The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2003-06-11 00:50
Bobbers recent post got me to thinking. What is the bb's summer reading recommendation?
Two summers I read the Swafford Brahm's biography, an excellent book. I came away with a much deeper appreciation of the sonatas, trio and quintet let not to mention a better understanding of Brahms the man.
Let's hear from you.
Brian
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2003-06-11 01:20
A fabulous book that I assure you will be impossible to put down is "My Musical Life" by Walter Damrosch. You will probably find it in a library or used bookstore. It doesn't have anything really to do with clarinet, but it is the autobiography of a man that greatly influenced music in America. Every page of this book brings another amazing tale from premiering major works like Lohengrin in Chicago ( a performance that did not start until about 10:30 p.m. due to a train delay!) to bringing classical music out west for the first time. This truly is a very entertaining and educational book that will give you a since of the musical scene in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-06-11 01:33
Mozart by Peter Gay
Don't let the brevity of this book fool you. Although only about 170 pages, Gay describes in great detail (the good along with the bad) all aspects of Mozart's life. Many of the myths are exposed and an honest picture of the composer is finally revealed. We finally see that Mozart was both super human and merely human - with the same longings and problems that we all face. Fascinating stuff especially when one thinks there can't possibly be anything new to write about Mozart.
Here is one review - Google will lead you to many others:
http://www.wweek.com/html/biblio031500.html ...GBK
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-06-11 14:59
Berlioz -- Evenings With the Orchestra (sometimes translated as Nights with the Orchestra) -- Berlioz would have been famous as a writer even if he never composed a note of music. This is a wildly funny and marvelously informative description of musical life as it was lived. It's out of print but can be found at libraries or Advanced Book Exchange (ABI)http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abep/BookSearch. If you're more ambitions, try his Memoirs and Autobiography.
Harry Plunket Greene -- Interpretation in Song -- from the late 19th century -- out of print, but republished in the 1970s by da Capo Press (now also out of print) and available through libraries or ABI -- a famous book, old-fashioned but probably still the best source for advice on musicality and putting over music to your audience.
Jerome Toobin -- Agitato: A Trek Through the Musical Jungle -- war stories, mostly about Leopold Stokowski.
Alan Wagner -- Prima Donnas and Other Wild Beasts -- very funny war stories -- out of print, but available through libraries or ABI.
George Bernard Shaw -- Music in London -- Shaw's wonderful music criticism, as Corno di Bassetto -- 4 volumes, available at high prices through libraries or ABI. A nice selection in paperback is in print as Shaw on Music, from Amazon, etc.
Have fun.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2003-06-11 15:23
Do clarinet players function as major or minor characters in any novels that anyone can think of?
BP
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2003-06-11 18:22
Indivisible By Four by Arnold Steinhardt
A memoir about the Guarneri String Quartet but very informative and entertaining for all musicians.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-06-11 19:00
I second the recommendations about Berlioz -- particularly the Memoires. They are over the top imaginatively, but great fun to read. I would also recommend David Cairns magnificent biography of Berlioz.
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Author: msloss
Date: 2003-06-11 19:11
BP,
Arthur Conan Doyle's "Hound of the Basset Horns".
M. ;->
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2003-06-11 21:44
"Arthur Conan Doyle's "Hound of the Basset Horns". "
-Yes, that's really a good reed.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-06-12 16:36
Oh,oh, here we go! "For Whom the Bells Toll" by Hummingway
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Author: Henry
Date: 2003-06-12 17:03
Or, if you're in the mood for a movie, how about that classic "Citizen Cane"?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-06-12 17:27
..or Herman Wouk's novel about turmoil in the Vandoren reed factory: The Cane Mutiny...GBK
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Author: hans
Date: 2003-06-13 15:25
I've just finished reading "The Trouble with Cinderella" by Artie Shaw. His 1978 introduction was as interesting as his 1952 book but I had hoped to gain more understanding of the man than either provided.
Hans
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Author: janeuk
Date: 2003-06-13 16:04
Two music related books I've really enjoyed during summer holidays are Vikram Seths An equal music, a love story (of a woman and music set among the members of a string quartet) and The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by T.E. Carhart (a Mans love of pianos and music set in Paris), I especially enjoyed this one.
Jane
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Author: joevacc
Date: 2003-06-14 02:53
"Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life" by Robert Spaethling.
I read this book a couple of years ago but have been going back to it for a reference ever since. A must have.
Ciao,
-=[Joe Vacc]=-
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-06-14 03:02
Hi,
I read "Joe Maddy of Interlochen" a number of years ago and look forward to a re-read soon. Talk about a man with a musical dream.
The book has a special meaning for me and probably several of the older BB posters since we were able to play under Maddy.
HRL
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Author: Andy
Date: 2003-06-15 00:42
Short one that I loved, Canone Inverso by Paolo Maurensig
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-06-15 02:44
For the younger types...
"Practicing for Young Musicians," by Harvey R. Snitkin.
Or for the not-so-young types, too!
Katrina
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Author: sdr
Date: 2003-06-15 12:50
"Indivisible by Four," memoir of Arnie Steinhart, 1st violin of the Guarneri Quartet.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2003-06-15 15:39
The Boosey Twins series.
I read these while eating at the local King Buffet restaurant
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Author: Bryan
Date: 2003-06-16 13:54
Ken Shaw wrote:
> The story of Legere and Abel in the Truly Modern Bible.
Are you suggesting that clarinetists bear the mark of . . . never mind.
Most of my non-paid reading is cookbooks, but I've yet to come across a recipe for clarinet marmalade.
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Author: Wayne Thompson
Date: 2003-06-16 15:59
Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
Published in 1993, maybe it it old news to you-all. It's a novel about the life of a concert pianist coming up New York City in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I've heard that some of the personalities described are based on some of the real musical characters of the time. It is musically detailed and accurate, and I have also heard that it is accurate with respect to the piano technique. I enjoyed it very much. It is a reflection on how luck and hard work and good teachers have to come together to make a soloist. And it is a good read!
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Author: Ella
Date: 2003-06-17 06:43
oh, Indivisible by Four! I third the motion. also, there is that one book, Music of the heart or something like that, about the violinist who needs to fly to NYC from Canada and can't come up with money so his friend the clarinetist from the orchestra says he can pay for the flight and lodging if the violinist smuggles cocaine in his case. That was pretty good, although both the clarinetists were involved in drugs, grumble grumble. does anyone know the name of that book? and the Mozart Season, about the girl learning the Mozart Violin Concerto. What's so great about the mozart violin concerto, anyway? (haha).
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Author: musica
Date: 2003-06-17 12:22
Check out No Vivaldi in the Garage,(not that cheery since it details the woes
of funding for major US orchestras) but a good read) The author escapes me.
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