Norman Lebrecht's Books

Why Beethoven

A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Why Beethoven

A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces

By: Norman Lebrecht

Without Beethoven, music as we know it wouldn’t exist. By examining one hundred of his compositions, a portrait emerges of the man behind the music. Lebrecht has immersed himself in the rich catalog of Beethoven recordings and presents a unique picture of the man through his music. He selects the best recordings of one hundred key pieces, showing the composer as we’ve never seen him before. Unruly, offensive, and hopeless in so much of his life, yet driven to a fault and devoted to his art, conquering deafness to pen masterpieces. Norman Lebrecht has been grappling with this icon at the heart of music for his entire life. Who was the irascible, unpredictable, warped genius who stretched what music could do to the breaking point? In this unique examination, Lebrecht attempts to understand the power of this man through his compositions, the history of who has performed them, and what it has meant to successive generations of audiences. In turn a detective story (we learn who Elise of “Fur Elise” is for the first time) and a confession, Why Beethoven aims to rise to the challenge of how to encompass the relentless energy of this singular genius. With a narrative that mirrors the wayward sequence of Beethoven’s compositions, Beethoven emerges as a cornerstone of the world as we know it.

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297

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639364129

ISBN 13

9781639364121

The Song of Names

A Novel

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Song of Names

A Novel

By: Norman Lebrecht

The close friendship between Martin Simmonds and violin prodigy Dovidl Rappoport, two Jewish boys living in London between the 1930s and the end of World War II, is threatened by the unexpected disappearance of Dovidl on the eve of his debut performance.

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322

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0593082486

ISBN 13

9780593082485

The Maestro Myth

Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Maestro Myth

Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power

By: Norman Lebrecht

Nearly ten years after its original publication, The Maestro Myth continues to enthrall readers with its insightful look into the lives and careers of the world's most celebrated conductors. Now updated and including two new chapters, this volume portrays the politics and inflated economics surrounding the podiums of today's international classical music scene, and the obstacles faced by blacks, women, and gays. From Richard Strauss to Herbert von Karajan to Leonard Bernstein to Simon Rattle, The Maesto Myth examines the world of classical music and the mounting crisis in a profession where genuine talent grows ever scarcer. It is a must-have resource for music aficiionados as well as anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes lives of these music masters. Book jacket.

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420

Publisher

Citadel Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806520884

ISBN 13

9780806520889

Why Mahler?

How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Why Mahler?

How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World

By: Norman Lebrecht

Why Mahler? Why does his music affect us in the way it does? Norman Lebrecht, one of the world’s most widely read cultural commentators, has been wrestling obsessively with Mahler for half his life. Following Mahler’s every footstep from birthplace to grave, scrutinizing his manuscripts, talking to those who knew him, Lebrecht constructs a compelling new portrait of Mahler as a man who lived determinedly outside his own times. Mahler was—along with Picasso, Einstein, Freud, Kafka, and Joyce—a maker of our modern world. Why Mahler? is a book that shows how music can change our lives.

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338

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

140009657X

ISBN 13

9781400096572

Why Beethoven

A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Why Beethoven

A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces

By: Norman Lebrecht

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297

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Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639364129

ISBN 13

9781639364121

Book of Musical Anecdotes

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Book of Musical Anecdotes

By: Norman Lebrecht

A collection of anecdotes about great composers and performers, as told by themselves, their friends and loved ones, and their colleagues; arranged chronologically by date of birth, from approximately 991 to 1928.

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Page Count

410

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

0029187109

ISBN 13

9780029187104

The Game of Opposites

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Game of Opposites

By: Norman Lebrecht

In an unnamed country at the end of a world war, Paul Miller escapes from a labor camp, collapsing after a few hundred feet. Taken in by a young woman he learns to love, Paul decides to stay where he is, and, as the war ends, he marries, starts a family, and helps to rebuild the village. But Paul is inescapably haunted by his life before the war, by his time in the camp, and by the fact that the people who are now his friends ignored for years the horrors in their midst. So when the camp’s commander suddenly returns to the village, Paul finds himself forced to choose between vengeance and forgiveness. The Game of Opposites is a universal tale of good and evil, and a stunning evocation of the capability for both within us all.

