This is a listing of all the most recent additions to the book pages.

We welcome feedback, suggestions, additions, and corrections to this information.

Biography

Ludwig van Beethoven Epistolario vol. 1-7. Ludwig van Beethoven, with Italian trans. by Luigi Della Croce. Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. 1999-2003. (hardcover).

Chamber Music

Indivisible by Four. Arnold Steinhardt. Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1998. ISBN 0374236704 (hardcover), 0374527008 (paperback).

A player who studies and performs the exalted string-quartet repertoire has opted for a very special life. Arnold Steinhardt, tracing his own development as a student, orchestra player, and budding young soloist, gives a touching account of how he and his intrepid colleagues were converted to chamber music despite the daunting odds against success. And he reveals as no one has before the intensely difficult process by which – on the battlefield of daily three-hour rehearsals – four individualists master and then overcome the confining demands of ensemble playing.

Discographies & Record Guides

Classical Music: Third Ear - The Essential Listening Companion. Alexander Morin, with 52 contributors. Backbeat Books. April 2002. ISBN 0879306386 (paperback).

The authoritative, accessible CD review guide to classical music – for novices and aficionados alike. This well-balanced guide to classical music examines historical and contemporary works by American, British, German and other composers, some dating back to the 1500s. It focuses on the very finest recordings of symphonies, operas, choral pieces, chamber music, and more performed by an international spectrum of premier conductors and musicians. Thought-provoking profiles highlight each composer's unique characteristics and contributions to the classical world. Incisive, often anecdotal critiques of selected works and exemplary recordings emphasize distinctive style and interpretation. Historical essays explore the classical repertory from medieval to electronic, Broadway to Hollywood, and more. Written in vivid language, this comprehensive guide also profiles conductors, artists, and instruments. Composers include: Bach, Beethoven, Bernstein, Brahms, Cage, Chopin, Copland, Debussy, Gershwin, Gilbert & Sullivan, Glass, Haydn, Ives, Mahler, Mozart, Puccini, Ravel, Reich, Satie, Schubert, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Varèse, Wagner, Weill, and hundreds more. Alexander Morin, a regular contributor to American Record Guide and Classical Net, is the founder, president, and editor-in-chief of Aldine Publishing Company. He is a former managing editor of the University of Chicago Press.

A Jussi Björling Phonography, 2^nd Ed. Harald Henrysson. Svenskt Musikhistoriskt Arkiv, Stockholm. 1993. ISBN 9185172103 (paperback).

An invaluable source for all lovers of this great tenor. An outstanding phonography.

Fiction

An Equal Music. Vikram Seth. Vintage Books. 2000. ISBN 037570924X (paperback).

Voices in the Dark. Lindsay Townsend. Magna Large Print (UK). 1999. ISBN 0750513721 (hardcover).

Mystery thriller set in the world of Italian opera.

History

The Cleveland Orchestra Story: "Second to None". Donald Rosenberg. Gray & Company, Publishers. September 25, 2000. ISBN 1886228248 (hardcover).

The Cleveland Orchestra is widely acclaimed as one of the world's top three orchestras – and has been ever since George Szell first took the ensemble to such heights in the 1950s. But it wasn't always so. How did this late-blooming Midwestern ensemble rise amid the gritty surroundings of Big Industry to become a titan in the world of Big Art? Donald Rosenberg, classical music critic for The Plain Dealer, takes a close look at the phenomenon in the first book about the Cleveland Orchestra in 30 years. It tells the complete story behind one of the world's most successful arts institutions. Classical music fans who want to understand the forces that drive a major symphony orchestra will find it a fascinating read..

Authentic Singing, Being the History and Practice of the Art of Singing and teaching. Edward V. Foreman. Pro Musica Press. 2001. ISBN 1887117121 (paperback).

As the title indicates, this two-volume history covers the vocal waterfront, including sections on history, pedagogy, ornamentation, solfeggi and vocalizzi.

The Future of Modern Music. James McHard. American Book Publishing. 2001. ISBN 1930586248 (paperback).

This book traces the idea of sound-based composition in 20^th century music which is leading to a new modernism in classical music.

Mozart's Death - Mozart's Requiem. Brendan Cormican. Amadeus Trust (Belfast). 1991. ISBN 0951035703 (hardcover).

Examines the various murder theories and medical records from the Vienna archives and provides more information on the Requiem commission. Web pictures at http://www.angelfire.com/bc2/mozart.

Music and the Mind

Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture. William L. Benzon. Basic Books. 2001. ISBN 0465015433 (hardcover).

Why does the brain create music? In Beethoven's Anvil, cognitive scientist and jazz musician William Benzon finds the key to music's function in the very complexity of musical experience. Music demands that our symbol-processing capacities, motor skills, emotional and communicative skills all work in close coordination-not only within our own heads but with the heads (and bodies) of others. Music is at once deeply personal and highly social, highly disciplined and open to emotional nuance and interpretation. It's precisely this coordination of different mental functions, Benzon argues, that underlies our deep need to create and participate in music. Music synchronizes the brain and has had a profound, and little-appreciated, influence on the shape of the mind and human cultures. This book it offers a sweeping vision of a vital, underappreciated force in our minds and culture.

