Harry Parr-Davies was no more than a name to me until I saw the documentary play about Gracie Fields and realised that the songs Sing as We Go, Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye, Pedro the Fisherman, and I Leave My Heart in an English Garden were all composed by the same man. This set me about discovering more about him. Consulting the internet, I discovered a web-site and even more importantly was given Gabrielle Bell’s CD of Harry’s music covering the styles and sounds of 30’s, 40’s an...

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You may have heard about Gracie Fields. Harry not only accompanied her, but composed for her, eventually becoming an important British major light composer in his own right. This is his life story, discussing not only his musical achievements but his personal life.

Eminent historian Paul Johnson dazzles with a rich, succinct portrait of Mozart and his musicAs he’s done in Napoleon, Churchill, Jesus, and Darwin, acclaimed historian and author Paul Johnson here offers a concise, illuminating biography of Mozart. Johnson’s focus is on the music—Mozart’s wondrous output of composition and his uncanny gift for instrumentation.Liszt once said that Mozart composed more bars than a trained ...

Grandiose and glamorous, Baroque music stands alone, written to glorify the finest courts of Europe, in Italy, France, Germany, England, Austria and even far flung Spain. Its greatest composers, such as Vivaldi, Handel and Bach, head a fascinating cast of musical magicians, including Albinoni, Pachelbel and Scarlatti. Their lives are as intriguing as their music: we find virtuoso performers who earned their bread and butter in the cathedrals of Europe while keeping company with kings and q...

An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and aficionados, 100 Great Operas is perhaps the most comprehensive and enjoyable volume of opera stories ever written.From La Traviata to Aïda, from Carmen to Don Giovanni, here are the plots of the world’s best-loved operas, told in an engaging, picturesque, and readable manner. Written by noted opera authority Henry W. Simon, this distinctive reference book contains act-by-act description...

The hidden history of the women who dared to write music in a man’s world.‘Lucid, engaging and exuberant... [Sounds and Sweet Airs] is terrifically enjoyable and accessible, and leaves one hankering for a second volume.’ The Sunday TimesFrancesca Caccini. Barbara Strozzi. Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. Marianna Martines. Fanny Hensel. Clara Schumann. Lili Boulanger. Elizabeth Maconchy.Since the birth of c...

A selection of Mozart's letters, translated into English, complete with notes, linking commentary and chronology.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the great icons of Western music. An amazing prodigy--he toured the capitals of Europe while still a child, astonishing royalty and professional musicians with his precocious skills--he wrote as an adult some of the finest music in the entire European tradition. Julian Rushton offers a concise and up-to-date biography of this musical genius, combining a well-researched life of the composer with an introduction to the works--symphonic, chamber, sacred, and ...

A fascinating look at the world of music from French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist Camille Saint-Saëns, most famous for his Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre.

Table of Contents:About: Opera List of Major Opera Composers A-Z INDEXItalian Opera: Vincenzo Bellini Ferruccio Busoni Gaetano Donizetti Giacomo Puccini Gioachino Rossini Giuseppe VerdiFrench Opera: Hector Berlioz Georges Bizet Claude Debussy Jean-Baptiste Lully Charles Gounod Jules Massenet Giacomo Meyerbeer Jacques Offenbach Maurice RavelOpera in German: George Frideric Ha...