Dreams mean nothing unless you have the courage to pursue them. Luke Miggs wants more than small-town life: the grind of chores on the family farm, playing footy, drinks with friends. Like maybe doing something about his crush on Amanda Hunt, a barmaid at the local pub who's smart, funny, and ambitious. Or playing footy in the big league. At eighteen, it can't be too late, can it? There's the Curlews, at least, although the team's little more than battlers. If only they could take their footy seriously, like the reigning champions, the Little Reach Scorpions. Under their tyrannical coach, Claude Rankin, the Scorpions have dominated the competition for ten years. It seems nothing will be different this season. But when Adam Pride emerges from the night and tells the Curlews he wants to play for them, everything begins to change. Song of the Curlew is a story of friendship, bonds, and coming of age, and how the choices of our past can come back to shape our future.

This book charts Messiaen's transformation of birdsong into music and its development into a major work of the twentieth century.

"In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.

What is music, what is its value, and what does it mean? In this stimulating volume, Roger Scruton offers a comprehensive account of the nature and significance of music from the perspective of modern philosophy. The study begins with the metaphysics of sound. Scruton 7istinguishes sound from tone; analyzes rhythm, melody, and harmony; and explores the various dimensions of musical organization and musical meaning. Taking on various fashionable theories in the philosophy and theory of music, he presents a compelling case for the moral significance of music, its place in our culture, and the need for taste and discrimination in performing and listening to it. Laying down principles for musical analysis and criticism, this bold work concludes with a theory of culture--and a devastating demolition of modern popular music. "A provocative new study."--The Guardian

In this fascinating account, Richard Smyth asks what it is about birdsong that we so love. Exploring the myriad ways in which it has influenced literature, music, science, and our very ideas of what it means to be human, Smyth's nuanced investigation shows that what we hear says as much about us, our dreams and desires, as it does about the birds and their songs. At a time when our birdsong is growing quieter, with fewer voices, more thinly spread, A Sweet, Wild Note is a celebration of the complex relationships between birds, people, and the land; it is also a passionate call to arms lest our trees and hedgerows fall silent.

The history of English song from the late nineteenth century to the Second World War.