The composer-pianists
Subtitle: Hamelin and The Eight
By: by Robert Rimm ; foreword by Stephen Hough.
Publisher: Amadeus Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Portland, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 340
Subjects: Hamelin, Marc-André, 1961- -- Criticism and interpretation.; Alkan, Charles-Valentin, 1813-1888 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji, 1892- -- Criticism and interpretation.; Busoni, Ferruccio, 1866-1924 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Godowsky, Leopold, 1870-1938 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Feĭnberg, Samuil Evgenʹevich, 1890-1962 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, 1872-1915 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Medtner, Nikolay Karlovich, 1880-1951 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Rachmaninoff, Sergei, 1873-1943 -- Criticism and interpretation.; Pianists -- Biography.; Composers -- Biography.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "The recordings made by Marc-Andre Hamelin in recent years have cast new light on an extraordinary group of composers - Alkan, Busoni, Feinberg, Godowsky, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and Sorabji - whose works heralded a Golden Age of virtuosic writing for the piano.".

"The Eight, as author Robert Rimm has termed these composer-pianists, have much in common, traits shared in our own age with Marc-Andre Hamelin, their foremost interpreter. For all their evident differences of age, nationality, and philosophy, they each created music of unprecedented ingenuity - often complex and of immense scale - that stretched the limits of the piano's capabilities. And all were genuine virtuosos with the technical resources to play these demanding works in public.".

"The volume includes rare photographs and concludes with an extensive bibliography, listings of the complete solo piano works of The Eight, and discographies of their solo piano recordings. In exploring the art of those who knew their instrument both as composers and as pianists, this book serves, in the words of pianist Stephen Hough, "both as a fascinating, exhaustive study of the riches of the past and as a stimulating inspiration for the future.""--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes discographies (p. 294-312), bibliographical references (p. 326-334), and index.
"Composer-pianists ... collectively referred to Alkan, Sorabji, Busoni, Godowsky, Feinberg, Scriabin, Medtner, and Rachmaninov as The Eight"--Pref.