Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes

Book Description

Quirky anecdotes and observations abound in this volume now published by Routledge. Enter a surreal and humorous world of medicinal music, musical schizophrenia, conductorless orchestras, suing seals, cat operas, musical beds and more. Let Slonimsky regale you with tales of Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini and the other expected Classical Music figures, the ugly ducking of Russian music, the Kafka of modern music and other sublime misfits. First published in 1948, this book has earned well-deserved acclaim for being insightful, witty and enthralling. Charming illustrations by Robert Bonotto complete this superb collection of musical vignettes.

Customer Reviews:

Slonimsky's Anecdote Collection.......2006-09-29

Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes is an entertaining book of oddities, curiosities and tidbits.

Read about composers' funny quirks:
Rossini's sense of humour;
Wagner's psychic abilities;
Scriabin's inability to keep track of his umbrella

Unusual inventions:
Precursors to the radio: telephone broadcasting, the musical bed
Precursor to the walkman: the musical petticoat

Strange occurrences:
The story of Schumann's spirit called up at a séance, and how he urged one of the violinist participants to uncover his lost/hidden concerto for their instrument. And then, at a later date, (also through the ouija board) dictating changes to the piece.

Not always laugh-out-loud funny, but an amusing, musical read

Great collection of musical humor.......2005-03-17

I thought this book would be funny and I was right.

I fist heard of Nicolas Slonimsky in reference to his book, Lexicon of Musical Invective, a humorous collection of bad musical reviews of great musical compositions from Beethoven to Shostakovich. Once I heard about this book, I had to read it.

In this book Slonimsky has compiled great stories about music, including those about performers, composers, performances, and inventions. There are some good anecdotes about composers such as Rossini, who was once composing in bed. A sheet of music he had written fell out on the floor, and as he was too lazy to pick it up, just wrote another melodic line instead. Later, a friend came in and picked the original sheet off the ground, and both parts were used as an opera trio.

Another great chapter involves music and animals. It's amazing to read, but there are multiple sources in history which describe the development of a new instrument involving cats. Each cat in a cage has its tail tied to a keyboard device, when, played like a piano, causes the cat to cry out. If tuned "appropriately," one can create a suitable instrument.

Slonimsky has a wonderfully smart method of delivery, and he certainly has a great sense of humor. My biggest complaint is the fact that there is no index. Therefore, it's hard to find stories which you're looking for. Also, Slonimsky leaves out some great stories in music history which are great anecdotes. But that's to be expected.

This is a great book for any music scholar with a sense of humor, or even a casual classical music lover who likes to laugh.

Since When are Musicologists Funny?.......2000-10-05

In the course of my life I have spent many hours pouring over volume after volume of musical history. I am a professional clarinetist. Most things written by musicologists are incredibly boring. It's nothing personal against them, it just simply is. I will never forget the time I sat in the Deering Library in Northwestern University and read the introduction to Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. I had been in the library for the better part of the day, and decided to find out what Mr. Slonimsky had to say. I was immeadtley engrossed with the writing. Slonimsky was not only fluent and informative. He was downright funny. I was amazed to be reading a book that weighed more than most small dogs, and still find it funny. I came to realize that Slonimsky was no ordinary musicologist. He was an incredibly intresting man. He was not only a historian, but a composer. He compiled an enormous volume of scales and patterns whick most jazz players use frequently. At the age of 85, his best friend was Frank Zappa. He is the only musicologist I have ever known that appeared on the Carson Show. And, he is also the most accurate historian I have ever read. Slonimsky goes to great length to verify his sources. I would be willing to belive just about anything published under his pen. This Book of Musical Anectdotes is no exception. It is full of strange, and true tales of the most famous of musicians. All great musicians are genuises, and most of them are very strange. Mr. Slonimsky captures the true essence of the composers, and lets us see what else they did besides compose glorious music. A truly excellent, witty book.

