This accessible work traces Haydn’s development as both a man and a composer. It details his compositions, social habits, humour, and piety, and includes a useful catalogue of his works, a selection of his letters, and his last will and testament.
First appearing in 1903, this is a well-balanced account of Chopin as a man and composer. Full of vigour and passion, it reveals a more honest perception of his effect on audiences than many modern accounts. A must for enthusiasts and a great way for newcomers.
Among the earliest books on Edvard Grieg, and written while he was still alive, this volume is a thorough account of the man and his music. It explores his influences, from Ibsen to Norwegian folk music, making it indispensable for scholars and newcomers alike.
Life and Work of Pauline Viardot Garcia, vol. I
A superb singer and composer, Pauline Viardot Garcia was a 19th-century muse to Brahms and Meyerbeer. Loved by Turgenev for forty years, she was a musical genius. This first comprehensive biography in English reveals the life of this forgotten powerhouse.
This volume presents the libretto for Meyerbeer’s final grand opéra, L’Africaine. A fictional treatment of Vasco da Gama’s voyage, it is a mixture of history and fairytale. In this edition, the original text and its English translation are on facing pages.
Music Research
This book compiles peer-reviewed papers from the conference “Music Research: new directions for a new century.” Papers explore four main themes: Research through Performance, Music and Society, Music and Technology, and Structure and Context.
Manifold Identities
“Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities” is a collection of essays on the music of minorities worldwide. Chapters cover groups from the Roma to the Masai and the Andes, alongside theoretical articles on minority identity and its relation to music.
Drawing upon a wide range of scholarly enquiry, this collection provides a lively forum on aesthetics and experience in music performance. Papers engage in a scholarly dialogue on the technical, expressive and embodied aspects of performance.
Robert le Diable
In *Robert le Diable*, Meyerbeer saw man divided between the angel and the devil. Its sensational 1831 première became the principal expression of French Romanticism. This facsimile of the long-lost manuscript reveals the creation of a work that changed opera.
L’Africaine
The genesis of Meyerbeer’s last opera, L’Africaine, is legendary. A glorious posthumous tribute, it was a favourite of tenors like Caruso and Domingo. This fascinating facsimile of the manuscript uniquely gives us Meyerbeer’s original intentions.
Rock n Roll and Nationalism
In essays on countries from the United States to Russia, scholars, performers, and journalists explore the fascinating interplay between national identities and the rock music idiom, leading to a new understanding of rock and nationalism.
The World of South African Music
This Reader is a selection of influential, rare, historic, and contemporary texts on South African music, chosen to provide a deep understanding of the music itself. Indispensable to scholars and enthusiasts, it is vital for those looking for a way into this world.
The Beggar’s ‘Children’
No author has looked beyond John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera to analyze the works it spawned. This insightful study is the first to explore these descendants—the ballad operas, comic operas, and burlettas of the 18th century—with musical examples and plots.
Music, Metamorphosis and Capitalism
These essays view music like rock, pop, and metal from socio-political, aesthetic, and psychological perspectives. Arguing for music’s cultural embeddedness, this volume embraces the aesthetic as a form of social critique that scrutinizes theory itself.
Music and Literary Modernism
Scholars examine the intersections of music, literature, and language in modernism. Essays explore the place of music in the writing of Joyce, Woolf, and Pound, and the importance of literary art for composers from Messiaen to The Beatles.
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The result of years of research, this guide is an essential bibliographical aid for Giacomo Meyerbeer. It presents his papers, music, and correspondence alongside resources on his life, contemporaries, and historical context, from scores to modern recordings.
Experience rebetiko music-making in Thessaloniki today. This ethnography explores the human encounters and lived experiences of the rebetiko revival, while also recounting the story of an ethnographer engaged in fieldwork ‘at home’.
Over the Edge
The authors in this volume bring new ideas from their research to help us create spaces we can claim as our own. These essays explore culturally produced markers of identity, revealing connections that challenge our perspective of scholarly subjects.
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Beyond his famous operas, Giacomo Meyerbeer wrote extensively for the voice in other genres. This volume presents the texts for his non-operatic stage works, occasional public pieces, sacred music, and songs, in the original and in English translation.
Music, Meaning and Transformation
This book examines meaningful music making, reframing music education to focus on the student’s personal, social, and cultural experience. It provides a guide for teachers to facilitate lifelong music making for health, wellbeing, and a sense of belonging.