Piano Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life with the Piano

by James Parakilas

The piano turns 300 this year. To celebrate, Parakilas (music, Bates Coll.; Ballads Without Words: Chopin and the Tradition of the Instrumental Ballade) has assembled a group of distinguished contributors and fashioned a lavishly illustrated social history of the piano directed at informed lay readers. Interweaving a chronological treatment of the piano's development with thematic essays, including how the piano is depicted in art, its manufacture and marketing, the role of the piano in motion pictures, the piano lesson, and its history in Japan, the authors share their warm regard and enthusiasm for this instrument central to so many facets of music-making. Exploring the piano's well-traveled avenues and little-known byways, this thoroughly entertaining and insightful book complements earlier titles like The Lives of the Piano (ed. by James R. Gaines; 1981. o.p.), Dieter Hildebrandt's Pianoforte: A Social History of the Piano (LJ 6/1/88), and David Crombie's Piano (LJ 1/96). Highly recommended as an exceptional value for all music collections. -Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History

Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a big book on the coffee table: rich w/illustrative art and samples of period pieces. Composed of small essay-articles on a myriad of topics: manufacturers, consumers, teachers, the new & the old ways, the prevalence of women, the incline & decline of the role of the piano, it's place for singers, orchestra rehearsals, celebrations, gatherings, therapy, or households. All insightful perspectives. London & Vienna receive much attention, as do virtuosos like Liszt, or prime movers like Clementi or Christofori "the piano inventor". Not much on Russian or Latin America but the book does well to speak of the piano within the context of the time & the place. Really liked all the art and the variety of voices. A well-rounded compendium for piano enthusiasts.

[Hema · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book if you love the piano and want to know more of how it evolved to current day use.

It has a few historical holes, for good reason. It is hard to cover the whole history of keyboards.

I would have liked to know about the evolution of the old instrument, the harmonium and it's relationship to the piano keyboard. In Eastern music, the harmonium can play songs that the piano cannot play.

A good read. I am glad they included the relationship between Bach and the harpsichord for lovers of early Western music.

[Carole Duff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cultural history of the piano, the role it has played in our culture over the past three years.

[Vihan Aw · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my endless travels from the quaint corners of my seat on the public bus to the hallowed halls of learning in Clinton Community College, never have I been more enthralled in learning about Franz Liszt's capability to cause orgasms with his music.

But surely I jest. From the humble beginnings of the piano to the pedagogy of the masters, I felt like I had taken an entire semester's worth of history in Western Civilization regarding my fetish, the piano.

But surely I jest.

[Tami · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I owned this mammoth resource and had time to peruse it here and there, I might have found it more interesting. It was just way to much information to digest in a short amount of time. I ended up flipping the pages & looking at the pictures! :o