Whitwell Publishing

Inspiring the world, one chapter at a time.

Whitwell Publishing is a family business in every sense of the word, founded by Dr. David Whitwell. The collection then grew with the addition of Giselle Whitwell's books and also features a set of Whitwell History books which tell the story of one of America's oldest families which has played an active civic, cultural and philanthropic role from the pre-revolutionary era through and including modern times.

Performance Insights

Here is where the rubber meets the road. It is one thing to be a historian of music -- another entirely to get up in front of a wind ensemble with hundreds if not thousands of people in a big hall waiting to hear what you've got to share. Performance is where music comes alive and becomes real in ways that it never can when confined to the two-dimensions of written paper. Prior to his retirement, David Whitwell was a much sought after conductor who was asked by people all around the world to come guest conduct or to come teach a master class on conducting. It is during performance where you really discover the artist in yourself and have the responsibility to nurture the artists in your ensemble. In the series of books below, David Whitwell not only shares the perspective of others before him, as it relates to performance, but also gives guidance for up and coming conductors who wish to deepen their own practice. Recognizing that education is an important part of the process to sustain meaningful music in our culture, David Whitwell also shares some direct thoughts and shares deep questions that need to be answered for the future of music to achieve its potential looking ahead.

The Art of Musical Conducting

This book by Dr. David Whitwell is destined to be regarded as one of the most important works on the subject. It emphasizes the philosophic and aesthetic concepts of conducting and will cause ensemble directors to re-examine their ideas about the way they look at music making.

Length: 294 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2011

Early Thoughts on Performance Practice

This volume presents the early views of philosophers and musicians having to do with the general background of what is known as Performance Practice. Performance Practice refers to the knowledge needed by musicians in bringing to life, in the form of present tense performance, older compositions, in view of the fact that we have a very incomplete system for the notation of music. ...

Length: 204 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2014

Aesthetics of Music in the Early Renaissance

Essays on Performance Practice

David Whitwell is one of the most influential college band directors of the twentieth century and the author of more than forty books on music, conducting, education, history and aesthetics. In this new collection of essays, "Essays on Performance Practice," he provides information on many of the topics missing from modern music education. ...

Length: 228 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2013

Foundations of Music Education

This book traces the history of music education from the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome to the modern era. The reader will see the most natural concepts of the ancient music education as it then passes through the Dark Ages when the Church made music a branch of mathematics and then through the Renaissance when formal music education meant only theoretical teaching. ...

Length: 422 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2011

Music Education of the Future

In the ancient civilizations music education was based on principles which seemed to them obvious and natural, that there was something universal about how people heard and understood music and that music seemed to have a role in the development of character. Beginning with the Christian Era music education was forced to move from the experiential to the rational and it has never recovered its natural state. ...

Length: 172 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2011

Music Performance in Ancient Societies

This volume contains first-hand and eye-witness descriptions of the actual performance of music in ancient and medieval societies.Documented here are not only concerts of art music in real concert halls, but a wide spectrum of functional music for the theater, banquets, weddings, funerals and the military.

Length: 242 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2014

Philosophic Foundations of Education

In this book the reader will find the dramatic story of how the early Roman Church sought to end the general education of the public and how knowledge struggled to survive the Dark Ages. During the Renaissance new forces, including the Crusades and the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle and others, coincided with the birth of the modern universities and secular thought began a long contest with the Church. ...

Length: 150 pages

Language: English

Publication Year: 2011