Explore Great Pianists On Piano Playing: Godowsky, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Paderewski And 24 Other Legendary Performers Documented By James Francis Cooke Offered As Physical Edition

it helped me geton an assessment so i'm not complaining i guess A Gift Of The PIano

This book of interviews with great pianists of the earlyth Century fell into my hands by accident as a gift, twice removed,

from an elderly woman who loved the piano and knew that I did as well.
Originially published in, "Great Pianists On Piano Playing" consists of interviews arranged in the form of essays withgreat pianists and teachers.
The American pianist and author James Francis Cookeconducted the interviews and wrote two introductory essays, Cooke also prepared biographical sketches of each of thepianists he interviewed and, in addition, prepared study questions for each interview to assist in the reader's understanding.


As an amateur pianist for many years, I loved this book, I enjoyed getting to know the pianists, Some, of course, are still famous including Rachmaninoff, Paderewski, de Pachmann, Busoni, Bachaus, and others while some other pianists in the volume, famous in their day, are now less well known.
Each of the artists took the piano ahd music highly seriously, and their comments have a great deal to teach.
Many of the essays are geared to the difficult process of becoming a concert or "virtuoso" pianist, but the essays are of great values for amateur pianists and teachers as well.
I also enjoyed the book for the insights it gave into life in Europe and America just before the Great War.
There is a degree of social history which may be learned as a byproduct from these essays as the writing style, formality, and in some instances preconeptions of the era differ from those of the earlyst Century.
Readers will not mistake these essays for contemporary writings,

Each pianist offers his or her five of the pianists are women on music, piano performance and piano study.
The essays offer varying perspectives on piano technique, what it is, and how it is to be learned, Most but not all of the pianists favor substantial technical work for pianists, including scales, arpeggios, and etudes by, for example, Czerny.
Virtually all of the pianists recommend the serious study of Bach to aspiring pianists at all levels,

Several essays discuss the importance of piano practice and emphasize the importance of regular effort, concentration, and not wasting one's time during practice.
There are discussions of various pianistic "methods" none of which are to be rigidly followed and of acquiring a beautiful touch, learning to play with accuracy, and the study of phrasing and rhythm.


There are essays on the teaching of the piano in Russia, Hungary, and the United States, Several of the contributors offer comments on what, at the time of the interviews, was the contemporary state of piano music.
More than one contributor, for example, speaks highly of the music of the American composer Edward MacDowell whose music today is toolittle heard.
There are two essays, by Katherine Goodson and Ernest Schelling, that offer insights into the process of learning a new piece.


An overriding theme of the volume is that learning the piano requires dedication and hard work, But the primary theme of the essays is that flawless, mechanical technique is only a means to an end.
Pianism, from the beginner to the virtuoso level, requires love and understanding of the music and the development of informed musical individuality and personality.
Work and the development of a personal musical style are the pervasive themes of the volume, One of my favorite essays in this book is Rachmaninoff's, He describes well musical training in Russian conservatories, including the emphasis on technique and on the use of Hanon's studies, but he is clear that technique is only a beginning.
Rachmaninoff says:

"While, of course, the student must play the notes, and all of the notes, in the manner and in the time in which the composer intended that they should be played, his efforts should by no means stop with notes.
Every individual note in a composition is important, but there is something quite as important as the notes, and that is the soul.
After all, the vital spark is the soul, The soul is the source of that higher expression in musidc which cannot be represented in dynamic marks, The soul feels the need for the crescendos and diminuendos intuitively, The mere matter of the duration of a pause upon a note depends upon its significance, and the soul of the artist dictates to him just how long such a pause should be held.
If the student resorts to mechanical rules and depends upon them absolutely, his playing will be soulless, "

It is important to learn the technique of the instrument but it is vital and essential to play with what Rachmaninoff calls "soul".


I enjoyed learning about the history of this book, It was published first in, The Dover edition, which I received as a gift, was published inbut is now out of print and, apparently, rare.
There are two current editions available of this book which I have not seen,

This book was a chance but lovely gift from a pianist who thought of me even though I didn't know her very well.
The circumstances of me finding the book and its content made this a special volume,

Robin Friedman This would be an interesting book at a different time in my life but these days it is simply boring.
Extraordinario libro

Las reflexiones y recomendaciones de muchos de los pianistas que se incluyen en este libro son de una profundidad y utilidad extraordinaria.
Luego de una primera lectura se convierte en un libro de consulta permanente, This is a collection of interviews with famous pianists during the lates and earlys, short enough to read in a sitting or two.
My principal reason for reading this was for the practical advice, but it is also interesting from a historical and biographical perspective.
Many of the composers give detailed accounts of their musical upbringing, who they studied under and the pedagogical methods they employed, etc.


