Other books that might interest you

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  Elsie de Wolfe's Paris -...

  Charlie Scheips

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  Photographs and stories of the legendary hostess’s extravagant parties and glamorous guests in the final months before the Nazis invaded France. 
   
  The American decorator Elsie de Wolfe was the international set’s preeminent hostess in Paris during the interwar years. She had a legendary villa in Versailles, where in the late 1930s she held two fabulous parties—her Circus Balls—that marked the end of the social scene that her friend Cole Porter perfectly captured in his songs, as the clouds of war swept through Europe.  
   
  Charlie Scheips tells the story of these parties using a wealth of previously unpublished photographs and introducing a large cast of aristocrats, beauties, politicians, fashion designers, movie stars, moguls, artists, caterers, florists, party planners, and decorators. A landmark work of social history and a poignant vision of a vanished world, Scheips’s book “culminates with de Wolfe’s final grand fête, the second Circus Ball, which defined the glamour and decadence of international society before the lights went out all over Europe” (Gotham magazine).

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  Rembrandt - Painter Engraver and...

  Émile Michel

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  There is no other artist who represents the Dutch Golden Age like Rembrandt. With his realistic oil paintings, detailed engravings, and exquisite drawings he is the figurehead of an entire generation. As famous during his lifetime as after his death, Rembrandt (1606-1669) was one of the greatest masters of the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. His portraits not only transport us back to that fascinating time, but also represent, above all, a human adventure; beneath every dab of paint the spirit of the model seems to stir. Yet these portraits are only the tip of the Rembrandt iceberg, which consists of over 300 canvasses, 350 engravings, and 2,000 drawings. Throughout his oeuvre, the influence of Flemish Realism is as powerful as that of the Caravaggists. He applied this skillful fusion of styles to all his works, conferring biblical subjects and everyday themes alike with an unparalleled and intimate emotional power.

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  Writing Music for the Stage - A...

  Michael Bruce

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  The definitive guide to writing music for the stage, by the Composer-in-Residence at the Donmar Warehouse.
  Music has played a vital part in drama since the earliest days of theatre. For composers, writing music for the stage is an opportunity to exercise their utmost creativity and versatility: a good musical score will both support and enhance the play it serves, and can lift a prosaic moment into something quite extraordinary.
  In this book, Michael Bruce takes you through the entire process – from initial preparation, through composition, rehearsals and recording, and finally to performance. He covers everything a composer needs to know, including:
  
  
  - Getting started – spotting when and how music might be used in a play, doing research, considering form and content
  - Building a 'sound world' – finding and using source music, creating incidental music, choosing the best instrumentation, scoring, utilising technology, writing music to accompany song lyrics
  - Working on the production – understanding the composer's role in rehearsals, collaborating with key creatives, employing actor-musicians, getting the show on
  - Recording – knowing when to record, booking and working with musicians – and the studio engineer, running a recording session
  Also included is key practical advice on how to get work as a theatre composer and build your career.
  Throughout the book, the author draws on his own experience of creating music for a wide variety of plays at the Donmar Warehouse, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, including detailed case studies of his work on The Recruiting Officer, Coriolanus, Privacy, The Winslow Boy, Noises Off and Strange Interlude, illustrated by online recordings from his scores.
  An essential companion for all composers – amateur, student or professional – Writing Music for the Stage is also invaluable reading for other theatre professionals, including directors, playwrights, producers, actors, designers and sound designers – in fact, for anyone seeking to understand how music helps to create worlds and tell stories on stage.

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  The Bakersfield Sound - How a...

  Robert E. Price

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  An immersive look at the country music sub-genre, from its 1950s origins to its heyday to the twenty-first century. 
   
  In California’s Central Valley, two thousand miles away from Nashville’s country hit machine, the hard edge of the Bakersfield Sound transformed American music during the later half of the twentieth century. Fueled by the steel twang of electric guitars, explosive drumming, and powerfully aching lyrics, the Sound transformed hard times and desperation into chart-toppers. It vaulted displaced Oklahomans like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to stardom, and even today the Sound’s influence on country music is still widely felt. 
   
  In this fascinating book, veteran journalist Robert E. Prince traces the Bakersfield Sound’s roots from Dust Bowl and World War II migrations through the heyday of Owens, Haggard, and Hee Haw, and into the twenty-first century. Outlaw country demands good storytelling, and Price obliges; to fully understand the Sound and its musicians we dip into honky-tonks, dives, and radio stations playing the songs of sun-parched days spent on oil rigs and in cotton fields, the melodies of hardship and kinship, a soundtrack for dancing and brawling. In other words, The Bakersfield Sound immerses us in the unique cultural convergence that gave rise to a visceral and distinctly California country music. 
   
  Praise for The Bakersfield Sound 
   
  “A savvy blend of personal anecdotes and broader historical narrative.” —Kirkus Reviews 
   
  “This book all but reads itself. Price’s sense of history, his command of facts, his sense of humor, his sensitivity to class and race, and a love of the music—it’s all here.” —Greil Marcus

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  Kiss Me Like A Stranger - My...

  Gene Wilder

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  Told in his own words, a very personal story from the star of many beloved and classic comedies, including Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 
  Gene Wilder is one of the great comic actors who defined the 1970s and 1980s in movies. From his work with Woody Allen, to the rich group of movies he made with Mel Brooks, to his partnership on screen with Richard Pryor, Wilder's performances are still discussed and celebrated today. KISS ME LIKE A STRANGER is an intimate glimpse of the man behind the image on the screen.  In this book, Wilder talks about everything from his experiences in psychoanalysis to why he got into comedy-his first goal was to be a Shakespearean actor-to how a midwestern childhood with a sick mother changed him. He writes about the creative process on stage and on screen, and divulges moments from life on the sets of some of the most iconic movies of our time. He also opens up about his search for love and his marriages, including his marriage to comedienne Gilda Radner. But the core of KISS ME LIKE A STRANGER is an actor's search for truth and a thoughtful analysis of why the choices he made-some of them so serendipitous they were practically accidental-changed the course of his life.

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  Piano Devotion and Meditation

  Smith Show Media Group

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  Smith Show Media presents Piano Devotion and Meditation, a collection of piano music.

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