Great Composers

In The Indispensable Composers, Tommasini offers his own personal guide to the canon - and what greatness really means in classical music. What does it mean to be canonical now? Who gets to say? And do we have enough perspective on the 20th century to even begin assessing it? To make his case, Tommasini draws on elements of biography, the anxiety of influence, the composer's relationships with colleagues, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time.

A concentrated study of Johann Sebastian Bach's creative output and greatest pieces, capturing the essence of his art.

The first volume of Famous Composers, written by Darren Henley and read by Marin Alsop, the American conductor, won a prestigious Audie in the US. Here, Henley and the Naxos AudioBooks team bring the combination of an entertaining but informative "life" and numerous musical selections to a further set of six composers.

In 1992, the Screaming Trees were expected to become the next big band to come out of the Seattle music scene during the heyday of grunge. Except it never happened. It wasn't because the band didn't have great songs—indeed, the Trees were revered for their ability to write a great song that was both artistically original and commercially viable, which is no easy task. Other Seattle bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were fans of the Screaming Trees, playing shows with them and collaborating on albums, long before their own bands broke through into the mainstream.

Joel Miller is an ex-roadie for Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Cranberries. The book is an often-hilarious personal account of a young man in his early 20s trying to be a “good” roadie while also trying to understand life’s big picture. Through the advice of rock stars and career roadies Joel tries to find the pathway to roadie righteousness.

We have entered an age where we now have instant, unlimited, free access to the history of recorded music. We have the ability to listen across genres and eras. This is a world-wide phenomenon. This book is a guide to taking advantage of this astonishing new power. This book is also a way to appreciate one of our great cultural legacies; one that is very alive today. It is about American popular song and the body of work referred to as the Great American Songbook. These tunes are appreciated and treasured by listeners all over the world. This book is an effort to introduce you to the songs,...

Introduced with more than 90 biographical entries that trace the friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired each musical genius and their work. Profiles offer revealing insights into what drove each individual to create the musical masterpieces - symphonies, concertos, and operatic scores - that changed the direction of classical music and are still celebrated as masterpieces today.

To appreciate the beauty of great works of music, we must be familiar with the lives of the geniuses who composed them. For in the personalities and life-stories of great composers is the key to their masterpieces.

En 2022, Lisa Marie Presley a demandé à sa fille de l’aider à terminer les mémoires qu’elle portait en elle depuis si longtemps. Un mois plus tard, Lisa Marie était morte, et le monde ne connaîtrait jamais son histoire avec ses propres mots, ni la femme passionnée, joyeuse, attentionnée et complexe que Riley aimait et pleurait maintenant. Riley a récupéré les cassettes que sa mère avait enregistrées pour le livre, s’est allongée dans son lit et a écouté Lisa Marie se raconter. Les voiturettes de golf qu’elle démolissait avec ses amis dans les jardins de Graceland.

Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley was never truly understood...until now. Before her death in 2023, she'd been working on a raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir for years, recording countless hours of breathtakingly vulnerable tape, which has finally been revealed by her daughter, Riley Keough.

Tchaikovsky is famous for all the wrong reasons. Portrayed as a hopeless romantic, a suffering melancholic, or a morbid obsessive, the Tchaikovsky we think we know is a shadow of the fascinating reality. It is all too easy to forget that he composed an empire's worth of music, and navigated the imperial Russian court to great advantage. In this iconoclastic biography, celebrated author Simon Morrison recreates Tchaikovsky's complex world.

“Paul is dead.” It was the late 1960's, the Beatles hadn’t toured since 1966, and some truly bizarre indications began appearing, pointing to the unthinkable: Paul McCartney had been killed in a car accident and replaced by a look-alike. The Walrus Was Paul unearths every single clue from one of rock ’n’ roll’s most enduring puzzles and takes you on a magical mystery tour of baffling, yet fascinating, hints for solving this mystery.

Ludwig van Beethoven, a genius composer, one of the most recognized and influential of all composers. Ludwig van Beethoven is a crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Classical music. Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe.

The Great Gate of Kiev resounds to the tumultuous bell rings that end Pictures an an Exhibition, one of the most magnificent and virtuosic of all piano pieces. However, to some of his contemporaries, Modest Mussorgsky was ‘insane’ and ‘a perfect idiot’. Born into a wealthy land-owning family, what drove this tormented man and why did he suffer psychological breakdowns and alcoholism? How did he achieve his command of the realist idiom in his stage works? d, of course, Pictures at an Exhibition.

The first and most complete narrative biography of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, by acclaimed music journalist and Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne.

A legendary folk singer and activist, Woody Guthrie and his songs changed the world. Born in an Oklahoma oil-boom town, Guthrie traveled America by boxcar, thumb, and foot. Along the journey, he composed and sang songs that have become a national heritage. His songs, however, are but part of his legacy. This remarkable autobiography brings to life both his vibrant personality and a vision of America we cannot afford to let die. Funny, cynical, and earthy, Bound for Glory is the stirring account of Guthrie's life and a superb portrait of America's Depression years.

Lisa Marie Presley, Tochter der amerikanischen Musiklegende Elvis und aufgewachsen in Graceland, erzählt erstmals ihre ganze Lebensgeschichte. Eine einzigartige und ungeschönte Autobiografie, die von ihrer Tochter Riley Keough aufgeschrieben wurde Ende 2022 bat Lisa Marie Presley ihre Tochter Riley Keough, ihr bei der Fertigstellung ihre lang erwarteten Memoiren zu helfen. Nur einen Monat später verstarb Lisa Marie überraschend - und konnte ihre Geschichte, die sie in ihren eigenen Worten erzählen wollte, nicht mehr vollenden.

Beatlemania had struck North America, creating a musical and pop culture phenomenon unlike anything the world had ever seen. At the center of it all was John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the principal songwriting duo who were instrumental in creating the soundtrack of the 1960s, while producing some of the world's most timeless classics. Together with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Lennon and McCartney propelled The Beatles to unprecedented heights, experimenting with their sound in ways that revolutionized rock and inspired bands across various musical genres.

Through compelling new research and interviews, Sunday Times best-selling biographer Sean Smith reveals what life was really like for five fiercely independent and ambitious young women who were propelled to international fame in the '90s with unstoppable momentum. Quickly establishing themselves as the biggest success in British pop music since The Beatles, they were adored and admired in equal measure: the Spice Girls made a connection with millions of young women across the globe who were inspired by their enthusiasm for life and their famous Girl Power philosophy.

Imagine being alongside one of the greatest bands in the history of rock, touring the globe, and being there as they perform at some of the best and biggest music venues in the world. Peter Hince didn't have to imagine. For more than a decade, he lived a life that other people can only dream of as he worked with Queen as the head of their road crew. In this intimate and affectionate book, Peter recalls the highlights of his years with the band.