This book includes biographical information on Carlos Prieto, his contributions to music, as well as a detailed catalog of 72 pieces commissioned and/or dedicated to him. A graduate of MIT and a former director of Fundidora, the biggest steel company in Mexico, Carlos Prieto decided at the age of 38 to abandon his career as a business man and become a full time professional cellist. Since then he has premiered over 90 pieces, most of them commissioned and/or dedicated to him by Latin-American composers. These commissions and dedications represent about 50 percent of the music written for the cello by Latin-American composers. This is the first time a study has been conducted on this body of music.

A delightful biography of a celebrated Stradivarius cello and an inviting overview of cello music and its preeminent composers and performers by world-famous concert cellist Carlos Prieto.

Includes "Bibliographical section".

Archaeological discoveries indicate that early man, even in a primitive state, made tools to produce and control sound. Music has evolved right along with us. From the perspective of Western (European) culture, all known older, more advanced forms of music developed in the East. The first civilizations of Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Nile had music with well-developed applications, as did the Greeks and Romans, who follow them in our history books. The geographical regions now dominated by China and India, and the Turkic peoples spreading westwards from Mongolia, all had their own, as well as shared, variations of percussion, string, and wind instruments, as well as vocal music. During the millennia since then, Western culture has undergone constant increasingly rapid and advanced development, and so has its music; during the sixteenth century it was spread into the Americas, eventually achieving total domination. Soon after, colonial activity also forced East Asia and eventually the rest of the world to deal with Western culture, which affected and often threatened native cultures. Get a detailed look at history from a musical perspective with this scholarly work by a musicologist who is an expert in stringed musical instrument history and development.

In 1720, Antonio Stradivari crafted an exquisite work of art—a cello known as the Piatti. Over the next three centuries of its life, the Piatti cello left its birthplace of Cremona, Italy, and resided in Spain, Ireland, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The Piatti filled sacred spaces, such as the Santa Cueva de Cádiz, with its incomparable voice. It also spent time in more profane places, including New York City bars, where it served as a guarantee for unpaid liquor tabs. The Piatti narrowly escaped Nazi Germany in 1935 and was once even left lying in the street all night. In 1978, the Piatti became the musical soul mate of world-renowned cellist Carlos Prieto, with whom it has given concerts around the world. In this delightful book, Mr. Prieto recounts the adventurous life of his beloved "Cello Prieto," tracing its history through each of its previous owners from Stradivari in 1720 to himself. He then describes his noteworthy experiences of playing the Piatti cello, with which he has premiered some eighty compositions. In this part of their mutual story, Prieto gives a concise summary of his own remarkable career and his relationships with many illustrious personalities, including Igor Stravinsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Pablo Casals, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriel García Márquez. To make the story of his cello complete, Mr. Prieto also provides a brief history of violin making and a succinct review of cello music from Stradivari to the present. He highlights the work of composers from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, for whose music he has long been an advocate and principal performer. Thus,The Adventures of a Cellooffers not only the first biography of a musical instrument but also an inviting overview of cello music and its preeminent composers and performers.

This kaleidoscopic collection reflects on the multifaceted world of classical music as it advances through the twenty-first century. With insights drawn from leading composers, performers, academics, journalists, and arts administrators, special focus is placed on classical music’s defining traditions, challenges and contemporary scope. Innovative in structure and approach, the volume comprises two parts. The first provides detailed analyses of issues central to classical music in the present day, including diversity, governance, the identity and perception of classical music, and the challenges facing the achievement of financial stability in non-profit arts organizations. The second part offers case studies, from Miami to Seoul, of the innovative ways in which some arts organizations have responded to the challenges analyzed in the first part. Introductory material, as well as several of the essays, provide some preliminary thoughts about the impact of the crisis year 2020 on the world of classical music. Classical Music: Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges will be a valuable and engaging resource for all readers interested in the development of the arts and classical music, especially academics, arts administrators and organizers, and classical music practitioners and audiences.