The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet

Author: Robin Stowell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521000420
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Book Description
This Companion offers a concise and authoritative survey of the string quartet by eleven chamber music specialists. Its fifteen carefully structured chapters provide coverage of a stimulating range of perspectives previously unavailable in one volume. It focuses on four main areas: the social and musical background to the quartet's development; the most celebrated ensembles; string quartet playing, including aspects of contemporary and historical performing practice; and the mainstream repertory, including significant 'mixed ensemble' compositions involving string quartet. Various musical and pictorial illustrations and informative appendixes, including a chronology of the most significant works, complete this indispensable guide. Written for all string quartet enthusiasts, this Companion will enrich readers' understanding of the history of the genre, the context and significance of quartets as cultural phenomena, and the musical, technical and interpretative problems of chamber music performance. It will also enhance their experience of listening to quartets in performance and on recordings.

The Cambridge Companion to the Violin

Author: Robin Stowell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521399234
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
Enth. S.1 - 29: The violin and bow - origins and development / John Dilworth

The Cambridge Companion to Shostakovich

Author: Pauline Fairclough
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139827383
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 488

Book Description
As the Soviet Union's foremost composer, Shostakovich's status in the West has always been problematic. Regarded by some as a collaborator, and by others as a symbol of moral resistance, both he and his music met with approval and condemnation in equal measure. The demise of the Communist state has, if anything, been accompanied by a bolstering of his reputation, but critical engagement with his multi-faceted achievements has been patchy. This Companion offers a starting point and a guide for readers who seek a fuller understanding of Shostakovich's place in the history of music. Bringing together an international team of scholars, the book brings research to bear on the full range of Shostakovich's musical output, addressing scholars, students and all those interested in this complex, iconic figure.

Mozart's Music of Friends

Author: Edward Klorman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107093651
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 359

Book Description
This study analyzes chamber music from Mozart's time within its highly social salon-performance context.

Mozart: The 'Haydn' Quartets

Author: John Irving
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521585613
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 118

Book Description
The six string quartets dedicated to his friend Joseph Haydn represent a turning point in Mozart's compositional development. In addition to providing a full synopsis of each quartet this book examines the music in relation to Mozart's earlier quartets, considers the genesis of the six 'Haydn' quartets through close examination of the autograph revisions and looks at contemporary eighteenth-century analytical models. John Irving also charts the reception of the quartets, drawing upon a broad range of sources: Mozart's letters and diary entries, early newspaper reports, harmony/compositional textbooks, contemporary criticism and early biographies.

The Cambridge Companion to the Orchestra

Author: Colin James Lawson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521001328
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Book Description
This guide to the orchestra and orchestral life is unique in its breadth of coverage. It combinesorchestral history and repertory with a practical bias offering critical thought about the past, present and future of the orchestra. Including topics such as the art of orchestration, scorereading, conducting, international orchestras, recording, as well as consideration of what it means to be an orchestral musician, an educator, or an informed listener, it will be of interest to a wideranging readership of music historians and professional or amateur performers.

The Cambridge Companion to Bartók

Author: Amanda Bayley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139826093
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
This Companion is an accessible guide to Bartók's music and is an ideal introduction to the composer for students, performers and concert-goers. Part I of the book sets out the cultural, social and political background in Hungary at the beginning of the twentieth century, and considers Bartók's interest in and research into folk music. Part II surveys his compositional output in all genres, relating changes in style to broad aesthetic issues, his folk music studies, and his activities as a pianist, music editor and teacher. The final part reveals the wide variety of responses to Bartók's music in Europe and the United States, both during and after his lifetime. It includes a comparison of analytical approaches to his music and an evaluation of performances including those of the composer himself. The book is written by a team of specialists, who represent more recent thinking on the composer and his music.

The Cambridge Companion to Brahms

Author: Michael Musgrave
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139825305
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
This Companion gives a comprehensive view of the German composer Johannes Brahms (1833–97). Twelve specially-commissioned chapters by leading scholars and musicians provide systematic coverage of the composer's life and works. Their essays represent recent research and reflect changing attitudes towards a composer whose public image has long been out-of-date. The first part of the book contains three chapters on Brahms's early life in Hamburg and on the middle and later years in Vienna. The central section considers the musical works in all genres, while the last part of the book offers personal accounts and responses from a conductor (Roger Norrington), a composer (Hugh Wood), and an editor of Brahms's original manuscripts (Robert Pascall). The volume as a whole is an important addition to Brahms scholarship and provides indispensable information for all students and enthusiasts of Brahms's music.

The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett

Author: Kenneth Gloag
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107021979
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Book Description
This Companion provides a wide ranging and accessible study of one of the most individual composers of the twentieth century. A team of international scholars shed new light on Tippett's major works and draw attention to those that have not yet received the attention they deserve.

The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone

Author: Richard Ingham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107494052
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone, first published in 1999, tells the story of the saxophone, its history and technical development from Adolphe Sax (who invented it c. 1840) to the end of the twentieth century. It includes extensive accounts of the instrument's history in jazz, rock and classical music as well as providing practical performance guides. Discussion of the repertoire and soloists from 1850 to the present day includes accessible descriptions of contemporary techniques and trends, and moves into the electronic age with midi wind instruments. There is a discussion of the function of the saxophone in the orchestra, in 'light music' and in rock and pop studios, as well as of the saxophone quartet as an important chamber music medium. The contributors to this volume are some of the finest performers and experts on the saxophone.