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Music in Youth Culture: A Lacanian Approach by Jan Jagodzinski (Palgrave Macmillan) (Paperback) examines the fantasies of post-Oedipal youth cultures as displayed on the landscape of popular music from a post-Lacanian perspective. jagodzinski, an expert on Lacan, psychoanalysis, and education's relationship to media, maintains that a new set of signifiers is required to grasp the sliding signification of contemporary "youth." He discusses topics such as the figurality of noise, the perversions of the music scene by boyz/bois/boys and the hysterization of it by gurlz/girls/grrrls. Music in Youth Culture also examines the postmodern "fan(addict)", techno music, and pop music icons. Jagodzinski raises the Lacanian question of "an ethics of the Real" and asks educators to re-examine "youth" culture. More
Nicolas Slonimsky: Writings on Music (Four Volumes) by Nicolas Slonimsky, edited by Electra Slonimsky Yourke (Routledge) Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was an influential and celebrated writer on music. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1894, in his 101 years he taught and coached music; conducted the premieres of several 20th century masterpieces; composed works for piano and voice; and oversaw the 5th-8th editions of the classic Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Beginning in 1926, Slonimsky resided in the United States. From his arrival, he wrote provocative articles on contemporary music and musicians, many of whom were his personal friends. Working as a freelance author, he built a large file of reviews, articles, and even manuscripts for books that were never published. This collection brings together the cream of this material in 4 volumes. More
Exploring The Musical Mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function by John Sloboda (Oxford University Press) (Hardcover) In the 20 years since publication of John Sloboda's landmark volume The Musical Mind, music psychology has developed as a vibrant area of research - exerting influence on areas as diverse as music education and cognitive neuroscience. This new book brings together 24 selected essays and reviews written by an internationally acclaimed authority on music and the mind. Chapters are grouped into four main areas of study. These are, cognitive processes (including music reading, memory and performance), emotion and motivation, talent and skill development, and music in the real world (including functions of music in everyday life and culture). The book ends with a newly written chapter on music psychology and social benefits. The books brings together in one place a range of influential writings, whose links to one another provide a compendious overview of a subject that has come to maturity during the author's career, a career which has significantly contributed to the development of the field. More
Baroque Music by John Walter Hill (Norton Introduction to Music History: W. W. Norton & Company) In this colorful and comprehensive history of music during the Baroque period, John Hill illustrates how social, political, and cultural forces contributed to the development of Baroque musical styles and conventions. This text provides a balanced, well-illustrated account of the music from all decades of the seventeenth century and from all national cultures in western Europe. Excerpt: Music takes its place in The Norton Introduction to Music History series between the volumes entitled Renaissance Music and Classical Music, already published. Thus its scope and its title were determined by the overall plan of the series. The title is a conventional way to refer to the period marked off by the years 1580–1750 and limited to the high-culture art music tradition of Western Europe. More
People and Pianos: A Pictorial History of Steinway and Sons by Theodore E. Steinway (Amadeus Press) This is the story of how the Steinway piano came to be the instrument of choice for the world's greatest pianists. In 1953, Theodore Steinway wrote this narrative in longhand on yellow legal pads as a tribute to his father and to commemorate the first 100 years of Steinway and Sons. The book was a memento for employees and was never released to the public. This revised edition brings the history of this remarkable company to the present day through recollections of Henry E. Steinway, the last family member to remain involved with the company, and Peter Goodrich, vice president of concert and artist relations, who has been with the company for 30 years. In 1850, Henry Engelhard Steinway left Germany for New York City and established what was to become the standard of excellence in the piano world. Using photographs and anecdotes, this book chronicles the business from its beginnings through the Depression, when many piano manufacturers went out of business, through World War II, when the company was forbidden to make pianos, and through the advent of modern technology. Through it all the Steinway piano has prevailed as a symbol of quality. The Steinway artist roster is a living tribute to the company and its pianos. More than 1300 performers have publicly endorsed the Steinway because they believe in the quality of the instrument and will only play and perform on a Steinway. More