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338

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0307389170

ISBN 13

9780307389176

The Life and Death of Classical Music

Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Made

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Life and Death of Classical Music

Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Made

By: Norman Lebrecht

In this compulsively readable, fascinating, and provocative guide to classical music, Norman Lebrecht, one of the world’s most widely read cultural commentators tells the story of the rise of the classical recording industry from Caruso’s first notes to the heyday of Bernstein, Glenn Gould, Callas, and von Karajan. Lebrecht compellingly demonstrates that classical recording has reached its end point–but this is not simply an expos? of decline and fall. It is, for the first time, the full story of a minor art form, analyzing the cultural revolution wrought by Schnabel, Toscanini, Callas, Rattle, the Three Tenors, and Charlotte Church. It is the story of how stars were made and broken by the record business; how a war criminal conspired with a concentration-camp victim to create a record empire; and how advancing technology, boardroom wars, public credulity and unscrupulous exploitation shaped the musical backdrop to our modern lives. The book ends with a suitable shrine to classical recording: the author’s critical selection of the 100 most important recordings–and the 20 most appalling. Filled with memorable incidents and unforgettable personalities–from Goddard Lieberson, legendary head of CBS Masterworks who signed his letters as God; to Georg Solti, who turned the Chicago Symphony into “ the loudest symphony on earth”–this is at once the captivating story of the life and death of classical recording and an opinioned, insider’s guide to appreciating the genre, now and for years to come.

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351

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0307487466

ISBN 13

9780307487469

Genius & Anxiety

How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Genius & Anxiety

How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947

By: Norman Lebrecht

This lively chronicle of the years 1847–1947—the century when the Jewish people changed how we see the world—is “[a] thrilling and tragic history…especially good on the ironies and chain-reaction intimacies that make a people and a past” (The Wall Street Journal). In a hundred-year period, a handful of men and women changed the world. Many of them are well known—Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein, Kafka. Others have vanished from collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Karl Landsteiner, for instance, there would be no blood transfusions or major surgery. Without Paul Ehrlich, no chemotherapy. Without Siegfried Marcus, no motor car. Without Rosalind Franklin, genetic science would look very different. Without Fritz Haber, there would not be enough food to sustain life on earth. What do these visionaries have in common? They all had Jewish origins. They all had a gift for thinking in wholly original, even earth-shattering ways. In 1847, the Jewish people made up less than 0.25% of the world’s population, and yet they saw what others could not. How? Why? Norman Lebrecht has devoted half of his life to pondering and researching the mindset of the Jewish intellectuals, writers, scientists, and thinkers who turned the tides of history and shaped the world today as we know it. In Genius & Anxiety, Lebrecht begins with the Communist Manifesto in 1847 and ends in 1947, when Israel was founded. This robust, magnificent, beautifully designed volume is “an urgent and moving history” (The Spectator, UK) and a celebration of Jewish genius and contribution.

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464

Publisher

Scribner

Published Date

ISBN 10

1982134267

ISBN 13

9781982134266

Why Mahler?

How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Why Mahler?

How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World

By: Norman Lebrecht

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338

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

140009657X

ISBN 13

9781400096572

Mahler Remembered

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Mahler Remembered

By: Norman Lebrecht

Gustav Mahler is the most influential symphonist of the twentieth century. In this pioneering study, Norman Lebrecht reveals the man and musician through the words of his contemporaries. Using many previously unpublished documents, he constructs a profile of Mahler even more complex and compelling than that familiar from his letters and the often unreliable memoirs of his widow, Alma. Compassionate or callous, idealistic or pragmatic, Mahler aroused violently contrasting impressions and emotions in those who lived and worked with him. Accounts of the composer include the artist Alfred Roller's description of Mahler's naked body, a Nazi-era reappraisal by one of his closest relatives, Natalie Bauer-Lechner's unpublished jottings of Mahler's childhood, and Stefan Zweig's report of his final voyage. Together, they form a remarkable and deeply illuminating image of a formidable personality. 'The effect is cumulative, sometimes contradictory and vivid - like a written version of a radio or film portrait.' Classical Music 'Norman Lebrecht's Mahler Remembered is quite breathtakingly interesting.' Birmingham Post

