Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Not bad for a beginner book
I bought the book thinking it was a bit more than it is.Wherever there aren't notes, there are pictures to color...Definitely for children.However it did have a lot of famous songs such as "Danny Boy" and"When Irish Eyes are Smiling."If you are looking for anintroduction to celtic music and you are at a beginner level of piano, thisbook is great.However, you get what you pay for... ... Read more

Book Description
Written by two medical specialists from the Royal Ballet School, this book was first published in 1988 and instantly became the authoritative work on the understanding and treatment of dance injuries and their relationship to faults of technique that are not identified and corrected in the early stages. Also included in this revised edition is an important new subsection on incorrect weight placement, complete with cross-references. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Invaluable resource for therapists working with dancers
This is an indispensable resource for the physical therapist or Pilates instructor who works with dancers.It covers functional anatomy as it relates to the dancer, teaches the analysis of posture and movement as it relates to the classical dancer, the typical injuries sustained by dancers and their management and rehabilitation.

This text, combined with Sally Fitt's, Dance Kinesiology, should be in every therapist's library.If the book has one fault, it is that is focuses almost exclusively on classical dancers.

If you teach Dance , you must have this !
This book written by Justin Howse, Consultant Orthepaedic Surgeon to the Royal Ballet Schools, The Royal Academy of Dancing and the Remedial Dance Clinic, London , and also by Shirley Hancock, Principal Physiotherapist tothe Royal Ballet Schools, the Royal Academy of Dancing and the RemedialDance Clinic ,London.

This book is a study reading requirement for theRoyal Academy of Dancing Anatomy paper.

The foreward by Dame Ninette deValois, says it all really. "This book gives us the opportunity toindulge in some serious reflection.It is full of highly technicalobservations on movement as related to the world of ballet and isaccompanied by helpful instructions.A great deal of it should berewarding to students, dancers, teachers, repetiteurs and ballet staff ingeneral. I dare to add that in my opionion, it is also food for thought forchoreographers.Today it is not customary for choreographers to giveeither scientific or practical thought to their choreographic demands.Letus recall that a composer has to remember to keep within the range of asinger's voice.It therefore seems right for a choreographer to study morecarefully not only the limitation of dancer's limbs but also the limitationof their general stamina ."

You will never regret spending the moneyon this book.I refer to this book often.It has excellent photographsalso.

I am fortunate in that one of my friends is a physiotherapist whoworks at the local medical centre.This book provides excellent back up. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

5 Stars
Great works of von Weber especially Invitation to the dance Op.65
Original with good finger patterns. A nice addition to your collection. ... Read more

Book Description
Harriet Cavalli, internationally recognized as one of the most talented and experienced specialists in the art of music for dancers and dance teachers, presents here the definitive book on accompaniment, as well as her personal--often humorous--look behind the scenes at the world of dance. The text is enhanced by diagrams and 83 complete musical examples, providing a wealth of repertoire choices.

One of the most comprehensive books to acknowledge the intimate link between music and ballet technique, Dance and Music emphasizes the necessity of effective communication between dance teachers and their accompanists. Cavalli lays the groundwork with descriptions of most musical forms used in the dance classroom and stresses the need for teachers to make music a living part of their classes.

For the inexperienced accompanist, she describes the pianistic demands of the profession, as well as the qualities of dance steps and movements that will facilitate the identification of suitable music. She also discusses the kinds of dance classes an accompanist may work in and offers a lengthy section on the functions of a pianist in a dance company.

With forty years in the field, and firsthand knowledge of what dancing feels like and how to re-create that feeling, Cavalli invites musicians to move gracefully into the special, sometimes intimidating world of dance accompaniment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

one major drawback but otherwise a remarkable book.
A remarkable/inspiring book in so many ways:i rather like Miss Cavalli'stone of voice... the only book i know which deals with the elusive (but vital) role of ballet accompaniment.
However,i do hope that future editions correct the truly terrible sin of not attributing any of the music examples to the various composers.The likes of Debussy and even Czerny deserve SO much better than this!
Also,a CD accompanying the volume would be a nice extra (as in Charles Rosen's Romantic Generation).

A First Time for Everything
Since I am a musician engaged to a ballet dancer, I was very excited to find a book that finally discussed the many facets of the intersection between dance and music.The book is divided into two main sections: a written section, and a vast collection of musical examples.The musical examples are a great resource, but the written portion itself is far too wordy.Her verbosity inevitably clogs up what could have been a very terse, informative reference work.Also, her title is misleading: this is a book fundamentally about ballet accompaniment. Anyone looking for insight on other forms of dance and their musical possibilities should look elsewhere.

