Experiencing Carl Maria von Weber PDF Download

Author: Joseph E. Morgan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442255579
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Scholars have long recognized Carl Maria von Weber as the father of the German Romantic and Nationalist music. The success of his opera Der Freischütz almost single handedly brought German operatic style onto the world stage, competing with and challenging established operatic traditions in France and Italy. Indeed the overtures to his last three operas, Der Freischütz, Euryanthe, and Oberon initiated the genre of the concert overture and are a part of the standard repertoire for most modern symphony orchestras. His works in other genres, including his various concerti and chamber works also stand as centerpieces in the modern concert hall. In Experiencing Carl Maria von Weber: A Listener's Companion, Joseph Morgan walks readers through the many masterpieces that comprise Weber's oeuvre, providing key insights by integrating critical points in the composer's life with the burgeoning Romantic and Nationalist movements in Germany that Weber's music came to champion. Morgan brings to life the musical character of Weber's most important compositions, from his most popular works such as his programme work Aufforderung zum Tanz (Invitation to the Dance), his majestic solo pieces, and his path-breaking song cycle DieTemperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten (Temperaments on the Loss of a Lover). At every turn, Morgan brings together biographical, political, aesthetic, and historical matters to inform our understanding of Weber's compositional genius. From the virtuosity of his piano works and their influence on Liszt and Chopin to his relationships with composers from the earliest parts of the 19th century, including Giacomo Meyerbeer, Franz Schubert and Beethoven, Experiencing Carl Maria vonWeber reveals not only the compositional genius of this figure in Romantic music, but his achievements as well as a conductor, music director, and critic who lent his powerful support to his musical peers on stage and page.

Author: Arved Ashby
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538104873
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Experiencing Mahler surveys the symphonies and major song sets of Gustav Mahler, presenting them not just as artworks but as vivid and deeply felt journeys. Mahler took the symphony, perhaps the most tradition-bound genre in Western music, and opened it to the widest span of human experience. He introduced themes of love, nature, the chasmic depth of midnight, making peace with death, facing rebirth, seeking one’s creator, and being at one with God. Arved Ashby offers the non-specialist a general introduction into Mahler’s seemingly unbounded energy to investigate the elements that make each work an experiential adventure—one that has redefined the symphonic genre in new ways. In addition to the standard nine symphonies, Ashby discusses Das Lied von der Erde, the three most commonly heard song sets (the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder, and Rückert-Lieder), and the unfinished Tenth Symphony (in Cooke’s edition). Experiencing Mahler is a far-reaching and often provocative search for meaning in the music of one of the most beloved composers of all time.

Author: Teresa Davidian
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442271469
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
Claude Debussy holds a place as a one of the most recognizable and influential composers in the classical music. Debussy forged a new and influential sound for the twentieth century with his remarkable harmonies, fluid rhythms, airy textures, and an instinct for mystery and beauty. In Experiencing Debussy: A Listener’s Companion, Teresa Davidian welcomes readers into the infectious appeal of Debussy’s major works to consider how they can still attract and move audiences. In such works as the hauntingly beautiful Clair de Lune and the groundbreaking Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Davidian looks beneath the surface of the music to explain its power, all the while drawing connections between different pieces to place them securely within the context of Debussy’s life and times. Written in an accessible style, Experiencing Debussy provides an engaging tour through Debussy’s works for the concertgoers, movie buffs, performers, and students regardless of musical background.

Author: Melinda P. O'Neal
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810886073
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Experiencing Berlioz: A Listener’s Companion is an in-depth entrée into the sound world of Hector Berlioz, recognized today as one of the most profoundly original and engaging composers in 19th-century Europe. Melinda O’Neal offers the non-specialist a pathway into the underlying allure of Berlioz's music. His views on rehearsing and conducting, bumpy career ride and failures, the journey of a work through revisions and editions, and historical performance practices provide a backdrop to discussions of his most significant works. As O’Neal addresses the motivation and conception, sonic atmosphere, and compositional strategies of key works, she provides a new multifaceted experience not only to music historians and performers but also to any amateur music lover who has ever been entranced by Berlioz’s undeniable musical veracity. As the listener interacts with Berlioz's music, the ear's curiosity and imagination will take flight.

