From Purcell and Arne to Vaughan Williams and Maxwell Davies, British composers have often made use of maritime tropes. These twelve essays examine how their music reflects changes in Britons’ relationship with the sea, focusing on three themes: the sea as landscape, profession and metaphor. Slightly off-mint.

Described as 'the greatest viola player of all time' on his death, Lionel Tertis (1876–1975) had risen from humble beginnings in Spitalfields and was virtually self-taught on the instrument 'despised' by other string players. This biography charts his long career and celebrates his inspiration of a new generation of violists through his activities as teacher, arranger, editor and performer of music for the instrument, especially those works which his artistry inspired from composers such as Bax, Walton and Vaughan Williams.

During the religious upheavals of the 16th century the old Scottish repertory of polyphonic music was swept away and replaced by simple tunes that could be sung by congregations of the Reformed Kirk. This book focuses on the compositions of this type by former Benedictine monk Jhone Angus (c.1515–96), which are preserved in the delightful manuscript psalter of his friend Thomas Wode. The accompanying CD features recordings of the canticles set to music by Angus. Slightly off-mint.

The Crystal Ballroom in Fargo, North Dakota in 1959; Monterey in 1963 (with Joan Baez ‘dragging my little vagabond out onto the stage’); the Royal Albert Hall; the Isle of Wight Festival; the Slow Train Coming recording session in Alabama, 1979 ... This book covers 20 years of Dylan performances as described by fellow musicians, record producers and fans who were there, along with set lists, photographs and quotations from rock music’s A list.

This second collection from the column from FT Weekend describes the background to the writing of 50 more classic songs and their cultural impact after release. An interesting example is John Lennon’s 1971 song ‘Jealous Guy’ which started out in 1968 as ‘Child of Nature’. It was reinterpreted by Donny Hathaway and then the Faces before Bryan Ferry recorded a version that is arguably better known than the original.

Working alongside contributors such as Annie Leibovitz and Hunter S Thompson, Robin Green was a lead journalist on Rolling Stone in the 1970s, during the magazine’s most influential years. This memoir tells how she became the magazine’s only woman writer and reveals the background to some of her most notorious stories, including a spat with Dennis Hopper and an exposé of David Cassidy.

Jann Wenner created a new type of magazine with Rolling Stone in 1967, mixing politics with serious pop-music journalism. This biography was written with extensive access to the controversial editor as well as interviews with leading rock stars.

Spanning four decades, from an interview with Rock (US) magazine in 1973, less than a month after the release of Springsteen’s first album, to his keynote speech at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in 2012, this is The Boss speaking to journalists or directly to his audience. Slightly off-mint.

This photo-led celebration of the Irish rock group includes hundreds of images of the band on and off stage as it describes their milestone albums and concert performances over a period of more than 35 years. Slightly off-mint.

Originally a daily online comic on a Greek website, created by the multidisciplinary artist Con Chrisoulis and published as a book in 2018, this is the story of the teenage years and musical influences of Morrissey, Marr, Rourke and Joyce in Manchester, culminating with the formation of The Smiths in 1982. Slightly off-mint.

This illustrated memoir celebrates the friendship and innovative collaboration between David Bowie and the artist Edward Bell. It explains how they met, describes Bowie’s involvement in the creative process and explores the unique qualities that made him a cultural icon.

A biography in the form of interviews, this book explores the life and music of the celebrated tenor Jonas Kaufmann. In extended conversations with Thomas Voigt, Kaufmann discusses his work in opera, and particularly his relationship to Verdi and Wagner, the sacrifices of success, and the performance of lieder, which he describes as ‘the ne plus ultra of singing’. Foreword by Plácido Domingo.

In the first biography of Stephen Stills, David Roberts explores the music, politics and love life of the driving force behind so many great bands – Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Manassas and The Rides.

From ragtime pianist Tony Jackson, who lived as an openly gay man in Chicago in the 1910s, to Dusty Springfield, Boy George and beyond, this musical history explores how LGBT artists have coped with prejudice and considers their influence on the development of popular music.

