Composers category: 3267 books

Howard Gray. A series of biographies of great composers which present the subjects against the social background of their times. Each draws on personal letters and recollections, engravings, paintings and - where they exist - photographs, to build up a complete picture of the composer’s life.

M. Montagu-Nathan takes an in-depth look and the history of Russian music, and a special look at the rise and progress of the Russian School of Composers. Contents include: Introduction; Part 1- The Pre-nationalists. Volkoff- Berezovsky, Bortniansky and Verstovsky, Glinka "A Life for the Czar",...

A fascinating look at some of the greatest German composers in history, including Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and many more.

Max Steiner is one of the greatest—not to mention most prolific—composers of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The winner of three Academy Awards, Steiner’s credits include King Kong, The Informer, Gone with the Wind, Now, Voyager, Since You Went Away, Johnny Belinda, and The Caine Mutiny. Though...

A fascinating look at several famous composers from Italy and France, including Rossini, Verdi, Berlioz and Cherubini.

Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, during the first quarter of the 20th century, Alabama-born organist and composer Lee Orville Erwin, like many of the 20th century’s great American composers, spent time studying in Paris. From 1930 until 1931 Erwin studied in France with organist André Marchal...

An illuminating new biography of one of the most beloved of all composers, published on the hundredth anniversary of his death, brilliantly written by a finalist for the 1996 National Book Critics Circle Award. Johannes Brahms has consistently eluded his biographers. Throughout his life, he attempted...

This Fascinating biography chronicles Puccini's life and times, with dozens of photographs and illustrations of the period. His Musical heritage, his scandalous elopement with Elvira, his relationship with Caruso and the dramas of his own life and unfolded in loving detail.

Renowned for his literary style as well as his musical scholarship, Nicolas Slonimsky wrote many program notes and articles for newspapers and other periodicals, in addition to his well-known books. These shorter writings, edited by Slonimsky’s daughter, Electra Yourke, are collected for the first...

This new biography is a fascinating account of the period in which Chopin lived, and the way in which the political scene helped shape his music. The important people and places in the composer's life are brought vividly to life by the use of contemporary engraving, paintings and lithographs. The...

Nigeria has been blessed with a few well-trained organist-composers since the arrival of Christianity in the most populous African country around the 1840s. The institutions established by European missionaries and the colonial administration had a great impact on the emergence of the 'Nigerian organ...

In this biography, Robert Walker skilfully blends the fascinating story of Rachmaninoff's life with the historical background of his times. The author shows, too, how outside influences- the 1905 and 1917 revolutions, the Great War, the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression- very much affected...

Lavishly illustrated throughout, this fascinating biography sets Debussy's musical revolution in the context of his times. It will be invaluable to musicians and concert-goers alike.

The man behind "I Could Have Danced all Night" and "Almost Like Being in Love", lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) is widely regarded as one of the most important figures of the American musical stage. In penning the lyrics to some of the most well-known and beloved Broadway...