Search Results

Conducting Opera: Where Theater Meets Music

Description: Conducting Opera discusses operas in the standard repertory from the perspective of a conductor with a lifetime of experience performing them. It focuses on Joseph Rescigno’s approach to preparing and performing these masterworks in order to realize what opera can uniquely achieve: a fusion of music and drama resulting in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Opening with a chapter discussing his performance philosophy, Rescigno then covers Mozart’s most-performed operas, standard… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2020
Creator: Rescigno, Joseph
Partner: UNT Press

One Long Tune: the Life and Music of Lenny Breau

Description: From book jacket: “Mr. Guitar” Chet Atkins called Lenny Breau (1941-1984) “the greatest guitarist who ever walked the face of the earth.” Breau began playing the instrument at age seven, and went on to master many styles, especially jazz. Between 1968 and 1983 he made a series of recordings that are among the most influential guitar albums of the century. Breau’s astonishing virtuosity influenced countless performers, but unfortunately it came at the expense of his personal relationships. Desp… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 15, 2006
Creator: Forbes-Roberts, Ron
Partner: UNT Press

Classic Keys: Keyboard Sounds That Launched Rock Music

Description: Classic Keys is a beautifully photographed and illustrated book focusing on the signature rock keyboard sounds of the 1950s to the early 1980s. It celebrates the Hammond B-3 organ, Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, the Vox Continental and Farfisa combo organs, the Hohner Clavinet, the Mellotron, the Minimoog and other famous and collectable instruments. From the earliest days of rock music, the role of keyboards has grown dramatically. Advancements in electronics created a crescendo of mus… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: September 2019
Creator: Lenhoff, Alan S., 1951- & Robertson, David E., 1956-
Partner: UNT Press

Music from the Hilltop: Organs and Organists at Southern Methodist University

Description: In Music from the Hilltop, Benjamin A. Kolodziej studies three significant academic musical figures to weave a narrative that not only details the role musical studies played in the development of Southern Methodist University but also relates a history of church music and pipe organs in Dallas, Texas. Bertha Stevens Cassidy (1876–1959), the first organ professor and the only woman on the faculty of the new university, established herself as a leader and veritable dean of the church music commu… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: October 2023
Creator: Kolodziej, Benjamin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Original Guitar Hero and the Power of Music: the Legendary Lonnie Johnson, Music, and Civil Rights

Description: Lonnie Johnson (1894–1970) was a virtuoso guitarist who influenced generations of musicians from Django Reinhardt to Eric Clapton to Bill Wyman and especially B. B. King. Born in New Orleans, he began playing violin and guitar in his father’s band at an early age. When most of his family was wiped out by the 1918 flu epidemic, he and his surviving brother moved to St. Louis, where he won a blues contest that included a recording contract. His career was launched. Johnson can be heard on many … more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: April 2014
Creator: Alger, Dean
Partner: UNT Press
open access

You Shook Me All Campaign Long: Music in the 2016 Presidential Election and Beyond

Description: Music has long played a role in American presidential campaigns as a mode of both expressing candidates’ messages and criticizing the opposition. The 2016 campaign was no exception and was a game changer similar to the development of music in the 1840 campaign, when “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” helped sing William Harrison into the White House. The ten chapters in this collection place music use in 2016 in historical perspective before examining musical messaging, strategy, and parody. The book … more
Date: November 2018
Creator: Kasper, Eric T. & Schoening, Benjamin S.
Partner: UNT Press

CEDAR: The Life and Music of Cedar Walton

Description: Grammy Award–winning pianist, bandleader, and composer Cedar Walton (1934–2013) is a major figure in jazz, associated with a variety of styles from bebop to funk and famous for composing several standards. Born and raised in Dallas, Walton studied music in Denver, where he jammed with musicians such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. In 1955, Walton moved to New York, immediately gaining recognition from notable musicians and nightclub proprietors. When Walton returned to the U.S. after servi… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Ben Markley
Partner: UNT Libraries

Dennis Brain: a Life in Music

Description: The British horn player Dennis Brain (1921–1957) is commonly described by such statements as “the greatest horn player of the 20th Century,” “a genius,” and “a legend.” He was both a prodigy and popularizer, famously performing a concerto on a garden hose in perfect pitch. On his usual concert instrument his tone was of unsurpassed beauty and clarity, complemented by a flawless technique. The recordings he made with Herbert von Karajan of Mozart’s horn concerti are considered the definitive i… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 15, 2011
Creator: Gamble, Stephen & Lynch, William C.
Partner: UNT Press