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324

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

0571272835

ISBN 13

9780571272839

The Song of Names

A Novel

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Song of Names

A Novel

By: Norman Lebrecht

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322

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

0593082486

ISBN 13

9780593082485

The Maestro Myth

Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Maestro Myth

Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power

By: Norman Lebrecht

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420

Publisher

Citadel Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806520884

ISBN 13

9780806520889

Discord

Conflict and the Making of Music

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Discord

Conflict and the Making of Music

By: Norman Lebrecht

Depicts the temperamental feuds between a variety of musicians, composers, conductors, and music critics, including Mozart, Wagner, Mahler, and Toscanini

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Page Count

252

Publisher

Universe Pub

Published Date

ISBN 10

0876633890

ISBN 13

9780876633892

The Life and Death of Classical Music

Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Made

By: Norman Lebrecht

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The Life and Death of Classical Music

Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Made

By: Norman Lebrecht

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351

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Anchor

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ISBN 10

1400096588

ISBN 13

9781400096589

Covent Garden

The Untold Story : Dispatches from the English Culture War, 1945-2000

By: Norman Lebrecht

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Covent Garden

The Untold Story : Dispatches from the English Culture War, 1945-2000

By: Norman Lebrecht

The turbulent story of one of Britain's most famous concert halls.

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Page Count

612

Publisher

UPNE

Published Date

ISBN 10

1555534880

ISBN 13

9781555534882

Hungary

A Short History

By: Norman Stone

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Hungary

A Short History

By: Norman Stone

The victors of the First World War created Hungary from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian empire, but, in the centuries before, many called for its creation. Norman Stone traces the country's roots from the traditional representative councils of land-owning nobles to the Magyar nationalists of the nineteenth century and the first wars of independence. Hungary's history since 1918 has not been a happy one. Economic collapse and hyperinflation in the post-war years led to fascist dictatorships and then Nazi occupation. Optimism at the end of the Second World War ended when the Iron Curtain descended, and Soviet tanks crushed the last hopes for independence in 1956 along with the peaceful protests in Budapest. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, consistent economic growth has remained elusive. This is an extraordinary history - unique yet also representative of both the post-Soviet bloc and of nations forged from the fall of empires.

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Page Count

340

Publisher

Profile Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1782834486

ISBN 13

9781782834489

Electronic Media

Then, Now, and Later

By: Norman J. Medoff,Barbara Kaye

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Electronic Media

Then, Now, and Later

By: Norman J. Medoff,Barbara Kaye

Electronic Media connects the traditional world of broadcasting with the contemporary universe of digital electronic media. It provides a synopsis of the beginnings of electronic media in broadcasting, and the subsequent advancements into digital media. Underlying the structure of the book is a "See It Then, See It Now, See It Later approach that focuses on how past innovations lay the groundwork for changing trends in technology, providing the opportunity and demand for change in both broadcasting and digital media. FYI and Zoom-In boxes point to further information, tying together the immediate and long-ranging issues surrounding electronic media. Career Tracks feature the experiences of industry experts and share tips in how to approach this challenging industry. Check out the companion website at http://www.routledge.com/cw/medoff-9780240812564/ for materials for both students and instructors.

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136030417

ISBN 13

9781136030413

Conducting Berlioz

By: Norman Del Mar

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Conducting Berlioz

By: Norman Del Mar

Berlioz, the enfant terrible of music if ever there was one, was always a favorite of the late Norman Del Mar. In this volume (seen through the press by his son Jonathan) Norman Del Mar brings all his wide experience to the explanations and elucidation of the more difficult points of conducting these works. The most imaginative orchestrator ever is treated with wisdom and perception and many doubtful technical points are clarified in this invaluable handbook. Anyone wanting to know more about Berlioz's works, be they student or music-loving listener, will find their enjoyment enhanced after reading this indispensable study. The three extraordinary symphonies are considered in detail, followed by six overtures, and other important works. The volume culminates in chapters on the Grande Messe des morts and Te Deum which give true insight into these major choral pieces. Del Mar's writing style is easily approachable and carries the reader along in eager anticipation as understanding is assimilated from his own infectious enthusiasm.

