Composers Books - Page 5

Beethoven (Master Musicians Series)

Barry Cooper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The connections between a great artist's life and work are subtle, complex, and often highly revealing. In the case of Beethoven, however, the standard approach has been to treat his life and his art separately. Now, Barry Cooper's new volume incorporates the latest international research on many aspects of the composer's life and work and presents these in a truly integrated narrative.
Cooper employs a strictly chronological approach that enables each work to be seen against the musical and biographical background from which it emerged. The result is a much closer confluence of life and work than is usually achieved, for two reasons. First, composition was Beethoven's central preoccupation for most of his life: "I live entirely in my music," he once wrote. Second, recent study of his many musical sketches has enabled a much clearer picture of his everyday compositional activity than was previously possible, leading to rich new insights into the interaction between his life and music. This volume concentrates on Beethoven's artistic achievements both by examining the origins of his works and by expert commentary on some of their most striking and original features. It also reexamines virtually all the evidence--from fictitious anecdotes right down to the translations of individual German words--to avoid recycling old errors. And it offers numerous new details derived from sketch studies and a new edition of Beethoven's correspondence.
Offering a wealth of fresh conclusions and intertwining life and work in illuminating ways, Beethoven will establish itself as the reference on one of the world's greatest composers.

Beethoven`s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion

Charles Rosen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Beethoven's piano sonatas form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills. In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the sonatas of Beethoven's youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812–1817), and the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private music-making as public recital, Beethoven's sonatas have long formed a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For today's audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur musicians, or professional pianists.

Peter Tchaikovsky (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)

Mike Venezia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amusing Illustrations 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is one in a wonderful series of books intended to introduce young readers to the lives of famous composers. Tchaikovsky was an interesting character, to say the least, and Venezia does a nice job of expressing that in an amusing way without losing respect for the composer. Venezia picks out events in Tchaikovsky's life that children can relate to and at the same time, see his unique way of dealing with life. As with all the books in this series, the best part are the illustrations. Cartoonlike and colorful; they are full of details and wonderfully amusing.

Wonderful 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book has made Tchaikovsky's music even more interesting to our family. The book was comprehended and enjoyed by my 5 and 8 year old daughters. Nice use of humor in the cartoons to lighten it up.

great book, info and so funny! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

All of the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers books are good. Tchaikovsky's is full of information AND the funniest cartoons! I read it before I read it to my daughter and I laughed out loud while learning at the same time. Moviemaniac

Editorial Review:

The author/illustrator of the highly successful Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series lends his creative talents to another fun, informative series, this one featuring world-famous composers.

Inside Beethoven's Quartets: History, Performance, Interpretation

Lewis Lockwood, Joel Smirnoff, Ronald Copes, Samuel Rhodes, Joel Krosnick

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Music -> Musical Genres -> Classical -> Composers -> Beethoven, Ludwig van

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven, the signal achievement of “that noble genre,” have rewarded the engagement of scholars, performers, and audiences for almost two hundred years. This book and its accompanying recording invite you to experience three of these profound and beautiful works of music from the inside, with a leading Beethoven scholar and a premier performing ensemble as your guides. Lewis Lockwood provides historical and biographical background along with musical analysis, drawing on the most important insights of recent scholarship on Beethoven’s life and works. The members of the Juilliard Quartet share the fruits of decades of performing and teaching these compositions through annotated scores and recordings of the first movements of three representative quartets, including the rarely heard original version of opus 18 no. 1. And all parties join in lively and illuminating conversations that range from details of bowing and articulation to Beethoven’s development as a composer to the social history of the nineteenth century. Inside Beethoven’s Quartets illustrates how scholarly knowledge can inform a performance, as well as how performers’ interpretive choices can illuminate this sublime music.

(20080719)

The Farewell Symphony

Anna Harwell Celenza, Joseph Haydn

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Farewell Symphony 5 out of 5 stars.
43 of 44 people found this review helpful.

I do collect children's books and take into consideration the illustrations as well as the story. I rate this book excellent, the story is True, based on documented evidence. A CD is also included of the complete "The Farewell Symphony'" and I replay it ad infinitum. Excellent investment in quality entertainment. The illustrations are delightful! Dorothy Hope

Editorial Review:

Includes a full-length CD recorded by the Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

History and music come alive!

Prince Nicholas isn't easy to work for--just ask composer Joseph Haydn. When the prince isn't demanding chamber music, operas, and ballets to entertain his guests, he wants dance music for balls and dinner music with his meals. Haydn and the other musicians are kept quite busy at the prince's summer estate in Hungary. As summer fades into autumn, however, the musicians grow increasingly homesick. When Haydn mentions the musicians' distress, the prince threatens to fire the entire orchestra! How will the talented composer convince the mighty prince that it's time to bid farewell to the summer palace?

