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Title: Piano Pieces by Russell Sherman ISBN: 0-374-52500-5 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 26 June, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.17 (6 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Great Musicians Aren't Necessarily Great Writers
Comment: 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.
Rating: 4
Summary: Stay with this book
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: An inspiring read for eclectic minds
Comment: 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.
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Title: The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thaddeus Carhart, Thad Carhart ISBN: 0375758623 Publisher: Random House Trade Pub. Date: 12 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist by Charles Rosen ISBN: 0743203828 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Piano Lessons: Music, Love, & True Adventures by Noah Adams ISBN: 0385318219 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Super Sight-Reading Secrets: An Innovative, Step-By-Step Program for Musical Keyboard Players of All Levels by Howard B. Richman ISBN: 0961596309 Publisher: Sound Feelings Publishing Pub. Date: 01 June, 1986 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Notes from the Pianist's Bench by Boris Berman ISBN: 0300093985 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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