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The Art of the Piano: Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings
by David Dubal
From Library Journal
As a basic handbook for piano enthusiasts, this is an informative and
well-researched volume. The first section offers capsule biographies of
pianists through history, alphabetically arranged, that assess the stylistic
or pianistic traits of each. Recordings--or, in the case of historical
figures, contemporary reports on playing styles--are cited for documentation.
The second section presents a critical survey of the important piano literature,
solo and concerto, with a selective discography for each, based on the
author's comparative listening...
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Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire
by Maurice Hinson, Maurice Hinson
For a quarter century, "the Hinson" has been indispensable for
performers, teachers, and students. This extensively revised edition will
be a trusted guide many years to come.
Now updated and expanded, the "New Hinson" is more useful than
ever (with 120 more composers than before), guiding pianists to piano
solo literature, for themselves and for their students. Maurice Hinson
still answers the perennial questions of performers and teachers: What
is available? How difficult is it? What are its special musical features?
How can I reach the publisher?
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Piano Notes, by Charles Rosen
In Piano Notes, he writes for a broader audience about an old friend --
the piano itself. Drawing upon a lifetime of wisdom and the accumulated
lore of many great performers of the past, Rosen shows why the instrument
demands such a stark combination of mental and physical prowess. Readers
will gather many little-known insights -- from how pianists vary their
posture, to how splicings and microphone placements can ruin recordings,
to how the history of composition was dominated by the piano for two centuries.
Stories of many great musicians abound. |
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Notes From the Pianist's Bench, by Boris Berman
From the Inside Flap
Boris Berman, an internationally known Russian-trained concert pianist
and highly respected teacher, here draws on his vast experience to explore
issues of piano technique and music interpretation. Combining explanations
and advice with anecdotes about his students, colleagues, and former teachers,
he also provides many insights into the psychological aspects of musical
performance and the teaching of music. |
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Chopin's Funeral, by Benita Eisler
Biographer Eisler, whose last book was on Byron, has moved to much more
heavily trodden ground with this one, and it is to her credit that she
manages to make the brief arc of the exiled Polish composer's life so
affecting. She begins with a journalistic close-up of Chopin's funeral,
which ironically was a lavish affair, though in his last months of sickness
he was neglected by most of his society friends. (From Publishers Weekly) |
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Chopin's Letters, Editor E. L. Voynich
Nearly 300 letters reveal Chopin as both man and artist and illuminate
his fascinating world—Europe of the 1830’s and 1840’s.
"They abound in delightful gossip, are merry rather than malicious,
are engagingly witty, and at times their humor becomes positively Rabelaisian."—Books.
Preface. Index.
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The Mastery of Music: Ten Pathways to True Artistry,
by Barry Green
In his follow-up to The Inner Game of Music, which sought to teach musicians
how to overcome mental barriers to inspired playing, bassist Green defines
ten qualities that offer a "pathway to true artistry": communication,
courage, discipline, fun, passion, tolerance, concentration, confidence,
ego/humility and creativity. |
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The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's
Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 by Wladyslaw Szpilman
Written immediately after the end of World War II, this morally complex
Holocaust memoir is notable for its exact depiction of the grim details
of life in Warsaw under the Nazi occupation. |
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The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport:
A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival,
by Mona Golabek, Lee Cohen
Famed concert pianist Mona Golabek shares the inspirational true story
of her mother's escape from pre-WWII Vienna to an orphange in London-243
Willesden Lane. "The music will give you strength...it will be your
best friend in life." |
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With Your Own Two Hands, by Seymour Bernstein
A jewel of a book, January 7, 2001 - Reviewer: Claus
Hetting (see more about me) from Gentofte, Copenhagen Denmark
There are two books on piano playing that should be a must read for
all serious pianists. |
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Body & Soul, by Frank Conroy
From Kirkus Reviews
In a squalid basement apartment on New York's Third Avenue
toward WW II's end, a fatherless little kid named Claude Rawlings spends
his days alone ...Claude's awakening to music is splendidly, rivetingly,
described, and the Horatio Alger-esque cliches and coincidences are
readily forgiven as the boy tears through his beginning-level lessons,
becomes the student of nearby music-store proprietor ... |
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The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, by Thaddeus Carhart
In this engaging memoir, an American writer living in Paris recounts
his experiences in a piano shop tucked into an out-of-the way street
on the rive gauche...(From Publishers Weekly) |
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Piano Lessons, by Noah Adams
At 52, Noah Adams became the piano man. He used to be a regular guy
with a wife, two dogs and a day job as host of National Public Radio's
All Things Considered. Today he's a guy with a wife, dogs, a
job, a Steinway piano and a small but growing repertoire, |
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Temperament: The Idea That Solved Music's Greatest Riddle,
by Stuart M. Isacoff
Involving mathematics, philosophy, aesthetics, religion, politics,
and physics, Stuart Isacoff 's Temperament invokes the tone of a James
Burke documentary. ...attempts to make this seemingly arcane topic interesting
to the general reader. He distills the mathematics and music theory
into their simplest essences, and draws apt analogies from the everyday.
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The Thing I've Played with the Most: Professor Anthon E.
Darling Discusses His Favourite Instrument, by David E. Walden,
Mike Duncan
David Walden has done it again! Following his hilarious analysis of
concert-going, 'How to StayAwake During Anybody's Second Movement,'
and his daring foray of fun into serious music of the 20th century,
'How to Listen to Modern Music Without Earplugs,' comes a loving, laugh-filled
paean of praise for his favorite instrument-- the piano. |
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Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations,
by Bruno Monsaingeon,
First published in French in 1998, this is a collection of anecdotes
and reflections by the Russian-born Richter (1915-97), one of the finest
pianists of the 20th century. |
