Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World
Alistair Lawrence
Bloomsbury, HB, 9781408832417
The first photographic celebration of the most famous recording studio in the world, publishing in its 80th year. Unprecedented access to the Abbey Road archive - from the original bill of sale for the property, through its entire history. From Edward Elgar to the Beatles, Kate Bush to Elbow the most famous artists in the world have recorded here. This gorgeous ... More/Buy
The Art of Concealment: The Life of Terrence Rattigan
Giles Cole
Oberon, PB, 9781849434164
Terence Rattigan was one of the most acclaimed playwrights and screenwriters of his generation. His fall from critical favour marked a turning point in modern British theatre. The Art of Concealment is a play not only about the demons that haunted one of our great playwrights, but about the creative process itself, and the process of ageing, of loss, of unhappiness ... More/Buy
Behind the Curtain
Peter Bowles
Oberon, PB, 9781849432153
If you have ever set foot in a theatre you will enjoy this book. Leading actor, Peter Bowles, invites us backstage in the West End and on tour to witness the job of acting as it really is. Behind The Curtain is based on his own career as a leading stage and TV actor for over 55 years. With wit and ... More/Buy
Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and their Orchestras
Tom Service
Faber, PB, 9780571240470
How are conductors' silent gestures magicked into sound by a group of more than a hundred brilliant but belligerent musicians? The mute choreography of great conductors has fascinated and frustrated musicians and music-lovers for centuries, from Toscanini to Karajan, from Carlos Kleiber to Gustavo Dudamel. Orchestras can be inspired to the heights of musical and expressive possibility by their maestros, or ... More/Buy
Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan
Ian Bell
Mainstream Publishing, HB, 9781780575735
Half a century ago a youth appeared from the American hinterland and began a cultural revolution. The world is still coming to terms with what he did. How he did it - and why - has never been fully explored. In Once Upon a Time, award-winning writer Ian Bell draws together the tangled strands of the many lives of Bob Dylan ... More/Buy
Try Whistling This: Writings on Music
Andrew Ford
Black Inc, PB, 9781863955713
Perceptive and entertaining, Try Whistling This is a pleasurable journey through music, ideas and history. Andrew Ford traces the concept of dirty dancing back to the sixteenth century, marvels at the weirdeness of Percy Grainger and considers the decision of Wilhelm Furtwängler to keep conducting under the Nazis. He explores the intersection of words and music, the bugbear of Australian musical ... More/Buy
Woody Guthrie: Writing America's Songs
Ronald Cohen
Routledge, PB, 9780415895699
Woody Guthrie is the most famous and influential folk music composer and performer in the history of the United States. His most popular song, "This Land is Your Land" has become the country's unofficial national anthem, known to every school child since the 1960s. His influence exceeded the realm of American music, reaching American politics. Guthrie's music became the soundtrack to ... More/Buy