Piano The Books

This book, MOZART, VERY BEST FOR PIANO, was just what my highest level student needed after completing all the levels of the piano series I use for my pi ano students. She took it home with what seemed to be similar to anticipation of getting a new toy. The pieces in this book will be appealing and familiar. She will be exposed to music that is playable so it is going to be pleasant for her.

I searched all over amazon, and I couldn't find an edition of the Mozart sonatas that I wanted, so I took my chances with this one based on the reviews of other books from the same publisher. It was exactly what I was looking for. It includes fingering, and although it is sometimes questionable, you can usually use it as a base to establish your own fingering. It tells you exactly how to do the trills, which is very helpful. The fact that it is not urtext definately adds to its appeal. While some people like urtext, I find the markings useful.

Unquestionably a great book!

(...)

The wonderfully named Cuthbert Morton Girdlestone first published this guide in 1948. It has been frequently re-issued, also under the title Mozart's Piano Concertos, and gone through several editions, though all versions I have seen are basically identical.

At the time it first appeared Mozart's piano concertos were not as widely known and performed as they are today (no complete recordings of the entire canon were available, for example), so if Girdlestone appears to be making a special plea for their recognition, he had ample reason. With several volumes of trenchant analysis of the Viennese Classical composers and their output now available by such luminaries as Charles Rosen, Girdlestone's work may now seem old-fashioned to the point of raising smiles, an impression only reinforced by the handwritten musical examples (not very well coordinated with the text, incidentally). It is amusing to read the Concerto in B-flat major K. 450 described as "a well-bred gentleman," and such examples of what might be called musical anthropomorphism crop up frequently. Girdlestone was not a trained musical theorist and when he tries to talk of technical matters such as harmony or key centers he is fuzzy and at times downright wrong, no small matter with a master of tonal harmony and musical form. He also denigrates the musical worth of the early concertos in what seems an unnecessarily harsh manner, and his insistence that a benchmark of quality for a piano concerto be "collaboration" between the solo instrument and orchestra, by which he seems to mean dialogue and contrapuntal combination, is dogmatic as well. By his standards, for example, the so-called "Coronation" Concerto, K. 537, is an inferior work; but Rosen and others have pointed out how its compositional techniques anticipate those of Beethoven and subsequent early Romantic composers of piano concertos.

Nevertheless, Girdlestone's passion for Mozart's music, and his recognition that its charm and grace does not preclude deep and profound emotion, override his frequently flawed analysis, drawing the sympathetic reader in. It is hard not to agree with, or be moved by his statement that the piano concertos are a medium by which "we penetrate... into the inner sanctuary where the harassed and overworked man [Mozart] found afresh the radiant life which never ceased to spring up within him." In addition, his placing of the piano concertos within the context of Mozart's entire output is interesting and frequently provides valuable insight into the composer's general aesthetic. When my first copy of this book finally fell apart I searched for another copy to replace it, and found it here on Amazon. I recommend that all musicians and music lovers acquaint themselves with this pioneering, loving musical guide.

One would do well to read the good reviews of this book printed in other editions for the content. Let me just add my voice to the fact that this is the indispensable volume on Mozart's piano concertos. My copy should be worn out by now since I have studied it faithfully for over 50 years, but since it is a Dover edition it is still well intact! I spent an entire summer reading Girdlestone's descriptions of each piano concerto with scores in front of me before I played them. The amount of useful information in this book is simply astounding.