Memorable characters, carefully researched text, and expressive illustrations tell the story behind Haydn's famous Symphony #45.

Mozart Finds a Melody

Stephen Costanza

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Enchanting New Children's Book 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Wolfgang Mozart must compose a new tune that will be heard in the famous Burgtheater in Vienna by Saturday evening. But poor Mozart can't think of any notes to write. Alas, he is suffering from writer's block. Until his hungry pet starling, Miss Bimms, sings a melody and gets his brain flowing. However, before he can begin writing the notes down on paper, Miss Bimms escapes through the window, and Mozart begins searching the town for the little starling. On his short trip through Vienna, Mozart begins to realize that his little town is filled with inspiring sounds, and is able to set to work on his composition once and for all.

Stephen Costanza's new children book is nothing short of enchanting. The wonderful prose contained within the pages is lovely, and flows much like a melody itself. While his gorgeous illustrations contained on every page couldn't be better. This is a wonderful book for all, whether you're a Mozart fan or not.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Editorial Review:

For the first time in Wolfgang's life, the famous composer was at a loss for a tune. He tried every trick to get his imagination going. He sang standing on his head. He played his violin in the bathtub. He even threw darts at the blank music paper. Alas, nothing worked.An imaginative story about Mozart's many inspirationsWolfgang Mozart must compose a new piano concerto to perform at the famous Burgtheatre in Vienna. But Mozart can't think of a note to write. When he hears his hungry pet starling sing out melodiously, his creativity begins to flow. Before he can put notes to paper, however, his muse escapes through the window, and Mozart is off on a frantic search to bring her back. Will Mozart find both his friend and song in time?Based on a true story about the famous composer and his beloved pet starling, this enchanting tale celebrates inspiration in any form it takes.

Handel, Revised Edition

Christopher Hogwood

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Accurate, detailed, readable - and finely printed 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Christopher Hogwood: Handel. Revised Edition. Chronological Table by Anthony Hicks. With 100 illustrations, 10 in color. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2007. (First published 1985). 324 pages. I had read a couple of Handel biographies before obtaining Christopher Hogwood's book, but this is by far the best, both for detail and accuracy and for sheer readability. With the help of a good deal of 18th (and sometimes 19th) century literature which he quotes verbatim whenever it seems appropriate (but without overburdening his text with footnotes), Christopher Hogwood takes five long chapters to describe in great fulness the known facts - and some speculative ones - of the life of Handel from his birth through to his death in London in 1759. Hogwood limits himself to narrative and does not begin interpreting Handel's music, nor does he discuss in too much detail the ins and outs of when Handel changed this or that aria. This provides a very good overview of the events of Handel's life and of the people he was involved with. Handel's works are, of course, mentioned in the order they were composed, but Hogwood does not descend to giving summaries of opera plots; he is more interested in informing us how the individual operas and oratorios were received and to pass on any detail about the audience or about press reactions. There is quite a lot about the singers, too, although I never found this confusing. In his sixth chapter, "Handel and Posterity", Hogwood takes a critical look at the developments in the reception of Handel's music. He shows how it came to pass that only a few of Handel's works were ever performed in the 19th century and why they were usually performed with forces that were much bigger than anything Handel himself ever envisaged. He traces the development through until the 1980's, when the book was originally published. What has gone on in the world of performance and recording since that time is neatly summarized in an additional chapter written for the revised edition, which also has a bibliographical supplement. The book has a comprehensive index, and is very well printed: I found only one spelling mistake in the whole book, and that in a German word ("Diens" instead of "Dienst"). This is excellent material, much easier to read and much more fascinating, in my opinion, than say, Christoph Wolff's biography of Johann Sebastian Bach (which I found such hard going that I put it aside after about 150 pages). If you want to be thoroughly informed about Handel's life and doings, then buy this book!

Editorial Review:

A revised edition of "the clear biography of choice for anyone interested in one of the great figures of music.—The New York Times Book Review

George Friedrich Handel remains one of the unchallenged geniuses of musical history. Yet many revealing and fascinating aspects of his work have been obscured by generations of adulation, prejudice, or misinterpretation. Christopher Hogwood takes us back to the original Handel, blending the evidence from documents of all kinds with judicious biographical observations as well as a delightful selection of illustrations.

