This compilation of essays takes the study of the blues to a welcome new level. Distinguished scholars and well-established writers from such diverse backgrounds as musicology, anthropology, musicianship, and folklore join together to examine blues as...

Blues for Bird is Martin Gray's stunning, one-of-a-kind biography of Charlie Parker. Written entirely in trimeter, Gray's epic biographical poem runs some 5,400 lines. The work chronicles the life of one of the twentieth century's most pivotal musical...

Guy Rickards’ innovative biography examines three German composers – Paul Hindemith (1895–1963), Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–63) and Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926) – and demonstrates how a number of parallels can be drawn between their works, influences and...

In Music as Cultural Practice, Lawrence Kramer adapts the resources of contemporary literary theory to forge a genuinely new discourse about music. Rethinking fundamental questions of meaning and expression, he demonstrates how European music of the...

With Tonal Allegory, Eric Chafe responds to the serious need for an interpretive study that takes into account the theological content of Bach's texts and his principles of setting them to music. He sets forth a principle called "tonal allegory" as a...

An offbeat guide to Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard masterwork, the "Well-Tempered Clavier," presents a series of forty-eight essays--one for each of the piece's fugues--that illuminate the famous musical work

Examines the development of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and profiles his life

A prizewinning historian and journalist who has covered the pop music scene for more than three decades, James Miller brings a powerful and challenging intellectual perspective to his recounting of some key turning points in the history of rock. Arguing...

In the sound of the 1960s and 1970s, nothing symbolized the rift between black and white America better than the seemingly divided genres of country and soul. Yet the music emerged from the same songwriters, musicians, and producers in the recording...

The prolific creator of such classic popular works as Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf, and Cinderella, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was one of the most important and influential composers of the twentieth century.Drawing on unprecedented access to...

The #1 New York Times bestseller."A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A...

In the first full-length biography of this masterful trumpeter, composer, and co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center, author Leslie Gourse reveals the private side of one of the most talented and controversial figures in music today. Written with the full...

Completely updated with new entries and extensive revisions of the previous 1,800, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll is the authoritative volume on the world's music makers—from the one-hit wonders to the megastars.In 1983, Rolling Stone...

An outstanding anthology in which notable musicians, artists, scientists, thinkers, poets, and more—from Gustavo Dudamel and Carrie Mae Weems to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Paul Muldoon—explore the influence of music on their lives and workContributors...

This passionate love letter to opera, lavishly praised and nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award when it was first published, is now firmly established as a cult classic. In a learned, moving, and sparklingly witty melange of criticism,...

John Cage's name has long been well known and his influence widely acknowledged. Yet his music is comparatively unexplored and his ideas have often been misrepresented. This book is the first serious study of Cage's output and considers his music in...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A beautifully written, witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music—its power, its meanings, and what it can teach us about ourselves—from the MacArthur “Genius” Grant–winning pianistLONGLISTED FOR THE...

A poet’s audio obsession, from collecting his earliest vinyl to his quest for the ideal vacuum tubes. A captivating book that “ingeniously mixes personal memoir with cultural history and offers us an indispensable guide for the search of acoustic truth”...

This volume constitutes the report of the 1971 International Josquin Festival Conference held at the Julliard School of Music in New York City. The papers assembled this collection are an elegant tribute to the study of Josquin and address biographical...

Portrays fourteen of the leading American popular and jazz singers. In most chapters Balliett lets the singer tell his or her own story, and then he adds perceptive comments linking them to other singers or to the music scene in general.