Frank Woeste, a Franco-German jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, is renowned for his wide-ranging musicality and genre-blending projects. After studying in Paris, he became an integral part of the city's vibrant jazz scene, collaborating with some of the most respected names in music. Woeste's style seamlessly merges jazz, classical influences, and electronic elements, creating a unique sound. As a bandleader, he has released several albums, including Pocket Rhapsody, Libretto Dialogues Vol I et II and Reverso . Widely regarded as a key figure in the European jazz community, Frank Woeste continues to captivate audiences with his innovative compositions and virtuoso performances.
Vox Eurydice
This book explores the emergence of female rescuers in the German-language operas of Mozart, Beethoven, and Wagner.
Noble Sounds
Noble Sounds offers a friendly journey into the world of jazz and blues. Author Joel Strauss shares his love for these uniquely American musical styles, guiding readers through their rich history and cultural impact. The book introduces key artists and important recordings, helping newcomers understand what makes this music special.Strauss writes in a clear, conversational style that's easy to follow. He explains musical concepts without getting too technical, making the book accessible to those without formal music training. Personal stories and experiences add color to the narrative, bringing the music to life.From Louis Armstrong to B.B. King, readers will meet the legends who shaped jazz and blues. The book explores how these styles evolved over time and influenced other forms of music. Strauss also offers listening recommendations, allowing readers to experience the sounds firsthand.Noble Sounds is more than just a history lesson. It's an invitation to discover soul-stirring music that has moved people for generations. Whether someone is curious about jazz and blues or wants to deepen their appreciation, this book provides a welcoming starting point for exploring these enduring musical traditions.
Before Elvis
In this thought-provoking book, the Black musicians who influenced Elvis Presley's music finally receive recognition and praise. After Baz Luhrmann's movie, Elvis, hit theaters, audiences and critics alike couldn't help but question the Black origins of Elvis Presley's music and style, reigniting a debate that has been circling for decades. In Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King​, author Preston Lauterbach answers these questions definitively, based on new research and extensive, previously unpublished interviews with the artists who blazed the way and the people who knew them. Within these pages, Lauterbach examines the lives, music, legacies, and interactions with Elvis Presley of the four innovative Black artists who created a style that would come to be known as Rock 'n' Roll: Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and mostly-unknown eccentric Beale Street guitarist Calvin Newborn. Along the way, he delves into the injustices of copyright theft and media segregation that resulted in Black artists living in poverty as white performers, managers, and producers reaped the lucrative rewards. In the wake of continuing conversations about American music and appropriation, Before Elvis is indispensable.
Prince, Musical Genre, and the Construction of Racial Identity
Throughout his career, the Minneapolis musician Prince was known for fusing different musical genres as well as moving between different identities--sexual lothario, devout man of God, androgynous sprite--qualities that fit the postmodernism of the 1980s. This volume takes a fresh look at Prince's work, arguing that his music was deeply informed by the history and techniques of Black culture, and that his multigenre fluency and changeable image were weapons that he deployed in a career-long fight against the racially segregated structures of the American music industry. Using a methodology that mixes musicology with African American literary theory, queer theory, and gender studies, this book analyzes the ways that Prince mixed and manipulated musical genres that are indexed to racial identities--such as "white" rock or new-wave, and "Black" funk, gospel, or R&B--in order to construct pluralistic identities. Each chapter includes detailed musical analyses and transcriptions of Prince's songs, focusing on his use of rock guitar, new-wave synthesizers, funk drumming, gospel singing, and R&B horns. By tracking Prince's transformations of instrumental and vocal idioms derived from specific musical genres, and considering the historical and cultural values embedded within those genres, Griffin Woodworth explores the ways that Prince musically broke down stereotypes of Black masculinity. With its intersectional approach to musical analysis, this book captures the sounds of American racial politics in the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s as heard through the music of one of the era's most popular artists as he worked to transform and transcend those politics.