Book Description

Inefficient command structures, conflicts between Allied commanders and differing American and British military cultures all contributed to a huge missed opportunity, described by many historians as 'The Great Mistake'. On September 4, 1944, the British 11th Armoured Division entered Antwerp, capturing the docks intact with Belgian assistance. It was 85 days, however, before the first Allied cargo ship reached the docks on November 29. Some 80,000 soldiers of the German Fifteenth Army slipped across the Scheldt Estuary and escaped towards Germany along the Beveland peninsula. Had 11th Armoured Division immediately sealed off the peninsula where it joined the mainland, the Allies could have eliminated the Fifteenth Army and opened Antwerp's port much earlier, potentially allowing them to cross the Rhine and defeat Nazi Germany in 1944.

Customer Reviews:

Atypical in approach, but highly readable, with a significant payoff to the reader .......2006-07-27

Atypical, but highly readable, with a significant payoff to the reader on an important but generally underappreciated portion of ETO action

Peter Beale has crafted a must read for the serious student of World War II history. Upon reading "The Great Mistake" one is immediately struck by the marked difference in the approach Beale has taken to address this topic from that of most historical authors. As a scientist by training this reviewer greatly appreciated the quite analytical way Beale tackled is topic.

Right out of the gate (p. 1 in fact) Beale establishes that The Great Mistake in its simplest form refers to the "failure of the Allies to cross the Albert Canal immediately upon capture of Antwerp" in early September 1944 (as first coined by Cornelius Ryan in "A Bridge Too Far"). Beale shortly thereafter (p. 7) gives the reader his expanded thesis:

"...failure by the Allies to send whatever force could be mustered to seize a crossing over the Albert Canal at Merxem (as the Belgian White Brigade encouraged and implored them to do), and send an armoured column with all possible speed to the isthmus 2 miles west of Woensdrecht. This column would have had to be reinforced promptly to put in place a block to prevent the escape of the 15th Army. But had this been done, and then followed up once again very promptly with more troops, there could have been an opportunity to sweep up the Beveland peninsula during the very short period that existed until the resilient Germans reorganized themselves. The Great Mistake was to lose this fleeting opportunity."

From this point in the book onward Beale crafts a readable and engaging story that weaves together a variety of pieces of information from combat prose to explanations of logistical concerns and command personalities in an attempt to rigorously assess his thesis. Very few historical works are this well and thoroughly structured. Beale is able to step away from the issues at hand and present an even and seemingly unbiased assessment of the issues leading up to and following the capture of Antwerp on 4 Sept 44, and how these events influenced the progression of the war in NW Europe. This is a topic of considerable interest that remains debated to present day some 60 odd year after the facts. Beale seems to have put most of the necessary pieces of the picture together to generate a narrative that is both enlightening and engaging. For the most part Beale avoids finger pointing and generally provides critical assessment of all commanders and decisions being made, although in the end he is most critical of Montgomery since he as ground commander in the northern sector of the ETO (21 Army Group sector) "could make decisions to meet the changing circumstances. After the capture of Antwerp he could have ordered the exploitation north, the crossing of the Albert Canal and the advance to Woensdrecht. Only he can be blamed for the failure to act, and he had complete authority to do so...It was Montgomery who failed to grasp the opportunity."

While this conclusion will certainly not be accepted by all readers, it will be hard to simply dismiss given the thorough research and analytical effort Beale has committed to this project. Was Montgomery alone responsible for The Great Mistake? Certainly not, but Beale argues convincingly that Monty deserves the lions share! Beyond addressing the initial thesis, Beale's work provides considerable food for thought and support for a second thesis that The Great Mistake was in fact GREAT and was a major factor in the extension of the war in Europe into spring of 1945.

"The Great Mistake" is a 5 star work, exceptionally well structured and presented, thorough and analytical, but still engaging to read. Anyone who is interested in Allied disputes over post-Normandy breakout strategies in NW Europe should read this book. Beale has generated a model approach to anyone who wishes to go beyond simple reporting of historical facts and into the realm of historical analysis! Add this to your MUST BUY books.

