Schnabel's Interpretation of Piano Music

by Konrad Wolff, Alfred Brendel (Preface)

In a testimonial to Konrad Wolff, Schnabel himself expressed his admiration for the author and this book: “Konrad Wolff . . . is a remarkable pianist, an excellent theorist, a learned historian, an outstanding teacher, a brilliant thinker and writer. . . . [His book] is a comprehensive elucidation of a complex and subtle problem. Artur Schnabel’s reputation as a pianist and teacher has grown steadily, and his innovative approach to the pianist’s art has attracted increasing interest. This book―originally prepared while its author was studying with Schnabel, and supervised by the master himself―is unique for two reasons: it is the only detailed treatment of Schnabel’s “system” as such, and it is the first general survey describing the range of a pianist’s interpretive concerns to appear in this century. Formerly titled The Teaching of Artur Schnabel , this second edition includes a new preface by Alfred Brendel.

Genres: Music

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Schnabel's Interpretation of Piano Music but classical pianists will get the most out of it. In this book Konrad Wolff details Artur Schnabel's interpretive style which is subjective but well thought out. The musical examples are from Bach to Brahms with a Debussy example being an exception. This was Schnabel's main teaching and performance repertoire. Overall this book is a good reference for a musician looking for solutions in musicality or alternate ways of thinking about them.