An Incomplete History Of The Art Of Funerary Violin

Exposed by the New York times as a "brilliant hoax," this imaginative volume of fiction is presented as a scholarly history of a secretive art form: "the rise, flourishing, and ruthless suppression of a tradition of [solo] violin music played at funerals." It includes detailed fictional biographies of real or invented persons, alleged "period" illustrations, and elaborate musical scores. --Compiled from the New York times Oct. 4, 2006 article and online reviews.

It is the 1850's, and a young boy, Thomas, leaves his family to be apprenticed to a pharmacist, at the behest of his dead grandmother. He also inherits a magical box from her, which provides him entry into a mysterious garden. But while visiting it, he sees a ghostly vision of his grandmother, who tells him she was poisoned, and warns him that he must find the person responsible, and save her precious garden. For she was one of five members of an arcane guild, each of whom cultivated an individual garden, mastering the art of poison, perfume and medicine. The guild members jostle for power as, one by one, they are murdered... can Thomas solve the mystery, before he in turn is threatened?

Exploring the paranormal through musical phenomena, this encyclopedia covers a range of anomalies, from musical mediumship to locations throughout the world where music has been heard with no obvious source. Other manifestations, such as the abilities of musical savants and the anesthetic use of music during surgical procedures, are included with a focus on paraphysical aspects. Entries describe examples from earliest history up to the present--interpretation is left to the reader. Broader themes and concepts are discussed in appendices, with additional references provided for further study.

During the Reformation a new musical form developed to replace Catholic funerary ritual. A solo violinist became central to the conduct of the Protestant funeral. Despite its enormous influence on classical music generally and on the Romantic Movement in particular, this music has almost entirely vanished. In a series of `funerary purges¿, the violinists were driven into silence or clandestine activity. This is a music that has haunted Europe¿s collective unconscious for more than a century. This book reveals its incredible history -- by remembering the Guild we realize afresh what our music once was, and what it might be once gain. ¿A deeply evocative and important history, elegiacally written and impressively wrought¿. Includes musical notation for many solos.

The musician author of An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin analyzes the career of indie rock performer Amanda Palmer both as a front woman for The Dresden Dolls and as a solo act, assessing the role of her metaphorical "death" in inspiring fan creativity.

During the late eighteenth century, a musical–cultural phenomenon swept the globe. The English square piano—invented in the early 1760s by an entrepreneurial German guitar maker in London—not only became an indispensable part of social life, but also inspired the creation of an expressive and scintillating repertoire. Square pianos reinforced music as life’s counterpoint, and were played by royalty, by musicians of the highest calibre and by aspiring amateurs alike. On Sunday, 13 May 1787, a square piano departed from Portsmouth on board the Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet, bound for Botany Bay. Who made the First Fleet piano, and when was it made? Who owned it? Who played it, and who listened? What music did the instrument sound out, and within what contexts was its voice heard? What became of the First Fleet piano after its arrival on antipodean soil, and who played a part in the instrument’s subsequent history? Two extant instruments contend for the title ‘First Fleet piano’; which of these made the epic journey to Botany Bay in 1787–88? The First Fleet Piano: A Musician’s View answers these questions, and provides tantalising glimpses of social and cultural life both in Georgian England and in the early colony at Sydney Cove. The First Fleet piano is placed within the musical and social contexts for which it was created, and narratives of the individuals whose lives have been touched by the instrument are woven together into an account of the First Fleet piano’s conjunction with the forces of history. View ‘The First Fleet Piano: Volume Two Appendices’. Note: Volume 1 and 2 are sold as a set ($180 for both) and cannot be purchased separately.

“Strange and clever . . . Some inspired thinking about real issues like the slippery nature of the Internet and relationships between artists and their fans” (Flagpole). Centered around the hypothetical death of a real-life musician and performance artist—Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls fame—this book imagines the fallout of her demise. Upon hearing news of Amanda’s death, her fans began posting their own writing, artwork, and thoughts onto the Internet, eventually creating their own genre called the Palmeresque. By collecting a selection of these submissions in one place and providing commentary, On the Many Deaths of Amanda Palmer explores issues of authorship, celebrity, popular culture, marketing strategies, the corruption of art, and the essential questions of modern media. “A postmodern Russian nesting doll of realities, complete with poems, charts, and censored text, this book is successful on many levels: creepy and fun when accepted at face value; tantalizing when looked at as evidence in a murder mystery; insightful in its commentary on modern celebrity and culture . . . Coy, engaging, and delightfully imagined.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Prepare to be even more revolted, flabbergasted, appalled and entertained by this incredible follow-up collection of bizarre but absolutely true trivia. Nothing is too distasteful for this astonishing compendium, including scores of eclectic lists to amuse, astonish and appal your friends. Entries include: 10 Road-kill Recipes History?s 10 Most Murderous Regimes 10 Historic Sex Toys 10 People who Married Their Nieces 10 Deaths by Sex 10 People Killed by Falling Animals 10 Ancient Remedies Containing Body Parts 10 Flatalogical Facts 8 Most Violent National Anthems 15 Premature Obituaries 10 Unusual Royal Deaths 10 Cruel and Unusual Punishments 10 Notable Executions 12 Elizabethan Insults

