Help
Skip to main content
  • Trust pilot, 4 point 5 stars.
  • WORLDWIDE shipping

  • FREE UK delivery over £35

  • PROUDLY INDEPENDENT since 2001

Latest News: Books

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 10th April 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    Reflections on music and performance from tenor Ian Bostridge, a history of music across different cultures through the millennia, an exploration of how A=440 hertz became the international standard for concert tuning, the life and times of Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock, a study of minstrels in late medieval England, and an examination of how Spanish folk music was collected during the early years of the Franco regime.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 27th March 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    A paperback edition of Steven Isserlis's book discussing Bach's Cello Suites, a guide to improvising fugues at the keyboard, the story of Nina Anisimova and her survival in the Soviet gulag, an approach to teaching choral singing using the Kodály concept, an assessment of British musical films after the Second World War, and an exploration of how science has helped to shape the evolution of music.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 13th March 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    An examination of errors and misprints in published editions of orchestral music, a biography of four largely-forgotten women composers, a guide to the violin and clarinet for children from the LSO, reception history of Haydn and Mozart during the nineteenth century, a study of music at British coronations from 1603 to the present, and a collection of Brian Eno's diaries.

  • Presto Music Classical Podcast, Four with Scores - Quartet with Leah Broad

    by Paul Thomas

    Paul is guided through the lives, times and music of four extraordinary female composers by the author of a new music biography 'Quartet', Dr Leah Broad.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 27th February 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    A study of the impact that singing can have on well-being, a companion to serialism, conversations with Black American composers, an exploration of Copland's visits to Latin America, a guide to the viola, a discussion of Kylie Minogue's debut album and its effect on the music industry, and an analysis of how listening to music affects the unconscious mind.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 6th February 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    A memoir of childhood from pianist Stephen Hough, an examination of the works of Beethoven, a biography of influential musicologist Edward J. Dent, an exploration of the importance of the symphony in Germany and the United States in 1933, an analysis of why dance matters, and paperback reissues of books on how the brain interprets musical patterns in different ways and the relationship between sound recording technology and American literature.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 23rd January 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    An insight into the conducting profession, a discussion of the impact of Nietzsche on the composition of Mahler's first four symphonies, books on performers including Dame Nellie Melba, Edith Piaf, and Fred Astaire, and topics such as music and technology, Western music philosophy, Enlightenment thought in relation to the late works of Beethoven and Schubert, experimental music, and the concept of voice in late eighteenth-century Italy.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 9th January 2023

    by James Longstaffe

    Books on composers such as Brahms, Bach (Johann Sebastian as well as Carl Philipp Emanuel), Bliss, and Alan Bush, an insight into the life of pianist Igor Levit during lockdown, plus topics including seventeenth-century opera, women and music in Ireland, the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley, and the liturgical traditions of the Old Hispanic Office in Early Medieval Iberia.

  • Book Review, Eric Saylor's biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams

    by David Smith

    David delves into one of our Books of the Year, offering his thoughts on a fascinating new biography by author and musicologist Eric Saylor of Ralph Vaughan Williams, released during the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth and published by Oxford University Press as part of their Master Musicians series.

  • Awards, Books of the Year - Winners 2022

    by Ellena Taylor

    We are very pleased to announce the winning book publications for the annual Presto Music Awards! We have chosen five of the most outstanding publications from the past twelve months. Find out the winners here.

  • Awards, Books of the Year - Finalists 2022

    by Ellena Taylor

    In anticipation of our upcoming Presto Music Awards, we have compiled our shortlist of book titles all in the running as potential winners. Find our finalists here.

  • Announcement, Give Back Friday 2022

    by Chris O'Reilly

    For four days we will be donating 5% of all the revenue we receive to three local charities whose aims are closely aligned with our own: Armonico Consort, Leamington Music Festival and Orchestra of the Swan

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 14th November 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    An exploration of the relationship between music and homesickness in the works of Dvořák, Elgar, Bartók and Britten; a paperback edition of Oxford University Press's handbook of opera; a picture book introducing children to musical notation from Julie Andrews; a biography of choreographer, George Balanchine; and a collection of writings on jazz by Black journalists and critics.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 26th October 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    Essays on the music of Handel written in honour of Donald Burrows; a revised edition of a handbook of diction for singers; a paperback edition of Susan Tomes's guide to the history of the piano; essays on music by women composers in the first half of the twentieth century; activities to assist with teaching musical composition to young students; a biography of Bob Dylan; and a companion to the genre of German experimental music known as Krautrock.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 11th October 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    Two biographies of Ralph Vaughan Williams for his anniversary year; a survey of music in the Romantic age; a collection of puzzles and brainteasers from Classic FM; an introduction to Western music in the twentieth century; a history of Welsh music; books offering tips for viola and horn players; a look at the phenomenon of the execution ballad in Europe from 1500; and an account of the modern brass ensemble in twentieth-century Britain.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 26th September 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    An exploration of the impact which The Beatles and James Bond had on British culture and constructions of masculinity, the story of the 1957 musical The Music Man and its creator Meredith Willson, an analysis of more than a century's worth of recorded performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and a brief history of time-keeping devices in music.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 5th September 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    A collection of essays on Rachmaninoff; the story of how the young Vaughan Williams encountered the extraordinary world of folksong; an examination of Mozart's work in relation to the places in which he lived; books for children helping them to discover the music of JS Bach, the instruments of the orchestra, and life backstage at an opera house; a consideration of eighteenth-century culture in relation to the music of Haydn; and a guide to transcribing and editing early music.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 15th August 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    A paperback edition of Nicholas Kenyon's examination of the power of music to bring people together in times of crisis; essays on the Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann; writings on French music from Berlioz to Boulez by Roger Nichols; an analysis of the stage works of Philip Glass; a study of the relationship between opera and politics in the reign of Queen Anne; and a companion to Caribbean Music.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 25th July 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    The 2023 edition of Boosey & Hawkes's music diary; a biography of Minna Wagner; a reappraisal of twentieth-century music through the lens of ten figures who altered the course of music history; the story of the American national anthem; a lavishly-illustrated guide to opera; a biography of choreographer Bronislava Nijinska; and a celebration of the seventy-fifth birthday of conductor Philippe Herreweghe.

  • New Publications, New Music Book Publications - 4th July 2022

    by James Longstaffe

    An examination of Nordic music and its performers; a revised edition of the authoritative catalogue of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis; a paperback edition of conductor John Mauceri's guide to the art of listening; a volume discussing the relationship between music and time from the differing perspectives of philosophers, psychologists, and performers; and a picture book for children exploring musical instruments and how they are made.