Stomp Off, Let's Go
The revelatory origin story of one of America's most beloved musicians, Louis Armstrong How did Louis Armstrong become Louis Armstrong? In Stomp Off, Let's Go, author and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi tells the enthralling story of the iconic trumpeter's meteoric rise to fame. Beginning with Armstrong's youth in New Orleans, Riccardi transports readers through Armstrong's musical and personal development, including his initial trip to Chicago to join Joe "King" Oliver's band, his first to New York to meet Fletcher Henderson, and his eventual return to Chicago, where he changed the course of music with the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. While this period of Armstrong's life is perhaps more familiar than others, Riccardi enriches extant narratives with recently unearthed archival materials, including a rare draft of pianist, composer, and Armstrong's second wife Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong's autobiography. Riccardi similarly tackles the perceived notion of Armstrong as a "sell-out" during his later years, highlighting the many ways in which Armstrong's musical style and personal values in fact remained steady throughout his career. By foregrounding the voices of Armstrong and his contemporaries, Stomp Off, Let's Go offers a more intimate exploration of Armstrong's personal and professional relationships, in turn providing essential insights into how Armstrong evolved into one of America's most beloved icons.
Drumz of the South
Drumz Of The South: The Dubstep Years (2004-2007) is the first photography book to present the early days of dubstep in detail. Seminal to the sound's growth from the spaced-out expression of a handful of producers, to the global genre that it is today, Drumz Of The South is both a personal and a cultural document. It features over 200 photographs from events and radio stations such as FWD>> at Plastic People, DMZ and Rinse FM, plus pioneering producers, DJs and MCs like Burial, Skream and Benga, Mala & Coki, Loefah and Sgt Pokes, Plastician, Kode9, Hatcha & Crazy D, Skepta, Wiley, and Mary Anne Hobbs.
A Show Tune for Today
Beloved theatre critic Peter Filichia has created a treasure for the ages with A Show Tune for Today, a whimsical day-by-day calendar--one that can be used again and again, in any year--for musical theatre buffs. Across 366 bite-size entries, Filichia dispenses anecdotes, observations, fun facts, and other confections tied to a single song, perfect for starting each day. Whether tied to a show's opening date (August 6: "You'll Be Back" / Hamilton), holidays (December 25: "A Christmas Song" / Elf), historic dates (August 21: the actual date of "The Night That Goldman Spoke in Union Square" in 1893 from Ragtime), lyrics (March 2: when Camelot insists winter exits on the dot), or connections more surprising, each entry provides a light delight to put a spring in your step, every day of the year.
Alice Cooper
This value-priced reissue of Alice Cooper at 75 (2023) celebrates the godfather of shock rock with expert commentary, hundreds of images, and an illustrated timeline. Pythons, guillotines, stage blood...with his concoction of vaudeville, horror film tropes, and three-chord rock 'n' roll, Alice Cooper invented a genre. Let veteran rock journalist Gary Graff and Detroit rock writer Gary Graff be your guide to Cooper's extraordinary career through the lens of 75 career accomplishments, events, and collaborations. This exquisite volume features: Stunning concert and candid offstage photographyImages of memorabilia, including gig posters, vinyl record sleeves, ticket stubs, and period adsAn illustrated Alice Cooper timelineThrough seven-and-a-half decades, Graff covers it all: Cooper's childhood in Detroit and Arizona and early garage bands the Earwigs and the SpidersAll 28 studio albums, including those as frontman of Alice Cooper the bandA selection of his greatest singles, like the classic-rock standards "I'm Eighteen," "School's Out," and "Welcome to My Nightmare"Collaborations with artists including Slash, Johnny Depp, Wayne Kramer, and moreAssociations with notable guitarists, including Glen Buxton, Nita Strauss, and OrianthiNonmusical passions like classic cars and, of course, golfHis relationship with wife and entertainment accomplice, SherylTireless charity workBeginning with his 1969 debut LP Pretties for You and continuing through his latest release, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper is regarded as one of the most influential performers and musicians in hard rock and heavy metal, influencing countless acts both visually and musically. This book is your unprecedented retrospective of Cooper's career from teenage garage rocker to international star and celebrity. The result is a unique and lavishly produced celebration of the iconic and beloved rock star.
Sparks 1969 to 1979
This long-overdue book charts the career of Sparks from 1969 - 1979. Every album and every song is examined, including some which are still officially unreleased. Beginning with their early recordings as Halfnelson/ Sparks and when they were a band of five. After that band split, Ron and Russell Mael retained the name and spent much of the seventies working with a succession of sidemen and collaborators, although this was not always evident to some! They ended the seventies on a high note with the collaboration with Georgio Moroder for No. 1 In Heaven.Many who worked on their records have shared their thoughts in the book. The list includes: Dean Detrick, Simon Draper, Harley Feinstein, Martin Gordon, Ian Hampton, Rupert Holmes, James Lowe, Sal Maida, James Mankey, John Mendelsohn, Adrian Munsey, Ralph Oswald, Peter Oxendale, Mike Piggott, Terry Rae, Thom Rotella, Suzi Ronson, Paul Rudolph, Richard Digby Smith, Karl Stoecker, David Swanson, Trevor White, Muff Winwood and Luke Zamperini. This book adds new information for fans and lively opinions on the records. It's a must-have for anyone who wants to know more about how Sparks developed in the decade which saw them create a lot of their best work.
