Music

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English opera in the 1920s may seem to some an odd topic. What we now know as the Royal Opera did not begin until after World War II.

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“For the music lover who wants to explore the textures and unconventional harmonies which set Debussy apart as the greatest French composer of his time.”

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“Connelly is too slow for his own good. The idea that he waited 38 years since Lennon’s murder to write this bio is astonishing. Talk about sitting on a story!”

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“And you know what I say to people who ask, ‘What do you do when all the odds are against you?’ I say, ‘You keep going. You just don’t stop.’”

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“This is a book for a recording enthusiast seeking a breezy discussion from a producer whose art was forged in a bygone era, but whose skills should be preserved for when big studios and bi

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“Robin Wallace’s book not only humanizes one of the most famous composers in the history of Western music, it serves as a beautifully written love letter to his late wife, Barbara.”

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Tom Smucker loves the Beach Boys, though he’s not in love with them right now.

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Author Thomas Brothers tries mightily in this dense but insightful book to tie his thesis together, namely that two of the biggest musical geniuses of the 20th Century—Duke Ellington and The Beatle

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Based on ten years of wide-ranging research, Alan Walker has produced the most comprehensive biography and musical analysis to date on Poland's most famous musician and composer.

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“a valuable and blessedly concise addition to the literature.”

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“This captivating story will sweep the reader through fascinating and glowing accounts of the great composer’s life . . .”

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This account of the rise of punk in East Germany is openly the work of a devoted fan of that scene. Tim Mohr is upfront about his emotional investment in the topic.

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Does the world need another book about The Beatles?

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“Captivating and intriguing, Chopin’s Piano will most certainly entertain both novice and hardcore music historians.”

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“an unsettling resonance that more triumphantly framed survivor stories rarely achieve.”

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Verdi’s life was the stuff operas are made of: sex scandals, political turmoil, creative pitfalls, testy divas, and meddling producers, but nothing stopped him from becoming the most famous opera c

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“Fare Thee Well is a passionate and well-written exposé of the behind the scenes action of one of rock and roll’s most iconic bands . . .”

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In one of the early chapters of this handsome book—as visual and colorful as a magical mystery tour—the authors have a double-page spread titled “Before the Beatles.” It details all the different b

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Paul Simon: The Life is not an autobiography but it might as well be. Simon sat for more than 100 hours of interviews with respected writer Robert Hilburn and made it possible for Hilburn

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Actor-writer Simon Callow has published books on larger-than-life figures Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton, and Orson Welles.

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Bob Fosse was a choreographic creative force of nature who invented his own dance genre that changed American musical theater in his time and for generations of Broadway dancers to come.

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Gold Dust Woman, the unauthorized biography of pop music legend Stevie Nicks, can be read two ways.

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Ann Powers is one of music’s enduring rock critics, emerging on VH1’s “Behind the Music” in the late ’90s with a shock of orange hair, an ironic yet warm affect, everybody’s cozy hipster big sis.

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“a fascinating dual study that rescues a large chunk of musical history and well as pulling the curtain back on the operatic political drama.”

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