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Building Singing Communities: A Practical Guide to Unlocking the Power of Music in Jewish Prayer
by Joey Weisenberg"Building Singing Communities" is an easy-to-read, how-to guide to making music a lasting and joy-filled force in shul and Jewish life. In this short book, author, musician, and educator Joey Weisenberg presents us with a veritable treasure house of musical opportunities. "Just think how far we could come," says Weisenberg, "if we treated the songs sung by our day-to-day, lay synagogue community as seriously as we do the music created by professional stage musicians? We could create an atmosphere of both great beauty and drama in our spaces of prayer; we would value each and every individual in our community as a creative musician, and encourage his or her efforts in an attitude of musical collaboration." "Building Singing Communities" is for the experienced musician and the musical layman alike. Its pages are full of practical guidance and heartfelt inspiration--the result of Weisenberg's spending hundred of hours working hands-on with Jewish communities across the U.S. and abroad. Pick it up when you need advice for leading a class; keep it close at hand for inspiration about how to make your shul a more song-filled place--or even for what to sing at your Shabbos table. "It's my hope that, with this collection of strategies you'll re-actualize the talents and potential of your community," writes Weisenberg, "reaping the benefits of re-starting what is, in fact, our beautiful, longstanding tradition of collective Jewish song." MECHON HADAR
Building a Career in Opera from School to Stage: CMS Emerging Fields in Music (CMS Emerging Fields in Music)
by James HarringtonBuilding a Career in Opera from School to Stage: Operapreneurship provides early-career singers with an overview of the structure of the opera industry and tools for strategically approaching a career within it. Today's voice students leave the conservatory with better training than ever, but often face challenges to managing their own careers after graduation. This book addresses what singers need to know in order to craft a career path in the contemporary landscape of opera. Readers learn about the opera industry's structure, common pathways and entry points, non-academic training programs, researching and evaluating opportunities, crafting professional documents and media, and what it means to be a professional opera singer. Written by a singer with recent experience in the industry—and particularly the emerging phase—this book is a practical guide for all singers embarking on a career in opera. The author's website, www.OperaCareers.com, hosts additional resources including databases of training programs, guides and templates for creating professional documents, as well as articles addressing current industry issues and interviews with subject matter experts.
Building an Orchestra of Hope: How Favio Chavez Taught Children to Make Music from Trash
by Carmen OliverAn exuberantly illustrated true story about innovation, community, and the power of music.In Cateura, Paraguay, a town built on a landfill, music teacher Favio Chavez longed to help the families living and working amid the hills of trash. How could he help them find hope for the future? Favio started giving music lessons to Cateura&’s children, but soon he encountered a serious problem. He had more students than instruments!But Favio had a strange and wonderful idea: what if this recyclers&’ town had its own recycled orchestra? Favio and Colá, a brilliant local carpenter, began to experiment with transforming garbage into wonder. Old glue canisters became violins; paint cans became violas; drainpipes became flutes and saxophones. With repurposed instruments in their hands, the children of Cateura could fill their community—and the world—with the sounds of a better tomorrow.Based on an incredible true story, Building an Orchestra of Hope offers an unforgettable picture of human dignity reclaimed from unexpected sources. Carmen Oliver&’s inviting words and Luisa Uribe&’s dynamic illustrations create a stirring tribute to creativity, resilience, and the transformative nature of hope.
Built for Speed: A Branches Book (Layla and the Bots #2)
by Vicky FangReady, set, go! Layla and the Bots are heading to the races!Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Blossom Valley is hosting a go-kart race! The go-karts are provided for all the kids in town. Layla and the Bots can't wait for race day! But one racer, Tina, needs their help. She needs a new cart that uses hand-controls and other cool features. Layla and the Bots know just what to do... they will build her a brand-new cart that's even faster than her wheelchair! But will Tina's go-kart have enough speed to win the race? With full-color artwork on every page and speech bubbles throughout, this early chapter book series brings kid-friendly STEAM topics to young readers!
