Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument that Transformed Music

Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument that Transformed Music PDF Author: Paul Kildea
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393652238
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
“An exceptionally fine book: erudite, digressive, urbane and deeply moving.” —Wall Street Journal Chopin’s Piano traces the history of Frédéric Chopin’s twenty-four Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them, and the traditions they came to represent. Yet it begins and ends with Chopin’s Mallorquin pianino, which the great keyboard player Wanda Landowska rescued from an abandoned monastery at Valldemossa in 1913—and which assumed an astonishing cultural potency during the Second World War as it became, for the Nazis, a symbol of the man and music they were determined to appropriate as their own. In scintillating prose, and with an eye for exquisite detail, Paul Kildea beautifully interweaves these narratives, which comprise a journey through musical Romanticism—one that illuminates how art is transmitted, interpreted, and appropriated over the ages.

Selected works for piano: Waltz in A minor, op. posthumous ; Waltz in B minor, op. 69 no. 2 ; Mazurka in F major, op. 68 no. 3 ; Mazurka in A minor, op. 67 no. 4 ; Mazurka in G# minor, op. 33 no. 1 ; Polonaise in G minor, op. posthumous ; Prelude in E minor, op. 28 no. 4 ; Prelude in B minor, op. 28 no. 6 ; Prelude in A major, op. 28 no. 7 ; Prelude in C minor, op. 28 no. 20 ; Nocturne in C minor, op. posthumous

Selected works for piano: Waltz in A minor, op. posthumous ; Waltz in B minor, op. 69 no. 2 ; Mazurka in F major, op. 68 no. 3 ; Mazurka in A minor, op. 67 no. 4 ; Mazurka in G# minor, op. 33 no. 1 ; Polonaise in G minor, op. posthumous ; Prelude in E minor, op. 28 no. 4 ; Prelude in B minor, op. 28 no. 6 ; Prelude in A major, op. 28 no. 7 ; Prelude in C minor, op. 28 no. 20 ; Nocturne in C minor, op. posthumous PDF Author: Frédéric Chopin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780849761997
Category : Piano music
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description

Chopin's Piano

Chopin's Piano PDF Author: Paul Kildea
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241187958
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 443

Book Description
'Beguiling ... Limpidly written, effortlessly learned' William Boyd, TLS, Books of the Year In November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian winter. They settled in an abandoned monastery at Valldemossa in the mountains above Palma, where Chopin finished what would eventually be recognised as one of the great and revolutionary works of musical Romanticism - his 24 Preludes. There was scarcely a decent piano on the island (these were still early days in the evolution of the modern instrument), so Chopin worked on a small pianino made by a local craftsman, which remained in their monastic cell for seventy years after he and Sand had left. This brilliant and unclassifiable book traces the history of Chopin's 24 Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them and the traditions they came to represent. Yet it begins and ends with the Majorcan pianino, which during the Second World War assumed an astonishing cultural potency as it became, for the Nazis, a symbol of the man and music they were determined to appropriate as their own. The unexpected hero of the second part of the book is the great keyboard player and musical thinker Wanda Landowska, who rescued the pianino from Valldemossa in 1913, and who would later become one of the most influential musical figures of the twentieth century. Kildea shows how her story - a compelling account based for the first time on her private papers - resonates with Chopin's, while simultaneously distilling part of the cultural and political history of Europe and the United States in the central decades of the century. Kildea's beautifully interwoven narratives, part cultural history and part detective story, take us on an unexpected journey through musical Romanticism and allow us to reflect freshly on the changing meaning of music over time.

