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.

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

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

The old certainties of the Cold War have been swept away by the new tide of detente that has washed over the superpowers. But even if international superpower relations have changed, human nature has not altered very much. The new powder keg is the Middle East where this adventure story is set. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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.

He was the founding father of modern art, the grand master who pointed painting forward on its way from Impressionism to the 20th century: Paul Cezanne (1839-1906). In Paris, but above all in Provence, he quested tirelessly for "a harmony parallel to nature" - discovering it in still lifes of apples, in bathers, or in the renowned landscapes of his beloved Montagne Sainte-Victoire. This book discusses this extraordinary artist's major works and his theories of painting and colour.

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was the most typical and the most individual Impressionist painter. His long life he dedicated to a pictorial exploration of the sensations which reality, and in particular landscape, offer the human eye. But while Monet the painter was faithful and persevering in the pursuit of his motifs, his personal life followed a more restless course. Parisian by birth, he discovered plein-air painting as a youth in the provinces, where one of his homes, Argenteuil, has come to represent the artistic flowering and official establishment of Impressionism as a movement, with Monet as its creative leader. In his endeavor to capture the ever-changing face of reality, Monet went beyond Impressionism and thereby beyond the confines of self-contained panel painting: in Giverny he painted the Poplars, Grain Stacks and Rouen Cathedral series in which he addressed one motif in constantly new variations. Here, too, Monet laid out the famous garden with its water-lily pond which he was to paint on huge canv

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.

本书首次向中国的读者展示中国观众对“土地‘的各种感受和反应，其中包括有留言、图片、文章等形式。 “从某种意义来说，《土地》是一项全球性项目，她是由地球上某一特定地区年龄各异的当地人民制造出来的。她由土制成、以火生成，其情感来自触摸，其思想来自观赏。”安东尼·葛姆雷的“土地”被认为是现代雕塑的经典作品。安东尼·葛姆雷是一位国际瞩目的艺术大师，自1989年，葛姆雷一直从事着一项与世界各国不同社区接触的长期项目———《土地》。为制造不同版本的《土地》雕塑，他游历了从巴西雨林到北欧等不同国家。 2003年1月，他与300多位不同年龄层次，来自广州东北部花都地区的市民一起，用了5天的时间，制造了近20万个小泥人，组成了大型雕塑巡展“土地”．

Book De*ion "Nineteen forty-six was agood time — perhaps the best time — in the twentieth century. Thewar was over and there was a terrific sense of coming back, ofrepossessing life. Rents were cheap, restaurants were cheap, and itseemed to me that happiness itself might be cheaply had." Broyard made his first bid for happiness by moving in with a youngpainter, the difficult and challenging Sheri Donatti — a protegeeof Anais Nin — who never wore underpants and who "embodied the newtrends in art, sex, and psychosis." Broyard tells their story; byturns comic and poignant, while describing along the way hismeetings with Caitlan and Dylan Thomas, Delmore Schwartz, DwightMacDonald, Maya Deren, William Gaddis, and other writers andartists just beginning their careers. He opens a bookstore onCornelia Street ("If it hadn't been for books we would have beenentirely at the mercy of sex. Books steadied us, they gave usgravity."). He goes to the New School and listens to Eric Fromm,Karen Horney and Meyer Shap

What's the secret to writing a hit song? It's as simple as1-2-3-4-5-6 Innovative, practical, and inspiring, "Six Steps toSongwriting Success" presents a surefire step-by-step approach tomastering the elements consistently found in hit songs. AuthorJason Blume, a songwriter with the rare distinction of having hadsongs on the Country, Pop, and RandB charts simultaneously, haspacked this book with such key aids as the three-step lyric writingtechnique used by the pros; lyric, melody, and demo checklists; andtools for self-evaluation-plus many other exercises that work.Blume's warm, humorous style features motivational anecdotes andentertaining stories of how hit songs came to be written andrecorded. Get "Six Steps to Songwriting Success," and get on thecharts

Though Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) achieved lasting international acclaim as an Art Nouveau painter, graphic designer, and decorator, his outstanding photography is not as well known. His photographic sketchbook and personal visual diary, comprising photographs from the mid-1880s until the end of his life, constitutes a unique and profound artistic statement. This mosaic of captured moments reveals the intimate and personal basis of both Mucha's own life as an artist and the time period in which he lived. The behind-the-scenes glimpses of his studio provided here prove that Mucha--the creator of the ideal of Art Nouveau beauty--was one of the pioneers of the classic nude in Czech photography. This is the first time such a large selection of Mucha's extensive photographic work has been assembled as a book. Many of the photos in this book, never before published, reveal hitherto unknown aspects of Mucha's work, which will be of interest to the general reader and the photographic connoisseur alike. --This text refe

