Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes ontoday’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature,or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci,Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role inthe controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeksthrough the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenmentphilosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musicalscale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads usthrough the battles over that scale, placing them in the context ofquarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics andscience. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system knownas equal temperament called into question beliefs that hadlasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music ofBeethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filledwith original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits ofsome of th

GET READY TO ROCK! In ten easy lessons, PLAY GREAT ROCK GUITAR will take you fromcloseted air guitarist to real-life rocker. Each lesson is linkedto audio files on the included CD, so you can hear exactly whatyou’re learning. Play along with the CD to get just what thosechords, riffs, and melodies are supposed to sound like. Soon you’llbe playing your favorite songs along with your favorite bands—or inyour own rock band! Including the basics of harmony and melody, riffs and solos, andthe fundamentals of blues, rock ‘n roll, classic rock, heavy metal,rhythm guitar, and alternative, PLAY GREAT ROCK GUITAR is foranyone who’s ever dreamed of playing popular music’s most supremelycool instrument—or who’s caught the “Guitar Hero” bug. With thehelpful CD, clear illustrations, and examples from the rock godsyou worship, PLAY GREAT ROCK GUITAR creates the world’s next mastershredder—you!

Situated between Western Europe and the civilizations ofByzantium and the Islamic world, Renaissance Venice was uniquelypositioned at the crossroads of East and West. In the beautifulAdriatic city, ideas and aesthetics were exchanged and developed ina remarkable age of cultural fusion. Venice’s distinctivearchitecture is already well known for integrating divergentcultural influences, but the impact of this synthesis on Venetianpainting has not been fully explored. This gorgeous book focuses onthe work of the remarkable Bellini family of painters—Jacopo andhis sons Gentile and Giovanni—who transformed Venetianpainting in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The authors examine the influence of Venetian trade with the Easton Bellini paintings; the Byzantine influence on Venetian art; theimpact of a visit to Mehmed II’s court in 1479 on Gentile Bellini,as well as his effect on Eastern-trained artists there; and muchmore. The book is abundantly illustrated with the Bellini family’

From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros.Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' epic sci-fi action adventurePacific Rim. When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, startedrising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of livesand consume humanity's resources for years. To combat the giantKaiju, a special weapon was devised: massive robots, calledJaegers, which are piloted by an international crew of soldiers inthe Pan Pacific Defense Corps. But even the Jaegers are provingnearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On theverge of defeat, two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot andan untested trainee—team up to pilot a legendary but seeminglyobsolete Jaeger on a mission to halt the mounting apocalypse. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines Monsters chronicles theproduction of the film with stunning concept art, captivatingphotography, and cast and crew de*ions of the shoot.

Piano Lessons is Noah Adams's delightful and movingchronicle of his fifty-second year--a year already filled withlong, fast workdays and too little spare time--as he answers atlast a lifelong call: to learn to play the piano. The twelvemonthly chapters span from January--when after decades of growingaffection for keyboard artists and artisans he finally plunges inand buys a piano--through December, when as a surprise Christmaspresent for his wife he dresses in a tuxedo and, in flickeringcandlelight, snow falling outside the windows, he attempts theirfavorite piece of music, a difficult third-year composition he'sbeen struggling with in secret to get to this very moment. Among the up-tempo triumphs and unexpected setbacks, Noah Adamsinterweaves the rich history and folklore that surround the piano.And along the way, set between the ragtime rhythms andboogie-woogie beats, there are encounters with--and insightsfrom--masters of the keyboard, from Glenn Gould and Leon Fleisher("I was a bit embarrassed," he wr

An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and afficionados,this volume contains act-by-act de*ions of operatic worksranging from the early seventeenth century masterworks ofMonteverdi and Purcell to the modern classics of Menotti andBritten. Written in a lively anecdotal style, entries includecharacter de*ions, historical background, and much more.

What do you getwhen you cross a snail with the Indianapolis 500? If you’reDreamWorks, then the result is Turbo, an uplifting—andgear-shifting—story about the ultimate underdog, delivered with thedigital mastery, storytelling skill, and spellbinding imagery we’vecome to expect from the studio behind the Shrek and Madagascar.

Breaking up is hard to do - and when a relationship turnssour, nothing provides more comfort than the cheesy pop hits of the'70s and '80s. Just as Quirk's I Can't Fight This Feeling was ananthology of classic love poetry, You Give Love a Bad Name featurespoetic writings on breaking up - and moving on - from The Bee Gees,Michael Bolton, Pat Benatar, Hall and Oates, and many others.Packaged in an elegant hardcover volume with a deluxe ribbonmarker, it's the perfect gift for anyone seeking to mend a brokenheart. Includes these timeless classics: - Is She Really Going Out with Him? - Joe Jackson - She's Gone - Hall and Oates - Cold Hearted - Paula Abdul - Alone - Heart - Goodbye to You - Scandal

Asian Resorts is conceived to be the most comprehensivecollection on Asian resorts. Written and shot by the region'sbest known Asian architecture specialist, TanHock Beng, who has already put together five books on the designand aesthetics of tropical architecture, Asian Resorts promises toshow its readers the biggest variety of Asian resorts that no otherbook has ever shown. With its beautifully' shot images and relevantinformation, this book will certainly serve and entertain youbeyond just the coffee table. In fact, it is a must-have for everyarchitectural office and every home.

