This collection of writings by Gunther Schuller--the first composer to be awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Composer's Chair of the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center--provides a marvelous introduction to the man and his extraordinary range of musical experience, taste, and learning. In Part I, "Jazz and the Third Stream," Schuller offers his reflections on jazz, insightful pieces on such figures as Duke Ellington, Cecil Taylor, and Sonny Rollins, and several essays on "the third stream," the genre where jazz and classical music intersect. Part II, "Music Performance and Contemporary Music," includes articles on the art of conducting, the future of opera, the question of a new classicism, and Schuller's own thoughts on his controversial opera The Visitation. The final section, "Music Aesthetics and Education," presents Schuller's reflections on such matters as form, structure, and symbol in music; the need for broadening the audience for quality music; and his vision of the ideal conservatory and the total musician.

Brookside Musings is a carefully edited compilation of poems and short stories in English by British, American and Indian writers. The poems and short stories vary in content, style and purpose and thereby introduce students to a wide range of writing in English. Extracts from longer works have been avoided as a matter of principle and the poems and stories selected, though representative of the writers and their periods, have been kept short in order that they have a wholeness of appeal. Efforts have been made to make reading as pleasurable an experience as possible while opening up to the students the major developments in literature written in English. Meanings and explanations have been provided to guide students through the texts as well as introductions to the authors and the poems or short stories and comprehension sections.