An invaluable introduction to the art and craft of musical composition from a distinguished teacher and composer This essential introduction to the art and craft of musical composition is designed to familiarize beginning composers with principles and techniques applicable to a broad range of musical styles, from concert pieces to film scores and video game music. The first of its kind to utilize a style-neutral approach, in addition to presenting the commonly known classical forms, this book offers invaluable general guidance on developing and connecting musical ideas, building to a climax, and other fundamental formal principles. It is designed for both classroom use and independent study.

Now in trade paperback: “The definitive guide to musical enjoyment” (Forum). In this fascinating analysis of how to listen to both contemporary and classical music analytically, eminent American composer Aaron Copland offers provocative suggestions that will bring readers a deeper appreciation of the most viscerally rewarding of all art forms.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

This Companion provides a wide ranging and accessible study of one of the most individual composers of the twentieth century. A team of international scholars shed new light on Tippett's major works and draw attention to those that have not yet received the attention they deserve.

Famous Composers and Their Works is a study on music and biographies of some of the world's greatest composers in history. Table of Contents: Volume I: Orlando di Lasso The Netherland Masters Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Claudio Monteverde Alessandro Scarlatti Giovanni Battista Pergolese Gioacchino Rossini Vincenzo Bellini Gaetano Donizetti Gasparo Luigi Pacifico Spontini Luigi Cherubini Arrigo Boito Giovanni Sgambati Guiseppi Verdi Music in Italy Johann Sebastian Bach George Frederick Handel Christoph Wilibald Gluck Franz Joseph Haydn Volume II: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ludwig van Beethoven (Biography) The Deafness of Beethoven Beethoven as Composer Franz Peter Schubert Ludwig Spohr Carl Maria von Weber Heinrich Marschner Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Robert Schumann Robert Franz Giacomo Meyerbeer Strauss

Here, Holmboe discusses many issues facing the composer, performer and listener, giving especial attention to the most basic questions about musical experience. Vagn Holmboe [1909-96], was one of the most important composers of his era, and arguably the most important Danish composer after Carl Nielsen. A composer for over 60 years, and a teacher for more than 30, he wrote over 300 compositions in nearly every musical genre, music criticism, many other articles and two other books. Here, in a volume intended for the general reader, he discusses the nature of music, from the point of view of the composer, the performer and the listener. Where do musical ideas come from? What are composers' working methods, and how much are they really aware of them? What is the role of performers, and what sort of freedom do they have in interpreting music?What do listeners do in listening to music? What, essentially, is the musical experience? Professor Paul Rapoport contributes a lengthy introduction to this book, although, as he points out, `this is not a book about Vagn Holmboe nor a book addressed solely to musicians ... Holmboe's prose, like his music, is addressed to his fellow human beings, whoever and wherever they may be'.