1/03/2013

Moriz Rosenthal in Word And Music: A Legacy of the Nineteenth Century - 2005

As a pianist, Rosenthal was unparalleled: his legato touch came from Chopin through his pupil Mikuli; his awareness of composition was developed by Liszt; his Brahms interpretation shaped by the composer himself; and his ingeniously crafted piano-paraphrases memorialized his friendship with Johann Strauss II. Yet Rosenthal’s pianistic abilities were married to a rare intellectual erudition—a knowledge of literature, history, philology, science, philosophy, and society that few pianists have ever matched, let alone surpassed.

Dmitri Shoshtakovich (1906-1975) is recognized as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century, yet few people know that he was also an outstanding concert pianist who maintained a hectic performing schedule. In "Dmitri Shostakovich, Pianist", Sofia Moshevich offers the first detailed examination of Shoshtakovich the pianist within the context of his life and work as a composer. She traces his musical roots, piano studies, repertoire, and concert career through his correspondence with family and friends, and his own and his contemporaries' memoirs, using material never before available in English. This biographical narrative is interwoven with analyses of Shoshtakovich's piano and chamber works, demonstrating how he interpreted his own music. For the first time, Shoshtakovich's own recordings are used as primary sources to discover what made his playing unique, and to dispel commonly held myths about his style of interpretation. His recorded performances are analysed in detail, specifically his tempos, phrasing, dynamics, pedal, and tonal production. Some unpublished variants of musical texts are included, and examples of his interpretations are provided and compared to various editions of his published scores.

A New Approach To Piano Technique - Ruth A. Dickerson - 1962

This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work.

Монография посвящена подробному всестороннему анализу фортепианных произведений Н. Я. Мясковского, который включает в себя стилистический анализ, "анализ влияний" - сопоставление с фортепианной и оркестровой музыкой современников композитора (Глазунов, Скрябин, Рахманинов, Метнер, Прокофьев, а также Глинка, Шопен, Лист, Чайковский, Римский-Корсаков, Лядов и др.), анализ фортепианной фактуры, гармонического языка, образного содержания. Три главы, вступление и заключение книги сопровождают два приложения: "Мясковский - критик фортепианной музыки" и "Избранная дискография исполнений фортепианной музыки Мясковского".

Книга посвящена сборнику 24 прелюдий и фуг Шостаковича и предназначена для читателей различных категорий. Ими могут быть и те, кого интересует сборник в целом, и те, кому нужны сведения об отдельных пьесах или даже лишь об одной из них: пианисты и теоретики, педагоги и ученики, узкие специалисты и более широкий круг лиц, занимающихся музыкой.

David Rowland traces the history of piano pedaling from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to its first maturity in the middle of the nineteenth century and beyond. Pedaling technique was a major feature of nineteenth-century piano performance and, coupled with new developments in piano structure, inspired many composers to write innovative works for the literature. Rowland examines this through the technique and music of composer-pianists such as Beethoven, Liszt, and Chopin and follows the transition from harpsichord and clavichord to piano. The book also includes an appendix of translated extracts from three well-known piano-pedaling tutors.