Kastner: The Singing Flames
The Singing Flames tells the extraordinary story of Frédéric Kastner’s pyrophone, or fire organ.
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Category: Books
Olivier: The Spirit of Orpheus
In The Spirit of Orpheus, Gabriel d’Olivier asks one of the oldest and most searching questions in musical thought: what does music do to the human being?
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Chabanon: Observations on Music
What is music? Does it imitate nature, express the passions, speak a language, or act upon us in some more mysterious way?
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Weber: The musical situation and popular education in France
This first English translation makes available an important primary source for musicians, conductors, teachers, historians, and all readers interested in the history of music education, public music-making, and the place of music in society.
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Closson: The musical instrument as an ethnographic document
Ernest Closson was one of Belgium’s most distinguished musicologists, serving as a composer, critic, librarian, and scholar during a formative period in the development of modern musicology.
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Comettant: Francis Planté
Francis Planté (1839–1934) was a celebrated French pianist renowned for his technical prowess and deeply expressive style.
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Berr: The need to reconstitute the School of Military Music
Originally published in 1838, Frédéric Berr’s The Need to Reconstitute the School of Military Music on a New Basis to Improve Regimental Music is a treatise on the structure and administration of military bands in 19th-century France.
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Wieprecht: The military band and the musical organization of an army
Wilhelm Wieprecht (1802–1872) was a visionary German bandmaster, composer, and conductor who revolutionized military and brass band music.
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Eichborn: Militarism and Music
First published in 1909, Militarism and Music is a thoughtful exploration of the historical relationship between military organisation and musical culture.
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Eichborn: On the History of Instrumental Music
On the History of Instrumental Music is a critical re-examination of how instrumental music emerged, developed, and came to be judged.
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