This book was originally published in 2008. Nicholas Maw's Odyssey is a landmark in contemporary music; at approximately 90 minutes it is one of the longest continuous examples of music written for full-orchestra and received a first, truncated, performance at the 1987 BBC Proms. It took Maw many years to complete and was later recorded to great acclaim by Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In his examination of Odyssey, Kenneth Gloag provides a detailed discussion of Maw's musical identity and reputation as a contemporary composer in relation to romanticism, modernism and postmodernism, taking into consideration his break-through work Scenes and Arias (1962) and the subsequent progression to Odyssey. The book investigates issues of time and narrative crucial to the generation of the work's remarkable length, and considers the relationship between the sectionalization of the score and prevailing sense of unity in the music. Situating Odyssey in larger historical and critical frameworks, Gloag evaluates the initial reception of the work and reflects on Maw's music composed after Odyssey.

This expanded and completely revised fifth edition is a unique ebook, spanning a thousand years of music from Gregorian chant via Bach and Beethoven to current leading lights such as Thomas Adès and Kaija Saariaho. There are concise biographical profiles of more than 200 composers and informative summaries of the major compositions in all genres, from chamber works to operatic epics. Topics such as the influence of jazz, notation, conducting, the madrigal, and why Stradivarius made such great violins are covered fully in feature boxes. The Rough Guide to Classical Music in a new ebook (PDF) fromat has been praised for its mix of well-known composers with more obscure, but interesting, figures (like Antoine Brumel and Barbara Strozzi), and for the way it takes contemporary music seriously.

Letters by the British composer to his friends, family, and colleagues document his life from school days to the end of World War II.

A comprehensive course in piano pedagogy and theory, from day one to advanced. Integrates theoretical concepts into piano pedagogy, introducing concepts logically, then examining practically at the piano in exercises and etudes. Complete reference materials included in appendices. Should be supplemented with literature from the Western Classical Canon.

Chamber Music: A Research and Information Guide is a reference tool for anyone interested in chamber music. It is not a history or an encyclopedia but a guide to where to find answers to questions about chamber music. The third edition adds nearly 600 new entries to cover new research since publication of the previous edition in 2002. Most of the literature is books, articles in journals and magazines, dissertations and theses, and essays or chapters in Festschriften, treatises, and biographies. In addition to the core literature obscure citations are also included when they are the only studies in a particular field. In addition to being printed, this volume is also for the first time available online. The online environment allows for information to be updated as new research is introduced. This database of information is a "live" resource, fully searchable, and with active links. Users will have unlimited access, annual revisions will be made and a limited number of pages can be downloaded for printing.

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, in the enormous diversity of his activities, is arguably the most complete musician of all time. Not only does he have a remarkable 300 commissioned concert works to his credit, which have established him among the leading British twentieth-century composers, yet at the same time, with supreme success, he has also contrived to lead several completely different musical lives. For some, he is the ultimate exponent of 'crossover', as epitomised in his remarkable Concerto for Stan Getz and concert works for Cleo Laine. Others remember him as a concert pianist with a special enthusiasm for pioneering contemporary music, his partnerships with Susan Bradshaw, Jane Manning and Barry Tuckwell being particularly notable. Meanwhile, he also has over 70 film and television scores to his credit, the many classic titles ranging from Murder on the Orient Express and Far From the Madding Crowd to Equus and Four Weddings and a Funeral. For cabaret and jazz club devotees, he is, again, something completely different: one of the finest and most knowledgeable of all exponents of the Great American Songbook, a much-in-demand singer and accompanist over the past thirty-five years, and, as such, the stage partner of some of the most glamorous performers in the business. This, then, is a book about a uniquely gifted musician. It is also a study of a most engaging personality and a fascinatingly complex human being. Anthony Meredith, whose two previous collaborations with co-researcher Paul Harris were the highly praised biographies of Malcolm Arnold and Malcolm Williamson, has been a widely published writer over the past twenty-five years. He is a member of MCC, a Friend of Covent Garden and Northern Ballet. His co-researcher, Paul Harris, is a leading music educationalist, well-known for his seminars, workshops and masterclasses, with over 500 books to his name.

Composers in the Classroom is a bio-bibliographical dictionary, chronicling the careers and work of over 120 composers associated with conservatories, colleges, and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico. Scholars and students of music seeking critical information about composers who have taken on the mantle of instruction will find a wealth of detail on their subjects. Painstakingly obtained through direct correspondence with the composers themselves, Floyd includes within each entry a short biography of the composer's life and education, lists of previous positions, most prominent commissions, awards and honors, and notable performers of the subject's work. Each entry also contains a discography of the recordings and a bibliography of writings by the composer. Researchers will find especially useful the organization of each subject's compositions by a variety of types. These include vocal, choral/assembly, dramatic, keyboard, solo instrument, handbells, chamber music, jazz ensemble, band and wind ensemble, band and wind ensemble with solo instruments, orchestra, orchestra with solo instruments, film/television/commercial, electro-acoustic and multimedia, arrangements, transcriptions, and editions and reconstructions. Music scholars will find under each work not only the title and date of composition but also the date of revision, commission, and dedication information, as well as other pertinent details ranging from the names of collaborators to alternate titles under which works may circulate. Composers in the Classroom is an indispensable tool to scholars of modern music seeking to research the current state of musical composition and the compositional trends of the 21st century.