Minor Ballet Composers

Presents biographical sketches of 66 underappreciated ballet composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, plus briefer entries on 20 choreographers, and an introductory overview of the history of ballet. Entries encompass composers' contributions to ballet music as well as other aspects of their lives, and include plot summaries and excerpts from reviews of ballets. For ballet aficionados, music librarians, and musicians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This pioneering study of ballets staged in Parisian music halls brings to light a vibrant dance culture central to the renewal of French choreography at the fin de siècle.

Go, team, go! Rah, rah, rah! Boomalacka, boomalacka! Sis-boom-bah! Get your pennants and varsity colors and head for the stadium because College Fight Songs will make you an expert on the musical history of university athletic themes and anthems before the second-half kickoff. Here, in one anthology, you’ll find a unique collection of musical and historical information that hasn’t been compiled and updated since the days of Knute Rockne and the Galloping Ghost. This smart and spirited collection will give you plenty to rise and shout about, bringing together the complete lyrics, brief historical annotations, and musical scores for the songs of over 100 of the country’s most recognized colleges and universities. If you’re a researcher, librarian, musical enthusiast, band leader, musical historian, old-timer from way back when, or a young underclassmen interested in preserving a few cherished notes of your school’s history, College Fight Songs is the book for you. You’ll find plenty of hard-to-find facts about the songs and the people who inspired them, and you’ll get specific information in these areas: complete musical scores of college fight songs full lyrics of college fight songs basic historical background concerning the songs and their institutions information regarding the song creators and the college nicknames So, swing on the Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech, rally around the bonfire and give a holler for the Buckeyes, the Wildcats, the Sooners, the Boilermakers, and the Tigers! The Gipper, the Bear, and Johnny U await you in this fabulous compendium of nostalgia and musical scores. Even after a few pages, College Fight Songs will have you hailing your alma mater and jumping in the car to head for the hop.

Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins stand as giants of the musical-theatre world, but it was ballet that launched their stage careers and established their relationship. With Fancy Free (1944), their triumphant debut collaboration produced by Ballet Theatre, Bernstein, Robbins, and set designer Oliver Smith-all in their mid-twenties- captured the spirit of wartime New York, created a defining ballet of the period still widely performed today, and became overnight sensations. The hit musical On the Town (1944) and a now largely forgotten ballet, Facsimile (1946), followed over the next two years. Drawing extensively on previously unpublished archival documents, Bernstein and Robbins: The Early Ballets provides a richly detailed and original historical account of the creation, premiere, and reception of Fancy Free and Facsimile. It reveals the vital and sometimes conflicting role of Ballet Theatre, explores how Bernstein composed the scores, sheds light on the central importance of Oliver Smith, and considers the legacy of these works for all involved. The result is a new understanding of Bernstein, Robbins, and this formative period in their lives.

The composer Ludwig Minkus represents one of music’s biggest mysteries. Who was he? Hardly anything is known about him, and yet he occupied an influential position in the theatres of the Imperial ballet in late nineteenth-century Russia. He has been recognised as a predecessor of Tchaikovsky, but as a musician is commonly held to have been so feeble as to be beneath contempt. Yet despite the scorn heaped on him, and his consequent obscurity, Minkus is far from being forgotten. Since the early 1960s his name has slowly begun to re-surface. Two works, Don Quixote (1869) and La Bayadère (1877), have been presented in their entirety for the first time to new audiences all over the world. The musical and dramatic power of both ballets has taken people by surprise. The stories have a very real human appeal, the choreography attracts the admiration of balletomanes, and the music, with its rhythm, verve, and beauty of melody, holds attention and engages the heart wherever it is heard. This introduction seeks to discover something more behind the blank façade of Minkus’s life and work. What do we actually know about him as a man and as an artist? Are we able to apprehend his oeuvre as a whole, and how much can we establish from the available material? What is the nature of the music he created for those few works that have survived the years, and that have come to the fore again recently to delight those who have ears to hear? This study includes iconography from the life and times of the composer, many musical examples from his works, and a comprehensive bibliography and discography.

State Songs of the United States: An Annotated Anthology is essential for musicians, historians, or librarians interested in the words, lyrics, and historical background of the songs that symbolize our individual states. This easy-to-use reference includes many famous state songs that were written by such well-known songwriters and musicians as Stephen Foster, Andy Razaf, Lucky Roberts, Hoagy Carmichael, Al Piantadosi, and Guy Miller. Full of information on the official and unofficial songs of the 50 states, State Songs of the United States includes: historical annotations for 69 official and unofficial state songs, including ”Yankee Doodle,” ”Georgia on My Mind,” and the ”Tennessee Waltz” lyrics and music for 48 of the songs listed, such as ”Yellow Rose of Texas” and ”Home on the Range” more than one official song for 46 of the states, including Arkansas, California, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Montana As part of the historical background, State Songs of the United States informs you as to when a song was written, who wrote it, and what musician composed the music for it. The only anthology of American song presented from an academic point of view, this reference also covers when and why official songs became adopted by their respective states. After reading this anthology, you will discover how the lyrics of our state songs reflect the period in which they were written and why many lyrics have been changed since, for reasons such as racial or gender prejudice. State Songs of the United States offers you a unique look at music, America's past, and the pride of our 50 states.

This text serves as a unique anthology of American college fight songs with short historical annotations.