Over the last few days we have been adding Ernst Roth's 'The Business of Music:
reflections of a music publisher' written in the late 1960s. Ernst was Chairman
of Boosey and Hawkes and was responsible for persuading them to produce their
annotated pocket score series. He became a personal friend of many of the
composers of the day: Strauss, Bartok, Stravinsky, Kodaly and Britten. The book
is in two parts with the first part looking Lebrecht-like at the history and
demise of music publishing. Part two is of particular interest with a chapter on
atonal music which I found illuminating followed by personal accounts of his
dealings with contemporary composers. By early next week we will have the whole
book on-line.
CONTENTS (to be added gradually)
Preface
PART I: MUSIC AND MONEY
1. The Great Change
2. Intellectual Property
3. Organization
4. The Music Publisher: I
5. The Music Publisher: II
6. Economics
7. An Unhappy Relationship
PART II: MUSIC AND THE MIND
1. Introduction
2. 'La musica a' miei tempi'
3. The Viennese School
4. The World Around
5. Resurrection
6. Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky
7. New Developments
8. Traditionalists
9. The Public and New Music
10. Popular Music
11. Is Music Still a Great Art?
.............................
Len Mullenger-Founder of MusicWeb
www.musicweb.uk.net:Classical, Film Music, Live music, Jazz
The future of classical recording, if there is to be one, will be driven by the
internet....Norman Lebrecht
The entire book is now on-line. We have taken a risk with this so I want to know
what you think of this exercise. Please e-mail direct l...@musicweb.uk.net
Regards
I jumped straight to the section on The Viennese School and was immediately
fascinated, having just this afternoon finished reading Modris Eksteins'
"Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age", a
brilliant analysis of the birth of modernism. One of those rare books I
think everyone should read.
Roth's line "When I entered music-publishing in Vienna in 1922 music, like
everything else, including the minds of people, was in an unbelievable state
of confusion." could be one of the many quotations Eksteins uses, drawing
parallels and relationships between the rise of modern music and art and the
fighting and consequences of The Great War...
So many thanks for putting the book on-line. I shall look forward to reading
at least some of it. Reading a full length work from a monitor is more than
my eyes are built for!
Gary