- Table View
- List View
The Witch's Daughter: My Mother, Her Magic, and the Madness that Bound Us
by Orenda FinkAcclaimed indie musician and songwriter Orenda Fink delivers a lyrical and moving memoir of a tumultuous childhood with a mother who battled mental illness and addiction. From her perch on a kitchen stool each night, Orenda Fink&’s darkly charismatic mother spins family lore and tells tales of the supernatural powers she wields, insisting that both she and Orenda are magic. By day, Orenda&’s childhood is marked by instability and uncertainty. Her family moves from town to town, chasing a fresh start whenever the money runs out. Orenda&’s mother insists that she is a witch, and magic is their means of protection from the world outside of their family. Orenda encounters her mother&’s magic in all its forms: a crisp $20 bill materializes from nothing when money has run out and a bottle of congealed blood lurks in the closet for unspoken reasons. When her mother&’s substance abuse and controlling behavior crescendo, Orenda escapes to pursue a music career in Birmingham, Alabama, and then storied Athens, Georgia, forming bands Little Red Rocket and Azure Ray. She orbits the family home, always drawn back by her mother&’s dark powers and her own need to solve the mystery of whether that claim of magic—or any magic—is real, or merely an expression of mental illness. Orenda&’s journey takes her from churches in the American South—eager to exercise the demons out of her—to even more mysterious practitioners of country magic in the Southeast and beyond. Finally seeking refuge in California&’s high desert, Orenda works to knit together her divided worlds with the help of a Jungian psychotherapist. She is stunned to learn that her mother fits many of the criteria associated with borderline personality disorder, including a sub-type identified by famed thought leader Christine Ann Lawson, known as &“The Witch&”—an aggressive, dominating figure who operates by fear-driven control, sometimes claiming to wield magic. Told in spellbinding prose, this memoir of music, self-discovery, and compassion is for anyone who has had to conjure a safe place to call home.
The Woman Composer: Creativity and the Gendered Politics of Musical Composition
by Jill HalsteadUnlike previous anthologizing examinations of women and musical composition, this book concentrates on the reasons why there have been, and continue to be, so few women composers. Jill Halstead focuses on the experiences of nine composers born in the twentieth century (Avril Coleridge Taylor, Grace Williams, Elizabeth Maconchy, Minna Keal, Ruth Gipps, Antoinette Kirkwood, Enid Luff, Judith Bailey and Bryony Jagger) to explore the physiological, social and political factors that have inhibited women from pursuing careers as composers. Is there a biological argument for inferior female creativity? Do social structures, such as marriage, serve to restrict potential women composers? Is the gender of a composer reflected in the music they write? If so, how would this manifest itself? The conclusions that are reached are as complex and challenging as the questions that are raised. This powerful and provocative book aims to open up debate on these issues, which have all too often be avoided by critics and musicologists whose writings have perpetuated arguments that denigrate women's ability to compose. By confronting these arguments, this study will hopefully begin a reassessment of attitudes towards women and music, so that women composers are less of a rarity by the end of the next century.
The Woman in Me
by Britney SpearsThe Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. <p><p> In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. <p><p> Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Woman in Me
by Britney SpearsThe Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears&’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
The Women of Quyi: Liminal Voices and Androgynous Bodies (SOAS Studies in Music)
by Francesca R. Sborgi LawsonWhy has the female voice—as the resonant incarnation of the female body—inspired both fascination and ambivalence? Why were women restricted from performing on the Chinese public stage? How have female roles and voices been appropriated by men throughout much of the history of Chinese theatre? Why were the women of quyi—a community of Chinese female singers in Republican Tianjin—able to become successful, respected artists when other female singers and actors in competing performance traditions struggled for acceptance? Drawing substantially on original ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson offers answers to these questions and demonstrates how the women of quyi successfully negotiated their sexuality and vocality in performance. Owing to their role as third-person narrators, the women of quyi bridged the gender gap, creating an androgynous persona that de-emphasized their feminine appearance and, at the same time, allowed them to showcase their female voices on public stages—places that had been previously unwelcoming to female artists. This is a story about female storytellers who sang their way to respectability and social change in the early decades of the twentieth century by minimizing their bodies in order to allow their voices to be heard.