The Light Crust Doughboys Are on the Air: Celebrating Seventy Years of Texas Music

Description: Millions of Texans and Southwesterners have been touched over the years by the Light Crust Doughboys. From 1930 to 1952, fans faithfully tuned in to their early-morning and, later, noontime radio program, and turned out in droves to hear them play live. The Doughboys embodied the very essence of the “golden era” of radio—live performances and the dominance of programming by advertising agencies. Their radio program began as a way to sell Light Crust Flour. Their early impresario, W. Lee “Pappy”… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: September 15, 2002
Creator: Dempsey, John Mark
Partner: UNT Press

Jade Visions: the Life and Music of Scott Lafaro

Description: Jade Visions is the first biography of one of the twentieth century’s most influential jazz musicians, bassist Scott LaFaro. Best known for his landmark recordings with Bill Evans, LaFaro played bass a mere seven years before his life and career were tragically cut short by an automobile accident when he was only 25 years old. Told by his sister, this book uniquely combines family history with insight into LaFaro’s music by well-known jazz experts and musicians Gene Lees, Don Thompson, Jeff Cam… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: September 15, 2009
Creator: LaFaro-Fernández, Helene; Ralston, Chuck; Campbell, Jeff & Palombi, Phil
Partner: UNT Press

A Day for Dancing: The Life and Music of Lloyd Pfautsch

Description: After earning his theology degree from Union Seminary in New York, Lloyd Pfautsch (1921–2003) found his true calling in church music. He was invited to Southern Methodist University in 1958 to start their graduate program in sacred music and remained there for 34 years. Outside the university, he formed the Dallas Civic Chorus and led it for 25 years. He was nationally known for his conducting and the quality of the musicians he produced as well as for his compositions, many of which are illust… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: 2014
Creator: Hart, Kenneth W.
Partner: UNT Press
transcript

A Day for Dancing: The Life and Music of Lloyd Pfautsch

Description: In January of 2001 Jon Pfautsch, Lloyd’s youngest son, put together a CD collection of performances of as many of his father’s compositions as were known to be extant. Most were from Dr. Pfautsch’s personal collection; the rest were given to him by colleagues and former students. The collection spans nearly 50 years and involved media as varied as paper and acetate reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, LP’s and CD’s. While the fidelity is not always what one would hope, the value is in hearing… more
Date: 2014
Duration: 34 minutes 58 seconds
Creator: Hart, Kenneth W.
Partner: UNT Press

The View From the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis

Description: Mel Lewis (1929-1990) was born Melvin Sokoloff to Jewish Russian immigrants in Buffalo, New York. He first picked up his father’s drumsticks at the age of two and at 17 he was a full-time professional musician. The View from the Back of the Band is the first biography of this legendary jazz drummer. For over fifty years, Lewis provided the blueprint for how a drummer could subtly support any musical situation. While he made his name with Stan Kenton and Thad Jones, and with his band at the Vill… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: October 2014
Creator: Smith, Chris
Partner: UNT Press

One Man's Music: the Life and Times of Texas Songwriter Vince Bell

Description: Texas singer/songwriter Vince Bell’s story begins in the 1970s. Following the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Bell and his contemporaries Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, and Lucinda Williams were on the rise. In December of 1982, Bell was on his way home from the studio (where he and hired guns Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson had just recorded three of Bell’s songs) when a drunk driver broadsided him at 65 mph. Thrown over 60 feet from his car, Bell suffered multiple lacerations to hi… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: April 15, 2009
Creator: Bell, Vince
Partner: UNT Press

For the Sake of the Song: Essays on Townes Van Zandt

Description: After he died, Townes Van Zandt found the success that he sabotaged throughout his short life despite the release of sixteen brilliant albums. Since his death, numerous albums both by and in honor of him have been released and many critical articles published, in addition to several books (including Robert Hardy’s A Deeper Blue by UNT Press). For the Sake of the Song collects ten essays on Townes Van Zandt from a variety of approaches. Contributors examine his legacy; his use of the minor key; … more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: June 2022
Creator: Holbrook, Ann Norton & Beller-McKenna, Dan
Partner: UNT Libraries

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Harmonic Theory: Practical Manual of Harmony, Its Sources, History, and Traditions

