The first definitive biography of music legend Stevie WonderStevie Wonders achievements as a singer-songwriter; multi-instrumentalist; and producer are extraordinary. During a career that has spanned almost fifty years; he has earned more than thirty Top 10 hits; twenty-six Grammy Awards; and a place in both the Rock and Roll and Songwriter Halls of Famemdash;and hes not finished yet. On the verge of turning sixty; he is still composing; still touring; and still attracting dedicated fans around the world.For the first time; Signed; Sealed; and Delivered takes an in-depth look at Stevie Wonders life and his evolution from kid-soul pop star into a mature artist whose music helped lay the groundwork for the evolution of hip hop and rap.Explores the life; achievements; and influence of one of Americas biggest musical icons; set against the history of Motown and the last fifty years of popular musicBased on extensive interviews with Motown producers; music executives; songwriters; and musicians; including founding Temptation Otis Williams; Mickey Stevenson; surviving Funk Brother Eddie Willis; synthesizer genius Malcolm Cecil; guitar legend Michael Sembello; and many othersTraces Stevies personal and musical development through the decades; from the early 1960s RB of "Fingertips" to the social and political themes of "Living for the City" and other 1970s classics; through periods of musical and personal confusion; uncertainty; and; later; renewalRead Signed; Sealed; and Delivered to explore the life and work of one of pop musics most compelling masters of invention.
#769905 in eBooks 2008-10-14 2008-10-14File Name: B00DNKYANW
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. spectralism in first person - a performers eye-viewBy Z. M. RidgwayThis book is an excellent overview of the development of a spectral attitude in music composition. The spectral attitude begins with the Romantic fascination with sound quality; especially the coloristic tendencies in the piano writing of Franz Liszt. The next composer discussed in the spectral lineage is Alexander Scriabin; who apparently intuited the overtone series (it was later explained to him) and exploited it carefully at the piano. Then come Debussy and Messiaen; furthering fascinations that come to define spectral music: time; timbre; process; perception.Nonken then takes us through three generations of spectral composers including Grisey and Murail; Hugues Dufuort; Joshua Fineberg; and Jonathan Harvey. In matters relating to these composers; Nonken is of course an authority: many of these composers she has known personally; and worked with on their own music. Many of her quotations also come from personal correspondence with the composers in question.An additional significant concern of this book is its emphasis on an ecological understanding of music. (This was the subject of Dr. Nonkens dissertation.) Performer; listener; and composer in interaction with musical environment - as well as questions of center vs periphery and activity vs passivity in musical listening.You will want listening to go along with this book: Nonkens own masterful recording of Murails complete piano works is a good place to start. See also her recording Voix Voiles; which includes a number of the works discussed in the book (especially Dufourts massive; agonistic Erlkouml;nig). Also be sure to look up Griseys Partiels and chamber/orchestral works of Murail.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Interesting presentation of some pieces; but when you strip out the spectralist generalities the rest might feel slightBy Christopher CulverMarilyn Nonken is an American pianist who has performed a great deal of modernist repertoire. While initially attracted by New Complexity composers such as Michael Finnissy; at the turn of the millennium she became fascinated by the "spectralist" school originating from France and subsequently taken up by some Americans as well. (Contemporary music fans might know her from her Metier recording of Tristan Murails complete piano works). THE SPECTRAL PIANO is Nonkens presentation of the spectral aesthetic as it relates to her instrument.THE SPECTRAL PIANO opens with an historical prologue; where Nonken notes how Liszt; Debussy and Messiaen were writing for the piano in a way that considered its mechanics and natural resonance; with the pianist having to "look behind the score" and make his or her own decisions for attack and pedaling depending on the particular piano used and the halls acoustic. Following a discussion of these forebears; she then presents five spectralist composers and particular solo piano works that typify their approach: Tristan Murail ("Territoires de loubli"; "Les Travaux et les Jours"); Hugues Dufourt ("Erlkouml;nig"); Joshua Finberg ("Veils"; "Tremors"); Edmund Campion ("A Complete Wealth of Time" and others) and Jonathan Harvey ("Tombeau de Messiaen"). The discussion of these pieces abounds with reproductions of the scores.The book ends with a contribution from Hugues Dufourt entitled "Spectral music and its pianistic expression". This essay; originally conceived of as the preface to the book; offers a view of someone long involved in the spectralist scene (even if; as Nonken herself notes; he is arguably not a spectral composer himself).For readers who already know a great deal about the spectralist approach in general; especially those who have read the 2000 Contemporary Music Review double issue on spectralism; at least half this book consists of things that one will already know. That is; Nonken repeats general issues of spectralism that arent specifically about the piano. Furthermore; she repeats herself at times; and the book really does read like she was trying to dot every i and cross every t to please a team of reviewers; instead of like a smoothly flowing monograph. Still; as a fan of this kind of music; I found enough new material here to make this worthwhile; and THE SPECTRAL PIANO will introduce the still little-known Fineberg and Campion to listeners.