Steve Leshin's Books

How Sondheim Found His Sound

By: Steve Swayne

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The research is voluminous, as is the artistry and perceptiveness. Swayne has lived richly within the world of Sondheim's music." ---Richard Crawford, author of America's Musical Life: A History "Sondheim's career and music have never been so skillfully dissected, examined, and put in context. With its focus on his work as composer, this book is surprising and welcome." ---Theodore S. Chapin, President and Executive Director, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization "What a fascinating book, full of insights large and small. An impressive analysis and summary of Sondheim's many sources of inspiration. All fans of the composer and lovers of Broadway in general will treasure and frequently refer to Swayne's work." ---Tom Riis, Joseph Negler Professor of Musicology and Director of the American Music Research Center, University of Colorado Stephen Sondheim has made it clear that he considers himself a "playwright in song." How he arrived at this unique appellation is the subject of How Sondheim Found His Sound---an absorbing study of the multitudinous influences on Sondheim's work. Taking Sondheim's own comments and music as a starting point, author Steve Swayne offers a biography of the artist's style, pulling aside the curtain on Sondheim's creative universe to reveal the many influences---from classical music to theater to film---that have established Sondheim as one of the greatest dramatic composers of the twentieth century. Sondheim has spoken often and freely about the music, theater, and films he likes, and on occasion has made explicit references to how past works crop up in his own work. He has also freely acknowledged his eclecticism, seeing in it neither a curse nor a blessing but a fact of his creative life. Among the many forces influencing his work, Sondheim has readily pointed to a wide field: classical music from 1850 to 1950; the songs of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood; the theatrical innovations of Oscar Hammerstein II and his collaborators; the cinematic elements found in certain film schools; and the melodramatic style of particular plays and films. Ultimately, Sondheim found his sound by amalgamating these seemingly disparate components into his unique patois. How Sondheim Found His Sound is the first book to provide an overview of his style and one of only a few to account for these various components, how they appear in Sondheim's work, and how they affect his musical and dramatic choices.

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Page Count

334

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472026356

ISBN 13

9780472026357

The Chemical Cosmos

A Guided Tour

By: Steve Miller

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The Chemical Cosmos

A Guided Tour

By: Steve Miller

If you have ever wondered how we get from the awesome impersonality of the Big Bang universe to the point where living creatures can start to form, and evolve into beings like you, your friends and your family, wonder no more. Steve Miller provides us with a tour through the chemical evolution of the universe, from the formation of the first molecules all the way to the chemicals required for life to evolve. Using a simple Hydrogen molecule – known as H-three-plus - as a guide, he takes us on a journey that starts with the birth of the first stars, and how, in dying, they pour their hearts out into enriching the universe in which we live. Our molecular guide makes its first appearance at the source of the Chemical Cosmos, at a time when only three elements and a total of 11 molecules existed. From those simple beginnings, H-three-plus guides us down river on the violent currents of exploding stars, through the streams of the Interstellar Medium, and into the delta where new stars and planets form. We are finally left on the shores of the sea of life. Along the way, we meet the key characters who have shaped our understanding of the chemistry of the universe, such as Cambridge physicist J.J. Thomson and the Chicago chemist Takeshi Oka. And we are given an insider’s view of just how astronomers, making use of telescopes and Earth-orbiting satellites, have put together our modern view of the Chemical Cosmos.

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Page Count

241

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

1441984445

ISBN 13

9781441984449

Food in the Movies, 2d ed.

By: Steve Zimmerman

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Food in the Movies, 2d ed.

By: Steve Zimmerman

Although food has been part of motion pictures since the silent era, for the most part it has been treated with about as much respect as movie extras: it's always been there on the screen but seldom noticed. For the most part filmmakers have settled on three basic ways to treat food: as a prop in which the food is usually obscured from sight or ignored by the actors; as a transition device to compress time and help advance the plot; as a symbol or metaphor, or in some other meaningful way, to make a dramatic point or to reveal an aspect of an actor's character, mood or thought process. This hugely expanded and revised edition details 400 food scenes, in addition to the 400 films reviewed for the first edition, and an introduction tracing the technical, artistic and cultural forces that contributed to the emergence of food films as a new genre--originated by such films as Tampopo, Babette's Feast and more recently by films like Mostly Martha, No Reservations and Ratatouille. A filmography is included as an appendix.

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Page Count

485

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786455691

ISBN 13

9780786455690

Crying for a Vision and Other Essays

The Collected Steve Scott

By: Steve Scott

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Crying for a Vision and Other Essays

The Collected Steve Scott

By: Steve Scott

Meet these notable women and others as you walk in their footsteps around downtown Chicago in three short journeys outlined in this book. From the earliest days of permanent settlement to the present, women's sacrifices, commitment, and creativity have shaped this city. Our lives today reflect the legacy of these women. You will find these tours interesting and informative, and perhaps even provocative.

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Page Count

144

Published Date

ISBN 10

1425977545

ISBN 13

9781425977542

Book's by Steve Leshin

How Sondheim Found His Sound

How Sondheim Found His Sound

The Chemical Cosmos

The Chemical Cosmos

Food in the Movies, 2d ed.

Food in the Movies, 2d ed.

Crying for a Vision and Other Essays

Crying for a Vision and Other Essays

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