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244

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198165595

ISBN 13

9780198165590

The Jews in Medieval Normandy

A Social and Intellectual History

By: Norman Golb

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The Jews in Medieval Normandy

A Social and Intellectual History

By: Norman Golb

This 1998 book is a comprehensive account of the high Hebraic culture developed by the Jews in Normandy during the Middle Ages, and in particular during the Anglo-Norman period. This culture has remained virtually unknown to the public and to the scholarly world throughout modern times, until a combination of recent manuscript discoveries and archaeological findings delineated this phenomenon for the first time. The book explores the origins of this remarkable community, beginning with topographical evidence pointing to the arrival of the Jews in Normandy as early as Roman and Gallo-Roman times, through autograph documentary testimony available in the Cairo Genizah manuscripts and early medieval Latin sources, finally using the rich manuscript evidence of twelfth- and early thirteenth-century writers which attest to the high cultural level attained by this community and to its social and political interaction with the Christian world of Anglo-Norman times and their aftermath.

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Page Count

668

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521580323

ISBN 13

9780521580328

The Bible and Jews in Medieval Spain

By: Norman Roth

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The Bible and Jews in Medieval Spain

By: Norman Roth

The Bible and Jews in Medieval Spain examines the grammatical, exegetical, philosophical and mystical interpretations of the Bible that took place in Spain during the medieval period. The Bible was the foundation of Jewish culture in medieval Spain. Following the scientific analysis of Hebrew grammar which emerged in al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries, biblical exegesis broke free of homiletic interpretation and explored the text on grammatical and contextual terms. While some of the earliest commentary was in Arabic, scholars began using Hebrew more regularly during this period. The first complete biblical commentaries in Hebrew were written by Abraham Ibn ‘Ezra, and this set the standard for the generations that followed. This book analyses the approach and unique contributions of these commentaries, moving on to those of later Christian Spain, including the Qimhi family, Nahmanides and his followers and the esoteric-mystical tradition. Major topics in the commentaries are compared and contrasted. Thus, a unified picture of the whole fabric of Hebrew commentary in medieval Spain emerges. In addition, the book describes the many Spanish Jewish biblical manuscripts that have remained and details the history of printed editions and Spanish translations (for Jews and Christians) by medieval Spanish Jews. This book will appeal to scholars and students of medieval Spain, as well as those interested in the history of religion and cultural history.

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Page Count

468

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000348113

ISBN 13

9781000348118

Grace Notes for a Year

Stories of Hope, Humor & Hubris from the World of Classical Music

By: Norman Gilliland

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Grace Notes for a Year

Stories of Hope, Humor & Hubris from the World of Classical Music

By: Norman Gilliland

This irresistible collection of stories is perfect for anyone interested in a fresh perspective on what it means to be a human being who creates art. Grace Notes for a Year sheds light on the fragile and perilous process of inspiration, composition, and performance required to create classical music, whether the final product is a masterpiece or a mess. Each page of the book corresponds to a different day of the year and features a true story about a famous figure in musical history. These delightful anecdotes—inspirational, informative, and often hilarious—disprove the myth of the artist as untouchable. Instead, Norman Gilliland exposes in them human vulnerability we can all relate to. From Beethoven to Wagner, these artists suffered from poverty, spent lazy days in bed, had scandalous love affairs, and often failed in their creative endeavors as often as they succeeded.

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Page Count

424

Publisher

NEMO Productions

Published Date

ISBN 10

0971509301

ISBN 13

9780971509306

Conducting Favourite Concert Pieces

By: Norman Del Mar

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Conducting Favourite Concert Pieces

By: Norman Del Mar

This collection of essays on the interpretation of twenty-two unusual concert pieces was assembled partly with a view to more imaginative program planning. There are many composers who may have written only one or two masterpieces, yet failed to leave a worthy oeuvre; these sadly are often forgotten or overlooked when conductors assemble programs. This compilation spans a little over a hundred years from the 19th and 20th centuries and all the works are colorful and attractive. Once again Norman Del Mar brings his expertise in handling the orchestra to a wide variety of styles. His infectious enthusiasm and broad knowledge make him an invaluable guide to the aspiring conductor, the expert, and the music-loving listener. The essays range from Russia to Spain, from Schoenberg to Kodály, from Wolf to Poulenc, with such established favorites as the overture to La Forza del Destino with its unexpected tricky moments and the Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes for which Del Mar offers suggestions from Britten himself, with whom he worked for many years.

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