Published in 1814, this two-volume compilation covers chiefly Italian, German and British musicians of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Publisher description

Maria Callas was almost as well-known for her personal life - her jet-setting, her staggering weight loss, her tigress-like temperament, her affair with Aristotle Onassis (he threw her over for Jacqueline Kennedy) - as she was for her singing. Of Greek parentage, the New York - born, internationally famous Callas was the most influential soprano of the 20th century, reviving a school of singing - bel canto - that had been shunted aside, if not forgotten, for 75 years. Unlike most of her generation of sopranos, she was a superb actress both vocally and physically: her voice encompassed many colours and she embodied each character she portrayed. After seeing or hearing her in a role, it was said, it was difficult to imagine another singer attempting it, so fierce was her individual stamp. Her status went beyond cult; her triumphs and failures appeared on the front page of newspapers all over the world. This profusely illustrated book covers Callas' life and career without dwelling on unimportant details; the facts are all here, but it is primarily a musical biography. The final third of the book is devoted to an analysis of the tracks on the two CDs that accompany the text - in short, they describe what made Callas unique, what made Callas Callas. Her voice was controversial; there were those who had negative visceral reactions to it, finding it ugly and weird. Millions of others worshiped it - and her. Listening to her now, more than 30 years after her early death at 54, there is no real argument: listen for yourselves to "La Divina" ('the divine one'), as the Italians dubbed her, and be amazed.

Daniel Fischlin is a leading Canadian humanities researcher who has written over twenty books. Also a musician and community organizer, he chairs the Board of Silence, a community art space in Guelph, and is the founding director of the newly launched MA/PhD program in Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of Guelph. Ajay Heble is the founding director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) and professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. He is the founding artistic director of the award-winning Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium and a founding co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Critical Studies in Improvisation. Heble is also an accomplished pianist who, with Daniel Fischlin, records and performs with the improvising quartet, The Vertical Squirrels.

Artie Shaw, the world famous clarinet-playing bandleader who became popular during the Swing Era, was immersed in the music business as a performer for 30 years, from the summer of 1924, when he began to study saxophone, until the summer of 1954, when he stopped performing. This period of activity is the focus of this musical biography and discography, a detailed account of Shaw's musical career and recorded output. The book begins with a summary of Shaw's career in the contexts of jazz history and social setting, then moves into more detail. The chronologically arranged sections, mirroring each phase of his career, incorporate contemporary reviews and interview quotes to create an insightful narrative. The discography lists all known recordings and is separate from the text to facilitate easy reference. Includes appendixes and index.

Amadeus . . . Yankee Doodle Dandy . . . Swanee River . . . Rhapsody in Blue. Even before movies had sound, filmmakers dramatized the lives of composers. Movie biographies—or biopics—have depicted composers as diverse as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George M. Cohan, Stephen Foster, and George Gershwin. In this enticing book, the first devoted entirely to such films, John C. Tibbetts surveys different styles and periods from the Hollywood of the 1920s and 1930s to the international cinema of today, exploring the role that film biographies play in our understanding of history and culture. Tibbetts delves into such questions as: How historically accurate are composer biopics? How and why have inaccuracies and distortions been perpetrated? What strategies have been used to represent visually the creative process? The book examines the films in several contexts and considers their role in commodifying and popularizing music. Extensive archival research, dozens of illustrations, and numerous interviews make this an appealing book for film and music enthusiasts at all levels.

This comprehensive biography of George Gershwin (1898-1937) unravels the myths surrounding one of America's most celebrated composers and establishes the enduring value of his music. Gershwin created some of the most beloved music of the twentieth century and, along with Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter, helped make the golden age of Broadway golden. Howard Pollack draws from a wealth of sketches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, books, articles, recordings, films, and other materials—including a large cache of Gershwin scores discovered in a Warner Brothers warehouse in 1982—to create an expansive chronicle of Gershwin’s meteoric rise to fame. He also traces Gershwin’s powerful presence that, even today, extends from Broadway, jazz clubs, and film scores to symphony halls and opera houses. Pollack’s lively narrative describes Gershwin’s family, childhood, and education; his early career as a pianist; his friendships and romantic life; his relation to various musical trends; his writings on music; his working methods; and his tragic death at the age of 38. Unlike Kern, Berlin, and Porter, who mostly worked within the confines of Broadway and Hollywood, Gershwin actively sought to cross the boundaries between high and low, and wrote works that crossed over into a realm where art music, jazz, and Broadway met and merged. The author surveys Gershwin’s entire oeuvre, from his first surviving compositions to the melodies that his brother and principal collaborator, Ira Gershwin, lyricized after his death. Pollack concludes with an exploration of the performances and critical reception of Gershwin's music over the years, from his time to ours.