Brand Lady Gaga
This book is about Lady Gaga's branding-the stories that inform it and the ideas that shape her public image.Who is Lady Gaga and how does she connect with her fans and audiences via storytelling? These questions guide Nelligan's discourse and textual analyses of Gaga's media interviews, product marketing, songs, albums and documentaries to reveal numerous themes and messages that inform her brand. These themes include: stories about monsters, self-love bravery, kindness and pride; distinctive and outlandish fashion and boundary-pushing performance art; LGBTIQA+ activism and support of queer communities; mental-health advocacy and philanthropy (which, as Nelligan shows, is powerfully underpinned by Gaga's own mental-health challenges); and personal reflections on the significance of family and kinship in shaping her identity as a songwriter and artist. Nelligan demonstrates how Gaga, in a considered yet heartfelt manner, weaves these themes together to form the overarching story of Brand Lady Gaga, offering insights into the star's extraordinary life and the dynamics of twenty-first-century branding in music.
McDonagh: It's a Ukulele Thing Book/Audio Online
(Boosey & Hawkes Chamber Music). 34 distinctive pieces perfect for developing ukulele players inventive progressive repertoire (beginner to intermediate level) informative tips on style and technique for every piece audio demonstrations online Ailbhe McDonagh is a celebrated Irish composer with works for orchestra, chamber music and solo instruments. Notable commissions include her Irish Isles Suite recorded by the RTE Concert Orchestra, the Irish Four Seasons recorded by violinist Lynda O Connor, String Quartets No. 1 and No. 2, Dance Suite for Solo Cello and Westland Glow an eight-hand piece for piano. Ailbhe has also written pedagogical music including her It's a Piano Thing and It's a Cello Thing repertoire books published by Boosey & Hawkes. As a cellist, Ailbhe performs as a soloist and chamber musician. She recently released an album of the complete Bach Suites and also the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with pianist John O Conor on the Steinway label.
The Cambridge Companion to West Side Story
Over sixty years after its opening night, West Side Story is perhaps the most famous and beloved of twentieth-century musicals and stands as a colossus of musical and dramatic achievement. It not only helped define a generation of musical theatre lovers but is among the handful of shows that have contributed to our understanding of American musical identity at mid-century. Bringing together contemporary scholars in music, theatre, dance, literature, and performance, this Companion explores this explosive 1950s remake of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and its portrayal of the raw passion, rivalries, jealousy and rage that doom the young lovers to their tragic fate. Organised thematically, chapters range from Broadway's history and precursors to West Side Story; the early careers of its creators; the show's score with emphasis on writing, production, and orchestrations; issues of class, colourism, and racism; New York's gang culture, and how the show's legacy can be found in popular culture throughout the world.
The Cambridge Companion to West Side Story
Over sixty years after its opening night, West Side Story is perhaps the most famous and beloved of twentieth-century musicals and stands as a colossus of musical and dramatic achievement. It not only helped define a generation of musical theatre lovers but is among the handful of shows that have contributed to our understanding of American musical identity at mid-century. Bringing together contemporary scholars in music, theatre, dance, literature, and performance, this Companion explores this explosive 1950s remake of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and its portrayal of the raw passion, rivalries, jealousy and rage that doom the young lovers to their tragic fate. Organised thematically, chapters range from Broadway's history and precursors to West Side Story; the early careers of its creators; the show's score with emphasis on writing, production, and orchestrations; issues of class, colourism, and racism; New York's gang culture, and how the show's legacy can be found in popular culture throughout the world.
