New Publications,
New Music Book Publications - 11th January 2021
Welcome to our latest selection of new music books. Our picks this time round include biographies of Mozart and Chinese composer Chen Yi; essays on the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach; a handbook illustrating the essential nature of singing through the millennia; philosophical discourse in relation to music in the Roman Empire; an analysis of the solfeggio tradition in the eighteenth century; the politics of opera from Monteverdi to Mozart; a collection of interviews and discussions with prominent oboists; and a critique of music and musicians in modern Turkey.
From acclaimed biographer Jan Swafford comes the definitive biography of one of the most lauded musical geniuses in history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart: The Reign of Love is both wide-ranging and intimate in its exploration of a genius in his life and his setting: a man who rose from a particular time and place, whose art would enrich the world for centuries to come, who would immeasurably shape the future of classical music, who from his age to ours has stood as the definition of a prodigy.
Available Format: Book
J. S. Bach at His Royal Instrument: Essays on His Organ Works
Russell Stinson; Oxford University Press; Paperback
This wide-ranging set of essays investigates Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions for the organ, opening up a wealth of perspectives on the stylistic orientation and historical context of these timeless masterpieces. The essays shed light on the entire corpus of Bach's organ chorales and consider the reception of particular pieces not only by various luminaries in the classical music world, but also those within such disparate contexts as film, literature, politics, and rock music.
Available Format: Book
Chen Yi is the most prominent woman among the renowned group of new wave composers who came to the US from mainland China in the early 1980s. Known for her creative output and a distinctive merging of Chinese and Western influences, Chen built a musical language that references a breathtaking range of sources and crisscrosses geographical and musical borders without eradicating them. This book provides an accessible guide to the composer's background and her more than 150 works.
Available Format: Book
The Oxford Handbook of Singing
Graham Welch, David Howard, & John Nix (editors); Oxford University Press; Paperback
This handbook is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the pluralistic nature of singing. In part, the narrative adopts a lifespan approach, pre-cradle to senescence, to illustrate that singing is a commonplace behaviour which has been an essential characteristic of our humanity across several millenia.
Available Format: Book
Music and Philosophy in the Roman Empire
Francesco Pelosi & Federico Petrucci (editors); Cambridge University Press; Hardback
Is music just matter of hearing and producing notes? And is it of interest just to musicians? By exploring different authors and philosophical trends of the Roman Empire, from Philo of Alexandria to Alexander of Aphrodisias, from the rebirth of Platonism with Plutarch to the last Neoplatonists, this book sheds light on different ways in which music and musical notions were made a crucial part of philosophical discourse.
Available Format: Book
The Solfeggio Tradition: A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth Century
Nicholas Baragwanath; Oxford University Press; Hardback
The solfeggio tradition is a music education method that was fundamental to the training of European musicians between 1680 and 1830. This book draws on over a thousand manuscript sources to reconstruct how professionals became skilled performers and composers who could invent and modify melodies at will, taking readers on a fascinating journey through the fundamentals of music education in the eighteenth century.
Available Format: Book
The Politics of Opera: A History from Monteverdi to Mozart
Mitchell Cohen; Princeton University Press; Paperback
This book takes readers on a fascinating journey into the entwined development of opera and politics, from the Renaissance to the turn of the nineteenth century. What political backdrops have shaped opera? How has opera conveyed the political ideas of its times? Delving into European history and thought and music by such greats as Monteverdi, Lully, Rameau, and Mozart, it reveals how politics-through story lines, symbols, harmonies, and musical motifs-has played an operatic role both robust and sotto voce.
Available Format: Book
Great Oboists on Music and Musicianship
Michele Fiala & Martin Schuring; Oxford University Press; Paperback
What do the world's most prominent oboists have to say about their musical ideas, performance techniques, and teaching strategies? Michele L. Fiala and Martin Schuring, themselves skilled oboists, undertook the project of asking twenty-six of them about their musicianship and pedagogy. The results are collected here, providing an uniqque window into how these virtuosi of wind instruments think about their craft.
Available Format: Book
The Arabesk Debate: Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey
Martin Stokes; Oxford University Press; Paperback
The Arabesk Debate describes the way in which Turkish musicians discuss, dispute, and attribute meanings to their music. Martin Stokes examines the debate over 'Arabesk', a musical genre popular throughout Turkey. His book is an ethnographic study of urban music-making in Istanbul, focusing on the activities of professional musicians and their audiences in the city. Dr. Stokes looks at the Arabesk debate in the context of state cultural politics, Islam, and the experience of urbanisation in Turkey.
Available Format: Book
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