The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World's Greatest Composers by by Julius H. Jacobson (Sourcebooks Mediafusion) This book is intended for those with little or no knowledge of classical music. As a surgeon, and not even an amateur musician, my only qualification is that I have been an avid listener of classical music since my teens. It has been one of the great pleasures of my life. I believe this to be the first book of its kind—largely a discussion of a beginning basic repertoire (those compositions most often heard at orchestral or chamber music concerts) with excerpts of each on the accompanying compact discs. The knowledge and personal experience of the listener inevitably colors their reactions to music. I have shared mine with you along with some medical stories and trivialities that I think you will enjoy. The lives of the composers are inextricably bound up with their work. When you remember that Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his Ninth Symphony, and that Brahms was in love with Schumann's wife, something extra is brought to the learning experience. You listen differently, and that listening is enriched! More
The Billboard Encyclopedia of Classical Music edited by Stanley Sadie (Billboard) Classical music finally has the reference it deserves: Authoritative, expertly written, and all-inclusive, The Billboard Encyclopedia of Classical Music is a comprehensive, affordable companion to a timeless genre. More
The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera edited by Stanley Sadie, Jane Bellingham (Billboard Books) One of the most exciting and enduring forms of entertainment, opera has given rise to countless passions over the centuries. Inspiring a mixture of joy, rage, hope and despair in its audiences, as they engage with the characters through the combination of poetic libretto, beautiful singing and evocative music, the versatility of opera has seen it grow from a simple court entertainment to a complex art form which, for many, holds an almost spiritual significance. More
Meyerbeer Studies: A Series Of Lectures, Essays, And Articles On The Life And Work Of Giacomo Meyerbeer by Robert Ignatius Letellier (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press) This collection of essays investigates the life and the work of Giacomo Meyerbeer, the most famous exponent of French grand opera. They are both introductory and exploratory, biographical, analytical, and comparative studies in the achievement of this great figure of musical history. More
Adler's Orchestration
The Study of Orchestration, Third Edition by Samuel Adler (W.W.
Norton);
Study of Orchestration Enhanced CDs: Third Edition by Samuel
Adler and Peter Hesterman, 6 CD-ROMs (W.W. Norton);
Workbook for the Study of Orchestration by Samuel Adler (W.W.
Norton) The third edition of this high successful orchestration text
follows the approach established in its innovative predecessor:
Learning orchestration is best achieved through familiarity with the
orchestral literature; this familiarity is most effectively
accomplished from the music notation in combination with the
recorded sound. The text has been revised to reflect the most
informed reactions to the first and second editions, as well as
Professor Adler's revisions. For comprehensiveness, conciseness, and
contemporaneity,
The Study of Orchestration remains without peer.
Workbook for the Study of Orchestration is a usefulcompanion
though it is uneven in its treatment of instrument sets. The serious
student of orchestration and all musicians who want to become
familiar with the process of "sounds" in the orchestra
(symphony/small ensembles) as well as video presentations of string,
woodwind, brass, percussion instruments will find the
Study of Orchestration Enhanced CDs of exceptional utility. It
become a useful way to develop through listening and writing
practice, the "mind's ear and eye" relationships when scoring and
getting music down in score paper. The workbook/text book/CD edtion
combination is the helpful for orientation before actual classroom
instruction. This work will enhance the study and learning process
for the professional musican. An essential reference tool for the
Composer and Orchestrator - I've read the second edition cover to
cover, and dipped into it for information almost every week. This
orchestration text works exceptionally well with the accompanying
set of 6 CD's and Workbook. This is the more expensive package, but
it will literally last a lifetime. With the CDs, you gain an aural
idea of the sound or orchestral phenomenon that the musical examples
and wording is trying to explain. For the young composer, this is a
wonderful thing, as it builds up a collection of sounds in the
imagination with which to composer, like a palette with which to
paint.
The Study of Orchestration has up-to-date orchestral technique,
including comprehensive natural harmonics charts for strings, a
contemporary notation guide, giving possible notation for
microtones, distortion, white noise, and 'highest point on a
string'-noteheads, etc.
Most of the instrumentation examples and orchestral extracts have
a corresponding CD track, an immediate education for your musical
ear. The 6 CDs make this book unique. I especially value this book
for its Natural Harmonics charts which give the required string,
node and resultant pitch for Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass. I
consult these charts all the time. Recommended.