One of Victorian Englands most charismatic characters, DanteGabriel Rossetti painted and wrote with equal passion. He wassimilarly passionate in his personal life: his etherealartist-wife, his earthy blond mistress, and the ravishing JaneMorris are al

Preserved by Arabic mathematicians and canonized by Christianscholars, Aristotle’s works have shaped Western thought, science,and religion for nearly two thousand years. Richard McKeon’s TheBasic Works of Aristotle –constituted out of the definitiveOxford translation and in print as a Random House hardcover forsixty years–has long been considered the best available one-volumeAristotle. Appearing in paperback at long last, this editionincludes selections from the Organon, On the Heavens, The ShortPhysical Treatises, Rhetoric, among others, and On the Soul, OnGeneration and Corruption, Physics, Metaphysics, NicomacheanEthics, Politics, and Poetics in their entirety.

A huge gathering of the finest American and British song lyricsfrom 1910 to 1975. Robert Kimball, editor of the complete lyrics ofCole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart and next year's IrvingBerlin, and Robert Gottlieb, editor of the recent Reading Jazz,have collaborated to choose the 800 or more most distinguishedlyrics of the century, from early P.G. Wodehouse and the IrvingBerlin of Alexander's Ragtime Band through the greats of Broadwayand Hollywood -- Gershwin, Hart, Porter, Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein,Yip Harbourg, Dorothy Fields, Frank Loesser, Noel Coward -- to theearly triumphs of Stephen Sondheim. Plus many writers who arebarely remembered today -- Don Raye ("Mr. Five by Five", "I'llRemember April"), Bobby Troup ("Route 66", "Daddy") -- withsurprises like Ogden Nash, Maxwell Anderson, Dorothy Parker, andTruman Capote. Over 100 lyricists in all, each one introduced witha brief biography and commentary, and presented chronologically, sothat this big volume not only presents the core of an entireliterat

In this compulsively readable, fascinating, and provocativeguide to classical music, Norman Lebrecht, one of the world's mostwidely read cultural commentators tells the story of the rise ofthe classical recording industry from Caruso's first notes to theheyday of Bernstein, Glenn Gould, Callas, and von Karajan. Lebrechtcompellingly demonstrates that classical recording has reached itsend point-but this is not simply an expos? of decline and fall. Itis, for the first time, the full story of a minor art form,analyzing the cultural revolution wrought by Schnabel, Toscanini,Callas, Rattle, the Three Tenors, and Charlotte Church. It is thestory of how stars were made and broken by the record business; howa war criminal conspired with a concentration-camp victim to createa record empire; and how advancing technology, boardroom wars,public credulity and unscrupulous exploitation shaped the musicalbackdrop to our modern lives. The book ends with a suitable shrineto classical recording: the author's critical selectio

Desde queen 1890 en Estados Unidos se utilizara el terminorascacielos para designar al edificio de oficinas en altura, esteha suscitado diversidad de reflexiones --entre el entornoarquitectonico y la opi-nion pOblica- acerca de sus limites ydisefio. El ras-cacielos es un producto genuinamenteestadouniden-se, fruto del siglo xx, cuya presencia y evoluci6n essin6nimo de progreso tecnologico, la sociedad de consumo y lapolftica liberal. Este volumen propone una revision de los rascacielos queinauguran el nuevo milenio, con la seleccion de edificios de laultima decada del siglo xx y principios del xxi de algunos de losarquitectos mas relevantes de la actualidad. Asf, se muestranedificios que forman parte del debate arquitect6nico actual y quemuestran como sus autores afrontan la arquitectura en relacion conla sociedad y la ciudad.

These free-wheeling, often exhilarating dialogues—which grewout of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall Talks—are an exchange betweentwo of the most prominent figures in contemporary culture: DanielBarenboim, internationally renowned conductor and pianist, andEdward W. Said, eminent literary critic and impassioned commentatoron the Middle East. Barenboim is an Argentinian-Israeli and Said aPalestinian-American; they are also close friends. As they range across music, literature, and society, they openup many fields of inquiry: the importance of a sense of place;music as a defiance of silence; the legacies of artists from Mozartand Beethoven to Dickens and Adorno; Wagner’s anti-Semitism; andthe need for “artistic solutions” to the predicament of the MiddleEast—something they both witnessed when they brought young Arab andIsraeli musicians together. Erudite, intimate, thoughtful andspontaneous, Parallels and Paradoxes is a virtuosiccollaboration.