Music - Resources by Instrument

Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire continues to be the go-to source for piano performers, teachers, and students. Newly updated and expanded with more than 250 new composers, this incomparable resource expertly guides readers to solo piano literature and provides answers to common questions: What did a given composer write? What interesting work have I never heard of? How difficult is it? What are its special musical features? How can I reach the publisher? New to the fourth edition are enhanced indexes identifying black composers, women composers, and compositions for piano with live or recorded electronics; a thorough listing of anthologies and collections organized by time period and nationality, now including collections from Africa and Slovakia; and expanded entries to account for new material, works, and resources that have become available since the third edition, including websites and electronic resources. The "newest Hinson" will be an indispensible guide for many years to come.

Invites pianists - from beginners to concert artists as well as teachers - to reconsider the virtues of the often dismissed body of American keyboard music dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially in light of its availability in various published collections.

Designed as a practical reference guide for professional pianists and piano teachers, A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers, Volume I, is an annotated catalogue of the available piano music in print composed by 144 women born before the 20th century. The work also features biographies and extensive bibliographical information for each composer. Arranged alphabetically by composer into categories including single works, collections, and anthologies, the music is also described in terms of grade level, genre, mood, style characteristics, and technical requirements, and ranges in difficulty from late elementary to virtuoso concert repertoire. Far too many teachers, students, professional musicians, and audiences are unaware of the contributions made by women in music, and of the beauty and merit of their specific compositions. This reference work provides an invaluable addition to the current literature.

Often unknown and overlooked, solo piano music written by women composers deserve space in the standard piano repertoire. A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers Volume II: The Twentieth Century acts as a companion to A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers Volume I: Composers Born Before 1900 to create a comprehensive reference of women composers and their work. Volume II includes composers from countries around the world and of all different musical styles and levels, ranging from elementary to virtuoso. The only reference tool of its kind, this is an indispensable guide for professional pianists and piano teachers alike. For each of the 850 composers listed, there is a short biography, a description of available music and where it can be found, and a list of further references. Alphabetical listings with encyclopedia-style headings, clear, succinct language, and grade levels of compositions make this a practical, user-friendly resource to inform and educate piano enthusiasts about the contributions of women composers.

The thirty-two Piano Sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven form one of the most important segments of piano literature. In this accessible, compact, and comprehensive guidebook, renowned performer and pedagogue Stewart Gordon presents the pianist with historical insights and practical instructionaltools for interpreting the pieces.In the opening chapters of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas, Gordon illuminates the essential historical context behind common performance problems, discussing Beethoven's own pianos and how they relate to compositional style and demands in the pieces, and addressing textual issues, performancepractices, and nuances of the composer's manuscript inscriptions. In outlining patterns of structure, sonority, keyboard technique, and emotional meaning evident across Beethoven's compositional development, Gordon provides important background and technical information key to understanding hisworks in context. Part II of the book presents each sonata in an outline-chart format, giving the student and teacher ready access to essential information, interpretive choices, and technical challenges in the individual works, measure by measure, all in one handy reference source. In considerationof the broad diversity of today's Beethoven interpreters, Gordon avoids one-size-fits-all solutions or giving undue weight to his own tastes and preferences. Instead, he puts the choices in the hands of the performers, enabling them to create their own personal relationship with the music and a morepowerful performance.

Eighteenth-century pianos shaped and influenced the music that was written for them. However, although organological studies probe the instrument in ever more detail, and musical criticism focuses increasingly on the musical repertoire, the relationship between the two has not been properlyexamined.This book concentrates on the keyboard writing of the last third of the eighteenth century, as inspired by the fundamentally different constructions of the German/Viennese and the English pianoforte. The highly articulated languages of Mozart and his Viennese contemporaries, and the more robust,pre-romantic style of Duzzek and his London colleagues reflect the very characteristics of these respective instruments. Beyond the scrutiny of the music, attention is given also to the players. The differentiation between professionals and amateurs is addressed, and contemporary sources helpprovide a description of late-eighteenth-century performing styles; such a survey offers new insight into the living art of the pianoforte during a most important period in its history.

