Bach's spectacular Goldberg Variations represent a high point in the repertory of keyboard music, particularly for the harpsichord. This book takes a detailed look at how these variations originated, especially in relation to all Bach's ClavierÜbung volumes and late keyboard works, what their exceptionally intricate plan is, what kind of impact they have had, and how their mysterious beauty has been created. This guide to what was at the time the largest and most carefully conceived single work of keyboard music will appeal to students, performers and listeners.

Early Keyboard Instruments discusses a variety of issues involved in the performance of keyboard music from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. It brings together a range of topics that have come to the fore in recent decades and forms a useful introduction to historical performance issues for the student performer or amateur, whether playing on period instruments or on the modern piano.

Early Keyboard Instruments discusses a variety of issues involved in the performance of keyboard music from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. It brings together a range of topics that have come to the fore in recent decades and forms a useful introduction to historical performance issues for the student performer or amateur, whether playing on period instruments or on the modern piano.

Even in Beethoven's day everyone was talking about the "Moonlight" Sonata. This is a comprehensive introduction to Beethoven's most popular piano sonata, together with the four other sonatas in Op. 27 and Op. 31. Aimed at pianists, students and music lovers, it gives an account of the sonatas' historical background, their changing performance styles, and offers an accessible critical introduction to the music.

Encore is the official collection of best-loved ABRSM piano exam pieces, selected from syllabuses of the past few decades. Pianists will find an appealing mix of repertoire, while teachers can be confident that the perfect balance of content has been selected at every level. Book 1 features 21 popular pieces at Grades 1 and 2. Have fun exploring timeless classics and modern favourites, like Hook's Gavotte, or Vampire Blues by Wooding. Footnotes provide background information, a summary of the key skills that each piece develops, and new ideas for exploring the music. Whether you're working through our exams, playing informally, or planning a performance, Encore is full of music you'll want to play again and again! Perfect for learners exploring repertoire for the own-choice piece in ABRSM's Performance Grade exams

This 1996 work on the history of organs built in England between AD 900 and the time of publication describes the most significant instruments of each period together with details of their builders, set against a background of changing fashions in music and liturgy. Technical developments are described in an easily understood manner, and links with other schools of organ building are made clear for the first time. The illustrations, many of which have not been published before, show significant instruments in their architectural setting. The author's experience in organ building gives the account all the benefits of first-hand experience. Written in an elegant, entertaining, and informed manner, the book is a vital and much-needed addition to current organ literature. Awarded the biennial Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize for the best book-length study of musical instruments published in the two year period 1996-7.

The Best of Grade 1 Piano comprise pieces selected by the major examination boards in one volume, which have captured the imaginations of teachers and students over the years, including some old favourites and some forgotten gems. All the pieces are tried and tested and perfectly graded and fingered for Grade 1. This book also provides top-quality music that is ideal as a sight-reading resource for more advanced students. The music has been carefully selected and edited by Anthony Williams, a leading ABRSM piano examiner and selector. There are five books in the series Best of Grade... for Piano, and a similar series exists for Flute (selected and edited by Sally Adams), and Clarinet (selected and edited by Paul Harris).

for organ
This collection of 30 titles includes preludes, postludes, and other music for services and concerts. All pieces can be played effectively on a one-manual organ with appropriate stops. This is the first book in a progressive series.

Features pieces (about Grades 1-3 standard).

This delightful set of practical miniature arrangements of hymn tunes for organ is useful throughout the church year and is accessible to the average church organist. These short pieces not only enhance church services, but also prove invaluable to the church musician looking for something fresh to use during services. The styles of miniatures, which last anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute in duration, are sufficiently varied to maintain interest: some settings are meditative, while others are fanfares, and they can be used during various parts of the service. The book includes a preface that discusses practical usage of the miniatures, citing some examples from te Velde's own experience. It also includes a liturgical index and an index of first lines for the convenience of the organist.

for organ
Part of the progressive series for manuals, this fifth book includes 13 titles for the advanced organist.

Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. This Handbook reevaluates them so that their many outstanding qualities can be fully appreciated. It describes their genesis, Chopin's own performances and his use of them as a teacher. A survey of their critical, editorial and performance histories follows, in preparation for an engaging narrative analysis of the concertos as embodied in sound. The final chapter investigates Chopin's enigmatic "third concerto", the Allegro de concert.

Lang Lang Piano Academy: mastering the piano level 2 (approximately equivalent to Grade 2/Elementary) includes sections on hand coordination, phrasing and developing dexterity. Units: Exploring the keyboard Hand coordination Rhythmic control Phrasing Developing dexterity Finger control The left hand Dynamics Mastering the piano is the first series of books to be launched in the Lang Lang Piano Academy. Comprising five progressive books, mastering the piano captures Lang Lang's passion, drive and extraordinary mastery of the piano. Each book gives students the chance to learn from this exceptional talent, with: 8 units that develop key aspects of piano technique; specially devised exercises & studies; a diverse selection of repertoire including Lang Lang's favourite works; and inspirational commentary & guidance from Lang Lang himself. Mastering the piano level 2 is also available as an iPad App! Listen to Lang Lang playing Arabesque (Burgmuller) Download FREE Scales & Arpeggios chart for Level 2

Throughout his career, the influential new media theorist Vilem Flusser kept the idea of gesture in mind: that people express their being in the world through a sweeping range of movements. He reconsiders familiar actions--from speaking and painting to smoking and telephoning--in terms of particular movement, opening a surprising new perspective on the ways we share and preserve meaning. A gesture may or may not be linked to specialized apparatus, though its form crucially affects the person who makes it.

These essays, published here as a collection in English for the first time, were written over roughly a half century and reflect both an eclectic array of interests and a durable commitment to phenomenological thought. Defining gesture as "a movement of the body or of a tool attached to the body for which there is no satisfactory causal explanation," Flusser moves around the topic from diverse points of view, angles, and distances: at times he zooms in on a modest, ordinary movement such as taking a photograph, shaving, or listening to music; at others, he pulls back to look at something as vast and varied as human "making," embracing everything from the fashioning of simple tools to mass manufacturing. But whatever the gesture, Flusser analyzes it as the expression of a particular form of consciousness, that is, as a particular relationship between the world and the one who gestures.

Charles Ives' massive Concord Sonata, his second sonata for piano, named after the town of Concord in Massachusetts, is central to his output and clearly reflects his aesthetic perspective. Geoffrey Block's wide-ranging account of the work thus provides an ideal introduction to this fascinating composer. This handbook discusses the Sonata's reception history and its compositional genesis, as well as providing a detailed account of the work's thematic content, its use of borrowed material, and the degree to which the program is influenced by the Concord Transcendentalists.