Author introduction: While I was working on the first edition of
The Study of Orchestration, I was asked to give a lecture to a
convention of composers on the subject. I titled my lecture "Where
To, Now?" and brashly previewed what music of the 1980s and 1990s
would be like. My prophecy, which I thought brilliant at the time,
missed the mark completely; my prognostications have come back to
haunt me over these past twenty‑odd years.
In 1979, I stated that music of the last quarter of the twentieth
century would be even more complex and ever more experimental than
in the decades since World War II. New methods of notation would be
devised, new instruments would be invented, and possibly even new
concert spaces would be created to accommodate the cataclysmic
changes that I predicted would occur.
It is indeed an understatement to say that my soothsaying was
dead wrong. In fact, the music composed during the last two decades
is distinguished by a new simplicity‑a new love affair with a
romantic, quite user‑friendly, and sometimes even popular style. I
am not implying that all composers everywhere in the world now
adhere to this formula; certainly many distinguished composers are
still perpetuating the more complex traditions of our century, but
generally the most‑performed younger composers use a much less
stringent musical vocabulary to express their ideas.
A similar situation exists in the realm of orchestration.
Although new notation and extended instrumental techniques were all
the rage from the midtwentieth century through the middle 1970s, a
more traditional approach to the orchestra seems to have regained a
foothold, despite all of the previous focus on experimentation. A
good case in point is the work of the Polish composer Krzysztof
Penderecki, who as one of the leaders of the postwar avant garde
forged a powerfully new orchestral sound. Penderecki s orchestral
works since the early 1970s can be characterized by their Romantic,
almost Sibelius‑like orchestral writing. This is not a critical
statement but rather one of fact. Younger composers, especially
those in
Having had the opportunity to examine dozens of orchestral
scores by successful young composers several times a year, I find
that their use of the orchestra is both imaginative and effective.
It also demonstrates their thorough knowledge of the traditional
orchestral literature. These composers have indirectly served as the
inspiration behind .
The Study of Orchestration since its first edition; the book's
goal has been to help as many students as possible achieve the
successes that these young composers have achieved. The third
edition has several new features designed to make this happen.
Although most composition students may have a constantly expanding
knowledge of the orchestral repertory, the average music student
attending a school of higher learning may not. I have learned, in my
own teaching as well as from the remarks of colleagues, that a
tremendous gap exists between what the average music student should
knew about even the most traditional orchestral repertoire and what
they actually do. As a partial remedy I have added many more works
to the lists of additional pieces for study at the ends of chapters
(in most cases whole movements or entire works). I would like to
advise instructors to give listening assignments over and above the
regular orchestration projects that are found in the workbook. Only
by listening and getting to know the repertory will a student
sharpen his or her ear for orchestral sounds, and I believe that
this listening component will help students expand their entire
musical horizon.
This new edition retains many standard excerpts from the
orchestral literature, as well as copious examples from
twentieth‑century orchestral literature. The new edition cites many
more references than the past two did to newer orchestral works,
from which the experienced orchestrator will be able to glean
valuable information.
As always, I have profited greatly from the suggestions and
criticisms of many colleagues and other individuals. The chapters on
the trombone, the harp, and the orchestral percussion section have
been expanded, and the discussions of several string techniques,
such as harmonics, which have presented problems for many students,
have been clarified. In the
Workbook for the Study of Orchestration quite a few new excerpts
have been added and a great many substitutions have been made in
works to be orchestrated.
One of the most significant changes is the accompanying
Study of Orchestration Enhanced CDs, which not only contains
recordings of all the music excerpts found in the book but also a
CD‑ROM program that enables students to access professional‑quality
videos of each instrument and instrumental technique used in the
standard orchestra. The CD‑ROM also allows students to test
themselves on a number of topics and helps them make more informed
"orchestrational" choices by working through several different
reorchestrations of well‑known orchestral works by Verdi,
Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and Mahler. The reorchestration modules
challenge students to apply their growing knowledge and individual
taste to larger issues of orchestration. I hope that this kind of
exercise will produce lively class discussions and encourage
instructors and students to develop similar types of exercises. The
CD‑ROM also contains composer biographies that focus on their
particular methods of orchestration and that draw examples from
their important orchestral works.
