New Publications,
New Music Book Publications - 27th September 2021
Welcome to our latest selection of new music books. Our picks this time round include a paperback edition of Alex Ross's best-selling book on Wagnerism; an anthology of reflections on music from twenty-six contributors in a variety of artistic, scientific, and political fields; an analysis of works depicting the soundscapes of American places; a new approach to music teaching from Paul Harris; a theory of the power of musical motives; reflections on the music of Milton Babbitt; and a dissection of the music and lyrics of Bob Dylan.
Now in paperback, this book from the author of The Rest Is Noise reveals how Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics. With a narrative ranging from architecture to the novels of Philip K. Dick, from the Zionist writings of Theodor Herzl to the civil-rights essays of W.E.B. Du Bois, and from O Pioneers! to Apocalypse Now, it explores what it means to be a Wagnerian. Neither apologia nor condemnation, it is a work of intellectual passion, urging us towards a more honest idea of how art acts in the world.
Available Format: Book
Ways of Hearing: Reflections on Music in 26 Pieces
Scott Burnham, Marna Seltzer, & Dorothea von Moltke (editors); Princeton University Press; Hardback
An outstanding anthology in which notable musicians, artists, scientists, thinkers, poets, and more, from Gustavo Dudamel and Carrie Mae Weems to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Paul Muldoon, explore the influence of music on their lives and work. These acts of musical witness bear fruit through essays, conversations and interviews, meditations, poetry, and visual art, sounding the depths of a remarkable range of genres including opera, jazz, bluegrass, and concert music.
Available Format: Book
The Sounds of Place: Music and the American Cultural Landscape
Denise von Glahn; University of Illinois Press; Paperback
Composers like Ives, Duke Ellington, Copland, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich created works that indelibly commemorated American places. This book analyses the soundscapes of fourteen figures whose "place pieces" tell us much about the nation's search for its own voice and ever-changing sense of self. Approaching the compositions in chronological order, it reveals how works that celebrated the wilderness gave way to music engaged with humanity's influence on the landscape, before environmentalism inspired a return to nature themes in the late twentieth century.
Available Format: Book
Paul Harris’s ground-breaking and inspirational new approach encourages teachers to explore and transform how they teach, identifying and reimagining the barriers or ‘conditions’ that can stand in the way of effective teaching, to allow for the most immersive and positive learning experience. Ideas are tackled from both a practical and psychological perspective, rooted in Paul’s renowned simultaneous learning methodology.
Available Format: Book
Musical Motives: A Theory and Method for Analyzing Shape in Music
Brent Auerbach; Oxford University Press; Hardback
All music fans harbour in their memories vivid fragments of their favourite works, whether it be the starting guitar solo of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, the da-da-da-DUM that opens Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or the swelling chords of a beloved movie soundtrack. But what makes musical motives so powerful? This book looks at the ways that motives unify compositions and shape our experiences of them, illustrated by pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Chaminade, Verdi, Radiohead, and many more.
Available Format: Book
Thinking In and About Music: Analytical Reflections on Milton Babbitt's Music and Thought
Zachary Bernstein; Oxford University Press; Hardback
Milton Babbitt (1916-2011) was one of the century's foremost composers and a founder of American music theory. This book shows how his idiosyncratic synthesis of ideas from Heinrich Schenker, analytic philosophy, and cognitive science provide insight into his aesthetics and compositional technique. At the same time, a close look at his music reveals a host of concerns unaccounted for in his theories, some of which seem to directly contradict theoretical expectations.
Available Format: Book
Hypermetric Manipulations in Haydn and Mozart: Chamber Music for Strings, 1787 - 1791
Danuta Mirka; Oxford University Press; Hardback
For the past four decades, the concept of hypermeter has been routinely applied to eighteenth-century music. But was this concept familiar in the eighteenth century, and how does it relate to theorists' discussion of phrase structure? This book unearths a number of cues that point to eighteenth-century recognition of what today is called hypermeter, and retraces the line of tradition that led from eighteenth-century music theory to the emergence of the modern concept of hypermeter in the twentieth century.
Available Format: Book
Drawing on newly-available archival material and correspondence, this book defines "Australian Music" as an idea that emerged through the lens of the modernist discourse of the 1960s and 70s, examining the intersection of nationalism and modernism at this formative time. It considers perspectives offered by such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, and Nigel Butterley, and analyses some of the era's significant works to articulate a complex understanding of "Australian Music".
Available Format: Book
Venerated for his lyrics, Bob Dylan is a musician with a unique mastery of merging his words with music and performance. This book cuts through pretension and myth to provide a refreshingly holistic appreciation of Dylan's music. Ranging from celebrated classics to less familiar compositions, it breaks down often-overlooked aspects, from Dylan's many vocal styles to his evocative harmonica playing to his choices as a composer, to present a guide that allows listeners to hear these songs in new ways.
Available Format: Book
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