William E Studwell

Bruce R Schueneman

While most music lovers are familiar with the famous scores of Tchaikovsky, Delibes, and Stravinsky, many other lesser-known composers also wrote for the ballet. Several of these composers wrote almost exclusively for the ballet--and all enriched the world of dance. Minor Ballet Composers presents biographical sketches of 66 underappreciated ballet composers of the 19th and 20th centuries from around the world, along with selected stories from the ballets they helped create. While the composers’contributions to ballet music are emphasized, all aspects of their lives and works are touched upon. Plot summaries and excerpts from reviews of many of the ballets are also provided. Other topics of interest you’ll find covered in Minor Ballet Composers include: Les Six: Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey, Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, and Germaine Tailleferre--and their relationship with Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau how politics, revolutions, and wars have affected composers and their works who studied with whom; who collaborated with whom schools, movements, and musical renaissance the importance of opera to ballet music the relationship between film scores and ballet music which books, plays, stories, and folk tales certain ballets are based upon where many of these ballets premiered Minor Ballet Composers emphasizes the importance of second-tier composers and their influence on the rich tradition of music written for the dance (though in some cases the music was appropriated for the ballet from other original designs). The gathering of these composers in a single volume in appreciation of their ballet music, with a glossary of choreographers and an index of ballet titles, makes this book a useful volume for ballet aficionados, music librarians, musicians, and others interested in dance and dance music.

Biographical Sketches of Sixty-Six Underappreciated Yet Significant Contributors to the Body of West

Minor Ballet Composers

Frank Hoffmann

Beulah B Ramirez

Who is the Bill Bailey whose exploits were chronicled in song? How many popular songs have titles containing the words “moon,” “heart,” or “baby”? Where is the road to Mandalay? How many female names can you think of that have been mentioned in song titles? Discover this fascinating information and more about some of America's most known and loved popular songs in this delightful sampler. The Popular Song Reader contains over 200 short essays on the backgrounds of a wide variety of twentieth-century American popular songs. The witty and knowledgeable essays touch upon several hundred traditional-style pop songs as well as early rock compositions. The essays are filled with anecdotes, humor, irony, and even poetry that reflect the author's offbeat and somewhat irreverent manner, while also presenting a broad spectrum of American popular songs in their historical and cultural contexts. In addition to information about each song and its composer, the author also discusses how the song reflected society at the time and also how the song itself has influenced popular culture. Pop music fans will find this a highly entertaining and readable guide to the best American popular music of the twentieth century. Divided into five sections, the book covers popular songs from the Tin Pan Alley era (By the Light of the Silvery Moon, California, Here I Come, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, She'll Be Comin’Round the Mountain, and When Irish Eyes are Smiling), the swing/big band era (Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Heart and Soul, In the Mood, Stardust, and Stormy Weather), and the rock era (Chances Are, Good Vibrations, Love Me Tender, Misty, Rock Around the Clock, Stop! In the Name of Love, and The Twist). The Popular Song Reader provides new insights on all-time favorites from Broadway musicals, movies, and television including Ain't Misbehavin', Give My Regards to Broadway, My Funny Valentine, Aquarius, Cabaret, Luck Be a Lady, Mack the Knife, Don't Fence Me In, Over the Rainbow, Singin’in the Rain, and the theme songs from Star Wars , All in the Family, Cheers, and M*A*S*H.

A Sampler of Well-Known Twentieth-Century Songs

The Popular Song Reader

David Lonergan

The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from Its Beginnings to the Mid-1970s is chock full of entertaining essays to inform and delight you about an era that shaped our culture and future musical trends. This unique book will surprise and enchant even the most zealous music buff with facts and information on the songs that reflected America’s spirit and captured a nation’s attention. The Classic Rock and Roll Reader is offbeat, somewhat irreverent, ironic, and ancedotal as it discusses hundreds of rock and non-rock compositions included in rock history era. The songs offer you information on: Rock’s Not So Dull Predecessors (for example, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” and “The Cry of the Wild Goose”) The Pioneering Rock Songs (such as “Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” ) Older Style Songs Amidst the Rocks (for example, “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Rocky Mountain High” ) The Megastars and Megagroups (such as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Respect,” and “Surfin’USA” ) The Best Songs that Never Made No. 1 (for example,“ I Feel Good” and “ Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” ) The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from Its Beginnings to the Mid-1970s also examines the music which preceded early rock, the music which followed early rock, and the numerous non-rock songs which flourished during the classic rock period. A wide spectrum of music is discussed in well over 100 essays on various songs. Musicians, librarians, and the general audience will be taken back to the birth of rock and roll and the various contributing influences. Analyzing each song’s place in rock history and giving some background about the artists, The Classic Rock and Roll Reader offers even the most avid music enthusiast new and unique information in this thorough and interesting guide.