The writer and founding editor of Rolling Stone, David Dalton describes his book as a quest ‘to look for Dylan’s poetic intention, to read Dylan’s biography by the flickering light of songs’. In a creative and critically acclaimed work, Dalton reveals the many personas of Dylan, from Folk Messiah singing Masters of War in 1963 to Living National Treasure. This paperback edition has a new foreword, Dalton’s ‘Letter to Bob’ on his 75th birthday. Slightly off-mint.

Internationally renowned jazz composer Graham Collier (1937–2011) offers a radical analysis of the composer’s place in a genre associated with improvization and traditional ‘standards’. Looking back over the development of jazz composition, he considers the work of such important figures as Gil Evans and ‘acknowedged genius’ Duke Ellington. He then examines the new directions taken by contemporary jazz, illustrating his points with examples from his own music and anecdotes from his life. References to websites may no longer be valid.

Melissa J de Graaf tells the story of the Composers’ Forum, a free weekly concert series at which American composers such as Aaron Copland, Amy Beach and Henry Cowell introduced their work to a newly developing audience for modern music. She also analyses the transcripts of the question-and-answer sessions sponsored by the Forum: reflecting its inclusive, populist ideology, these conversations offer remarkable insights into New Yorkers’ diverse reactions to the music and their attitudes to modernism, politics and American identity.

From flamboyant Jean-Paul Gaultier bustiers to sophisticated Dolce & Gabbana gowns, Madonna's fashion choices have long proved as influential as her hit records. This volumeillustrates her style evolution from the street-punk look synonymous with her early performances to her surprising reinvention as a tweed-clad countrywoman. Concluding with the elaborate costumes she showcased in her 2012 'MDNA' World Tour, this is a comprehensive visual record of a near four-decade-long career.

Most Bowie fans will be familiar with his ‘final’ Hammersmith Odeon performance in the Ziggy persona, which was filmed by DA Pennebaker. However his last portrayal of the role came a few months later in a Marquee show filmed for US television. Terry O’Neill, well known for photographing the glamorous and the good, captured the front and backstage action: his photos are accompanied here by reminiscences from fans who were there.

Musicians such as Eric Clapton were stunned by Jimi Hendrix’s virtuosity when they first heard him in 1966 and an army of fans were similarly bowled over by his concert performances in the few years before his death in 1970. Supported by personal photographs and memorabilia this volume collects over 500 eyewitness accounts of Hendrix concerts from early New York gigs to Woodstock.

Many rock stars become monuments to their youthful fame, but Thurston Moore has remained innovative. In this account of the guitarist’s career, friends and colleagues discuss his work from 1978 to the present, including Sonic Youth and his free jazz improvisations.

As he tells the story of Messiah’s genesis, Keates explains how Handel and his librettist fashioned a new kind of sacred oratorio. He then traces the work’s reception, from the mixed reactions at early performances to its current status as a well-loved classic.

Perhaps best known for his opera, The Tempest, composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Adès is one of Britain’s leading musicians. This extended interview reveals his influences and creative processes and includes a foreword with his thoughts on his 2016 opera The Exterminating Angel.

For centuries female composers have been unjustly ignored and patronized, since they worked within a male-dominated musical culture that sought to exclude them, even to the extent of questioning their music’s authorship. The eight composers profiled here all challenged this prejudice with courage and pragmatism, from Francesca Caccini, who manipulated the gender politics of the Medici court, to Vaughan Williams’ pupil Elizabeth Maconchy, who fought back against sexism by working with ‘rigid self-discipline’.

Now best remembered as the conductor of Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty (1879–1941) began his career in Ulster and Dublin before coming to prominence in London as a piano accompanist. This biography reveals how he was influenced by these early experiences, analyses the debates he provoked on such topics as jazz and modernism and emphasizes his parallel career as a composer of orchestral works, chamber music and songs. The book ends with complete lists of Harty’s recordings and compositions.

