Rough Fugue


Book Description

Betty Adcock brings fierce insight to her seventh poetry collection, Rough Fugue. Her elegant stanzas evoke bygone moments of beauty, reflection, and rage. “Let things be spare,” she writes, “and words for things be thin / as the slice of moon / the loon’s cry snips.” Adcock’s poems are often spare but never thin, shifting effortlessly from the eerie red of brake lights on a Texas highway to the fluorescents of an office building where a tired worker imagines a holiday in Spain. Adcock reflects upon her poetic forebears, chronicling the desire to write that led them to create cuneiform tablets, scrolls of papyrus, and ultimately vellum and parchment. She also recounts memories about the life with her late husband and tries to define herself in the bewildering new role of “widow.” In poems ranging in tone from playful to reverential, Rough Fugue showcases the work of a veteran poet at her masterful best.




Music


Book Description




Underground Fugue


Book Description

A New York Times Editors' Choice Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Finalist “A pleasure to read from beginning to end.” —Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March Esther, an American art conservator, has fled New York for London—partly to escape her failing marriage, partly to tend to her dying mother. On her first night there, she spots a young man returning home very late, wet and muddy, to the house next door. Their eyes connect and he disappears inside. This first encounter sparks Esther’s curiosity about her new neighbors: Amir, the moody college student she caught sneaking in, and, more intruiguing still, Amir’s father, Javad—a neuroscientist from Iran. Throughout the spring, a tentative friendship blossoms, but when terrorists attack London’s tube and bus lines in July, Esther finds her relationship with Javad strained by her gnawing suspicions about Amir . . . suspicions that will ultimately upend the possibilities for the future, and reveal the deep stamp of the past. Sweeping, suspenseful, and exquisitely written, Underground Fugue is a powerful testament to how human connection can survive history’s most fearsome echoes.




Music


Book Description




My life


Book Description

"My Life" by Richard Wagner is a captivating autobiographical work that offers readers an intimate glimpse into the life and mind of one of the most influential composers in music history. In this engrossing memoir, Wagner traces his life's journey from his early years to his artistic triumphs and personal trials. Wagner's writing is both introspective and eloquent as he reflects on his musical inspirations, creative process, and the challenges he faced in realizing his operatic masterpieces. His encounters with fellow artists, intellectuals, and rulers of the time provide a fascinating historical backdrop. The memoir is not only a personal narrative but also a window into the artistic and cultural milieu of 19th-century Europe. Wagner's passion for music and his unyielding dedication to his artistic vision shine through every page. "My Life" is a testament to the power of art and the unrelenting pursuit of one's creative calling. It delves into themes of love, ambition, and the transformative impact of music on the human soul. This memoir remains a captivating read for music enthusiasts, history buffs, and anyone who appreciates the profound influence of art on our lives. Discover the extraordinary life and artistic legacy of Richard Wagner in his own words, as he takes you on a journey through the highs and lows of a life dedicated to the pursuit of musical greatness. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a German composer and conductor whose influence on Western classical music is immeasurable. Born in Leipzig, Germany, Wagner is best known for his epic operas, including "Tristan und Isolde," "Parsifal," and the monumental four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen." Wagner's music is characterized by its emotional intensity, innovative harmonic structures, and the use of leitmotifs—musical themes associated with specific characters or ideas. His operas often explore themes of love, destiny, and the human condition. Beyond his musical contributions, Wagner was a controversial figure due to his nationalist and anti-Semitic beliefs. Nevertheless, his impact on the world of opera and classical music remains undeniable. His works continue to be performed and studied by musicians and music enthusiasts worldwide, making him one of the most influential composers in the history of music.




Notes on Fugue for Beginners


Book Description

Originally published in 1958, this book presents a concise guide to the structural elements of the fugue aimed at the beginner.




Notes on the Piano


Book Description

This easy, entertaining read by a distinguished musician and teacher is suitable for players at all levels. Topics include "The Performer," "The Learner," "The Player and Writer," "The Observer," and "Technically Speaking."




Hard Lines


Book Description

A collection of contemporary poems exploring the grit of work, love, and the land down South Daniel Cross Turner and William Wright's anthology Hard Lines: Rough South Poetry centers on the darker side of southern experience while presenting a remarkable array of poets from diverse backgrounds in the American South. As tough-minded as they are high-minded, the sixty contemporary poets and two hundred poems anthologized in Hard Lines enhance the powerful genre of "Grit Lit." The volume gathers the work of poets who have for some decades formed the heart of southern poetry as well as that of emerging voices who will soon become significant figures in southern literature. These poems sting our sensesinto awareness of a gritty world down South: hard work, hard love, hard drinking, hard times; but they also explore the importance of the land and rural experience, as well as race-, gender-, and class-based conflicts. Readers will see, hear (for poetry is meant to ring in the ears), and feel (for poetry is meant to beat in the blood); there is plenty of raucousness in this anthology.And yet the cultural conflicts that ignite southern wildness are often depicted in a manner that is lyrical without becoming lugubrious, mournful but not maudlin. Some of these poets are coming to terms with a visibly transforming culture—a "roughness" in and of itself. Indeed many of these poets are helping to change the definition of the South. The anthology also features biographical information on each poet in addition to further reading suggestions and scholarly sources on contemporary poetry. Featured Poets: Betty Adcock, David Bottoms, Kathryn Stripling Byer, James Dickey, Rodney Jones, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ron Rash, Dave Smith, Natasha Trethewey, Charles Wright, Fred Chappell, Kelly Cherry, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Kate Daniels, Kwame Dawes, Claudia Emerson, Andrew Hudgins, T. R. Hummer, Robert Morgan, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Dan Albergotti, Tarfia Faizullah, Forrest Gander, Terrance Hayes, Judy Jordan, John Lane, Michael McFee, Paul Ruffin, Steve Scafidi, Jake Adam York




Reality’s Fugue


Book Description

Science, religion, philosophy: these three categories of thought have organized humankind’s search for meaning from time immemorial. Reality’s Fugue presents a compelling case that these ways of understanding, often seen as competing, are part of a larger puzzle that cannot be rendered by one account of reality alone. This book begins with an overview of the concept of reality and the philosophical difficulties associated with attempts to account for it through any single worldview. By clarifying the differences among first-person, third-person, and dualist understandings of reality, F. Samuel Brainard repurposes the three predominant ways of making sense of those differences: exclusionist (only one worldview can be right), inclusivist (viewing other worldviews through the lens of one in order to incorporate them all, and thus distorting them), and pluralist or relativist (holding that there are no universals, and truth is relative). His alternative mode of understanding uses Douglas Hofstadter’s metaphor of a musical fugue that allows different “voices” and “melodies” of worldviews to coexist in counterpoint and conversation, while each remains distinct, with none privileged above the others. Approaching reality in this way, Brainard argues, opens up the possibility for a multivoiced perspective that can overcome the skeptical challenges that metaphysical positions face. Engagingly argued by a lifelong scholar of philosophy and global religions, this edifying and accessible exploration of the nature of reality addresses deeply meaningful questions about belief, reconciliation, and being.




My Life; Biography


Book Description

Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.