Customer Reviews:

Get the Basics First.......2000-05-10

I have made my living as a voice actor for almost 15 years and, in that time, earned over a million and a half dollars. Anyone wanting to do the same should read this book. There is new paradigm today for voiceovers that involves finding the human emotion in a script and conveying that emotion to the listener. That's why voiceover people are actors not announcers. But Adrian Cronauer's book is still a valuable exercise in the basics of copy interpretation. Before you can perform copy as an actor you have to know how to interpret copy--to make the writers words sound like they're your own and that you're speaking them just as you're thinking them. I hear many voiceovers, even on national spots, that break some of these basic rules. And when that happens it draws attention to the voiceover. The voice should be transparent--you shouldn't even hear the voice--only the message. The voice should be like a clean window, which only draws attention to the view, not a dirty window which draws attention to itself. The section of this book on marketing your talents is a bit outdated and there are many other fine books on that aspect of the business. But, all in all, this is a must read for anyone wanting to do voice-acting for commercials.

A Bit Fussy For My Taste.......2000-03-26

Yes, this is the real Adrian Cronauer of "Good Morning, Vietnam!" fame. And this book is heavily influenced by the radio of that era -- it's all about reading "spokes" copy, where an anonymous spokesperson describes a product or announces a sale. It sounds just like what you might hear on, say, a network radio program in the 60's sponsored by Anacin.

Cronauer provides an audio cassette accompanying the text, and the reader is periodically asked to stop reading the book and listen to a specific cut on the tape. Unspecified but dire consequences are promised to anyone who continues to read without listening to the designated audio cut, or who dares to listen to more then one cut at a time. Only about half the cuts make points that are not already self-evident from the text.

The book correctly emphasizes the need to sound relaxed and conversational in voiceover work, and provides a number of specific, if dogmatic, rules for how to deal with particular issues in spokes copy. Yet the reader is left with the vaguely dissatisfied sense that something is missing. With all the rules about what not to do, or where and where not to place emphasis, there seems little room for personality to enter the work. Although the author lionizes voiceover legends such as Mason Adams (even reproducing a "Smuckers" ad on the accompanying cassette), he provides no real clue to what makes such people so successful.

It's as if the whole is less than the sum of its parts. There is value here, if the reader is willing to persevere through the minutiae of when to emphasize personal pronouns, how to handle definite and indefinite articles, how to distinguish function words from content words, when to end a question with an up-inflection versus a down-inflection, and so on. But such mastery may have limited real-world value in today's voiceover market, because straight spokes copy is not as common now as it once was.

Bottom line: An interesting book, but probably not a "must-have."

A Bit Fussy For My Taste.......2000-03-26

It's as if the whole is less than the sum of its parts. There is value here, if the reader is willing to persevere through the minutiae of when to emphasize personal pronouns, how to handle definite and indefinite articles, how to distinguish function words from content words, when to end a question with an up-inflection versus a down-inflection, and so on. But the result of such mastery may have limited real-world value in today's voiceover market, because straight spokes copy is not as common now as it once was.

Bottom line: An interesting book, but probably not a "must-have."

Good book for any aspiring voice-over artist.......1999-06-17

This book covers all essentials for any voice-over artist to know before getting into the business of actually reading copy for a variety of voice over needs. Must for every multimedia producer's library.

Professional Acting in Television Commercials

Average customer rating:

Professional Acting in Television Commercials
Pat Dougan
Manufacturer: Heinemann Drama
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Direction & Production | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0435086596

Book Description

What are the tools and techniques you need to make a successful career in television commercials? Does stage training help? How does one organize and market oneself to the people doing the hiring? How do you handle auditions? What do you do when the director wants different interpretations of the same material? And how do you handle those shoots when nothing seems to go right? Actress and writer Pat Dougan, who has worked in hundred of commercials, gives you the tools to answer these and other questions necessary for the actor who seriously wants to make the move into this fast-paced and lucrative field.

Book Description

The first edition set a standard of excellence that has eluded all followers, and I have recommended it to my clients for years. The new edition is a gift to the field and should be required reading for all managers. -- Adrian J. Bowles, Ph.D., Vice President, Giga Information Group. One of the most readable introductions you will find. The new edition offers vital insights into the effective use of objects in business. -- Chris Stone, President , Object Management Group. The first edition of Object Technology: A Manager's Guide is widely viewed as the classic introduction to this powerful computing concept. Object technology offers increased agility, significant time-to-market reduction, and the opportunity to exploit the potential of the World Wide Web by deploying globally distributed business systems. At a time when many of the world's largest companies are making the transition to object technology, David Taylor has updated his book to address the important issues facing the growth of object technology and to provide a glimpse into the future of this evolving paradigm. In updating this seminal work, David Taylor has retained the signature conciseness and clarity of discussion that made the first edition a best-seller. Object Technology: A Manager's Guide, Second Edition, covers the key terms, emerging concepts, and useful applications of objects. Managers, salespeople, engineers, software developers -- anyone interested in understanding or implementing object technology -- will find this a lucid introduction to the topic. Highlights of this new edition include: an explanation of how to use objects to create evolutionary software that rapidly adapts to changing business conditions, eliminating the need for most new application development; an introduction to Java, and an explanation of how its use of message interfaces enables a new generation of portable, mix-and-match, Internet-enabled business objects; an update on the state of object databases and extended relational databases, with guidelines for combining the two for optimal information storage; and an introduction to the new generation of object engines and how they combine storage and execution capabilities for maximum software integration.

Customer Reviews:

The title says it all, but programmers will benefit from this book also.......2005-08-12

I gave a [highlighted] copy of this book to my boss. This was after reading it thoroughly several times. It is an excellent introduction to OO analysis and design issues.

This won't replace Booch, Rumbaugh, UML and GoF Design Patterns, but it will get you started on the road to better software development. This is a primer, a bird's-eye-view. It can serve as a common vocabulary and basis of communication between non-technical and technical ppl.

The best thing about this book is the strong integration of text, annotations and high-quality graphics. The ideas jump out of the page into your head. This book could be used as an introductory CS text in senior high school or freshman college.

The best concise introduction to object-oriented technology.......2003-11-03

Note that, although the subtitle for this text implies Taylor's audience is solely managers, this book is suitable for anyone looking for a concise introduction to object-oriented software technology. Simply ignore some of the negative comments in other reviews regarding this book's viability in relation to early 21st-century software development - like almost every text written for an information technology audience, parts of this book, especially some of the predictions Taylor makes in the last chapters (at least in the first edition of the text), have been outmoded by lessons learned or shifts of focus in the past decade. Simply purchase the latest edition of texts such as this, especially if you are new to the topic - just remember that the new edition will undoubtedly be outmoded again in the future, but by that time you will probably have a handle on the topic and not need to refer back (at least very often) to an introductory text. What I like best about this text are the following: its conciseness (less than 150 pages) and compactness, its readability (very simple language - it is not written to impress by use of an extensive vocabulary), and its diagrams. As an individual who enjoys proper use of effective visual communication when technical topics are addressed, the simple diagrams are excellent - his use of the living cell as a model in understanding object basics like data and methods is ingenious, in my opinion. No code in this text, you say? If one is looking for an introductory OO text, why would he/she need code? Use of code would not only defeat the purpose of this text, but outmode it as soon as the next language of the day/week/month/year comes into fashion.

A Good Resource.......2003-11-03

For good and bad, this is a fairly high level, introductory back. It talks more about the concepts of OOP much more than the implementation.

Great when starting from zero.......2003-02-20

I was frustrated with most of the material I came across on the subject of object technology when I first began to learn about it. I had a fair amount of programming experience in so-called structured techniques. When I wanted to learn about objects, everything I got hold of assumed I already knew the fundamental concepts and so either omitted any discussion entirely, or glossed over the basics and moved you right in to teaching some language. I was getting nowhere until I happened across this book.