This collection of interviews provides insights into the daily routines and compositional processes of 39 contemporary British composers, including John Rutter, Sir Harrison Birtwistle and two Masters of the Queen’s Music (Judith Weir and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies). These eminent musicians, who work in a wide range of styles, also answer questions about the function and purpose of music, discuss the influence of Britishness on their work and share their advice for young composers.

In 1970 David Bowie and his bass player Tony Visconti had some ideas for a new sound that could make the impact that Bowie's first two albums hadn't. Guitarist Mick Ronson suggested the drummer from his old band and Woody Woodmansey joined the team. This biography tells the story of his time recording and touring with Bowie up until 1973, and his later career with his own band and as a session player.

Introducing musical notation and music theory, this straightforward guide covers the principles of pitch, key, rhythm and harmony, as well as essentials of phrasing and ornamentation. Each chapter ends with a set of practice questions, for which answers are provided.

Drawing on the author’s experience as a player and audio engineer, this manual explains how guitars work and how they can be kept in peak condition. Step-by-step instructions guide the guitarist through the process of stringing, adjusting and repairing acoustic instruments, as well as the installation of amplification. Thirteen case studies illustrate the features and maintenance of different varieties of guitar, with photographs showing both outer and inner details.

After describing the instrument’s history and anatomy, two restoration experts introduce the tools and techniques of the violin repair shop. Their illustrated, step-by-step instructions guide violinists through maintenance routines at basic, intermediate and advanced level, from changing a string to re-gluing a whole plate.

Focusing on Lou Reed's 'singular concern to turn rock into an intelligently literate medium of expression', this biography from Jeremy Reed (no relation) traces and critically assesses his career from 'experimenting with weaponised noise' at Syracuse University in the 1960s, through the years with The Velvet Underground, solo projects such as Transformer and Berlin, collaborations with other musicians and lyric-writing, to his final album, Lulu, recorded with Metallica in 2011. Off-mint.

One of three brothers and a cousin who formed The Beach Boys in the early 1960s, Brian Wilson emerged as the leading creative force of the group. This autobiography explores the influences that nurtured his talent and the productive years of creativity, before his struggles with mental illness and drugs began, as well as his rehabilitation since the 1990s and the completion of his legendary abandoned album, Smile. Slightly off-mint.

This collection of anecdotes from a career in music journalism that began with the Melody Maker in the mid-1970s includes stories of self-importance and rock excess in the company of stars such as David Bowie, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello.

Simon Callow developed a one-man play for the Royal Opera House for the bicentenary of Wagner’s birth in 2013. He subsequently wrote this biography which sets out, as the actor did on stage, to understand what drove this most divisive and mercurial of musical figures, examining the intellectual, political and artistic climate of his times, the struggle to create his great operatic works and his turbulent private life.

Written to mark Beethoven’s centenary, this long essay forms the principal aesthetic statement of Wagner’s later years and influenced the young Nietzsche. Allen’s new English translation faces the German original; his introduction places the essay within its historical, political and philosophical contexts.

Based on interviews with Elton John and his friends and collaborators, Tom Doyle’s book follows Elton through the decade of platform soles, wild costumes and hits such as Your Song, Rocket Man and Candle in the Wind, but also discusses the undercurrents of insecurity and depression.

Growing up in a humble shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley dreamed that success would free him from poverty. So how did he become dependent on bank loans even after achieving huge worldwide fame, and why did he despise his own movies and songs, even fearing that he would be forgotten after his death? This biography focuses on identifying the origins of the contradictions and frailties that lay behind Elvis’s charming, confident onstage persona. Slightly off-mint.

Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) was one of the most celebrated stars of the 1960s, whose ‘blue-eyed soul’ was popular both here and in America. This biography discusses her musical development and lasting legacy, but also delves beyond Dusty’s cheerful image to explore a more conflicted person. In the words of her lover, Dusty ‘wanted to be straight and she wanted to be a good Catholic and she wanted to be black’.

