In these writings, available here in English for the first time, the distinguished Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu reflects on his contemporaries, including John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, and Merce Cunningham; on nature, which has profoundly influenced his composition; on film and painting; on relationships between East and West; on traditional Japanese music; and on his own compositions.
Ballet impresario Sergey Pavlovich Diaghilev and composer Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev are eminent figures in twentieth-century cultural history, yet this is the first detailed account of their fifteen-year collaboration.
The experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992) is best known for his works in percussion, prepared piano, and electronic music, but he is also acknowledged to be one of the most significant figures in 20th century theatre.
The Italian violinist and composer Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824) is considered today to have been one of the most significant forces in the history of violin playing.
Our image of Beethoven has been transformed by the research generated by a succession of scholars and theorists who blazed new trails from the 1960s onwards.
DIY House Shows and Music Venues in the US is an interdisciplinary study of house concerts and other types of DIY ("e;do- it- yourself"e;) music venues and events in the United States, such as warehouses, all- ages clubs, and guerrilla shows, with its primary focus on West Coast American DIY locales.
Among the major changes that swept through the music industry during the mid-nineteenth century, one that has received little attention is how musical performances were managed and directed.
The transition from the valveless natural horn to the modern valved horn in 19th-century Paris was different from similar transitions in other countries.
Featuring multidisciplinary research by an international team of leading scholars, this volume addresses the contested aspects of arabesque while exploring its penchant for crossing artistic and cultural boundaries to create new forms.
William Kinderman's detailed study of Parsifal, described by the composer as his "e;last card,"e; explores the evolution of the text and music of this inexhaustible yet highly controversial music drama across Wagner's entire career, and offers a reassessment of the ideological and political history of Parsifal, shedding new light on the connection of Wagner's legacy to the rise of National Socialism in Germany.
In 1864, Union soldier Charles George described a charge into battle by General Phil Sheridan: "e;Such a picture of earnestness and determination I never saw as he showed as he came in sight of the battle field .
Before Antonin Dvo%rak's New World Symphony became one of the most universally beloved pieces of classical music, it exposed the deep wounds of racism at the dawn of the Jim Crow era while serving as a flashpoint in broader debates about the American ideals of freedom and equality.
Winner of the ASCAP Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical BiographyThe musical landscape of New York City and the United States of America would look quite different had it not been for William Schuman.
Research in the field of keyboard studies, especially when intimately connected with issues of performance, is often concerned with the immediate working environments and practices of musicians of the past.
This book provides a practical introduction to researching and performing early Anglo-American secular music and dance with attention to their place in society.
Hans Keller 1919-1985: A musician in dialogue with his times is the first full biography of Hans Keller and the first appearance in print of many of his letters.
This book takes advantage of new and often surprising biographical research on the Loder family as a whole and its four main figures, using them to illustrate aspects of music history in the 19th century.
This new collection views Russian music through the Greek triad of';the Good, the True, and the Beautiful' to investigatehow the idea of nation embeds itself in the public discourse about music and other arts with results at times invigorating, at times corrupting.
As a book on allusion, this has interest for both the traditional literary or cultural historian and for the modern student of textuality and readership positions.
