Music Suggested Reading

Juniors

First Discovery - Music

A series of children's books with accompanying CD:
Penelope Stanley-Baker (published by the ABRSM)

‘this popular and impressive range... a popular choice among family and friends as eye catching, educational presents.' The Bookseller 17 May 2002 ‘A wonderful introduction for children and adults alike!' Music Teacher Magazine (Australia) August-September 2002 ‘attractive easy to read format and enchantingly illustrated. ... an essential for every budding young musician and an ideal way to introduce any young child to the joy of classical music.' Titles include: Purcell, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Bach, Vivaldi, Debussy, Berlioz & Handel.
www.abrsm.org

Why Beethoven threw the Stew: And Lots More Stories of the Lives of Great Composers (Faber and Faber)
http://www.faber.co.uk/work/why-beethoven-threw-stew/9780571206162/

KS3

This tells the stories behind the music of Disney films, television productions and other entertainment projects. Reveals how entire films including 'Fantasia' and 'Mary Poppins' were literally built around the music. Read how the tunes were composed, why certain songs were created, the role that music played within the films and takes a look at the people responsible for the classic words and music.

The Sound of Music Companion - Book & CD
Laurence Maslon (Pavilion Books)

The definitive book on the world's most beloved musical with the added bonus of the original soundtrack on CD. Now you can sing along to all your favourite tunes, while reading up on the incredible and enduring story of Maria Von Trapp. Taking you from Maria's birth in Vienna to the triumphal West End stage show in 2007, featuring Connie Fisher, this is a tale that has evolved over a hundred years. The book details every step in the development of this masterwork, from real-life to page to stage to film to international phenomenon.

It profiles every creative artist who helped shape the musical version of the Von Trapp Family story - from Rodgers and Hammerstein and Mary Martin to Robert Wise, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and most recently Andrew Lloyd Webber. Folded into the tale are guest appearances by Petula Clark, Carol Burnett, John Coltrane and Noel Coward. The Collection features a CD of the original Julie Andrews soundtrack and a book containing: more than 170 pictures, many never seen before; complete lyrics to a dozen songs; rare manuscript pages from the pens of R a map of Salzburg and the film's locations; unseen storyboards from the film; and, updates on the Sing-A-Long phenomenon.

The Cambridge Companion to Rock & Pop (reference)
www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521556606

This Companion maps the world of pop and rock, pinpointing the most significant moments in its history and presenting the key issues involved in understanding popular culture's most vital art form.

Expert writers chart the changing patterns in the production and consumption of popular music, the emergence of a vast industry with a turnover of billions and the rise of global stars from Elvis to Public Enemy, Nirvana to the Spice Girls. They trace the way new technologies - from the amplifier to the Internet - have changed the sounds and practices of pop and they analyse the way maverick entrepreneurs have given way to multimedia corporations. In particular they focus on the controversial issues concerning race and ethnicity, politics, gender and globalisation.

Contains full profiles of a selection of figures from the pop and rock world.

Bob Marley The Complete Guide To His Music
Ian McCann & Harry Hawke (Omnibus Press)

The indispensable soft-back edition consumers' guide to the music of Bob Marley. An album by album, track by track, examination of every song released by Marley and the Wailers from the early sessions in Jamaica to the Island recordings and compilations released after Marley's death.
www.islandrecords.co.uk

Bach. Beethoven and the Boys
Sound and Vision Publishing Ltd.
www.soundandvision.com

This work is a history of music with mirth! Learn and laugh at the same time, whatever your musical abilities or aspirations. "Bach, Beethoven and the Boys" is a witty and irreverent volume that lampoons traditional academic history, highlights fascinating and little known facts, and takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the history of music. It is a "must have" for anyone who wants to their enjoy music history as much as they do their music.

Year 10/11

Set Your Voice Free- How to get the Singing or Speaking Voice you want
R. Love (available through Amazon)

A History of Western Music
Donald Grout (Dent)

A highly recommended reference encyclopaedia for music students.

6th Form

Words in Music - A guide to researching and writing about music
Trevor Herbert (ABSRM Publishing)

Trevor Herbert addresses all the issues that anyone, from students to professional musicians, may be confronted with when undertaking a writing task, whether it be a programme note or thesis. This clearly thought-out book is a guide and reference manual in one: the first part is a 'how to' section, including an introduction to the strategic use of the Internet; the second, a compendium of information for quick reference. Its straightforward approach will make it a much-needed support for those who have little or no experience of writing about music, while being equally useful as a reference tool for more experienced users.

Analysis of Tonal Music - A Schenkerian Approach
Allen Cadwallader & David Gagner (OUP)

A detailed study of analysing music using the Schenkerian approach - for A level music student only.

Beethoven's Hair
Russell Martin (Bloomsbury Publishing)
www.madaboutbeethoven.com/pages/beethoven_news/news_hairbook_review.htm

As Ferdinand Hiller stood beside Beethoven's coffin he asked whether he could cut off a lock of the master composer's hair. In the days before the invention of photography this was not an unusual request; in fact it was common for people to keep locks of hair as remembrances of those who had died. The historical keepsake continued to be passed down subsequent generations of the Hiller family, until years later the heirloom (pun intended) mysteriously came into the possession of a Danish doctor who had been involved in helping hundreds of Jews forced into hiding from the Gestapo during World War II. Who handed the antiquity to the doctor, and why, is just one of the riddles thrown up by a treasure trail that spans two centuries and touches countless lives.