Download or read book Van Cliburn written by Howard Reich and published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. This book was released on 1993 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of the American pianist who won the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition and established the international piano competition named after him.
Download or read book When the World Stopped to Listen written by Stuart Isacoff and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the acclaimed author of A Natural History of the Piano, the captivating story of the 1958 international piano competition in Moscow, where, at the height of Cold War tensions, an American musician showed the potential of art to change the world. April of 1958--the Iron Curtain was at its heaviest, and the outcome of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition seemed preordained. Nonetheless, as star musicians from across the globe descended on Moscow, an unlikely favorite emerged: Van Cliburn, a polite, lanky Texan whose passionate virtuosity captured the Russian spirit. This is the story of what unfolded that spring--for Cliburn and the other competitors, jurors, party officials, and citizens of the world who were touched by the outcome. It is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most remarkable events in musical history, filled with political intrigue and personal struggle as artists strove for self-expression and governments jockeyed for prestige. And, at the core of it all: the value of artistic achievement, the supremacy of the heart, and the transcendent freedom that can be found, through music, even in the darkest moments of human history.
Download or read book Dangerous Melodies Classical Music in America from the Great War through the Cold War written by Jonathan Rosenberg and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-12-10 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Juilliard-trained musician and professor of history explores the fascinating entanglement of classical music with American foreign relations. Dangerous Melodies vividly evokes a time when classical music stood at the center of twentieth-century American life, occupying a prominent place in the nation’s culture and politics. The work of renowned conductors, instrumentalists, and singers—and the activities of orchestras and opera companies—were intertwined with momentous international events, especially the two world wars and the long Cold War. Jonathan Rosenberg exposes the politics behind classical music, showing how German musicians were dismissed or imprisoned during World War I, while numerous German compositions were swept from American auditoriums. He writes of the accompanying impassioned protests, some of which verged on riots, by soldiers and ordinary citizens. Yet, during World War II, those same compositions were no longer part of the political discussion, while Russian music, especially Shostakovich’s, was used as a tool to strengthen the US-Soviet alliance. During the Cold War, accusations of communism were leveled against members of the American music community, while the State Department sent symphony orchestras to play around the world, even performing behind the Iron Curtain. Rich with a stunning array of composers and musicians, including Karl Muck, Arturo Toscanini, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Kirsten Flagstad, Aaron Copland, Van Cliburn, and Leonard Bernstein, Dangerous Melodies delves into the volatile intersection of classical music and world politics to reveal a tumultuous history of twentieth-century America.
Download or read book Jelly s Blues written by Howard Reich and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2008-11-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jelly's Blues vividly recounts the tumultuous life of Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), born Ferdinand Joseph Lamonthe to a large, extended family in New Orleans. A virtuoso pianist with a larger-than-life personality, he composed such influential early jazz pieces as "Kansas City Stomp" and "New Orleans Blues." But by the late 1930s, Jelly Roll Morton was nearly forgotten as a visionary jazz composer. Instead, he was caricatured as a braggart, a hustler, and, worst of all, a has-been. He was ridiculed by the white popular press and robbed of due royalties by unscrupulous music publishers. His reputation at rock bottom, Jelly Roll Morton seemed destined to be remembered more as a flamboyant, diamond-toothed rounder than as the brilliant architect of that new American musical idiom: Jazz.In 1992, the death of a New Orleans memorabilia collector unearthed a startling archive. Here were unknown later compositions as well as correspondence, court and copyright records, all detailing Morton's struggle to salvage his reputation, recover lost royalties, and protect the publishing rights of black musicians. Morton was a much more complex and passionate man than many had realized, fiercely dedicated to his art and possessing an unwavering belief in his own genius, even as he toiled in poverty and obscurity. An especially immediate and visceral look into the jazz worlds of New Orleans and Chicago, Jelly's Blues is the definitive biography of a jazz icon, and a long overdue look at one of the twentieth century's most important composers.