Best known for his fetes galantes such as the famousPelerinage a l'ile de Cythere, Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was amajor proponent in the revival of the Baroque style and theformation of the Rococo movement. Watteau was inspired by thetheater and in particular the commedia dell'arte, hence elaboratelycostumed actors, dancers, and musicians were recurrent subjects; hewas also fond of bucolic scenes and portraiture. Infused withromance, drama, and joie de vivre, Watteau's paintings depict aidyllic world of pleasure and entertainment.Every book in"Taschen's Basic Art Series" features: a detailed chronologicalsummary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural andhistorical importance of the artist; approximately 100 colorillustrations with explanatory captions; and, a concisebiography.

A beautifully engraved collection of 26 all-time holiday favorites, arranged with tablature for players on all levels. Includes "The First Nowell," "Good King Wenceslas," "O Christmas Tree," "Patapan," "What Child is This?" and a host of classic songs that capture the Christmas spirit. A wonderful addition to gatherings of friends and family.

Greek-born Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico(1888-1978)was hugely influential in the early years of the Surrealist movement.His paintings during the teens in Paris,where he moved in 1911,caused such a stir that such important figures as Picasso and Paul Eluard immediately praised them.This phase of his work,which he later termed pittura metafisica(metaphysical painting)was marked by dramatic compositions involving sharp perspective,striking shadows,geometrical planes,voids of space,and a general feeling of anxiety and loneliness;the sense of absurdity evoked by the mannequin-like figures in almost nightmarish landscapes seemed to suggest a Freudian expression of the unconscious.After 1930,De Chirico turned to a more classical style of painting and continued in the same vein for the rest of his career;his later work was widely criticized,especially by the Surrealists who had so admired his early paintings.

When the final tally of key movers in the plastic arts of this century is compiled, there is no doubt that maestro of movement Alexander Calder (1898-1976), the man who put the swing into sculpture, will be near numero uno. Calder took it off the plinth, gave it to the wind, and left us kinetic playgrounds of the spirit. He operated at the point where Modernity and nature Fused, developing an environmental art that changed the medium Forever. Visiting his Paris atelier in 1932, Duchamp coined the term "Mobiles" For Calder's delicate wire and disc pieces, constructions that would soon become immensely popular. But he didn't rest on his innovations. Friends with Miro, Mondrian and Leger, Calder also turned his hand to painting, drawing, gouaches, toys, textiles and utensil design. A graphic master who sketched as much in air as in ink, the Sixties and Seventies saw Calder take on the monumental, translating the dynamics of cities into both his Mobiles and "Stabiles". At a time when sculpture was perceived to be

The bumpin' book for hip-hop disciples (a.k.a. fiends),songwriters, all other writers, pop culture fans, linguists, andparents who are just trying to figure out what their kids aresaying. The inventive sounds of hip-hop (which became America'snumber two music genre in 2001, outselling country) have echoed farfrom their Bronx beginnings of twenty years ago. Making its wayfrom Compton sidewalks to suburban malls, garnering commentary from"The Wall Street Journal "alongside "Vibe," hip-hop by definitiondelivers its messages in the most creative language possible.Celebrating hip-hop's boon to the realm of self-expression, "HipHoptionary"(TM)" "translates dozens of phrases like "marinating inthe rizzi with your road dawg" (relaxing in your car with yourfriend), including: - Big bodies: SUVs or luxury vehicles-Government handle: registered birth name- 411: the latest scoop orinformation- Bling-bling: diamonds, big money, flash and cash-Brick City: Newark, New Jersey- 1812: war, fight (as in War of1812) In ad

Like Moses delivering forth the Ten Commandments, Henry Owingsis bringing music fans The Rock Bible an insider's guide to livingthe rock 'n' roll dream. This hilarious rulebook is full of dos anddon'ts for musicians, wannabe musicians, and rock fans of all ages.Here's what The Rock Bible has to say about Singers: 'When you feellike stage-diving, make sure the people in the front row like yourmusic enough to catch you.'Backstage antics: 'Couches at rock clubshave never been cleaned. Think of the crazy things that have beendone on these couches, and then proceed at great personalrisk.'Lifestyle: 'If you want to die while in a famous rock band,there are four options. 1. Suicide. 2. Car or plane crash. 3. Drugoverdose. 4. Murdered by a crazy relative. Just pick one and stickwith it.' Complete with faux-biblical illustrations and parablesand essays from comedian Patton Oswalt, drummer Brian Teasley, andprofessional smartass Andrew Earles, The Rock Bible is a rude andraunchy look at the best and worst of rock 'n'