Joseph P. Swain's Books

The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey

By: Joseph P. Swain

To see a Broadway musical is to experience how a drama, using melody, harmony, and rhythm, evokes the emotion needed to perpetuate a story line. Without music, many of these plays would not succeed, failing to convey the intended message. This new edition of Swain's classic text, winner of the 1991 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, reveals how a musical drama achieves plot movement, character development and conflict through strategic placement of song and music in 20 musical plays. Unlike critical literature that has simply explored theatrical style and production histories, this survey focuses mainly on the power of music. Illustrated with more than 150 musical excerpts and essays, Swain includes the latest research and viewpoints of contemporary critics, offering insight into dramatic expression and how renowned composers including Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Jerry Bock, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber influenced the Broadway musical. This provides insights into the many impressive musicals to hit the stage between the years of 1927 and 1987, illuminating how specific revisions to productions such as Showboat and, Oklahoma! forever changed their popularity. Learn how music is used as a symbol for psychological or emotional action from Shakespearean drama's such as Kiss Me, Kate and West Side Story, to more current dramas including Godspell, A Chorus Line, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Replete with a never seen before essay on Les Misérables, this edition also includes an expanded epilogue highlighting the phenomena behind Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera, "megamusicals" that changed the direction of the Broadway tradition. For professors of dramatic arts and people interested in Broadway musicals, theater, popular music and opera.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

466

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1461664071

ISBN 13

9781461664079

The A to Z of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The A to Z of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Nearly all religious traditions have reserved a special place for sacred music. Whether it is music accompanying a ritual or purely for devotional purposes, music composed for entire congregations or for the trained soloist, or music set to holy words or purely instrumental, in some form or another, music is present. In fact, in some traditions the relation between the music and the ritual is so intimate that to distinguish between them would be inaccurate. The A to Z of Sacred Music covers the most important aspects of the sacred music of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other smaller religious groups. It provides useful information on all the significant traditions of this music through the use of a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, appendixes, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on major types of music, composers, key religious figures, specialized positions, genres of composition, technical terms, instruments, fundamental documents and sources, significant places, and important musical compositions.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

336

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1461672120

ISBN 13

9781461672128

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Sacred music is a universal phenomenon of humanity. Where there is faith, there is music to express it. Every major religious tradition and most minor ones have music and have it in abundance and variety. There is music to accompany ritual and music purely for devotion, music for large congregations and music for trained soloists, music that sets holy words and music without words at all. In some traditions—Islamic and many Native American, to name just two--the relation between music and religious ritual is so intimate that it is inaccurate to speak of the music accompanying the ritual. Rather, to perform the ritual is to sing, and to sing the ritual is to perform it. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 800 cross-referenced entries on major types of music, composers, key religious figures, specialized positions, genres of composition, technical terms, instruments, fundamental documents and sources, significant places, and important musical compositions. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about sacred music.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

403

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442264632

ISBN 13

9781442264632

Historical Dictionary of Baroque Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Historical Dictionary of Baroque Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Named a Library Journal Best Reference of 2023 - "Bravo! An invaluable source for scholars and concertgoers.” - Library Journal In the history of the Western musical tradition, the Baroque period traditionally dates from the turn of the 17th century to 1750. The beginning of the period is marked by Italian experiments in composition that attempted to create a new kind of secular musical art based upon principles of Greek drama, quickly leading to the invention of opera. The ending is marked by the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750 and the completion of George Frideric Handel’s last English oratorio, Jephtha, the following year. The Historical Dictionary of Baroque Music, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on composers, instruments, cities, and technical terms. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about baroque music.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

465

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1538151626

ISBN 13

9781538151624

Harmonic Rhythm

Analysis and Interpretation

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Harmonic Rhythm

Analysis and Interpretation

By: Joseph P. Swain

An accessible exploration of an important and understudied music theory topic, Swain's book examines the dimensional technique of analyzing harmonic rhythm. Simply defined, harmonic rhythm is the relationship between changes in harmony and perceived changes in rhythm. This phenomenon plays a large role in shaping the texture and style of much of Western music, from Renaissance polyphonic pieces to the works of Debussy. Swain provides a clear and thorough discussion of how harmonic theory works, using a small core of repeated musical examples.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

214

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

019534863X

ISBN 13

9780195348637

Sacred Treasure

Understanding Catholic Liturgical Music

By: Joseph Peter Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sacred Treasure