Music Education

You've Got Rhythm: Read Music Better by Feeling the Beat. Anna and Joan Harkness Dembska. Flying Leap Music. 2002. ISBN 1930664044 (paperback).

You've Got Rhythm makes reading music feel natural because you feel the beat as you learn to read. It tackles music-reading problems at the root – by focusing on rhythm- while teaching step-by-step, from basic notation to advanced rhythmic skills. With elegance and humor, You've Got Rhythm turns the frustration of rhythm problems into an enjoyable musical and literary experience!.

Opera

Catherine Hayes: The Hibernian Prima Donna. Basil Walsh, with Foreword by Conductor, Richard Bonynge. Irish Academic Press, Dublin & Portland OR.. September 2000. ISBN 071652662X (hardcover).

This book details the life and times of Ireland's first great international female opera singer. It includes a chronology of her travels to 15 countries and performances, over a period of 30 years during the 19^th century.

Other

Voices of the Plain. Gregory Myers. Vox Bulgarica Music Publishers. 2000. ISBN 9549058557 (paperback).

A deluxe 2-volume anthology of the best of Bulgarian choral music. Collaborators include the composers and their heirs, Bulgarian Radio, and the Composers' Union. The volumes make available for the first time the most famous numbers found on the CD series, "Les Mystères des Voix Bulgares," (the folksong arrangements of Kaufman, Koutev, Kiurkchiiski, Liondev, Strefanov and Tchapkanov), along with the best and most representative monuments of Bulgaria's choral avant-garde (Spassov, Iliev) and sacred music (Tanev, Tekeliev and Zaimov). All have been prepared in Latin transliteration and English translations, with a pronunciation guide, for use by Western choral ensembles. Interested parties should contact Dr. Gregory Myers at ustav@home.com or ustav@shaw.ca.

Reference

The Oxford Companion to Music. Alison Latham. Oxford University Press. 2002. ISBN 0198662122 (hardcover).

The Oxford Companion to Music is an essential resource to Western music, completely updated for this brand-new edition. This massive volume – with more than 1,400 pages and 8,000 authoritative entries – is the most complete and up-to-date single-volume reference available in its field.

Scores

18 Anonymous dances from XVIIIth Century. Josep Dolcet (Editor). Tritó Edicions. 1995. ISBN 8488955480 (paperback).

These simple baroque dances in the French style (minuets, bourrées, gavottes…) are an example of the music that was played in the salons of the small aristocracy of rural Catalonia in the XVIII century.

Overture in D Major, overture in F Major. Josep Duran, with Anna Cazurra (Editor). Tritó Edicions. 1995. ISBN 8488955022 (paperback).

These two overtures are the only known instrumental works by Josep Duran, born in Cadaqués in the 18^th c. Duran was one of the main composers to introduce the Italian style in the Iberian Peninsula.

Complete Works for Voice and Piano. Isaac Albéniz. Tritó Edicions. 1998. ISBN 8488955413 (paperback).

Vocal Technique

Bel canto for the 20^th Century. Weldon Whitlock. Pro Musica Press. 1969. ISBN 1887117008 (hardcover).

Mr. Whitlock presents his teaching techniques in the "bel canto" tradition, with special emphasis on the passaggio.

Concerning the principles of Voice Training During the A Cappella Period and Until the Beginning of Opera (1474-1640). Bernhard Ulrich, with Trans. John W. Seale. Pro Musica Press. Reprint, revised, 1999. ISBN 1887117059 (paperback).

The most significant study of the original sources for this period, with discussions and comparisons of vocal techniques and training methods.

Elements of Vocal Science. Richard Mackenzie Bacon, with Ed. E.V. Foreman. Pro Musica Press. New edition, 1999. ISBN 1887117067 (paperback).

First published in 1824, this is a series of highly informative essays on Italian and British singing of the early 19^th century. Volume I in the series "Masterworks on Singing.".

L'Art du chant. Jean-Baptiste Berard, with Trans. Sidney Murray. Pro Musica Press. Reprint, revised and corrected, 2001. ISBN 188711713X (paperback).

The most significant treatise on the authentic way to perform the French operatic music of Lully, Charpentier, and Rameau, by a singer who was in many of Rameau's premieres.

Opinions of Singers, Ancient and Modern, or Observations on the Figured Song. Pierfrancesco Tosi, with Trans. E.V. Foreman. Pro Musica Press. 1990. ISBN 1887117016 (hardcover).

First published in Italian in 1723, and badly translated into English in 1745, Tosi's seminal work on the Old Italian vocal method has been newly translated. the original is printed on facing pages. One of two important 18^th century books on vocal technique.

Teaching the Mechanical Art of Song. Celeste Reese Watson. Pro Musica Press. Reprint, corrected and revised, 1999. ISBN 1887117075 (paperback).

Mrs Watson presents the most basic approach for the beginning voice student in common sense and easy to understand terms.

Transformative Voice. Edward V. Foreman. Pro Musica Press. 1999. ISBN 1887117105 (paperback).

Dr Foreman presents a unique approach to the voice as the most direct means to personal transformation. Companion to "Voice Without Technique.".

Voice Without Technique. Edward V. Foreman. Pro Musica Press. 1999. ISBN 1887117113 (paperback).

Contains the exercises to carry out the simple and direct realization of vocal potential outlined in "Transformative Voice.".