The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Survival
by Anne Sebba'Superb and timely' KATE MOSSE'Impressive, important, deeply moving' SARAH WATERS'Brilliant' ANTHONY HOROWITZWhat role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to be forced to provide solace to the perpetrators of a genocide that claimed the lives of their family and friends? In 1943, German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. Almost fifty women and girls from eleven nations were assembled to play marching music to other inmates - forced labourers who left each morning and returned, exhausted and often broken, at the end of the day - and give weekly concerts for Nazi officers. Individual members were sometimes summoned to give solo performances of an officer's favourite piece of music. It was the only entirely female orchestra in any of the Nazi prison camps and, for almost all of the musicians chosen to take part, being in the orchestra was to save their lives. In The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, award-winning historian Anne Sebba tells their astonishing story with sensitivity and care.
The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Survival
by Anne Sebba'Superb and timely' KATE MOSSE'Impressive, important, deeply moving' SARAH WATERS'Brilliant' ANTHONY HOROWITZWhat role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to be forced to provide solace to the perpetrators of a genocide that claimed the lives of their family and friends? In 1943, German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. Almost fifty women and girls from eleven nations were assembled to play marching music to other inmates - forced labourers who left each morning and returned, exhausted and often broken, at the end of the day - and give weekly concerts for Nazi officers. Individual members were sometimes summoned to give solo performances of an officer's favourite piece of music. It was the only entirely female orchestra in any of the Nazi prison camps and, for almost all of the musicians chosen to take part, being in the orchestra was to save their lives. In The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, award-winning historian Anne Sebba tells their astonishing story with sensitivity and care.
The Wonder Years: My Life & Times with Stevie Wonder
by Ted Hull Paula L. StahelTed Hull was not a singer or a musician, however he was very involved in Stevie Wonder's life and Motown. Ted was Stevie's teacher, mentor and companion.
The Wonderbird
by David LucasA breathtakingly beautiful picture book about togetherness, perfect for fans of The Fox and the Star.A flock of birds flew among the stars, twittering, chirruping, piping, hooting, all singing one wonderful song ...They sang to the Wonderbird, a million different voices all in harmony.But who IS the Wonderbird? wondered Piper.As the birds scatter to seek the mysterious Wonderbird, Piper travels to the edge of the Milky Way ... and, lost and alone, discovers the answer to his question. David Lucas's extraordinary book reminds us that there is nothing more powerful than togetherness.
The Woodwinds: Perform, Understand, Teach
by James ByoThe Woodwinds: Perform, Understand, Teach provides comprehensive coverage about the woodwind family of musical instruments for prospective instrumental music teachers. What sets this book apart is its focus on how to teach the instruments. Preparing students in the how of teaching is the ultimate goal of the woodwind class and the ultimate goal of this book, which organizes information by its use in teaching beginning instrumentalists. In developing performance and understanding, pre-service teachers are positioned to learn to teach through performance—contrasted with an "old-school" belief that one must first spend much time tediously trying to understand how things work before playing the instruments. The book is organized in three parts: Preliminaries, Teaching the Instruments, and Foundations. Chapters in Teaching the Instruments are organized by instrument (flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon) and, within each instrument, according to how an effective teacher might organize experiences for novice learners. Basic embouchure and air stream are covered first, followed by instrument assembly, then hands and holding. Embouchure coverage returns in greater depth, then articulation, and finally "the mechanism," which includes sections on the instruments of the family, transposition, range, special fingerings, tuning and intonation, and reeds. In Foundations, topics are situated in big picture contexts, calling attention to the broad applicability of information across instruments.
The Work of Music Theory: Selected Essays (Ashgate Contemporary Thinkers On Critical Musicology Ser.)
by Thomas ChristensenThis collection brings together an anthology of articles by Thomas Christensen, one of the leading historians of music theory active today. Published over the span of the past 25 years, the selected articles provide a historical conspectus about a range of vital topics in the history of music theory, focusing in particular upon writings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Christensen examines a variety of theorists and their arguments within the intellectual and musical contexts of their time, in the process highlighting the diverse and idiosyncratic nature of the discipline of music theory itself. In the first section of the book Christensen offers general reflections on the meaning and interpretation of historical music theories, with especial attention paid to their value for music theorists today. The second section of the book contains a number of articles that consider the catalytic role of the thorough bass in the development of harmonic theory during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the final two sections of the anthology, focus turns to the writings of several individual music theorists, including Marin Mersenne, Seth Calvisius, Johann Mattheson, Johann Nicolaus Bach, Denis Diderot and Johann Nichelmann. The volume includes essays from hard-to-find publications as well as newly-translated material and the articles are prefaced by a new, wide-ranging autobiographical essay by the author that offers a broad re-assessment of his historical project. This book is essential reading for music theorists and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century musicologists.
