Format : Sheet music
SKU: GI.G-10368
ISBN 9781622776276.
This is a fascinating and important book for everybody even remotely interested in the history of American bands. Bryan Proksch has done some painstakingly thorough research in putting together an amazing assemblage of documents… This is a must-have book! —Jon Ceander Mitchell The Wind Music Research Quarterly: Mitteilungsblatt der IGEB (March 2022), 14–15 For the scholar, each entry presents an opportunity for expansion. For the teacher, this work provides source readings for courses on wind band history or for complementing Strunk or Weiss-Taruskin in university music history courses. That said, these documents stand as an enriching and entertaining read in their own right for anyone interested in the subject. —Michael O’Connor Historic Brass Today 1/2 (Spring 2022), 32 The Golden Age of American Bands is ideally suited for courses on the history and literature of bands in America. Indeed, this volume could suffice as a textbook for adventuresome teachers in that it touches on the major musicians, instruments, ensembles, and functions expected of such a course. . . . Both private and classroom band instructors will find compelling glimpses into the history of their craft. [It is] bursting with opportunities to inspire curiosity in their students while effectively supporting their own curricular goals. —Benjamin D. Lawson and James A. Davis The Journal of Music History Pedagogy Proksch’s new collection of documents is a most welcome step in the direction of getting [the story of bands] under control. The juxtaposition of documents from so many levels and types of ensembles proves to have a cumulative effect: one begins to see the subtle and long-lasting connections among them despite the big differences. It is easy to envision it as a supplemental text in a course on band history and literature, but the book is also just an absorbing read. There is much to learn here, and much to enjoy. —Ken Kreitner Notes 79/2 (December 2022): 217-218 This is the story of the American wind band, told chronologically by those who experienced it in real time from 1835 to 1935. How did bands become bands? How did they rise in popularity? Which figures had insights and specific impacts on the development of the genre? Through source documents and articles, Bryan Proksch takes us on an extraordinary journey from the time of the first brass bands in the 1830s, through the Civil War and the golden ages of Gilmore and Sousa, to the cusp of the wind ensemble just before World War II. Hear from a young Frederick Fennell about his efforts to create the first band at Eastman. Read the outline of Allessandro Liberati’s unpublished trumpet method book. Eavesdrop on Karl L. King as he muses on the fate of bands after the death of Sousa. See Patrick Conway’s first undergraduate music education curriculum. Gawk as trombonist Fredrick Neil Innes embarrasses “world’s greatest cornetist” Jules Levy at Coney Island. Explore as Alan Dodworth revolutionizes bands. Retreat with a military band in the middle of a Civil War battle. Find out what it felt like to sit in a Sousa Band rehearsal. Ask Herbert L. Clarke why he thinks you should be playing a cornet instead of a trumpet. Find out how P. S. Gilmore managed to pull off the biggest concert events in American history. The book includes numerous rare and unknown illustrations to show you the places where band history happened. The documents include rare periodical excerpts, handwritten letters, and other writings taken from archives throughout the United States. These first-person accounts are certain to further refine and deepen our understanding and appreciation of American band history on a grand scale. Contents: Beginnings (1835–1859) The Civil War (1860–1865) The Jubilees (1866–1879) The Gilded Age (1880–1896) The Band Age (1897–1914) World War I (1915–1919) Transition and Decline (1920–1935) Click here to download a FREE addenda. Bryan Proksch is a distinguished faculty lecturer and associate professor of music history and literature at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. This is his third book. His A Sousa Reader: Essays, Interviews, and Clippings (GIA Publications, 2016) explores the documents relating to the life and career of John Philip Sousa.
SKU: GI.G-10597
ISBN 9781574635409.
