Books Recommendations
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New Music Book Publications - August 2026
10th Aug 2026
An exploration of opera as a profound form of political thought from philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum, a revelatory look at the complex inner world of Stephen Sondheim, a new edition of David Matthews's biography of Benjamin Britten, paperback editions of books by Mark Kermode and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, an investigation of operatic relations between Italy and the Americas in the decades after Italian unification, and a history of the symphony in Britain and Ireland since 1900.
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New Music Book Publications - July 2026
14th Jul 2026
The story of brass bands, a second volume of collected covers from the World Countdown newspaper, a guide to performing and understanding Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, a new edition of a handbook on music research, a history of music in Spain, a discussion of European composers who undertook tours of the USA in the early twentieth century, and an investigation into how Mozart's music was used as propaganda by the Nazis in 1941 Vienna.
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New Music Book Publications - June 2026
15th Jun 2026
Biographies of Brahms and Chopin, a history of Wigmore Hall, an anthology of reflections on the importance of Elgar, a biography of clarinettist Gervase de Peyer, an examination of environmental imagery in the operas of Wagner, a handbook for teachers and parents on neurodiversity in music, an exploration of tradition in classical music, and an updated guide to music written for film and visual media.
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New Music Book Publications - May 2026
12th May 2026
A biography of Bellini, a guide to the 2026 BBC Proms season, a toolkit for composers to help with Classical techniques and style, paperback editions of Michael Downes's book on Wagner's Ring cycle and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason's reflections on the power of music, discussions of minimalist music and the history of the microphone, and a handbook for teachers offering support for students with special educational needs.
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New Music Book Publications - April 2026
13th Apr 2026
The autobiography of noted cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, the second printing of a limited edition book covering British Jazz on Record, handbooks, biographies, and compendiums on composers including Shostakovich, Janáček, Barbara Strozzi, Telemann, Florence Price, and Smetana, a paperback reissue of Sir Antonio Pappano's memoir, and an exploration of When You Wish Upon a Star, the much-loved song featured in Disney's 1940 animated film, Pinocchio.
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New Music Book Publications - March 2026
16th Mar 2026
A history of the nocturne and the fascination of night music, an exploration of the art of choral conducting, an examination of Janáček's Sinfonietta, companions to folk music and French art song, a musical history of Vienna, a paperback edition of Anne Sebba's poignant account of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, and the latest novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Evie Woods.
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New Music Book Publications - February 2026
10th Feb 2026
A discussion of Janáček's operas Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, a paperback reissue of Simon Morrison's award-winning biography of Tchaikovsky, books on Clara and Robert Schumann, Wagner, Satie, Mendelssohn, and Fauré, the Sunday Times bestelling account of the tempestuous relationship between Paul McCartney and John Lennon, an exploration of the impact of sound on our experience of the world, and an industry guide to musical theatre auditions.
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New Music Book Publications - January 2026
13th Jan 2026
An examination of the extraordinary cinematic collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, a portrait of celebrated cellist Pablo Casals, a collection of essays on Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn, an exploration of the life and music of composer Michel Legrand, a study of the healing power of music, the story of British choral singing from the medieval era to the present day, and a look at Stephen Sondheim's classic musical, Sweeney Todd.
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New Music Book Publications - November 2025
17th Nov 2025
The history of the world in fifty pieces from BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom Service, an exploration of Vivaldi's famous set of concertos, The Four Seasons, a journey through Western classical music with composer Robin Holloway, the hidden life of the metronome, a look at the contribution of the songs of the Sherman brothers to the making of the Walt Disney classic, Mary Poppins, curiosities from the history of music, and a study of opera-going in Britain.
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New Music Book Publications - October 2025
20th Oct 2025
A guide to the church cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, a new edition of Igor Stravinsky's 1939 Harvard lectures, a book of classical music puzzles, an exploration of the history of the Argentinian tango, an examination of the middlebrow musical in 1940s America, a collection of letters written by musicians through the ages, and a guide to the operatic aria repertoire.
