Customer Reviews

Piano Pieces

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a concert pianist and pedagogue myself, I find Russell Sherman's Piano Pieces to be one of the most inspiring books on piano performance I have ever read. It is non-prescriptive and does not conform to conventional didactic approaches or methodologies. (So, if you want a self-help manual or detailed instructions on how to play the piano, this is not the book!) Instead, the book is a collage of a series of "pieces" of thoughts - concerning the hand, the piano, the music, the student, the parent, the mindset to musical apprenticeship, and a plethora of other significant issues confronting the life of a developing musician. Piano Pieces is poetically and eloquently written. The metaphors bring to life the essence of the experience of music apprenticeship and performance. Sherman Russell's poetic language reaches the soul of the reader, engaging the reader in an intellectual and philosophical journey to the inner realities of musical performance. This book also brings to light certain ethereal qualities, the "je ne sais quoi" properties of a moving performance - which is so difficult to communicate through the conventional objectively reductive (Cartesian) thinking. "Piano Pieces" would serve as an excellent inspirational guide for the practicing musician. I would recommend this book to all readers - from the serious musician to neophytes, and to parents of budding musicians as well.

I'm surprised by the reviews that denounce this book. Sherman's tone is at once informal and high-minded, which might limit the appeal of Piano Pieces to a particularly North American sensibility. Still, when I read it in the spring of 1996, I knew Piano Pieces would remain one of the most intellectually and creatively inspiring books that I would read on any subject. Sherman treats a range of issues related to performing the European piano literature by comparing it to, or locating it within, literary criticism, baseball, mythology, poetry, drama, aesthetic theory, art history, everyday life, personal experience, (American)consumer culture, and social history. In addition, Sherman's recollections of his own teacher, Eduard Steuermann, are touching and instructive. It is clear, too, that Sherman has learned as much from his students as he has imparted to them. Sherman has a searching, inquisitive mind that brings together disparate subjects and phenomena coherently and beautifully.

That said, Piano Pieces may not appeal to non-pianists and may turn off those pianists who, understandably, prefer not to think about how they make music. Still, this book is a fascinating record of a musical soul.

One more thing: prior to reading this book, I was only vaguely aware of Sherman as an instructor in the Boston area. After reading Piano Pieces, I sought Sherman's recordings and prepared myself for a series of disappointments. Happily, I found that he is a gifted performer. Although you may have to search for them, I especially recommend his recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas and Haydn's piano sonatas. He is a thoughtful and surprising music maker.

While many (especially non-musicians, non-artists, non-students, non-teachers or non-thinkers) may give up on this book, there are many, many things to recommend it. Since the book is written in short, paragraph-long sections, one can jump all around, which is really how to read it. If you do you may glean numerous insights. Though prone to being pretty pretentious, Sherman has thought deeply about his work as a musician, pianist and teacher. He understands how mere technique does not make an artist, how simply hours of practice does not make a great pianist, and how music competitions are death to performers: in other words, things that need to be said! Sherman is able to convey these insights, and a patient, intelligent reader should be able to get beyond his admittedly weak style as a writer and make many discoveries.

Am I ever glad to have found this book. In spite of being slow and very careful reading requiring much pondering and afterthought, it is worth every second of hard concentration. The reader needs to be in love with classical music and with piano-playing, be a true artist as well as having a deep understanding of vibrant colors, painting and the visual arts. 'Piano Pieces' brings the reader closer to a new understanding that taps into new creativity.
Thank you, Russell Sherman!

I recently discovered this little book in the public library and in the first few pages realized I must own it. Mr. Sherman is a brilliant thinker and writer. I am inspired and enlightened by his pianistic and artistic wisdom. I look forward to each and every page and can't wait to own what will become a cherished and important addition to my personal library.

I like Sherman's approach to music and agree with him on much of his critique of modern music-making and culture. It is a pity, then, that his good points are lost in a seemingly endless series of brief remarks without structure. I'm sure this book would rate 5 stars if it was rewritten into a series of essays; the current format lacks the framework needed to make his observations cogent.