Bulgarian Harmony: In Village, Wedding, and Choral Music of the Last Century (SOAS Musicology Series)
by Kalin S. KirilovAn in-depth study of the Bulgarian harmonic system is long overdue. More than two decades since the Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares choir was awarded a Grammy (1990), there is no scholarly study of the captivating sounds of Bulgarian vertical sonorities. Kalin Kirilov traces the gradual formation of a unique harmonic system that developed in three styles of Bulgarian music: village music from the 1930s to the 1990s, wedding music from the 1970s to 2000, and choral arrangements (obrabotki) - creations of the socialist period (1944-1989), popularized by Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. Kirilov classifies the different approaches to harmony and situates them in their historical and cultural contexts, establishing new systems for analysis. In the process, he introduces a new system for the categorization of scales. Kirilov argues that the ready-made concepts that are frequently forced onto Bulgarian music - ‘westernization’, ‘socialist’ or ‘Middle Eastern influence’, are not only outdated but also too vague to be of use in understanding the sophisticated modal and harmonic systems found in Bulgarian music. As an insider who has performed, composed and arranged this music for 30 years, Kirilov is uniquely qualified to interpret it for an international audience.
Bumping Into Geniuses
by Danny GoldbergA giant of the music industry grants an all-access pass to the world of rock and roll, with mesmerizing stories of thirty0five years spent working with legends Danny Goldberg has been a hugely influential figure in the world of rock and roll. He did PR for Led Zeppelin; he managed the career of Nirvana; he ran Atlantic, Mercury, and Warner Brothers; he launched Stevie Nick?s solo career. In Bumping into Geniuses, Goldberg grants an all-access pass to the world of rock and roll, with mesmerizing stories of forty years spent working with legends, including Patti Smith, Warren Zevon, Bruce Springsteen, Kiss, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Hole, Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, the Eagles, Susan Blond, Michael Des Barres, Steve Earle, Led Zeppelin, and more. But there?s more to this story than just Goldberg?s varied career. It?s also a look at the industry itself: a business that was complex and chaotic ? a mixture of art and commerce, idealism and selfishness ? and sometimes, rock?s most gifted and influential musicians were able to transcend it all. .
Bunnyman: A Memoir: The Sunday Times bestseller
by Will SergeantThe Sunday Times bestsellerGrowing up in Liverpool in the 1960s and '70s, when skinheads, football violence and fear of just about everything was the natural order of things, a young Will Sergeant found the emerging punk scene provided a shimmer of hope amongst a crumbling city still reeling from the destruction of the Second World War. From school-day horrors and mud flinging fun to nights at Liverpool's punk club, Eric's, Sergeant was fuelled by and thrived on music. It was this devotion that led to the birth of the Bunnymen, to the days when he and Ian McCulloch would muck around with reel-to-reel recordings of song ideas in the back parlour of his parents' council estate house, and to finding a community - friends, enemies and many in between - with those who would become post-punk royalty from the likes of Dead or Alive, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Teardrop Explodes to name a few.It was an uphill struggle to carve their name in the history of Liverpool music, but Echo and the Bunnymen became iconic, with songs like 'Lips Like Sugar,' 'The Cutter' and 'The Killing Moon'. By turns wry, explicit and profound, Bunnyman reveals what it was really like to be part of one of the most important British bands of the 1980s.
Bunnyman: A Memoir: The Sunday Times bestseller
by Will SergeantGrowing up in Liverpool in the 1960s and '70s, when skinheads, football violence and fear of just about everything was the natural order of things, a young Will Sergeant found the emerging punk scene provided a shimmer of hope amongst a crumbling city still reeling from the destruction of the Second World War. From school-day horrors and mud flinging fun to nights at Liverpool's punk club, Eric's, Sergeant was fuelled by and thrived on music. It was this devotion that led to the birth of the Bunnymen, to the days when he and Ian McCulloch would muck around with reel-to-reel recordings of song ideas in the back parlour of his parents' council estate house, and to finding a community - friends, enemies and many in between - with those who would become post-punk royalty from the likes of Dead or Alive, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Teardrop Explodes to name a few.It was an uphill struggle to carve their name in the history of Liverpool music, but Echo and the Bunnymen became iconic, with songs like 'Lips Like Sugar,' 'The Cutter' and 'The Killing Moon'. By turns wry, explicit and profound, Bunnyman reveals what it was really like to be part of one of the most important British bands of the 1980s.The music at the beginning and end of this audiobook is taken from an original piece written and performed by Will Sergeant
Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin
by Myra FriedmanElectrifying, highly acclaimed, and intensely personal, this new and updated version of Myra Friedman's classic biography of Janis Joplin teems with dramatic insights into Joplin's genius and into the chaotic times that catapulted her to fame as the legendary queen of rock. It is a stunning panorama of the turbulent decade when Joplin's was the rallying voice of a generation that lost itself in her music and found itself in her words.From her small hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, from the intimate coffeehouses to the supercharged concert halls, from the glitter of worldwide fame to her tragic end in a Hollywood hotel, here is all the fire and anguish of an immortal, immensely talented, and troubled performer who devoured everything the rock scene had to offer in a fatal attempt to make peace with herself and her era. Yet, in an eloquent introduction recently written by the author, Joplin emerges from her "ugly duckling" childhood as a woman truly ahead of her time, an outrageous rebel, a defiant outcast and artist of incomparable authenticity who, almost in spite of herself, became to so many a symbol of triumph over adversity.This edition also contains an afterword detailing the whereabouts of a large and colorful cast of characters who were part of Joplin's life, as well as "We Remember Janis," a new chapter of poignant and affectionate anecdotes told by friends.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Burma, Kipling and Western Music: The Riff from Mandalay (Routledge Research in Music)
by Andrew SelthFor decades, scholars have been trying to answer the question: how was colonial Burma perceived in and by the Western world, and how did people in countries like the United Kingdom and United States form their views? This book explores how Western perceptions of Burma were influenced by the popular music of the day. From the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-6 until Burma regained its independence in 1948, more than 180 musical works with Burma-related themes were written in English-speaking countries, in addition to the many hymns composed in and about Burma by Christian missionaries. Servicemen posted to Burma added to the lexicon with marches and ditties, and after 1913 most movies about Burma had their own distinctive scores. Taking Rudyard Kipling’s 1890 ballad ‘Mandalay’ as a critical turning point, this book surveys all these works with emphasis on popular songs and show tunes, also looking at classical works, ballet scores, hymns, soldiers’ songs, sea shanties, and film soundtracks. It examines how they influenced Western perceptions of Burma, and in turn reflected those views back to Western audiences. The book sheds new light not only on the West’s historical relationship with Burma, and the colonial music scene, but also Burma’s place in the development of popular music and the rise of the global music industry. In doing so, it makes an original contribution to the fields of musicology and Asian Studies.
Burning Down The Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
by Tim MohrLONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN'A moving, powerful and highly innovative sidelight on the fall of Communism in East Germany through punk style and music. This is a complete original' HWA Non-Fiction Crown Judges 'A thrilling and essential social history that details the rebellious youth movement that helped change the world' Rolling Stone'A riveting and inspiring history of punk's hard-fought struggle in East Germany' New York Times'Wildly entertaining' VogueTHE SECRET HISTORY OF PUNKS IN EAST GERMANYIt began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a life-changing discovery: in an authoritarian state where the future was preordained, punk, with its rejection of society and DIY approach to building a new one, planted the seeds for revolution.As these kids began to form bands, they also became more visible, and security forces - including the dreaded secret police, the Stasi - targeted them. They were spied on by friends and family; they were expelled from schools and fired from jobs; they were beaten by police and imprisoned. But instead of conforming, the punks fought back, playing an indispensable role in the underground movement that helped bring down the Berlin Wall.Rollicking, cinematic and thrillingly topical, this secret history brings to life the young men and women who successfully fought authoritarianism three chords at a time. Burning Down the Haus is a fiery testament to the irrepressible spirit of revolution.'Original and inspiring . . . an important work of Cold War cultural history' Wall Street Journal
Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
by Tim Mohr“A rallying call against authoritarianism everywhere.” —Ruth Franklin, author of the NBCC Award–winning Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life It began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a life-changing discovery. The buzz-saw guitars, the messed-up clothing and hair, the rejection of society and the DIY approach to building a new one: in their gray surroundings, where everyone’s future was preordained by some communist apparatchik, punk represented a revolutionary philosophy—quite literally, as it turned out. But as these young kids tried to form bands and became more visible, security forces—including the dreaded secret police, the Stasi—targeted them. They were spied on by friends and even members of their own families; they were expelled from schools and fired from jobs; they were beaten by police and imprisoned. Instead of conforming, the punks fought back, playing an indispensable role in the underground movements that helped bring down the Berlin Wall. This secret history of East German punk rock is not just about the music; it is a story of extraordinary bravery in the face of one of the most oppressive regimes in history. Rollicking, cinematic, deeply researched, highly readable, and thrillingly topical, BurningDown the Haus brings to life the young men and women who successfully fought authoritarianism three chords at a time—and is a fiery testament to the irrepressible spirit of revolution.
