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Giacomo Puccini and His World
by Arman Schwartz Emanuele SeniciGiacomo Puccini (1858-1924) is the world's most frequently performed operatic composer, yet he is only beginning to receive serious scholarly attention. In Giacomo Puccini and His World, an international roster of music specialists, several writing on Puccini for the first time, offers a variety of new critical perspectives on the composer and his works. Containing discussions of all of Puccini's operas from Manon Lescaut (1893) to Turandot (1926), this volume aims to move beyond clichés of the composer as a Romantic epigone and to resituate him at the heart of early twentieth-century musical modernity. This collection's essays explore Puccini's engagement with spoken theater and operetta, and with new technologies like photography and cinema. Other essays consider the philosophical problems raised by "realist" opera, discuss the composer's place in a variety of cosmopolitan formations, and reevaluate Puccini's orientalism and his complex interactions with the Italian fascist state. A rich array of primary source material, including previously unpublished letters and documents, provides vital information on Puccini's interactions with singers, conductors, and stage directors, and on the early reception of the verismo movement. Excerpts from Fausto Torrefranca's notorious Giacomo Puccini and International Opera, perhaps the most vicious diatribe ever directed against the composer, appear here in English for the first time. The contributors are Micaela Baranello, Leon Botstein, Alessandra Campana, Delia Casadei, Ben Earle, Elaine Fitz Gibbon, Walter Frisch, Michele Girardi, Arthur Groos, Steven Huebner, Ellen Lockhart, Christopher Morris, Arman Schwartz, Emanuele Senici, and Alexandra Wilson.
Giacomo Puccini: A Guide to Research (Routledge Music Bibliographies #Vol. 48)
by Linda B. FairtileFirst Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Giacomo Puccini
by Conrad WilsonGiacomo Puccini (1858--1924), composer of such popular operas as La Bohème and Madame Butterfly, is most renowned for his gift as a melodist. With his final opera, Turandot, Puccini composed the last Italian work in the genre to hold a firm place in the international repertoire. The author draws attention to the felicity, daring and extraordinary colouring of his music, countering the view held during Puccini's lifetime that he was a retrogressive who aimed to shock. Puccini is shown to have been a new force in musical drama, and yet a man who remained insecure about his creative powers. Conrad Wilson's book is a polemical, passionate and rational attempt to set the man from Lucca among the immortal greats.
Giacomo Meyerbeer and Music Drama in Nineteenth-Century Paris (Variorum Collected Studies #805)
by Mark EveristNineteenth-century Paris attracted foreign musicians like a magnet. The city boasted a range of theatres and of genres represented there, a wealth of libretti and source material for them, vocal, orchestral and choral resources, to say nothing of the set designs, scenery and costumes. All this contributed to an artistic environment that had musicians from Italian- and German-speaking states beating a path to the doors of the Académie Royale de Musique, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre Italien, Théâtre Royal de l'Odéon and Théâtre de la Renaissance. This book both tracks specific aspects of this culture, and examines stage music in Paris through the lens of one of its most important figures: Giacomo Meyerbeer. The early part of the book, which is organised chronologically, examines the institutional background to music drama in Paris in the nineteenth century, and introduces two of Meyerbeer's Italian operas that were of importance for his career in Paris. Meyerbeer's acculturation to Parisian theatrical mores is then examined, especially his moves from the Odéon and Opéra-Comique to the opera house where he eventually made his greatest impact - the Académie Royale de Musique; the shift from Opéra-Comique is then counterpointed by an examination of how an indigenous Parisian composer, Fromental Halévy, made exactly the same leap at more or less the same time. The book continues with the fates of other composers in Paris: Weber, Donizetti, Bellini and Wagner, but concludes with the final Parisian successes that Meyerbeer lived to see - his two opéras comiques.