I think it was Lincoln who made the wise comment that "you can please some of the people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time." True enough but to the reviewer who allegedly gave it up "after two pages" and another who rendered the book as "pretentious [...] cerebral flatus" , I must do an ad hoc Sir Wilfrid Robarts [Charles Laughton] for the defense here and offer some reverse coin considerations. True enough that the book uses a play on words [as does Charles Rosen's tome, et al] but then too, it 'does' say "pieces" and hence the normal paragraph to paragraph flow and cohesion is missing seemingly more by design versus that of author fault.

So too, there is much comment on Mr. Sherman's students [NEC or otherwise] in a general collective sense anyway and the mixed bag types he has taught over the long haul where musical ability per se is not the 'only' hurdle that has to be worked on [or extracted therein] although there are quite serious piano students who feel that they have an absolute right to their 'complete interpretive freedom' while relegating the composer to a mere after-thought! You know, the old Bach syndrome, no tempi nor dynamic indications so, goes the argument, "anything goes" or others where directives 'are' given becoming mere 'recommended guidelines' as opposed to 'mandates' yet when the "my own thing" interpretation is not embraced by the masses as being both 'daring' and 'unique', much less by the pianistic master/mentor, ahhh, the fault must be in the level of instruction, yes? Certainly not the student, no-no, it must be the mentor who is allegedly 'doggedly mired' on the war-horse pieces or hopelessly bound up with the romantic [or whatever] era century itself. And manner of thinking and mind-set therein.

I found the book to be well done and well presented albeit in a form that may give the appearance of being disjointed but then the word 'pieces' as distinct and separate entities within themselves can work various ways. Finally this, Russell Sherman, much like Charles Rosen, has been the road in kind and thus becomes duly qualified by default to comment on that road. This is not to suggest that reader agreement is forced or mandated by any means but it is to say that the collective findings are at least experience borne and rendered therein as opposed to mere armchair pontificating based on the findings or assumptions of others. Those kinds of tomes exist too. As do opinions of the more inherited or, shall we say, paraphrased from others variety versus that of having said experience and expertise. There 'is' a difference! A rather meaningful one.

Doc Tony

Regrettably, I feel I cannot justify this book taking up ANY room on my bookshelf. Then I thought of giving it away, but I wouldn't do that to anybody I know.

What was he thinking ? Only years of academic study would equip you with enough prentension to understand what he is trying to get at - is he trying to make a point ? I kept reading, hoping for something enlightening, without result.

My advise is - Don't waste your time or money !

I too have slogged through this book, searching for insights into playing piano and understanding musical form. Sherman's thoughts regarding the hand and the role of each finger are actually quite useful.
Music is certainly not a perfectly linear art form, and everything mentioned does tend to eventually relate to everything else mentioned. Still, Sherman could have spent a bit of time organizing his free-associative style into smaller and more specific subjects. Perhaps the best way to think of this book is as a transcription of Russell Sherman's musings over after-dinner drinks, in a rather indulgent, expansive and reflective mood. A succinct text it's not.

I picked up this book hoping it would be similar to Charles Rosen's page turner Piano Notes. Both are books written by pianists about playing the piano, and both have titles that are plays on words (Piano Roles is a third one of that type). Why oh why did I not look it over more carefully when I saw it in the bookstore? This book says nothing and the writing is completely pretentious and impossible to enjoy. It is my understanding that the author thinks he's being poetic by using various rhetorical devices such as metaphor. But the reality is he's just being tedious. I gave up on it after only TWO PAGES! I just couldn't stand it anymore and I flipped through the book and realized the entire thing was written in the exact same way: a bad attempt at being poetic without actually imparting any interesting or useful information. I have just ordered another book by Charles Rosen and am looking forward to reading it.
The only redeeming thing I have to say is that I suppose that if you're seriously right brained, you might enjoy the non-linear presentation, but personally, I think I'm more left-brained and need some order, logic, structure, not just a bunch of unfulfilling metaphors.