Irreverent and passionate, this book is an ideal introduction for people who are convinced that opera is soley for those refined few who were born listening to arias. Written in short, humorous, and informative chapters, and laced with some of the opera world's juiciest anecdotes, this guide is sure to convert even the most ambivalent of music lovers. Line drawings.

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is in many ways his most startlingly original. It has a programmatic content, it is in five movements, and its mood is quite different from the usual barnstorming image of the composer. Why did he want to compose such a work? Why did it take him five years to realize his vision? What was he hoping to communicate? How did he achieve it? Finally, how was the work received? David Wyn Jones addresses all these vital questions in a fascinating account of this popular work and the context in which it was written.

This is a unique book from the pen of a distinguished musician whose experience both as orchestral musician and conductor provides a sensitive insight into the techniques and artistry involved in creating memorable performances. Christopher Adey's searching and comprehensive survey poses an answers the most important questions about a wide repertoire. As the lucky recipient of performances of my own music by the author I am well placed to recommend it as essential reading for all who love the orchestra and its music. -- Edwin Rodburgh

A very complete history of the Classic Period. Used for a university course at Temple University College of Music. Well researched.

A. B. Marx (1795-1866) was a scholar, teacher and critic of music, for many years Professor of Music at the University of Berlin, and a close friend - before a falling-out over the libretto of an oratorio - of Mendelssohn. This influential book, published in German in 1855 and translated into English in the same year, consists of two parts: a survey of the significance of music to western culture, and an impassioned and thought-provoking guide to the necessary moral qualities, skills and understanding required to teach - and to be taught - music. Marx's appreciation of such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz and Wagner is placed in a context in which music is seen as a crucial moral influence on the future development of mankind, and musicians therefore as playing a vital role in that development.