Since music is the art of sound, every topic connected with its
study has to do with training the ear. To me, the technique of
orchestration entails the abilities to hear instrumental sounds
individually and collectively and to transfer these sounds into
written notation as accurately and clearly as possible. The two
distinct parts of this book go a long way toward accomplishing this
goal.
Part One, Instrumentation, may be thought of as the rudiments of
orchestration. The purpose of each chapter in Part One is to enable
the student to hear the sound quality of each instrument and the
changes in that quality throughout its range; to learn the practical
ranges of each instrument; and to get to know the most effective
uses of each instrument within orchestral settings of each musical
era. To that end I have included many solo instrumental excerpts to
expose students to the sound of each individual instrument. Some of
these solo passages are later shown in their orchestral context (I
have provided cross‑references within the text to these orchestral
passages); others are simply used to demonstrate the range or
timbres of the individual instrument. I would like to suggest,
however, that whenever possible the instructor play a recording of
the solo passage in its orchestral context.
Part One is organized around the four sections of the orchestra,
with chapters that focus on the individual instruments within a
particular section preceding discussions of orchestrating for the
entire section. I would like to encourage instructors to use the
chapters on scoring for woodwinds, brass, and percussion to
introduce students to writing for wind ensemble, which in essence is
simply writing for winds, brass, and percussion without strings,
since the basic techniques of the instruments used by both orchestra
and band are essentially the same.
As in the previous two editions, Part Two deals with the
orchestra as a whole. Individual chapters, or sections within
chapters, focus on the techniques of transcribing piano, chamber,
band, and other music for orchestra; the orchestra as accompanist;
and the preparation of score and parts. Since many composers today
prepare their scores on the computer, I have added a short
discussion about using computer programs such as Finale, Score, and
Sibelius and some of the hazards they present.
In recognition of the likelihood that many musicians using this
book will be teaching in public schools, I have given special
emphasis to transcribing orchestral works for the odd combinations
that may be found in school or classroom situations. In addition,
quite a few instructors will be happy to find a new Chapter 19,
which offers some basics on scoring for band. However, I have
resisted the impulse to address the many different problems faced by
the "bandstrator." At the end of Chapter 19 I have supplied a
suggested listening list of twenty‑five works for wind ensemble,
which may help the student learn how to score for that ensemble.
The appendices offer a quick reference chart of the ranges and
transpositions of each instrument discussed in the book, as well as
an up‑to‑date annotated bibliography of books on orchestration,
notation, individual instruments, and electronic music. Concerning
ranges, I have differentiated between the full (professional) ranges
and those most often used by nonprofessionals, students, or
amateurs. Appendix A also includes the names of orchestral
instruments in four languages, their English abbreviations, and some
frequently used orchestral terms in tabular format.
Even though I have omitted an extended discussion of electronic
instruments in the body of the book rather than give superficial
generalizations, I believe these instruments are of tremendous
importance in today's sonic landscape. Therefore, in Appendix B I
have provided a list of important books and periodicals in which
these instruments are discussed. I recommend these books especially
to the reader interested in popular and rock music.
Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720-1780 by
Daniel Heartz (W.W. Norton) This second volume of the trilogy that
began with the author's
Haydan, Mozart, and the Viennese School, 1740-1780, takes a
musical tour of Naples, Venice, Dresden, Berlin, Stuttgart, Mannheim
and Paris. The text discusses how the galant style held sway in
Music in European Capitals continues the study of the eighteenth
century begun in
Haydan, Mozart, and the Viennese School, 1740-1780 (1995) by
focusing on the capital cities other than
This long-awaited book offers a view of eighteenth-century music
that is broad and innovative while remaining sensitive to the
values of those times and places. One comes away from it with an
understanding of the European context behind the triumphs of Haydn
and Mozart.
Lavishly illustrated with music examples and reproductions, both
in black-and-white and color, this master study will be of
inestimable importance to scholars, cultural historians, performers,
and all music lovers.
