Salzburg Mannheim Rome Paris Prague Vienna - Mozart lived and worked in some of Europe's most beautiful cities; this lavishly-illustrated biography brings his world vividly to life. Musical extracts from some of Mozart's best-loved works - in simple keyboard arrangement - complete the picture of this flamboyant personality.Composerâ??s World is a series of books illustrating the life and times of the world's greatest composers. With pictures words and music it places each composer's life and work within the circumstances that shaped their career.

The sumptuously-illustrated biography traces his life both public and private against the fashionable background of turn-of-the-century Paris. Included in simple keyboard arrangements are extracts from some of Debussy's most sensuous music.Composer's World is a new series of books illustrating the life and times of the world's greatest composers. With pictures words and music it places each composer's life and work within the circumstances that shaped their career.

This superbly-illustrated biography brings the courtly elegant world of the eighteenth-century vividly to life and includes extracts from some of Haydn's best-loved works in simple keyboard arrangements.Composer's World is a series of books illustrating the life and times of the world's greatest composers. With pictures words and music it places each composer's life and work within the circumstances that shaped their career.

Few composers since the mid-twentieth century have escaped Mahler's influence. This book is the first discussion of Mahler's ten completed symphonies to offer music lovers a comprehensive overview of the music as it strikes today's listeners. The book caters to the novice as well as the expert as David Hurwitz describes what the listener will hear section by section. He explains how each work is arranged how the various parts relate to one another and how one work leads to the next. The emphasis throughout is on the experience of listening and how each symphony embodies Mahler's dictum that the symphony 'must embrace the world. It must contain everything'. Hurwitz describes the emotional extravagance that lies at the root of Mahler's popularity the consistency of his symphonic thinking and his dazzling and revolutionary use of orchestral instruments to create an expressive musical language that is varied in content and immediate in impact.

He lived in the shadow of death painfully aware of the tuberculosis that would kill him prematurely. But Frédéric Chopin attained immortality with his Piano works which endure as pinnacles of the instrument's repertoire. This biography by one of the nineteenth century's foremost pianists--Chopin's friend and fellow artist Franz Liszt--offers a highly informed assessment of the Polish composer's musical legacy. It is further enlivened by the author's personal acquaintance with Chopin's other friends who constituted the very cream of Parisian intellectual and artistic society.Born a year apart Chopin andLiszt came of age in an era favorable to musical change when audiences as well as performers were receptive to Romanticism's innovations. Liszt surveys the technical brilliance as well as the poetry of Chopin's masterpieces including the 'Adagio' from Piano Concerto No. 2 and Polonaise in F-sharp Minor. He also chronicles Chopin's progress from child prodigy to the darling of Parisian salons. A source of rare and unparalleled insights into Chopin's world of private anguish and public triumph this memoir recounts the composer's loneliness as a Polish emigré his tempestuous romance with George Sand and his life among a glittering social set that included Balzac Hugo Berlioz Delacroix and Schumann.Reprint of the Oliver Ditson Company Boston 1880 edition.

The Music Of George Harrison-Far from being 'the quiet one ' George Harrison was a writer and arranger of terrific power and beauty and his guitar playing was fundamental to the sound and success of The Beatles.Simon Leng presents the most comprehensive evaluation of the art and music of George Harrison ever published from the star's initial early influences right up to his final collection of songs Brainwashed. Treating each song with unprecedented analysis Leng reveals Harrison's eclectic approach - from teenage Nashville twang through Indian raga psychedelia gospel soul and pure pop - thoroughly defining Harrison's role in The Beatles. First hand accounts of theConcert For Bangla Desh and the making of All Things Must Pass take the reader deep into the most fertile and controversial periods of Harrison's long solo career.Enhanced with insights from key figures who worked closely with Harrison throughout his extraordinary career this biography is a remarkably stirring study and portrait of a great artist whose musical and spiritual quest changed the lives of millions of people around the world while redefining popular music and rock'n'roll.

The definitive biography and critical study of Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) this volume deals at length not only with with the composer's musical achievements but also with aspects of his life and workthat made him one of the most important cultural figures in eighteenth-century France. Fascinating incidents include his central position in a musical controversy that excited the enmity of Rousseau Diderot and theEncyclopedists; his friendship and collaboration with Voltaire; and his position as the author of a treatise on harmony that endured for two centuries. This critical evaluation focuses chiefly on Rameau's musical works devoting entire chapters to his operas and ballets as well as his chamber music cantatas and motets and minor works. Additional topics include his links to Lully his influence on Gluck and the nature and importance of hisacoustic and harmonic theories. Supplements include more than 300 musical examples numerous useful approaches indexes an extensive bibliography and a new introduction by the distinguished musicologist and historian PhilipGossett.