Rock Music from Its Beginnings to the Mid-1970s

The Classic Rock and Roll Reader

B Lee Cooper

Like that Biblical, astronomical star of Bethlehem, The Christmas Carol Reader guides readers on their quest for information about Christmas songs. Studwell gathers a composite picture of the world's most important and famous carols and includes an ample selection of lesser-known Christmas songs. All of the carols are presented in their historical and cultural contexts which adds to readers’understanding and appreciation of the songs. As the only book that covers this elusive topic, The Christmas Carol Reader informs and entertains readers on over 200 songs of all types (sacred and secular), of all periods (Middle Ages through the 20th century), and from a number of countries and cultures. Because many of the songs in The Christmas Carol Reader fit into more than one distinct category, Studwell wisely divides the songs into two major groups--those that reflect Christmas as a Holy Day and those that celebrate Christmas as a Holiday. Here is just a sample of the breadth of coverage of songs: Sacred: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come; O Come, O Come Emmanuel; Angels From the Realms of Glory; As With Gladness Men of Old; O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël); Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne Secular: Happy Holiday; A Holly Jolly Christmas; God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen; Silver Bells; Here Comes Santa Claus; I'll Be Home for Christmas Medieval: Puer Natus in Bethlehem (A Boy Is Born in Bethlehem); Coventry Carol; I Sing of a Maiden; La marche des rois (The March of the Kings); In Dulci Jubilo 1500--1700's: Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella; I Saw Three Ships; Carol of the Bagpipers 1800's: Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful); O Little Town of Bethlehem; What Child Is This?; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Stille Nacht, Heiliege Nacht (Silent Night) Spirituals: Go Tell It on the Mountain; I Wonder as I Wander; Mary Had a Baby; Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow Little Known: O Bethlehem!; The Sleep of the Infant Jesus; Song of the Nuns of Chester Countries and Cultures: O Tannenbaum; Lulajze Jezuniu (Polish Lullaby); Fum, Fum, Fum; Carol of the Bells; Patapan; El rorro (The Babe) As readers learn about the history and nature of the Christmas carol in general and the specific history of individual religious and secular carols, they will learn some history and nature of the holiday season which can bring more enjoyment into their celebrations for years to come. On long winter nights, The Christmas Carol Reader can be read continuously as a series of fact-based commentaries on Christmas music. For shorter periods in between holiday activities, readers can peruse one of the topical sections or select, with the aid of the title index, an individual essay of interest. As a library reference, this book can provide facts for research on Christmas songs or just provide an entertaining education for curious library patrons.

The Christmas Carol Reader

Through Barbershops, Bullets, and Ballads: An Annotated Anthology of Underappreciated American Musical Jewels, 1865--1918, you will discover older musical gems written during a half-century period of geographical, economic, political, and cultural expansion in the United States. Due to the fact that our collective American consciousness is rapidly developing cultural amnesia about or indifference to many of these older songs, the authors felt that a scholarly anthology needed to be produced before another century and millennium overwhelmed us. With Barbershops, Bullets, and Ballads, you will discover academic composers such as Arthur Foote, George Chadwick, and Amy Beach and find annotations outlining the history of the songs as well as the actual words and music. Barbershops, Bullets, and Ballads reveals to you such underappreciated songs as: “Above in Her Chamber,” with music by Julius Eichberg and lyrics by poet Celia Thaxter “In the Evening by the Moonlight,” with music and lyrics by James A. Bland “My Wild Irish Rose,” with music and lyrics by Chauncey Olcott “Cheyenne,” by lyricist Harry H. Williams and composer Egbert Van Alstyne “Come, Josephine in My Flying Machine,” with music by Fred Fisher and lyrics by Alfred Bryan In Barbershops, Bullets, and Ballads, you will find sections containing historical notes of featured songs in chronological order. Through this remarkable collection, you will discover an anthology of popular music of the bygone “golden age” of song and take a pleasurable voyage back to a time that is long gone.

An Annotated Anthology of Underappreciated American Musical Jewels, 1865-1918

Barbershops, Bullets, and Ballads

Come join the band! College Fight Songs II is a supplement to the original College Fight Songs, providing 97 additional song texts and interesting historical information. Together they are a unique anthology of college fight songs from across the country. College Fight Songs II: A Supplementary Anthology is a second-round knockout that finishes the job started by the first edition. This rollicking continuation of the original collection will give you even more to shout about, again bringing together complete lyrics, historical annotations, and musical scores of the songs of over 50 more colleges and universities! Full of spirited music and lyrics that will put a spring in the step of incoming freshmen and music historians alike, College Fight Songs II is for you! You'll uncover plenty of behind-the-scenes info about the songs and the people who inspired them, and of course you'll find: complete musical scores full lyrics basic historical background concerning the songs and their institutions information regarding the songwriters and college nicknames So let’s “Hail West Virginia,” stay “Ever True to Brown,” “Fight for LSU,” and shout out “The Buckeye Battle Cry!” College Fight Songs II will keep you in the game!

William E Studwell

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