A quintet composed by Luigi Boccherini for two violins, viola, cello, and guitar.

A quintet composed by Luigi Boccherini for two violins, viola, cello, and guitar.

A quintet composed by Luigi Boccherini for two violins, viola, cello, and guitar.

Chamber music includes some of the world's greatest music. It is widely played in homes, without an audience, by players who are mostly amateurs, and much of the repertoire is playable even by those of quite moderate ability. A Player's Guide to Chamber Music gives advice on what music is available and helps the player to identify what is suitable. It covers chamber music from the seventeenth to the later twentieth century and all instrumental combinations including strings, piano, wind instruments, duet sonatas and baroque ensembles. All the significant composers and musical aspects of playing are covered along with works suitable for inexperienced players. Illustrated with 63 black & white illustrations.

This collection of new interviews with twenty-five accomplished female composers substantially advances our knowledge of the work, experiences, compositional approaches, and musical intentions of a diverse group of creative individuals. With personal anecdotes and sometimes surprising intimacy and humor, these wide-ranging conversations represent the diversity of women composing music in the United States from the mid-twentieth century into the twenty-first. The composers work in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, multimedia, or collaborative forms for the stage, film, and video games. Their interviews illuminate questions about the status of women composers in America, the role of women in musical performance and education, the creative process and inspiration, the experiences and qualities that contemporary composers bring to their craft, and balancing creative and personal lives. Candidly sharing their experiences, advice, and views, these vibrant, thoughtful, and creative women open new perspectives on the prospects and possibilities of making music in a changing world.

The eight chapters of Understanding Boccherini’s Manuscripts discuss various aspects of the study of the manuscript sources for the music of Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805), one of the foremost composers of the second half of the eighteenth century. This book begins by outlining the various types that can be distinguished among the manuscripts written by the composer himself or by his copyists, such as manuscripts for archival purposes, for publishers and for patrons. Germán Labrador continues with a discussion of the chronology of both Boccherini’s works and their manuscript sources, and Loukia Drosopoulou describes the musical handwriting that we find in the manuscripts under discussion. Boccherini produced several catalogues of his works of which some are lost, while others have been preserved. Marco Mangani and Federica Rovelli review these documents. The second half of this book addresses more specific topics. Giulio Battelli pays attention to a recent addition to Boccherini’s known oeuvre, the Laudate pueri, a very early work, preserved in the library of the Istituto Musical in Lucca. Rupert Ridgewell deals with the relations between Boccherini and the Viennese publishing house Artaria. Matanya Ophee considers the sources for Boccherini’s Guitar Quintets recently come available, and, finally, Jaime Tortella comments upon some letters to the nineteenth-century collector Julian Marshall – one of them by Alfredo Boccherini, a great-grandson of the composer – that shed light on the adventures of Boccherini’s manuscripts in the nineteenth century. Furthermore, a common bibliography following all the chapters is supplied, as are extensive indexes. In addition to regular indexes of subjects and names, indexes covering letters cited, catalogues, manuscript sources, early editions, and Boccherini’s works are also provided. As such, this book is an altogether indispensable tool for everybody with a scholarly interest in the life and work of Luigi Boccherini, and a splendid model for similar work on other composers.

Spotlighting the four women of the Lafayette Quartet, a leading Canadian ensemble, Rounds offers both a comprehensive history of the beloved instrumental form and an inside view of the complex world of professional quartet players, revealing the exultation and heatache that are the performing artists' daily fare. A treat for every music lover, whether player, listener or composer.