Much needed.
Finally, a book about the rather obscure field of music accompaniment for dance class. This book is primarily for pianists, so it is good to keep this in mind. Teachers may find this book helpful too.
I give this 5 stars because it is one of the first and only books of its kind, written by someone with considerable experience in the field. Harriet Cavalli's humour and bluntness shine through, as she gives many suggestions on dealing with the nitty gritty details of this type of work, with many tips for the beginner on how to get started. It includes a considerable amount of music, which fills nearly the second half of the book. ... Read more

Book Description
For three decades, Anthony Braxton has been alternately celebrated, dismissed, and attacked for his musical innovations. His ambitious efforts to reconcile and personalize the historically divergent and often conflicting worldviews and principles of African-American (jazz), American Experimental (post-Ives), and Western European (post-serial) traditions have attracted both loyal supporters and passionate critics. Mike Heffley has followed Braxton's widely varied music from its beginning, and in 1988 began a professional musical relationship with him. His "biography" of Braxton's music is just that--a look at the music as if it were a living entity, with a traceable ancestry, a describable place in the world, and a history full of drama, intrigue, and passion. The music scholar will find here all the information necessary to understand the contents, contexts, and concepts of Braxton's music, and to further that understanding. The general reader will find the human and trans-human qualities that make the music so compelling to its makers and lovers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

While tough reading, it is the best book about Braxton yet.
This is the most thorough examination of Braxton's music and the variouscontexts from which it emerges. It is the only book to date that verysuccessfully explores the mystical side of Braxton, and Heffley does sowith clarity, integrity, and genuine respect for Braxton. Because of itsambitious nature, this bookis probably not the best place to begin whenstudying Braxton. But its ambitous nature has also created a book thatmatches the ambition of its subject matter, i.e., Braxton himself. This isessential reading for Braxtonians. ... Read more

Book Description
A Dance to the Music of Time – his brilliant 12-novel sequence, which chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

The novels follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles that stand between them and the “Acceptance World.” ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Into the home stretch of the "Dance"
I'm into the home stretch of Powell's Top 100 Modern novel series (in a sense, like Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," this series by Powell is a meta-novel; unlike Tolkien, however, Powell was the one to split his sections into separate books), and it is gaining momentum, mainly because of the inertia gained from having placed this much of a time investment into the series. The title of this novel has to be my favorite, and the anecdote within the book from which it comes is quite amusing--a character receives the nickname books for his statement, upon entering the library of a home in which he is about to commit an adulterous act with the wife of a prominent book person that "books do furnish a room." This kind of droll, understated, and somewhat dark humor is indicative of Powell's series.

This picks up in the aftermath of World War II, as Jenkins and his friends attempt to return to life as civilians. Jenkins becomes the book review editor for a magazine that was endowed by his brother-in-law, Erry, and is also supported by Widmerpool, newly elected MP. Jenkins is fascinated with the novelist X. Trappable, a strange free spirit of words who is constantly in debt and quite deft with "the touch" (i.e., borrowing from friends and acquaintances), yet who can follow up a touch with the offer of buying a beer for the person from whom he just borrowed a quid. Trapnel finds himself entranced by Pamela Widmerpool, but, as readers of the previous book should know, this is doomed to be disadvantageous to everyone involved by Pamela herself.

The description of how a small literary magazine was run in the post-war era is quite interesting, and unfortunately put in the background as Powell features the actions of the characters. Jenkins sees the magazine as a job, and his interest, as always, is in the gossip that can be provided by the changing of partners in this complex dance of life. Maybe I'm just a wallflower, who finds more beauty in the decorations than in just who is dancing with who on the floor. However, midnight is drawing near on the dance, and most couples are, as Molly Ivins would say, "dancing with the one what brung ya." It will be amusing to see if there are any coaches turning into pumpkins in the last two books. ... Read more

