Music > Classical Music

Writing with verve and passion, broadcaster and writer Jeremy Nicholas presents, in chronological order, elegant, informative and often affectionate biographical profiles of 50 of the greatest composers in the history of classical music. The biographies not only describe the life, artistic development and creative output of each composer, but also set the composers and their works in a broader historical and cultural context. First published 2007.

Comprehensive and meticulously researched, Great Composers is a lovingly constructed biographical history of the giants of classical music. Each self-contained chapter narrates the life and background of one or more composers. It tells the story of Bach, the respectable burgher whose vast output was composed amid petty turf rows in Lutheran Leipzig; the ugly, argumentative (and eventually deaf) Beethoven; and Mozart, whose career began as an infant prodigy and ended with an untimely death shrouded in rumour. Verdi composed his mu... read more

"Packed into every page of this book is the excitement of discovery, knowledge, taste and visual beauty. It all gives the reader the illusion of being at an actual performance." - Placido Domingo. This is an essential reading - whether you are a seasoned opera goer looking for a quick brush-up before a performance, or new to the genre and wanting to know more. From Baroque to Italian, from Vivaldi to Debussy, explore 400 years of music drama from late-Renaissance Italy to works from contemporary names including Philip Glass and Tho... read more

The guide that shows you what others only tell you. Explore and enjoy 1,000 years of classical music with this unique collaboration from DK and Classic FM. From Beethoven to Tchaikovsky, Cosi Fan Tutte to Swan Lake, discover the lives and works of the great composers, performers, instruments and key works with this definitive visual guide to classical music.

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Telling the story of the first 50 years of New Zealand’s National Youth Orchestra, this account covers its successful international tours and performances in cities around New Zealand as well as its 2009 concert season. The first history of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's (NZSO) Youth Orchestra, the chronicle is enlivened by the memories and stories of past members. Including photographs, posters, and programs drawn from the group's archives as well as personal collections, this warm and accessible compilation celebrates the o... read more

Like no other instrument, a grand piano melds the magic of engineering with the magic of great music. Alone among the big piano companies, Steinway & Sons still crafts each of its pianos largely by hand, imbuing each one with the promise and burden of its brand. In this captivating narrative, James Barron of The New York Times tells the story of one Steinway piano, from raw lumber to finished instrument. Barron follows that brand-new piano

'What Said stands for - critical intelligence, high art and the preservation of the language - must be at the centre of our lives.' - Hanif Kureishi. Addressing the work of a wide variety of composers, musicians, and performers - from Mozart to Alfred Brendel - Edward Said analyses music's social, political, and cultural contexts and, as a classically trained pianist, provides rich and often surprising assessments of classical music and opera.This book offers both a fresh perspective on well-known pieces and a celebration of neglec... read more

Sergei Prokofiev's work is given the treatment by Gavin Friday and the Friday-Seezer Ensemble. This attractive boxed set has a booklet illustrated by Bono and his children Jordan and Eve

Using the letters of the alphabet as her starting point, Susan Tomes presents a series of lively reflections on performing music, and on the classical music world. Drawing on her international experience as a solo pianist and chamber musician, she offers intriguing insights into rehearsal and practise, coping with nerves, and on the relationship between musicians and their audience. The book also contains thought-provoking meditations on the role of classical music in society, and the most rewarding attitudes to performance. Fir... read more

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First published in 1996 to great critical and popular acclaim, the Grove Book of Operas, is a collection of synopses and descriptions of over 250 operas. Each succinct yet insightful entry is written by a leading authority on the opera and includes a full synopsis of the plot, a cast list, a note on the singers in the original production, and information on the origins of the work and its literary and social background. Contributions conclude with a brief comment on the particular work's place in operatic history. A glossary offers... read more

Covering over 1500 singers from the origins of opera to the present day, this book is an essential resource for all serious opera lovers and an indispensable companion to the enormously successful Grove Book of Operas, with more than 40 specially commissioned articles on contemporary singers. The most comprehensive guide to opera singers ever produced. Review: Comment and opinion enliven the entries, the print is clear and the illustrations finely reproduced... An inexhaustible mine of information, it is also an engrossingly good ... read more

Incorporating a decade of musicological research, the Dictionary is unsurpassed in its scope and quality, with contributions from over 1,300 of the world's leading critics and scholars. A remarkable 11,000 articles, all fully cross-referenced, create a work that has become established as the essential opera reference. Indeed, every aspect of this varied art form is covered: composers, conductors, directors, performers, librettists, literary sources, cities and countries, operatic historians, and opera genres and terminology. Over ... read more

In this eloquent, intimate exploration of the delights and demands of the piano, world-renowned concert pianist and music writer Charles Rosen draws on a lifetime's wisdom to consider every aspect of the instrument: from what makes a beautiful sound to suffering from stage fright, from the physical challenges of playing to tales of great musicians, including Vladimir Horowitz's recording tricks, Rachmaninov s hands and why Artur Rubenstein applied hairspray to the keys. Gracefully blending anecdote, history, expertise and memoir, P... read more

A completely new edition of the definitive biography of Chopin, unavailable for many years, by one of the finest of contemporary European historians. Two centuries have passed since Chopin's birth, yet his legacy is all around us today. The quiet revolution he wrought influenced the development of Western music profoundly, and he is still probably the most widely studied and revered composer. For many, he is the object of a cult. Yet most people know little of his life, of the man, his thoughts and his feelings; his public image is... read more

This is the remarkable tale of Antonio Stradivari, the greatest instrument maker of all time, and what happened to the violins he created. Everyone has some idea of the legendary quality and unbelievable price tag of a Stradivarius violin, but much of the life of this genius remains obscure; his motivations and techniques hitherto unexplored. In this, the first popular account of the Stradivari phenomena, Toby Faber explores the life and methods of this unsurpassed craftsman. Following the life of his instruments as they pass throu... read more

The Oxford History of Western Music is a magisterial survey of the traditions of Western music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time. This text illuminates, through a representative sampling of masterworks, those themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to each musical age. Taking a critical perspective, this text sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. Written by an au... read more

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