The Bach Cello Suites
The Bach Cello Suites

Author: Steven Isserlis

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 0571366260

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A unique Companion to J S Bach's iconic Cello Suites from internationally-renowned cellist Steven Isserlis. 'Isserlis is the master of the material, yet always able to make it accessible . . . It is an absolute treat to be led to this sublime music by such an ethusiastic expert.' MICHAEL PALIN 'The book I've always wanted: an accessible, eloquent guide to the world's greatest - and maybe most elusive - pieces of music. And written by the man I'd want to tell me about it. This is such a delight.' DERREN BROWN 'Illuminating.' OBSERVER 'Striking.' THE SPECTATOR Bach's six Cello Suites are among the most cherished of all the works in the classical music literature. Shrouded in mystery - they were largely unknown for some two hundred years after their composition - they have acquired a magical aura which continues to attract and fascinate audiences the world over. To cellists they represent a musical bible, to listeners, scarcely less. Through what are on the surface simple dance suites, Bach takes us on a spiritual journey like no other, leading us from joy to tragedy, concluding in jubilation, even triumph. Award-winning international cellist Steven Isserlis, whose recent recording of the Suites met with the highest critical acclaim, goes deep into that emotional journey, bringing to bear all his many years' experience of performing the Suites. His book is intended as a rewarding companion for all music lovers, ranging from the casual listener to the performing musician. By offering his own very personal observations of the music, Isserlis's aim is to take the reader further into the world of the Suites in order to enhance the experience of hearing some of the greatest works ever composed. Praise for Steven Isserlis' BACH: THE CELLO SUITES 'The most wonderful cello-playing, surely among the most consistently beautiful to have been heard in this demanding music.' GRAMOPHONE 'Isserlis has done the impossible. He has given the listener something new, and indeed something outstandingly good . . . This recording can sit proudly on the shelf alongside the great recordings of Casals and Rostropovich. In fact, I may find myself picking it up as the favourite.' BBC RADIO 3

Lev's Violin
Lev's Violin

Author: Helena Attlee

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2021-04-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0241402565

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*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK* 'Utterly enthralling - a beautifully-written voyage of discovery that takes us deep into the heart of music-making' Deborah Moggach From the moment she hears Lev's violin for the first time, Helena Attlee is captivated. She is told that it is an Italian instrument, named after its former Russian owner. Eager to discover all she can about its ancestry and the stories contained within its delicate wooden body, she sets out for Cremona, birthplace of the Italian violin. This is the beginning of a beguiling journey whose end she could never have anticipated. Making its way from dusty workshops, through Alpine forests, cool Venetian churches, glittering Florentine courts, and far-flung Russian flea markets, Lev's Violin takes us from the heart of Italian culture to its very furthest reaches. Its story of luthiers and scientists, princes and orphans, musicians, composers, travellers and raconteurs swells to a poignant meditation on the power of objects, stories and music to shape individual lives and to craft entire cultures.

Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto
Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto

Author: Tina K. Ramnarine

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0190611537

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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. It investigates the history and legacy of one of the most recorded concertos in the violin repertoire. Sibelius, a celebrated and influential composer of the late 19th and 20th centuries, was an accomplished violinist, whose enduring interest in the instrument has been paralleled by the broad success of the only concerto in his oeuvre: his violin concerto (premiered in 1904 and revised in 1905). Considering how violinists engage with the work, author Tina K. Ramnarine discusses technology's central role in the concerto's transmission from Jascha Heifetz's seminal 1935 recording to contemporary online performances, gender issues in violin solo careers, and nature-based musical aesthetics that lead to thinking about the ecology of virtuosity in an era of environmental crisis. Beginning with Sibelius's early training as a violinist and his aspirations as a performer, Ramnarine traces the dramatic historical context of the violin concerto. It was composed as Finland underwent a period of heightened self-determination, nationalism, and protest against Russian imperial policies, and it heralded intense political dynamics relating to Europe's East-West border that have extended to the present. This story of the violin concerto points to the notion of Sibelius - and the virtuoso more generally - as a political figure.

Violin Technique in Practice
Violin Technique in Practice

Author: Mary Cohen

Publisher: Faber Music Ltd

Published: 2022-06-17

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 0571592023

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The full eBook version of Violin Technique in Practice in fixed-layout format, with downloadable audio. Violin Technique in Practice is an innovative approach to violin technique by Mary Cohen, developed from her unique 'weightless balance' methodology. Concise exercises are structured into sets that cover all aspects of technique alongside the author's expert advice guiding you through like a personal trainer. This book will develop a relaxed, secure technique and increase confidence in every part of the instrument - without the need to spend hours practising. It has been written with the needs of advanced students, teachers and professional players in mind, although the early sets are also ideal for use with students at late-intermediate level.

Valentin Berlinsky
Valentin Berlinsky

Author: Maria Matalaev

Publisher: Kahn & Averill

Published: 2018-09

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9780995757400

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Valentin Berlinsky (1925-2008), was a founding member of the Borodin Quartet and its cellist and mainstay for more than six decades. A proud Russian but also a man of compromise, his was a life lived for and through the Borodin Quartet. This book tells his story in his own words, lovingly compiled and edited by his grand-daughter, Maria Matalaev, from his diaries, correspondence and interviews, and his accounts of his close friendships with the likes of Shostakovich and Richter, Rostropovich and Oistrakh. Supplemented by tributes from family and friends, as well as an impressive annexure giving every performance, broadcast and recording made by the Borodin Quartet, this book constitutes one of the most revealing chronicles of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian musical life. In 2005, at the celebrations for both his 80th birthday and the 60th anniversary of the Borodin Quartet, Valentin Berlinsky sat down at a table with his students and said: 'My dears, please, keep going: never leave Russia!'