It is interesting to note the areas in which these pianists all give identical advice, Virtually all of the composers mention Bach's compositions as indispensable for the student, and most also advocate scales and arpeggios as the foundation for technique.
At least three pianists in these interviews specifically state that one should practice for no more than two hours at a time after that, the mind is too exhausted to get much out of practice.
Pepito Arriola goes so far as to say that he never practiced more than two hours a day in his entire life.


Of course, there are areas where the pianists all disagree, especially on the value of technical exercises in the vein of Czerny, Hanon, et cetera.
Backhaus, Bauer, Hoffman, Pauer, and others are against using technical methods at all, Some, like Carreño, Sauer, and Arriola do advocate their use, However, even the pianists in the prostudies camp are really only lukewarm on the idea and caution that too many studies are counterproductive.
Backhaus claims that scales, arpeggios, and Bach are the foundation on which his technical work was built, and nothing else is necessary.
Other issues, like interpretation and touch, are only touched on by a few pianists each in this book,

The most valuable advice in this book is a list of ten tips given by Fanny BloomfieldZeisler on how to practice pieces it includes breaking works into small sections, working on each section until it is mastered before moving on to the next one, and then stitching them together.
This specific technique is also advocated by Schelling, She also advocates playing slowly enough that you can play with the correct dynamics, fingering, accents, etc from the beginning.
There is much more advice in this book, most of it worth at least pondering, In this collection of engaging interviews, the world's most brilliant pianists of the earlyth century explain countless times how to hit a piano key the right way.
More importantly, they also have timeless advice to help anyone achieve excellence calmly, purposefully, and passionately, Focus, commit, pause, begin again, Lessons learned: scale/arpeggio practices are indispensable, Bach's harpsichord compositions are superior, amp careful, slow, meticulous concentration brings out excellence amp virtuosity.
A dozen exemplars mentioned, certain etudes amp studies discussed, many exhortations to play authentically, and many more to perform not without the most sincere amp strict attention to sound, touch, phrasing, and the like.


I enriched the reading iBooks by listening to some of the referenced pieces, More experienced musicians amp pianists will probably know most or all of the names of teachers, virtuosos, amp pedagogues that are mentioned in the book, but amateurs such as myself have atleast heard of some Paderewski, Godowsky and are familiar with some others Hanon, Clementi.
The field is so large that it takes some deliberation amp verve to sit down and root out who is who amp who did what.
This book might only be for aspiring, amateur, or professional pianists, for it's all quite specific to the instrument, and addresses the more knowledgeable amp wellversed of piano players by collecting dialogue from bona fide pianists of concert performance amp of virtuosic capability.
Rachmaninoff's in here, amp Godowsky, and there are a couple women they describe life travelling to amp from Europe, draw comparisons between nations, and speak to the quiddities of devotion to the instrument their lives are not all similar in origin, their perception of music refined, distinct, yet altogether uniformly of one entreating voice and the reputation of them all is pronounced enough to warrant reflection for musicians who play in public the piano.


It's worth a look if you've got time, it's broken up into paragraphlike articles, and some points are common to most of their perspectives, like efficiently practicing, or carefully listening.
I only had formal piano traininglesson/wk while at UC Riverside foryears fromyears old, started late and never entertained ambition in regard to learning the piano.
Two hours' practice amp study per day led to my ability to mechanically play a Bach invention but I had to continue outside of university amp lessons, on my own, to merely retain the general skill.
Over a decade I found spaces amp periods of time to go through scales, arpeggios, Hanon and review what pieces I could play from Bach, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelsohn, Beethoven.
Sometimes I had my own keyboard or upright at home amp sometimes I trekked to studios to practice, Because I worked as a dancer in musicals amp ballets, I was often around dancers amp musicians, and I was encouraged amp ultimately persuaded to try to play piano for ballet class.
I never viewed myself capable but it was common for people to suggest ballet accompaniment to me, So off I went, searching forampmeasure music for ballet class, and after a year of vacillation, amp of frustratingly rifling through uncut, unclear dance music, I finally landed my hands on actual books of music for ballet classfrom there I was able to virtually replace the usual scales, arpeggios, Hanon ws,/s,/s, amp/s that were within my capacity to play.
I never received great or extensive training, have no family background in classical music, amp have hardly attended a concert in my life, but I always loved the piano sound amp aspired to improve upon my playing, to the point where I 'fell into' a space of ballet class accompaniment.
I went on to play piano accompaniment for ballet classes for four ballet schools in San Diego, and after three years of realtime experience in public performance, I withdrew to return to practice, study, a conservation of my energy amp a rehabilitation of my pride amp integrity playing music for the teacher amp the students is a unique challenge, one made especially challenging if the teacher has not musical sensibility, and I now spend time studying more the classics so that I can challenge myself, improve, learn more about other composers amp compositions, and transcend my limitations.
.