"The research is voluminous, as is the artistry and perceptiveness. Swayne has lived richly within the world of Sondheim's music."---Richard Crawford, author of America's Musical Life: A History"Sondheim's career and music have never been so skillfully dissected, examined, and put in context. With its focus on his work as composer, this book is surprising and welcome."---Theodore S. Chapin, President and Executive Director, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organizat...

Winner of the ASCAP Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical Biography The musical landscape of New York City and the United States of America would look quite different had it not been for William Schuman. Orpheus in Manhattan, a fully objective and comprehensive biography of Schuman, portrays a man who had a profound influence upon the artistic and political institutions of his day and beyond. Steve Swayne draws heavily upon Schuman's letters, writings, and manuscripts as...

Winner of the ASCAP Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical Biography The musical landscape of New York City and the United States of America would look quite different had it not been for William Schuman. Orpheus in Manhattan, a fully objective and comprehensive biography of Schuman, portrays a man who had a profound influence upon the artistic and political institutions of his day and beyond. Steve Swayne draws heavily upon Schuman's letters, writings, and manuscripts as...

"Gottlieb captures both the divine and human, offering an elegant, sharp, and sophisticated take on the choreographer's life." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)Written by the gifted author, editor, and dance critic Robert Gottlieb, George Balanchine describes the life and art of the celebrated, revolutionary ballet choreographer and founder of The New York City Ballet.The foremost contemporary choreographer in the history of ballet, Georg...

The second edition of the "milestone" work of history that focuses on female musicians through the ages ( College Music Symposium).This updated, expanded, and reorganized edition of Women and Music features even more women composers, performers, and patrons, even more musical contexts, and an expanded view of women in music outside Europe and North America.A popular university textbook, Women and Music is enlightening for scholars, ...

A composer and lyricist of enormous innovation and influence, Marc Blitzstein remains one of the most versatile and fascinating figures in the history of American music, his creative output running the gamut from films scores and Broadway operas to art songs and chamber pieces. A prominent leftist and social maverick, Blitzstein constantly pushed the boundaries of convention in mid-century America in both his work and his life. Award-winning music historian Howard Pollack's new biography c...

In the first full-scale life of the mostimportant composer-lyricist at work in musical theatre today, Meryle Secrest, the biographer of Frank Lloyd Wright and Leonard Bernstein, draws on her extended conversations with Stephen Sondheim as well as on her interviews with his friends, family, collaborators, and lovers to bring us not only the artist--as a master ofmodernist compositional style--but also the private man.Beginning with his early childhood on New York's pros...

One of The Telegraph's Best Music Books 2011Alex Ross's award-winning international bestseller, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, has become a contemporary classic, establishing Ross as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. Listen to This, which takes its title from a beloved 2004 essay in which Ross describes his late-blooming discovery of pop music, showcases the best of his writing from more than a decade at

Brimming with advice and techniques, this essential reference for book- and songwriters clearly explains the fundamentals of the three crafts of a musical-book, music, and lyrics. Using copious examples from classic shows, Frankel has created the quintessential musical writers' how-to. Among the topics:definitions of musical theater; differences between musical books and straight plays and between poetry and lyrics; what a score is and how it develops; how to write for the voice; and how t...

Musicals are the most popular form of stage entertainment today, with the West End and Broadway dominated by numerous long-running hits. But for every Wicked or Phantom of the Opera, there are dozens of casualties that didn't fare quite so well. In this book, Julian Woolford explores the musical-theatre canon to explain why and how some musicals work, why some don't, and what you should (and shouldn't) do if you're thinking of writing your own.Drawing on his exper...

A beautifully composed journey through music history!Music history is a required course for all music students. Unfortunately, the typical music history book is dry and academic, focusing on rote memorization of important composers and works. This leads many to think that the topic is boring, but bestselling author Michael Miller proves that isn’t so. This guide makes music history interesting and fun, for both music students and older music lovers.

This book was designed for use in a one-semester dance appreciation survey class. As such, I have attempted to limit the information provided to that which can be covered comfortably. This means that many noteworthy choreographers and dancers do not appear in this text. Teachers may wish to add other important contributors to the art of dance, particularly in Chapters five, six, and seven.Tami M. White is an adjunct faculty member with the Dance Department at Old Dominion Universit...