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
by Jonathan Gould"Definitive...Not just for Talking Heads fans—it’s a masterful dive into downtown New York in the 70s, and the changing face of rock music.”—Town & Country"Riveting"—New York Post"A masterful achievement." —Booklist (starred review)On the 50th anniversary of Talking Heads, acclaimed music biographer Jonathan Gould presents the long-overdue, definitive story of this singular band, capturing the gritty energy of 1970s New York City and showing how a group of art students brought fringe culture to rock’s mainstream, forever changing the look and sound of popular music. “Psycho Killer.” “Take Me to the River.” “Road to Nowhere.” Few musical artists have had the lasting impact and relevance of Talking Heads. One of the foundational bands of New York’s downtown 1970s music scene, Talking Heads have endured as a musical and cultural force for decades. Their unique brand of transcendent, experimental rock remains a lingering influence on popular music—despite their having disbanded over thirty years ago.Now New Yorker contributor Jonathan Gould offers an authoritative, deeply researched account of a band whose sound, fame, and legacy forever connected rock music to the cultural avant-garde. From their art school origins to the enigmatic charisma of David Byrne and the internal tensions that ultimately broke them apart, Gould tells the story of a group that emerged when rock music was still young and went on to redefine the prevailing expectations of how a band could sound, look, and act. At a time when guitar solos, lead-singer swagger, and sweaty stadium tours reigned supreme, Talking Heads were precocious, awkward, quirky, and utterly distinctive when they first appeared on the ragged stages of the East Village. Yet they would soon mature into one of the most accomplished and uncompromising recording and performing acts of their era.More than just a biography of a band, Gould masterfully captures the singular time and place that incubated and nurtured this original music: downtown New York in the 1970s, that much romanticized, little understood milieu where art, music, and commerce collided in the urban dystopia of Lower Manhattan. What emerges is an expansive portrait of a unique cultural moment and an iconoclastic band that shifted the paradigm of popular music by burning down the house of mainstream rock.
Burning Up: On Tour with the Jonas Brothers
by Joe Jonas Nick Jonas Kevin JonasBurning Up: On Tour with the Jonas Brothers is your backstage pass to life with Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It includes never-before-seen photos of the Jonas Brothers' Look Me in the Eyes tour and exclusive images taken during Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus's Best of Both Worlds tour. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the band warming up, performing, and having fun backstage. This sizzling souvenir will also give you a glimpse of the downtime that the brothers have between gigs. In addition to pictures of the group laying down tracks at the recording studio for A Little Bit Longer, giving radio interviews, and sight-seeing in London, you'll see snap-shots of them bowling, racing Go-karts, and playing video games with the Bonus Jonas, younger brother Frankie. The dynamic photography is accompanied by a candid narrative by the Jonas Brothers themselves, chronicling their life on the road and their experiences growing up in the music world. They discuss everything from the songwriting process to the importance of family to their favorite kind of ice cream (Kevin's is rocky road!) So pick up your guitar and get ready to strum along--you're going on tour with the Jonas Brothers!
Business Model Innovation in Creative and Cultural Industries (Routledge Research in the Creative and Cultural Industries)
by Pierre Roy Estelle Pellegrin-BoucherBusiness model innovation occurs when an organization discovers a new way of creating revenues or profits via its products or services. This book examines the concept as it applies across the creative and cultural industries in practice.This book examines market, social and political environments which impact creative and cultural organizations' business models, such as sustainability, new forms of competition, digitalization and data management, emerging technologies like AI, and shifting social trends and lifestyles. This book not only analyses these influences but also presents best practices, key success factors, and compelling case studies. Employing a case study format, a range of creative or cultural sectors are analysed, including fashion, architecture and gaming.The result is a book which delivers value for researchers, advanced students, and reflective practitioners involved in the creative economy around the world.
