Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) was a perfectionist whosesingle-minded pursuit of excellence changed the world of music. Inthe course of his long career in the northern Italian city ofCremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments;approximately six hundred survive, their quality unequalled by anysubsequent violin-maker. In this fascinating book, Toby Fabertraces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerlesscreations–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist whobrought them into being. Blending history, biography, meticulousdetective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes usfrom the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, andfrom the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the firstphonographic recordings. This magnificent narrative invites us toshare the life, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of theworld’s most marvelous stringed instruments.
The intimate story of one of the great American bands of ourtime, creators of the controversial masterpiece "Yankee HotelFoxtrot" When alt-country heroes-turned-rock-iconoclasts Wilcohanded in their fourth album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," to the band'slabel, Reprise, a division of Warner Brothers, fans looked forwardto the release of another challenging, genre-bending departure fromtheir previous work. The band aimed to build on previous sales andcritical acclaim with its boldest and most ambitious album yet, butwas instead urged by skittish Reprise execs to make the record more"radio friendly." When Wilco wouldn't give, they found themselveswithout a label. Instead, they used the Internet to introduce thealbum to their fans, and eventually sold the record to Nonesuch,another division of Warner. Wilco was vindicated when the albumdebuted at No. 13 on the "Billboard" charts and posted the band'sstrongest sales to date. "Wilco: Learning How to Die" traces theband's story to its deepest origins in Southern Illino
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
"The Billboard Guide to Writing and Producing Songs that Sell"unveils the secrets to climbing the charts and reaching success intoday's ultracompetitive music industry. Eric Beall supplies hisfirsthand knowledge of today's record business, as well asinterviews with successful writers, producers, and executives fromthe worlds of pop, hip-hop, country, adult contemporary, and RandB.The result: a proven approach to constructing songs that opendoors, create careers, and communicate to listeners around theworld. Key areas explored include: -How does a song become ahit?-What makes a song a single?-Is there a formula for creating ahit? Fun and practical exercises provide opportunities to honeskills and expose specific talents, helping songwriters combinetheir unique voices to the demands of the commercial marketplace.Filled with fresh ideas that will spark beginners and veteransalike, this book will lead the way toward the industry's ultimatechallenge: the creation of that chart-topping hit song.
The beloved poet-statesman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play whichoffers something for every reader. Based on the story of Job, thisdrama in verse tells the story of a twentieth-century Americanbanker and millionaire whom God commands be stripped of his familyand wealth, but who refuses to turn his back on God. J. B. won thePulitzer Prize for drama in 1959 and the Tony Award for best play.More important, the play sparked a national conversation about thenature of God, the meaning of hope, and the role of the artist insociety.
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
At last An A-to-Z reference guide for readers who want to learnthe cryptic language of Rock Snobs, those arcana-obsessed peoplewho speak of "Rickenbacker guitars" and "Gram Parsons." We've allbeen there--trapped in a conversation with smarty-pants musicfiends who natter on about "the MC5" or "Eno" or "the Hammond B3,"not wanting to let on that we haven't the slightest idea whatthey're talking about. Well, fret no more "The Rock Snob'sDictionary" is here to define "every single sacred totem "of rockfandom's know-it-all fraternity, from Alt.country to Zimmy. (That'swhat Rock Snobs call Bob Dylan, by the way.)
《不朽的小提琴家》再现了历史上不朽小提琴家的魅力，简要而有趣地叙述其生活、个性与事业。作者就他们对作曲者、公众品味的影响以及演奏技巧的贡献等各个方面，讲述了这些小提琴家的特殊成就。 作者玛格丽特·坎贝尔参阅了大量的书信和私人文件，并且访问许多音乐家，很多人为《不朽的小提琴家》提供了从未发表过的回忆录和珍贵照片。 《不朽的小提琴家》是一本献给音乐会听众、唱片收藏者（有“唱片目录”）、弦乐演奏者和学生等所有爱好小提琴演奏艺术者的书。
《中国美术院校教材：潘思同水彩画直观教材选》所介绍的是潘思同20世纪五、六十年代在浙江美术学院水彩画教学中使用的部分直观教材。所谓直观教材就是上课时的图示和示范作品。由于上课的教学时间有限，不可能在课堂里做大量示范，所以在每堂课上课之前，作为备课，潘思同都要针对一、二个问题，画一些直观教材，上面配备必要的文字说明，一方面为了节省时间，另一方面也为了取得视觉效果。在直观教材中，有些图本身就是独立的作品，因此，下课后学生常常争先恐后地拿去观摩、临摹。对这些直观教材，学生反应很好，有些青年教师也常借去作为参考。当时许多同行建议让这些教材印刷出版，但由于当时彩色印刷费用高昂，会大大提高书价，而且印刷质量也大有问题，如果采用黑白图版则大大削弱教材的直观效果，因而始终未能出版面世1993年，“
One of a series of authoritative pocket guides introduced lastyear, this guide highlights several of the city's newest and mostinteresting governmental, residential and commercial buildings byarchitects such as Steven Holl, Renzo Piano and Kees van der Valk,and also showcases distinctive interior design. Included are shortprofiles of more than seventy buildings and colour photographs toaccompany each. This is an indispensable little guide in anattractively designed package that comes with a site map for easyuse by tourists and professionals alike.