Hip-Hop Archives
This book focuses on the culture and politics involved in building hip-hop archives. It addresses practical aspects, including methods of accumulation, curation, preservation, and digitization and critically analyzes institutional power, community engagement, urban economics, public access, and the ideological implications associated with hip-hop culture's enduring tensions with dominant social values. The collection of essays are divided into four sections; Doing the Knowledge, Challenging Archival Forms, Beyond the Nation and Institutional Alignments: Interviews and Reflections. The book covers a range of official, unofficial, DIY and community archives and collections and features chapters by scholar practitioners, educators and curators. A wide swath of hip-hop culture is featured in the book, including a focus on dance, graffiti, clothing, and battle rap. The range of authors and their topics span countries in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and North America.
Song in the Novel
Song in the Novel investigates the variety of types of songs present in novels, from French romances, ballads, folk songs, opera, and op矇ra-comique, to caf矇-concert music, blues and jazz, and more recent popular music. Throughout, literary scholars, musicologists, and cultural historians analyse novels written in a range of languages, including English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. Using a range of interdisciplinary and comparative material, Song in the Novel explores the way that songs can be present in novels, from the inclusion of musical scores to broader practices of citation and allusion. It interrogates the function of song in the novel, considering its importance for plot, character, and setting. Finally, it addresses the reader's involvement in these songs -- whether through immediate recognition or further research -- with the result that they may participate in what Lawrence Kramer describes as a 'song pact' with the author, akin to the intimate connections between characters enabled through song in the novel.
Lutheran Music and Meaning
Music has meaning.More than a series of notes, more than associated verbal texts, more than personal entertainment-music has meaning.In Lutheran Music and Meaning, author Daniel Zager demonstrates how music signals and conveys meaning. With suggested listening examples, chapters discuss the means that the great Lutheran composers used to convey meaning and in what ways liturgy, Church Year, and lectionary provide integrated contexts for meaning.Written specifically for the singer and listener, this book assists the curious in learning more about Lutheran music, its function, and its meaning.
Queen as It Began
The revered and authorized Queen biography, revised and updated.The original edition explored every aspect of the legendary group's career from inception to 1992.Revised and updated with cooperation and insight from Brian May and Roger Taylor - and drawing on exclusive interviews with the bandmembers - this book completes the story of the Mercury era and the immediate years after his death.With numerous extra photographs and a new foreword from Brian May, Queen - As It Began is an informative and authoritative portrait of Queen's most fundamental period.
Mastering Electronic Dance Music
Mastering Electronic Dance Music is a guide to the sonic considerations of EDM audio. Written by a successful Apple-approved mastering engineer, it introduces readers to all the techniques behind mastering electronic dance music.
God Only Knows
'For thirty years, I've trusted David Leaf with my music and my story' Brian WilsonOriginally published in 1978, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant musicians of the 20th century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic.An intimate look at the Beach Boys' rollercoaster career, it is told through the eyes of those who were there during their most legendary productions including Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations. It also includes Brian's first acclaimed solo album, his return to live performing, the landmark Pet Sounds tour, the All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson and the Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE world premiere.Filled with surprising revelations, insight and behind-the-scenes detail, this remastered edition also features forewords by Jimmy Webb, the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb and Melinda Wilson.
Popular Music in Brazil
This Element outlines an overview of popular music made in Brazil, from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Initially addressing the definition of the 'popular' category, discussion then follows on the ways a Brazilian music identity was built after the country's independence in 1822 until the end of the 1920s. An idea of 'popular music' was consolidated throughout the twentieth century, from being associated with rural musical performances of oral tradition to the recorded urban musical genres that were established through radio and television. After exploring the world of mass popular music, the relationships between traditional and modern, the topics of cultural diversity, multiculturalism, and the impact of digitalization, as well as the musical kaleidoscope of the twenty-first century, the Element ends with an insight into music genres in the era of digital platforms.
A 45 R P aMble On A Flat Foot
With lists of 45 rpm records on almost every page, this book is a great reference for nearly two thousand popular songs from the seventies and eighties. The story is powered by the sound and structure of music, the history of radio and charts, the visual appeal of labels and sleeves, and the experience of shopping and becoming a collector. Whether you skim the surface or dive into the details, it's an enjoyable trip down memory lane.Steven Elliott is a longtime audiophile, musician, and record collector. He was born in the sixties but is truly a child of the seventies. He enjoys playing the piano along with his favourite songs on the stereo. He feels strongly that collecting, especially 45 RPM records, is not just a way of making order out of chaos. Since 1974, he has spent years backing up his records to tape and CD, trying to capture and replicate that elusive analogue sound. From the days of a simple record player and tape machine, he now uses a music CD burner. His discussions with people who truly don't understand the concept of analogue are extremely short, if non-existent. He has balked at those album fans who believe that collecting singles is a waste of time. "Why would you collect the single even once, if you already have the song on an album?" His response is "while you can find an album anywhere, you can't find singles just anywhere". Perfectly sized clear plastic bins with lids have become the ultimate way to store his 45 RPM collection and carefully crafted codes describe the many different attributes that just one single can have. Steve still marvels at how the single page of ideas about 45 RPM records he typed out years ago morphed into a full story. And it became more than just a story, a reference book of sorts, when he started reconciling all the song titles in each list in the story with the appendices full of those same titles. There is something special about the 45 RPM record and Steve takes us on an insightful journey as he tells that story.
