Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
by Walter van de Leur
(Click here)
Book Summary Information
Author: Walter van de LeurEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-01-31
ISBN: 0195124480
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
Book Review: Now you will know why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading this book you will have a technical understanding of why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good and why Strayhorn needs to be recognized as one of the giants of American popular music. After having spent over 10 years performing in depth research and examining over 3,000 manuscripts Walter Van De Leur seperates Billy Strayhorn from Duke Ellington and analyzes how their musical styles differ. The book provides the reader with a technical dissection of a number of Strayhorn's and Ellington's music and gives, from a musicologist's point of view, the uniqueness of Strayhorn's music. Anecdotes about Strayhorn and Ellington are infrequent and instead Van De Leur provides a scholarly examination of one of the most important of American composers. However, Van De Leur can be eloquent in his examination of Strayhorn's work and this belies the love he has for his subject. Analyzing Strayhorn's Day Dream Van De Leur writes " The introspective Day Dream is less radical in its harmonic and melodic design, although chromatic chord relations again play an important role...On beat three this flat supertonic for the target proper, which now functions as the delay for the dominant E7, for A. Turning this pattern into a sequence, Strayhorn again liberates the music from its tonal gravity..." That last sentence says it all, Billy Strayhorn liberated music from its tonal gravity!
Summary of Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
Duke Ellington was one of jazz's greatest figures, a composer and bandleader of unparalleled importance and influence. But little attention has been given to his chief musical collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, who created hundreds of compositions and arrangements for his musical partner, and without whom the sound of Ellington's orchestra would have been very different.Now, in Walter van de Leur's provocative new book, Something To Live For, Billy Strayhorn steps out from Ellington's shadow and into the spotlight. Van de Leur argues that far from being merely a follower of Ellington or his alter ego, Strayhorn brought a radically new and visionary way of writing to the Ellington orchestra. Making extensive use, for the first time, of over 3,000 autograph scores, Van de Leur separates Strayhorn from Ellington, establishes who wrote what, and clearly distinguishes between their distinctive musical styles. "Both Strayhorn's and Ellington's oeuvres," writes Van de Leur, "though historically intertwined, nevertheless form coherent, separate musical entities, especially in terms of harmonic, melodic, and structural design." Indeed, Something to Live For allows us to see the characteristic features of Strayhorn's compositions and arrangements, his "musical fingerprints," and to analyze and evaluate his music on its own terms. The book also makes clear that Strayhorn's contribution to the band was much larger, and more original, than has been previously acknowledged.
Based on a decade of research and offering detailed analyses of over 70 musical examples, Something to Live For casts new light--and will surely arouse intense debate--on two of the most important composers in the history of jazz.
Jazz Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Jazz Books
Lady Sings the Blues the 50th Anniversary Edition (Harlem Moon Classics)by Billie Holiday, William Dufty
Harlem Moon; Published: 2006-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.21
Price in other shops:
Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrongby Steven Brower
Abrams; Published: 2009-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.01
Price in other shops:
Coltrane: The Story of a Soundby Ben Ratliff
Picador; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Jazz Ear: Conversations over Musicby Ben Ratliff
Times Books; Published: 2009-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops:
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrongby Terry Teachout
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2009-12-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.80
Price in other shops:
Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greatsby Pannonica de Koenigswarter
Abrams Image; Published: 2008-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.20
Bill Bruford: The Autobiographyby Bill Bruford
Jawbone Press; Published: 2009-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.54
Price in other shops:
Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro (North Texas Lives of Musician Series)by Helene LaFaro-Fernandez
University of North Texas Press; Published: 2009-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.39
Price in other shops:
Milesby Miles Davis
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1990-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Originalby Robin Kelley
Free Press; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.78
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Billy Strayhorn: An American Master (P/ V/ G Composer Collection)by Billy Strayhorn
Cherry Lane Music; Published: 2001-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.05
Price in other shops:
Duke Ellington - Masterpieces by EllingtonSony; Release date: 2004-02-17; Music CD
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops:
New Orleans Style and the Writing of American Jazz History (Jazz Perspectives)by Bruce Boyd Raeburn
University of Michigan Press; Published: 2009-02-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.95
Billy Strayhorn & Johnny Hodges - Stanley Dance SessionsRelease date: 2005-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $8.09
Price in other shops:
The World Of Duke Ellingtonby Stanley Dance
Da Capo Press; Published: 2000-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56by John Fass Morton
Rutgers University Press; Published: 2008-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.97
Price in other shops:
Billy Strayhorn - Lush LifeRelease date: 1992-09-15; Music CD
Best price: $86.55
Billy Strayhorn - A Proper Introduction to Billy Strayhorn: Passion FlowerRelease date: 2004-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops:
Beyond Category: The Life And Genius Of Duke Ellingtonby John Edward Hasse
Da Capo Press; Published: 1995-03-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhornby David Hajdu
North Point Press; Published: 1997-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops: