Customer Reviews

Masterpieces of Piano Music

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I taught myself to play piano from this anthology, a few years back. that is not to say that this is a novice's work-- we are not looking at reader's digest. No, this collection contains EVERY piano masterpiece you'd want to play, as well as arrangements of operatic, symphonic and choral works. I highly recommend it, if you can ever find a copy. I particularly like the design of the book, which seems to have been constructed for musicicians-- convenient page turns, easy to read scoring... and you cannot get beyond the breadth of it... from early baroque to early 20th century, this book is truly what it claims to be-- a collection of piano masterpieces

This is my new favorite music book as it includes such a wide variety of music. The composers included are both well-known and lesser known. There is much to choose from:

Mozart, Grieg, Verdi, Massenet, Godard, Gounod, Godard, Wagner, Cui, Tchiakovsky, Liszt, Ponchielli, Gottschalk, Schubert, Lange, Chopin, Beethoven, Haydn, Bizet, Handel, Schuman, Dvorak, Brahms, Csibulka, Rubinstien, Boccherini, Saint-Saens, Field, Strauss, Yradier, Delibes, Gautier, Debussy, Donizetti, Thome, Mendelssohn, Rameau, Scarlatti, Wagner. The piece I've been especially playing lately is Offenbach's Barcarolle. And, I have this piece in several other books-- this is, by far, the best version I've seen. Unlike Tales of Hoffman, many other pieces included in the book were composed specifically for the piano and, although they may be excerpts of longer pieces, they are edited well and are included exactly as the composers wrote them.

Although there are a few easier pieces included, the difficulty level is mostly advanced intermediate to expert (and beyond what I can play well).

All of these pieces are also available free from various websites, but the arrangements here are superb. Part of the fun of getting a book such as this is the introduction to pieces you might not have known before. And, as this book includes over 140 selections, there is likely to be something new in here for everyone.

Great bargain!

I was amazed and delighted to find that the Masterpieces collection is still available. I learned most of my recital pieces in the '40s and '50s from this very collection but my copy is in a sorry state of repair. Imagine my delight to receive a new and intact book, and the best part is that the pages are considerably larger, with note size better suited to my eyesight of 50 years later, and darker ink too. I can pass this on to the next generation and perhaps even one after that.

classic piano music for musicians of all ages. My 13 year old son loves the pieces. Our neighbor has used this book for 40 years.

this is what everyone who plays piano should have on the rack. All the basics, easy to read and play.