A number of these studies deal with various aspects of the physical coordination the pianist must achieve in order to be able to use his full potential for virtuosity and musical continuity. They were written by a pianist who hadsearched for more effective teaching tools and had developed a uniq meaningful analysis of the nature of this coordination.
Contains the texts of two books by piano teacher Abby Whiteside, the first, "Indispensables of Piano Playing," in which she explains her rhythm-based method of learning to play, and the second, "Mastering the Chopin Etudes and Other Essays," in which she applies her principles to the performance of the Chopin Etudes.
Allan Evans's groundbreaking biography of Ignaz Friedman gives the reader the behind and the between of the life and career of this extraordinary pianist. Friedman's repertory emphasized the major works of Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms, but he was perhaps best known for his interpretation of the Chopin mazurkas, which by all accounts he played with the same rhythmic nuance as their composer. Evans examines Friedman's life as a cultured Jewish musician from Poland; his studies in Leipzig and Vienna; his marriage to Manya Schidlowsky -- a Russian countess and relative of Tolstoy; and his performing career, teaching, and retirement in Australia.
A beautifully illustrated, totally engrossing celebration of the piano, and the composers and performers who have made it their own. With honed sensitivity and unquestioned expertise, Stuart Isacoff—pianist, critic, teacher, and author of Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization—unfolds the ongoing history and evolution of the piano and all its myriad wonders: how its very sound provides the basis for emotional expression and individual style, and why it has so powerfully entertained generation upon generation of listeners. He illuminates the groundbreaking music of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann, and Debussy. He analyzes the breathtaking techniques of Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Arthur Rubinstein, and Van Cliburn, and he gives musicians including Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, and Vladimir Horowitz the opportunity to discuss their approaches. Isacoff delineates how classical music and jazz influenced each other as the uniquely American art form progressed from ragtime, novelty, stride, boogie, bebop, and beyond, through Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Charlap. A Natural History of the Piano distills a lifetime of research and passion into one brilliant narrative. We witness Mozart unveiling his monumental concertos in Vienna’s coffeehouses, using a special piano with one keyboard for the hands and another for the feet; European virtuoso Henri Herz entertaining rowdy miners during the California gold rush; Beethoven at his piano, conjuring healing angels to console a grieving mother who had lost her child; Liszt fainting in the arms of a page turner to spark an entire hall into hysterics. Here is the instrument in all its complexity and beauty. We learn of the incredible craftsmanship of a modern Steinway, the peculiarity of specialty pianos built for the Victorian household, the continuing innovation in keyboards including electronic ones. And most of all, we hear the music of the masters, from centuries ago and in our own age, brilliantly evoked and as marvelous as its most recent performance. With this wide-ranging volume, Isacoff gives us a must-have for music lovers, pianists, and the armchair musician.
(Amadeus). This holistic approach to the keyboard, based on a sound understanding of the relationship between physical function and musical purpose, is an invaluable resource for pianists and teachers. Professor Fink explains his ideas and demonstrates his innovative developmental exercises that set the pianist free to express the most profound musical ideas. HARDCOVER.
(Amadeus). Morton Gould (1913-1996) was a dominant force in American music throughout most of the 20th century. This phenomenally talented composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist worked in vaudeville and on radio, from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway, all the while churning out jingles, symphonies, and everything in between. His popularity, however, may have been the reason that he never received due recognition for his concert music. Peter Goodman began working on this biography with Gould himself more than a year before his death and was allowed full access by the family to all of Gould's diaries and files.
Important books, articles, reviews, and theses on Fr d ric Chopin (1810-1849) in Western European languages and in Polish are cited; selected references in languages such as Russian, Czech, and Japanese are included as well. The Chopin legend is considered through studies of the performance tradition and a discography of recent and reissued recordings. Short essays outline the historiography of Chopin research and the current direction of scholarship. Index.