Book Description
Written by a group of dedicated flamenco enthusiasts, this book traces the history and development of flamenco, the stirring form of folk dance created by the gypsies of the Andalusian region of Spain in the 19th century and still popular today. HARDCOVER. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Hit and a miss
I was looking for a good book on flamenco and mistakingly picked up this copy. The book is full of scholarship that is only for someone who can put up with that particular style of writing; it is like being in a boring lecture hall, listening to some professor spew on and on while heads around you periodically wake from slumber.The collected essays are disjointed and according to at least one flamenco aficionado, full of historical errors. Not being versed in the history of flamenco, it is hard to distinguish fact from fiction but the reviewer who is at odds with the book as being inaccurate is probably correct in his assessment. Regardless it makes for boring reading anyway. The writing style of the essayists is dry and much too authoritive. I found myself skiming over many pages that were very tedious. Reading should be entertaining and informative and the authors miss the boat here. The subject matter is colorful but not presented as such. Few if any anecdotes or stories of interest about the various icons of flamenco are shared; this would have brought the characters of flamenco to life. This book does have some good black and white photographs but that does not compensate for the literal shortcomings. This is a controversal attempt at presenting eveything under the sun regarding flamenco into one book. I would not recommend this book for the novice or anyone for that matter unless you need some scholarly reading to put you to sleep.

not good
This book is a disjointed collection of "essays" about the various aspects of flamenco: cante, guitar, dance, castanets/palmas.History is thrown in somewhat randomly; parts of the book are repetitive.Occasionally you glean some kind of interesting fact (e.g. the flamenco scale is the same as in Indian and Arabic music), but it is otherwise not put together well enough to be informative. I second the view that the nostalgic, pro-gypsy, modern-flamenco-is-not-really-flamenco bias starts to get annoying.You get the message that the only real flamenco is performed by gypsies in the privacy of their homes, which *you'll* certainly never get to see so you might as well give up.

Bias, Myth and Anecdote Masquerading as Scholarship
By half way through this book, I formed a firm image of its origins:Claus Schreiner, the "editor," was probably chit-chatting with one or more of his fellow German flamenco aficionados when suddenly a thought struck him: "I know!Let's all write a book about flamenco!"And so they did.Why it was actually published, however, is a mystery.

As an introduction to flamenco for the novice, or even the merely curious, it is a complete failure.I can only think that someone with no real prior knowledge of flamenco would either be entirely confused or bored to tears - or both.The "essays," written by various different people, are disconnected - a result of there being no clear, collective image of either what the book was supposed to be about or the audience for whom it was to be written.

As a work written for serious aficionados or as a contribution to flamenco scholarship, it's worse than a failure because it is not only incredibly biased, but filled with errors, some of which would bring guffaws of laughter from any knowledgeable aficionado.The bias begins with the title:"Flamenco: Gypsy Dance and Music from Andalucia."The authors are quite obviously enamored of the Spanish gypsies - so much so that they ascribe the origin of flamenco almost entirely to them.For many reasons, that's completely absurd.Undeniably, the gypsies played a very important role in the development of flamenco, but they were definitely not the sole progenitors of this art form.(I say this with all due apologies to my former maestro of the guitar, Juan Maya "Marote," a "pure gypsy" from the barrio of Sacromonte, Granada.)

For a published work, it is a toss-up as to whether the quantity of the errors or their gravity is more surprising.A few examples:

- It claims that the Gypsies likely emigrated from northern India around 800 to 900 c.e., when the best scholarship places the date between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries - the time of the Mongol invasions of south Asia and the Middle East, which caused many different peoples to flee to the West.

- It talks of "Hindu dancers" appearing in Phoenician "Gadir," continuing into Roman"Gades"(misspelled in the book as "Grades" - one of numerous misspellings, perhaps due in part to the translation from German to English).Since Hinduism developed between roughly 500 b.c.e. and 400 c.e. - well after the Phoenicians and concurrent with the Romans, who had very little commerce with the Indian subcontinent - such an appearance would be highly anachronistic.

- It claims that "the dances of the Arabs, who occupied Andalusia from 711 A.D. on, had already been influenced by the gypsies who came through North Africa from India, that is to say, these dances, in all likelihood, already contained Indian elements."Ridiculous:The Gypsies of Andalucía could not have arrived there until the late Almohad period at the earliest - some five centuries after the Muslims had arrived.And the use of the word "Arab" is misleading:"Muslim" is a much more accurate term to describe both the conquerors and inhabitants of Al Andalus, since even though the lingua franca was Arabic, ethnically they were composed of Arab, Berber, Slav, and other elements.(For anyone with an interest in this history, I would highly recommend the two volume set, The Legacy of Muslim Spain, edited by Salma Khadra Jayyusi, where each essay is authored by a world-class scholar on his/her subject.Check out, for example, Owen Wright's essay, "Music in Islamic Spain," which debunks some of the claims about the musician Zyryab made in Flamenco.)

