"These autobiographical stories sparkle with vignettes of people, places and pets, but their deeper subject is that of the woman pianist in a male-dominated world. The subject is not new, but Ms. Montparker brings to it a rewarding freshness of insight." - Jerome Lowenthal Pianist; and faculty, The Juilliard School "The pianist's latest book deserves to be read by anyone who plays or wishes to play or ever wished to play the piano, and by everyone else too. She writes about music in a sane, wise, humane voice in this charming, instructive, often moving collection." - Michael Kimmelman Chief Art Critic, The New York Times; and pianist
This handsome new reference is an encyclopedic record of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present day. With a lively text and copious illustrations, each volume is a complete survey of the period it covers; together the four volumes present a history of Western music as a whole. Written by renowned musical authorities, Heritage of Music is meant for everyone who enjoys music.
From oratorios to computer composition, the cultural climate of each period's music is carefully delineated. Pertinent illustrations, integrated with the text, amplify and complement it. Entire chapters are devoted to each of the best known musicians of each period, with detailed histories of their lives and work, and astute commentary about how their music related to their personalities.
A consistent approach is used in each volume. After a general introduction the chapters cover the main musical developments and personalities of the time. Between these, at appropriate points, each volume contains "interludes": short sections that give in-depth treatment of topics not covered in the chapters, including aspects of music history, the keyboard, the orchestra, opera houses, and more.
Authoritative, comprehensive, and profusely illustrated in both color and black and white, Heritage of Music is that rare musical reference, of interest to the specialist and casual listener alike.
In Heritage of Music you will find:
* Comprehensive coverage of Western Music from the Middle Ages to the present
* Entire chapters devoted to each of the most important composers of each period
* Illustrations throughout, with art from each musical period presented parallel to the subject matter in order to amplify and complement the text
* Special "Interludes" between chapters that offer cogent commentary and descriptive information related to--but not covered by--the chapters
* An illustrated biographical dictionary of composers of the period at the end of each volume
* A full index to each volume, and a cumulative index at the end of Volume IV for fast and easy access to information in all four volumes
* A handsome format (8 1/2 x 11) with approximately 225 color and 300 black and white illustrations in each volume
"Vol 1 Classical Musical & its Orgins, Vol 2 The Romantic Era, Vol 3 The Nineteenth Century Legacy, Vol 4 Music in the Twentieth Century. Overall edge wear, some larger tears to dj's, a tad age toning at book edges but still a most serviceable reference.
Beautiful classical guitar settings of Gymnopedie #1 (Satie), Trumpet Tune (Purcell), and many more.
Richard Wagner's devotees have ranged from the subtlest minds (Proust) to the most brutal (Hitler). The enduring fascination with his works arises not only from his singular fusion of musical innovation and theatrical daring, but also from his largely overlooked engagement with the boldest investigations of modern philosophy. In this radically clarifying book, Bryan Magee traces Wagner's intellectual quests, from his youthful embrace of revolutionary socialism to the near-Buddhist resignation of his final years. Magee shows how abstract thought can permeate music and stimulate creations of great power and beauty. And he unflinchingly confronts the Wagner whose paranoia, egocentricity, and anti-Semitism are as repugnant as his achievements are glorious.
At once a biography of the composer, an overview of his times, and an exploration of the intellectual and technical aspects of music, Magee's lucid study offers the best explanation of W. H. Auden's judgment that Wagner, for all his notoriety, was perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived.
Plot and counterplot lie at the heart of Don Giovanni, Cos fan tutte, and The Marriage of Figaro, the three brilliant libretti that Lorenzo Da Ponte prepared for Mozart. They were also central to Da Ponte's own extraordinary life. His Memoirs record a fantastic variety of romantic, political, and professional intrigues, and tell of meetings with a host of remarkable men. In a life that took him from the canals of Venice to the streets of New York, Da Ponte was at different times priest, professional gambler, proprietor of a bordello, political agitator, court poet, impresario, grocery store owner, and the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University. His Memoirs, a minor classic of Italian literature, are the picaresque and engrossing story of a man of enormous talent and unsurpassed flair who was, above all, an indefatigable survivor.
"I shall speak of things . . . so singular in their oddity as in some manner to instruct, or at least entertain, without wearying." --Lorenzo da Ponte
Contents: Concerto No. 1 in F Major * Concerto No. 2 in F Major * Concerto No. 3 in G Major. The comb binding creates a lay-flat book that is perfect for study and performance.
Alexander Nikolayevitch Scriabin (1872-1915), Russian composer and pianist, is best known for his perfectly spun miniatures where his novel harmonic and pianistic ideas were most brilliantly worked out. This volume in Dover's continuing series of musical scores presents the best of Scriabin's works, his complete etudes and preludes for the solo piano.
There are the Chopinesque works from his early period, including the 12 etudes from Op. 8 and the 24 Preludes, Op. 11. The works of the middle period, when he began working out his new harmonies based on a series of fourths, include the outstanding sets of Preludes, Opp. 33 and 48, and the Etudes, Op. 42. The 5 Preludes, Op. 74, and the Etudes, Op. 65, from the final period reveal perhaps most about his joyous ecstasy and languid contemplation, moods which no other composer could express to such a degree. There are also the preludes and etudes from Opp. 2, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 27, 31, 35, 37, 39, 45, 49, 51, 59, and 67, each containing miniatures working out some subtle harmonic, rhythmic, or melodic idea with a perfect pianistic sense of writing.
This book has been especially designed as a playing edition ― the noteheads are large and easily readable at the piano, and the margins and spaces between staves are adequate for written notes, fingerings, and turnovers. It is also most useful for analysis, or simply for following along with the actual music.
