MITCHELL LANE PUBLISHERS

The Life and Times of Johann Sebastian Bach

ISBN 1-58415-191-9 • 9781584151913

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For more than 100 years now, the name of Johann Sebastian Bach has been considered among the most highly regarded of all composers. The "holy cantor" church musician has been written about in many books. So, it might be difficult for some of us to imagine, but for several generations after his death, Bach had been forgotten. What remained of his vast number of works gathered dust in private collections or distant archives. Many of his works were discarded; in fact, some found their way to a butcher shop and are reported to have been used as wrapping paper.

It took a twenty-year-old musician who would become as well known as Bach, to bring about an interest in his works. In 1829, Felix Mendelssohn performed the St. Matthew Passion, and revived interest in the long-forgotten composer. The genius of Bach was finally recognized by the world.

The Life and Times of Ludwig van Beethoven

ISBN 1-58415-190-0 • 9781584151906

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During Beethoven's darkest times, when he stumbled about the streets of Vienna like a ragged madman, people thought his career was over. Many of his friends and patrons had died. He no longer seemed to be producing music except for a few trivial pieces.

But appearances were wrong. He was creating what is generally regarded as his greatest single work. Known as the Ninth Symphony, it is much more difficult and massive than any of the preceding eight. But Beethoven was aware that the people of Vienna thought he was crazy. He was afraid his symphony would be rejected.

Making things even worse, there had only been time for two rehearsals. By this time he was totally deaf and could not hear how well the musicians performed. So on May 7, 1824, Beethoven conducted the Ninth Symphony for its premiere performance in Vienna. When the last notes of the magnificent final movement came to an end, Beethoven stood on the stage with his back to the audience. One of the singers gently turned him around so he could see the audience. The applause was thunderous. Everyone was standing and cheering.

Nearly 180 years later, Beethoven's works are still enjoyed by music lovers all over the world, On January 12, 2003, the Ninth Symphony was added to the "Memory of the World" register so that the compositions of Vienna's "mad genius" will live on for eternity.

The Life and Times of Irving Berlin

ISBN 1-58415-215-X • 9781584152156

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When he was just 13 years old, a young Russian immigrant named Izzy Baline left his New York City home and had to support himself. It was a struggle for several years, as he sang for pennies and often slept in flophouses or on park benches.

Soon after changing his name to Irving Berlin and writing a series of hit songs, he became rich beyond his wildest imagination. For several decades, he was the most successful composer of American pop music. He wrote "White Christmas," which broke sales records for years. Starting in the mid-1950s with the rise of Elvis Presley and rock and roll music, Berlin eventually lost nearly all of his popularity.

Yet in the aftermath of the horrible events of September 11, 2001, the citizens of this nation needed a certain type of music to remind them what a great country this is. Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" supplied that need.

The Life and Times of Hector Berlioz

ISBN 1-58415-259-1 • 9781584152590

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French Composer Hector Berlioz believed in love at first sight. When he was 23, he attended a performance of Shakespeare's play Hamlet and fell head over heels in love with Harriet Smithson, an English actress who had a leading role. Harriet didn't show any interest in him. She ignored his letters. When he tried to meet her backstage she ordered the guard to throw him out.

Berlioz was hurt and angry. He wanted revenge. He got it by murdering Harriet—musically. She inspired Symphonie fantastique, his most famous work. The hero kills his beloved, is executed for the crime, and the symphony ends with a bizarre dance of ghosts, goblins, and other monsters.

The Life and Times of Leonard Bernstein

ISBN 1-58415-275-3 • 9781584152750

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When Leonard Bernstein died in 1990 at the age of 72, one of his admirers said he was actually 288 because he led four separate lives: as a conductor, a composer, a pianist and a teacher. No other American musician has ever had such a diverse career. A sickly boy, Bernstein discovered music when he was about 10 and pursued a musical career despite his father's objections. He became literally an overnight sensation when he was 25. With only a few hours notice, he conducted a concert that was broadcast across the entire country. He spent the rest of his life (Nearly 50 years) in the spotlight, continually impressing people with his seemingly boundless energy and his love for music. Those qualities have influenced countless numbers of people, adding to their own appreciation of music.

The Life and Times of Johannes Brahms

ISBN 1-58415-214-1 • 9781584152149

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Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany to a family that lived in extreme poverty. Yet by the time of his death he had become one of the most financially successful classical music composers who ever lived.

It wasn't easy. His family had to move several times while Hannes (as he was nicknamed) was still a boy. He had to go to work when he was just 13, playing the piano in rough waterfront taverns in Hamburg. Often he wouldn't come home until dawn.

Brahms received his first big break when he was 20. The composer Robert Schumann called him a "genius" and a "young eagle." Even then, it still took him many years to become famous.

While he is most noted for his symphonies and concertos, it is likely that more people know him for his "Cradle Song," better known as "Brahms's Lullaby," which millions of mothers have sung to their young children to lull them to sleep.

The Life and Times of Frederic Chopin

ISBN 1-58415-245-1• 9781584152453

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From an early age, Frederic Chopin displayed natural musical ability. Often compared to Mozart, Chopin was invited to play for members of the aristocracy in small, private concerts. But, unlike Mozart, his parents did not take advantage of his youth.