In this comprehensive study of performance practice in Haydn's keyboard music, Bernard Harrison confronts the important issues facing any performer of Haydn's keyboard music. He deals with the full range of Haydn's keyboard work - concertos, divertimenti, concertini, trios, Klavierstucke, andsonatas - and emphasizes the connection between performance practice and compositional style. He addresses many of the most controversial issues in recent research on the performance practice of eighteenth- century music, and takes a stance on some of the recurring controversies in Haydn research.Haydn's ornamentation is treated in four extensive chapters which range over Haydn's changing notational practices, the large corpus of 18th-century theoretical information on performance, and an examination of the music itself. Other issues in performance are elucidated in wide-rangingdiscussions, and Harrison presents new evidence on the question of the influence of C.P.E. Bach on Haydn. He surveys broader aspects of interpretation, commenting sympathetically but critically on the phenomenon of `early music'.

David Rowland traces the history of piano pedalling from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to its first maturity in the middle of the nineteenth century and beyond. Pedalling 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. In addition, he follows the transition from harpsichord and clavichord to piano and outlines the physical properties of the various stops, levers, and pedals available at the different stages of the instrument's development. The book also includes an appendix of translated extracts from three well-known piano-pedalling tutors. It will be of interest to students and scholars of music history and performance practice, as well as to pianists.

Nineteenth-Century Piano Musicclarifies some theoretical concepts, debunks some longstanding myths, and above all, stimulates the reader's intellectual curiosity about the piano repertoire of the 19th century. While our emotions tell us that this repertoire is thrilling to hear and exciting to play, our intellect demands explanations, some of which are provided in the essays in this collection.

..". is and will remain unsurpassed as the study dealing with performance practice as it pertains to keyboard music of the Classical period." -- American Music Teacher "Rosenblum's monumental achievement is thorough, objective, balanced, and imaginative, a compelling blend of love and respect for the solo, chamber, and concerto literature she addresses." -- Journal of Musicological Research "The extent and quality of her research, the depth of her perception, and her musicianship together break new ground in the study of historic performance practice." -- Early Keyboard Journal "Her attention to details is absolutely scrupulous; no stone unturned, no argument unquestioned or unstated." -- The Musical Times "Its importance to thoughtful musicians cannot be overstated." -- Choice ..". thoroughly musicological." -- Performance Practice Review ..". indispensable... " -- New York Times

Now in paperback The Pianist's Guide to Transcrip-tions, Arrange-ments, and Paraphrases Maurice Hinson Lists transcriptions for piano from orchestral and other compositions, more than 2,000 works in all. ..". a thorough summary of an important body of music written by a musician of extraordinary, perhaps unrivaled knowledge of the repertory." --American Music Teacher Some of the most celebrated composers--Beethoven, Brahms, Busoni, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Ravel--prepared piano transcriptions of some of their own works, as well as those of other composers. Maurice Hinson has selected, from the myriads of transcriptions now in existence, more than 2,000 such works of real musical worth. The Pianist's Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases describes pieces for solo piano, duet, and two pianos, as well as outstanding transcriptions for one hand. Most of them are written for piano(s) alone, but a considerable number are scored for piano(s) and a small instrumental ensemble or a full orchestra. Thanks to the organization of this volume, the user can see at a glance the various transcriptions that have been made of a particular composition (say, a Schubert song) and also become aware of the breadth of a particular transcriber's output (as in the case of the prodigiously prolific Liszt). Maurice Hinson, Senior Professor Emeritus of Piano at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was founding editor of the Journal of the American Liszt Society and is a contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. He is known for his many articles, videos, and lecture recitals, especially those on early American piano music. He is author of several books on piano literature, including the indispensable Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, 3rd edition (Indiana University Press). March 2001 (cloth 1981) 192 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 paper 0-253-21456-4 $19.95 s

