Read complete books and articles on: Classical Music

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Classical Music

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Haydn, Mozart, & Beethoven: Studies in the Music of the Classical Period: Essays in Honor of Alan Tyson » Read Now
by Alan Tyson. 328 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This collection of nineteen essays honors Alan Tyson, Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Fellow of the British Academy, and leading authority on the Classical period. The distinguished contributors include Neal Zaslaw, Joseph Kerman, Lewis Lockwood, Cliff Eisen, James Webster, Jan LaRue...
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This collection of nineteen essays honors Alan Tyson, Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Fellow of the British Academy, and leading authority on the Classical period. The distinguished contributors include Neal Zaslaw, Joseph Kerman, Lewis Lockwood, Cliff Eisen, James Webster, Jan LaRue, Douglas Johnson, Maynard Solomon, and Richard Kramer.
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2.

Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value » Read Now
by Julian Johnson. 140 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

During the last several decades, most cultural critics have come to agree that the division between 'high' and 'low' art is an artificial one, that Beethoven's Ninth and 'Blue Suede Shoes' are equally valuable as cultural texts. In Who Needs Classical Music?, Julian Johnson challenges these dominant...
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During the last several decades, most cultural critics have come to agree that the division between 'high' and 'low' art is an artificial one, that Beethoven's Ninth and 'Blue Suede Shoes' are equally valuable as cultural texts. In Who Needs Classical Music?, Julian Johnson challenges these dominant assumptions about the relativism of cultural judgements. The author maintains that music is more than just 'a matter of taste': while some music provides entertainment, or serves as background noise, other music functions as art. This book considers the value of classical music in contemporary society, arguing that it remains distinctive because it works in quite different ways than most of the other music that surrounds us. In this long essay, Johnson aims to restore classical music's intrinsic aesthetic value and to rescue it from a designation as mere signifier of elitism or refinement. Who Needs Classical Music? is certain to spark debate among cultural critics and have important repercussions for arts policy.
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3.

From Paris to Peoria: How European Piano Virtuosos Brought Classical Music to the American Heartland » Read Now
by R. Allen Lott. 366 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

It's difficult to imagine Franz Liszt performing in Peoria, but his contemporary and foremost rival, Sigismund Thalberg, did just that. During the mid-nineteenth century, Americans in more than a hundred cities--from Portland, Maine to Dubuque, Iowa to Mobile, Alabama--were treated to performances...
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It's difficult to imagine Franz Liszt performing in Peoria, but his contemporary and foremost rival, Sigismund Thalberg, did just that. During the mid-nineteenth century, Americans in more than a hundred cities--from Portland, Maine to Dubuque, Iowa to Mobile, Alabama--were treated to performances by some of Europe's most celebrated pianists. From Paris to Peoria deftly chronicles the visits of five of these pianists to the America of Mark Twain. Whether performing in small railroad towns throughout the Midwest or in gold-rush era California, these five charismatic pianists--Leopold de Meyer, Henri Herz, Sigismund Thalberg, Anton Rubinstein, and Hans von Bulow--introduced many Americans to the delights of the concert hall. With humor and insight, R. Allen Lott describes the glamour and the drudgery of the touring life, the transformation of American audiences from boisterous to reverent, and the establishment of the piano recital as a viable artistic and financial enterprise. Lott also explores the creative and sometimes outlandish publicity techniques of managers seeking to capitalize on prosperous but uncharted American markets. The result of extensive archival research, From Paris to Peoria is richly illustrated with concert programs, handbills, caricatures, and maps. A companion website, www.rallenlott.info, includes a comprehensive list of repertoires and itineraries, audio music examples, and transcriptions of selected primary sources. Certain to delight pianists, musicologists, and historians, From Paris to Peoria is an engaging, thoroughly researched, and often funny account of music and culture in nineteenth-century America.
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4.

Music and Culture: Mozart, Bach, and Musical Abjection, in Musical Quarterly » Read Now
by Marshall Brown. 27 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...maintain the subjects intactness" ( Classical Music and Postmodern Knowledge, 58...ineffable, or irrational" ( Classical Music 64). Kristeva has two other...4. Lawrence...
5.

Institutions, Industries, Technologies: Classical Music: A State Secret, in Musical Quarterly » Read Now
by Susan Gillespie. 30 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Industries, Technologies Classical Music: A State Secret Dominik...our current understanding of classical music, because I believe that knowledge...Western music --...
6.

Beyond Aesthetics: Art and the Technologies of Enchantment (Chap. 2 "Agency, History, and Tradition in the Construction of 'Classical' Music: The Debate over 'Authentic Performance'") » Read Now
by Christopher Pinney, Nicholas Thomas. 288 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The anthropology of art is currently at a crossroads. Although well versed in the meaning of art in small-scale tribal societies, anthropologists are still wrestling with the question of how to interpret art in a complex, post-colonial environment. Alfred Gell recently confronted this problem in his...
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The anthropology of art is currently at a crossroads. Although well versed in the meaning of art in small-scale tribal societies, anthropologists are still wrestling with the question of how to interpret art in a complex, post-colonial environment. Alfred Gell recently confronted this problem in his posthumous book Art and Agency. The central thesis of his study was that art objects could be seen, not as bearers of meaning or aesthetic value, but as forms mediating social action. At a stroke, Gell provocatively dismissed many longstanding but tired questions of definition and issues of aesthetic value. His book proposed a novel perspective on the roles of art in political practice and made fresh links between analyses of style, tradition and society.Offering a new overview of the anthropology of art, this book begins where Gell left off. Presenting wide-ranging critiques of the limits of aesthetic interpretation, the workings of objects in practice, the relations between meaning and efficacy and the politics of postcolonial art, its distinguished contributors both elaborate on and dissent from the controversies of Gell's important text. Subjects covered include music and the internet as well as ethnographic traditions and contemporary indigenous art. Geographically its case studies range from India to Oceania to North America and Europe.
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7.

