Showing titles in History & Criticism

Simon Critchley first encountered David Bowie in the early '70s, when the singer appeared on Britain's most-watched music show, Top of the Pops. His performance of "Starman" mesmerized Critchley: it was "so sexual, so knowing, so strange". Two days later Critchley's mum bought a copy of the single; she liked both the song and the performer's bright orange hair (she had previously been a hairdresser). The seed of a lifelong love affair was thus planted in the mind of her son, aged 12.

Black Music is a book about the brilliant young jazz musicians of the early 1960s: John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, and others. It is composed of essays, reviews, interviews, liner notes, musical analyses, and personal impressions from 1959-1967. Also includes Amiri Baraka's reflections in a 2009 interview with Calvin Reid of Publishers Weekly.

Just what was it about the Grateful Dead that made them rock and roll's most beloved band? In Deadheads, those with the real story, who were there and are still listening to the music, explain it all. Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow talks about his lifelong friendship with Dead guitarist Bob Weir. Cajun chef Rick Begneaud shares his memories of feeding the Dead. John Popper of Blues Traveler recalls playing with the Dead at Bill Graham's memorial tribute .

The life of Franz Schubert has been a gift to romantically inclined biographers: the beautiful, brilliant, modest boy who sprang to fully fledged genius at the age of sixteen; the quintessential ‘artist in a garret’, entirely consumed by his art and living a hand-to-mouth existence in Vienna (home of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven); the gentle, cheerful, convivial young man who prized friendship almost as highly as music itself; the unworldly poet from whom great music poured like water from a fountain; the unrecognized master who died almost penniless at the age of 31.

Amid a background of wars and revolution, the 19th century produced many of the world's best-loved composers, including Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky. Discover: Music of the Romantic Era charts the course of music through those turbulent but exhilarating times with 40 music excerpts. Light-hearted but authoritative, it tells the fascinating, often scandalous life stories of the 19th century's greatest composers and describes how they created musical history.

Suddenly the music is not notes or a tune, but what those seven people are exactly: the music is an aural holograph of the Grateful Dead. All their fibers, nuances, histories, desires, beings are clear. Jerry and his questing, Phil the loyal comrade, Tom drifting beside them both on a cloud, Pig staying stubbornly down to earth; Mickey working out furious complexities trying to understand how Bill is so simple, and Bob succumbing inevitably to Jerry and Phil and joining them.

Da Andrea e Franz Campi, musicisti e artisti della scena bolognese, da sempre appassionati di musica italiana e di teatro. La canzone popolare italiana ha segnato un'epoca, due secoli fatti di versi e musica, dove i protagonisti sono le persone del popolo, prive di qualsivoglia cultura o preparazione accademica, ma dotate di un grande senso del ritmo, della poesia e della musicalità. Dal popolo sono nate "canzonette" ormai simbolo della nostra cultura, come "O Sole mio", "O surdato 'nnammurato", "Mamma" e "Volare".

Con uno stile raffinato e trascinante, Vittorio Sermonti "spiega al popolo" quattordici opere di Verdi, "il più spudorato genio della musica per teatro", dal Nabucco all'Otello, passando per l'Aida, il Rigoletto, il Trovatore e la Traviata. Ci fa riscoprire i celebri melodrammi attraverso il racconto della trama e persino della musica, l'analisi dei personaggi, riferimenti alla vita e alle lettere di Verdi, accenni alle vicende del libretto, notizie sparse sulle prime esecuzioni, annotazioni storiche sull'Italia del Risorgimento e dell'Unità.

Mishima, Joan Colomo, Bankrobber, Manel, Antònia Font, Anna Cerdà, David Carabén, Sanjosex, Mazoni, Za!, Anímic, el PopArb, l’Heliogàbal i molts altres protagonistes i llocs comuns d’una certa escena musical catalana contemporània es troben dins d’aquest llibre. Però, d’on surt, ben bé? Quin abast té, aquest eco? S’expandeix o es contrau? Martí Sales es submergeix en el moment per parlar amb els seus artífexs i veure com s’articula creació i mitjans, música i indústria, passat, present i futur.

I episode 6 af "Historien om Malurt" skal du høre om, da successen begynder at tærer på bandet, og om da forsanger Michael Falch beslutter sig for at langtidsparkere Malurt. Hvordan blev Malurt til et af 1980'ernes mest toneangivende danske rockbands? Fortællingen begynder i den sønderjyske by Tønder, hvor de to knægte Michael Falch og Christian Arendt møder hinanden. Det bliver de to, der sammen med guitaristen Peter Mors i 1977 i et øvelokale i Folkets Hus på Jagtvej 69 i København danner Malurt.

