Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 256 pages
- Published by: Sourcebooks MediaFusion; 1 Har/Com edition November 1, 2007
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1402210000
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1402210006
-
Book Dimensions:
8.9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
Book Description
Sourcebooks MediaFusion and Naxos proudly present this fascinating biography of composer Richard Wagner. Acclaimed music writer Stephen Johnson follows Wagners development as man and composer, and sets out the experiences-the personal joys and sorrows as well as the broader cultural forces-that formed him and made him one of the most widely loved composers in classical music.
Wagner was an innovator both in harmony and in the structure of his operas, frequently applying themes or melodies to a particular character or event. He created his own version of the Gesamtkunstwerk, compositions in which the arts were brought together into a single unity.
Included are two CDs of carefully chosen Wagner pieces.
Readers also gain access to an exclusive website that offers new essays, the musical works in full and more. This revolutionary biography utilizes traditional and new media to provide a uniquely rounded portrait of the composer and his music.
Back Cover Copy
A revolutionary biography of the master
Experience Wagner through his greatest compositions on 2 audio CDs
More than a century after Richard Wagners death, the man and his music are as controversial as ever. His vast four-part operatic Ring cycle has been both elevated as one of the greatest achievements of western culture and dismissed as an unparalleled example of creative megalomania.
Award-winning music writer Stephen Johnson tells the story of an extraordinary life, and charts Wagners development from unpromising beginnings into the creator of some of the most brilliant and gorgeous music ever composed. Woven throughout the book are links to carefully chosen selections on the accompanying two compact discs that bring to life the man and his music like never before. Youll also gain free access to an exclusive website from Naxos Records-the worlds leading classical music label-that offers the musical works in full, the music of Wagners contemporaries, a detailed timeline and more.
Includes more than 21?2 hours of Wagners greatest works, plus exclusive web access to much more.
Stephen Johnson studied at the Northern School of Music, Manchester, under Alexander Goehr at Leeds University, then at Manchester University. Since then he has written regularly for The Independent and The Guardian, and was Chief Music Critic of The Scotsman (1998–99). He has also broadcast frequently for BBC Radio 3, 4 and World Service, including a series of 14 programs about the music of Bruckner for the centenary of the composers death (1996). He is the author of Bruckner Remembered, a contributor to The Cambridge Companion to Conducting, and a regular presenter for Radio 3s Discovering Music. In 2003 Stephen was voted Amazon.com Classical Music Writer of
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