Chopin: The Piano Concertos

Chopin: The Piano Concertos PDF Author: John Rink
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521446600
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Book Description
Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. Praised for their originality and genius when he performed them, the concertos later attracted censure for ostensible weaknesses in form, development and orchestration. They also suffered at the hands of editors and performers, all the while remaining enormously popular. This handbook re-evaluates the concertos against the traditions that shaped them so that their many outstanding qualities can be fully appreciated. It describes their genesis, Chopin's own performances and his use of them as a teacher. A survey of their critical, editorial and performance histories follows, in preparation for an analytical 're-enactment' of the music - that is, a narrative account of the concertos as embodied in sound, rather than in the score. The final chapter investigates Chopin's enigmatic 'third concerto', the Allegro de concert. Chopin: The Piano Concertos has won the Wilk Book Prize for Research in Polish Music.

At the Piano with Chopin

At the Piano with Chopin PDF Author: Frédéric Chopin
Publisher: Alfred Music
ISBN: 9781457422812
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Book Description
An excellent collection in Hinson's At the Piano Series. Contains many of his most popular Mazurkas, Preludes, Waltzes, Nocturnes--plus others! Includes informative biographical information and performance suggestions for each work.

Chopin's Piano

Chopin's Piano PDF Author: Charles Adés Fishman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
Concert program.

My First Book of Chopin

My First Book of Chopin PDF Author: Bergerac
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486424278
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
Includes theme from "Raindrop" Prelude, "Minute" Waltz, "Lullaby," "Fantaisie-impromptu," "Butterfly" Etude, "Military" and "Heroic" Polonaise, plus melodic highlights from the most familiar preludes, mazurkas, waltzes, and etudes. Features 23 piano arrangements. Bonus MP3 downloads are included for each song.

Play It Again

Play It Again PDF Author: Alan Rusbridger
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374710627
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
The Guardian editor and amateur pianist’s account of a remarkable musical challenge during an extraordinary year for news. As editor of the Guardian, one of the world’s foremost newspapers, Alan Rusbridger lives by the relentless twenty-four-hour news cycle. But increasingly in midlife, he feels the gravitational pull of music—especially the piano. He sets himself a formidable challenge: within a year, to fluently learn Chopin’s magnificent Ballade No. 1 in G minor, arguably one of the most difficult Romantic compositions in the repertory. With pyrotechnic passages that require feats of memory, dexterity, and power, the piece is one that causes alarm even in battle-hardened concert pianists. Under ideal circumstances, this would have been a daunting task. But the particular year Rusbridger chooses turns out to be one of frenetic intensity, beginning with WikiLeaks’ massive dump of state secrets and ending with the Guardian’s revelations about widespread phone hacking at News of the World. “In between, there were the Japanese tsunami, the Arab Spring, the English riots . . . and the death of Osama Bin Laden,” writes Rusbridger. The test would be to “nibble out” twenty minutes per day to do something totally unrelated to these events. Rusbridger’s subject is larger than any one piece of music: Play It Again deals with focus, discipline, and desire but is, above all, about the sanctity of one’s inner life in a world dominated by deadlines and distractions. Praise for Play It Again “An absorbing, adroitly crafted tale of humility, discipline and the sheer love of music . . . [Alan Rusbridger’s] triumph is an inspiration.” —Katie Hafner, The New York Times Book Review “A unique mélange of political and musical reportage . . . [Alan Rusbridger] illuminates not only print media in this digital age but also the changing role of the music within.” —Iain Burnside, The Observer (London)

Chopin's Letters

Chopin's Letters PDF Author: Frederic Chopin
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486319520
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 447

Book Description
Nearly 300 letters reveal Chopin as both man and artist and illuminate his fascinating world — Europe of the 1830s and 1840s. "Delightful gossip . . . merry rather than malicious . . . engagingly witty." — Books. Preface. Index.

The Beethoven Sessions

The Beethoven Sessions PDF Author: Andrea Dow
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781718608610
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 34

Book Description
(Classical Pop Piano Solos). These pop-infused piano solos inspired by the music of Beethoven will energize the next generation of piano players. Early intermediate students will immediately fall in love with pop renditions of: *Sonatina in G Major *Für Elise *Moonlight Sonata *Rondo A Capriccio *Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 *Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 13 and *Symphony No. 9, Op. 125.
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Rits Blog by Crimson Themes.