I episode 5 af "Historien om Malurt" skal du høre om, da Malurt for alvor bliver et af Danmarks største rockbands. Hvordan blev Malurt til et af 1980'ernes mest toneangivende danske rockbands? Fortællingen begynder i den sønderjyske by Tønder, hvor de to knægte Michael Falch og Christian Arendt møder hinanden. Det bliver de to, der sammen med guitaristen Peter Mors i 1977 i et øvelokale i Folkets Hus på Jagtvej 69 i København danner Malurt. I "Historien om Malurt" kan du høre de tidlige Malurt-medlemmer fortælle om rockscenen i København i 1980’erne.

I episode 4 af "Historien om Malurt" skal du høre om, hvordan Malurt så småt bliver et etableret undergrundsband, og om da de indspiller deres første plade Kold krig i det legendariske Sweet Silence studie på Christianshavn i København. Hvordan blev Malurt til et af 1980'ernes mest toneangivende danske rockbands? Fortællingen begynder i den sønderjyske by Tønder, hvor de to knægte Michael Falch og Christian Arendt møder hinanden. Det bliver de to, der sammen med guitaristen Peter Mors i 1977 i et øvelokale i Folkets Hus på Jagtvej 69 i København danner Malurt.

I episode 3 af "Historien om Malurt" skal du høre om, da Michael Falch og Christian Arendt begynder at drømme om at starte et rigtig band, og hvordan de finder en trommeslager ved at indrykke en annonce i Politiken. Hvordan blev Malurt til et af 1980'ernes mest toneangivende danske rockbands? Fortællingen begynder i den sønderjyske by Tønder, hvor de to knægte Michael Falch og Christian Arendt møder hinanden. Det bliver de to, der sammen med guitaristen Peter Mors i 1977 i et øvelokale i Folkets Hus på Jagtvej 69 i København danner Malurt.

Wenn man mehr vom Leben der Komponisten weiß, hört man ihre Musik anders. Wenn man weiß, was für ein schwieriger Mensch Robert Schumann war, wie sehr seine Frau Clara um ein eigenständiges Leben und Arbeiten kämpfen musste, wie innig ihrer beider Freundschaft zum jungen Johannes Brahms war - dann spürt man plötzlich all das auch in ihrer Musik.

Wie die Familie Bach im Alltag lebte, Händel sich kurieren ließ und Telemann sein Geld anlegte Bruno Preisendörfers Zeitreise führt in die Zeit der Fürstenfeste und Bauernhochzeiten, der Stadtpfeifer und Bierfiedler, der Kaffeehäuser und Kastraten - nämlich ins Barock. Das Deutschland, in das wir mit Bruno Preisendörfer reisen, war erfüllt von der Musik tausender Hoforchester, Kirchenorgeln und Chöre, ob zur Unterhaltung des Adels, zu jedem Gottesdienst oder auf den Dorffesten der einfachen Leute - immer wurde gefiedelt, geflötet und getrommelt.

For half a century, Michael Jackson’s music has been an indelible part of our cultural consciousness. Landmark albums such as Off the Wall and Thriller shattered records, broke racial barriers, amassed awards, and set a new standard for popular music. While his songs continue to be played in...

Washington Post national arts reporter Geoff Edgers takes a deep dive into the story behind “Walk This Way,” Aerosmith and Run-DMC's legendary, groundbreaking mashup that forever changed music. The early 1980s were an exciting time for music. Hair metal bands were selling out stadiums, while...

One fateful evening, journalist Eric Siblin attended a recital of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites and began an epic quest that would unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. Winner of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Nonfiction and the McAuslan First Book Prize, The Cello Suites weaves together three dramatic narratives: the disappearance of Bach's manuscript in the 18th century; Pablo Casals's discovery and popularization of the music in Spain in the late-19th century; and Siblin's infatuation with the suites in the present day.

From Oscar Wilde to Ziggy Stardust, from Liberace to Lou Reed and T Rex to Roxy Music, here is the flamboyant decadence, the androgyny, and the sheer unadulterated fun of the early '70s - in an incredible rock history that tells it like it was.

All You Need Is Myth is a timely philosophical conversation about ancient concepts that continue to reverberate in the modern age of mass media and global communication. Author Steve Wagner proposes that the Beatles and the iconic stars of the classic rock era function as modern forms of classical archetypes familiar in mythologies and religious traditions throughout history.