Ghosts of Country Music: Tales of Haunted Honkytonks and Legendary Spectres
by Matthew Swayne<p>Strum a Spooky Banjo, Tip that Ten-Gallon Hat, and Meet Country Music’s Greatest Ghosts. <p>Jam out to this impressive compilation of haunted hot spots, creepy curses, and celebrity spirits of country and western music. Presenting the paranormal legacy behind one of America’s oldest and most popular genres, Ghosts of Country Music takes a captivating, in-depth look at legendary musicians and the places where they perform . . . even after death. <p>Experience true stories of larger-than-life stars—including Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash—haunting their favorite homes and stages. Step inside the Music City Center, the Apollo Civic Theatre, Bobby Mackey’s Music World, and other iconic venues where ghosts love to roam. Explore the numerous recording studios, record shops, and radio stations that attract paranormal activity. This fascinating book will thrill you with much more than just a catchy tune.</p>
The Ghost Sonata
by Jennifer AllisonGilda Joyce?s best friend, Wendy Choy, is chosen to participate in a piano competition in Oxford, England, so of course super-sleuth Gilda finds a way to go too. Once there, the grueling practice schedule takes a backseat to strange and spooky occurrences. There are foreboding tarot cards that keep appearing to the participants and ominous numbers etched in frosty windowpanes. But even more chilling are Wendy?s ghostly nightmares of a young boy?and the haunting melody she can?t shake out of her mind. Could there be a sinister connection to the piano competition? Gilda has a genuine haunting on her hands, and solving this one will take every ounce of psychic intuition she?s got! .
Ghost of a Chance: A Memoir
by Peter Duchin Charles Michener“The story of [Peter] Duchin’s life has an elegiac aura of glamour and tragedy that might have come directly from the imagination of F. Scott Fitzgerald.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “This book brings back marvelous memories of a very special time.”—Frank Sinatra Called “a living compendium of a hundred years of social history” by The New York Times Book Review, Peter Duchin has lived through tremendous highs and dismal lows. Orphaned by his glamorous parents, the Newport debutante Marjorie Oelrichs and the famous bandleader Eddy Duchin, he was raised in the privileged, old-money world of Averell Harriman, the diplomat and former governor of New York. He grew up to be one of America’s preeminent bandleaders, effortlessly entertaining and charming partygoers at thousands of society galas, from the White House to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball. In Ghost of a Chance, he looks back on a life that another man may not have survived. And as he relates the frank, often surprising recollections of the many friends and famous figures who made up the strange family of his youth, Duchin chronicles the changing face of social life in America. Praise for Ghost of a Chance “A tale told with wit and charm . . . It is a sprightly, engaging, and at times hilarious look back at a life spent in music, show business, and what used to be called society.”—The Boston Globe“A bittersweet gem of a book.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer“Peter Duchin’s glamorous story is about absent fathers, surrogate mothers, and dwelling on the edges of money and power in a tuxedoed world.”—Gay Talese“A great read.”—Frank Sinatra
The Ghetto Swinger: A Berlin Jazz-Legend Remembers
by John Howard Michael H. Kater Coco Schumann Michaela Haas Max Christian Graeff"From his early enthusiasm for American jazz in Berlin cabarets to his membership of Terezin's celebrated Ghetto Swngers and surviving Auschwitz through his music, to post-war appearances with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, jazz remains a constant in a remarkable life story."- Ron Simpson, The Jazz RagSchumann's memoir offers an intimate look at the redemptive and sustaining power of music.
Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society
by David ArditiRecord contracts have been the goal of aspiring musicians, but are they still important in the era of SoundCloud? Musicians in the United States still seem to think so, flocking to auditions for The Voice and Idol brands or paying to perform at record label showcases in the hopes of landing a deal. The belief that signing a record contract will almost infallibly lead to some measure of success— the “ideology of getting signed,” as Arditi defines it—is alive and well. Though streaming, social media, and viral content have turned the recording industry upside down in one sense, the record contract and its mythos still persist. Getting Signed provides a critical analysis of musicians’ contract aspirations as a cultural phenomenon that reproduces modes of power and economic exploitation, no matter how radical the route to contract. Working at the intersection of Marxist sociology, cultural sociology, critical theory, and media studies, Arditi unfolds how the ideology of getting signed penetrated an industry, created a mythos of guaranteed success, and persists in an era when power is being redefined in the light of digital technologies.
Getting Good at Being You: Learning to Love Who God Made You to Be
by Lauren AlainaWith a little bit of country, a whole lot of faith, and a healthy dose of sass, award-winning singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina's debut book, Getting Good at Being You, invites you to take the road less traveled as you step right up to who God calls you to be.After years in the spotlight on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, country music star Lauren Alaina has learned a thing or two about fighting self-doubt and feeling at home in her own skin. In Getting Good at Being You, Lauren shares stories about everything from lost loves to getting a nose ring to battling an eating disorder to grieving a loved one&’s death. Each story leads to practical tips, take-it-on-the-road strategies, and encouragement for your own personal and spiritual growth.In this book, you will be inspired to:speak to yourself with kindness and compassionchase the dreams that light your spirit on firecultivate rich relationships with family and friendsidentify self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviorsoffer forgiveness for yourself and othersThroughout the book, you will find:behind-the-scenes photos from Lauren's career in country music.lists, tips, and strategies to boost your self-confidence.prompts to help you dream big and run toward who you are.This beautiful book is a perfect gift forwomen who celebrate other womenbirthday celebrations or career promotionshigh school and college graduationsfans who want to know more about country music stardomEach of us deserves head-over-heels, can't-get-enough, shout-it-from-the-mountaintops self-love. By the final page of Getting Good at Being You, that's just the kind of confidence you'll have. As Lauren discovered, maybe life is getting good after all.
