Criticism category: 58377 books

An exploration of the world’s most famous and challenging song cycle, Schubert's Winter Journey (Winterreise), by a leading interpreter of the work, who teases out the themes—literary, historical, psychological—that weave through the twenty-four songs that make up this legendary masterpiece. Completed...

The biggest edition yet – expanded and updated with 35,000 words of new material Critically acclaimed in its previous editions, The Complete David Bowie is widely recognized as the foremost source of analysis and information on every facet of Bowie’s career. The A-Z of songs and the day-by-day...

The power of music, the way it works on the mind and heart, remains an enticing mystery. Now two noted writers on classical music, Michael Steinberg and Larry Rothe, explore the allure of this melodious art--not in the clinical terms of social scientists--but through stories drawn from their own experience....

A collection of the very first, the very last, and the very best interviews conducted with Prince over his nearly 40 year career. There is perhaps no musician who has had as much influence on the sound of contemporary American music than Prince. His pioneering compositions brought a variety...

July, 1967: It seems the entire country stopped to listen to a husky voice steeped in the simmering secrets of the South tell a tragic tale of teenage suicide. So much for the Summer of Love. "Ode to Billie Joe†? knocked the Beatles' "All You Need is Love†? off the top of the charts,...

Le 27 octobre 2013, le monde du rock est en deuil. Lou Reed, surnommé le « King of New York » par son ami David Bowie, s’est éteint à l’âge de 71 ans. On associe souvent le Velvet Underground et le tube « Walk on the Wild Side » à ce grand musicien et compositeur new-yorkais, mais son...

Of all the major jazz artists, Thelonious Monk was one of the most original musical thinkers--nonconformist, idiosyncratic, imaginative, eccentric--in a word, unique. In The Thelonious Monk Reader, Rob van der Bliek has brought together some of the most revealing pieces ever written on Monk, providing...

Detailed account of Manson's life, including his attempt to break into the LA scene of the mid '60s, to his bizarre relationship with the Beach Boys, his obsession with The Beatles, his demo releases from prison which achieved quadruple platinum sales, the resultant lawsuit to ban his royalties, his influence on Guns n' Roses, and his links with ne-Nazi rock underground.

Alban Berg and His World is a collection of essays and source material that repositions Berg as the pivotal figure of Viennese musical modernism. His allegiance to the austere rigor of Arnold Schoenberg's musical revolution was balanced by a lifelong devotion to the warm sensuousness of Viennese musical...

TOP FIVE MUSICAL THINGS I HOPE HAPPEN NOW THAT THE ORIGINAL LINEUPS OF THE PIXIES AND DINOSAUR JR. HAVE REUNITED Ian Curtis is resurrected. The Smiths reunite for a private party at my favorite bar. There is a new My Bloody Valentine album. A new Nirvana comes along...

Perhaps no twentieth-century composer has provoked a more varied reaction among the music-loving public than Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Originally hailed as a new Beethoven by much of the Anglo-Saxon world, he was also widely disparaged by critics more receptive to newer trends in music. At the height...

Millions of Texans and Southwesterners have been touched over the years by the Light Crust Doughboys. From 1930 to 1952, fans faithfully tuned in to their early-morning and, later, noontime radio program, and turned out in droves to hear them play live. The Doughboys embodied the very essence of the...

The massive, world-wide outpouring of grief at the death of David Bowie notably focused on not only his stunning musical output, but also his fascinating refusal to stay the same—the same as other trending artists, or even the same as himself.   In this remarkable collection, Bowie reveals the...