But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet
by Jancee Dunn“Breezy . . . juicy . . . irresistible” this memoir from a former Rolling Stone reporter is “as entertaining as the megastars she has built a career on profiling” (Entertainment Weekly).New Jersey in the 1980s had everything Jancee Dunn wanted: trips down the shore, Bruce Springsteen, a tantalizing array of malls, and, especially, her family. But one night she met a girl who worked at Rolling Stone magazine in New York City. To Jancee, who visited the city exactly once a year, New York might as well have been in Canada. But she loved music, so she passed along her résumé.Soon Jancee was behind the scenes, interviewing some of the most famous people in the world, among them Madonna, Cameron Diaz, and Beyoncé. She trekked to the Canadian Rockies to hike with Brad Pitt, was chased by paparazzi who mistook her for Ben Affleck’s new girlfriend, snacked on Velveeta with Dolly Parton, and danced drunkenly onstage with the Beastie Boys. She even became a TV star as a pioneering VJ on MTV2.As her life spun faster, she traded her good-girl suburban past for late nights and hipster guys. But then a chance meeting turned Jancee’s life in an unexpected direction and helped her to finally learn to appreciate where she came from, who she was, and what she wanted to be.Hilarious and touching, But Enough About Me is the story of an outsider who couldn’t quite bring herself to become an insider and introduces readers to a lovable real-life heroine.“An inside look at being a celebrity journalist.” —New Yorker“Disarmingly funny.” —People“Relentlessly readable.” —New York Magazine“Pitch-perfect.” —Vogue
But He Doesn't Know the Territory
by Meredith WillsonComposer Meredith Willson once described The Music Man as &“an Iowan&’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.&” Never once forgetting his roots, Willson reflects on the ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, and finally successes of the making of one of America&’s most popular musicals. His whimsical, personable writing style will bring readers back in time with him to the 1950s to experience firsthand the exciting trials and tribulations of creating a Broadway masterpiece. A newfound admiration for The Music Man—and the man behind the music—is sure to follow.
But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups
by Laura Flam Emily Sieu LiebowitzFeaturing over 300 hours of new interviews with 100+ subjects, an oral history of the girl groups (such as The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas) that redefined the early 1960s The girl group sound, made famous and unforgettable by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mixture of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in the 1960s. As songs like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Then He Kissed Me," and "Be My Baby" rose to the top of the charts, girl groups cornered the burgeoning post-war market of teenage rock and roll fans, indelibly shaping the trajectory of pop music in the process. While the songs are essential to the American canon, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. With more than 100 subjects that made the music, from the singers to the songwriters, to their agents, managers, and sound engineers—and even to the present-day celebrities inspired by their lasting influence–But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of 60s Girl Groups tells a national coming-of-age story that gives particular insight into the experiences of the female singers and songwriters who created the movement.
Butter-Finger
by Bob Cattell John AgardButter-Finger follows the story of Riccardo Small, who misses a vital catch and is dropped from the cricket team. Riccardo takes refuge in his beloved calypso poems, written by John Agard, when he meets Count Crayfish, who helps him think of a way to still help the team. Ages 7 and up.
Buyers Beware: Insurgency and Consumption in Caribbean Popular Culture (Critical Caribbean Studies)
by Patricia Joan SaundersBuyers Beware offers a new perspective for critical inquiries about the practices of consumption in (and of) Caribbean popular culture. The book revisits commonly accepted representations of the Caribbean from “less respectable” segments of popular culture such as dancehall culture and 'sistah lit' that proudly jettison any aspirations toward middle-class respectability. Treating these pop cultural texts and phenomena with the same critical attention as dominant mass cultural representations of the region allows Patricia Joan Saunders to read them against the grain and consider whether and how their “pulp” preoccupation with contemporary fashion, music, sex, fast food, and television, is instructive for how race, class, gender, sexuality and national politics are constructed, performed, interpreted, disseminated and consumed from within the Caribbean.
Buying Pianos for an Institution
by Larry FineThe Piano Buyer Essentials SeriesThe Piano Buyer Essentials Series brings together in one place the very best and most important articles from our 30 years of publishing on the subject of buying and owning a piano. Each e-book is a compilation of articles from current and past issues of Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer, a semiannual consumer publication devoted to the purchase of new, used, and restored acoustic pianos and digital pianos. The e-books may also contain excerpts from The Piano Book, by Larry Fine, and from pieces published only on PianoBuyer.com. For reader convenience, articles and excerpts have been grouped by subject. However, because some pieces apply to more than one subject, there is some duplication of articles among the e-books in the series.