The wonderfully named Cuthbert Girdlestone first published this guide in 1948. It has been frequently re-issued, also under the title Mozart and His Piano Concertos. At the time it first appeared Mozart's piano concertos were not as widely known and performed as they are today (no complete recordings of the entire canon were available, for example), so if Girdlestone appears to be making a special plea for their recognition, he had ample reason. With several volumes of trenchant analysis of the Viennese Classical composers and their output now available by such luminaries as Charles Rosen, Girdlestone's work may now seem old-fashioned to the point of raising smiles: it is amusing to read the Concerto in B-flat major K. 450 described as "a well-bred gentleman," and such examples of what might be called musical anthropomorphism crop up frequently in the text. Girdlestone was not a trained musical theorist and when he tries to talk of technical matters such as harmony or key centers he is fuzzy and at times downright wrong, no small matter with a master of tonal harmony and musical form. He also denigrates the musical worth of the early concertos in what seems an unnecessarily harsh manner, and his insistence that a benchmark of quality for a piano concerto be "collaboration" between the solo instrument and orchestra, by which he seems to mean dialogue and contrapuntal combination, is dogmatic as well. By his standards, for example, the so-called "Coronation" Concerto, K. 537, is an inferior work; but Rosen and others have pointed out how its compositional techniques anticipate those of Beethoven and subsequent early Romantic composers of piano concertos.

Nevertheless, Girdlestone's passion for Mozart's music, and his recognition that its charm and grace does not preclude deep and profound emotion, override his frequently flawed analysis, drawing the sympathetic reader in. It is hard not to agree with, or be moved by his statement that the piano concertos are a medium by which "we penetrate... into the inner sanctuary where the harassed and overworked man [Mozart] found afresh the radiant life which never ceased to spring up within him." In addition, his placing of the piano concertos within the context of Mozart's entire output is interesting and frequently provides valuable insight into the composer's general aesthetic. When my first copy of this book finally fell apart I searched for another copy to replace it, and found it here on Amazon. I recommend that all musicians and music lovers acquaint themselves with this pioneering, loving musical guide.

I really enjoyed this in depth read from a professional in the world of classical music.

This is one of the most accurate available editions of the Mozart piano sonatas. The editor, Nathan Broder, has worked from Mozart's autographs (where these survive) and the earliest printed editions. (This would seem to be just what a careful editor should do, but it is surprising how many editions of these works published within the last 100 years have failed to take such precautions.) Broder's editorial additions are carefully bracketed, and an informative introduction and notes remark on points of interest regarding the texts and ornamentation of these sonatas. Highly recommended

Neural Networks are becoming more and more popular these days, and it's interesting to learn one can use them to compose music. The authors of this book did this with some success.
If you are interested in Neural Networks, and in computer composed music - this is the book for you. There are various articles by different authors on this subject. All the articles appeared in the computer music journal in 1989.

This is a fine instructional manual for the aspiring amateur or professional pianist. Though written some time ago, the principles discussed throughout the book are still applicable to today's pianist. As are the references to the great masters that Madame Slenczynska has studied with. Masters that include:Rachmaninov, Petri, Cortot, and Phillipe. Madame Slenczynska's advice about technical execution of the classical literature is among the most lucid and beneficial available.

Before I start reviewing this product, I have to inform you that I am NOT 13/under ... Damn password ... anyways ... For me, Im usually very picky on *POP* music on piano. Its almost degrating to hear people play NEW AGE music on the piano, simply because my ears are trained classicaly. I just dont find it very appealing ... But, onto the review ... This book contains 9 of the songs that debuted ( well, actually theve been around for quite a long time ...) in the movie "THE PIANIST". And I thought to myself, well, I might as well give this book a shot, seeing as how the movie was INCREDIBLE, and the music completed it. Well, let me tell you something ... It took me 2 MONTHS, just to learn ONE of the songs. Which, by the way was the longest one in the book. In the movie, the pianist plays "Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23" to the german officer. And I simply fell in love with that particular song! So, I bought the soundtrack to the movie, then the piano book, and then started learning the piece. If youve ever gotten the chance to hear the FULL, ENTIRE version ( he only plays about half of the song to the german officer. ) then you well know that it sounds EXTREMELY difficult. Which it most CERTAINLY is ... So, I learned 1 line a day, sometimes 2, sometimes only a half a line. There are 84 lines in the piece, and I almost lost my sanity several times while trying to learn the piece. But, when I Played it at my uncles wedding reception, I got a standing ovation, and then I knew, that it was all worth it ... But be warned ... This book is NOT for beginners !!! NO NO NO NO NO !!! So, now that I have my official SHOW OFF piece, I guess I can go on to learn the other songs ... Go out and by this book !!! Your audience will love you for it !!!