Getcha Rocks Off: Sex & Excess. Bust-Ups & Binges. Life & Death on the Rock ‘N' Roll Road
by Mick WallHanging out with rock stars, trying to steal their chicks, or throwing up over their guitars after launching into the hospitality a little too enthusiastically, Mick Wall spent much of the 1980s sprawled in limos and five-star hotels with the biggest rock bands in the world, including Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Motörhead and more. He was Kerrang! magazine's star writer and the presenter of Monsters of Rock, his own weekly show on Sky TV, and the decade passed in a blur of hard drugs, hot women, and some of the heaviest people your mother definitely would not like. Depicting a world where vague concepts like 'the future' are disdained in favour of nights that last a week and weeks that last forever, Getcha Rocks Off is a rock apocalypse Cider With Roadies, and a more frank and disturbing Apathy for the Devil. It is the kind of book you need to put on your leather jacket to read, open that bottle of Jack and reach for the Charlie. And let the good times roll...
Getcha Rocks Off: Sex & Excess. Bust-Ups & Binges. Life & Death on the Rock ‘N’ Roll Road
by Mick Wall'Packed with war stories from a golden age of rock, and insights into the stars that made that music' CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE'On reading Getcha Rocks Off you realise just how drastically things have changed in the rock industry but books like this perfectly evoke what they were like. Good times...' RECORD COLLECTORHanging out with rock stars, trying to steal their chicks, or throwing up over their guitars after launching into the hospitality a little too enthusiastically, Mick Wall spent much of the 1980s sprawled in limos and five-star hotels with the biggest rock bands in the world, including Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Motörhead and more. He was Kerrang! magazine's star writer and the presenter of Monsters of Rock, his own weekly show on Sky TV, and the decade passed in a blur of hard drugs, hot women, and some of the heaviest people your mother definitely would not like. Depicting a world where vague concepts like 'the future' are disdained in favour of nights that last a week and weeks that last forever, Getcha Rocks Off is a rock apocalypse Cider With Roadies, and a more frank and disturbing Apathy for the Devil. It is the kind of book you need to put on your leather jacket to read, open that bottle of Jack and reach for the Charlie. And let the good times roll...
Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me: African-American Narrative Poetry from the Oral Tradition, Includes CD
by Bruce JacksonFirst published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Get Up, Stand Up
by Bob Marley Cedella MarleyBob Marley's music has inspired millions of listeners around the world with messages of peace, love, and truth. This third picture book adaptation of one of his beloved songs has a timely message for children: To counter injustice, lift others up with kindness and courage. As a young girl goes on with her day in school, she comes across several instances of teasing and intimidation. But with loving action and some help from her friends, she's able to make things right for herself and others. With exuberant pictures by John Jay Cabuay accompanying Marley's iconic lyrics, Get Up, Stand Up is a vibrant testament to the power we all have to make a difference.
Get Started In Songwriting: Teach Yourself
by Sam InglisThis book is an essential companion for any aspiring songwriter, and is ideal for those with no formal musical education. Covering every genre of popular contemporary music, from rock and pop to musical theatre and country/western, it tracks everything from what harnessing your creative potential to finding a hook and selling, performing and promoting your songs. It also offers some material for those at a slightly more advanced level who'd like to understand things such as chords and sequencing. With straightforward notation, this accessible guide from a professional songwriter will prove indispensable for creating and peforming your own songs. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the authors' many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of songwriting. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.
Get Smart About Taylor Swift: Biographies for Kids
by Adam KentGet ready to be inspired by the remarkable life of Taylor Swift! Discover how Taylor's passion for music transformed her from a small-town girl with a guitar into a global superstar. From her chart-topping albums to her fearless advocacy for artists' rights, her impact on the music industry and beyond is undeniable. Taylor's story is one of resilience, empowerment, and staying true to oneself. Get smart about Taylor Swift's incredible journey and how she became the unstoppable force she is today. It's time to dream big and be empowered by Taylor Swift's story!