What are the top one hundred words we use the most? How should anchovy, chastisement and tryst be pronounced? How good are you at spelling the most commonly misspelt words and names? For the answers to these andquestions and much more, sit back and let Richard Anthony Baker take you on a journey through the English language. Marvel at the richness of what we derive from French and German; bristle at the words banned in the Daily Telegraph; laugh at the officialese of corporate writers; bone up on our use of language from William Shakespeare (and the Bible) in our day-to-day talk; absorb Richard's master classes on how to win at Scrabble with devastating ease and how to complete cryptic crosswords with impressive alacrity; and test your linguistic agility by trying to answer the five questions which Google puts to job applicants.

An insomniac who realises that he cannot escape his heritage. An elderly émigré who still keeps a suitcase by the door. A clockmaker who obsesses over fixing his past. A Jewish community in London trying to find a place for tradition and ceremony in modern life. Rohan Kriwaczek's collection of short stories is engaging, touching and thought-provoking. He deftly addresses the nature of identity and asks what it means to be Jewish – or, indeed, to be defined by religion at all in modern Britain.

Contains many sorry tales of embarrassment, from author Bill Bryson snoring and dribbling in public to actor Patrick Stewart caught watching re-runs of "Star Trek". It includes tales of sex and seduction gone horribly wrong, of indecent exposure on a grand scale, and of emails which should never have been sent.

Reflects the new standards for cataloging cultural materials, complementing existing AACR standards.

The frames of classical art are often seen as marginal to the images that they surround. Traditional art history has tended to view framing devices as supplementary 'ornaments'. Likewise, classical archaeologists have often treated them as tools for taxonomic analysis. This book not only argues for the integral role of framing within Graeco-Roman art, but also explores the relationship between the frames of classical antiquity and those of more modern art and aesthetics. Contributors combine close formal analysis with more theoretical approaches: chapters examine framing devices across multiple media (including vase and fresco painting, relief and free-standing sculpture, mosaics, manuscripts and inscriptions), structuring analysis around the themes of 'framing pictorial space', 'framing bodies', 'framing the sacred' and 'framing texts'. The result is a new cultural history of framing - one that probes the sophisticated and playful ways in which frames could support, delimit, shape and even interrogate the images contained within.

The Sounds of Early Cinema is devoted exclusively to a little-known, yet absolutely crucial phenomenon: the ubiquitous presence of sound in early cinema. "Silent cinema" may rarely have been silent, but the sheer diversity of sound(s) and sound/image relations characterizing the first 20 years of moving picture exhibition can still astonish us. Whether instrumental, vocal, or mechanical, sound ranged from the improvised to the pre-arranged (as in scripts, scores, and cue sheets). The practice of mixing sounds with images differed widely, depending on the venue (the nickelodeon in Chicago versus the summer Chautauqua in rural Iowa, the music hall in London or Paris versus the newest palace cinema in New York City) as well as on the historical moment (a single venue might change radically, and many times, from 1906 to 1910). Contributors include Richard Abel, Rick Altman, Edouard Arnoldy, Mats Björkin, Stephen Bottomore, Marta Braun, Jean Châteauvert, Ian Christie, Richard Crangle, Helen Day-Mayer, John Fullerton, Jane Gaines, André Gaudreault, Tom Gunning, François Jost, Charlie Keil, Jeff Klenotic, Germain Lacasse, Neil Lerner, Patrick Loughney, David Mayer, Domi-nique Nasta, Bernard Perron, Jacques Polet, Lauren Rabinovitz, Isabelle Raynauld, Herbert Reynolds, Gregory A. Waller, and Rashit M. Yangirov.

Founded during the racially volatile days of the early Thatcher government and active for sixteen years, the Black Audio Film Collective produced some of the most challenging and stylish art of the first generation of black British filmmakers. In The Ghosts of Songs, acclaimed artists, filmmakers, and scholars examine the legacy of the collective's innovative and wide-ranging work in film, video, and installations as well as their provocative essays and manifestos. Packed with rare photographs and previously unseen film stills, The Ghosts of Songs is a thorough assessment of the group's entire career.

Studies major works by important sculptors since Rodin in the light of different approaches to general sculptural issues to reveal the logical progressions from nineteenth-century figurative works to the conceptual work of the present.

Forget insight and genius! The many creative things we make and do generally arise from sheer chance and trial-and-error learning.