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dargestellt von Jürgen Schebera

Kurt Weill--the famed composer of The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Knickerbocker Holiday, One Touch of Venus, Lost in the Stars, and many other musical works--led a life as rich and complex as the music for which he is so justly acclaimed. This engaging and lavishly illustrated book draws on a wealth of previously unexplored written and pictorial material to present a biography of Weill that is the most up to date and balanced ever written. Jurgen Schebera explores the many phases of Weill's life, from his childhood as the son of a cantor in the Jewish section of Dessau, Germany, to his renunciation of Germany in 1933, his emigration to America in 1935, and his premature death there in 1950. Schebera describes Weill's rise to prominence during the Weimar Republic, when he created brilliant orchestral and chamber music and became a leading operatic innovator; his marriage, divorce, and remarriage to the famed actress Lotte Lenya; his escape from Nazi Germany, exile in France, and move to America; his collaboration with such famed writers and lyricists as Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Moss Hart, Ira Gershwin, S.J. Perelman, and Ogden Nash; and his efforts in the United States to aid the mobilization for war. He presents fascinating information about Weill's musical creations: an anti-war musical (Johnny Johnson); a biblical drama (The Eternal Road); his first American song "hit," "September Song"; a Kiddush for cantor, chorus, and organ; a new genre of Broadway opera (Street Scene); a musical tragedy (Lost in the Stars); and many other musical ventures in New York and Hollywood. Schebera contends that it is pointless to argue the relative merits of Weill's music from his European and American periods, as many critics have done. As Weill himself said, "I have never acknowledged the difference between 'serious' music and 'light' music. There is only good music and bad music." And, in fact, the current international renaissance of Kurt Weill's works attests to the beauty, originality, and variety of the music he composed throughout his career. First published in Germany to enthusiastic reviews, this English edition adds new information and illustrations to the earlier work.

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Michael Kurtz

Karlheinz Stockhausen is a unique figure in the history of twentieth-century music. A tireless innovator, his work has always aroused great controversy, as well as attracting a fanatical discipleship. Stockhausen is renowned for his role in establishing European serialism, for his pioneering work in every form of electro-acoustic music - from early musique concrete to computer music - for his exploitation of physical performance space, and in the seven-opera cycle Licht for the integration of sound and movement. Stockhausen the man, however, has largely escaped analysis. . Now Stockhausen: A Biography reveals the personal history of this extraordinary figure. We learn of his boyhood in Cologne, his struggles as a student, his studies with Messiaen in Paris, his exacting and highly individual teaching methods at Darmstadt and Cologne, and the circumstances in which many of his greatest works were composed.

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Pierre Horn

Traces the life of the French general and statesman who was instrumental in persuading France to aid the colonists in the American Revolution and then returned to participate in the political scene in his own country.

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Volkmar Braunbehrens

In this first biography of Salieri in 160 years, Braunbehrens examines the composer's life and carefully analyzes his relationship with Mozart and both the libretti and the music of Salieri's operas.