- It perpetuates another myth by referring to "slaves of African origin" not being "uncommon on the Iberian Peninsula" even before the conquest of Latin America.While certainly there were such slaves, the implication that black Africans were only "slaves" is to view the history of medieval Spain through the lens of the racist slave trade that developed many centuries later.There are historical references in the Arabic sources to entire regiments of black African soldiers - not slaves - appearing in the Iberian Peninsula as early as the eighth century, and repeatedly over the many succeeding centuries.Individuals of partially black African ancestry were included in the ranks of the ruling class in the Muslim periods.

- Even more astounding, even when it speaks of flamenco itself there are glaring errors:"Bulerías, for example, are to this day rarely sung, let alone danced by payos [non gypsies]."This chestnut would bring peels of laughter to anyone in Spain: There's not one professional flamenco artist, or hardly any amateur for that matter, gypsy or not, who does not perform bulerías.

- It even "dis's" the extremely fine dancer, Antonio Gades - and in the process gets it wrong again: "[Antonio Gades] thinks of himself as following in the footsteps of Antonio and Vicente Escudero, but he owes his big break to his excellent collaboration with the Spanish director Carlos Saura on the films Blood Wedding and Carmen."More incredible rubbish:Gades' "big break" - to use the author's term - came in 1964 when he co-starred in Los Tarantos with Carmen Amaya - almost twenty years before his collaboration with Saura.Gades was an icon in the dance and flamenco community when I lived in Spain in the early seventies, at which time he had already toured the world several times with his own company.

A good introduction to flamenco in the English language is still Donn E. Pohren's The Art of Flamenco, originally written almost forty years ago.While somewhat biased (as almost everything written about flamenco tends to be - that's the nature of the beast), it remains an excellent, learned, and very readable exposé of the subject by an American who has lived in Spain for almost fifty years and who has eaten, drunk and slept flamenco that entire time.

Best Flamenco book yet
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in flamenco dance and music.There are pictures and the layout of the chapters makes for easy reading.The information on the dance is very interesting

Review of Flamenco, by Claus Schreiner, et al.
I like this book with one major misgiving: the chapter on Joselito.Though Joselito is fascinating, she gives incredibly misleading information about dancer Antonio Gades.I feel that the author of this chapter took Joselito's point of view, which is skewed, and presented it as if it werethe absolute truth.As all know, Antonio Gades is a major figure inflamenco dance, and not to be taken lightly.I disagree with Joselito'scomments when she says that these types of comments are "part andparcel" of flamenco; they only show Joselito's own jealousies andrivalries.Other than that, the book is fine, the pictures are wonderful,and the chapter which includes the flamenco letras is very good. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
How do music and dance reveal the ways in which a community interacts with the world?How are the senses used in communicating cultural knowledge? In Sensational Knowledge, ethnomusicologist and dancer Tomie Hahn uncovers the process and nuances of learning nihon buyo, a traditional Japanese dance form. She uses case studies of dancers at all levels, as well as her own firsthand experiences, to investigate the complex language of bodies, especially across cultural divides. Paying particular attention to the effect of body-to-body transmission, and how culturally constructed processes of transmission influence our sense of self, Hahn argues that the senses facilitate the construction of "boundaries of existence" that define our physical and social worlds. In this flowing and personal text, Hahn reveals the ways in which culture shapes our attendance to various sensoria, and how our interpretation of sensory information shapes our individual realities. An included DVD provides visual examples. ... Read more

Book Description
Despite the world-wide association of music and dance with religion, this is the first full-length study of the subject from a global perspective. The work consists of 3,816 references divided among 37 chapters. It covers tribal, regional, and global religions and such subjects as shamanism, liturgical dance, healing, and the relationship of music, mathematics, and mysticism. The referenced materials display such diverse approaches as analysis of music and dance, description of context, direct experience, observation, and speculation. The references address topics from such disciplines as sociology, anthropology, history, linguistics, musicology, ethnomusicology, theology, medicine, semiotics, and computer technology. Chapter 1 consists of general references to religious music and dance. The remaining 36 chapters are organized according to major geographical areas. Most chapters begin with general reference works and bibliographies, then continue with topics specific to the region or religion. This book will be of use to anyone with an interest in music, dance, religion, or culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Superb scholarship
Millicent Hodson changed my life. As a young music/dance undergrad in the early 90's, I became infatuated, still am, with Le Sacre. Every note of music is made flesh. Coming across the reconstruction video, PBS ,led me to Rambert then to Jaques-Dalcroze and a degree from Juilliard in Eurhythmics - All from my exposure to the work of Millicent Hodson. I just received the book and it is perfect. Thank you Dr. Hodson for changing my life!

