Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist
by Charles Rosen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles RosenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-02-03
ISBN: 0743243129
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Free Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780743243124
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist
Book Review: Piano wisdom
Summary: 5 Stars
Charles Rosen belongs to that rare breed of musician in whom is combined high executant skill as an international concert pianist with a formidable wide-ranging intellect: at once creative artist, writer, thinker and academic. In 'Piano Notes', Rosen - the creator of 'The Classical Style', 'Arnold Schoenberg', 'Sonata Forms', and other learned treatises - reveals himself as a raconteur and wit, with a considerable repertoire of tales very much 'out of school'. For those fans and devotees of Rosen and indeed all things pianistic, but who are unwilling to tackle his weightier writings, this manageable and engaging book is the right choice.
Lighter fare though it undoubtedly is, 'Piano Notes' is by no means an inconsequential if amusing throw-away by an otherwise serious writer. Here are all the hallmarks of the author's style: compelling argument, clear expression, the large brush as well as the finely finished decoration, understandable (for the amateur) use of example and illustration, and a good deal of provocation besides. How many dedicated piano teachers will bristle at the observation that 'almost all books on how to play the piano are absurd', that 'beautiful tone production does not exist on the piano apart from the music', or that the masterclass is 'a way of earning more money and doing less work'? But of course, there is cogent reasoning to follow the bald statement, and it would be an obtuse reader who is unmoved by the plain speaking about cherished myths and traditions within the pianist's world, the painful truth - as it would seem to many established professionals - exposed within a few pages by the persuasiveness of the writer's experience, wisdom and uncompromising judgment.
Many pianists of talent who have suffered some erosion of confidence by failing to achieve a place in a major piano competition can take heart from Rosen's unforgiving view of this institution which, like the Conservatory of Music - as he argues with equal insight - does not necessarily serve the interests of the exceptional student. He discusses the conservatism of juries, the inadequacies of voting systems, and not least the capacity - indeed tendency - of the best performers to suffer occasional disasters in contrast to their superb interpretations when on form, this necessary artistic vulnerability sometimes ensuring that the merely consistent triumphs over the extraordinary . But extraordinary qualities are required to be a concert pianist, apart from the rigorous training from infancy. In his inimitable way, Rosen rounds off the perspective: advanced music training and experience should always take account of the 'the public' (as distinct from the experts ), the body who has the refreshing capacity to respond to 'eccentric originality' rather than correctness.
Readers will enjoy the many anecdotal references to 'great' pianists: their widely varying playing positions (Rubinstein and Gould), Horowitz's spliced 'live' recordings, Cherkassky's obsession with piano stools, the studied non-coordination of the hands by Paderewski, Bauer and (more rarely) Hoffman. The various ways and traditions of applause receive instructive treatment as does how to congratulate a pianist after a recital, or the benefits of practising while reading a book. All entertaining stuff, but, in the hands of Rosen, aligned and interlaced with, for example, an enlightening and penetrating examination of the psycho-physical nature of piano-playing, a fascinating argument on the relationship between the changing tactile requirements of keyboard technique through the centuries and the history of the visual arts - as in the Renaissance invention of perspective, Venetian and Baroque coloristic technique, the merging of individual lines and rhythms in Impressionism and beyond - or even an unabashed treatment of modernism (Rosen is a champion of 20th century pianism from Schoenberg to Boulez and Elliott Carter) in which he confronts the public distaste for the avant-garde.
As one would expect from a writer well-versed in literature and language, Rosen offers useful literary parallels and allusions, as for example when discussing the impact of contemporary music: 'a distaste for modernism is understandable and needs neither defense nor apology'. It is typical of the writer that he is careful to distinguish between exploratory argument and definitive assertion, always seeking clarity and the avoidance of intellectual compromise.
Summary of Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist
Among the world's instruments, the piano stands out as the most versatile, powerful, and misunderstood -- even by those who have spent much of their lives learning to play. In Piano Notes, a finalist for a 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award, Charles Rosen, one of the world's most talented pianists, distills a lifetime of wisdom and lore into an unforgettable tour of the hidden world of piano playing.You'll read about how a note is produced, why a chord can move us, why the piano -- "hero and villain" of tonality -- has shaped the course of Western music, and why it is growing obsolete. Rosen explains what it means that Beethoven composed in his head whereas Mozart would never dream of doing so, why there are no fortissimos in the works of Ravel, and why a piano player's acrobatics have an important dramatic effect but nothing more. Ending on a contemplative note, Piano Notes offers an elegant argument that piano music "is not just sound or even significant sound" but a mechanical, physical, and fetishistic experience that faces new challenges in an era of recorded music. Rosen ponders whether piano playing will ever again be the same, and his insights astonish.
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