Chamber Music An Extensive Guide for Listeners [Hardcover]

Both casual and seasoned classical-music listeners will likely find this volume on chamber music interesting and useful. This edition (an updated version of Murrays 2006 book, Adams to Zemlinsky: A Friendly Guide to Chamber Music) offers a descriptive AZ list of familiar and lesser-known chamber works ranging from the baroque period to well into the twenty-first century. Murray guides readers through each piece with movement-by-movement descriptions of the music. Writing about music is subjective, and listeners may not 'hear' the same things as the author when they listen. However, Murray gives readers an introductory taste of the music by pointing out specific phrases, motifs, or general moods to listen for. This is especially useful when hearing works for the first time or when listening to modern pieces that are more challenging to the ear. There are also entries on some important vocal works, or 'art songs,' a genre robust enough for an entire volume. In addition to her own listening notes, she includes 'special commentary' from colleagues and friends who write about their own experiences with selected works as performers or composers. Their views are often based on years of exposure toor performances ofmusical works, and they bring a perspective to the music that non-musicians may find refreshing and informative.This new work is an expanded edition of the author's Adams to Zemlinsky: A Friendly Guide to Selected Chamber Music (2006), published by the Concert Artists Guild. Program notes are often intellectually disposable prose to be ingested in the half-light of the concert hall. But the notes created by Murray (founder of Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg, PA) are well thought out and constructed to transmit descriptive information about musical works to be heard before being entertained; in book form, they can become a permanent encouragement to listen further. The volume is organized by composer, then by works typical of the composer's works for small³"