Fully revised edition of Peter Dickinson's acclaimed study of one of the great British composers of the twentieth century. Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) was one of the leading British composers of the mid-twentieth century and his music has unique qualities which will ensure its survival far beyond transient fashions. Peter Dickinson knew Berkeley for more than thirty years and this much enlarged book places the composer in the context of his extended study with Nadia Boulanger, his friendship with Britten, and the achievement of an independent voice of remarkable distinction. The new book now benefits from interviews with Lady Berkeley, Michael Berkeley, Julian Bream, Colin Horsley, Sir John Manduell, Nicholas Maw, Malcolm Williamson and the late Basil Douglas, Desmond Shawe-Taylor and Norman del Mar. There are photographs, a full list of works, bibliographies and over a hundred musical examples. PETER DICKINSON is Head of Music at the Institute of United States Studies at the University of London and an Emeritus Professor of the Universities of Keele and London.

"A substantial introduction from Dickinson, who first met Berkeley in 1956, is followed by Berkeley's reports on musical life in Paris (1929-34) and a selection of his letters to his celebrated teacher Nadia Boulsnger (in translation). Almost all of Berkely's later writings follow, and then there are four interviews he gave in the 1970s. After Berkeley's death, Dickinson interviewed performers, composers, family and friends for a BBC Radio 3 documentary, and the complete recorded discussions are transcribed"--Publisher's description.

Once in a relationship with Benjamin Britten, Lennox Berkeley surprised his friends when he married Freda Bernstein in the winter of 1946. In 'Lennox and Freda', Tony Scotland paints a portrait of their unconventional marriage, as well as remembering a way of life which is now long gone.

This title was first published in 2000: This source book on Lennox Berkeley, one of the most important figures in English music in the 20th century, provides a detailed reference for all those interested in his life and music. It is the result of Stewart Cragg's research over 15 years. Included is a chronology of Berkeley's life and work, a catalogue of works, bibliographical descriptions of original manuscripts and printed first editions, a discography and a bibliography. The foreword has been written by the composer's eldest son, Michael.

John Cage was one of America's most renowned composers from the 1940s until his death in 1992. But he was also a much-admired writer and artist, and a uniquely attractive personality able to present his ideas engagingly wherever he went. As an interview subject he was a consummate professional. The main source of CageTalk: Dialogues with and about John Cage is a panoply of vivid and compulsively readable interviews given to Peter Dickinson in the late 1980s for a BBC Radio 3 documentary. The original BBC program lasted an hour, but the full discussions with Cage and many of the main figures connected with him were not published until the first edition of this book. CageTalk also includes earlier BBC interviews with Cage, including ones by the renowned literary critic Frank Kermode and art critic David Sylvester. And Dickinson, the editor of this volume, contributes little-known source material about Cage's Musicircus and Roaratorio as well as a substantial introduction exploring the multiple roles that Cage's varied and challenging output played during much of the twentieth century and continuesto play in the early twenty-first. Apart from the long interview with Cage himself, there are discussions with Bonnie Bird, Earle Brown, Merce Cunningham, Minna Lederman, Otto Luening, Jackson Mac Low, Peadar Mercier, Pauline Oliveros, John Rockwell, Kurt Schwertsik, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Virgil Thomson, David Tudor, La Monte Young, and Paul Zukovsky. Most of the interviews were given to Peter Dickinson but there are others involving Rebecca Boyle,Anthony Cheevers, Michael Oliver, and Roger Smalley. Peter Dickinson, British composer and pianist, is Emeritus Professor, University of Keele and University of London, and has written or edited several books about twentieth-century music, including Copland Connotations [Boydell Press, 2002] and The Music of Lennox Berkeley [Boydell Press, 2003].

Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) was demonstrably at the centre of British musical activity for much of his almost sixty years of creative life. He was one of the most distinguished of Nadia Boulanger’s pupils and, as professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, teacher of some of the leading composers of the next generation, including David Bedford, Richard Rodney Bennet, William Matthias, Nicholas Maw and John Tavener. Berkeley was a collaborator and friend of Benjamin Britten, and, of course, father to Michael. Among his four completed operas and symphonies, several large-scale concertos, three string quartets and liturgical music that has become part of the choral tradition, his impressive output of works for the solo piano might easily be overlooked. But that would be to neglect possibly the finest individual body of twentieth century piano music produced in this country with works such as the Sonata and the Six Preludes, both completed in 1945, of acknowledged stature. For this centenary publication, Professor Peter Dickinson, who knew Berkeley and his work for many years, has brought together for the first time the complete solo piano output, including hitherto unpublished pieces. He has examined sources and corrected previously published versions as well as completing the set of 'Three Dances' which the composer left only partly arranged for piano from his unknown ballet score of 1932. Pianists at last have the opportunity for an overview of truly outstanding contribution to piano literature. Includes detailed editorial notes.

In the remainder of the book, Valerie Langfield discusses and contextualises all his music: songs, chamber, orchestral and theatre music, and his light opera, Julia, performed at Covent Garden in 1936."--BOOK JACKET.

As the first duo of singer and pianist to be perceived as equals in the music world, French baritone Pierre Bernac and pianist composer Francis Poulenc became a legend, working together for more than 25 years. The majority of Poulenc's pieces were created specifically for Bernac to sing. Within this context, Bernac pays tribute to his friend by providing a detailed discussion of all the songs he composed specifically for piano accompaniment. Each song, its description, and the corresponding biographical note on the poet have been translated into English.

Articles, tributes and reminiscences of composer, pianist and author Peter Dickinson are here brought together for the first time.

Although many opera dictionaries and encyclopedias are available, very few are devoted exclusively to operas in a single language. In this revised and expanded edition of Operas in English: A Dictionary, Margaret Ross Griffel brings up to date her original work on operas written specifically to an English text (including works both originally prepared in English, as well as English translations). Since its original publication in 1999, Griffel has added nearly 800 entries to the 4,300 from the original volume, covering the world of opera in the English language from 1634 through 2011. Listed alphabetically by letter, each opera entry includes alternative titles, if any; a full, descriptive title; the number of acts; the composer’s name; the librettist’s name, the original language of the libretto, and the original source of the text, with the source title; the date, place, and cast of the first performance; the date of composition, if it occurred substantially earlier than the premiere date; similar information for the first U.S. (including colonial) and British (i.e., in England, Scotland, or Wales) performances, where applicable; a brief plot summary; the main characters (names and vocal ranges, where known); some of the especially noteworthy numbers cited by name; comments on special musical problems, techniques, or other significant aspects; and other settings of the text, including non-English ones, and/or other operas involving the same story or characters (cross references are indicated by asterisks). Entries also include such information as first and critical editions of the score and libretto; a bibliography, ranging from scholarly studies to more informal journal articles and reviews; a discography; and information on video recordings. Griffel also includes four appendixes, a selective bibliography, and two indexes. The first appendix lists composers, their places and years of birth and death, and their operas included in the text as entries; the second does the same for librettists; the third records authors whose works inspired or were adapted for the librettos; and the fourth comprises a chronological listing of the A–Z entries, including as well as the date of first performance, the city of the premiere, the short title of the opera, and the composer. Griffel also include a main character index and an index of singers, conductors, producers, and other key figures.