Mozart's Piano Music [Hardcover]

William Kinderman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2006

Mozart's emergence as a mature artist coincides with the rise to prominence of the piano, an instrument that came alive under his fingers and served as medium for many of his finest compositions. In Mozart's Piano Music, William Kinderman reconsiders common assumptions about Mozart's life and art while offering comprehensive and incisive commentary on the solo music and concertos. After placing Mozart's pianistic legacy in its larger biographical and cultural context, Kinderman addresses the lively gestural and structural aspects of Mozart's musical language and explores the nature of his creative process. Incorporating the most recent research throughout this encompassing study, Kinderman expertly surveys each of the major genres of the keyboard music, including the four-hand and two-piano works. Beyond examining issues such as Mozart's earliest childhood compositions, his musical rhetoric and expression, the social context of his Viennese concertos, and affinities between his piano works and operas, Kinderman's main emphasis falls on detailed discussion of selected individual compositions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Another remarkable offering from one of the most intelligent and musically gifted of musicologists."--Alfred Brendel

"A detailed and thought-provoking account of a repertory that defies comprehensive elucidation by any scholar... and we should be immensely grateful to Kinderman."-John Irving, Music and Letters

"Kinderman's great talents in piano playing as well as his impeccable and fascinating analysis make this book especially important for everyone who wants to get to know Mozart's piano music from the inside out."--Emanuel Ax

"William Kinderman guides us marvelously through the specificities of Mozart's keyboard music. Particularly remarkable is the audibility of the trenchant analyses, which help make visceral the music's extraordinary complexities."--Garrick Ohlsson

"If you are a music student, especially if you are a pianist, or a lover of Mozart's music, this is a book to have in your library. It gives a compendious account of his piano music but also represents a panorama of Mozart's music as a whole."--Mitsuko Uchida

About the Author

William Kinderman is Professor of Music at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (OUP 1987) and Beethoven (OUP 1995), and he has edited numerous works on many other composers and pieces. An outstanding pianist, Kinderman has recorded Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and last sonatas for Hyperion/Helios Records.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1St Edition edition (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195100670
• ISBN-13: 978-0195100679
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #912,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 13, 2011

By 

toronto - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart's Piano Music (Hardcover)

Really first rate exegesis of Mozart -- clearly written, full of material, up to date. It requires a little previous knowledge of music theory and Mozart, but not much. Perhaps the best section is the analysis of the first movement of K.283, but it is all good.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars masterful, August 31, 2007

By 

Talbot Flyer (Chesapeake) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart's Piano Music (Hardcover)

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