Ernest Newman Livres

In this classic guide, a leading Wagner expert explores ten of the composer's most cherished operas, revealing their key themes, myths, and literary inspirations. The analysis is celebrated as one of the most comprehensive and intellectually engaging examinations of Wagner's works, appealing to both specialists and casual music fans. For the first time in a single paperback volume, it serves as an ideal companion for experiencing operas like The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, Die Meistersinger, the Ring Cycle, and Parsifal. Newman enhances his exploration of the operas' narratives, texts, and music with rich biographical and historical insights drawn from his extensive research, including his notable work, Life of Richard Wagner. The text is replete with hundreds of musical examples, clearly illustrating important leitmotifs and their connections through Newman's accessible prose. As Robert Bailey from New York University notes, this guide offers an exceptional introduction to a major composer's masterpieces, providing clarity and astuteness in outlining each opera's dramatic sources and guiding the reader through the completed works with insightful commentary.

Independent of his humanitarian fame, Albert Schweitzer is also celebrated as a prominent musicologist, particularly recognized for this influential study of J. S. Bach. This work stands as one of the most comprehensive examinations of the composer, his life, and his music, significantly shaping the performance of Bach's works and earning Schweitzer a lasting legacy in music scholarship. The first volume presents a thorough history of Protestant church music, exploring its role in early services across Europe while linking it to contemporary art, poetry, philosophy, and historical events. Focusing on Germany, Schweitzer delves into the musical forms that influenced Bach, particularly the German chorale, and evaluates the contributions of his predecessors, including Schütz and Buxtehude. This volume also provides a detailed account of Bach's life and his compositions for various instruments, offering practical performance suggestions. The second volume focuses on Bach's choral music, including cantatas and passions, featuring an insightful analysis supported by numerous musical examples. Schweitzer's original theories on the pictorial representation of text in Bach's music and his recommendations for performance techniques make this work a vital resource. Accessible and engaging, it appeals to both music students and enthusiasts alike.

The Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea (Dover Thrift Plays) The plays of John Millington Synge (1871–1909) are filled with the humors, sorrows, and dreams of the country folk of the Aran Islands and the western Irish coastlands, where, in Synge's works, "we have a popular imagination that is fiery and magnificent, and tender." The Playboy of the Western World, his most famous play, is sweetly funny and ironic as it follows its young hero's progress, in the eyes of others, from timid weakling to paragon of bravery.The shorter one-act play, Riders to the Sea, is a dark elegy to the fragile existence of those who live at the mercy of the sea. Both are beautifully crafted dramas that celebrate Irish gifts for lyrical language. They are reprinted here from authoritative editions, complete with Synge's preface to The Playboy of the Western World.