Reading Elgar’s The Music Makers

Elgar’s The Music Makers, for contralto solo, choir and large orchestra, has experienced a chequered reputation since its 1912 premiere at the Birmingham Festival. The work faced significant adverse criticism which re-emerged over time. Criticism targeted the poem Elgar chose for his setting – Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s ode, whose reputation was later tarnished by T.S. Eliot’s infamous critique ‘What is Minor Poetry?’. Misunderstanding of Elgar’s innovatory compositional procedure was another main reason behind the negative responses. Elgar integrated the poetic language with musical self-borrowings, transforming the words and offering perceptive listeners enhanced emotion at the highest artistic level. All aspects of Elgar’s musical language combine to produce one of his greatest, yet least understood, masterworks.

Reading Elgar’s The Music Makers brings to the fore a prime example of how first musical performances can be misunderstood and reception can shift over time. The work remains as relevant today as ever. The book’s multi-faceted approach will be invaluable not only for conductors, singers and music students, but for concert goers and music lovers generally.

Bridge Hunt

Bridge Hunt chronicles a young man’s unforgettable quest to discover the 42 revolutionary bridges designed by Robert Maillart, a pioneering Swiss engineer and architectural luminary, between 1899 to 1940. Many of these graceful structures still hide along remote back roads and alpine valleys, while a few iconic landmarks endure in Bern, Geneva, and Zurich.Maillart’s breathtaking Salginatobel Bridge was recently designated as a Swiss heritage site for its national significance. It has also been named an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.This visually rich travelogue presents the only complete published collection of photos and descriptions of all Maillart’s extant European bridges, capturing his unique engineering artistry. It will appeal to civil engineers, architects, and students, as well as travellers, adventure-seekers and anyone fascinated by treasures that unite rather than divide our world.More than a precious record of a unique chapter in infrastructure history, the book is at heart a human story. Through one young man’s eyes, we rediscover Maillart’s timeless bridges, which embody the soaring of imagination transformed into structures that bring people together.

The Steinway That Wouldn't Budge (Confessions of a Piano Tuner)

Peter Tryon's Confessions of a Piano Tuner is a charming, autobiographical tale of life spent travelling around rural East Anglia tuning pianos. But this is also a personal account from boyhood of how music and more specifically the mechanics of that wonderful instrument, fired early imagination and gave rise to a lifelong fascination and involvement with the piano.As much a social commentary on people, the anecdotes about different characters are filled with humour and the text is light and easy to read. The unspoiled beauty and charm of East Anglia provides a perfect backdrop to Peter Tryon's account, all combining together to make this a book that you won't want to put down.

Streets Ahead

The author is a ‘Townie’ who has, throughout his life, chosen to avoid rural situations. In his interest in ART, he has felt that less attention has been paid to works related to city areas than they deserve. This book is an attempt to rectify this situation.

Potty About Pots: Arts And Crafts For Home And School

Throughout human history, art has been central to all aspects of life: from birth to death, and everything in between. Potty About Pots looks at ceramics throughout the time, exploring both the cultures and artistic legacy of people from the ancient Egyptians to modern Europeans. Potty About Pots will take you on a journey through time and geography, with fun activities, suitable for all ages, to share with loved ones or pupils.

Notebook of an [Un]Successful Musician

 Zdenek Bruderhans started learning piano at eight and flute at fifteen years of age. At twenty, he became flautist in the opera orchestra of the Prague National Theatre. There were extremely limited contacts with the flautists outside Czechoslovakia, but, on the other hand, after WWII, Prague became a crossroad between East and West, and for some greatest artists (Richter, Gilels, Oistrach, Kogan, Rostropovic, Szeryng), Prague was the venue where they started their international career. Their art was an inspiration for the development of Bruderhans’ very individual style of aesthetics and playing. This style brought him an ‘absolute’ victory among five instrumental categories at the 1959 PJ International Competition; his debut LP for SUPRAPHON was also released by Columbia in the US and Japan, and in 1968, he represented the state label Supraphon and Czechoslovakia at MIDEM in Cannes, France, as one of the three performers.In 1968, he emigrated and after teaching in a Swedish institute, he was appointed as flute professor at the University of Adelaide, whilst continuing his solo performance touring and recording.Main repertoire interests are devoted to duo works with keyboards and unaccompanied flute repertoire. His discography and full-length recitals were highly acclaimed by critics. Other interests were development of new flute techniques, new insight in learning process and musical performance, all embodied in his three books (one in Czech) and discography, accessible at YouTube.“…memorable performance…wizardry…”—London, The Daily Telegraph“…in triomph en tous points…”—Bruxelles, La Revue de Disques“…magical sound which can often sound other-worldly… a joyous disc, for giving the chance what the flute can achieve…”—Musicweb International