Haydan, Mozart, and the Viennese School, 1740-1780 Heartz
conducts a tour of musical
Beethoven
Beethoven`s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion by Charles Rosen
(Yale University) Rosen, whose legendary books of music criticism
are among the most lucid and valuable in print;
The Classical Style and
Critical Entertainments were wide-ranging looks at music
history., has produced yet another outstanding work: a performer's
guide to Beethoven's piano sonatas. Beethoven's piano sonatas form
one of the most important collections of works in the whole history
of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the
sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial
serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls
seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative
guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an
understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and
performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata
form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills.
In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas
individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the
sonatas of Beethoven's youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the
subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812–1817), and
the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private
music-making as public recital, Beethoven's sonatas have long formed
a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For
today's audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the
gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the
appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur
musicians, or professional pianists.
Rosen divides the book into two equal parts. In the first,
"Formal Principles," he discusses the musical elements of phrasing,
tempo, and articulation as they pertain to all 32 sonatas. This is
an enormously useful section, accompanied by copious musical
examples, which the author himself illustrates on the companion CD.
The second part deals with the sonatas individually. Here, Rosen
departs from the traditional practice of dividing Beethoven's output
into three large stylistic divisions: an early, a middle, and a late
period. He argues as does pianist/author Robert Taub in his recent
Playing the Beethoven Piano Sonatas and in the liner notes to his
five-volume set of the complete piano sonatas for a more precise
delineation of five categories, though his differs markedly from
Taub's. Rosen labels his divisions "18th Century Sonatas" (Op.
2-22), "Youthful Popularity" (Op. 26-28), "The Years of Mastery"
(Op. 31-81a), "The Years of Stress" (Op. 90-106), and "The Last
Sonatas" (Op. 109-111). The text is rich in detail, and Rosen's
prose is typically graceful and embracing. All admirers of this
repertory will gain much from this book.
Playing the Beethoven Piano Sonatas by Robert Taub (Amadeus
Press) For anyone who plays the piano, Beethoven's 32 sonatas loom
as the mighty peak of the repertoire. Taub, a concert pianist who
has played them all, gives a performer's-eye view of the experience.
Taub sets the tone on the first page by declaring that pianists
enter into "an implied moral contract" with the composer to
understand and respect his intentions. What follows is a close,
careful reading of every aspect of performance from fingering to
tempo. Like Rosen, Taub does not follow the standard division of the
sonatas, opting instead to describe them as "Epitomizing Classical
Styles" (Op. 2-49), "Experimentation" (Op. 26-31),
"Post-Heiligenstadt, Crossing the Rubicon" (Op. 53-57),
"Compression, Homogeneity" (Op. 78-81a), and "Summation,
Transcendence" (Op. 90-111). These are thoughtfully construed
categories, but Taub is more persuasive when arguing that each
sonata is unique, and the most fascinating part of the book for any
performer is the division of the sonatas into nine distinctive
programs (this reviewer finds the Tempest/Hammerklavier combination
especially intriguing). Throughout, Taub is intelligent, informed,
exhaustive (74 musical examples grace the text), and genial if
sometimes a bit dry. Definitely a performer's guide (Rosen's study
will probably work better for larger audiences), this is highly
recommended for any library serving pianists, amateur or
professional, who want to play Beethoven better.
Pianist's Landscape by Carol Montparker (Amadeus Press) Carol
Montparker writes with insight, warmth, and sensitivity. She has
great feeling for the difficulties and rewards of the pianist's
vocation. She expresses appreciation to the famous pianists she has
interviewed for Clavier Magazine, and yet she speaks of her students
with respect, also. Her insights into the challenges facing a
pianist and her reverence for the art form make this book eminently
worth reading. She relates her experiences with music and people in
a thoroughly engaging way. She begins with comments on her love of
nature, how she works, and how music is a comfort, and with letters
and mementos. She continues with her experiences giving recitals and
comments on audiences, preparation, and her love for chamber music.
Turning next to her love for teaching and to teaching's rewards, she
also describes her techniques for drawing the best from her
students. Finally, she talks about her many interviews with famous
pianists and the difficulties she had with those interviews.
Returning home in the last essay, she longs for "the music of
thrushes, Bach,
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