Author: Christine Lee Gengaro
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442260874
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Fryderyk Chopin’s career is intricately entwined with the piano. Although he made forays into orchestral and chamber work, the vast majority of Chopin’s pieces feature the piano. While his relatively brief life shortened his potential contribution as a composer, the originality, richness, and quality of his work is undeniable. His harmonies were often surprising, the rhythms flexible, and the music dramatic. In Experiencing Chopin: A Listener’s Companion,Christine Lee Gengaro surveys Chopin’s position as a composer at a time when the piano stood at the center of musical and social life. Throughout, she shines a spotlight on Chopin and his music, which illuminated the Romantic period in which he lived, the social and artistic climate that surrounded him, and the importance of the individual artist at a time of political foment. Gengaro considers the different genres among Chopin’s works, linking each to the historical, social, and biographical issues that shaped them.

Author: Eric Wendell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442258381
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
The musical output of pianist and composer Herbie Hancock is a design rarely seen in jazz; a child prodigy working their way up the ranks to elder statesman and influencing an entire generation of musicians across numerous genres. Sowing his oats in classical repertoire, Hancock used jazz to satiate his musical curiosities enhanced by his undying love of the technological advancements of the day. As a result, Hancock has traversed expectations and continues to be a staple in mainstream music. In concert with his performance style, Hancock’s compositional efforts have added to the jazz canon and remain popular standards today. Like a musical protein, Hancock has used jazz as his foundation and added his own personal spices creating a unique harmonic invention. In addition to being a virtuoso pianist and composer, Hancock has explored many forms of music such as rock, funk and world music, always looking ahead rather than rehashing what has already been accomplished. Hancock’s chameleon-like ways of changing musical direction to broaden contemporary styles has been met with excitement from both peers and fans alike. But all of this came naturally to Hancock, whose boundless energy and creativity formed the music he loved so deeply. In Experiencing Herbie Hancock: A Listener’s Companion, author Eric Wendell looks beyond the successes and failures of Hancock’s career in an effort to explore Hancock’s musical design both within the jazz community and within the popular mainstream. Furthermore, Wendell will explore the dramatic impact that Hancock has held on the jazz community and how his efforts have fostered the cross-genre continuity of modern jazz practitioners. Experiencing Herbie Hancock: A Listener’s Companion, is an ideal work for jazz aficionados, music students and anyone who appreciates the efforts of an artist that would rather look ahead to the great unknown then tread backwards on past endeavors.

Author: Robert G. H. Burns
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442266031
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
In Experiencing Progressive Rock: A Listener's Companion, Robert G. H. Burns brings together the many strands that define the "prog rock" movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s to chart the evolution of this remarkable rock tradition over the decades. Originating in the 1960s with acts like Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, The Who, Jethro Tull, Genesis, and The Moody Blues, progressive rock emerged as a response to the counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic. Prog rock drew heavily on European classical music as well as the sophisticated improvisations of American jazz to create unique fusions that defied record label and radio station categorizations. Reemerging after the 1980s, a new generation of musicians took the original influences of progressive rock and reinvented new formats within the existing style. The trend of combining influences continues to the present day, earning new audiences among the musically curious. Burns draws on his own experiences and original interviews with members of prog rock acts such as Colosseum, Renaissance, Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited, past and current members of King Crimson, Steven Wilson, and Brand X, as well as several others, to provide an exciting behind-the-scenes look at this unique and ever-changing musical expression'.