Description: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Harmonic Theory is the first comprehensive study of his concept of harmony that also traces the history of tonal relationships. Larisa P. Jackson describes and examines Rimsky-Korsakov’s distinctive harmonic theory using his Practical Manual of Harmony as a basis, and places it in historical context of nineteenth-century music theory. She explores in great detail a concept of tonal relationships, fundamental to Rimsky-Korsakov’s view of harmony, and relates this to ideas by Ge… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: June 2022
Creator: Jackson, Larisa Petrushkevich
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Art of Trumpet Teaching: The Legacy of Keith Johnson

Description: Keith Johnson retired in 2014 from the University of North Texas, where he was Regents Professor of Trumpet and was honored with the Distinguished Teaching Professor award. Johnson wrote more than thirty articles, two pedagogical texts, and two method books. During his career, he presented masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States and worldwide. Johnson’s former students hold positions in universities, orchestras, and military ensembles in over a dozen countr… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2022
Creator: Hunsaker, Leigh Anne
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Deeper Blue: The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt

Description: This is the first serious biography of a man widely considered one of Texas’—and America’s—greatest songwriters. Like Jimmie Rodgers, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Townes Van Zandt was the embodiment of that mythic American figure, the troubled troubadour. A Deeper Blue traces Van Zandt’s background as the scion of a prominent Texas family; his troubled early years and his transformation from promising pre-law student to wandering folk singer; his life on the road and the de… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: 2008
Creator: Hardy, Robert Earl, 1957-
Partner: UNT Press
open access

A Life in Music from the Soviet Union to Canada [Sound Files]

Description: The musical career of Alexander Tumanov extends from Stalinist and Soviet Russia through contemporary Canada, and as such provides an inspiring portrait of one person’s devotion to his art under trying circumstances. Tumanov was a founding member of Moscow’s Madrigal Ensemble of early music, which introduced Renaissance and Baroque music to the Soviet Union. The Ensemble enjoyed tremendous popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, despite occasional official disapproval by the Soviet bureaucracy. At t… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Tumanov, Alexander & Tumanov, Vladimir
Partner: UNT Press

A Life in Music from the Soviet Union to Canada: Memoirs of a Madrigal Ensemble Singer

Description: The musical career of Alexander Tumanov extends from Stalinist and Soviet Russia through contemporary Canada, and as such provides an inspiring portrait of one person’s devotion to his art under trying circumstances. Tumanov was a founding member of Moscow’s Madrigal Ensemble of early music, which introduced Renaissance and Baroque music to the Soviet Union. The Ensemble enjoyed tremendous popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, despite occasional official disapproval by the Soviet bureaucracy. At t… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Tumanov, Alexander & Tumanov, Vladimir
Partner: UNT Press
open access

Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd

Description: This volume includes information about the play-party in Oklahoma, folklore of Texas birds, tall tales, folk anecdotes, Texas folk songs and ballads, and other folklore (back cover). The index begins on page 185.
Date: 2000
Creator: Texas Folklore Society
Partner: UNT Press
open access

Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd

Description: This volume includes information about the play-party in Oklahoma, folklore of Texas birds, tall tales, folk anecdotes, Texas folk songs and ballads, and other folklore (back cover). The index begins on page 185.
Date: 2017
Creator: Texas Folklore Society
Partner: UNT Press

Shoot the Conductor: Too Close to Monteux, Szell, and Ormandy

Description: Anshel Brusilow was born in 1928 and raised in Philadelphia by musical Russian Jewish parents in a neighborhood where practicing your instrument was as normal as hanging out the laundry. By the time he was sixteen, he was appearing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also met Pierre Monteux at sixteen, when Monteux accepted him into his summer conducting school. Under George Szell, Brusilow was associate concertmaster at the Cleveland Orchestra until Ormandy snatched him away to make… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: July 2015
Creator: Brusilow, Anshel & Underdahl, Robin
Partner: UNT Press

Conducting Concerti: A Technical and Interpretive Guide

Description: This book examines 43 great concerti and discusses, in detail, the technical, aural, rehearsal, and intra-personal skills that are required for “effortless excellence.” Maestro Itkin wrote this book for conductors first encountering the concerto repertoire and for those wishing to improve their skills about this important, and often understudied, literature. Often misunderstood is the fact that both the physical technique and the score study process require a substantially different and more n… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: 2014
Creator: Itkin, David
Partner: UNT Press
Back to Top of Screen