Mozart's piano sonatas are among the most familiar of his works and stand alongside those of Haydn and Beethoven as staples of the pianist's repertoire. In this study, John Irving looks at a wide selection of contextual situations for Mozart's sonatas, focusing on the variety of ways in which they assume identities and achieve meanings. In particular, the book seeks to establish the provisionality of the sonatas' notated texts, suggesting that the texts are not so much identifiers as possibilities and that their identity resides in the usage. Close attention is paid to reception matters, analytical approaches, organology, the role of autograph manuscripts, early editions and editors, and aspects of historical performance practice - all of which go beyond the texts in opening windows onto Mozart's sonatas. Treating the sonatas collectively as a repertoire, rather than as individual works, the book surveys broad thematic issues such as the role of historical writing about music in defining a generic space for Mozart's sonatas, their construction within pedagogical traditions, the significance of sound as opposed to sight in these works (and in particular their sound on fortepianos of the later eighteenth-century) , and the creative role of the performer in their representation beyond the frame of the text. Drawing together and synthesizing this wealth of material, Irving provides an invaluable reference source for those already familiar with this repertoire.

A fascinating history of the piano explored through 100 pieces chosen by one of the UK's most renowned concert pianists   "Tomes . . . casts her net widely, taking in chamber music and concertos, knotty avant-garde masterworks and (most welcome) jazz."--Richard Fairman, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2021: Classical Music"   "[One of] the most beautiful books I got my hands on this year. . . . About the shaping of this maddening, glorious, unconquerable instrument."--Jenny Colgan, Spectator, "Books of the Year"   An astonishingly versatile instrument, the piano allows just two hands to play music of great complexity and subtlety. For more than two hundred years, it has brought solo and collaborative music into homes and concert halls and has inspired composers in every musical genre--from classical to jazz and light music.   Charting the development of the piano from the late eighteenth century to the present day, pianist and writer Susan Tomes takes the reader with her on a personal journey through 100 pieces including solo works, chamber music, concertos, and jazz. Her choices include composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Gershwin, and Philip Glass. Looking at this history from a modern performer's perspective, she acknowledges neglected women composers and players including Fanny Mendelssohn, Maria Szymanowska, Clara Schumann, and Amy Beach.

This lavishly illustrated book treats the history of the piano from its invention in 1700 to the present in terms of its technology. Looking at the technologies of design, materials, and manufacture, and focusing its description on specific existing pianos, it describes the changes in pianos from the earliest days to contemporary instruments. This revised edition incorporates the results of recent research that increases knowledge of the work of Bartolomeo Cristofori, the inventor of the piano; changes perceptions of how eighteenth-century pianos were made and used; adds to the available information about the important contributions of the Steinway Company; and describes the most recent changes to the piano. The first edition of this book received the Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society as the best musicological book in English published in 1982-83. Reviews of the First Edition "If you have ever looked under the lid of a piano and wondered about the technical how and why of it all, this is the book to sate your curiosity. . . . Good's vigorous prose breathes life into the technology . . . and brings forward the people involved, with humor and sensitivity." --Los Angeles Times "This is a fine book. Accurate technical description, an abundance of photographs and drawings, and a very readable text complement a provocative thesis." --Technology and Culture "Intriguing reading. It turns out that the story of the piano and its evolution . . . is rife with human interest, at least when Good relates the details." --Keyboard

According to Dieter Hildebrandt, the piano is a revolutionary figure and its story a grand adventure. One by one, the memorable geniuses make their appearance: Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt. Other highlights include the great piano duels (Bach v. Marchand, Mozart v. Clementi), the dawning era of the concert tour and the music critic, and the obsessions of the leading figures.

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.

This book charts the piano's accession from musical curiosity to cultural icon, examining the instrument itself in its various guises as well as the music written for it. Both the piano and piano music were very much the product of the intellectual, cultural and social environments of the period and both were subject to many influences, directly and indirectly. These included character (individualism), the vernacular ('folk/popular') and creativity (improvisation), all of which are discussed generally and with respect to the music itself. Derek Carew surveys the most important pianistic genres of the period (variations, rondos, and so on), showing how these changed from their received forms into vehicles of Romantic expressiveness. The piano is also looked at in its role as an accompanying instrument. The Mechanical Muse will be of interest to anyone who loves the piano or the period, from the non-specialist to the music postgraduate.