Get Over It (Fab Life #6)
by Nikki CarterThe bigger the dreams, the bigger the drama. . . With major industry success and a year of college under her belt, Sunday Tolliver is ready to take her singer-songwriter talents to the next level. But new opportunities also mean totally unexpected drama. Her flirtationship with hot video star DeShawn is turning into much more--but the unfinished business between her and ex-boyfriend Sam won't go away. An explosive campus hazing scandal puts her friends up against a powerful sorority--and Sunday's skills on the line. And reluctantly helping her jealous cousin Dreya save her record deal is a major diva face-off that could end both their careers. Now Sunday will have to take mad risks and trust everything she's learned to stay true to her fab life--and herself. "This series is poised to 'blow up'. " --Kirkus "Plenty of reality show-type drama. " --RT Book Reviews on Doing My Own Thing
Get in the Van
by Henry RollinsAs a member of the seminal punk band Black Flag, Henry Rollins kept detailed tour diaries that form the basis of Get in the Van. Rollins's observations range from the wry to the raucous in this blistering account of a six-year career with the band - a time marked by crazed fans, vicious cops, near-starvation, substance abuse, and mind numbing all-night drives. Rollins decided to revise this edition by adding a wealth of new photographs, a new foreword, and an afterword to include some "where-are-they-now" information on the people featured in the book. This new edition includes 40 previously unpublished black-and-white photographs from Rollins's private collection and show flyers by artist Raymond Pettibon. Called "a soul-frying experience not to be undertaken by lightweights" by Wired magazine, Get in the Van perfectly embodies what one critic called the "secular gospel" of one of punk and post-punk's most respected and controversial figures.
Get Happy
by Mary AmatoIn this poignant, realistic, contemporary YA by a state master list star, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman, a young songwriter builds a substitute family with her friends in place of the broken family she grew up with.Minerva has been raised by her single mother after her father left them both. On her 17th birthday, she is shocked to discover that he has been trying to keep in touch, but her mother has been sabotaging his attempts. Furious at her mom, she begins to investigate her dad, a famous marine biologist, only to discover that he has a new family, including a beloved, and perfect, stepdaughter--a girl Minerva already knows and despises. As she makes her way, trying to build her performing and songwriting career, her jealousy takes over and threatens to derail her life completely. It is only through the efforts of her best friend, Fin, and the introduction of Hayes, a new young man in her life, that she is able to see clearly who she is and who makes up her family. You may visit Mary Amato at either www.maryamato.com or www.thrumsociety.com, or follow her on Twitter @MaryAmato.
The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs
by Michael FeinsteinFrom celebrated entertainer Michael Feinstein comes a beautifully illustrated account of the lives and legacies of the Gershwins--told through stories of twelve of their greatest songs.The "Ambassador of the Great American Songbook" Michael Feinstein was just twenty years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. During their six-year partnership, the two became close friends. Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin's mentorship and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man's zeal for his and his brother George's legacy. Now, in The Gershwins and Me, the only book of its kind, Michael Feinstein shares unforgettable stories and reminiscences from the music that defined American popular song, along with rare Gershwin memorabilia he's collected through the years. From "Strike Up the Band" to "Love Is Here to Stay," each of the twelve chapters highlights one of the Gershwins' classic songs, exploring the brothers' lives, illuminating what the music meant to them, and telling the stories of how their iconic tunes came to life. Throughout the star-studded narrative, Feinstein unfolds the moving chronicle of his own life with the Gershwins, describing his vision for their enduring presence today. No other writer could give us such an authoritative inside perspective on these titans of American culture. A timeless classic and the definitive account of the Gershwins and their legacy, The Gershwins and Me will having you humming with every turn of the page.
The Gershwins and Me
by Michael FeinsteinFrom celebrated entertainer Michael Feinstein comes a beautifully illustrated account of the lives and legacies of the Gershwins--told through stories of twelve of their greatest songs. In addition to a CD, this special edition has a slip cover and comes with removable sheet music.The "Ambassador of the Great American Songbook" Michael Feinstein was just twenty years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. During their six-year partnership, the two became close friends. Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin's mentorship and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man's zeal for his and his brother George's legacy. Now, in The Gershwins and Me, the only book of its kind, Michael Feinstein shares unforgettable stories and reminiscences from the music that defined American popular song, along with rare Gershwin memorabilia he's collected through the years. From "Strike Up the Band" to "Love Is Here to Stay," each of the twelve chapters highlights one of the Gershwins' classic songs, exploring the brothers' lives, illuminating what the music meant to them, and telling the stories of how their iconic tunes came to life. Throughout the star-studded narrative, Feinstein unfolds the moving chronicle of his own life with the Gershwins, describing his vision for their enduring presence today. No other writer could give us such an authoritative inside perspective on these titans of American culture--and no other writer could include such a soulful collection of music as the accompanying CD packed with Feinstein's original recordings of the twelve songs. A timeless classic and the definitive account of the Gershwins and their legacy, The Gershwins and Me will having you humming with every turn of the page.
