This dance classic presents a complete beginning course in classical ballet. The founder of this method, Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928), performed and taught in Russia and with Diaghilev's troupe. By elaborating on a logical progression of exercises, Cecchetti provided dance with an unprecedented unity — balancing the adagio and allegro, re-establishing the notion of «legato,» strengthening the arabesque, and developing the exercise of the pliés. Cyril W. Beaumont, a distinguished writer on ballet, has codified Cecchetti's program of study with the assistance of one of Cecchetti's star pupils, Stanislas Idzikowski, and with the approval of Cecchetti himself.The first chapter defines and illustrates the basic theory of the positions, body movements, and technical terms. Detailed chapters of exercises include «Exercises at the Bar,» «Port de Bras,» «Centre Practice,» «Adagio,» and «Allegro.» Each exercise appears with a numbered series of instructions, and a table of daily exercises for the week is provided. The text is accompanied by 109 line illustrations, showing positions and movements of the body in detail and offering ballet lovers a perfect guide to the basics of classical ballet.
–Peter Cooper, a well-respected music writer and musician, was the music writer at the Tennessean for over a decade and is now the Editor at the Country Music Hall of Fame. –The top music and radio genre in the US, the interest in country music continues to grow stronger and wider annually. –The popularity of Nashville, and the interest in its musical history, is at an all-time high.
Audience –Fans of country music and its history. –Music historians –Nashvillians, young and old; native and transplants, and tourists visiting the city.
Benjamin Dwyer’sBritten and the Guitar: Critical Perspectives for Performersis the first complete study of the guitar works of Benjamin Britten. This book offers more than an objective analytical study of these compositions. Dwyer draws upon his expertise as a classical guitarist, composer and musicologist to deliver a multi-lensed examination of this music providing broad contexts and unique insights. Dwyer not only explores the intricate relationship between Britten, his life-long partner, the tenor Peter Pears, and the guitarist Julian Bream, for whom all the guitar works were written, but goes further in situating Renaissance composer and lutenist John Dowland as a central and inspirational figure who hovers over all of Britten’s guitar works. In so doing, he offers new perspectives into Britten’s compositional approach demonstrating how techniques of musical rhetoric, exemplified by Dowland, are central to his musical language. Britten and the Guitar: Critical Perspectives for Performersis an essential guide for the professional guitarist and singer, the committed teacher, and those who simply wish to understand more about the guitar music of one Britain’s foremost composers.
CHAPTER I <br>Egyptian, Assyrian, Hebrew and Phoenician Dancing. <br><br>CHAPTER II <br>Dancing with the Greeks. <br><br>CHAPTER III <br>Etruscan-South Italian, Roman Dancing, etc. <br><br>CHAPTER IV <br>The "Early English" and "Mediaeval" dance to the fourteenth century.<br><br>CHAPTER V <br>Society dancing from the fifteenth century. <br><br>CHAPTER VI <br>The Modern Theatre Dance.<br><br>In this work it is not necessary to worry the reader with speculations as to the origin of dancing. There are other authorities easily accessible who have written upon this theme. Dancing is probably one of the oldest arts. As soon as man was man he without doubt began to gesticulate with face, body, and limbs. How long it took to develop bodily gesticulation into an art no one can guess—perhaps a millennium.
"As for the boy," said Squire Pope, with his usual autocratic air, "I shall place him in the poorhouse."<br><br>"But, Benjamin," said gentle Mrs. Pope, who had a kindly and sympathetic heart, "isn't that a little hard?"<br><br>"Hard, Almira?" said the squire, arching his eyebrows. "I fail to comprehend your meaning."<br><br>"You know Philip has been tenderly reared, and has always had a comfortable home—"<br><br>"He will have a comfortable home now, Mrs. Pope. Probably you are not aware that it cost the town two thousand dollars last year to maintain the almshouse. I can show you the item in the town report."<br><br>"I don't doubt it at all, husband," said Mrs. Pope gently. "Of course you know all about it, being a public man."<br><br>Squire Pope smiled complacently. It pleased him to be spoken of as a public man.<br><br>"Ahem! Well, yes, I believe I have no inconsiderable influence in town affairs," he responded. "I am on the board of selectmen, and am chairman of the overseers of the poor, …
Opera can now be enjoyed not just in theatres but through live cinema screenings, on disc or streamed online. The enjoyment of opera will increase immeasurably with a good understanding of how story, character and music combine to create what is seen and heard. Refreshingly non-technical, How to Enjoy Opera reveals what makes opera so exciting and enduring.
In the early 1970s, the Minneapolis music scene was no scene at all. Radio stations played Top 40 music; bars and clubs booked only rock cover bands and blues bands. Meanwhile, cities like New York, Detroit, and London were spawning fresh and innovative—and loud and raw—sounds by musicians creating a new punk and rock movement. A small but daring group of Twin Cities musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts wanted a piece of that action. To do it, they had to build it themselves.<br /><br /><em>Complicated Fun</em> brings together the recollections of the men and women who built Minnesota's vibrant and vital indie rock scene. Through interviews with dozens of musicians, producers, managers, journalists, fans, and other scenesters, Cyn Collins chronicles the emergence of seminal bands like the Suicide Commandos, the Hypstrz, Curtiss A, Flamingo, the Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, and more. The subjects reflect on the key role that Oar Folkjokeopus record store, Jay's Longhorn bar, and Twin/Tone Records played by providing outlets for hearing, performing, and recording these new sounds.<br /><br /><em>Complicated Fun</em> explores the influences, motivations, moments, and individuals that propelled Minneapolis to its status as a premier music scene and, in turn, inspired future generations of rockers.
Standing at the crossroads – the Mississippi crossroads of Robert Johnson and the devil's infamous meeting – Mark Radcliffe found himself facing his own personal crunch point. Aged sixty, he had just mourned the death of his father, only to be handed a diagnosis of mouth and throat cancer. This momentous time in his life, and being at the most famous junction in music history, led Radcliffe to think about the pivotal tracks in music and how the musicians who wrote and performed them – from Woodie Guthrie to Gloria Gaynor, Kurt Cobain to Bob Marley – had reached the crossroads that led to such epoch-changing music. In this warm, intimate account of music and its power to transform our lives, Radcliffe takes a personal journey through these touchstone tracks, looking at the story behind the records and his own experiences as he goes in search of these moments.
First published in 1920, this book contains fantastic guide to teaching piano playing for music teachers, written by Tobias Matthay. Tobias Augustus Matthay (1858 – 1945) was an English pianist, composer, and teacher. He was taught composition while at the Royal Academy of Music by Arthur Sullivan and Sir William Sterndale Bennett, and he was instructed in the piano by William Dorrell and Walter Macfarren. Contents include: “Method in its Good and Its Bad Sense”, “Fad-Methods to be Avoided”, “Method in its Helpful Sense”, “Cramming v. Teaching”, “Method v. Teaching Devices”, “Example of Method in Teaching, Fore-am Rotation”, “Repetition of Formulae Useless, Knowledge of Facts Essential”, etc. This timeless handbook will be of considerable utility to piano teachers and students alike, and it would make for a worthy addition to allied collections. Other notable works by this author include: “The Act Of Touch In All Its Diversity” (1903), “The First Principles of Pianoforte Playing (1905)” and “Relaxation Studies” (1908). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.