Regardless of why you want to get a grip on object technology this book does a good job of introducing the fundamental concepts. It is not trying not to teach you a programming or modeling language, which was just the angle I needed. I'm pretty visually oriented and I found the illustrations quite helpful. The foundation I got from this this book enabled me to finally move on to more meaty things.

You don't have to be technical to deal with this book. Some of the later chapters may be more than what some people need, and the author's choice of evolution as an example of an object-oriented system may aggravate some readers.

I would recommend this book to mangers, technical writers, educators, and students as a good first book on the subject.

Good overview but..........2003-01-26

This book is a great overview of the basics of the objected orientated methodology and correctly titled as a manager's guide. A quick and easy read for a total novice who wants to get a grip on the essentials without an in depth knowledge of exactly how to model for the object oriented world.

Amazon.com

Written for managers, Object Success explains in clear, not-too-technical language, all of the key object-orientation concepts. This is the introductory text you need if you're a non-programmer who wants to get up to speed on objects. Loaded with commentary on the management issues involved in developing complex software, object-orientation expert Bertrand Meyer provides you with the background information needed to track and guide object-oriented software-development projects. With the help of this book, managers will be able to speak intelligently with their programmers about what's going on, anticipate common development problems, and be assets to a development team rather than interfering pests who simply distribute paychecks. Meyer, the creator of the respected Eiffel programming language and the author of the excellent (though technical) Object-Oriented Software Construction, begins by exploring 10 key object-orientation principles, including abstraction, inheritance, and restricted communication. Meyer clearly explains these 10 principles without a hint of code. Understanding them will improve your comprehension of modern software design. Meyer then proceeds to discuss the concept of reusability in depth, focusing on the life cycle of software projects and the reusable bits of code they generate. He wraps up the book with thoughts on the roles of various managers in software projects.

Book Description

Presents object technology in a plain way, free of hype and technical jargon, and describes in detail how objects affect the software construction process, and what aspects of the business it does not affect. Sets precise expectations as to what a business can and cannot get from the transition to objects. Focuses on the impact of object technology on a corporation. Presents a coherent view of the new software lifecycle, and describes the cluster model, supporting reusability and flexibility. Provides concrete, directly usable information on how best to plan the transition, and what pitfalls to avoid. For managers, it will provide them with hundreds of practical tips on how to use object technology to a company's best advantage.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book for managers and for clients........1997-09-27

I now find it is smart business to buy a copy of this book and give it to each prospective client who needs to know why the software industry is on fire on the subject of object-oriented software development. A non-technical manager can read this book and understand object-orientation sometimes better than some of the Techs he or she manages! So a technical manager had better read this book before the boss gets handed a copy by someone else.

OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE CONCEPTS (A Technology Manager's Guide To The State-Of-The-Art)

Average customer rating:

OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE CONCEPTS (A Technology Manager's Guide To The State-Of-The-Art)
Ph.D. MICHAEL WORKMAN
Manufacturer: CORBA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 059533962X

Product Description

192 PAGES BALCK AND WHITE EDITION. PUBLISHER: IUNIVERSE, INC.

Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide

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Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide
David A. Taylor
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HUELTO

Object-Oriented Software Composition - A Manager*s Guide to Object Orientation Technology and It*s Impact on the Corporation, and It*s Use for Re-engineering

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Object-Oriented Software Composition - A Manager*s Guide to Object Orientation Technology and It*s Impact on the Corporation, and It*s Use for Re-engineering
Oscar M.;Tsichritzis, Dennis, Nierstrasz
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OITDTM

Average customer rating:

Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide
David A. Taylor
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP37CY

Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide [Paperback]

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Object-Oriented Technology: A Manager's Guide [Paperback]
David A. Taylor
Manufacturer: Charter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PJ3FRQ

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