New Publications,
New Music Book Publications - 11th October 2021
Welcome to our latest selection of new music books. Our picks this time round include a companion to Bach's Cello Suites by cellist, Steven Isserlis; a paperback edition of a biography of Schumann; an exploration of the religious, political and cultural contexts surrounding the life and music of Franz Liszt; a collection of musical puzzles and games for every day of the year from Classic FM; conversations with the director of The Sixteen, Harry Christophers; the history of Fazioli grand pianos; a discussion of the musical and cultural identities of Russian composers abroad; a guide for teachers on the world of musical theatre; and a history of popular music in seven genres.
Bach's six Cello Suites are among the most cherished of all 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. By offering his own very personal observations of the music, award-winning cellist Steven 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.
Available Format: Book
Now available in paperback, this is a groundbreaking account of a major composer whose life and works have been the subject of intense controversy ever since his attempted suicide and early death in an insane asylum. Drawing on hitherto unpublished archive material, it sheds new light on Schumann's life and music, his sexual escapades, his fathering of an illegitimate child, the true facts behind his courtship of his wife Clara and the opposition of her monstrous father, and the ways in which the crises of his life, his dreams and fantasies, entered his music.
Available Format: Book
This book explores the political, social, philosophical and professional currents that surrounded Franz Liszt, and illuminates the competing forces that influenced his music. Liszt was immersed in the religious, political and cultural debates of his day, and moved between institutions, places, and social circles with ease. All of this makes for a rich contextual tapestry against which Liszt composed some of the most iconic, popular, and also contentious music of the nineteenth century.
Available Format: Book
With a foreword by Alexander Armstrong, this puzzle book will test your musical knowledge to the very core, with a fiendishly difficult puzzle to challenge you every single day of the year. From quizzes to word searches, logic tests to missing symbols - via emojis, sudoku, crosswords and more - this is a compendium of puzzles to keep you guessing the whole year round.
Available Format: Book
With The Sixteen, Harry Christophers has nurtured a choir of exceptional calibre, establishing a business model that includes a record label and extensive tours to capacity audiences, mining a rich variety of repertoire, and combining enormous popularity with the stamp of approval from experts. This collection of conversations, now available in paperback, will appeal to anyone interested in the sound of the human voice.
Available Format: Book
This book tells the tale of a company that has been producing grand and concert pianos since it was founded by Paolo Fazioli in 1981. Its history has been characterised by a crescendo of successes, from the first international exhibitions to acquisition by major global retailers, from sales at the world's most prestigious theatres to close collaborations with famous artists who have exclusively requested Fazioli pianos for their concerts.
Available Format: Book
Russian Composers Abroad: How They Left, Stayed, Returned
Elena Dubinets; Indiana University Press; Paperback
As waves of composers migrated from Russia in the twentieth century, they grappled with the complex struggle between their own traditions and those of their adopted homes. This book explores the self-identity of these émigrés, and how aspects of their identities played out in their music. It provides a journey through the complexities of identity formation under globalisation and migration, elucidating sociological perspectives of the post-Soviet world that have caused changes in composers' outlooks.
Available Format: Book
Hearing Beethoven: A Story of Musical Loss and Discovery
Robin Wallace; University of Chicago Press; Paperback
The fact that Beethoven continued to play and compose for more than a decade after he lost his hearing is often seen as an act of superhuman heroism. But the truth is that Beethoven's response to his deafness was entirely human, and by demystifying what he did, we can learn a great deal about Beethoven's music. This book tells the story of Beethoven's creative life, helping to make Beethoven and his music more accessible.
Available Format: Book
A Teacher's Guide to Musical Theatre
Kenneth Pickering & David Henson; Methuen Publishing; Paperback
Are you a teacher of musical theatre who struggles to plan and construct lessons? Are you looking for a structured approach to teaching musical theatre to students of all abilities? This guide enables teachers to deliver courses with confidence and flair. From The Mikado to Hamilton and everything in between, this book breaks down decades of history into appropriately-sized lessons, designed to give students a rounded survey of the subject and an understanding of how musicals work.
Available Format: Book
From his own adolescence, when his allegiance was to punk rock, to his work as one of the essential voices of our time on music and culture at the New York Times and the New Yorker, Kelefa Sanneh has made a deep study of how popular music unites and divides us. Distilling a career's worth of knowledge, Sanneh explores the tribes music forms, and how its genres give us a way to track larger forces and concerns.
Available Format: Book
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