Music-History & Criticism

La Boheme, Tosca, Turandot, Madama Butterfly - Puccini's operas are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. 'Nessun dorma' and other Puccini arias have achieved great levels of fame and recognition. Puccini was a contradictory character - apparently cavalier in his approach...

Phil Spector is a musician, songwriter and producer whose musical ability and visionary foresight as a producer charted the future of popular music and culture of the late 20th century. He revolutionized recording processes and re-shaped the business and marketing approach of the music...

John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was one of the most popular blues harmonica players and singers from the late 1930s through the 1940s. Recording for the Bluebird Records and RCA Victor labels, Sonny Boy shaped Chicago's music scene with an innovative style that gave...

Women's Bands in America is the first comprehensive exploration of women's bands across the three centuries in American history. Contributors trace women's emerging roles in society as seen through women's bands--concert and marching--spanning three centuries of American history. Authors explore town, immigrant, industry, family,...

The musical scores of Stanley Kubrick's films are often praised as being innovative and forward-looking. Despite playing such an important part in his productions, however, the ways in which Kubrick used music to great effect is still somewhat mysterious to many viewers. Although some...

This unique collaboration between a musicologist and two pianists - all experts in Russian music - takes a fresh look at the supercharged music and polarizing reception of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. From his Chopin-inspired miniatures to his genre-bending symphonies and avant-garde late...

When they were creating and releasing their most influential albums in the mid to late 1970s, Kraftwerk were far from the musical mainstream - and yet it is impossible now to imagine the history of popular music without them. Today, Kraftwerk are considered to...

Verbal notation has emerged since the 1950s as a prominent medium in the field of experimental music, as well as in related areas of arts practice involving performance and object making. Works created with this type of notation are often referred to by their...

This book discusses WWI-era music in a historical context, explaining music's importance at home and abroad during WWI as well as examining what music was being sung, played, and danced to during the years prior to America's involvement in the Great War. Why was...

Over 600 people celebrated the publication of Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove's seminal 'From Jazz Funk to Fusion; Acid Jazz: The History Of The UK Jazz Dance Scene' at Cargo in Shoreditch on Sunday July 19th. The event was co-sponsored by The Barbican and was part...

John Field is the most misunderstood composer in the history of classical music. The author, a former educator, classical pianist, and member of the Aldenori Piano Trio, finally sets the record straight. Pianists both professional and amateur, educators, teachers of piano performance, and musicologists...

"Eddie Trunk is one of the greatest true rock-and-roll fans I've ever met. He hears it, sees it from all angles, with an unusually unbiased point of view." --Slash "Eddie's a true flag-waving defender of all things rock." --Bret Michaels "Eddie's name should be...

The present volume, translated from the monumental Russian biography by the composer's brother, is the result of a careful selection of material. The leading idea which the editor has kept in view has been to preserve as far as possible the autobiographical character of...

An informative and suggestive study. Contents: From Bacon to Beethoven The Orchestra of Today The Physics of Music Two Descriptive Orchestral Works: The Ocean Symphony; Raid of the Vikings The Maryland Musical Festival The Centennial Cantata The Legend of St. Leonor Nature-Metaphors A Forgotten...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.Author: Donald BrookISBN-10: 1406774804ISBN-13: 9781406774801Publisher: Amberg...

Listen to David Hesmondhalgh discuss the arguments at the core of 'Why Music Matters' with Laurie Taylor on BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03q9q2n/Thinking_Allowed_Why_Music_Matters_Bhangra_and_Belonging/ In what ways might music enrich the lives of people and of societies? What prevents it from doing so?...

A searing portrait of Bob Marley and the making of Exodus, Time's best album of the twentieth century--and an acutely perceptive appreciation of his musical and spiritual legacy "Finely reported, vividly written, and politically astute, Vivien Goldman travels with Bob Marley on the intimate...

