Five Operas and a Symphony
Five Operas and a Symphony

Author: Boris Gasparov

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0300133162

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this eagerly anticipated book, Boris Gasparov gazes through the lens of music to find an unusual perspective on Russian cultural and literary history. He discusses six major works of Russian music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showing the interplay of musical texts with their literary and historical sources within the ideological and cultural contexts of their times. Each musical work becomes a tableau representing a moment in Russian history, and together the works form a coherent story of ideological and aesthetic trends as they evolved in Russia from the time of Pushkin to the rise of totalitarianism in the 1930s. Gasparov discusses Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla (1842), Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (1871) and Khovanshchina (1881), Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (1878) and The Queen of Spades (1890), and Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony (1934). Offering new interpretations to enhance our understanding and appreciation of these important works, Gasparov also demonstrates how Russian music and cultural history illuminate one another.

First Nights
First Nights

Author: Thomas Forrest Kelly

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780300091052

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This lively book takes us back to the first performances of five famous musical compositions: Monteverdi's Orfeo in 1607, Handel's Messiah in 1742, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1824, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique in 1830, and Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps in 1913. Thomas Forrest Kelly sets the scene for each of these premieres, describing the cities in which they took place, the concert halls, audiences, conductors, and musicians, the sound of the music when it was first performed (often with instruments now extinct), and the popular and critical responses. He explores how performance styles and conditions have changed over the centuries and what music can reveal about the societies that produce it. Kelly tells us, for example, that Handel recruited musicians he didn't know to perform Messiah in a newly built hall in Dublin; that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed with a mixture of professional and amateur musicians after only three rehearsals; and that Berlioz was still buying strings for the violas and mutes for the violins on the day his symphony was first played. Kelly's narrative, which is enhanced by extracts from contemporary letters, press reports, account books, and other sources, as well as by a rich selection of illustrations, gives us a fresh appreciation of these five masterworks, encouraging us to sort out our own late twentieth-century expectations from what is inherent in the music.

The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music
The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music

Author: Barrie Jones

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-03

Total Pages: 780

ISBN-13: 1135950253

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music, in 7,500 entries, retains the breadth of coverage, clarity, and accessibility of the highly acclaimed Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Music, from which it is derived. Tracing its lineage to the Everyman Dictionary of Music, now out of print, it boasts a distinguished heritage of the finest musical scholarship. This book provides comprehensive coverage of theoretical and technical music terminology, embracing the many genres and forms of classical music, clearly illustrated with examples. It also provides core information on composers and comprehensive lists of works from the earliest exponents of polyphony to present-day composers.

Arts America: Enjoying the Best Art Museums, Theater, Classical Music, Opera, Jazz, Dance, Film, and Summer Festivals in America
Arts America: Enjoying the Best Art Museums, Theater, Classical Music, Opera, Jazz, Dance, Film, and Summer Festivals in America

Author:

Publisher: Huntington Press Inc

Published: 2014-03-17

Total Pages: 530

ISBN-13: 1935396048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Timesong is the inspirational story of a three-legged coyote named j.b. who befriends Tom, an autistic boy. Following his father's death, Tom retreats into a shell of isolation. j.b. counters Tom's despair with an uplifting explanation of immortality. For those trying to reconcile the loss of a loved one, Timesong may be the key that opens the door to acceptance and peace of mind.

The Routledge Handbook to Music under German Occupation, 1938-1945
The Routledge Handbook to Music under German Occupation, 1938-1945

Author: David Fanning

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-12-06

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13: 1351862588

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Following their entry into Austria and the Sudetenland in the late 1930s, the Germans attempted to impose a policy of cultural imperialism on the countries they went on to occupy during World War II. Almost all music institutions in the occupied lands came under direct German control or were subject to severe scrutiny and censorship, the prime objective being to change the musical fabric of these nations and force them to submit to the strictures of Nazi ideology. This pioneering collection of essays is the first in the English language to look in more detail at the musical consequences of German occupation during a dark period in European history. It embraces a wide range of issues, presenting case studies involving musical activity in a number of occupied European cities, as well as in countries that were part of the Axis or had established close diplomatic relations with Germany. The wartime careers and creative outputs of individual musicians who were faced with the dilemma of either complying with or resisting the impositions of the occupiers are explored. In addition, there is some reflection on the post-war implications of German occupation for the musical environment in Europe. Music under German Occupation is written for all music-lovers, students, professionals and academics who have particular interests in 20th-century music and/or the vicissitudes of European cultural life during World War II.

All Music Guide to Classical Music
All Music Guide to Classical Music

Author: Chris Woodstra

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 1620

ISBN-13: 9780879308650

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Offering comprehensive coverage of classical music, this guide surveys more than eleven thousand albums and presents biographies of five hundred composers and eight hundred performers, as well as twenty-three essays on forms, eras, and genres of classical music. Original.