Musical Works and Performances: A Philosophical Exploration (Chap. 5 "Authenticity in Western Classical Music") » Read Now
by Stephen Davies. 374 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
8.

Music and the Middle Class: The Social Structure of Concert Life in London, Paris, and Vienna (Chap. IV "The High-Status Classical-Music Public") » Read Now
by William Weber. 172 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
9.

Music in the New World (Chap. 8 "The Dawning of Classical Music in America (1825-65)") » Read Now
by Charles Hamm. 722 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The present book is both a history of music in America and a history of American music.
10.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture (Discussion of classical music begins on p. 107) » Read Now
by Peter Childs, Mike Storry. 630 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Boasting more than 970 alphabetically-arranged entries, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture surveys British cultural practices and icons in the latter half of the twentieth century. It examines high and popular culture and encompasses both institutional and alternative aspects of...
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Boasting more than 970 alphabetically-arranged entries, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture surveys British cultural practices and icons in the latter half of the twentieth century. It examines high and popular culture and encompasses both institutional and alternative aspects of British culture. It provides insight into the whole spectrum of British contemporary life. Topics covered include: architecture, pubs, film, internet and current takes on the monarchy. Cross-referencing and a thematic contents list enable readers to identify related articles. The entries range from short biographical synopses to longer overview essays on key issues.This Encyclopedia is essential reading for anyone interested in British culture. It also provides a cultural context for students of English, Modern History and Comparative European Studies.
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11.

Feminist Waves and Classical Music: Pedagogy, Performance, Research, in Women & Music » Read Now
by Marcia J. Citron. 13 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
12.

Music: A Very Short Introduction (Chap. 2 "Back to Beethoven") » Read Now
by Nicholas Cook. 140 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This stimulating Very Short Introduction to music invites us to really think about music and the values and qualities we ascribe to it. The world teems with different kinds of music-traditional, folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop-and each type of music tends to come with its own way of thinking...
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This stimulating Very Short Introduction to music invites us to really think about music and the values and qualities we ascribe to it. The world teems with different kinds of music-traditional, folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop-and each type of music tends to come with its own way of thinking. Drawing on a wealth of accessible examples ranging from Beethoven to the Spice Girls to Chinese zither music, Nicholas Cook attempts to provide a framework for thinking about all music. By examining the personal, social, and cultural values that music embodies, the book reveals the shortcomings of traditional conceptions of music, and sketches a more inclusive approach emphasizing the role of performers and listeners.
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13.

Inside Early Music: Conversations with Performers ("Classical and Romantic" begins on p. 295) » Read Now
by Bernard D. Sherman. 414 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The attempt to play music with the styles and instruments of its era--commonly referred to as the early music movement--has become immensely popular in recent years. For instance, Billboard's "Top Classical Albums" of 1993 and 1994 featured Anonymous 4, who sing medieval music, and the best-selling...
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The attempt to play music with the styles and instruments of its era--commonly referred to as the early music movement--has become immensely popular in recent years. For instance, Billboard's "Top Classical Albums" of 1993 and 1994 featured Anonymous 4, who sing medieval music, and the best-selling Beethoven recording of 1995 was a period-instruments symphony cycle led by John Eliot Gardiner, who is Deutsche Grammophon's top-selling living conductor. But the movement has generated as much controversy as it has best-selling records, not only about the merits of its results, but also about the validity of its approach. To what degree can we recreate long-lost performing styles? How important are historical period instruments for the performance of a piece? Why should musicians bother with historical information? Are they sacrificing art to scholarship? Now, in Inside Early Music, Bernard D. Sherman has invited many of the leading practitioners to speak out about their passion for early music--why they are attracted to this movement and how it shapes their work. Readers listen in on conversations with conductors Gardiner, William Christie, and Roger Norrington, Peter Phillips of the Tallis Scholars, vocalists Susan Hellauer of Anonymous 4, forte pianist Robert Levin, cellist Anner Bylsma, and many other leading artists. The book is divided into musical eras--Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classic and Romantic--with each interview focusing on particular composers or styles, touching on heated topics such as the debate over what is "authentic," the value of playing on period instruments, and how to interpret the composer's intentions. Whether debating how to perform Monteverdi's madrigals or comparing Andrew Lawrence-King's Renaissance harp playing to jazz, the performers convey not only a devotion to the spirit of period performance, but the joy of discovery as they struggle to bring the music most truthfully to life. Spurred on by Sherman's probing questions and immense knowledge of the subject, these conversations movingly document the aspirations, growing pains, and emerging maturity of the most exciting movement in contemporary classical performance, allowing each artist's personality and love for his or her craft to shine through. From medieval plainchant to Brahms' orchestral works, Inside Early Music takes readers-whether enthusiasts or detractors-behind the scenes to provide a masterful portrait of early music's controversies, challenges, and rewards.
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14.

The "Death" of Classical Music, in Queen's Quarterly » Read Now
by Colin Eatock. 7 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...The "death" of classical music. by Colin Eatock Has classical music become nothing more than the petrified forest...not to mention those who are quick to declare classical...