Chopin: The Man and His Music (Volume 1) (Dover Books On Music: Composers)

About this book

James Gibbon Huneker (18571921) was a distinguished American newspaper critic an essayist and a prolific author. His writing style is remarkable unrestrained informal full of brilliant insight and this style plus Hunekers wide knowledge of art and literature as well as music has kept his literacy work alive. Chopin: The Man and His Music reflects the intimate thorough knowledge of Chopins music that Huneker acquired while studying to be a concert pianist and his unusually keen insight into the character of the great Polish composer whose music he adored. The book is divided into two parts. The first treats Chopins life his youth in Poland his emigration to Paris the famous George Sand episode his sickness and death and comments on Chopin as a teacher and as a pianist and performer. The second part discusses the entire body of Chopins music piece by piece. Huneker notes his own overall impression of the individual compositions as well as the impressions of Schumann George Sand Chopins biographer Frederick Niecks many of the great pianists and others. He directly compares differing editions of Chopins tudes Preludes Nocturnes Mazurkas Polonaises Sonatas and other works edited by von Blow Kullak Riemann Mikuli and Godowsky in their detailed treatment of fingering phrasing pedaling tempo indication and so forth. Hunekers entire work is reprinted here unchanged thoroughly edited in running footnotes by Herbert Weinstock to correct the exuberant Hunekers inaccuracies and to add information that modern musical scholarship has unearthed. Weinstock has also provided an engrossing introductory essay on Huneker and has amplified the bibliography to include modern books and articles on Chopin. A classic in musical biography and commentary this work is unsurpassed for sympathetic understanding and insight into Chopins life and music. It will interest equally music students pianists and music lovers.