Charles Rosen is one of the world's most talented pianists -- and one of
music's most astute commentators. Known as a performer of Bach,
Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Elliott Carter, he has also written highly
acclaimed criticism for sophisticated students and professionals. 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.
Rosen reveals Nadia Boulanger's favorite way to avoid commenting on the
performances of her friends ("You know what I think," spoken with utmost
earnestness), why Glenn Gould's recordings suffer from "double-strike"
touches, and how even Vladimir Horowitz became enamored of splicing
multiple performances into a single recording. Rosen's explanation of
the piano's physical pleasures, demands, and discontents will delight
and instruct anyone who has ever sat at a keyboard, as well as everyone
who loves to listen to the instrument.
256 Pages | ISBN: 0743203828 | DJVU | 2 MB
Available upon email request only
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