Download or read book Joe Maddy of Interlochen written by Norma Lee Browning and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Music lessons, Joe Maddy has always felt, should not be painful. They are an exciting experience at the Interlochen Arts Academy or any of the other thousands of schools around the world to which Doctor, Professor and conductor Maddy’s influence has extended during the past forty-five years. Joe Maddy of Interlochen is the lively story of one of America’s best-known, best-loved, and most colorful pioneers in music. Joe Maddy came to Interlochen, Michigan in 1928 to found the first national summer music camp. A Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, he was short on financial support, but not on enthusiasm and skill. In 1961 the music camp was reorganized as the year ‘round Interlochen Arts Academy.... The activities at Interlochen now embrace art, drama, dance, and other academic subjects, but the teaching of music remains the primary purpose. His success at teaching was highlighted in August, 1962, when an Interlochen delegation of 103 musicians and 14 ballet dancers had the honor of entertaining President Kennedy and a large audience on the lawn of the White House....
Download or read book Portraits in Jazz written by Howard Reich and published by Agate Digital. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 871 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of articles on and interviews with jazz greats Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, and others. Howard Reich has reported on jazz for the Chicago Tribune for almost four decades, and in this time, he has met musicians both celebrated and obscure. From his exclusive interviews with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald, to profiles of the early masters like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday, this book illustrates Reich’s deep understanding of the performances, recordings, and cultural legacies of these jazz masters. This book, comprising Reich’s award-winning Chicago Tribune articles, shows readers his unmatched critical insight and unrivaled access to the diverse range of jazz musicians the world over, including the little-known artists who, while never in the national spotlight, were nonetheless instrumental to the evolution of jazz. Divided thematically, Portraits in Jazz is a journey from the time of jazz music’s originators, great singers, and early masters through to its courageous standouts, game changers, and regional influencers from Chicago to Cuba and across the globe. Reich, himself a piano performance major at Northwestern University, says in the introduction that studying theory and history are essential to understanding jazz’s inner-workings. But these portraits weren’t created as academic theses or history-book lessons. They are on-the-spot, in the heat of the moment questions of its greatest practitioners, articles and essays in the here and now, taking readers one step closer to the meaning of sound.
Download or read book When the World Stopped to Listen written by Stuart Isacoff and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-03-06 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: April 1958: The Soviets were leading the space race, the Iron Curtain was at its heaviest, and the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow seemed certain to crown a hometown champion. But as the world’s finest young pianists descended on the Russian capital, an unlikely favorite emerged: Van Cliburn, a polite, lanky Texan whose passionate virtuosity captured the hearts of the Russian people—and thawed Cold War tensions in a way no one would have thought possible. This is the story of what unfolded that spring—for Cliburn and the other competitors, for jurors and party officials, and for the citizens of the world. It is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most remarkable events in musical history, filled with political intrigue and personal struggle as artists strove for self-expression and governments jockeyed for prestige. At the core of it all is the value of artistic achievement, the supremacy of the heart, and the transcendent freedom that can be found, through music, even in the darkest moments of human history.
Download or read book A Natural History of the Piano written by Stuart Isacoff and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beautifully illustrated, totally engrossing celebration of the piano, and the composers and performers who have made it their own. With honed sensitivity and unquestioned expertise, Stuart Isacoff—pianist, critic, teacher, and author of Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization—unfolds the ongoing history and evolution of the piano and all its myriad wonders: how its very sound provides the basis for emotional expression and individual style, and why it has so powerfully entertained generation upon generation of listeners. He illuminates the groundbreaking music of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann, and Debussy. He analyzes the breathtaking techniques of Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Arthur Rubinstein, and Van Cliburn, and he gives musicians including Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, and Vladimir Horowitz the opportunity to discuss their approaches. Isacoff delineates how classical music and jazz influenced each other as the uniquely American art form progressed from ragtime, novelty, stride, boogie, bebop, and beyond, through Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Charlap. A Natural History of the Piano distills a lifetime of research and passion into one brilliant narrative. We witness Mozart unveiling his monumental concertos in Vienna’s coffeehouses, using a special piano with one keyboard for the hands and another for the feet; European virtuoso Henri Herz entertaining rowdy miners during the California gold rush; Beethoven at his piano, conjuring healing angels to console a grieving mother who had lost her child; Liszt fainting in the arms of a page turner to spark an entire hall into hysterics. Here is the instrument in all its complexity and beauty. We learn of the incredible craftsmanship of a modern Steinway, the peculiarity of specialty pianos built for the Victorian household, the continuing innovation in keyboards including electronic ones. And most of all, we hear the music of the masters, from centuries ago and in our own age, brilliantly evoked and as marvelous as its most recent performance. With this wide-ranging volume, Isacoff gives us a must-have for music lovers, pianists, and the armchair musician.