An absolute must
This book offers a fantastic insight into the 1st performances andpreparation of Sacre. Anyone interested in "getting back to the source"
must purchase this book

Magnificent and Critical Reconstruction
Hodson brings back one of History's most controversial ballets after a 20 year research, which included several interviews with Marie Romberg (who danced in the premiere of The Rite), Stravinsky's own annotated score andvarious sketches from artists who attended rehearsals.The plotless natureof The Rite provided an opportunity to create a unique musical form forStravinsky, one which still dazzles audiences around the world.Areconstruction was staged by Robert Joffrey, just 6 months before hisdeath. ... Read more

Book Description
This book celebrates the power of music, dance, and oral narrative to create identities by imaginatively connecting performers and audiences with ethnic and political groupings, global and sacred landscapes, histories and heroes, spirits and gods.

Three distinct cultural eras of Mongolian society are represented. Many Mongols are now performing publicly the diverse traditions of Old Mongolia that they practiced in private following the communist revolution of 1921; some are perpetuating the Soviet transformations of those traditions introduced prior to 1990; and yet others are dipping their curly-toed boots into new performance arts as they revel in musical encounters on the global stage. By highlighting the sheer variety of repertories, this book illustrates the rich diversity of Mongolia's peoples and performance arts.

An accompanying compact disc contains musical examples linked to the text. ... Read more

Book Description
David Gere, who came of age as a dance critic at the height of the AIDS epidemic, offers the first book to examine in depth the interplay of AIDS and choreography in the United States, specifically in relation to gay men. The time he writes about is one of extremes. A life-threatening medical syndrome is spreading, its transmission linked to sex. Blame is settling on gay men. What is possible in such a highly charged moment, when art and politics coincide?
Gere expands the definition of choreography to analyze not only theatrical dances but also the protests conceived by ACT-UP and the NAMES Project AIDS quilt. These exist on a continuum in which dance, protest, and wrenching emotional expression have become essentially indistinguishable. Gere offers a portrait of gay male choreographers struggling to cope with AIDS and its meanings.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

AIDS, dance, and gay men
Reading Professor Gere's book reminds me so much of Eve Sedgwick.Like her minoritizing/universalizing schema, he invents an equation for defining AIDS performances.He then goes on to describe seven aspects of this artistic contributing.Like Professor Sedgwick, he uses huge words and it would benefit the reader to have a dictionary near him or her as they read.Also, the two academics are dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the works of gay artists.

Unfortunately, like Sedgwick, you don't have to read beyond Gere's introductory chapters to get the point.The rest of the book is just lots of description.I highly doubt that professors will assign the whole book, rather than just the first part of it, to students.Only those who want to use the books for specific examples would benefit from reading the whole thing.Additionally, some of the details are gross (drinking shakes made of junk, spilling liquids meant to represents distasteful bodily fluids, etc.)The book covers cutting-edge dancers, and believe me, they succeed at shocking their audiences (or at least this reader).

Professor Gere is not only an academic describing performances after the fact, he was also a journalist who was covering AIDS and the dance community's response to it from the beginning.He must be exciting in the classroom given the multiple hats he wears as academic, journalist, and activist.