On the night of Sunday, April 23, 1961 Judy Garland made history. That's no hyperbole. Surrounded by a throng of ecstatic fans (3,165 to be exact), the legendary performer delivered a concert in Carnegie Hall the live recording of which became, upon release, an...

In 1972, a group of creative Brazilian musicians and poets informally led by singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento recorded a landmark double-LP titled Clube da Esquina (Corner Club). The album saw highly original songs by Milton, already an award-winning international star, sharing vinyl with those of...

More than simply a paragon of Brazilian samba, Dona (Lady) Ivone Lara's 1981 Sorriso Negro (translated to Black Smile) is an album deeply embedded in the political and social tensions of its time. Released less than two years after the Brazilian military dictatorship approved...

Most die-hard Brazilian music fans would argue that Getz/Gilberto, the iconic 1964 album featuring "The Girl from Ipanema," is not the best bossa nova record. Yet we've all heard "The Girl from Ipanema" as background music in a thousand anodyne settings, from cocktail parties...

Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba are Camp Lo. These two emcees from the Bronx, NY entered the American hip hop scene with an insider slang that bewildered listeners as they radiated the look of a bygone era of black culture. In 1996, they collaborated...

In the mid-twentieth century, certain elements of the American popular music industry (publishers, recording companies, and broadcasters) began to redefine their product as something more than mere entertainment. This became evident in the arguments made by competing sides in a series of clashes that...

This is an account of the rise and fall of Studio One, and the brave attempt to rise again from the damaging image setup after Dodd passing on May 4, 2004. Damages done by his inexperience and malicious wife Norma Dodd and her daughters...

Alongside Richard Hell, Walter Lure is the last surviving member of seminal punk band Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and the only one who was there for the full stretch. From New York to London and back again, Lure's autobiography unflinchingly explores both the...

"A movie for your ears" is how rock icon Frank Zappa first described his album Hot Rats, which remains, 50 years after its release, not only one of Zappa's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums, but a stunning tour-de-force of the totality of...

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a man of diversified talents -- an artist, composer, conductor, critic, jurist, and writer. Although he is best known for his stories, he was a music critic and composer for years before he wrote his celebrated Tales. Hoffmann has long...

"The exclusive, behind-the-scenes, inside story of iconic disc jockey Georgie Woods' spectacular R&B shows at Philadelphia's Uptown Theater, and how the controlled creative chaos at the majestic movie house inspired 'The Philly Sound.'"--P. [4] of cover.Author: Kimberly C. RobertsISBN-10: 1479789011ISBN-13: 9781479789016Publisher: XlibrisLanguage: EnglishPublished: 03/28/2013Pages:...

"The exclusive, behind-the-scenes, inside story of iconic disc jockey Georgie Woods' spectacular R&B shows at Philadelphia's Uptown Theater, and how the controlled creative chaos at the majestic movie house inspired 'The Philly Sound.'"--P. [4] of cover.Author: Kimberly C. RobertsISBN-10: 1479789003ISBN-13: 9781479789009Publisher: XlibrisLanguage: EnglishPublished: 03/28/2013Pages:...

With Top 40 Radio 1955-1975: A Fanboy's Tribute to the Hits, Misses and Forgotten Gems, David Craft pays homage to the songs and artists of his youth, helps other baby boomers reminisce, and inspires younger generations to learn about a period of popular music...

In the mid-1960s, Buell Cobb discovered and then immersed himself in one of America's oldest and warmest community activities, the "driving, high-decibel, soul-in-the-throat" a cappella singing phenomenon known as Sacred Harp. Like Cords Around My Heart is a sharply observed account of many high...

In The Sonic Episteme Robin James examines how twenty-first-century conceptions of sound as acoustic resonance shape notions of the social world, personhood, and materiality in ways that support white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Drawing on fields ranging from philosophy and sound studies to black feminist...

