Music reviews and criticism

Rarely studied in their own right, writings about music are often viewed as merely supplemental to understanding music itself.

Has the virtual invaded the realm of the real, or has the real expanded its definition to include what once was characterized as virtual?

In 1950, as Arnold Schoenberg anticipated the publication of a collection of 15 of his most important writings, Style and Idea, he was already at work on a second volume to be called Program Notes.

Over the past 30 years, musicologists have produced a remarkable new body of research literature focusing on the lives and careers of women composers in their socio-historical contexts.

As one of the foremost composers, conductors, and pianists of the nineteenth century, Felix Mendelssohn played a fundamental role in the shaping of modern musical tastes through his contributions to the early music revival and the formation of the Austro-German musical canon.

As one of the foremost composers, conductors, and pianists of the nineteenth century, Felix Mendelssohn played a fundamental role in the shaping of modern musical tastes through his contributions to the early music revival and the formation of the Austro-German musical canon.

Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto is the story of Sibelius as performer and composer, of violin performing traditions, of histories of musical transmission, and of virtuosity itself.

Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto is the story of Sibelius as performer and composer, of violin performing traditions, of histories of musical transmission, and of virtuosity itself.

The Russian school of violin playing produced many of the twentieth century's leading violinists - from the famed disciples of Leopold Auer such as Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, and Mischa Elman to masters of the Soviet years such as David Oistrakh and Leonid Kogan.

This book is about how music "e;in a key"e; is composed.

In Rethinking Schubert, today's leading Schubertians offer fresh perspectives on the composer's importance and our perennial fascination with him.

Nuclear power has been a contentious issue in Japan since the 1950s, and in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, the conflict has only grown.

Richard Strauss is an outlier in the context of twentieth century music.

Richard Strauss is an outlier in the context of twentieth century music.

Described by music critic Alex Ross as "e;the most original musical thinker of our time"e; and having received innumerable accolades in a career spanning over fifty years, composer Steve Reich is considered by many to be America's greatest contemporary composer.

Innovations in postbop jazz compositions of the 1960s occurred in several dimensions, including harmony, form, and melody.

Innovations in postbop jazz compositions of the 1960s occurred in several dimensions, including harmony, form, and melody.

In a tradition extending from the medieval era to the early twentieth century, visually disabled Japanese women known as goze toured the countryside as professional singers.

Shakespeare's texts have a long and close relationship with many different types of dance, from dance forms referenced in the plays to adaptations across many genres today.

After their military defeat by the Florentines in the mid-sixteenth century, the citizens of Siena turned from politics to celebratory, social occasions to express their civic identity and show their capacity for collective action.

During the nineteenth century, nearly one hundred symphonies were written by over fifty composers living in the United States.

From the Romantic era onwards, music has been seen as the most quintessentially temporal art, possessing a unique capacity to invoke the human experience of time.

Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony stands out as one of the most provocative symphonic statements of the early twentieth century.

One of today's most widely acclaimed composers, Arvo Part broke into the soundscape of the Cold War West with Tabula Rasa in 1977, a work that introduced his signature tintinnabuli style to listeners throughout the world.

One of today's most widely acclaimed composers, Arvo Part broke into the soundscape of the Cold War West with Tabula Rasa in 1977, a work that introduced his signature tintinnabuli style to listeners throughout the world.

"e;Over the Rainbow"e; exploded into worldwide fame upon its performance by Judy Garland in the MGM film musical The Wizard of Oz (1939).

"e;Over the Rainbow"e; exploded into worldwide fame upon its performance by Judy Garland in the MGM film musical The Wizard of Oz (1939).

During the Cold War, state-sponsored musical performances were central to the diplomatic agendas of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Dance as Text: Ideologies of the Baroque Body is a historical and theoretical examination of French court ballet over a hundred-year period, beginning in 1573, that spans the late Renaissance and early baroque.

Modern Moves traces the movement of American social dance styles between black and white cultural groups and between immigrant and migrant communities during the early twentieth century.

In the 1920s, the Mexican composer Julian Carrillo (1875-1965) developed a microtonal system called El Sonido 13 (The 13th Sound).

In 1929 Nadia Boulanger accepted Igor Stravinsky's younger son, Soulima, as her student.

The connections between a great artist's life and work are subtle, complex, and often highly revealing.

Born in New Orleans before migrating to Chicago, Mahalia Jackson (1911-72) is undoubtedly the most widely known black gospel singer, having achieved fame among African American communities in the 1940s then finding a wide audience among non-black U.

Born in New Orleans before migrating to Chicago, Mahalia Jackson (1911-72) is undoubtedly the most widely known black gospel singer, having achieved fame among African American communities in the 1940s then finding a wide audience among non-black U.

Born into a poor Virginian family, John Treville Latouche (1914-56), in his short life, made a profound mark on America's musical theater as a lyricist, book writer, and librettist.

Born into a poor Virginian family, John Treville Latouche (1914-56), in his short life, made a profound mark on America's musical theater as a lyricist, book writer, and librettist.

A History of Western Choral Music explores the various genres, key composers, and influential works essential to the development of the western choral tradition.

Watching Jazz: Encounters with Jazz Performance on Screen is the first systematic study of jazz on screen media.

Time after time, people turn to music when coping with traumatic life events.

There is a striking similarity between Marian devotional songs and secular love songs of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.

The music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), beloved by musicians and audiences since its debut, has been a difficult topic for scholars.

Harmony and Discord: Music and the Transformation of Russian Cultural Life explores the complex development of Russian musical life during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Hollywood film music is often mocked as a disreputably 'applied' branch of the art of composition that lacks both the seriousness and the quality of the classical or late-romantic concert and operatic music from which it derives.

This study seeks to explore the role and significance of aria insertion, the practice that allowed singers to introduce music of their own choice into productions of Italian operas.

In 1946, Harry Choates, a Cajun fiddle virtuoso, changed the course of American musical history when his recording of the so-called Cajun national anthem "e;Jole Blon"e; reached number four on the national Billboard charts.

Following Stalin's death in 1953, during the period now known as the Thaw, Nikita Khrushchev opened up greater freedoms in cultural and intellectual life.

Hundreds of the letters that Gustav Mahler addressed to his parents and siblings survive, yet they have remained virtually unknown.

The role of popular music is widely recognized in giving voice to radical political views, the plight of the oppressed, and the desire for social change.

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has held musical audiences captive for close to two centuries.