Musical Encounters

Musical Encounters by Nigel Wilkins relates a journey from a childhood in Essex to a career as a Professor of Musicology in Paris. Interspersed with 'Musical Encounters' with various musicians, many of them famous, this is an insight into the life of an active musician and researcher.

Mick the Drum's Basic Drum Book

If you’ve always been drawn to, excited or inspired by the DRUMMER in the band, either live, on record or visually, and thought that you would like to be able to play the drums, this book is for YOU. If you’ve wondered how or where to get started, look no further. Regardless of age, follow the steps within, and soon you will share the magic enjoyed by all drummers – the SECRET of ‘3-Way Coordination’.

How To Photograph Garden Plants and Wildlife Through Four Seasons

Arnold Wilson is a professional biologist and an award-winning photographer, and both these skills are shown to their best advantage in How to Photograph Garden Plants and Wildlife through Four Seasons.As the title suggests, this book is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of garden photography throughout the year. Its early chapters discuss the technical intricacies of the camera and the many models currently available, before giving an impressively practical overview of the vital, but often misunderstood, subject of photographic composition.The next four chapters cover each of the seasons in turn, explaining what techniques to use to get the best out of flowers and other plants and how to produce appealing and unusual action shots of garden wildlife.Throughout, Arnold Wilson very much practises what he preaches. The book is illustrated with over 200 of his magnificent photographs – becoming, in effect, a showcase for the glories to be found in a British garden.How to Photograph Garden Plants and Wildlife through Four Seasons is an indispensable guide for every nature photographer, from aspiring to accomplished.

Doof Doof: My Life in Music

‘I have always loved the lines from Rudyard Kipling: If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same... Career-wise, I guess I've experienced a 50/50 mix of the two, and I have always tried to turn a 'No' into a 'Yes'!' Simon May is one of the most successful and celebrated composers for television the UK has ever produced. Best known for writing the ‘EastEnders' theme - whose evocative drum beat gives this book its title - Simon's long and impressive list of TV themes includes the 1980s smash-hit drama series ‘Howards' Way', as well as such perennial favourites as ‘Holiday' and ‘Animal Park'. In Doof Doof: My Life in Music, Simon describes the creation of these works, his lifelong vocation as a teacher and even his short-lived pop career, with self-deprecating humour and the sharp eye of the true professional. With a wealth of music and TV anecdotes from Simon's more than 40 years in the business, Doof Doof is a vivid and engaging self-portrait of a successful composer, entrepreneurial businessman, earnest educator and committed family man.  

Darbuka in Middle East - Volume 1

Learn how to play Darbuka in 10 Lessons. This book is simple in use for anyone who wants to learn this individual instrument. Also, it can be used as a guide for anyone who wants to improve his technique on Darbuka. Learn how to create your own solos and how to play all the rhythms of Middle East; from Arabic rhythms to Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish belly dance rhythms to the Balkan rhythms of Greece.

You Can Have Any Colour You Like, As Long As It's Black

Producing artworks of our colourful world using black ink is a challenge. Using only lines and dots, the artist has to make the viewer believe that the white spaces left after the ink has been applied represent recognisable forms.

I have assembled in this book a selection of my own ink drawings along with tips which might assist anyone who works or who would like to work in this dark art. There are no rules as such, but there certainly are things to avoid and techniques to employ.

Whatever your age or ability, if you wish to develop your drawing skills then you will find something here to inspire you.