From its emergence in the sixteenth century to the phenomenon of the 'Three Tenors' and beyond, the tenor voice has grown in popularity and esteem. This engaging and authoritative book – the first comprehensive history of tenor singing – presents fas...

Likely to become an essential source for pianists wishing to play Shostakovich's work as well as for listeners, this is the first book-length study in English of Shostakovich's largest work for piano, the "Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87". M...

French opera is second only to Italian opera in the length, breadth and diversity of its history. Yet most people, if asked to come up with titles, could mention only a handful of titles – Carmen, Faust, Pelleas et Melisande, Samson et Dalila – a sma...

This candid, intimate, and compellingly written new biography offers a completely fresh account of Robert Schumann's life. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadn...

Informed by a wealth of information that has come to light in recent years, this engaging biography tells the complete story of the life and musical work of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Drawing on Sibelius's own correspondence and diar...

In this appealing book, acclaimed photographer Ralph Gibson offers more than sixty intimate black-and-white portraits of guitar masters playing their instruments. Focusing his expert lens on musicians who have lent their unmistakable voices to virtua...

In this eagerly anticipated book, Boris Gasparov gazes through the lens of music to find an unusual perspective on Russian cultural and literary history. He discusses six major works in Russian music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showing...

The oboe, including its earlier forms the shawm and the hautboy, is an instrument with a long and rich history. In this book two distinguished oboist-musicologists trace that history from its beginnings to the 21st century, discussing how and why the...

A history of percussion instruments from the Old Stone Age to the present day. Jeremy Montagu, a performer, historian, and curator of musical instruments, discusses common and uncommon percussion instruments from all parts of the world, tracing their...

The story of the flute in the musical life of Europe and North America from the 12th century to the 21st. It seeks to illustrate the relationship that has bound the instrument, its music, and performance technique together through eight centuries of...