AIDS has wreaked havoc upon gay males and many professional dancers.Thus, of course, they would respond to the epidemic in their art.I am glad that a person in the academy has recorded and is responding to this urgent work and action. ... Read more

Book Description
Astor Piazzolla was a musical genius, a man who used the national dance of Argentina as raw material for a whole new musical genre. In Le Grand Tango, Maria Susana Azzi and Simon Collier vividly capture the life of this extraordinary musician--a visionary who won worldwide acclaim, but sparked bitter controversy in his native land. Azzi and Collier trace Piazzolla's early life from his birth in Argentina in 1921 to his childhood years on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where he first developed a talent for the bandoneon, the accordion-like instrument central to the tango. They describe his return to Argentina at age 16 and his rapid rise in the intoxicating world of tango, where he quickly earned a place with the leading dance band, and then formed his own group. But at the height of his success, Piazzolla decided to take tango music to a new level and studied composition with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Combining deft musical analysis and intriguing personal insight, Azzi and Collier show how he created a dramatically new style of tango music influenced by jazz and classical pieces--a tango music meant for listening, not dancing. But they also show that, in the birthplace of the tango, he met fierce resistance. He eventually left Argentina for Europe, where he emerged as an international celebrity. Since Piazzolla's death in 1992, his influence has only grown. Jazz giants such as Gary Burton and Al Di Meola--and classical stars Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Daniel Barenboim--have all recorded albums of his works. Now Azzi and Collier have given us the first biography of this astonishingly gifted musician. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Piazzolla fans should buy this book!
This is the best and most complete document about the life and work of Astor Piazzolla. The authors inter-link Piazzolla's work with the major events of his life and the artistic and political context of the time.If you are really interested in learning about Piazzolla, you should go ahead and buy this book.

An Engaging Hagiography
Nearly ten years after Astor Piazzolla's death, the debate still rages about whether or not his music is "tango". Well, some of it is, and some of it isn't. But the roots of all his music lie deep in the tango tradition and whether or not a particular piece is or isn't tango is of no real importance. The fact is that Astor Piazzolla composed some of the finest music in any genre and all Argentines can take pride in that. I have been a fan of Astor Piazzolla for nearly 30 years but only knew the music. After having read Le Grand Tango, I now feel as though I know the man. Having "met" him, my understanding and admiration of both the music and the man has increased exponentially. Azzi and Collier have authored an easy to follow, entertaining and informative book about El Maestro. One learns not only about his music but about his forceful personality and the forces which shaped Piazzolla and drove him to be the most dazzling musician of the 20th century. His life, his loves, his triumphs and his failures all spring to life here. Though most readers will likely be hardcore fans of Piazzolla, its flowing style makes it an engaging hagiographical read for anyone who has even a mild interest in music history or in the forces and personalities which have shaped and regenerated tango throughout second half of the 20th century.

Azzi and Collier have written a masterpiece.
Piazzola means tango for many people.The first tango music I ever purchased was Piazzola's music.His music dominated Sally Porter's movie, "Tango Lesson."This is a man that you must know about if you like tango, the dance and the music.Even if your interest is 20th century music, you will be fascinated. The story of Piazzola's life is a story of how cultures, music, and people are interrelated.As a person who was born in Argentina, his music was tango; as a kid named "Lefty" who grew up in Manhattan, he felt the influence of jazz. As a musician known as "El Gato," he built on the tango traditions of Troilo, Sarli, and Pugliese.

He began his musical career as a musician who could not read music. Anibal Troilo hired Piazzola because he had memorized the band's repertoire. He studied music and composition while playing in tango groups, and went on for more formal training in Paris.Piazzola loved everything from the classical music of Rubenstein to the jazz of Gershwin. Although we think of Piazzola in terms of tango, many of his contemporary tango aficionados hated his music because it was nontraditional, evolutionary, and avant gard.

This book was of value to me because it increased my understanding not just of Piazzola, but also of the major twentieth century tango musicians and composers.It may not make me a better dancer, but the increase of knowledge added to my appreciation of the music not just of Piazzola, but also of Pablo Ziegler, Romulo Larrea, and Felix Leclerc. It was a fitting complement to "Tango!" a collaborative book by Simon Collier, Artemis Cooper, Maria Susana Azzi, and Richard Martin. You don't have to be a serious student of music to enjoy either book. It will add to your appreciation of tango.

Azzi and Collier have written a masterpiece.
Piazzola means tango for many people.The first tango music I ever purchased was Piazzola's music.His music dominated Sally Porter's movie, "Tango Lesson."This is a man that you must know about if you like tango, the dance and the music.Even if your interest is 20th century music, you will be fascinated. The story of Piazzola's life is a story of how cultures, music, and people are interrelated.As a person who was born in Argentina, his music was tango; as a kid named "Lefty" who grew up in Manhattan, he felt the influence of jazz. As a musician known as "El Gato," he built on the tango traditions of Troilo, Sarli, and Pugliese.