The Six-Five Special was the BBC’s first attempt to put pop music on television, breaking new ground in 1957 with a live, dancing studio audience. Drawing on interviews and anecdotes from presenters and performers, Jeff Evans analyses the development of music programming on British television, recalling the memorable moments and revealing what went on behind the scenes on shows such as Ready, Steady Go!, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Slightly off-mint.

At the Monterey Festival in June 1967 a German photographer told Ed Caraeff, ‘save some film for this Jimi Hendrix cat’; among the photographs that Caraeff took that day was the famous image of Hendrix setting fire to his guitar. From that summer to the Newport ’69 festival, this volume of photographs follows the iconic guitarist and his band as they played gigs across America.

Starting with the ‘sliding doors moment’ in 1968, when The Yardbirds ended and Jimmy Page and Chris Dreja carried on, Mick Wall’s seminal biography tells the full story of Led Zeppelin’s formation, their phenomenal success, the feuds and, 50 years on, the comeback O2 concert. This revised and updated edition looks at the dark side of Zeppelin, including Page’s interest in the occult, while celebrating the music and the musicians of what was the world’s greatest rock band.

Paul Trynka’s much-acclaimed biography looks behind the showmanship to fathom the ‘magical alchemy’ by which David Bowie transformed his inner self as well as his public images. A Coda in this edition takes the story up to January 2016, the release of Black Star and Bowie’s death.

From his childhood in Queens, New York, and Hey, Schoolgirl, the hit song recorded with his best friend Artie Garfunkel in 1957, to the release of Stranger to Stranger in 2016, Paul Simon has sustained one of the most interesting and successful careers in popular music. Peter Ames Carlin’s biography delves deep into the life and character of the artist responsible for the incomparable Bridge over Troubled Water (1970) and the solo album, Graceland (1986).

Following the band from 1991 when Ronan Munro reviewed their gig at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford for the local music paper, to a Times Literary Supplement article in May 2016, this book is a compilation of interviews and articles on Radiohead. It includes reviews of the albums from Pablo Honey to the digital release of The King of Limbs and Thom Yorke’s work with Atoms for Peace.

Judith Chernaik describes Robert Schumann (1810–1856) as a key figure in Romanticism: ‘a true Romantic in his embrace of poetry and feeling, his love of emotional extremes, his intermingling of life and art’. In this groundbreaking biography she traces the composer’s life and musical career, from his provincial, middle-class upbringing to his tragically early death, and draws on the medical records kept by Schumann’s doctor to shed light on the composer’s final illness in the Endenich asylum.

Homi Dastoor, a lover of Western Classical music since his teens, compiled this introductory guide at the age of 90 to pass on a lifetime’s knowledge and reflection. He profiles 34 great composers, from Palestrina and Monteverdi to Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, assessing their importance in musical history and providing lists of their major compositions for the reader to explore. Foreword by Zubin Mehta. Off-mint.

During the last decade of his life Leoš Janácek sent hundreds of passionate letters to Kamila Stösslová, a married woman half his age. Selections from their correspondence are translated in this volume, with linking commentary, photographs and a decoding of the lovers’ erotic references. Their words reveal how much this relationship inspired the composer’s final, greatest works – including the String Quartet ‘Intimate Letters’ – and shed valuable light on his personality.

‘Being Adam is like playing a part in a film,’ Terry Nelhams once said of his alter ego, Adam Faith. Drawing on the recollections of friends, family and colleagues, this biography follows the many reinventions of the boy from Acton, first as a pop star and, when the hits dried up, as a financial adviser, property speculator and TV actor.

As the frontman of proto-punk band Dr Feelgood, Lee Brilleaux (1952–1994) brought new heart and charisma to the British musical scene of the 1970s. This compendium of anecdotes, exclusive interviews and unseen images celebrates his short but revolutionary life.