Written by Brett Morgen with Richard Bienstock, Cobain: Montage Of Heck is a true goldmine of exclusive material collected and created for the acclaimed documentary. Delving further into the interviews, art and photography used in the film, this book is the perfect companion piece to the definitive film on this genuine legend's life.Even if you haven't yet seen the film, or you've loved it and have been left wanting more, Cobain: Montage Of Heck will definitely quench your thirst for all things Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. The legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist has gone down in history as almost a mythically brilliant voice of a generation, turning late 20th century angst into electrifying rock music. Brett Morgen's Montage Of Heck documentary was fully authorised by the Cobain family, after his widow Courtney Love approached him with the idea for the film.Getting exclusive access to Cobain's personal and family archives was an unprecedented achievement, allowing Morgen to delve deeply into home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, demos and journals, presenting an intimate portrait of Cobain's personal life as well as his astonishing artistry. The exclusive interviews in the film have provided fans with incredible insight into Cobain's life, featuring words from all the key figures like Courtney Love, Krist Novoselic, and his parents. Included in this book are extended versions of these interviews, giving unbridled vision into his life and work, told by the people who knew him best.Accompanying these interviews are some incredible and often never-before-seen visuals including animation stills from the films, personal art, candid photography and other treasures from his personal archive. Looking at these visuals, readers will find a true sense of the tortured genius, the artist who achieved enormous success and almost demi-god status yet still struggled with his personal, all-too-human demons. Since Cobain's tragic death, fans have been left with nothing but his music and an overwhelming amount of press rumours and cinema speculation. Now, Cobain: Montage Of Heck and the accompanying documentary provides the most definitive insight into the real man behind the musical legend.For nearly everyone who is interested in popular music, this book is absolutely fascinating. Cobain's boundary-pushing art has almost been overshadowed by rumour, but this book thankfully restores both to their rightful place, setting examples of his boundless creativity alongside authorised truths from the people who knew him intimately. Cobain: Montage Of Heck is sure to be seen as a true classic of rock biography. / Livre

The Beatles' Solo Years 1970-1980-In the years following the 1960s Beatle fans around the world were twice-stunned: in 1970 when their beloved group disbanded and ten years later when the murder of John Lennon ended a decade of hope that somehow the Fab Fourwould reunite. Fab Four FAQ 2.0 picks up the story where the acclaimed Fab Four FAQ left off. Loaded with images of rare period ephemera including periodicals single sleeves and movie stills this is the firstcomprehensive biography of all four ex-Beatles. This book covers everything from their recording careers in the decade after the band's dissolution to the musicians they played with the bands they influenced the manifestationsof latter-day Beatlemania and the constant clamor for reunion expressed by fans and – sometimes – by the four themselves.

All That's Left to Know About the Iconic Rock Survivors-Offering a fresh perspective on one of the most prolific and well-loved catalogs of songs in the rock 'n' roll canon Fleetwood Mac FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Iconic Rock Survivors digs deeper than your average music compendium and sidesteps the tediousness of most generalized band histories. Professional yet playful the book's most unique feature is its structure: a hybrid of historical breakdowns Q

No composer has ever achieved the amazing artistic progression that Haydn has. He invented the string quartet as we know it became known as 'the Father of the Symphony' and mentored the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His creative life was one of ceaseless experimentation and invention. Author David Hurwitz shows readers how to more fully enjoy Haydn's music acquainting them with the master's innovative melodic creativity revolutionary use of musical form and important characteristics of his personal style such as his genius for writing in minor keys and creating comedy in his music. Hurwitz explores Haydn's vocal music and instrumental masterpieces that fall outsidethe mainstream as well as his principle instrumental works. A special chapter of letters and quotations by the composer himself introduces the reader to Haydn the man. Four appendices list all of his symphonies string quartets Piano sonatas and Piano trios and specify their distinguishing characteristics. Two accompanying Naxos CDs provide more than two and a half hours of beautiful music keyed to pieces described in the book.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Britainâ??s greatest composers Sir Edward Elgar renowned Elgar scholar J.P.E. Harper-Scott casts new and frequently surprising light on Elgar chronicling his rise to the forefront of early twentieth-century modernism in this concise and absorbing volume. Hailed by the June 2007 BBC Music Magazine as 'possibly the best first stop for learning about Elgar's life ' this fascinating and accessible history is suitable for both students and Elgar enthusiasts alike. J.P.E. Harper-Scott takes a combative swipe at many of the critical myths and prejudices that have attached themselves to the figure of Elgar revealingboth a surprisingly elusive personality and a deeper often darker message within his works. Questions answered include How did the son of a provincial piano tuner rise to international fame? Was the English countryside the principle inspiration for Elgar's music? Was this moustachioed red-blooded imperialist all that he seemed? And more!

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.

This is a story of the renowned musician known internationally as the King of Latin Music an instrumental force in the rise of la musica latina and its spread throughout the world. Here are first-person stories that trace Tito's life starting with the early years in New York City through the war years the emergence of the Palladium nightclub as a center of Latin Music and his development as an arranger and bandleader. Tito provides humour history and insights into the music and its masters and discusses the foundation of Latin jazz and the evolution of Mambo Rumba and Danzon. Includes a special Bonus DVD that features never-before-seen footage ofTito discussing his incredible 50-year career as a band leader.