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

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.

Pierre Boulez's first piano pieces date from his youth, prior to his studies in Paris with Messiaen, and his subsequent meteoric rise to international acclaim as the leader of the musical avant-garde during the 1950s. His most recent published work is a...

One of Oprah Daily's 20 Favorite Books of 2021 • Selected as one of Pitchfork's Best Music Books of the Year“One of the best books of its kind in decades.” —The Wall Street JournalAn epic achievement and a huge delight, the entire history of popular...

Franz Xaver Hauser (1794–1870), born near Prague in Czechoslovakia, combined his career of singing and teaching with a consuming interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.Hauser was a colleague of Felix Mendelssohn, Moritz Hauptmann, Robert...

Book by Palmer, Tony

Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other. In our celebrity-saturated era, it's hard to comprehend what a genuine phenomenon these two siblings from Omaha were. At the height of...

What Charlie Parker was to the saxophone, Bud Powell (1924–1966) was to the piano: No jazz pianist can rival his brilliance. But his life was filled with tragedy, including years of electroshock therapy in psychiatric institutions, illnesses, physical...