Examines the songs, albums, and compositions of one of America's most prominent singer-songwriters.
James Bennighof is Professor of Music Theory and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Policy at Baylor University. His articles and essays on twentieth-century music theory and composition, and on the analysis of American popular, ragtime, and blues music have appeared in journals such as American Music and the Journal of Music Theory. His choral compositions have been published by Oxford University Press and Heritage Music Press.
Released in The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection, this volume
focuses on how Simon relayed his life through his music. Bennighof
looks at important influences and events in the musician's personal
history, but only as they relate to his musical production. The
coverage of Simon's recording career is well balanced….the volume
includes a thorough discography and annotated bibliography. Since
no biography of Simon has as yet been published, this book will be
an important resource for those interested in Simon and popular
music in general. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and
above; general readers.
*Choice*
Bennighof (music theory, Baylor U.) analyzes the music of singer-
songwriter Paul Simon, discussing each song and album
chronologically within the context of Simon's personal life and the
musical and cultural setting. He considers how each song integrates
text and music, specifically how the musical setting relates the
text through form, style, harmonic structure, or other elements. He
concludes with a brief analysis of Simon's creative identity,
aesthetic perspective, and compositional methods. Both general
readers and musicians could find the book accessible; an
explanation of the musical elements the author refers to in the
text is included in the appendix.
*SciTech Book News*
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