Books in Dover Books on Music series

Would you like to confound your friends, amaze your acquaintances, amuse and dazzle crowds at parties and gatherings? Mastering a few card tricks will allow you to do all that and more. With the help of this book, anyone can develop a versatile repertoire of first-rate card tricks. In fact, mastery of just the first chapter will enable you to perform a half-dozen astounding and entertaining sleights of hand. The authors, both noted authorities on magic, present complete, easy-to-understand explanations of shuffles, flourishes, the glide, the glimpse, false shuffles and cuts, the pass, the classic force, and many other techniques. These will enable card handlers to perform over 100 mind-boggling feats of card magic, including Thought Stealer, Gray's Spelling Trick, Do as I Do, Now You See It, Obliging Aces, Rapid Transit, Kangaroo Card, A Tipsy Trick, and dozens of others. Illustrated with more than 120 clear line cuts that make the explanations easy to follow, this exciting introduction to card conjuring will enable even beginners to develop professional-level skill and the ability to perform tricks guaranteed to astound family and friends.

"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." — Charlie Parker"What is jazz? The rhythm — the feeling." — Coleman Hawkins"The best sound usually comes the first time you do something. If it's spontaneous, it's going to be rough, not clean, but it's going to have the spirit which is the essence of jazz." — Dave BrubeckHere, in their own words, such famous jazz musicians as Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Bunk Johnson, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Clarence Williams, Jo Jones, Jelly Roll Morton, Mezz Mezzrow, Billie Holiday, and many others recall the birth, growth, and changes in jazz over the years. From its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century in the red-light district in New Orleans (or Storyville, as it came to be known), to Chicago's Downtown section and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and Chicago's South Side to jam sessions in Kansas City to Harlem during the Depression years, the West Coast and modern developments, the story of jazz is vividly and colorfully documented in hundreds of personal interviews, letters, tape recorded and telephone conversations, and excerpts from previously printed articles that appeared in books and magazines.There is no more fascinating and lively history of jazz than this firsthand telling by the men who made it. It should be read and re-read by all jazz enthusiasts, musicians, students of music and culture, students of American history, and other readers. "A lively book bearing the stamp of honesty and naturalness." — Library Journal. "A work of considerable substance." — The New Yorker. "Some of the quotations are a bit racy but they give the book a wonderful flavor." — San Francisco Chronicle.

From the age of Galileo until the early years of the 20th century, scientists grappled with seemingly insurmountable paradoxes inherent in the theories of classical physics. With the publication of Albert Einstein's "special" and "general" theories of relativity, however, traditional approaches to solving the riddles of space and time crumbled. In their place stood a radically new view of the physical world, providing answers to many of the unsolved mysteries of pre-Einsteinian physics.Acclaimed as the pinnacle of scientific philosophy, the theories of relativity tend to be regarded as the exclusive domain of highly trained scientific minds. The great physicist himself disclaimed this exclusionary view, and in this book, he explains both theories in their simplest and most intelligible form for the layman not versed in the mathematical foundations of theoretical physics.In addition to the theories themselves, this book contains a final part presenting fascinating considerations on the universe as a whole. Appendices cover the simple derivation of the Lorentz transformation, Minkowski's four-dimensional space, and the experimental confirmation of the general theory of relativity. Students, teachers, and other scientifically minded readers will appreciate this inexpensive and accessible interpretation of one of the world's greatest intellectual accomplishments.

This famous book has the rare distinction of having been written by one family of distinguished violin-makers and experts — the Hill family of London — about another — the legendary Guarneri family of Mantua, Cremona, and Venice. The Hills were unrivaled connoisseurs with a family tradition of violin-making, restoration, and scholarship. Several of their books form the basis of our knowledge of old stringed instruments. This generously illustrated volume offers both a history of the Guarneri family and a commentary on their craftsmanship.The Hills describe and analyze the life and work of each of the five great master craftsmen of the Guarneri family, from Andrea Guarneri (c. 1626–98), the founding father, to his grandsons Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (1698–1744), the most illustrious member of the family, and Pietro Guarneri of Venice (1695–1762). Over 130 photographs, 16 in full color, illustrate Guarneri craftsmanship in consummate detail. The craft of each master is explored in terms of forms, dimensions, materials, favored varnishes, and work methods. The authors compare Guarneri instruments to those of Stradivari and Amati, and list those still known to exist. Filled with fascinating detail, this definitive work is essential to violinists, musical historians, connoisseurs, and collectors.