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.
《不朽的小提琴家》再现了历史上不朽小提琴家的魅力，简要而有趣地叙述其生活、个性与事业。作者就他们对作曲者、公众品味的影响以及演奏技巧的贡献等各个方面，讲述了这些小提琴家的特殊成就。 作者玛格丽特·坎贝尔参阅了大量的书信和私人文件，并且访问许多著名音乐家，很多人为《不朽的小提琴家》提供了从未发表过的回忆录和珍贵照片。 《不朽的小提琴家》是一本献给音乐会听众、唱片收藏者（有“唱片目录”）、弦乐演奏者和学生等所有爱好小提琴演奏艺术者的书。
"The Inner Game of Music," the breakout hit that became astandard primer in the music world, has taught thousands ofmusicians--professionals and amateurs alike--how to overcomeself-consciousness and stage fright and to recapture a youthful,almost effortless capacity to learn. Now, in his follow-up book,"The Mastery of Music," Barry Green turns his expert hand to theartistic qualities that make an extraordinary musician. Cullingadvice from dozens of interviews with legends including Bell, Dave Brubeck, Jeffrey Kahane, Bobby McFerrin, ChristopherParkening, Doc Severinsen, Frederica von Stade, the Harlem BoysChoir, and the Turtle Island String Quartet, he reveals that it'snot enough to have a cerebral and emotional connection to thenotes. Green hows how musical excellence, exhibited by truevirtuosos, requires a mastery of ten unique qualities of the souland the human spirit, such as confidence, passion, discipline,creativity, and relaxed concentration, and he discusses specificways in which all musicians,
Hit the Spot! is a complete program to target and tone your problem areas, written in an upbeat, easy-to-follow style by America's #1 fitness authority, Denise Austin. . Denise Austin has spent her career helping people get energetic and fit, and now she zeroes in on the problem areas that cause the most concern for people. .. Denise offers positive thoughts and tips for success, including exercises you can do to lose inches from hips, thighs, waist, and other areas, as well as advice on clothes that make you look thinner instantly. She even includes a seven-day diet to improve the look of specific areas of your body. Don't be afraid to wear that sexy suit on the beach this summer...Hit the Spot! 作者简介： At 5'4" and II 2 pounds, Denise Austin has been dubbed "America's favorite fitness expert." Born on February 13, 1957, Denise grew up in San Pedro, California. She started gymnastics at the age of twelve and earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Arizona, graduating in 1979
The world of the fashionista is brought to vivid life with 101introductory lessons on such topics as how a designer anticipatescultural trends and "sees" the fashion consumer, the workings ofthe fashion calendar, the ways a designer collection is conceived,the manufacture of fabric, fashion illustration, and more. Illustrated in the distinctly unique packaged style of thebestselling101 THINGS I LEARNED IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL, this newbook on fashion design will be a perfect book for any fashionschool wannabe, a recent graduate, or even a seasonedprofessional.
The Renaissance holds an undying place in our imagination, itsgreat heroes still our own, from Michelangelo and Leonardo to Danteand Chaucer. This period of profound evolution in European thoughtis credited with transforming the West from medieval to modern andproducing the most astonishing outpouring of artistic creation theworld has ever known. But what was it? In this masterly work, theincomparable Paul Johnson tells us. He explains the economic,technological, and social developments that provide a backdrop tothe age’s achievements and focuses closely on the lives and worksof its most important figures. A commanding short narrative of thisvital period, The Renaissance is also a universally profoundmeditation on the wellsprings of innovation.
Vintage presents the paperback edition of the wild andbrilliant writings of Lester Bangs--the most outrageous and popularrock critic of the 1970s--edited and with an introduction by thereigning dean of rack critics, Greil Marcus. Advertising in RollingStone and other major publications.
《中国美术院校教材：潘思同水彩画直观教材选》所介绍的是潘思同20世纪五、六十年代在浙江美术学院水彩画教学中使用的部分直观教材。所谓直观教材就是上课时的图示和示范作品。由于上课的教学时间有限，不可能在课堂里做大量示范，所以在每堂课上课之前，作为备课，潘思同都要针对一、二个问题，画一些直观教材，上面配备必要的文字说明，一方面为了节省时间，另一方面也为了取得视觉效果。在直观教材中，有些图本身就是独立的作品，因此，下课后学生常常争先恐后地拿去观摩、临摹。对这些直观教材，学生反应很好，有些青年教师也常借去作为参考。当时许多同行建议让这些教材印刷出版，但由于当时彩色印刷费用高昂，会大大提高书价，而且印刷质量也大有问题，如果采用黑白图版则大大削弱教材的直观效果，因而始终未能出版面世1993年，“