Glossator: Practice and Theory of the CommentaryVolume 6 (2012) -Black MetalEditors: Nicola Masciandaro & Reza NegarestaniOf Plications: A Short Summa on the Nature of Cascadian Black Metal - Steven ShakespeareBlack Metal and the Mouth: Always Serving You as a Meal, or, Infected Orality, Pestilential...

The central experience of the Ramones and their music is of being an outsider, an outcast, a person who's somehow defective, and the revolt against shame and self-loathing. The fans, argues Donna Gaines, got it right away, from their own experience of alienation at...

From the 1950s through the 1980s girl groups were hot --- and not just because of their looks. These rocking women had a profound impact on our culture and left us with a lifetime's worth of memorable tunes. Now you can learn about all...

With an A-Z of over 300 entries, Music in Shakespeare is the most comprehensive study of all the musical terms found in Shakespeare's complete works. It includes a definition of each musical term in itshistorical and theoretical context, and explores the diverse extent of...

Music was everywhere during the Civil War. Tunes could be heard ringing out from parlor pianos, thundering at political rallies, and setting the rhythms of military and domestic life. With literacy still limited, music was an important vehicle for communicating ideas about the war,...

The Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps was founded in Casper, Wyoming, in November 1957. It was the dream of one man, Jim Jones. He believed that any kid who wanted to march with the Troopers should be afforded the chance. In 10 years, Jones...

The first notes of jazz hit Cape Cod in the very early days of the genre. Bournehurst-on-the-Canal hosted top bands, and emerging swing era dancers packed the hall. Cape Cod's First Lady of Jazz, Marie Marcus, was a child prodigy in Boston and found...

Detroit is famous for its cars and its music. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Motor City fans experienced a golden age of rock and roll. Rock was the defiant voice of the boomer generation. The 1960s and the 1970s were turbulent decades. Blacks...

Pittsburgh Jazz documents the almost forgotten magic created in the city of Pittsburgh by a host of artists, uptown inner city streets, and jazz joints that served patrons from a menu packed full of delightful music. The magical improvised songs, compositions, and unique styles...

Following the success of his 2016 book Razama-Snaz! The Listener's Guide to Nazareth, Robert Lawson returns with this meticulous reviewing of every Cheap Trick album, song by song. In his book, Still Competition: The Listener's Guide to Cheap Trick, Lawson outlines the band's significant...

This is the script for the musical "Custer " The story focuses on the events leading up to the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. General George Armstrong Custer's men discover the harsh life of Western Plains will not remove their horrors from the...

Music was one of the first casualties of the Iranian Revolution. It was banned in 1979, but it quickly crept back into Iranian culture and politics. The state made use of music for its propaganda during the Iran-Iraq war. Over time music provided an...

Gary Floyd is an iconic underground rock'n'roll figure who has resided in San Francisco for three decades. He epitomizes the links between the outsider ethos of the Beats (both their queerness and spirituality) and the vexing and volatile punk era. If one band other...

Since its composition in Washington's Willard Hotel in 1861, Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" has been used to make America and its wars sacred. Few Americans reflect on its violent and redemptive imagery, drawn freely from prophetic passages of the Old...

Combining oral and illustrated history with a connective narrative, Turn Up the Radio captures the zeitgeist of the Los Angeles rock and pop music world between the years of 1956 and 1972. Featuring hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photographs and images of memorabilia,...

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian talks with some of twentieth century's most iconic musicians--"Riveting . . . Just about every interview has a revelation" (San Francisco Chronicle). Through the second half of the twentieth century, Studs Terkel hosted the legendary radio show "The Wax Museum,"...

For nearly 30 years, Madonna has been at the center of the media spotlight. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, launched her own record label, headlined an Oscar-award-winning film, authored bestselling books for both adults and children, inspired global street-fashion trends,...

An illustrated biography of Johnny Cash that tells his life story through never-before-seen personal photographs and memorabilia from the Cash family Johnny Cash: The Life and Legacy of the Man in Black is a Cash biography like no other. It reveals Cash's personal and...