Mozart and His Piano Concertos By Cuthbert Girdlestone

All the concerts analyzed in details without overlooking the other works of Mozart that parallel the stream of piano concerts. and 1 more , Kindle Edition, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback Hat mir weniger gefallen.Besser sind Dennerlein und Hutchings Bücher.Daneben weiterhin Alfred Einsteins Buch über Mozarts Leben und Werk and 1 more , Kindle Edition, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback Cuthbert Girdlestone has achieved something that few author's can claim: he has written two (currently) definitive books, this one on Mozart's luminous piano concertos and an excellent biography of the great French composer/musical theoretician Jean Philippe Rameau, even though both books are quite old and are theoretically out of date. Given the renaissance in early music performance that has occurred over the last half century, many of the ideas that Girdlestone espouses in the book can legitimately be described as extremely dated. This most frequently manifests itself in the generally Romantic cast with which he views both Mozart the composer and his piano concertos, as well as a pronounced tendency to engage in poetic descriptions of Mozart's music that recall an earlier era in music commentary. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the French version of this book was originally published in 1939. That was a time in which few of the Mozart piano concertos were played or recorded, with only No.20 in D minor generally known. But it is a tribute to Girdlestone's love of these concertos and his deep insight into their beauty and artistic perfection when we note that he was the first major music commentator to analyze them in depth in a book exclusively devoted to them and to immediately classify them as comparable in importance to that of Beethoven's nine symphonies when contemplating the history of orchestral music, Girdlestone quite early on recognized the primal significance of Mozart's piano concertos in the history of the genre. His comments about them in the book are brilliantly prescient, especially because they were utterly unique and decades ahead of their time.Mozart and His Piano Concertos sometimes reads as if it were engaged in some serious hand waving, trying mightily to convince you of the value of these concertos despite their Rococo origins, which was a general prejudice of the time. Thankfully, all of the Mozart concertos are now considered masterpieces to a greater or lesser degree. Even his earliest piano concertos have great beauty with No.9 in E Flat Major now universally considered to be Mozart's Eroica, a quantum leap forward in the genre and evidence (as if any were needed) of his greatness as a composer. Girdlestone analyzes each concerto from No.5 onward with great sensitivity, although his likes and dislikes may often strike the reader as somewhat quaint at times. There are numerous musical examples contained within the book but it is geared to the general reader rather than the expert. Girdlestone considers Mozart's piano concertos to be a universal treasure for all to enjoy so he has written this superb book for everyone to read. These piano concertos are the essence, the very soul of Mozart's artistry. In them he has poured all of his emotions, all of his hopes, his incomparable sense of beauty, order and perfection. If you love the piano concertos as I do and want to learn much about them, this is the finest book available, even after all these years. An indispensable introduction and guide to some of the greatest music ever composed. and 1 more , Kindle Edition, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback Even though it's on the run up to its 80th birthday, this book remains a benchmark not only for analyses of the Mozart piano concertos, but for musical analysis in general. When Girdlestone wrote it Mozart was considered a kind of stepping stone to the Real and 1 more , Kindle Edition, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback

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Mozart and His Piano Concertos: Girdlestone, Cuthbert, Buechner, Sara Davis: 9780486483658: Books Mozart and His Piano Concertos