Fanfares and Finesse

Fanfares and Finesse
Author: Elisa Koehler
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2014-02-27
Genre: Music
ISBN: 025301185X

“A concise guide linking the history of trumpet to performance . . . includes information on band music, bugle calls, orchestral repertoire, and jazz.” —American Reference Books Annual Unlike the violin, which has flourished largely unchanged for close to four centuries, the trumpet has endured numerous changes in design and social status from the battlefield to the bandstand and ultimately to the concert hall. This colorful past is reflected in the arsenal of instruments a classical trumpeter employs during a performance, sometimes using no fewer than five in different keys and configurations to accurately reproduce music from the past. With the rise in historically inspired performances comes the necessity for trumpeters to know more about their instrument’s heritage, its repertoire, and different performance practices for old music on new and period-specific instruments. More than just a history of the trumpet, this essential reference book is a comprehensive guide for musicians who bring that musical history to life. “A compendium of trumpet history with short, fact-filled chapters. It will serve both amateur and professional musicians alike, and few could read this text without learning something. Fanfares and Finesse is a thorough sampling of trumpet topics, including something of interest for every trumpet player, brass enthusiast, or curious reader.” —Pan Pipes “Trumpet players in a wide variety of situations and at many levels will find a great deal of useful information, presented in a clear, engaging, reader-friendly way yet backed by solid research. While some topics are covered in more depth than others, Koehler’s breadth of vision and thoroughness are commendable . . . For all trumpeters and anyone who teaches them.” —Choice

Behind the Burnt Cork Mask

Behind the Burnt Cork Mask
Author: William John Mahar
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 476
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780252066962

The songs, dances, jokes, parodies, spoofs, and skits of blackface groups such as the Virginia Minstrels and Buckley's Serenaders became wildly popular in antebellum America. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask not only explores the racist practices of these entertainers but considers their performances as troubled representations of ethnicity, class, gender, and culture in the nineteenth century. William J. Mahar's unprecedented archival study of playbills, newspapers, sketches, monologues, and music engages new sources previously not considered in twentieth-century scholarship. More than any other study of its kind, Behind the Burnt Cork Mask investigates the relationships between blackface comedy and other Western genres and traditions; between the music of minstrel shows and its European sources; and between "popular" and "elite" constructions of culture. By locating minstrel performances within their complex sites of production, Mahar offers a significant reassessment of the historiography of the field. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask promises to redefine the study of blackface minstrelsy, charting new directions for future inquiries by scholars in American studies, popular culture, and musicology.

A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player

A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player
Author: Elisa Koehler
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2015-03-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0810886588

Titles in Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to playing technique and major works to key figures. A must-have for any musician’s personal library! Trumpeters today perform a vast repertoire of musical material spanning 500 years, much of it in a variety of styles and even on a number of related instruments. In A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player, scholar and performer, Elisa Koehler has created a key reference work that addresses all of the instruments in the high brass family, providing ready answers to issues that trumpeters, conductors, and musicians commonly—and sometimes not so commonly—encounter. Drawing on a broad range of scholarly sources, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player includes entries on historic instruments like the cornetto, keyed bugle, and slide trumpet; jazz trumpet techniques; mutes and accessories; and ancient ancestors of the trumpet and related non-Western instruments. In addition to its concise and detailed definitions, this work includes biographies of prominent performers, teachers, instrument makers, and composers of trumpet solo and ensemble literature often omitted from other musical references. Carefully labeled illustrations illuminate the inner workings of various valve mechanisms, allowing readers to visualize the more technical points of high brass instruments. Appendixes include a time line of trumpet history, a survey of valve mechanisms, a list of prominent excerpts from the orchestral and operatic repertoire, and an extensive bibliography. From quick definitions of confusing terms in a musical score to an in-depth overview of trumpet history, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player is an ideal reference for students, professionals, and music lovers.