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The Triumph of Music: Tim Blanning; Blanning considers music in conjunction with nationalism, race, and sex. Although not always in step, music, society, and politics, he shows, march in the same direction.; Hardcover November 2008

The Century of Bach & Mozart: Edited by Thomas Forrest Kelly; Edited by Sean Gallagher; For many today Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stand as towering representatives of European music of the eighteenth century, composers whose works reflect intellectual, religious, and aesthetic trends of the period. This collection of essays by leading authorities in the field offers a variety of new perspectives on the two composers, as well as some of their important contemporaries, Haydn in particular.; Hardcover June 2008

Inside Beethoven's Quartets: Lewis Lockwood; Joel Smirnoff; Ronald Copes; Samuel Rhodes; Joel Krosnick; The string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven have rewarded the engagement of scholars, performers, and audiences for almost two hundred years. This book and its accompanying recording invite you to experience three of these profound and beautiful works of music from the inside, with a renowned Beethoven scholar and the Julliand Quartet as your guides.; April 2008

Born in Flames: Howard Hampton; Twenty years as an outsider scouring the underbelly of American culture has made Howard Hampton a uniquely hardnosed guide to the heart of pop darkness. Bridging the fatalistic, intensely charged space between Apocalypse Now Redux and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," his writing breaks down barriers of ignorance and arrogance that have segregated art forms from each other and from the world at large. Born in Flames is a headlong plunge into the passions and disruptive power of art.; Paperback April 2008

Robert Schumann: Jon W. Finson; Arguably no other nineteenth-century German composer was as literate or as finely attuned to setting verse as Robert Schumann. Finson challenges long-standing assumptions about Schumann's Lieder, engaging traditionally held interpretations. Arranged in part thematically, rather than merely by strict compositional chronology, this book speaks to the heart of Schumann's music.; Hardcover January 2008

Symphonic Aspirations: Karen Painter; Painter examines the politicization of musical listening in Germany and Austria, showing how nationalism, anti-Semitism, liberalism, and socialism profoundly affected the experience of serious music. Her analysis draws on a vast collection of writings on the symphony, particularly those of Mahler and Bruckner, to offer compelling evidence that music can and did serve ideological ends. She traces changes in critical discourse that reflected but also contributed to the historical conditions of various eras.; Hardcover January 2008