After working as a film actor, Peter Grant found himself managing Led Zeppelin in the 1960s and, through a fierce determination to protect the musicians and improve their earnings and conditions, is credited with revolutionizing the profession.

The singer and actor Paul Robeson was one of the most celebrated African-Americans of his time, but sacrificed fame and fortune for his political ideals. Blending biography with travelogue, the author follows Robeson from Harlem to Spain, the Welsh valleys and Moscow.

Following Mahler from his birthplace in Kalist, Bohemia in 1860 to his early death in Vienna in 1911, Seckerson explores the vicissitudes of his reputation – internationally renowned as a conductor during his lifetime, Mahler was initially neglected as a composer after his death. The CD contains seven selections from the symphonies and three lieder.

Born in 1756, into a family where he ‘lived and breathed in an atmosphere of music’, Mozart was to become music’s most famous prodigy. Drawing on contemporary accounts and the composer’s letters, Woodford presents the story of a prolific musical life, cut short at the age of 35. The 15-track CD includes excerpts from the operas, concertos and requiems.

Quoting extensively from contemporaries of Chopin, Ateş Orga traces the composer’s life and musical career from his birth in the village of Żelazowa Wola, west of Warsaw, in 1810, to his life as an emigré in Paris and his tragically early death in 1849. A selection of his music is performed by Idil Biret on the accompanying CD.

Philip Norman's history of the Beatles, Shout!, and his biography of John Lennon seemed to take a largely anti-McCartney stance so it was a surprise when Paul gave tacit approval to Norman to write this biography, enabling access to family members and close friends. The result redresses the balance, describing the importance of McCartney's creative leadership in the Beatles and exploring his later career and personal life from the early death of his mother to his highly publicized marriages. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on upper trimmed edge.

Born in Moscow in 1971, Evgeny Kissin made his concert debut at the age of ten and is now internationally renowned for his interpretation of the classical and Romantic piano repertoire. In this collection of reminiscences he answers some of the questions that he is most often asked – about his childhood, his early teachers and his encounters with the world’s great musicians – and muses on topics including fame, inspiration and his favourite composers. Slightly off-mint.

Aimed at amateur players, for whom much of the chamber repertoire was written, this guide covers music by 50 significant composers, from the 17th century (Purcell and Corelli) to the 20th (including Britten and Shostakovich). Information is provided on each work’s instrumentation, duration and technical difficulty, together with comments on special points of interest. Pieces particularly suitable for inexperienced players are identified; an appendix suggests less familiar composers whose music will also be of interest. Slightly off-mint.

The scandal over his marriage to his teenage cousin stopped Jerry Lee Lewis’s career in its tracks in 1958 but he made a comeback in the 1970s as a country artist. Extensive recent interviews with the singer provide the basis of this biography, telling his story of rags to riches success, multiple wives and divorces, drug and alcohol abuse and eventual rehabilitation as a respected elder statesman of rock. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

The celebrated photographer Brian Duffy collaborated with David Bowie during the 1970s, helping to create his highly influential album artwork. The images in this catalogue, which was inspired by the V&A’s ‘David Bowie is’ exhibition, are supported by the recollections of people who worked on the shoots.

Perhaps the most aggressive expression of the pop culture of the 1960s, The Who were powerful exponents of early British rock and their reputation as an unrivalled live act kept audiences flocking to their concerts well into the 21st century. This photographic portfolio presents many previously unpublished images of the group from early promotional portraits and London pub gigs of the mid 1960s to their Live 8 performance of 2005. Felt-tip mark on the upper trimmed edge.

Including John Peel, Grandmaster Flash, Paul Oakenfield and Tiësto, this compilation of interviews with pioneering disc jockeys from the website DJhistory.com describes how dance music evolved and shaped popular culture from the 1950s to the present.