Children love card tricks, and with this book by an expert in magic and card conjuring, youngsters will be able to master a host of tricks especially designed for them.Tricks are arranged in order of difficulty, with the simplest at the beginning of the book. Clearly written, easy-to-follow instructions and over 60 helpful diagrams take aspiring magicians through each step — from preparing and manipulating the cards to developing a line of patter (a necessary ingredient for any successful performance).Newcomers to the art of performing card tricks need no special skills — just a willingness to practice — to accomplish such astonishing stunts as finding a card under seemingly impossible conditions, causing a card to rise mysteriously from the deck, reading the spectator's mind, and 27 other mind-boggling maneuvers.

This excellent guide to mastering dozens of mystifying acts of deception and manipulation will soon have you dazzling friends and family with professional-quality magic tricks. Martin Gardner, author of a host of popular magic and puzzle books, has compiled a clearly written manual that not only reveals secrets of the trade but also helps you perform tricks at a moment’s notice with such common objects as cards, coins, napkins, matches, and silverware.Step-by-step instructions and nearly 200 easy-to-follow diagrams and illustrations provide all the information and advice you’ll need to make cards vanish and reappear, get coins to pass through solid objects, make articles mysteriously travel from one location to another, and much more.

Mind reading, thought transmission, prophecy, miracle slate routines, and other "psychic" effects are among the most impressive tricks in any magician's repertoire. Their power to amaze and dumbfound an audience is unparalleled in the domain of stage magic. In this volume, one of the greatest of all mental magicians reveals the secrets behind nearly 200 astonishing feats of mental magic.The routines encompass 12 major categories: Effects with Billets and Pellets; Envelope Necromancy; Publicity Effects; Miracle Slate Routines; Dead or Alive; Money Mentalism; Book Tests; Blindfold Reading; Thought Foretold; Mentalism with Cards; Miscellaneous Mental Masterpieces; and Psychic Codes.Theodore Annemann, through his own performances and editorship of Jinx magazine, probably did more than anyone else to popularize this branch of entertainment. Now, his extensive knowledge, experience, and know-how are at your fingertips in this comprehensive collection. Here are the closely guarded tricks of the trade behind such astonishing effects as Pseudo-Psychometry, one of the greatest one-man psychic effects ever achieved; Who Killed Mr. X? — a classic routine that combines both magic and mind reading with a triple mystery and a novel presentation; and The Swami Test, a demonstration of prophecy first popularized around 1920. Annemann himself came up with some 16 variations on this popular and much-practiced effect. My Own Swami Test is one of his best.These and scores of other crowd-pleasers are here, each thoroughly explained and diagrammed, with insiders' tips on techniques, staging, patter, plants and confederates, diversions — everything you need to make any trick a foolproof success. No special equipment is required; just traditional magic props and a willingness to learn from one of magic's legendary figures. Although written for professional magicians, the step-by-step detail, clarity and inclusiveness of this collection, along with the author's intimate knowledge of the stage performer's needs, make this a volume that will benefit magicians at every level of expertise.

Josef Hofmann (1876–1957) was a master of piano technique and an artist who had few equals at the keyboard. A student of Anton Rubinstein and a leading exponent of the works of Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann, he always balanced his virtuoso playing with a firm adherence to the piece as written. It is this balanced approach to piano playing that he advocates in this highly regarded volume on piano technique.The first section of the book contains a discussion of the rules and tricks of correct piano playing: touch, methods of practicing, the use of the pedal, playing the piece as it is written, "How Rubinstein Taught Me to Play," and indispensables in pianistic success. The second, much longer, section contains Hofmann's answers to specific questions sent to him by piano students and amateurs: questions on positions of the body and hand, actions of the wrist and arm, stretching, staccato, legato, precision, fingering, octaves, the pedals, practice, marks and nomenclature, phrasing, rubato, theory, transposing, and much more.Full of important background information that is highly useful to every piano player, this book will set students on the right track in their studies and allow every amateur to measure the level of his commitment and the quality of the instruction he is receiving. For insight into many facets of playing the piano, there is no better guide than Josef Hofmann.

