一百多年前，一個十三歲的男孩在巴塞隆納的二手樂譜店發現一本被世人遺忘的樂譜──巴哈大提琴獨奏組曲（即無伴奏大提琴組曲），他帶回家苦練多年後公開演奏，豔驚了世人，那位男孩就是西班牙著名大提琴家卡薩爾斯（Pablo Casals，1876-1973），對20世紀大提琴演奏影響最鉅的人，開創大提琴獨奏的輝煌時代。《西班牙琴弓》以這位音樂家的事蹟為藍本，小說中化名為菲利武‧德拉哥，描寫他一生高潮迭起的音樂生涯，以及他如何堅守信念反對西班牙極權政府而自我放逐國外。
19 世紀末、20 世紀初的西班牙，在曾經輝煌的帝國逐漸沒落時，菲利武結識了鋼琴怪傑阿爾－賽拉茲，隨著西班牙內戰爆發，兩位音樂家大相逕庭的藝術目標和政治傾向使他們幾乎分道揚鑣，然而義大利女小提琴家艾璧華的出現改變了他們的命運，三人在音樂、理念、生活和情感上不可分離地糾纏在一起，他們一步步走向生涯中最危險的聯合演出……
小說中的角色人名、年代和情節皆虛實交錯，取材自真實人物的包括軍事狂人希特勒與佛朗哥、西班牙國王阿方索十三世和王后伊娜、畫家畢卡索等，作者企圖擺脫真實歷史的束縛，讓真實與虛構交織出這部充滿音樂韻律和戲劇張力的故事，正如卡薩爾斯發現巴哈的無伴奏大提琴組曲後企圖從中尋找自我啟發，而以自己的時空感受來詮釋出古典的美，小說家亦將卡薩爾斯的生平以我們這個時代的時空意義演繹出動人的故事。

Written specifically for students, this introductory textbook explores the history and meaning of rock and popular music. Roy Shuker's study provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the production, distribution, consumption and meaning of popular music and examines the difficulties and debates which surround the analysis of popular culture and popular music. This heavily revised and updated third edition includes: new case studies on the iPod, downloading, and copyright; the impact of technologies, including on-line delivery and the debates over MP3 and Napster; new chapters on music genres, cover songs and the album canon as well as music retail, radio and the charts; case studies and lyrics of artists such as Robert Johnson, The Who, Fat Boy Slim and The Spice Girls; and, a comprehensive discography, suggestions for further reading, listening and viewing and a directory of useful websites. With chapter related guides to further reading, listening and viewing, a glossary, and a timeline, this textbook is the ideal introduction for students.

When Nick Drake (1948-1974) died of a drug overdose at twenty-six, he left behind three modest-selling albums, including the stark Pink Moon and the lush Bryter Layter . Three decades later, he is recognized as one of the true geniuses of English acoustic music. Yet Nick Drake--whose music was as gentle and melancholy as the man himself-- has always maintained a spectral presence in popular music. This groundbreaking biography reconstructs a vanished life while perfectly capturing the bohemian scenes surrounding the music business in London in the late '60s and early '70s. Using many newly discovered documents and all-new interviews, Trevor Dann reveals more detail on Nick Drake than ever, from his upbringing in a quintessentially English village, through his hash-fueled school days at Cambridge University, to the missed opportunities and mismanagement that defined his career. Friends and colleagues describe the difficulties that he faced as each new album was released, only to fail, and the insidious despair that consumed him. Complete with discography and rare photos, Darker Than the Deepest Sea is essential reading for anyone who has been moved by Nick Drake's unforgettable blend of beauty and sadness.

John Rice's Music in the Eighteenth Century takes the reader on an engrossing Grand Tour of Europe's musical centers, from Naples, to London, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and St. Petersburg --with a side trip to the colonial New World. . Against the backdrop of Europe's largely peaceful division into Catholic and Protestant realms, Rice shows how "learned" and "galant" styles developed and commingled. While considering Mozart, Haydn, and early Beethoven in depth, he broadens his focus to assess the contributions of lesser-known but significant figures like Johann Adam Hiller, Francois-Andre Philidor, and Anna Bon.Western Music in Context: A Norton History comprises six volumes of moderate length, each written in an engaging style by a recognized expert. Authoritative and current, the series examines music in the broadest sense--as sounds notated, performed, and heard--focusing not only on composers and works, but also on broader social and intellectual currents.

Music in the Nineteenth Century examines the period from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the advent of Modernism in the 1890s. Frisch traces a complex web of relationships involving composers, performers, publishers, notated scores, oral traditions, audiences, institutions, cities, and nations. The book's central themes include middle-class involvement in music, the rich but elusive concept of Romanticism, the cult of virtuosity, and the ever-changing balance between musical and commercial interests. The final chapter considers the sound world of nineteenth-century music as captured by contemporary witnesses and early recordings.Western Music in Context: A Norton History comprises six volumes of moderate length, each written in an engaging style by a recognized expert. Authoritative and current, the series examines music in the broadest sense--as sounds notated, performed, and heard--focusing not only on composers and works, but also on broader social and intellectual currents.

A deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and his close friend, the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Haruki Murakami’s passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and from The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” to Franz Liszt’s “Years of Pilgrimage,” the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. Now, in Absolutely on Music, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk, over a period of two years, about their shared interest. Transcribed from lengthy conversations about the nature of music and writing, here they discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more. Ultimately this book gives readers an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the two maestros.
It is essential reading for book and music lovers everywhere.

In this, the fourth volume in the Norton Introduction to Music History series, Philip Downs traces the rise and decline of the "Classical" style from the birth of Haydn (1732) to the death of Beethoven (1827). He demonstrates the enormous diversity and constant change that characterised every aspect of music during this period. By dividing his text into twenty-year spans, Downs is able to trace the development of musical style. Within each span he looks at the social conditions and daily life of the musician, and the aesthetics and audience preferences in structures, performing combinations and styles. The lesser composers, or Kleinmeister, are observed, since they are the most accurate mirrors of their times. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven receive full biographical scrutiny at each stage of their development. Copious music examples and abundant illustrations are also provided.

Attali's essential argument in Noise: The Political Economy of Music is that music, as a cultural form, is intimately tied up in the mode of production in any given society. For marxist critics, this idea is nothing new. The novelty of Attali's work is that it reverses the traditional understandings about how revolutions in the mode of production take place:
[Attali] is the first to point out the other possible logical consequence of the “reciprocal interaction” model—namely, the possibility of a superstructure to anticipate historical developments, to foreshadow new social formations in a prophetic and annunciatory way. The argument of Noise is that music, unique among the arts for reasons that are themselves overdetermined, has precisely this annunciatory vocation; that the music of today stands both as a promise of a new, liberating mode of production, and as the menace of a dystopian possibility which is that mode of production’s baleful mirror image.[1]

Taking up where the volume "Early Jazz" left off, this second volume of Gunther Schuller's history of jazz considers the swing era - the age of dance bands and radio shows. Tracing the origins of swing and its effects on American musical and social life, he assesses the distinctive sounds of great bandleaders like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman, instrumentalists such as Art Tatum, Cab Calloway and Pee Wee Russell, and such vocalists as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.

During the 1930s, swing bands combined jazz and popular music to create dreams for a depression generation. This book explores that world, taking a look into the musical and racial integration. Long before organized baseball or the armed forces experienced racial integration, the fan culture that surrounded these big bands had broken down many barriers that separated people from different racial backgrounds. The author aims to show how a dance subculture forged in the late 1920s and early 1930s, became a music genre that symbolized American society. The book tells the story of swing's rapid rise and the music and culture that bolstered a nation during one of its lowest periods.

本书是日本著名音乐大师坂本龙一唯一口述自传。幼时的坂本龙一，因为饲养小白兔而作的一曲《小兔之歌》，使他第一次强烈地体会到音乐带来的喜悦。青年时，他是一名彻头彻尾的“愤青”，罢课抗议、游行示威，但也迷恋于德彪西、贝多芬、披头士，并潜心阅读黑格尔、胡塞尔、德里达等。期间，他 曾一度拒绝学习钢琴，正因为这次“拒绝”带来的空虚，使他察觉到“自己原来是如此喜爱音乐啊”，音乐使他自由。此后，他真正开启了自己的音乐人生，凭借《末代皇帝》的配乐，他登顶国际舞台赢得盛誉…在口述中，坂本龙一不断俯瞰自己迄今为止的生命，以期看清现在的自我。书中还穿插着他不同时期的照片50余幅，展现了这位音乐大师充满魅力的人生历程。

本书是一个非音乐专业人士写的音乐随笔，但是不同凡响，不是声音振天响，而是平凡、安静和孤迥，还有悠远，有从音乐“沾取一点恩泽”的感觉。这样的随笔集不光是懂音乐的人可能找到知音，不懂音乐的人仅凭这些文字，也会爱上巴赫，享受到某种境界，或者从此,开始有音乐作为自己的朋友。
不管这个世界上发生什么，有多少游戏、厌倦和绝望，都有那么一种音乐，温暖得持久而真实，与人不弃不离。
不论你是不是听很多古典音乐，读了这本书，你都可能找到一种新的方式或者态度，接受生活，感谢生活。
听音乐是需要勇气的，你把自己的情感交出去，任它给喂养的茁壮而陌生，这中间会有多少孤独和挣扎。
这个世界有它的秩序，就像音乐里宿命的“必然”。在音乐绽放的伤口里放进心悸，放进骄傲，于是音乐吸取血气变得动荡，动荡得能撕毁。
用“道路”去感觉音乐，简直就是把音乐“种”在自己的记忆和生活里哪。
我在各种生活里观看过那些音乐被不同的心情照出的凹凸。
这些音乐无论多么寂寞，多么少有人知，他们仍然“是一种贴近皮肤的温润的渗透，你要相信他们终将抵达心脏。”请相信，我用时间和生活诚实地验证过。