Classical Composers

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

In clear and entertaining prose, Plotkin explores a thousand years of music, introduces listeners to more than 100 great works, and profiles in depth many significant composers, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Dvoxak, and Mahler. He describes all the musical instruments in the orchestra, defines major musical terms, and makes music theory comprehensible for the uninitiated. There are also conversations with important musicians who offer fascinating insights about their art.

Ed Le Brocq invites you on a journey through a living tradition that spans millennia – the tradition of Western classical music. With Ed, you will roam its magnificently bendy path, from the Mesopotamians to the mediaeval age to music composed just last week by Australia's most creative minds. You will discover how notes from the Indus Valley influenced the development of scales by Pythagoras and his mates in Ancient Greece, finding their way through the Romans into church music of the Middle Ages, and why some of those notes were banned.

Brilliant, short-lived, incredibly prolific—Schubert is one of the most intriguing figures in music history. While his music attracts a wide audience, much of his private life remains shrouded in mystery, and significant portions of his work have been overlooked. In this major new biography, Lorraine Byrne Bodley takes a detailed look into Schubert's life, from his early years at the Stadtkonvikt to the harrowing battle with syphilis that led to his death at the age of thirty-one.

At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. Father and son travelled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the carnivelesque birthplace of public opera.

At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. Father and son travelled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the carnivelesque birthplace of public opera.

In a book that inspired the Amazon original series starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcolm McDowell, oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician, from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, trading sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city.

In his time, the Austrian American composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was an international icon. His twelve-tone system was considered the future of music itself. Today, however, leading orchestras rarely play his works, and his name is met with apathy, if not antipathy. With this interpretative account, the acclaimed biographer of Toscanini finally restores Schoenberg to his rightful place in the canon, revealing him as one of the twentieth century's most influential composers and teachers.

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.

Join Donald Macleod, presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week, as he brings Beethoven vividly to life: from his childhood in Bonn to how he won over the aristocratic music circles of Vienna, from the creation of his timeless works to the tragic loss of his hearing - and everything in between.

From Mozart to Mendelssohn, this comprehensive guide to classical music history and classical music biography is the perfect latest addition to the best-selling Big Ideas series. Easy to understand and clear to follow, this history of classical music explores and explains music theory and the impact of seminal pieces, while also providing fascinating stories about the lives of crucial composers and performers. Including an insightful foreword by Katie Derham, The Classical Music Book analyses more than 90 works by famous composers.

John Mauceri brings a lifetime of experience to bear in an unprecedented, hugely informative, consistently entertaining exploration of his profession, rich with anecdotes from decades of working alongside the greatest names of the music world. With candor and humor, Mauceri makes clear that conducting is itself a composition: of legacy and tradition, techniques handed down from master to apprentice - and more than a trace of ineffable magic.

Probably the most naturally gifted musician the world has ever known, Mozart began his career early as a child prodigy. By the age of five, he was already proficient in the violin, the harpsichord, and piano keyboard. He had also begun composing music that had integrity. 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. Listen to the full biographies of these two musicians, from the beginning to the end!

Explore the works of classical composers. This book provides context before you listen to the piece and additional context afterwards. This audiobook format, including full recordings of relevant pieces, is an ideal way to familiarize yourself with the works of classical composers. This book focuses on European classical composers. The book includes the selected works of Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Frederic Chopin, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Henry Purcell, and Antonin Dvorak.

This book provides context before you listen to the piece and additional context afterwards. It’s an ideal way to familiarize yourself with the works of classical composers. This book focuses on German classical composers. The book includes the works of Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Wilhelm Richard Wagner, Georg Friedrich Handel, and Felix Mendelssohn. It's the ideal way to introduce yourself to German classical composers and how they helped shaped classical music up to this day.

Explore the works of classical composers. This book provides context before you listen to the piece and additional context afterwards. It’s an ideal way to familiarize yourself with the works of classical composers. This book focuses on Austrian classical composers and includes the works of Franz Joseph Hadyn, Franz Peter Schubert, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Explore the works of classical composers. This book provides context before you listen to the piece and additional context afterwards. It’s an ideal way to familiarize yourself with the works of classical composers. This book focuses on Italian classical composers. The book includes the works of Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli, Guiseppe Scarlatti, Niccolo Paganini, Tomaso Albinoni, and Ridolfo Boccherini.

Explore the works of classical composers. This book provides context before listening to the piece and additional context afterward. It’s an ideal way to familiarize yourself with the works of classical composers. This book focuses on French classical composers. The book includes the works of Charles Widor, Louis-Hector Berlioz, Archille Claude Debussy, Charles Saint-Saens, Francois Couperin, and Joseph Maurice Ravel.

Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel combine the virtuosity and poetry of a world-class pianist with entertaining commentary to create a magical concert experience. His lively, engaging insights and captivating performances make listening an enthralling experience for all music lovers.

Set against the music we know and love, Mozart, Beethoven, and many more come alive through their correspondence. Poignant, funny, revealing, informative and so often direct and honest, these letters offer a fascinating insight into the personalities that created our Western musical tradition.