Books Recommendations
-
New Music Book Publications - 15th July 2024
15th Jul 2024
Analyses of the song outputs of Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann, a look at the art and craft that went into the establishment of the "Great American Songbook", an examination of the importance of the year 1924 to the world of musical theatre, a survey of the symphonies of Robert Simpson, and a study of the connections between music and the modern in eighteenth-century Spain.
-
New Music Book Publications - 10th June 2024
10th Jun 2024
The memoir of conductor Antonio Pappano, biographies of composers Olivier Messiaen and Joaquín Rodrigo, companions to composition and women composers, a discussion of music documentaries and films about music, an examination of transitions in mid-Baroque music, an exploration of the rise of the shellac disc in early sound reproduction, and an analysis of the presence and role of songs in Marcel Proust’s novel, À la recherche du temps perdu.
-
New Music Book Publications - 21st May 2024
21st May 2024
An introduction to the world of music for young minds, a paperback edition of a companion to Mahler's symphonies and song cycles, a collection of essays exploring the life and works of Debussy, a commentary on the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, the autobiographical recollections of Charles-Marie Widor, and a guide to preparing repertoire for musical theatre auditions.
-
New Music Book Publications - 29th April 2024
29th Apr 2024
A guide to the upcoming BBC Proms Festival, a paperback edition of Alice Farnham's examination of what it means to be an orchestral conductor, collections of essays exploring the life and work of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Leonard Bernstein, a revised and expanded edition of Jeremy Dibble's biography of Stanford, and a companion to tango music.
-
New Music Book Publications - 2nd April 2024
2nd Apr 2024
A history of women and the piano, a discussion of Schubert's engagement with gothic discourse in his music, an analysis of the early compositions of Pierre Boulez in relation to the cultural environment of Paris in the 1940s, an exploration of avant-garde musicians in postwar New York, and an examination of the circumstances that led to the creation of Miles Davis's seminal album, Kind of Blue.
-
New Music Book Publications - 4th March 2024
4th Mar 2024
Essays on opera by the late Edward Said, books on the creation and performance of Beethoven's symphonies, a guide to eight symphonic masterworks of the twentieth century by conductor Leonard Slatkin, twelve studies concerning the analysis and psychology of musical performance, and a paperback edition of Leah Broad's award-winning biography of four women composers.
-
New Music Book Publications - 5th February 2024
5th Feb 2024
The history of two operas by Janáček, a limited-edition celebration of British jazz on record from 1960 to 1975, a biography of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, paperback editions of books by Julia Hollander and Norman Lebrecht, a discussion of women and music in the age of Jane Austen, an analysis of two works by JS Bach, and a study of the voice of Paul Robeson.
-
New Music Book Publications - 8th January 2024
8th Jan 2024
Handbooks on music by Berlioz and Schumann, a guide to the songs of Sibelius, a volume of essays on Messiaen, a history of the horn, a new look at the practices and theory of tonality, a method for teaching the saxophone, an exploration of musical models of democracy, and an evaluation of the relationship between jazz and wider aspects of American culture.
-
Books of the Year - Winners 2023
7th Dec 2023
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.
-
Books of the Year - Finalists 2023
20th Nov 2023
In anticipation of the upcoming Presto Music Awards, we have compiled our selection of book titles all in the running as potential winners. The finalists range from composer biographies to analytical and educational music history books. Find out more.
-
New Music Book Publications - 20th November 2023
20th Nov 2023
Observations and diaries from composer Errollyn Wallen, companions to Amy Beach and Mozart's The Magic Flute, a biography of film composer Elmer Bernstein, a guide for singers to French lyric diction, a revised edition of the Very Short Introduction to Film Music, a discussion of music and religion in the writings of Ian McEwan, and an account of ten technological innovations that transformed the music industry.
-
New Music Book Publications - 30th October 2023
30th Oct 2023
An account of the young Mozart's trips to Italy, the history of the Academy of Ancient Music published to celebrate its fiftieth year, the tales and anecdotes behind favourite Christmas carols, the story of composers who fled Hitler's Germany in the 1930s, the cultural and musical evolution of the soprano from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, a biography of Cecil Sharp and his rise to become the leading collector of folk song and dance in England in the Edwardian period.
-
New Music Book Publications - 2nd October 2023
2nd Oct 2023
A reader for pianists by Alfred Brendel, a reassessment of the importance of Arnold Schoenberg, a collection of essays discussing Vaughan Williams and folk music, an anthology of sources exploring 600 years of musical activity compiled by Andrew Parrott, a paperback edition of a biography of Minna Wagner, activities to aid in the teaching of Key Stage 3 Music, and a companion to metal music.
-
New Music Book Publications - 4th September 2023
4th Sep 2023
A history of song from the troubadours to the present day, a physiological guide to playing the violin, paperback editions of books on Ivor Gurney and Stephen Sondheim, a study of Mozart's operas in Prague, essays on African music by noted scholar Kofi Agawu, a biography of nineteenth-century American music critic John Sullivan Dwight, and an exploration of the relationship between music and the environment in medieval northern France.
-
New Music Book Publications - 7th August 2023
7th Aug 2023
Books on the life and music of Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Silvestre Revueltas, and Elizabeth Maconchy, a guide for composers on writing for the organ, books for children on the trumpet, percussion, and the history of music from around the world, and a collection of interviews with artists connected with the Royal Academy of Music in London.
-
New Music Book Publications - 10th July 2023
10th Jul 2023
The 2024 Boosey & Hawkes music diary, a biography of Arthur Bliss, an examination of the impact of the Strauss dynasty on Habsburg Vienna, a study of how the concepts of music theory can be applied within the genre of ethnomusicology, a history of American television music, a collection of art and illustrations by the late songwriter Scott Hutchison, and a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the recent theatrical hit, Back to the Future: The Musical.
-
New Music Book Publications - 19th June 2023
19th Jun 2023
An off-print from the acclaimed guide to musical notation, Behind Bars, a chronicle of representations of gay culture on Broadway, an investigation into the ways in which musicians engage with death, a collection of recently-discovered photographs taken in the 1960s by Paul McCartney, a reconsideration of the music of Bach and its relation to modernity, and a study of recordings from the 1950s by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.
-
New Music Book Publications - 5th June 2023
5th Jun 2023
An account of Rachmaninoff's final years spent living in America, an analysis of the value of music and how it can bring communities together, a history of minimalism in music, an introduction to medieval polyphony and song, a guide to the Great American Songbook, a paperback edition of Kate Molleson's award-winning reappraisal of twentieth-century music, and an exploration of what happens when a Broadway musical is turned into a Hollywood film.
-
New Music Book Publications - 15th May 2023
15th May 2023
Biographies of Barber and Rachmaninoff, an introduction for children to the cello and flute, an analysis of the compositions of Ferruccio Busoni, a final collection of essays by the late musicologist Richard Taruskin, and an overview of the groundbreaking work carried out by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
-
New Music Book Publications - 1st May 2023
1st May 2023
A guide to this summer's BBC Proms season, an analysis of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd's 1575 collection of sacred music (Cantiones sacrae), essays on Beethoven by scholars at the University of Manchester, a discussion of music in Oxford during the twentieth century, studies of songs by Clara Schumann and Benjamin Britten, and a history of the "Broadway Body".