In 1982 Michael Jackson made a demo of a song called Starlight for his new album but it was judged inadequate until a new lyric transformed it into Thriller, his career-defining recording. This highly illustrated book tells the story of all Jackson’s songs from the first hits of the Jackson 5 to songs released since the singer’s death in 2009, and includes profiles of key producers and collaborators. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge

Founder and lead guitarist of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones has a good claim to be one of the most influential figures in rock history. His autobiography reveals how he went from petty crime in West London to pop stardom, and most recently, radio host.

A household name since his prodigious childhood, the violinist and conductor Sir Yehudi Menuhin (1916–99) strove to use his fame to draw attention to many humanitarian issues. Humphrey Burton, who knew Menuhin for 40 years, compiled this biography with full access to his subject’s personal archive; it offers a rounded portrait of his family life and his wide-ranging activities as performer, teacher and ‘musical diplomat’. The preface to this centenary edition highlights Menuhin’s continuing legacy.

On hearing a starling whistling his latest concerto in a Vienna shop, Mozart was so enchanted that he bought the bird as a family pet. Haupt interweaves the story of the composer’s songbird with her own experiences as a naturalist caring for a rescued nestling.

Raphael Terroni, piano; Phillida Bannister, contralto; Vadim Peaceman, piano.

Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Hila Plitmann, soprano; Albany Symphony; David Alan Miller

Acclaimed director Michael Hampe presents ‘useful rules’ for staging opera, giving examples from his work with singers and conductors. He discusses such questions as how to move on stage and how to convey comedy, aiming to help performers realize the art form’s full potential.

At the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, Otis Redding’s set was one of the performances that made the festival legendary; by the end of the year he was dead, killed when his tour’s private plane crashed in Wisconsin. With the cooperation of the Redding family, friends and fellow musicians, Jonathan Gould presents a biography of ‘the king of soul’ and an appreciation of his immense contribution to popular music. Off-mint with felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge..

Presented in scrapbook format with archive photographs, memorabilia and quotations from contemporary musicians, this history of the Ramones assesses the band's entire career, musical output and cultural impact, and includes a foreword by CJ Ramone.

Sibylla Rubens, soprano; Stefanie Iranyo, mezzo-soprano; Thomas E Bauer, baritone; Uta Hielscher, piano.

The popular image of Billie Holiday emphasizes the tragedy and notoriety of her life, her experiences of racism, drug addiction and abusive relationships, as much as the distinctive singing voice which conveyed such raw emotion. Drawing on recent academic work and a wealth of material rediscovered during the last decade, this centenary portrait ‘attempts to widen our sense of who Billie Holiday was’ by stripping away the accumulation of myths to reveal her strengths and insecurities, wit and warmth. Felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

NBC Symphony Orchestra; Arturo Toscanin. Toscanini Concert Edition

Alessandro Marangoni, piano.

Dietmar Berger; viola da Gamba

Elvis's career began to take off in 1955 when he was picked up by the shady Dutch-born promoter ’Colonel' Tom Parker, who secured a major recording deal. The contract sent to Elvis's parents (as the singer's guardians) to authorize Parker as manager is one of the items of memorabilia reproduced in this celebration of Elvis's career, which includes many concert and promotional photographs, film stills and posters as well as private snaps and personal documents.

Lonnie Donegan’s energetic renditions of American folk and blues songs inspired thousands of teenagers to start skiffle bands in the mid 1950s. Billie Bragg’s analysis of this uniquely British craze shows how it led to the Beatles, British blues and the transformation of Western popular music.

The son of a big band singer, Declan McManus emerged from the post Punk era as one of the most significant British songwriters of his generation. This thoughtful memoir discusses his long career and many collaborations with other artists including Paul McCartney and Burt Bacharach. Felt tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

This compendium of the popular Wall Street Journal column tells the stories of 45 hits by artists including Elvis, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell and The Clash, based on interviews with the songs’ writers and performers. Off-mint.

After firing a revolver in the street at the age of 12, Louis Armstrong was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys in New Orleans, where the harsh conditions were mitigated by the opportunity to play in the band. This succinct biography of the jazz legend describes how he came to dominate the new art form from the 1920s to the 1960s.

