The Muted Trumpet's Call


Book Description

Stories from veterans of every branch of the military who served in WWII--from letters, diaries, and live interviews or recorded by their families.




The Trumpet


Book Description

In the first major book devoted to the trumpet in more than two decades, John Wallace and Alexander McGrattan trace the surprising evolution and colorful performance history of one of the world's oldest instruments. They chart the introduction of the trumpet and its family into art music, and its rise to prominence as a solo instrument, from the Baroque "golden age," through the advent of valved brass instruments in the nineteenth century, and the trumpet's renaissance in the jazz age. The authors offer abundant insights into the trumpet's repertoire, with detailed analyses of works by Haydn, Handel, and Bach, and fresh material on the importance of jazz and influential jazz trumpeters for the reemergence of the trumpet as a solo instrument in classical music today. Wallace and McGrattan draw on deep research, lifetimes of experience in performing and teaching the trumpet in its various forms, and numerous interviews to illuminate the trumpet's history, music, and players. Copiously illustrated with photographs, facsimiles, and music examples throughout, The Trumpet will enlighten and fascinate all performers and enthusiasts [Publisher description].




A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player


Book Description

Titles in Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to playing technique and major works to key figures. A must-have for any musician’s personal library! Trumpeters today perform a vast repertoire of musical material spanning 500 years, much of it in a variety of styles and even on a number of related instruments. In A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player, scholar and performer, Elisa Koehler has created a key reference work that addresses all of the instruments in the high brass family, providing ready answers to issues that trumpeters, conductors, and musicians commonly—and sometimes not so commonly—encounter. Drawing on a broad range of scholarly sources, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player includes entries on historic instruments like the cornetto, keyed bugle, and slide trumpet; jazz trumpet techniques; mutes and accessories; and ancient ancestors of the trumpet and related non-Western instruments. In addition to its concise and detailed definitions, this work includes biographies of prominent performers, teachers, instrument makers, and composers of trumpet solo and ensemble literature often omitted from other musical references. Carefully labeled illustrations illuminate the inner workings of various valve mechanisms, allowing readers to visualize the more technical points of high brass instruments. Appendixes include a time line of trumpet history, a survey of valve mechanisms, a list of prominent excerpts from the orchestral and operatic repertoire, and an extensive bibliography. From quick definitions of confusing terms in a musical score to an in-depth overview of trumpet history, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player is an ideal reference for students, professionals, and music lovers.




Dieterich Buxtehude


Book Description

An enlightening, revised edition of the definitive biography on celebrated organist and composer, Dieterich Buxtehude. This book is a new edition of the most comprehensive life-and-works study of the great Baroque-era organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude (ca. 1637-1707), released to celebrate the tercentenary of the composer's death. Originally published in 1987 and long out of print, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck is considered by most musicologists to be the definitive biography. It also includes close description of Buxtehude's compositional output, from trio sonatas to the famed Abendmusiken: Buxtehude's yearly oratorio presentations. The young J. S. Bach traveled to Lübeck on foot in 1705 to learn as much as he could from the great master of the organ and of Lutheranchurch music. The revised edition contains new information on the organs that Buxtehude played in Scandinavia and Lübeck, excerpts from the newly available account books from St. Mary's in Lübeck, a discussion of newly discovered sources, including one written by J. S. Bach, an evaluation of recent scholarship on Buxtehude, and an extensive bibliography. Written for both the casual reader and the serious scholar. The accompanying music CD (this material is now provided on a companion website) provides examples of all genres discussed in the book -- vocal works, a trio sonata, harpsichord music, and organ music newly recorded on the North German meantone organ in Gothenburg, Sweden, by a noted specialist in this repertoire, Hans Davidsson, who is professor of organ at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and the founder of the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt). Kerala J.Snyder is Professor Emerita of Musicology, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester).




Performance Practice


Book Description

Performance practice is the study of how music was performed over the centuries, both by its originators (the composers and performers who introduced the works) and, later, by revivalists. This first of its kind Dictionary offers entries on composers, musiciansperformers, technical terms, performance centers, musical instruments, and genres, all aimed at elucidating issues in performance practice. This A-Z guide will help students, scholars, and listeners understand how musical works were originally performed and subsequently changed over the centuries. Compiled by a leading scholar in the field, this work will serve as both a point-of-entry for beginners as well as a roadmap for advanced scholarship in the field.




Acoustics and the Performance of Music


Book Description

This classic reference on musical acoustics and performance practice begins with a brief introduction to the fundamentals of acoustics and the generation of musical sounds. It then discusses the particulars of the sounds made by all the standard instruments in a modern orchestra as well as the human voice, the way in which the sounds made by these instruments are dispersed and how the room into which they are projected affects the sounds.




Jazz in Print (1859-1929)


Book Description

This anthology was compiled to aid the scholar working on the origins and evolution of jazz. Covering materials published through 1929, it also begins with article from 1859 which do not concern jazz directly, but will serve to present a solid foundation for understanding the American music scene from which jazz developed. Chronologically listed and well-indexed, the hundreds of articles comprise, in effect, a history of jazz as it evolved. Beginning with accounts of Negro music in the pre-jazz era, continuing in an exploration of spirituals, followed by a description of ragtime, we finally learn about the development of jazz from its practitioners and informed audiences of the time.




Nicolas Slonimsky: Music of the modern era


Book Description

Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was an influential and celebrated writer on music. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1894, in his 101 years he taught and coached music; conducted the premieres of several 20th century masterpieces; composed works for piano and voice; and oversaw the 5th-8th editions of the classic "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians." Beginning in 1926, Slonimsky resided in the United States. From his arrival, he wrote provocative articles on contemporary music and musicians, many of whom were his personal friends. Working as a freelance author, he built a large file of reviews, articles, and even manuscripts for books that were never published. This is the third volume of a 4 volume collection on the best of this material.




Trading with the Enemy


Book Description

Granted unprecedented access to travel throughout the country, this lively travelogue presents us with rare insight into one of the world's only Communist countries. "Havana knew me by my shoes," begins Tom Miller's lively and entertaining account of his sojourn for more than eight months traveling through Cuba, mixing with its literati and black marketers, its cane cutters and cigar rollers. Its best-known personalities and ordinary citizens talk to him about the U.S. embargo and tell their favorite Fidel jokes as they stand in line for bread at the Socialism or Death Bakery. Miller provides a running commentary on Cuba's food shortages, exotic sensuality, and baseball addiction as he follows the scents of Graham Greene, Joséarti, Ernest Hemingway, and the Mambo Kings. The result of this informed and adventurous journey is a vibrant, rhythmic portrait of a land and people too long shielded from American eyes.




Mahler's Voices


Book Description

Mahler's Voices brings together a close reading of the renowned composer's music with wide-ranging cultural and historical interpretation, unique in being a study not of Mahler's works as such but of Mahler's musical style.