The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams
by Michael KennedyThis is the authoritative account of Vaughan Williams's musical life - the story of a great composer's career, and at the same time the story of music in England over half a century and more. Kennedy considers the principal works in chronological order, outlining the main features of each and discussing details of the music's structure, often illuminating his point with a musical quotation. He also provides a good deal of biographical data, and so builds up a picture of the composer, as well as providing thumbnail sketches of many of Vaughan Williams's friends and colleagues. Kennedy's extensive knowledge of Vaughan Williams's output also enables him to refer back and forth across the works to pick out lines of development and influence. The book includes a full classified list of Vaughan Williams's works. Michael Kennedy has provided a new preface.
The World According To Noddy: Life Lessons Learned In and Out of Rock & Roll
by Noddy HolderWhat makes Noddy Holder tick? Godfather of glam, national treasure and thinking grandmother’s crumpet, Noddy has been at the epicentre of British pop culture since he stormed on to the music scene in the 1960s, and in The World According to Noddy he gives us a hilarious window on to his extraordinary life. Told in his own inimitable style, Noddy shares insider accounts of his days on the road, along with a healthy dose of celebrity gossip, and leaves no stone unturned as he expounds on some of his favourite subjects – fame, friendship and fatherhood, the perils of social media and the modern age, not to mention what it would be like if he ruled the world . . . From his early days on the West Midlands beat scene, including a stint as a roadie for Robert Plant, Noddy charts his rise from skinhead stomper to international pop-star, statesman, playboy, male model and philosopher, and of course one of the most integral parts of a Great British Christmas. Witty, wise and tremendously funny, this is Noddy Holder at his glittering best.
The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards
by David Honeyboy EdwardsThis vivid oral snapshot of an America that planted the blues is full of rhythmic grace. From the son of a sharecropper to an itinerant bluesman, Honeyboy's stories of good friends Charlie Patton, Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs, and Robert Johnson are a godsend to blues fans. History buffs will marvel at his unique perspective and firsthand accounts of the 1927 Mississippi River flood, vagrancy laws, makeshift courts in the back of seed stores, plantation life, and the Depression.
The World Got Away: A Memoir (Music in American Life)
by Mikel RouseOne of the most innovative composers of his generation, Mikel Rouse is known for a trilogy of operas that includes Dennis Cleveland and a gift for superimposing pop vernaculars onto avant-garde music. This memoir channels Rouse’s high energy personality into an exuberant account of the precarity and pleasures of artistic creation. Raconteur and starving artist, witty observer and acclaimed musician, Rouse emerged from the legendary art world of 1980s New York to build a forty-year career defined by stage and musical successes, inexhaustible creativity, and a support network of famous faces, loyal allies, and high art hustlers. Rouse guides readers through a working artists’ hardscrabble life while illuminating the unromantic truth that a project’s reception may depend on a talented cast and crew but can depend on reliable air conditioning. Candid and hilarious, The World Got Away is a one-of-a-kind account of a creative life fueled by talent, work, and luck.
The World Of Music
by David WilloughbyThe World of Music is a music listening book designed for the growing number of teachers who want to focus on listening to music as it exists in the real world of their students. Expanding the traditional repertoire used for music study, this popular text begins with American folk, religious, jazz, popular, and ethnic music before introducing some world music and concluding with a thorough overview of Western classical music. The approach captures the essence of each repertoire, and equips students to recognize different styles, appreciate their different functions, and possess a solid foundation for a lifetime of musical appreciation. The text also introduces students to the many styles of music currently enjoyed by people in the United States and helps them to appreciate the diverse roots of these styles. In addition, the text encourages its readers to appreciate different cultures around the world through an encounter with their music.
