Chopin (Master Musicians Series) [Hardcover]

Jim Samson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997 | Series: Master Musicians Series

From Frederic Chopin's birth in Poland and eventful flight in the wake of the Polish rebellion against the Russians, through his life in Paris and his ill-fated love affair with George Sand, until his eventual death of tuberculosis, this latest entry in the popular Master Musician Series examines the life and work of the great pianist and composer. 16 photos. 47 music examples.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jim Samson's engaging biography is interwoven--in the best tradition of the invaluable Master Musicians series...with chapters devoted to a comprehensive chronological survey of the music, plus a list of works, a calendar of the composer's life and times.... vividly written biography."--The Musical Times

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Formerly Professor of Musicology at Exeter University, Jim Samson has been Professor of Music at Bristol University since 1994. He has published extensively on Chopin and is regarded internationally as a leading authority on the composer.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 322 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer Books (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028647351
• ISBN-13: 978-0028647357
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,412,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good mix of criticism and biography, June 15, 2000

By 

Gordon R Cameron - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin (Master Musicians Series) (Hardcover)

The primary focus of this book is not biography, although it is structured in alternating chapters with biographical information followed by analysis of the music of a given period. Other books (Tad Szulc's Chopin in Paris, for instance) might give a better impression of Chopin's daily life, but this book does a fine job of relating the life to the music. The musicological passages are fairly sophisticated -- a grounding in music theory is assumed -- but if you have such a grounding, there are fine insights to be found here. I was most pleased, for instance, to note that Sampson had observed the similarities between the Nocturne in F (Opus 15 #1) and the Ballade #2 in A Minor, something I had long been aware of but had not seen addressed in Chopin criticism.

Samson's examination of genre is illuminating too -- he tries to perceive Chopin's music not as an absolute frozen in amber, but rather from the perspective of its own time, an era full of contrasting and overlapping genre conventions.