Frederic Chopin left his Polish homeland behind when he was only 20 and lived most of his life in Paris, France, the cultural hub of Europe. His genius as a pianist and composer flowered there with the encouragement and support of the female novelist George Sand. He wrote more than 200 works for piano during the course of his life that was cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 39. Symbolically, his heart was taken from his body and returned to his beloved Poland, where he remains a national hero.

The Life and Times of Duke Ellington

ISBN 1-58415-248-6• 9781584152484

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More than any other musician in the early 20th century, Duke Ellington brought jazz into nightclubs and later into the living rooms of America. The music he played sprang in part from the blues and gospel rhythms of the plantation slaves living in the mid-19th century, infused with the sounds of ragtime from the turn of the century. Jazz has been called the first musical form created in the United States. It was a type of sharp improvisation for which band members played anything they wanted along a chosen key or set of chords, so every night the music was different. Duke led with his piano playing, but he allowed various other members of his band to shine, too.

Embracing new technologies like radio receivers and record players, Duke Ellington was one of our early pop stars.

The Life and Times of Stephen Foster

ISBN 1-58415-213-3 • 9781584152132

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Stephen Foster was a musical genius born at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and into the wrong family. The middle of the 19th Century was an era of development, of conquering the land and building canals and railroads. The men who were admired were the engineers and builders, the developers and inventors, not artists and composers.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cincinnati, Ohio where Stephen grew up and spent his early years were rough river towns. Fortunes were made and lost transporting goods on the rivers. The Foster family was originally successful, but by the time Stephen was born on the 4th of July 1826, they were losing their land and their home.

The years of Stephen's childhood were spent in cheap boarding houses or living with relatives. Little attention was given to the quiet, dreamy boy who wanted only to wander with his flute down along the levee. There he listened to the music of the African Americans who worked on the riverboats.

Stephen's father considered his interest in music to be a bad habit. Stephen persisted in writing songs—the best-loved and most famous songs in America. But he wrote his songs before the days when copyright laws protected songwriters. If he had written his music today—"Oh! Susanna," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races," "Old Black Joe," "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" he would be a millionaire many times over. When Stephen Foster died in poverty in New York in 1864, he was not completely penniless. He had 38 cents in his pocket, one penny for each year he lived.

The Life and Times of Gilbert and Sullivan

ISBN 1-58415-276-1 • 9781584152767

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What is probably the most famous pairing in musical history began without fanfare in 1871 when writer William S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan teamed up to produce a Christmas entertainment called Thespis. The two men parted ways soon afterward and it took a theatrical promoter named Richard D'Oyly Carter to reunite them four years later. Their first big hit came in 1878 with their operetta H.M.S. Pinafore. It reached the United States the following year and created the same excitement that we associate with a major rock concert or blockbuster movie. Despite some disagreements, the two men combined for 11 other operettas before going their separate ways. Today Gilbert and Sullivan societies exist all over the world. Audiences still enjoy their combination of clever, humorous lyrics and tuneful melodies.

The Life and Times of George Gershwin

ISBN 1-58415-279-6 • 9781584152798

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George Gershwin couldn't seem to stay out of trouble when he was a boy. He was a tough kid who got in a lot of fights and frequently skipped school. When his family bought a piano, his life was transformed. He quickly mastered it, and then dropped out of school when he was fifteen to become a musician. Within a year, he had sold his first song. When he was 20, he wrote his first big hit. Five years after that, Rhapsody in Blue catapulted him to international fame. With his brother Ira as lyricist, he went on to compose some of the most famous musicals of the twentieth century and also wrote several movie scores. But he died tragically when he was only 38.

The Life and Times of George Frideric Handel

ISBN 1-58415-192-7 • 9781584151920

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Born in the same year (1865) and the same country (Germany) as Johann Sebastian Bach, young Georg Friedrich Händel (the original German spelling of his name) was playing the violin, harpsichord, oboe, and organ by the age of eleven. Bach and Handel became the most famous composers of what is today called Baroque music.

There was a major difference between Bach and Handel, however. Whereas Bach came from a family that had produced musicians for generations, there was nothing in Handel's background that would suggest he would become a great composer. And, though Bach and Handel grew up so close to each other, the two would never meet.

Throughout his long career, Handel continually produced wonderful instrumental music, including many great operas and oratorios which he produced for an eager audience. The most famous of these is his beloved Messiah. A private person, Handel left little information about his personal life. But we know a great deal about his music, which made a lasting impression that continues today.

The Life and Times of Franz Joseph Haydn

ISBN 1-58415-193-5 • 9781584151937

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Franz Joseph Haydn's importance in the history of music is so great that it would be difficult to summarize his achievements in a few paragraphs. He inherited the sonata form from Bach and made it into a great form of musical expression. He established the symphony, preparing the way for Mozart and Beethoven. He is often called the father of the string quartet. In fact, Mozart commented that it was from Haydn that he learned how to compose for four stringed instruments.

Haydn possessed a sunny disposition and a lovable nature. He was extremely generous and had a warm heart. He is quoted as saying, "Anybody can see by the look of me that I am a good-natured sort of fellow." Much of his good nature can be heard in his music, which lives on nearly 200 years after is death in 1809.

This is the story of Franz Joseph Haydn, who was born in Rohrau, Austria to peasant folk. Though the feudalistic times in which he lived would not have allowed him to rise to the aristocracy, he is what brought much acclaim to the Esterházy royal family of Hungary. In this book written especially for young adults, readers will be taken back in time for a delightful musical journey.