Chronicling the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas that have played out on the stage and off camera, this entertaining exploration of the Oscars features a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of today and yesterday.

One evening, journalist Eric Siblin attended a recital of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites and began an epic quest that would unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. The Cello Suites weaves together three dramatic narratives: the disappearance of Bach's manuscript in the eighteenth century; Pablo Casals's discovery and popularization of the music in Spain in the late-nineteenth century; and Siblin's infatuation with the suites...

An entertaining, definitive and in-depth study of prog rock, with a new cover and a foreword by Steve Hackett (Genesis). Progressive rock, a genre formed out of a creative surge in the late Sixties and throughout the Seventies. Made by young musicians for a young audience, prog music looked towards new horizons by synthesising rock, jazz, folk, classical and other styles. While prog has always divided critical opinion, in its heyday it had a large...

In the sixties, as the nation anticipated the conquest of space, the defeat of poverty, and an end to injustice at home and abroad, no goal seemed beyond America's reach. Then the seventies arrived-bringing oil shocks and gas lines, the disgrace and resignation of a president, defeat in Vietnam, terrorism at the 1972 Munich Olympics, urban squalor, bizarre crimes, high prices, and a bad economy. The country fell into a great funk. But when things...

Small-town dance halls once overflowed with people flocking to see their favorite country bands and to dance. “Dance Halls and Last Calls” explores over one hundred of these vintage dance halls and their communities through the eyes of artists who played there.

El desarrollo de las conversaciones de Alfred Brendel con Hans Mayer da forma a un libro revelador, no sólo para los admiradores del gran pianista moravo, sino para todos aquellos a los que les interese entrar en los aspectos técnicos y emocionales de la interpretación musical. Hombre de singular cultura, Brendel no sólo habla de las obras más importantes del tesoro pianístico del período clásico y romántico, de las cuales ha realizado interpretaciones...

The Beatles' sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, was a game changer. By December 1965, when the album was released, the Beatles had played the first arena rock show at Shea Stadium for 55 000 delirious fans, been awarded MBE (Member of British Empire) medals, and were indisputably the greatest musical phenomenon since Elvis Presley. With their first film, A Hard Day's Night, John, Paul, George, and Ringo laid down the blueprint for everyone who ever...

In addition to his genius as a composer, Schumann was a gifted critic who wrote perceptive essays, articles, and reviews for his influential musical journal, Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik. Written from 1834 to 1844, these 61 pieces include evaluations of Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, and other giants. Articles appear in chronological order with ample annotations.

Picking up where Samuel Johnson left off more than two centuries ago, Ray Robertson's Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) offers up an amplified gathering of thirteen portraits of rock & roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. Irreverent and riotous, Robertson explores the greater or lesser heat" with which each musician shaped their genre, while offering absorbing insight into their often tumultuous lives. Includes essays on Gene...

Thomas Edward Harkin's Woodstock FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Fabled Garden cuts through the lofty rhetoric and mythology surrounding the legendary festival. Rather than waxing philosophical about whether or not the Woodstock Music & Art Fair was the defining moment of the 1960s as so many have done before, Harkins places the focus on the music, solo artists, and bands who performed. Thirty-two acts took to the stage in Bethel, New York...