Understanding Catholic Liturgical Music

By: Joseph Peter Swain

In the discussions and debates surrounding liturgical music of the past fifty years, music theorists, critics, and historians have contributed little, and their counsel has rarely been sought. Whenever the matter of liturgical music arises, most often in parishes, but sometimes in episcopal conferences or in the academy or in Vatican documents, the nature of the music, as music, almost never affects the discussion. With Sacred Treasure, Joseph Swain, a distinguished musicologist and accomplished performer, attempts to change that. He offers a theory for building authentic traditions of liturgical music for Roman Catholic parishes. This book is an exercise in pragmatic music criticism. By providing a rational basis for evaluating the essential issues, Swain seeks to show how a spiritually wholesome stability might supplant the confusion. Sacred Treasure shows how the hard facts of music must be taken into account in any holistic conception and any lasting form of liturgical music.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

401

Publisher

Liturgical Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0814662552

ISBN 13

9780814662557

Musical Languages

By: Joseph Peter Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Musical Languages

By: Joseph Peter Swain

The illustrations used in the book range from the most elemental speech sounds to the poetry of Emerson, from a single saxophone note to the grandest passages of Beethoven; they include discussions of medieval polyphony and the music of Josquin, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach, Mozart, Wagner, Debussy, Schoenberg, and American jazz, all within their historical contexts. Such scope shows how deep the analogy between music and language really is.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

252

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393040798

ISBN 13

9780393040791

Musical Languages

By: Joseph Peter Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Musical Languages

By: Joseph Peter Swain

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

252

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393040798

ISBN 13

9780393040791

The Broadway Musical

A Critical and Musical Survey

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Broadway Musical

A Critical and Musical Survey

By: Joseph P. Swain

The Broadway musical, one of America's most distinctive contributions to Western music, has been chronicled, dissected, described, and debated, but never until now has its essential element--that glorious music--been analyzed directly in any significant detail. Moving beyond the anecdotes, production histories, and generalizations about theatrical style that mark so much of the critical literature, Joseph P. Swain offers a unique survey of the most important or representative musical plays, one that shows how the great Broadway composers have used the traditional tools of composition--melody, harmony, tonal movement, rhythm, and texture--to become powerful dramatists in their own right. Illustrated with over 150 musical excerpts--a unique feature that gives Swain's analysis unparalleled depth and precision--the book yields new insights at every turn. It shows how particular musical solutions to dramatic problems gave Showboat and Oklahoma! the power to change the course of the Broadway tradition, brought Carousel and West Side Story to worldwide recognition as masterpieces of their kind, and lent a light popular genre the formal complexity and emotional range to encompass a tremendous diversity of styles and materials, from Shakespearean drama ( Kiss Me, Kate and West Side Story ) to European opera ( Porgy and Bess ), and from age-old myth ( My Fair Lady and Camelot ) to still-current ethnic conflict ( Fiddler on the Roof ). All the great Broadway composers and musical-comedy teams are here--Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe--as well as a representative sample of the classic shows, including the sadly neglected The Most Happy Fella . In addition, Swain's thoughtful evaluation of the current scene illuminates issues of dramatic approach ( Godspell ), plot ( A Chorus Line ), subject matter ( Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita ), and musical rhetoric (Stephen Sondheim's output, exemplified by Sweeney Todd ) that may determine the future course of the musical play. Precise in focus, uncommonly rich in detail, and accessible to fans and scholars alike, The Broadway Musical will have to be read by anyone concerned with contemporary American music and drama, and by anyone who hopes truly to know this supposedly best-known of music.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

400

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195074823

ISBN 13

9780195074826

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

403

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442264632

ISBN 13

9781442264632

The A to Z of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The A to Z of Sacred Music

By: Joseph P. Swain

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

336

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1461672120

ISBN 13

9781461672128

Book's by Joseph P. Swain

The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey

The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey

The A to Z of Sacred Music

The A to Z of Sacred Music

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

Historical Dictionary of Baroque Music

Historical Dictionary of Baroque Music

Harmonic Rhythm

Harmonic Rhythm

Sacred Treasure

Sacred Treasure

Musical Languages

Musical Languages

Musical Languages

Musical Languages

The Broadway Musical

The Broadway Musical

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music

The A to Z of Sacred Music

The A to Z of Sacred Music

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email