Talking Music: Conversations with New Zealand Musicians [Paperback]

Sarah Shieff (Author), Robert Cross (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Based on extensive interviews, this is a book of biographical essays about 15 leading contemporary New Zealand musicians who are working within the classical tradition. Photographer Robert Cross illustrates them with striking photographs, and a CD with examples of each musician's work accompanies the book. Each musician's development and training is explored, along with the highlights and challenges of their careers, presenting a uniquely personal picture of New Zealand's culture today. Includes CD-ROM

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Shieff teaches English at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. She is author of Bodies Out of Bounds. Robert Cross is a well-known portrait photographer. They both live in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Auckland University Press (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1869402286
• ISBN-13: 978-1869402280
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,628,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounds of the Pacific, October 14, 2004

By 

C. Bourke "Backbeat" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talking Music: Conversations with New Zealand Musicians (Paperback)

These engaging, informative profiles combine to build a history of New Zealand music for the highbrow crowd. The 14 subjects are all forthcoming and opinionated in their interviews, and the breadth is wide. Frank Gurr talks of the excitement of building a symphony orchestra from scratch after the Second World War (the weekly pay cheque was a generous £10), composer Dorothea Franchi of early discouragement playing the harp (an influence was Harpo Marx). Edwin Carr - the proudly conservative and accessible orchestral composer - is acerbic of "narrow nationalism" and recent cultural cross-pollination in music ("You don't plunder the temples," he quotes a friend), while Jack Body shrugs off accusations of exoticism. "One of the functions of art is to be outrageous, provocative, politically incorrect ... one has to learn not to become an embittered, grumpy old man. There's a few of those around. I hope that I can grow old joyful and unrepentant." Peter Scholes passionately parries criticism of the Enzso project from both classical and rock critics as "conservative and limiting"; he also describes his despair at sitting on arts council panels with such limited funds to share as "like walking into a nuclear bomb zone with a suitcase full of medicine".
It's invigorating to read such articulate opinions about music - especially for those jaded by musician interviews which are so often more about marketing - and no matter what your discipline, there is plenty here to inspire any musician.