New Publications,
New Music Book Publications - 10th June 2019
Welcome to our latest selection of new music books. Our picks this time round include biographies of Richard Strauss and Alma Mahler; a reassessment of the music of Steve Reich; a lavishly-illustrated guide to music theory for children; a discussion of the music of the British landscape; a behind-the-scenes analysis of the economics of the music industry; a collection of essays looking at The Clash and their impact on the political aspects of punk; and the story of the lives of the writing duo behind countless hit musicals on both stage and screen, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Richard Strauss's works are present in the repertories of concert halls and opera houses worldwide. The details of the composer's life, however, remain shrouded in mystery and gossip. Laurenz Lütteken presents a fresh approach to understanding this elusive composer's life and works. Dispensing with stereotypes and sensationalism, it reveals Strauss to be a sensitive intellectual and representative of modernity.
Available Format: Book
Steve Reich is considered by many to be America's greatest contemporary composer. His music, however, remains largely under-researched. Rethinking Reich redresses this imbalance, featuring fourteen essays on various aspects of Reich's work, ranging from analytical, aesthetic, and archival studies to socio-cultural, philosophical, and ethnomusicological reflections.
Available Format: Book
This invaluable guide covers all the core subjects needed to pass up to Grade 5 music exams around the world, including melody, rhythm, chords and harmony, intervals, scales, and keys, styles and genres, and the instruments of the orchestra. Its visual approach, which uses simple, colourful illustrations and diagrams alongside a wide range of musical examples, allows parents and children to work together to understand even the trickiest concepts of music theory.
Available Format: Book
What did the term 'author' denote for musicians in the generations between Schütz and Bach? This book examines attitudes to authorship as revealed in the production, performance and reception of music in seventeenth-century German lands. Analysing a wide array of archival, musical, philosophical and theological texts, it illuminates notions of creativity in the period and the ways in which individuality was projected and detected in printed and manuscript music.
Available Format: Book
On a chronological journey moving from post-war poets and artists to the late twentieth century and the free party scene which emerged from acid house and travelling communities, Richard King explores how Britain's history and identity has been shaped by the relationship between music and nature. From the far west of Wales to the Thames Estuary and the Suffolk shoreline, this book listens to the land and the music that emerged from it, to chart a new course through a familiar landscape.
Available Format: Book
Music and Victorian Liberalism: Composing the Liberal Subject
Sarah Collins; Cambridge University Press
This collection of essays aims to nuance current approaches to the aesthetic facets of liberalism, examining the interaction between music and liberal discourses in Victorian Britain. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it expands upon previous empirical studies to identify uses of music across elite and amateur spheres. The significance of music in the Victorian period and its subsequent impact on modern conceptions of community is uncovered, revealing a new dimension of Victorian liberalism.
Available Format: Book
They Made Us Happy: Betty Comden & Adolph Green's Musicals & Movies
Andy Propst; Oxford University Press
Betty Comden and Adolph Green were the writers behind such classic musicals as On the Town and Wonderful Town. This remarkable duo also penned the screenplays Singin' in the Rain and other cinematic gems, working with artists including Leonard Bernstein, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Holliday, and Jule Styne. This is the first book to tell the full story of their careers, lives, and work.
Available Format: Book
Working for the Clampdown: The Clash, the Dawn of Neoliberalism and the Political Promise of Punk
Colin Coulter (editor); Manchester University Press
This volume brings together a range of writers from different academic disciplines and different locations to provide an engaging and accessible critical exploration of one of the most revered and reviled bands in the history of popular music. The essays collated here locate The Clash in their own explosive cultural moment of punk's year zero, also drawing parallels with other moments of social and political crisis.
Available Format: Book
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