At 19 years old, Saul Goodman became timpanist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. Forty-six years later, he retired as one of the most celebrated orchestral musicians of all time. During his illustrious career as composer, inventor, and timpanist, he performed on over 1,000 recordings, placed his students in the world’s major symphony orchestras, and set standards in percussion performance and pedagogy that remain in place to this day. His memoirs, and those of his students, trace his musical development and take the reader on a voyage of his unique experiences during the greatest era of the American symphony orchestras. His incredible legacy as a performer and a teacher is unrivaled in the history of percussion, and perhaps any other instrument as well. The list of his students reads like a ‘who’s who’ of our world. —Daniel Druckman, New York Philharmonic He was one of the greatest artists of all times. He was an inspiration to me, not only as a student, but throughout my professional career. —Vic Firth, Boston Symphony Orchestra Saul often said that his teachers were Toscanini, Monteux, Reiner, Stokowski, and Bruno Walter. He was the greatest player in the era of stars throughout the symphonic world. The sheer numbers of concerts, recordings, and TV that he played is staggering. —Morris Lang, New York Philharmonic Saul Goodman was a brilliant orchestral musician who just happened to play the timpani. His style, musicianship and strong personality were a tremendous influence on those with whom he worked. —James Rago, Louisville Orchestra Review from Percussive Notes Magazine This treasure of a book tells the story from the man himself: Saul Goodman, one of the most celebrated orchestral musicians, timpanists, and percussion teachers to ever live. Through a combination of Goodman’s own writing, as well as contributions from a variety of others who knew, studied, and worked with him, this 106-page book is informative for students and enjoyable for general music enthusiasts. The book is constructed in two parts — the first being a previously unpublished memoir written by Goodman during his lifetime (he died in 1996) and edited by Anthony Cirone, and the second consisting of reflections from students and colleagues, an interview with Goodman conducted by Rick Mattingly in 1981, a Percussive Notes article published shortly after this death, and an overview of his recording history. The book also contains several pages of pictures from throughout his career. The first part, written by Goodman, contains five chapters: Beginnings, Carnegie Hall, The Business of Modern Orchestra, Toscanini, and On Recording. While he discusses many percussion-specific things, such as lessons with Alfred Friese, Goodman spends just as much, if not more, time talking about the general orchestral culture of the time and how it evolved during his 46 years in the New York Philharmonic. This includes reflections on conductors, management, recording, and the audition process. The second part proves just as valuable, with first-hand stories from those who knew him. These range from acknowledgments of Goodman’s excellence in performing and instruments making to heartfelt and sometimes humorous anecdotes relating to his teaching. This book will undoubtedly be appreciated by all orchestral percussion and classical music performers, students, conductors, and teachers, as well as the general concert-going public. It is a rare first-hand look into the life and career of a world-class artist and teacher. — Jason Baker Percussive Notes, February 2022.
SKU: HL.14010856
ISBN 9780711960879. 0.575 inches.
Fuego Fatuo has an interesting history. Manuel De Falla (1876-1946), often regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, wanted to write an opera based around themes from Chopin, whomhe greatly admired. The stage work was never finished; however, several attempts have been made to arrange the work for orchestra, most successfully by the Catalan conductor Antoni Ros-Marba.
Despite its history,this orchestral suite is far from being a mere mish-mash of Chopin melodies; it is more of a meditation on Chopin's work in general, with the focus on the harmonic and textural elements which De Falla drew from his work.It forms a fascinating insight into the mind of a great musician.
SKU: AP.74-1592406739
ISBN 9781592406739. English. [Led Zeppelin] By Stephen Davis.
A revealing insider's account of Led Zeppelin's 1975 North American tour from the bestselling author of Hammer of the Gods. As a young music journalist in 1975, Stephen Davis got the opportunity of a lifetime: an invitation to cover the sold-out 1975 North American tour of Led Zeppelin for a national magazine. He received a backstage pass, was granted interviews with band members, and even got a prized seat on the band's luxurious tour jet, The Starship. While on duty, he chronicled the Zeppelin tour in three notebooks, but after writing his article in 1975 he misplaced them. Three decades later, he finally found the notebooks and unearthed a vivid account of the band members' extravagant, and often troubled, lives on tour. Tied together by Davis's entertaining narrative, and including more than forty never-before-published photographs, LZ-'75 is an unprecedented and comprehensive personal portrait of the greatest (and most notoriously press-shy) rock band in history at its apex.