Download or read book Playing With Love written by Mark Westcott and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014-03-09 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does an ordinary middle-class young man from Portland, Oregon forge the social currency to find himself rubbing elbows and making friendships with glitterati the likes of Anne Bancroft, T.V's Merv Griffin, artist extraordinaire Salvador Dali and musical greats Van Cliburn, Leonard Bernstien and Samuel Barber? Answer: the visible glow of a struggling artist's beat and relentless dedication to the art he loves. American pianist, Mark Westcott's fascinating and distinctive reflections on the tumultuous road to the world's concert stages offer not only entertaining reading but a provoking personal testament to the role of love in pursuing excellence, overcoming fear and disappointment, and even battling a disfiguring cancer. ""Playing With Love"" is a must read for inspiring artists, teachers, parents of talented children and any courageous soul attempting to accomplish a far reaching dream.
Download or read book The Van Cliburn Legend written by Abram Chasins and published by Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday. This book was released on 1959 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of the musician written while he was in his 20's.
Download or read book The Rotarian written by and published by . This book was released on 1959-06 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Established in 1911, The Rotarian is the official magazine of Rotary International and is circulated worldwide. Each issue contains feature articles, columns, and departments about, or of interest to, Rotarians. Seventeen Nobel Prize winners and 19 Pulitzer Prize winners – from Mahatma Ghandi to Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – have written for the magazine.
Download or read book Chopin and Beyond written by Byron Janis and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2010-09-23 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the world's greatest classical pianists reveals how the "other world" transformed his life and career By any measure, Byron Janis has had an extraordinary musical career. His discovery of two long-lost Chopin scores made headlines around the world, and he has been honored many times for his breathtaking performances of some of the most exciting and challenging works in the standard classical piano repertoire. As he retraces this remarkable journey in Chopin and Beyond, he shares something even more extraordinary: the other-worldly experiences that have shaped his life and music in surprising and profound ways. Shares milestones and memories from the life and musical career of one of the world's greatest pianists Includes lively anecdotes of famous classical musicians and other notable figures, including Vladimir Horowitz and Pablo Picasso Describes his long-secret but ultimately triumphant battle with arthritis Recounts the paranormal experiences that deepened his personal association with Chopin, effected near miraculous recoveries from serious accidents, and more Like the best music, Chopin and Beyond will open your mind to explore the wonder and possibility of a different world.
Download or read book My Life with the Great Pianists written by Franz Mohr and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 1996-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mohr's humor and personal perspective on the lives of Rubinstein, Horowitz, and other artists mix music lore with quiet faith.
Download or read book Whiskey Bottles and Brand New Cars written by Mark Ribowsky and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Mark Ribowsky has written one king hell of a book about one king hell of a band. Buy that man a drink!" —Mick Wall, author of When Giants Walked the Earth This book tells the intimate story of how a band of lost souls and self-destructive misfits clawed their way to the very top of the rock'n'roll peak, writing and performing as if beneficiaries of a deal with the devil—a deal fulfilled by a tragic fall from the sky. The rudderless genius behind their ascent was a man named Ronnie Van Zant, who guided their five-year run and evolved not just a new country/rock idiom but a new Confederacy. Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars is based on interviews with surviving band members and others who watched them. It gives a new perspective to a history of stage fights, motel-room destructions, cunning business deals, and brilliant studio productions, offering a greater appreciation for a band that, in the aftermath of its last plane ride, has sadly descended into self-caricature as the sort of lowbrow guns-'n'-God cliché that Ronnie Van Zant wanted to chuck from around his neck. No other book on Southern rock has ever captured the "Free Bird"–like sweep and significance of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mark Ribowsky has written twelve books, including widely praised biographies of Tom Landry, Howard Cosell, Phil Spector, and Satchel Paige. He has also contributed extensively to magazines including Playboy, Penthouse, and High Times. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.
Download or read book The Ivory Trade written by Joseph Horowitz and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ivory Trade written by Joseph Horowitz and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 1990 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A discussion of music competitions, the author uses the Van Cliburn International piano competition to consider the American fascination with music and competition. The author also looks at the nature of these competitions and how the individual with the most talent is not always the winner.
Download or read book Van Cliburn written by Patricia Torn Alexander and published by Blue Bonnet Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
