Classical Music Memoir

Grab your lace shawl and top hat and get ready to twirl—this is a full-throttle appreciation of the life and voice of Stevie Nicks from one of rock criticism’s most celebrated writers.

Best-selling author and Rolling Stone columnist Rob Sheffield explores the music and artistry of the rock goddess who has kept generations of music lovers totally bewitched and spellbound, with such classic rock hits as "Rhiannon" and "Gypsy".

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Buffett offers his philosophy on life and how to live it, “like sitting with Buffett at a beachside bar, listening to him spin tales” (Time). “Buffett took his family on a three-week trek around the Caribbean...

From Gregorian Chant to Henryk Gorecki, the first living classical composer to get into the pop album charts, here is the fascinating story of over a thousand years of Western classical music and the composers who have sought to express in music the deepest of human feelings and emotions. Also available: The History of Opera.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the making of Bruce Springsteen’s ground-breaking album, Born to Run, one of the most iconic records in rock history “A lovely book about the making of Born to Run. It goes into great detail and great depth...

In a book that inspired the Amazon original series starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcolm McDowell, oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician, from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, trading sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city.

In clear and entertaining prose, Plotkin explores a thousand years of music, introduces listeners to more than 100 great works, and profiles in depth many significant composers, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Dvoxak, and Mahler. He describes all the musical instruments in the orchestra, defines major musical terms, and makes music theory comprehensible for the uninitiated. There are also conversations with important musicians who offer fascinating insights about their art.

Suddenly the music is not notes or a tune, but what those seven people are exactly: the music is an aural holograph of the Grateful Dead. All their fibers, nuances, histories, desires, beings are clear. Jerry and his questing, Phil the loyal comrade, Tom drifting beside them both on a cloud, Pig staying stubbornly down to earth; Mickey working out furious complexities trying to understand how Bill is so simple, and Bob succumbing inevitably to Jerry and Phil and joining them.

A Rolling Stone Top 10 Best Music Books of the Year “That’s what I’m talking about…Of all these memoirs, Dancing With Myself was the only one that stimulated my envy—made me want to be Billy Idol for five minutes….He’s a genuine romantic, writing in a kind of overheated journalese...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A beautifully written, witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music—its power, its meanings, and what it can teach us about ourselves—from the MacArthur “Genius” Grant–winning pianist LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL ...

The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by singer and presenter Aled Jones. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting of medieval monks through the symphonies of Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music.

From Mozart to Mendelssohn, this comprehensive guide to classical music history and classical music biography is the perfect latest addition to the bestselling Big Ideas series. Easy to understand and clear to follow, this history of classical music explores and explains music theory and the...

The Beatles left an indelible mark not only on music, but on the culture in which they created it. In a time of great and sudden change, they led a generation into new territory, redefining the social landscape as a place where men and women could try on new roles. They led this change through their music, their public personae, and - under scrutiny - their example. The Beatles Guide to Love & Sex examines all three - the songs, the parts they played in public, and the way they led their lives, for better or worse. John, Paul, George and Ringo began their journey as typical working-class ...

The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by the conductor and musical personality Marin Alsop. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting of medieval monks through the symphonies of Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music.

The attraction of opera is in its scale, in the fact that it is larger than real life in actions and emotions, more magnificent in sound and in sight. And in the world of opera, no figure in our time loomed larger than the late Luciano Pavarotti. Especially in his triumphant collaborations with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, he captured the imagination of an audience breadth and depth is remarkable even in the grand context of classical opera.

Since exploding on the scene in the late 1970s, Journey has inspired generations of fans with hit after hit. But hidden under this rock 'n' roll glory is a complex story of ambition, larger-than-life personalities, and clashes. David Hamilton Golland unearths the band's true and complete biography, based on over a decade of interviews and thousands of sources.

Based on the true story of her mother, Mona Golabek describes the inspirational story of Lisa Jura's escape from Nazi-controlled Austria to England on the famed Kindertransport. Jewish musical prodigy Lisa Jura has a wonderful life in Vienna. But when the Nazis start closing in on the city, life...

The iconic image of Beethoven is of him as a lone genius: hair wild, fists clenched, and brow furrowed. Beethoven may well have shaped the music of the future, but he was also a product of his time, influenced by the people, politics, and culture around him. Oxford scholar Laura Tunbridge offers an alternative history of Beethoven's career, placing his music in contexts that shed light on why particular pieces are valued more than others, and what this tells us about his larger-than-life reputation.

A concentrated study of Johann Sebastian Bach's creative output and greatest pieces, capturing the essence of his art.

**Eric Hoffer Book Award 2025 Category Finalist** The Pianist’s Only Daughter: A Memoir is a frank, humorous and poignant exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family. Only daughter and geriatric social worker Kathryn Betts Adams brings to life her colorful, emotionally volatile parents, an English teacher/poet and a music professor/concert pianist, from their heady youth through their final years. As they reach old age and need her help, the author struggles with recurring family dynamics and disappointments, along with limitations to the American healthcare system for older ...

From the author's first glimpse of a magical recording studio in the mid-1960s up through a busy career that continues to the present day, this rollicking story can only be told by those that were there. As the young tape operator on sessions for the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Joe Cocker at the famed Olympic Sound Studios in London, Phill learned the ropes from experienced engineers and producers such as Glyn Johns and Eddie Kramer.