The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier - Softcover

Howat, Roy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300213050 ISBN 13: 9780300213058

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2014

Synopsis

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

About this title

About the Author:

Roy Howat is a concert pianist, scholar, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. He lives in London and Paris and holds the position of Keyboard Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Review:

“Invigorating. . . . The author’s respect for and comprehensive knowledge of his wide-ranging subject, no less than his love for it, is plain on every page.”—Mark DeVoto, Notes

 



(Mark DeVoto Notes)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0300213050
• ISBN 13: 9780300213058
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416