New Publications,
New Music Book Publications - 13th September 2021
Welcome to our latest selection of new music books. Our picks this time round include texts and translations of the complete Lieder of Hugo Wolf; an introduction to Sibelius and his cultural environment; an analysis of Beethoven's String Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131; a paperback reissue of Elizabeth Wilson's biography of celebrated cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich; a discussion of the Requiem Mass by Tomás Luis de Victoria; an examination of recently-discovered fragments of medieval polyphony in Dorset; an exploration of opera in postwar Venice; a discussion of music in silent films; a look at The Beatles in the context of social change during the 1960s; the life of American composer, Harry T. Burleigh; and a guide to music copyright in the digital age.
This book gathers together for the first time every poem Wolf set to music. Alongside the original German texts are translations by Lieder expert Richard Stokes, who also provides illuminating commentary. The thirty-six poets set by Wolf are each given their own chapter: a brief essay on the poet is followed by a note on Wolf's connection with the writer, extracts from letters that throw light on the songs and convey his mood at the time of composition, and the texts and translations.
Available Format: Book
Always more than simply a Finnish national figure, Sibelius's life spanned tumultuous events. This book situates him within a rich interdisciplinary environment, paying attention to his relationship with architecture, literature, politics and the visual arts. Drawing on the latest developments in Sibelius research, it is intended as an accessible and rewarding introduction for the general reader, and also offers a fresh and provocative interpretation for those more familiar with his music.
Available Format: Book
Beethoven's String Quartet in C sharp Minor, Op. 131 (Oxford Keynotes)
Nancy November; Oxford University Press; Paperback
Although it is held up as a masterpiece, Beethoven's String Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131 has often been understood in monochrome terms as a work portraying tragedy, struggle, and loss. This book moves well beyond these categories of adversity, going back to early reception documents, including Beethoven's own writings about the work, revealing the diverse musical ideas present, and placing the work in the context of an emerging ideology of silent or 'serious' listening in Beethoven's Europe.
Available Format: Book
Mstislav Rostropovich, recognised as one of the world's finest cellists and musicians, has always maintained that teaching is an important responsibility for great artists. Drawing from her own reminiscences and those of ex-students, documents from the Moscow Conservatoire, and extensive interviews with Rostropovich himself, Elizabeth Wilson's book, now available in paperback, sets out to define his teaching, and to recapture the atmosphere of the conservatoire and Moscow's musical life.
Available Format: Book
Victoria's Requiem is among the most-performed musical works of the Renaissance, representing the summation of golden-age Spanish polyphony. Yet it has been the focus of surprisingly little research. Owen Rees's multifaceted study brings together the historical and ritual contexts for the work's genesis, the first detailed musical analysis of the Requiem itself, and the long story of its circulation and reception.
Available Format: Book
The Dorset Rotulus: Contextualizing and Reconstructing the Early English Motet
Margaret Bent, Jared C. Hartt, & Peter Lefferts; Boydell & Brewer; Hardback
In 2017, substantial new fragments of medieval polyphony came to light, originating at the Benedictine monastery of Abbotsbury, located high above Chesil Beach on Dorset's Jurassic Coast. This book introduces the manuscript, relates it to other scrolls of late medieval music, contextualises its motets within the larger corpus of Latin-texted motets, and reconstructs each of the motets, providing performable transcriptions of three of these compositions as well as three of its large-scale comparands.
Available Format: Book
Opera in Postwar Venice: Cultural Politics and the Avant-Garde
Harriet Boyd-Bennett; Cambridge University Press; Paperback
Beginning from the vantage point of Venice in the aftermath of fascism and World War II, this book explores operatic production in the city's nascent postwar culture. Focusing on a local musical culture, it recasts some of the stylistic categories and narratives of twentieth-century music to provide fresh understandings of works by composers as diverse as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Verdi, Britten, and Nono.
Available Format: Book
Music, Dance and Franco-Italian Cultural Exchange, c.1700: Michel Pignolet de Monteclair and the prince de Vaudemont
Don Fader; Boydell & Brewer; Hardback
This study stems from discoveries in a trove of documents belonging to Charles-Henri de Lorraine, prince de Vaudemont, who served as governor of Milan under the Spanish crown from 1698 to 1706. These documents offer a vivid new picture of musical life in Paris and Milan as well as exchanges between France and Italy. The book is both a patronage study and an examination of the contributions by musicians and dancers who worked across national and cultural boundaries.
Available Format: Book
Silent Films/Loud Music: New Ways of Listening to and Thinking about Silent Film Music
Phillip Johnston; Bloomsbury; Hardback
This book discusses contemporary scores for silent film as a rich vehicle for experimentation in the relationship between music, image, and narrative. As the first book completely devoted to the study of contemporary scores for silent film, it tells the story of the historical and creative evolution of this art form and features an extended discussion and analysis of some of the most creative works of contemporary silent film scoring.
Available Format: Book
Composing with Constraints: 100 Practical Exercises in Music Composition
Jorge Variego; Oxford University Press; Paperback
This book provides an innovative approach to the instruction of the craft of musical composition. It offers a variety of practical exercises to help student composers and instructors to create tangible work plans. Using the methodologies in this book, students will be able to create their own outlines for their compositions, making intelligent and educated choices that balance reasoning with intuition.
Available Format: Book
This book forges a much-needed theory of music, emotion, and empathy from an anthropological perspective, addressing the failure of the prevailing psychological theories on music and emotion to account for non-western musical cultures. Based on extensive field research and informed by hypotheses drawn from the cognitive sciences, the anthropology of art, and aesthetics, it makes an important ethnomusicological contribution to discussions of the relationship between music and emotion.
Available Format: Book
The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution, and Social Change
Kenneth Campbell; Bloomsbury; Paperback
The Beatles are widely regarded as the most influential music band in history. This book uses them as a lens through which to explore the sweeping history of social and political transformation that occurred in the 1960s. It draws on reception theory and untapped primary source material to understand how listeners would have interpreted the Beatles' songs and albums not only in Britain and the United States, but also globally.
Available Format: Book
Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance
Jean E. Snyder; University of Illinois Press; Paperback
Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949) played a leading role in American music and culture in the twentieth century. Celebrated for his arrangements of spirituals, he was also the first African American composer to create a significant body of art song. This book provides rich historical, social, and political contexts that explore Burleigh's life within an era complicated by changes in race relations, class expectations, and musical tastes.
Available Format: Book
Music in Arabia: Perspectives on Heritage, Mobility, and Nation
Issa Boulos, Virginia Danielson, & Anne Rasmussen (editors); Indiana University Press; Paperback
This book extends existing narratives of the region's distinctive music to reveal diverse and dynamic cultures rooted in centuries-old heritage. It presents fresh perspectives and new research addressing why musical expression is fundamental to the area's diverse, transnational communities, and also examines music circulation as a commodity.
Available Format: Book
With behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the halls of power, real-world case studies and tips from successful industry players, this book equips readers with the tools they need to navigate the complex world of music copyright. Covering such topics as music publishing, placements, performance rights, neighbouring rights, and the global environment for music licensing, this book is essential to any music enterprise.
Available Format: Book
Honoring Trans and Gender-Expansive Students in Music Education
Matthew L. Garrett & Joshua Palkki; Oxford University Press; Paperback
In this practical resource, the authors encourage music educators to honour gender diversity through ethically and pedagogically sound practices across choral, instrumental, and general music classroom environments by highlighting the narratives and experiences of trans and gender-expansive (TGE) musicians.
Available Format: Book
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