Author: Ian Chapman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442257717
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion takes a long overdue look at the music and stage act of rock music’s self-styled arch-villain. A provocateur from the very start of his career in the mid-1960s, Alice Cooper, aka Vince Furnier, son of a lay preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ, carved a unique path through five decades of rock’n’roll. Despite a longevity that only a handful of other artists and acts can match, Alice Cooper remains a difficult act and artist to pin down and categorize. During the last years of the 1960s and the heydays of commercial success in the 1970s, Cooper's groundbreaking theatricality, calculated offensiveness, and evident disregard for the conventions of rock protocols sowed confusion among his critics and evoked outrage from the public. Society’s watchdogs demanded his head, and Cooper willingly obliged at the end of each performance with his on-stage self-guillotining. But as youth anthem after youth anthem - “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “Elected,” “Department of Youth”—rang out in his arena concerts the world over and across airwaves, fans flocked to experience Cooper’s unique brand of rock. Critics searched for proper descriptions: “pantomime,” “vaudeville,” “retch-rock,” “Grand Guignol.” In 1973 Cooper headlined in Time magazine as “Schlock Rock’s Godzilla.” In Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion, Ian Chapman surveys Cooper’s career through his twenty-seven studio albums (1969-2017). While those who have written about Cooper have traditionally kept their focus on the stage spectacle, too little attention has been paid to Cooper’s recordings. Throughout, Chapman argues that while Cooper may have been rock’s most accomplished showman, he is first and foremost a musician, with his share of gold and platinum albums to vouch for his qualifications as a musical artist.

Author: Nolan Stolz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442256923
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Black Sabbath has often been credited with inventing heavy metal with their first album released in 1970. Their new style of music was loud, brutal, scary, innovative, and it has greatly influenced heavy metal bands since then. Their five decades of music cross generations of fans, and they remain relevant to this day, with their 2013 album charting #1 in the United States and at least five other countries. In Experiencing Black Sabbath: A Listener’s Companion, musician and scholar Nolan Stolz leads the reader through Sabbath’s twenty studio albums and additional songs, closely examining their music and the storied history of the band. Along the way, Stolz highlights often-overlooked key moments that defined Sabbath’s unique musical style and legacy. Band members’ own words illuminate certain aspects of the music, and Stolz makes connections from song to song, album to album, and sometimes across decades to create an intricate narrative of the band’s entire catalog. Experiencing Black Sabbath reveals the underappreciated genius of these heavy metal progenitors to all rock music lovers and gives even the most fervent Sabbath fans a new perspective on the music.

Author: Tina Frühauf
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442258403
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Experiencing Jewish Music in America: A Listener's Companion offers an easy-to-read and new perspective on the remarkably diverse landscape that comprises Jewish music in the United States. This much-needed survey on the art of listening to and enjoying this dynamic and diverse musical culture invites listeners curious about the many types of music in its connection to Jewish life. Experiencing Jewish Music in America is intended to encourage further reading about, listening to, and viewing of this portion of America’s musical heritage, and provide listeners with the tools to understand and appreciate this body of work. This volume is designed to appeal to listeners of all stripes, regardless of ability to read music, and of religious or cultural background. Experiencing Jewish Music in America offers insights into an extensive range of musical genres and styles that have been central to the Jewish experience, beginning with the arrival of the first Jewish immigrants in the sixteenth century and the chanting of the Torah, to the sounds of pop today. It lays the groundwork for the listener’s understanding of music in its relation to Jewish studies by exploring the wide range of venues in which this music has appeared, from synagogue to street to stage to screen. Each chapter offers selected case studies where these unique forms of music were—and still can be—heard, seen, and experienced. This book gives readers unique insights into the challenges of classifying Jewish music, while it traces its history and development on American soil and outlines “ways of listening” so readers can draw clear connections to Jewish culture. The volume thus brings together American Jewish history, the story of American and Jewish music, and the roles of the individuals important to both. It offers the reader tools to identify, evaluate, and appreciate the musical genres, and reflect the growing interest of the past decade in the academic study of Jewish music.