The World in Six Songs
by Daniel J. LevitinThe author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times) Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod. Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
by Daniel J. LevitinThe author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times)Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod.Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
by Daniel J. LevitinThe author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times)Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod.Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
by Daniel J. LevitinThe author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times)Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod.Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The World of Ariana Grande: The Ultimate Unofficial Fan Guide Packed with Facts, Stats and Quizzes (The World Of #2)
by Catherine Saunders*THE ULTIMATE UNOFFICIAL ARIANA GRANDE FAN BOOK*Discover everything there is to know about Ariana Grande, pop icon, actress and star. Follow her amazing journey from moving to New York City to chase her dreams, to becoming a worldwide singing sensation and star of much-anticipated movie musical, Wicked.Uncover the secrets of Ariana Grande's biggest hits, amazing style and extraordinary world - from how she makes her award-winning pop songs and sells out arena tours, to creating her own amazing beauty line and starring on the big screen.Put your knowledge to the test with quick quizzes, impress your friends with the most amazing quotes, and discover record-breaking stellar stats and facts all about pop icon and star, Ariana Grande!*This book has not been authorised, licensed or endorsed by Ariana Grande, Universal Music Group or any associated company.Buy this book if you're looking for:- gifts for girls and boys aged 8, 9, 10, 11- a book that will inspire the biggest Ariana Grande and Wicked fans in your life- a book to get kids more interested in reading- a kid-favourite gift for birthdays, holidays or Christmas
The World of BTS: The Ultimate Unofficial Fan Guide Packed with Facts, Stats and Quizzes (The World Of #3)
by Catherine Saunders*THE ULTIMATE UNOFFICIAL BTS FAN BOOK*Discover everything there is to know about BTS, K-pop icons, solo artists and international stars. Follow their amazing journey from band formation to international stadium tours, solo careers to military service, and their future plans now they're getting back together. Uncover the secrets of BTS's biggest hits, amazing hairstyles and extraordinary fandom - from how they were recruited into the band to their spin-off acting careers.Put your knowledge to the test with quick quizzes, impress your friends with the most amazing quotes and discover record-breaking stellar stats and facts all about pop icons BTS!
The World of BTS: The Ultimate Unofficial Fan Guide Packed with Facts, Stats and Quizzes (The World Of #3)
by Catherine Saunders*THE ULTIMATE UNOFFICIAL BTS FAN BOOK*Discover everything there is to know about BTS, K-pop icons, solo artists and international stars. Follow their amazing journey from band formation to international stadium tours, solo careers to military service, and their future plans now they're getting back together. Uncover the secrets of BTS's biggest hits, amazing hairstyles and extraordinary fandom - from how they were recruited into the band to their spin-off acting careers.Put your knowledge to the test with quick quizzes, impress your friends with the most amazing quotes and discover record-breaking stellar stats and facts all about pop icons BTS!
The World of Henry Orient
by Nora Johnson"Two adolescent girls find companionship in each other as they follow the life of a concert pianist."
The World of Jerome Kern: A Biography
by David Ewen Jerome KernThe year was 1905, the name of the show was The Earl and the Girl, the hit tune was “How’d You Like to Spoon With Me?” and it started an unknown young songwriter named Jerome Kern on the road to success. Forty years and 1,000 songs later, at the time of his death, Jerome Kern was already a legend in Tin Pan Alley.Now the fantastic life story of this gentle little “music man” is told for the first time in a full-scale biography. David Ewen has painted a masterful portrait of Kern—the warm and ebullient human being, the creative genius whose melodies transformed America’s taste in popular music.Here is Kern the composer as seen through the eyes of his celebrated collaborators: Otto Harbach, Guy Bolton, Oscar Hammerstein II; as the creator of the memorable songs: “Who?”, “Look for the Silver Lining,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and the one that had the composers themselves swooning—“Οl’ Man River.” Here, too, are the stories behind the great musicals of a glittering era: Sally, Roberta, Music in the Air, and, of course, Show Boat— the American classic that is perhaps Kern’s greatest monument.Interlaced throughout the book are warm glimpses of a successful man who enjoyed living and lived well: his youth in New York City and on the Continent, his marriage to Eva Leale, his days as friend and host to the famous of Broadway and Hollywood.Copiously illustrated with nostalgic photographs, THE WORLD OF JEROME KERN includes listings of Kern’s songs, as well as the Broadway productions and motion pictures for which he wrote the scores.