Letter from America
Now Playing: Alistair Cooke
Topic: BOOK choices
2004 was the year that one of the greatest radio broadcasters disappeared from the airwaves -
Alistair Cooke made his last Letter from America and died soon afterwards.
Soon to be released is a book collecting the best of an incredible 58 years of the challenging, inspiring and intimate view of America that Cooke produced every week for his radio show.
Radio Quality is looking forward to providing a glimpse into the new book and a humbling experience of some clips of the master at work. Come back soon to listen in or subscribe to RQnews to be notified of when the feature goes live.---< LINK >
Posted by BSB, editor
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Updated: Friday, 22 October 2004 10:26 AM EDT
Mozart Finds a Melody (A Book for Children)
Now Playing: An imaginative story about Mozart's many inspirations by Stephen Costanza
Topic: BOOK choices
Book Description:
For the first time in Wolfgang's life, the famous composer was at a loss for a tune. He tried every trick to get his imagination going. He sang standing on his head. He played his violin in the bathtub. He even threw darts at the blank music paper. Alas, nothing worked.
An imaginative story about Mozart's many inspirations
Wolfgang Mozart must compose a new piano concerto to perform at the famous Burgtheatre in Vienna. But Mozart can't think of a note to write. When he hears his hungry pet starling sing out melodiously, his creativity begins to flow. Before he can put notes to paper, however, his muse escapes through the window, and Mozart is off on a frantic search to bring her back. Will Mozart find both his friend and song in time?
Based on a true story about the famous composer and his beloved pet starling, this enchanting tale celebrates inspiration in any form it takes.
Gustav Mahler: A Life in Crisis
Now Playing: by Stuart Feder
Topic: BOOK choices
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Psychiatrist Feder (Charles Ives: My Father's Song) proves himself adept at delineating the emotional themes of Mahler's life and compositions in this psychoanalytic biography. Central to the project is a four-hour session that Mahler had with Sigmund Freud ("He had strong obsessions," Freud later wrote) in 1910, after the composer learned of wife Alma's affair with the architect Walter Gropius. But Feder looks at Mahler's life and works through the prism of psychoanalysis throughout the volume ("Mahler coveted gifted Gentile goddesses, but he had a strong need to hold them at bay"), suggesting that "autobiographical sources were symbolized in Mahler's music rather than blatantly represented." Feder connects what he identifies as crises in Mahler's life, such as the youthful deaths of several of his siblings and his troubled marriage to the beautiful, depressed Alma, to particular musical themes and works. Leder gives short shrift to Mahler's professional triumphs and their influence on his music, and lay readers may find his prose too full of psychoanalytic jargon. Nevertheless, this is an interesting and idiosyncratic look at a man who once wrote, "My whole life is contained in my first two symphonies.... To anyone who knows how to listen my whole life will become clear."
Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Posted in association with Amazon.com)
Posted by BSB, editor
at 11:18 AM EDT
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Updated: Friday, 15 October 2004 9:11 AM EDT