Popular Music in Brazil
This Element outlines an overview of popular music made in Brazil, from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Initially addressing the definition of the 'popular' category, discussion then follows on the ways a Brazilian music identity was built after the country's independence in 1822 until the end of the 1920s. An idea of 'popular music' was consolidated throughout the twentieth century, from being associated with rural musical performances of oral tradition to the recorded urban musical genres that were established through radio and television. After exploring the world of mass popular music, the relationships between traditional and modern, the topics of cultural diversity, multiculturalism, and the impact of digitalization, as well as the musical kaleidoscope of the twenty-first century, the Element ends with an insight into music genres in the era of digital platforms.
Hoeller: Piano Sonata No. 4
(BH Piano). Commissioned by Radio France and premiered by the dedicatee Bertrand Chamayou in Paris at the beginning of 2023, the ten-minute work follows the Beethovenian 'development type'. Like Holler's two preceding piano sonatas, it is a one-movement piece. At the centre is the processing of one harmonic, one rhythmic, one scale element each, as well as a 'sound form' as it determines Holler's entire compositional thinking. It is formed from three phrases of 6, 7 and 8, i.e. 21, tones, and 'at times appears like a kind of cantus firmus', according to the composer. The interplay between these very different poles unfolds in many virtuoso figurations, which aresometimes reminiscent of Debussy and which require a meticulous dose of pedaling.
Collaboration, Engagement, and Tradition in Contemporary and Electronic Music
Collaboration, Engagement, and Tradition in Contemporary and Electronic Music: NoiseFloor Perspectives illuminates practices at the forefront of modern music-making and is built on a rich collection of concerts and talks, representing over a decade of artistic insight and creative practice showcased at the annual NoiseFloor event. Exploring the themes of collaboration, engagement, and tradition, this cutting-edge collection offers chapters on a range of pressing issues, including AI in music, audiovisual composition, environmental sound, and interactive sound systems. NoiseFloor's aim is to showcase research and original works by international composers and performers and has attracted prolific artists in a wide range of related fields - many of whom have contributed to this volume. This book provides a timely snapshot of new and emerging developments in the broad field of contemporary music-making. Collaboration, Engagement, and Tradition in Contemporary and Electronic Music will be of interest to postgraduates and advanced undergraduates working in the areas of contemporary music, electronic music, and music technology. This book is also ideal for composers, artists, and researchers investigating theoretical concepts and compositional practices in contemporary music.
Rags of Light
Creatively bringing the songs, prayers, and poetry of Leonard Cohen into conversation with Scripture, this book deeply grounds Cohen's work in the landscape of the biblical imagination, paying special attention to Jesus together with the prophetic and priestly voices of Scripture. What emerges is a compellingly lyrical work of theology that deepens our understanding of both Cohen and biblical faith. Leonard Cohen has undoubtedly been a liturgist for our time, a cantor singing for all those clothed in rags of light, a prophet in the ruins, and a priest who greets us "from the other side of sorrow and despair."
Under Pressure
In 1981, David Bowie and Queen both happened to be in Switzerland: They met and made "Under Pressure." Recorded on a lark, the song broke the path for subsequent pop anthems. In Under Pressure, Max Brzezinski tells the classic track's story, charting the relationship between pop music, collective politics, and dominant institutions of state, corporations, and civil society. Brzezinski shows that, like all great pop anthems, "Under Pressure" harnesses collective sentiments in order to model new ways of thinking and acting. As we continue to live under the sign of the global oppressive power the song names, analyzes, and attempts to move beyond, we remain, in Bowie and Freddie Mercury's phrase, under pressure.