The result is a comprehensive and entertaining portrait of the developing character and career of Handel, with an important concluding chapter that traces the progress of the Handel legend down to our own time, and a chronological table compiled by Anthony Hicks that outlines major events in the composer's life and musical career. 100 illustrations, 10 in color.

Wagner and the Wonder of Art: An Introduction to Die Meistersinger

M. Owen Lee

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Editorial Review:

Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger has always called forth superlatives from those who have fallen under its spell. Toscanini wanted to lay his baton down for the last time only after he had conducted a performance of it. Paderewski called it 'the greatest work of genius ever achieved by any artist in any field of human endeavour.' H.L. Mencken declared, 'It took more skill to plan and write it than it took to plan and write the whole canon of Shakespeare.'

And yet Wagner's many-splendoured comedy has come under severe criticism in recent years for what has been called its 'dark underside,' its 'fascist brutality,' and its 'ugly anti-Semitism.' In Wagner and the Wonder of Art, renowned opera expert M. Owen Lee addresses that criticism. He also provides an introduction to the opera and an analysis that will surprise even those veteran operagoers who may not have explored the work's intricate structure and the emotional drama at its centre. The book includes the on-air commentary that Father Lee gave during the first radio broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera after the events of 9/11. He thought it necessary, after attempting to refute the charges leveled against Wagner's opera, to say something about its truthfulness, its life-affirming music, its insight into the madness that can destroy human lives, and its witness to the importance of art for the survival of our civilizations.

Gustav Mahler (German Edition)

Constantin Floros

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Gustav Mahler thought of his symphonic writing as autobiographical, an expression of his philosophy of life. Important references to musical meaning in Mahler's symphonies can be found in sketches, drafts, autograph scores, and printers' proofs; they demonstrate that his symphonies cannot be classified as absolute music but rather as music with personal, biographical, literary, and philosophical meanings.

In Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies Constantin Floros undertakes a precise and detailed exploration of each of Mahler's ten symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde, bringing to light various aspects of the works. Professor Floros examines their history and autobiographical origins and discusses the events that profoundly influenced the composer's writing. For example, Mahler's meeting with Alma Schindler in November 1901 and the tragic events of 1907—the death of the composer's older daughter and the diagnosis of his heart trouble—profoundly changed Mahler's attitude toward life and subsequently changed his music.

Floros analyses Mahler's compositional techniques in each symphony and relates these to stylistic and semantic aspects to decode Mahler's symbolic musical language. The author is thus able to identify certain basic qualities of these works: tragic irony, the sense of the grotesque, and the affirmation of Mahler's belief both in life after death and in the power of love to transcend death.

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven

Jonah Winter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Bravo! 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This book begins with a musical score in Beethoven's own hand. The end papers are an actual photograph of Beethoven's working manuscript for the Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op. 134.

Jonah Winter recounts the story of Beethoven's pianos and the thirty-nine apartments where he lived in Vienna. So often children's "non-fiction" blurs the line between fact and speculation. Not so in this book. Winter clearly identifies what is fact and what is conjecture and does so with great humor.

Diaries, eviction notices, physical evidence and piano movers' notes are used as a basis for the story he tells. Why did Ludwig change apartments so frequently? Well, there is some evidence to suggest the neighbors complained. As Beethoven moves from place to place, Winter chronicles the music that was composed there. An author's note at the end gives additional information about his deafness and the amazing fact that he composed his magnificent Ninth Symphony after he had completely lost his hearing.

Barry Blitt's illustrations lift the story to a new level. We first see Beethoven as a baby crying in Gothic letters, "wha wha wha WHA." He accurately and humorously depicts the difficulties and incredible logistics involved in moving pianos to the new apartments, over rooftops, through windows and through walls. The composer's effect on his neighbors is depicted in a cross-section where we see the neighbors living above, below and next door to him reacting to the noise coming from his apartment in the middle. Babies cry, dogs bark and people pound on the floor, ceiling and walls as Beethoven plays.

This book is a must have for music teachers, piano teachers and students of music. What a treat!

Editorial Review:

How hard is it to move 5 legless pianos 39 times?
Beethoven owned five legless pianos and composed great works on the floor. His first apartment was in the center of Vienna's theater district... but he forgot to pay rent, so he had to move. (And it's very hard to move a piano. Even harder to move five). Beethoven's next apartment was in a dangerous part of town... so he moved, and the pianos followed on a series of pulleys. Then came an apartment with a view of the Danube (but he made too much noise and the neighbors complained), followed by an attic apartment (where he made even MORE of a rukus), and so Beethoven moved again and again. Each time, pianos were bought, left behind, transported on pulleys, slides, and by movers, all so that gifted Beethoven could compose great works of music for the world.