The German Symphony between Beethoven and Brahms: The Fall and Rise of a Genre
by Christopher FifieldIt was Carl Dahlhaus who coined the phrase ’dead time’ to describe the state of the symphony between Schumann and Brahms. Christopher Fifield argues that many of the symphonies dismissed by Dahlhaus made worthy contributions to the genre. He traces the root of the problem further back to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, a work which then proceeded to intimidate symphonists who followed in its composer's footsteps, including Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. In 1824 Beethoven set a standard that then had to rise in response to more demanding expectations from both audiences and the musical press. Christopher Fifield, who has a conductor’s intimacy with the repertory, looks in turn at the five decades between the mid-1820s and mid-1870s. He deals only with non-programmatic works, leaving the programme symphony to travel its own route to the symphonic poem. Composers who lead to Brahms (himself a reluctant symphonist until the age of 43 in 1876) are frequently dismissed as epigones of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schumann but by investigating their symphonies, Fifield reveals their respective brands of originality, even their own possible influence upon Brahms himself and in so doing, shines a light into a half-century of neglected nineteenth century German symphonic music.
German Song Onstage: Lieder Performance in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
by Natasha Loges Laura TunbridgeA singer in an evening dress, a grand piano. A modest-sized audience, mostly well-dressed and silver-haired, equipped with translation booklets. A program consisting entirely of songs by one or two composers. This is the way of the Lieder recital these days. While it might seem that this style of performance is a long-standing tradition, German Song Onstage demonstrates that it is not. For much of the 19th century, the songs of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms were heard in the home, salon, and, no less significantly, on the concert platform alongside orchestral and choral works. A dedicated program was rare, a dedicated audience even more so. The Lied was a genre with both more private and more public associations than is commonly recalled. The contributors to this volume explore a broad range of venues, singers, and audiences in distinct places and time periods—including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Germany—from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century. These historical case studies are set alongside reflections from a selection of today's leading musicians, offering insights on current Lied practices that will inform future generations of performers, scholars, and connoisseurs. Together these case studies unsettle narrow and elitist assumptions about what it meant and still means to present German song onstage by providing a transnational picture of historical Lieder performance, and opening up discussions about the relationship between history and performance today.
German Requiem in Full Score (Dover Choral Music Scores)
by Johannes BrahmsThis edition of Brahms' greatest, most ambitious vocal work is reprinted from the definitive edition of the composer's works, prepared by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig. Inexpensive but sturdily constructed to provide years of pleasurable use, this full score combines all the musical parts in a clear, readable format, with wide margins, large noteheads, and many other helpful features.Brahms conducted the first major performance of the German Requiem in Bremen Cathedral in April 1868. The occasion -- attended by many distinguished musicians, among them Clara Schumann -- provided the 34-year-old composer with his first great public success. Scored for mixed chorus, solo voices, and full orchestra, the Requiem reflects Brahms' virtuosic grasp of nineteenth-century vocal technique as well as the polyphonic vocal traditions of the previous three centuries. Above all, it radiates Brahms' stalwart individuality, technical mastery, and stirring emotional appeal, which were soon to secure his unique position in the musical world. More than a century after its debut, this masterpiece of choral music is one of the most performed and recorded works in the repertoire of religious music.
German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900–1940
by Derek B. ScottAcademic attention has focused on America's influence on European stage works, and yet dozens of operettas from Austria and Germany were produced on Broadway and in the West End, and their impact on the musical life of the early twentieth century is undeniable. In this ground breaking book, Derek B. Scott examines the cultural transfer of operetta from the German stage to Britain and the USA and offers a historical and critical survey of these operettas and their music. In the period 1900–1940, over sixty operettas were produced in the West End, and over seventy on Broadway. A study of these stage works is important for the light they shine on a variety of social topics of the period - from modernity and gender relations to new technology and new media - and these are investigated in the individual chapters. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.