Buzzin': The Nine Lives of a Happy Monday
by BezAt the height of his initial, turn-of-the-1990's infamy as the maraca-wielding dancer with 'Madchester' giants Happy Mondays, the pop-eyed Mark Berry, forever known to the world as Bez, was visibly a danger to society. He became the so-called Chemical Generation's bug-eyed pied piper, every weekend leading millions out to oblivion and beyond, as they adopted his E-gobbling party lifestyle.Neither an accomplished musician nor even a very good dancer, Bez was a prime candidate for fleeting celebrity, soon to sink into 'Where Are They Now?' obscurity. That, however, never happened, nor does it show any sign of happening. Through Black Grape, the second band he co-fronted with the Mondays' Shaun Ryder, and his ever-presence in the mass media, Bez's popularity has grown exponentially, his star rocketing ever upwards.When he bowled into Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, he ended up winning the series, as viewers came to understand his fundamental decency and sunny outlook. His adult life has been extraordinary: unbelievable scrapes with mortality, periods of financial ruin, mindfuck moments like when David Bowie genuflected before him, and enough narcotic-strewn hi-jinx to fill several more volumes of memoir.This is the story of a bad lad who has turned his life good, tracing his passage from early-thirty-something casualty to middle-aged politician, eco-warrior and bee-aficionado.
Buzzin': The Nine Lives of a Happy Monday
by BezAt the height of his initial, turn-of-the-1990's infamy as the maraca-wielding dancer with 'Madchester' giants Happy Mondays, the pop-eyed Mark Berry, forever known to the world as Bez, was visibly a danger to society. He became the so-called Chemical Generation's bug-eyed pied piper, every weekend leading millions out to oblivion and beyond, as they adopted his E-gobbling party lifestyle.Neither an accomplished musician nor even a very good dancer, Bez was a prime candidate for fleeting celebrity, soon to sink into 'Where Are They Now?' obscurity. That, however, never happened, nor does it show any sign of happening. Through Black Grape, the second band he co-fronted with the Mondays' Shaun Ryder, and his ever-presence in the mass media, Bez's popularity has grown exponentially, his star rocketing ever upwards.When he bowled into Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, he ended up winning the series, as viewers came to understand his fundamental decency and sunny outlook. His adult life has been extraordinary: unbelievable scrapes with mortality, periods of financial ruin, mindfuck moments like when David Bowie genuflected before him, and enough narcotic-strewn hi-jinx to fill several more volumes of memoir.This is the story of a bad lad who has turned his life good, tracing his passage from early-thirty-something casualty to middle-aged politician, eco-warrior and bee-aficionado.
Byron and the Discourses of History (The Nineteenth Century Series)
by Carla PomarèIn her study of the relationship between Byron’s lifelong interest in historical matters and the development of history as a discipline, Carla Pomarè focuses on drama (the Venetian plays, The Deformed Transformed), verse narrative (The Siege of Corinth, Mazeppa) and dramatic monologue (The Prophecy of Dante), calling attention to their interaction with historiographical and pseudo-historiographical texts ranging from monographs to dictionaries, collections of apophthegms, autobiographies and prophecies. This variety of discourses, Pomarè suggests, not only served as a source of the historical information Byron cherished, providing the subject matter for countless episodes in his works, but also and primarily supplied him with epistemological models. From them, Byron drew such trademark textual practices as his massive use of notes and paratexts, which satisfied his ingrained need for ’authenticity’ - a sentiment expressed in his oft-quoted, ’I hate things all fiction’. As Pomarè argues, Byron’s meticulous tracing of the process that links events, documents and historical representations ultimately answers his desire to retrieve what might be lost during the transmission of historical knowledge. Thus does he betray his preoccupation with the ideological uses of history writing, projecting his own discourses of history into the present of their composition.
Béla Bartók
by Prof. David Cooper"This deeply researched biography of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) provides a more comprehensive view of the innovative Hungarian musician than ever before. David Cooper traces Bartok's international career as an ardent ethno-musicologist and composer, teacher, and pianist, while also providing a detailed discussion of most of his works. Further, the author explores how Europe's political and cultural tumult affected Bartok's work, travel, and reluctant emigration to the safety of America in his final years. Cooper illuminates Bartok's personal life and relationships, while also expanding what is known about the influence of other musicians-Richard Strauss, Zoltan Kodaly, and Yehudi Menuhin, among many others. The author also looks closely at some of the composer's actions and behaviors which may have been manifestations of Asperger syndrome. The book, in short, is a consummate biography of an internationally admired musician. ""