Card magic has captivated man for many centuries. Today, it remains the most popular area of legerdemain, accounting for half of all tricks performed by magicians.Now Karl Fulves, noted writer in the field of magic, has compiled a new treasury of foolproof card tricks, the definitive sequel to his popular Self-Working Card Tricks. This book contains a wealth of new material — captivating and baffling card wizardry that will amaze your audience and astonish even accomplished magicians.Fulves shows you how to perform such classic card maneuvers as Miraskil, The Open Prediction, Flip Top and The Jaks Two-Deck Trick. Clear, easy-to-follow directions, complemented by 96 instructive illustrations, help guide the novice through each trick.Chapters on special areas of card magic and technique include: Impromptu Card Tricks; Two-Deck Card Tricks; Telephone Tricks; Telepathy with Cards; Riffle-Shuffle Setups; and Gambling Secrets.Neither great dexterity nor long hours of practice are required to master tricks offered in this collection — all succeed instantly by virtue of the step-by-step instructions.Discover how this rich assortment of self-working tricks will mystify and delight friends and relatives — anyone intrigued by the ancient appeal of "card magic."

The flute (or closely related instrument) has been known since prehistoric times, but up until the middle of the nineteenth century it was still far from being a satisfactory instrument, despite the quantity of important music that had been written for it. Its tone was poor and thin, its volume was low, its keying system was inefficient, and it was very difficult to play.The man who changed all this and invented the modern flute was Theobald Boehm (1794–1881), a Bavarian flute virtuoso, who played at the royal court in Munich. Boehm worked upon the flute for many years; indeed, he even went to the length of studying acoustics at the University of Munich, in order to apply the exact data and principles of the sciences to instrument design. After many years of experimentation and preliminary steps, he created the modern flute in 1847. It was silver and cylindrical, furnished with a parabolic head-joint, accurately placed finger holes, and efficient key mechanism. With only small modifications, this is the flute that is used today.In 1871 Boehm published an account of his research and accomplishments, a book that has come to be recognized as one of the classics of musicology. In it he covered the acoustics of the instrument; the technique for establishing its proportions and keying; his new system of fingering; the key mechanism; the bass flute in G; and similar topics. In the second half of the volume he provided insights on performance, as they emerged from his remarkable virtuosity. This is not a treatise on how to play the flute, but comments upon the development of tone, finger exercises, practicing method, and interpretation, including coloratura. This book is very clearly written and requires no technical knowledge of its reader. It has long been a favorite not only of flutists but also of musicologists, acousticians, and lay persons interested in music.This edition of Boehm's work, translated by Dayton C. Miller of the Case School of Applied Science, also contains biographical notes about Boehm, a list of Boehm's musical compositions, a short bibliography, and a critical introduction. More than 50 musical excerpts and illustrations accompany the text, while the renowned contemporary flutist Samuel Baron has written a new Introduction for the Dover edition.

Independent of his international renown as a humanitarian, Albert Schweitzer is well known as a great musicologist; a reputation that rests largely upon this book. Schweitzer's J. S. Bach is one of the great full-length studies of the composer, his life, and his work. Its influence on the subsequent performance of Bach's music was enormous, and there is scarcely a later work on Bach which does not acknowledge a deep debt to Schweitzer's. Grove's Dictionary says of the book, "Schweitzer has probably been more quoted than any authority since Spitta."The first volume contains a virtual history of Protestant church music, examining the role of music in the early Protestant services of many European countries. Frequent allusions to the parallel development of art and poetry, to the leading philosophic and religious concepts of the time, and to events of contemporary history supplement and enrich the text. Narrowing the study to Germany, Schweitzer traces to their roots the forms used by Bach (with particular emphasis on the German chorale and the forms built around it), and assess the contributions of Schütz, Sheidt, Buxtehude, Pachelbel, and others of Bach's predecessors. The volume includes a full account of Bach's life, and discusses his works for organ, clavier, strings, and orchestra. Suggestions for performance include sections on bowing, on playing chords and double stops, and on the practice of ornamentation in Bach's time.Volume Two is concerned with Bach's choral music — the chorales, cantatas, the Magnificat, the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the motets, songs, oratorios, and masses. The illuminating analysis of these works, illustrated by hundreds of musical examples, is dominated by Schweitzer's highly original theories regarding Bach's pictorial representation of the text in the music, and the expressive motives Schweitzer has found and identified throughout Bach's compositions. A long concluding chapter makes recommendations for performance on tempo, phrasing, accentuation, dynamics, and on the size and arrangement of the orchestra and choir.Schweitzer's J. S. Bach is among the definitive reference works on Bach and is high on the list of required reading for music students. Yet it is not a difficult or formidable work. It offers a stimulating, well-written narrative, with much in it to interest the music lover as well as the scholar.