A prototype tragic hero for the rock generation to follow, Hank Williams struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse and died before he was 30 on New Year's Day, 1953. This new biography of the country legend describes his childhood of rural poverty, tracing his musical roots to the street corner bluesman he befriended in Alabama, and explores the powerful influence in his life and career of his domineering mother, Millie, and fiery wife, Audrey. Off-mint.

Otis Redding (1941–1967) made a seismic impact on American popular culture, and his recordings for the STAX label during the 1960s helped to define the sound of soul music and bring it to the mainstream. Based on interviews and extensive archival research, this chronicle of his life traces his rise from an unknown rural gospel singer to a superstar capable of selling out huge venues across the world. American-cut pages.

The 'Mighty Handful' of five Russian composers who came together in St Petersburg in the 1860s had little musical education, but they created some of the most popular music in the classical repertoire, including Borodin's Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. Walsh's study analyses how this rare example of a creative musical collective worked and reveals the crucial role played by their mentor, the art historian Vladimir Stasov, in fostering a Russian nationalist music. Slightly off-mint and American-cut pages.

Mozart's music has enthralled listeners for centuries. In this concise biography, the historian Paul Johnson charts the composer's life from the age of three, when he first recognized chords, to the creation of his mature masterpieces Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. Dispelling popular myths, it explores his relationships with his father, his wife and the royal court of Vienna, and highlights the intelligence, wit, charisma and drive of this extraordinarily gifted man.

Jerry Dantzic was commissioned to photograph Billie Holiday during a week-long engagement at Sugar Hill jazz club in Newark, New Jersey, in 1957. Allowed into her inner circle, Dantzic was able to capture intimate moments backstage and at the singer's Manhattan apartment, as well as atmospheric shots of her performances. The 100 images in this portfolio present a poignant portrait of the troubled star two years before her death at the age of 44.

Tom Wiggins (1849–1908) was born a slave; blind and probably autistic, he soon displayed a remarkable memory for sound. This biography traces his career as an international piano virtuoso and shows how attitudes to celebrity, race and disability intersected in the response to his skills. Slightly off-mint.

After working as a film actor, Peter Grant found himself managing Led Zeppelin in the early 1960s and, through a fierce determination to protect the musicians and improve their earnings and conditions, is credited with revolutionizing the profession.

First encountering Bob Dylan in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, Victor Maymudes became his tour manager and friend, accompanying the superstar around the world for much of the next 40 years. This memoir includes anecdotes and recollections of Dylan, the scene around him and the people he met, including the Beatles in New York in 1964.

Adding ticket stubs, posters and other period ephemera to a collection of archive photographs, this celebration of the Rolling Stones chronicles their rise from the London blues scene of the early 1960s to world fame and profiles each of the band members. Organized around their 22 album releases, each chapter discusses the progress of their recording and live career as well as telling the story of each of the songs.

One of the most significant figures in American popular music, Hank Williams (1923–1953) rose to fame in the late 1940s, but alcohol and drug abuse made him difficult to work with and contributed to his early death. This definitive biography, updated with new information about the singer that has emerged in recent years, forms the basis of the 2015 film of the same title. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on upper trimmed edge.

Described by Borodin as ‘an elegant piano-playing dilettante’, Mussorgsky (1839–81) was a prodigy who performed a concerto at the age of nine and later became one of ‘The Mighty Handful’ of Russian composers. His famous Pictures at an Exhibition is included in this compilation of piano music, together with a further 18 pieces, four of which are presented in both their first and second versions.

Lead singer and lyricist on many of the Beach Boys' biggest hits, Mike Love has often been blamed for the quarrels that divided the group. In this autobiography he offers his side of the story. Off-mint with felt-tip mark on the lower trimmed edge.

Writers from the American magazine Keyboard profile 20 pioneering synthesizer musicians and technicians – including Dr Robert Moog, Brian Eno, Vangelis and Edgar Winter – who have influenced generations of musicians.