He began his musical career as a musician who could not read music. Anibal Troilo hired Piazzola because he had memorized the band's repertoire. He studied music and composition while playing in tango groups, and went on for more formal training in Paris.Piazzola loved everything from the classical music of Rubenstein to the jazz of Gershwin. Although we think of Piazzola in terms of tango, many of his contemporary tango aficionados hated his music because it was nontraditional, evolutionary, and avant gard.

This book was of value to me because it increased my understanding not just of Piazzola, but also of the major twentieth century tango musicians and composers.It may not make me a better dancer, but the increase of knowledge added to my appreciation of the music not just of Piazzola, but also of Pablo Ziegler, Romulo Larrea, and Felix Leclerc. It was a fitting complement to "Tango!" a collaborative book by Simon Collier, Artemis Cooper, Maria Susana Azzi, and Richard Martin. You don't have to be a serious student of music to enjoy either book. It will add to your appreciation of tango.

Le Grand Tango
Astor Piazzolla's music is nothing if not controversial.Among theArgentines themselves, there seems to be two opinions.One was voiced tome some years ago by an Argentine tanguera whose artistic views I alwayslisten to, when she said that "Tango is tango, and Piazzolla is not!"Theother is stated just as militantly in favor of Piazzolla's efforts. Wildlyso.

Piazzolla died in 1992.But the debate still rages, and there'slittle middle ground.The reason for it is that Piazzolla remade theArgentine tango in ways that had never been imagined possible before him. He's one of those composers who takes a regional musical impulse andrefashions it into a new statement of world-wide interest.Controversialhe is, to be sure.But with the possible exception of the legendary singerCarlos Gardel, no one has expanded the consciousness of the world more withregard to the tango than Astor Piazzolla.

Le Grand Tango is the firstcomplete biography of Piazzolla.Born in Buenos Aires in 1921, he spenteleven years of his childhood in New York City, in the East Village.Radiointerviews with him reveal that he spoke fluent English with a Lower EastSide accent.Even as a child, Astor's talent on the bandoneón, the largeconcertina-like instrument that is considered by most to be the soul of thetango, was noted.But he was not playing the tango at that time.The boypreferred classical music and jazz, Bach and Gershwin.His father Vicente,a barber and woodworker, pushed Astor to make himself into a true tangomusician.But it was only when, at the age of thirteen, Astor met and wasbefriended by Carlos Gardel himself, that he began his serious studies inthe tango.

Returning to Argentina at the age of sixteen, Astor threwhimself into those studies and, almost immediately, was offered a job byanother great innovator on the bandoneón, Aníbal Troilo.He joinedTroilo's band and became one of its principal arrangers.It was at thistime that his difficulties began, as some of the tango musicians foundAstor's arrangements too complicated and too difficult to play.

That wasbecause he was putting things into the arrangements that were largelyunknown to tangueros.Counterpoint.Fugue.Polyrhythmic intensities thatturned the more traditional, and simple, tango rhythms on their heads. Bartok.Stravinsky.Ravel. But Piazzolla was also a consummate tangomusician, as anyone knows who has heard him play his own slow, lovelytangos.Despite his experimentalism, his abilities as a composer, musicianand arranger simply could not be denied.

Azzi and Collier do a fine jobdescribing Astor's artistic fire, and the debate which always followed inhis wake.The book is also often quite funny, because Astor was agenuinely humorous man himself.And it sheds light on the difficulty ofbeing so important an artist who must struggle so to be heard.At leastwhen he was heard, he received the praise that he deserved.As one Britishcritic put it, upon seeing Piazzolla play for the first time, "It was likegoing to inspect an interesting hillock and uncovering an eruptingvolcano."

The book contains a very useful discography of Piazzolla'swork, excellent notes, a fine list of sources and a complete index.

Inthe end, Le Grand Tango may be of more interest to aficionados of Argentinaand the tango than to the general public.But Piazzolla became sowell-known that he was sought out by every kind of accomplished musician,from such disparate realms as jazz, classical music, opera and rock androll, and they are all here in this book.As a chronicle of this veryimportant composer's presence in the totality of world music, and hisbattles to make his own music heard and appreciated, it is invaluable._________________________________

(Novelist Terence Clarke [The DayNothing Happened, My Father in the Night, The King of Rumah Nadai] has justcompleted a screenplay that tells of the friendship between the thirteenyear-old Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel in New York in 1934. teryclarke@hotmail.com) ... Read more