Johann Sebastian Bach Volume I. This monumental study of Johann Sebastian Bach ranks among the great classics of musicology. Since its first publication in 1873-80, it has remained the basic work on Bach and the foundation of later research and study. The three-part treatment describes in chronological sequence practically everything that is known of the composer's life: his ancestry, his immediate family, his associations, his employers, and the countless occasions on which his musical genius emerged. Author Philipp Spitta accompanies this biographical material with quotations from primary sources: correspondence, family records, diaries, official documents, and more. In addition to biographical data, Spitta reviews Bach's musical production, with analyses of more than 500 pieces, covering all the important works. More than 450 musical excerpts are included in the main text, and a 43-page musical supplement illustrates longer passages. Despite the scholarly nature of this work, it also has the rare distinction of being a study that can be read with considerable enjoyment and great profit by every serious music lover, with or without a substantial background in the history of music or musical theory.

James Gibbon Huneker (1857-1921) was a distinguished American newspaper critic, an essayist, and a prolific author. His writing style is remarkable ? unrestrained, informal, full of brilliant insight ? and this style plus Huneker's wide knowledge of art and literature as well as music has kept his literacy work alive. Chopin: The Man and His Music reflects the intimate, thorough knowledge of Chopin's music that Huneker acquired while studying to be a concert pianist and his unusually keen insight into the character of the great Polish composer whose music he adored. The book is divided into two parts. The first treats Chopin's life ? his youth in Poland, his emigration to Paris, the famous George Sand episode, his sickness and death ? and comments on Chopin as a teacher and as a pianist and performer. The second part discusses the entire body of Chopin's music, piece by piece. Huneker notes his own overall impression of the individual compositions as well as the impressions of Schumann, George Sand, Chopin's biographer Frederick Niecks, many of the great pianists, and others. He directly compares differing editions of Chopin's Études, Preludes, Nocturnes, Mazurkas, Polonaises, Sonatas, and other works edited by von Bülow, Kullak, Riemann, Mikuli, and Godowsky in their detailed treatment of fingering, phrasing, pedaling, tempo indication, and so forth. Huneker's entire work is reprinted here unchanged, thoroughly edited in running footnotes by Herbert Weinstock to correct the exuberant Huneker's inaccuracies and to add information that modern musical scholarship has unearthed. Weinstock has also provided an engrossing introductory essay on Huneker, and has amplified the bibliography to include modern books and articles on Chopin. A classic in musical biography and commentary, this work is unsurpassed for sympathetic understanding and insight into Chopin's life and music. It will interest equally music students, pianists, and music lovers.

Johann Sebastian Bach Volume II. This monumental study of Johann Sebastian Bach ranks among the great classics of musicology. Since its first publication in 1873-80, it has remained the basic work on Bach and the foundation of later research and study. The three-part treatment describes in chronological sequence practically everything that is known of the composer's life: his ancestry, his immediate family, his associations, his employers, and the countless occasions on which his musical genius emerged. Author Philipp Spitta accompanies this biographical material with quotations from primary sources: correspondence, family records, diaries, official documents, and more. In addition to biographical data, Spitta reviews Bach's musical production, with analyses of more than 500 pieces, covering all the important works. More than 450 musical excerpts are included in the main text, and a 43-page musical supplement illustrates longer passages. Despite the scholarly nature of this work, it also has the rare distinction of being a study that can be read with considerable enjoyment and great profit by every serious music lover, with or without a substantial background in the history of music or musical theory.

Le musicologue ou le mélomane qui s'intéresse à Felix Mendelssohn se trouve parfois désorienté : la plupart des dictionnaires et les rares ouvrages en langue française consacrés à ce compositeur le citent comme l'un des grands maîtres de l'école romantique, tout en rabaissant aussitôt son rôle dans l'histoire de la musique, ou la valeur de son style, quand on n'écrirait pas cela d'un Schumann, d'un Liszt ou d'un Weber. Cet ouvrage se propose d'embrasser ces paradoxes et d'étudier comment a pu évoluer le regard des musiciens, du public et des critiques français sur ce compositeur aux XIXe et XXe siècles. / Livre

Cette extraordinaire collection de photographies et de textes raconte la carrière exceptionnelle du Maestro James Levine plus de quatre décennies au Metropolitan Opera. Beaucoup de grands artistes de l'opéra tels que Pierre Boulez, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Robert Lepage, Leontyne Price, Teresa Stratas, et Franco Zeffirelli donner un aperçu des remarquables musicalité Levine et l'art singulier. Inscrit avec des essais critiques, leurs commentaires colorés seront complétées par des réflexions de Levine sur son travail, ses intenses collaborations artistiques, des jalons au Met, et des réalisations comme la construction de l'orchestre de renommée Met et élargir le répertoire Met. Le livre est richement illustré de centaines de photographies de spectacles Met, les répétitions, les appels de rideau, et les coulisses tirs. James Levine: Quarante ans au Metropolitan Opera explore le corps profondément le conducteur légendaire de travail au cours de quatre décennies de direction musicale, en offrant un regard inhabituel et personnels à l'un des plus influents de l'histoire figures artistiques à la tête de la maison du monde le plus grand opéra. / Livre

Sous la forme d'un journal imaginaire, Mélisande Chauveau a pris le parti original de donner la parole à Hector Berlioz, entremêlant subtilement dans son récit anecdotes, témoignages de contemporains et extraits de lettres. Elle met l'homme au coeur du sujet dans la réalité musicale, sociale et économique de son époque, nous offrant une relecture passionnante et passionnée de la vie du compositeur. / Livre

Compositeur, bon vivant, pianiste, enseignant, showman superstar, conteur, écrivain, entrepreneur, ladies' man, philanthrope et prêtre, Franz Liszt est largement considéré aujourd'hui non seulement comme un grand compositeur, mais aussi comme le plus grand pianiste du XIXe siècle. Pourtant son corps énorme de musique pour piano, tour à tour poétique, étincelant, acrobatique, prophétique, profonde et obsédant, échoua à commander le succès qu'il mérite de son vivant. Dans Liszt, John Bell Young faut examiner de près à cette musique opulente, illuminant ses multiples facettes et défis du pianiste engagés perspective. Jamais sorti des enregistrements des cinq extraordinaires jeunes pianistes sont inclus sur un CD qui l'accompagne. / Piano