The art of French piano music
Subtitle: Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier
By: Roy Howat.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New Haven, Conn; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 400
ISBN-13: 9780300145472
Subjects: Debussy, Claude, -- 1862-1918 -- Criticism and interpretation; Debussy, Claude, -- 1862-1918; Ravel, Maurice, -- 1875-1937 -- Criticism and interpretation; Ravel, Maurice, -- 1875-1937; Fauré, Gabriel, -- 1845-1924 -- Criticism and interpretation; Fauré, Gabriel, -- 1845-1924; Chabrier, Emmanuel, -- 1841-1894 -- Criticism and interpretation; Chabrier, Emmanuel, -- 1841-1894; Piano music -- France -- History and criticism; Piano music -- France -- Analysis, appreciation; Pianomuziek; Frankrijk
Description: An essential resource for scholars and performers, this study by a world-renowned specialist illuminates the piano music of four major French composers, in comparative and reciprocal context. Howat explores the musical language and artistic ethos of this repertoire, juxtaposing structural analysis with editorial and performing issues. He also relates his four composers historically and stylistically to such predecessors as Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, the French harpsichord school, and Russian and Spanish music. Challenging long-held assumptions about performance practice, Howat elucidates the rhythmic vitality and invention inherent in French music. In granting Fauré and Chabrier equal consideration with Debussy and Ravel, he redresses a historic imbalance and reshapes our perceptions of this entire musical tradition. Outstanding historical documentation and analysis are supported by Howat's direct references to performing traditions shaped by the composers themselves. The book balances accessibility with scholarly and analytic rigor, combining a lifetime's scholarship with practical experience of teaching and the concert platform [Publisher's description]
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-388) and index.
Table of contents: title: The exactitude of musical 'Impressionism' (Painting in sound ; Painting in musical structure (1) : Debussy's Preludes ; Painting in musical structure (2) : Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit ; Shapes and forms ; Reflets dans l'eau', Hokusai, Edgar Allan Poe and Leonardo of Pisa); title: Musical roots and antecedents (Chopin's legacy ; 'Musique adorable ': à la découverte d'Emmanuel Chabrier ; Debussy and the Orient ; The exotic via Russia and Spain ; The clavecinistes ; Romanticism); title: Fresh perspectives (Rhythmic games in Ravel ; Rhythmic games in Chabrier ; Repertoire discoveries); title: At the keyboard (What do we interpret? ; Editions and what they can't quite tell us ; Rhythm, tempo, dance and humour ; A fresh look at Gabriel Fauré ; Orchestral thinking and the pedals ; Body language and the piano ; The composer as pianist); title: Appendices ('Facilement, facilement' : finding technical ease ; Glosses on titles and musical allusions ; Composers' surviving instruments and recordings ; Brief summary of critical editions ; Locations of musical manuscripts discussed)