Music reviews and criticism

The birth of rock 'n roll ignited a firestorm of controversy--one critic called it "e;musical riots put to a switchblade beat"e;--but if it generated much sound and fury, what, if anything, did it signify?

This volume examines the powerful ways in which identity can be shaped by rock music.

Georgia on My Mind, Rockin' Chair, Skylark, Lazybones, and of course the incomparable Star Dust--who else could have composed these classic American songs but Hoagy Carmichael?

Music in Chopin's Warsaw examines the rich musical environment of Fryderyk Chopin's youth--largely unknown to the English-speaking world--and places Chopin's early works in the context of this milieu.

An extraordinary prodigy of Mozartean abilities, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a distinguished composer and conductor, a legendary pianist and organist, and an accomplished painter and classicist.

Renowned today as a prominent African-American in Music Theater and the Arts community, composer, conductor, and violinist Will Marion Cook was a key figure in the development of American music from the 1890s to the 1920s.

Michael Steinberg's 1996 volume The Symphony: A Reader's Guide received glowing reviews across America.

Have records, compact discs, and other sound reproduction equipment merely provided American listeners with pleasant diversions, or have more important historical and cultural influences flowed through them?

Jazz and its colorful, expansive history resonate in this unique collection of 60 essays specially-commissioned from today's top jazz performers, writers, and scholars.

Heinrich Schenker's The Art of Performance shows this great music theorist in a new light.

This volume is a guide to the resources and materials of Bach scholarship, both for the non specialist wondering where to begin in the enormous literature on J.

J.

On the 250th anniversary of the composer's death, this volume offers an in-depth look at the "e;Great Eighteen"e; organ chorales, among the most celebrated works for organ, and a milestone in the history of the chorale.

George Gershwin is one of the giants of American music, unique in that he was both a brilliant writer of popular songs and of more serious music.

Music and queerness interact in many different ways.

Explicitly or not, the historical musicology of post-Revolutionary France has focused on Paris as a proxy for the rest of the country.

Explicitly or not, the historical musicology of post-Revolutionary France has focused on Paris as a proxy for the rest of the country.

This guide introduces concertgoers, serious listeners, and music students to Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, one of the composer's most popular and most powerful works.

Sebastien Erard's (1752-1831) inventions have had an enormous impact on instruments and musical life and are still at the foundation of piano building today.

Sebastien Erard's (1752-1831) inventions have had an enormous impact on instruments and musical life and are still at the foundation of piano building today.

Artists today are at a crossroads.

On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh read out the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence over a makeshift wired loudspeaker system to thousands of listeners in Hanoi.

On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh read out the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence over a makeshift wired loudspeaker system to thousands of listeners in Hanoi.

Inventing the Recording focuses on the decades in which recorded sound went from a technological possibility to a commercial and cultural artefact.

Inventing the Recording focuses on the decades in which recorded sound went from a technological possibility to a commercial and cultural artefact.

The main function of western musical notation is incidental: it prescribes and records sound.

The main function of western musical notation is incidental: it prescribes and records sound.

In recent years, a psychological perspective has gained increasing acceptance in the education provided to musicians: teachers, performers, and "e;creatives"e; alike.

In recent years, a psychological perspective has gained increasing acceptance in the education provided to musicians: teachers, performers, and "e;creatives"e; alike.

Antifascist and socialist monuments pervaded the landscape of the former German Democratic Republic (1949-89), presenting a distorted vision of the national past.

Antifascist and socialist monuments pervaded the landscape of the former German Democratic Republic (1949-89), presenting a distorted vision of the national past.

The history of music is most often written as a sequence of composers and works.

The history of music is most often written as a sequence of composers and works.

Nothing strikes the ear quite like a soprano singing in the sonic stratosphere.

Nothing strikes the ear quite like a soprano singing in the sonic stratosphere.

Sonic Overload offers a new, music-centered cultural history of the late Soviet Union.

Sonic Overload offers a new, music-centered cultural history of the late Soviet Union.

The British composer, conductor, and pianist Thomas Ades has achieved a level of recognition and celebrity within the world of classical music today that is almost unmatched.

Building on ideas from cognitive metaphor theory, Making Sense of Recordings offers a new perspective on record production, music perception, and the aesthetics of recorded sound.

By the end of the Second World War, Germany was in ruins and its Jewish population so gravely diminished that a rich cultural life seemed unthinkable.

Since 1973, Queen have captivated listeners through the intense sonic palette of voices and guitars, the sprawling and epic journeys of songs, and charismatic splendour of their live performances.

Since 1973, Queen have captivated listeners through the intense sonic palette of voices and guitars, the sprawling and epic journeys of songs, and charismatic splendour of their live performances.

For decades, ethnomusicologists across the world have considered how to affect positive change for the communities they work with.

For decades, ethnomusicologists across the world have considered how to affect positive change for the communities they work with.

For decades, ethnomusicologists across the world have considered how to affect positive change for the communities they work with.

For decades, ethnomusicologists across the world have considered how to affect positive change for the communities they work with.

The liturgical chant sung in the churches of Southern Italy between the ninth and thirteenth centuries reflects the multiculturalism of a territory in which Romans, Franks, Lombards, Byzantines, Normans, Jews, and Muslims were all present with various titles and political roles.

The liturgical chant sung in the churches of Southern Italy between the ninth and thirteenth centuries reflects the multiculturalism of a territory in which Romans, Franks, Lombards, Byzantines, Normans, Jews, and Muslims were all present with various titles and political roles.

How did castrati manage to amaze their eighteenth-century audiences by singing the same aria several times in completely different ways?

How did castrati manage to amaze their eighteenth-century audiences by singing the same aria several times in completely different ways?