The pianist's craft : mastering the works of great composers

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Music Library

Call Number
ML700 .P53 2012
Status
Available

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Summary

No pianist can experience the full flowering of her art without eventually grappling with those great musical minds who composed specifically for piano. In The Pianist's Craft, Richard Anderson collects from his fellow pianist-scholars 19 articles on the teaching, preparation, and performance of works by the greatest composers in the standard piano repertoire. This collection ranges in subject matter from Inge Rosar's meditation on playing Bach on the modern keyboard to Gary Amato's assessment of Haydn's sonatas, from Christie Skousen's review of tone production in Chopin to GwenolynMok's foray into recreating Ravel's works on an Erard piano, the same used by Ravel himself.

Readers will find essays as well on Mozart's piano compositions, Beethoven's sonatas, the influence of Schubert's lieder on his piano works, and works by Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartók, Gershwin, and Crumb. The contributors--all recognized nationally and internationally for their contributions as performing artists, teachers, recording artists, and clinicians--write thoughtfully about the composers whose work they have studied and played for years. Each author addresses issues unique to the individual composer they have chosen to explore, examining questions of phrasing, tempo, articulation, dynamics, rhythm, color, gesture, lyricism, instrumentation, and genre. Valuable insight is provided into teaching, performing, and preparing these great works.

In The Pianist's Craft these great artists and teachers answer questions for readers that are otherwise only addressed in conferences, master classes, and private lessons. In this collection of essays, key points of information and instruction are offered with over 200 musical examples included as illustration. The Pianist's Craft is intended for teachers and students of the intermediate and advanced levels of piano, instructors and performers at the university level, and those who love piano and piano music generally.

Contents

Performing Scarlatti / Hilary Demske -- Problems and chance: performing the keyboard works of J.S. Bach on the modern piano / Inge Rosar -- A pianist's journey to the classic sonata: first stop, Haydn / Gary Amano -- Performing Mozart on a modern piano / Norman Krieger -- Genre references in Beethoven sonatas / Timothy Ehlen -- Franz Shubert : a pianist's view of the consummate composer of lieder / Susan Duehlmeier -- Schumann and butterflies : "Il Transylvanio" revisited / Louis Nagel -- Teaching tone, technique, and phrasing in the piano works of Chopin / Christie Peery Skousen -- Color and gesture in the piano music of Franz Liszt / Timothy Shafer -- Interpreting Brahms : practical and historical perspectives / Stephen Thomas -- Reflections on Ravel : a guide to performing Ravel's solo piano works / Gwendolyn Mok -- Imagination in the piano works of Debussy : how it affects touch and pedaling / Neil Rutman -- Some suggestions for preparing and playing Rachmaninoff / Irene Peery-Fox -- Finding the essence of late Scriabin in his tenth sonata / Scott Holden -- Sergei Prokofiev : a man misunderstood / Barbara Nissman -- The piano music of Dimitri Shostakovich : creative genius versus the suppression of artistic expression / Jane Magrath -- Playing and teaching the piano music of Béla Bartók / Steven Herbert Smith -- George Gershwin : an American original / Pete Jutras -- Exploring sonority and drama inside the instrument : the piano music of George Crumb / Jeffrey Jacob.

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