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New Music Book Publications - September 2025
15th Sep 2025
The first biography of celebrated composer John Williams, a guide to movie music from noted film critic Mark Kermode, a paperback version of John Suchet's latest book exploring the life and music of Beethoven, a new edition of neurologist Oliver Sacks's examination of the power of music on the brain, diaries and memoirs from baritone Christian Gerhaher and oboist Albrecht Mayer, and the Boosey & Hawkes music diaries for 2026.
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New Music Book Publications - August 2025
12th Aug 2025
An examination of the film scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a companion to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, a collection of letters by Broadway composer Frank Loesser, volumes dedicated to composers including Arnold Schoenberg, Bohuslav Martinů, and Pierre Boulez, essays by musicologist Susan McClary, a paperback edition of the memoir by composer and Master of the King's Music Errollyn Wallen, an exploration of the art of orchestration in musical theatre, an analysis of Dolly Parton's Jolene, and the debut novel by Harriet Constable.
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New Music Book Publications - July 2025
14th Jul 2025
Biographies of French composer Maurice Ravel and Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad, a cultural history of the baritone voice through the centuries, an analysis of musical forgeries, the story of pianist Stephen de Bastion as told by his granddaughter Roxanne, an examination of ruralness and national identity in Czech opera, a collection of interviews with composers of movie music, and a picture-book biography of cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
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New Music Book Publications - June 2025
17th Jun 2025
A selection of Hector Berlioz's music criticism, a paperback edition of a book exploring Rachmaninoff's life after moving to the USA, books on composers including Brahms, Purcell, Manuel de Falla and Margaret Bonds, an examination of the musicals of Cole Porter, a survey of the classical concert scene in Nazi Germany, plus a selection of recent music fiction books by Martha Jean Johnson, Michael Ball, and Will Fraser.
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New Music Book Publications - May 2025
15th May 2025
The official guide to this summer's BBC Proms season, two books by cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a memoir by Sheku's mother Kadiatu about what it means to grow up as a Black artist today, paperback reissues of Harvey Sachs's book on Schoenberg and Susan Tomes's exploration of women at the piano, a collection of essays on Wagner, a book telling the story of Polish music during and after the Holocaust, and a limited edition volume reproducing issues of the 1960s Californian rock music newspaper, World Countdown.
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New Music Book Publications - April 2025
15th Apr 2025
Biographies of composer Gustav Mahler and choreographer Martha Graham, a book telling the story of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, a new paperback edition of Robert Philip's A Little History of Music, a guide to JS Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, an analysis of Beethoven's violin sonatas, two books on medieval music, a new edition of Kofi Agawu's classic text on musical semiotics, and an exploration of the music of Duke Ellington.
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New Music Book Publications - March 2025
18th Mar 2025
An exploration of the relationship between Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult, a biography of pianist Myra Hess, a memoir from Thomas W. Morris, former chief executive of major American orchestras, a primer on the liturgical traditions of early medieval Spain, a cultural history of the violin and its importance in nineteenth-century London, an examination of the impact of artificial intelligence on music, and books on jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis.
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New Music Book Publications - February 2025
19th Feb 2025
An analysis of Mahler's symphonies, a paperback reissue of a biography of Sibelius, an exploration of the role of music in the Third Reich, a limited edition book collecting press releases of records from the 1960s and 70s, a guide to cello repertoire, an introduction to the orchestra for young children, a collection of writings by Hungarian musician Ernst von Dohnányi, an exploration of how David Lynch's films engaged with musical traditions, and the history and aesthetics of the musical avant-garde.
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New Music Book Publications - January 2025
22nd Jan 2025
A biography of John Dowland, a companion to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, an exploration of the history of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw on stage and screen, a guide to the 2016 film musical La La Land, the reception history of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and an examination of the importance of the therapeutic power of music as medicine.
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New Music Book Publications - 11th December 2024
11th Dec 2024
A biography of lyricist Ira Gershwin, an exploration of the relationship of Wagner's music dramas to the philosophical and cultural ideas of his time, a companion to music in Australia, a study of Robert Schumann's chamber music, and a collection of essays questioning the concept of the composer in the middle ages.
