Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Companions to Music

This Companion is a practical guide to monophonic and polyphonic music from the emergence of plainsong to the end of the fourteenth century. Focusing on technical and cultural aspects of medieval music, its coherent perspective makes it ideal for all students and scholars of this key topic in music studies.

This broad introduction to Caribbean music approaches the subject through socio-cultural themes specific to the colonial encounter - creolisation, transnationalism and identity. These thematic continuities illuminate the complexities of the region's multi-layered musical traditions, which contribute to defining the island nations and their diasporas.

This is the first book to encompass the breadth and depth of guitar performance, featuring essays which cover different guitar traditions and styles, from baroque, classical, country, blues, and rock to flamenco, African and Celtic, written by some of the most influential players, teachers, and guitar historians in the world.

This practical guide is an essential and stimulating reference book for all clarinet enthusiasts.

This Companion provides an accessible and vivid introduction to the life and music of Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius. Placed in a wide perspective and considering the works themselves, their performance, reception and influence, Sibelius emerges as one of the most striking and individual figures in twentieth-century music.

Alban Berg's achievement is based on an extraordinarily small musical output, but it includes towering masterpieces such as the operas Wozzeck and Lulu, and his last work, the Violin Concerto. These and all Berg's other substantial works are discussed in this wide-ranging Companion.

This Companion provides an accessible and vivid introduction to the life and music of Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius. Placed in a wide perspective and considering the works themselves, their performance, reception and influence, Sibelius emerges as one of the most striking and individual figures in twentieth-century music.

This 2004 Companion contains specially commissioned essays on one of the most influential opera composers. Divided into four parts, each exploring an element of Rossini's life, his world, and his works: biography and reception; words and music; representative operas; performance. Chapters also on individual works: Tancredi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Semiramide, and Guillaume Tell.

Bringing the most recent scholarship into the public arena, this volume bridges the gap between scholarly and popular images of Mozart. It provides comprehensive coverage of all his important works, the reception of his music since his death, the contexts which inform his work and his significance as a performer.

Edited by two of the most respected names in the world of brass performance and scholarship, this new Cambridge Companion provides an invaluable overview of the history, and technical and musical development of the brass instrument. Covers classical music, non-western music and jazz.

Handel is recognised as one of the principal creative figures in classical music. In this Companion acknowledged experts on Handel make their expertise accessible to the interested general reader and music lover. All the genres in which Handel composed are considered including oratorio, chamber cantata, opera, and church music.

This is a 2004 introductory chronicle of the Lied and places it in its full context - at once musical, literary, and cultural - with chapters devoted to focal composers, influence on other musical genres, use as a musical commodity, and issues of performance.

Reflecting the breadth of Stravinsky's phenomenal achievement, this Companion contains a wide range of essays covering the contexts within which Stravinsky worked, his key compositions, and the reception of his ideas. It concludes with an interview with the leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

This Companion is an invaluable resource for music students and teachers, professional and amateur musicians, scholars and record collectors. It provides seventeen chapters on every aspect of the harpsichord and its music - composers, genres, national styles, tuning and the art of harpsichord building - by fourteen leading experts in the field.

An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been as much misunderstood as revered. This Companion presents new perspectives on the composer's music, cultural context and reception in Britain and beyond, and includes interviews with major living composers.

An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been as much misunderstood as revered. This Companion presents new perspectives on the composer's music, cultural context and reception in Britain and beyond, and includes interviews with major living composers.

The subject of musical theatre usually brings to mind the Broadway musical, but this collection of essays reveals that operetta was the pre-eminent musical-theatrical entertainment on the urban stage from the 1850s to the early 1930s. The authors explore operetta's production and reception in more than a dozen countries.

This Companion provides a broad overview of the world of pop and rock. It introduces the most important and significant moments in its history and the key issues involved in understanding popular culture's most vital art form.

This is the first book to offer a complete introduction to the recorder.

The impact of digital technologies on music has been vast: both the practice of music and thinking about it have changed almost beyond all recognition. Through chapters written by academics and 'personal takes' by knowledgeable practitioners in the field, this book provides a comprehensive Companion to the place of music within digital culture.

The impact of digital technologies on music has been vast: both the practice of music and thinking about it have changed almost beyond all recognition. Through chapters written by academics and 'personal takes' by knowledgeable practitioners in the field, this book provides a comprehensive Companion to the place of music within digital culture.

The third edition of this acclaimed Companion provides an accessible, broadly based survey of musicals in London, New York, and other venues from the nineteenth century to the present. Existing chapters have been updated, and two new chapters added, providing a wealth of information for students and enthusiasts alike.

This book provides an accessible guide to the history of the symphony and to the ways in which symphonic music might be analysed and interpreted. Exploring the symphony over its 250-year history, it will appeal to anyone with a professional, academic or informed amateur interest in the genre.

Investigating the fascinating worlds and memorable work of Gilbert and Sullivan, this Companion provides a fresh approach to their musical legacy and enduring popularity. Written by an international team of specialists, and featuring a personal account by film director Mike Leigh, the book is perfect for enthusiasts and students alike.

This Companion offers an in-depth introduction to the early history of opera by focusing on its foundational century. From opera's Italian origins to its growth through Europe and the Americas, the volume charts the changing landscape - on stage and beyond - which shaped the way early opera was produced and received.

This Companion offers an in-depth introduction to the early history of opera by focusing on its foundational century. From opera's Italian origins to its growth through Europe and the Americas, the volume charts the changing landscape - on stage and beyond - which shaped the way early opera was produced and received.

An insightful overview of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony from three main angles: genesis, analysis and reception. It not only summarises previous research but also includes many fresh insights, based on new evidence. The Companion presents a range of approaches, by twelve leading scholars in Beethoven research.

An expanded and updated edition, this Companion will appeal to students and practitioners of electronic music. Including four new chapters and new artists' statements, this book explores the history, theory, creation and analysis of a wide range of styles across the worldwide electronic music scene.

An accessible introduction to Schumann: his time, temperament, style and his oeuvre. Explores the cultural context, musical and poetic fabric, sources of inspiration of key works from his lieder and piano pieces to chamber, orchestral and dramatic works. Contains tables and illustrations, a glossary and advice on further reading.

Written for a general readership by some of the leading specialists in the field, this Companion presents up-to-date scholarship in an accessible fashion. It provides an authoritative overview of Liszt's music, its context and performance practice in a way that will be invaluable to music professionals and amateurs alike.