Underpinned by author John Rink's internationally acclaimed scholarship and experience as a musician, this book addresses fascinating topics in the field of musical performance studies concerning the history, analysis and psychology of music, as well as artistic research. It offers manifold practical insights into musical performance, ranging from detailed technical features to overall shape. The volume has four main parts, focusing on performance and performance studies, historical performance, analysis and performance, and artistic research. Case studies of romantic piano pieces appear throughout, including Liszt's 'Vallée d'Obermann', Brahms's Fantasien Op. 116, and select preludes and concertos by Rachmaninoff and Chopin. The book also includes discussions of recordings by such artists as Alfred Brendel, Artur Rubinstein and Nikita Magaloff along with some outstanding performances in the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 2015. Rink explores issues surrounding the identity and artistic voice of the performer by elucidating the sense-making and decision-making process underlying musical performance of all kinds. He also offers broad insights into musical ontology, epistemology and semantics, in addition to demonstrating some of the methodologies now used to study performance. As a whole, the book highlights the powerful effects that experiencing music in performance can have on those who take part in it, in any capacity.

This anthology brings together representative examples of the most significant and engaging scholarly writing on Chopin by a wide range of authors. The essays selected for the volume portray a rounded picture of Chopin as composer, pianist and teacher of his music, and of his overall achievement and legacy. Historical perspectives are offered on Chopin's biography 'as cultural discourse', on the evolution and origins of his style, and on the contexts of given works. A fascinating contemporary overview of Chopin's oeuvre is also provided. Seven source studies assess the status and role of Chopin's notational practices as well as some enigmatic sketch material. Essays in the field of performance studies scrutinise the 'cultural work' carried out by Chopin's performances and discuss his playing style along with that of his contemporaries and students. This paves the way for a body of essays on analysis, aesthetics and reception, considering aspects of genre and including an overview of analytical approaches to select works. The remaining essays address Chopin's handling of form, rhythm and other musical elements, as well as the 'meaning' of his msuic. The collection as a whole underscores one of the most important aspects of Chopin's legacy, namely the paradoxical manner in which he drew from the past - in particular, certain eighteenth-century traditions - while stretching inherited conventions and practices to such an extent that a highly original 'music of the future' was heralded.

This book provides a complete inventory of the Chopin first editions, and subsequent impressions published in his lifetime, found in over forty European and American collections. They total some 4000 scores. Prefaced by an extended historical discussion from Christophe Grabowski and John Rink, the book constitutes the first systematic investigation of Chopin's first editions, which have until now been neglected despite their potential to inform us. Much is revealed here about the content of Chopin's music, his idiosyncratic editorial methods, and early nineteenth-century publication practices in general. Furthermore, the insights gained into the evolution from manuscript to later impressions of Chopin's first editions counter prevailing notions of the circumscribed 'work', encouraging a more flexible conception in which variants become part of the music's aesthetic property. The value of the volume is enhanced by the reproduction of more than 200 title pages from first editions.

From the cylinder to the download, the practice of music has been radically transformed by the development of recording and playback technologies. This Companion provides a detailed overview of the transformation, encompassing both classical and popular music. Topics covered include the history of recording technology and the businesses built on it; the impact of recording on performance styles; studio practices, viewed from the perspectives of performer, producer and engineer; and approaches to the study of recordings. The main chapters are interspersed by 'short takes' - short contributions by different practitioners, ranging from classical or pop producers and performers to record collectors. Combining basic information with a variety of perspectives on records and recordings, this book will appeal not only to students in a range of subjects from music to the media, but also to general readers interested in a fundamental yet insufficiently understood dimension of musical culture.

This second volume of essays in Chopin Studies contains Chopin research by twelve leading scholars. Three main topics are addressed: reception history, aesthetics and criticism, and performance studies. The first four chapters investigate certain images associated with Chopin during his lifetime and after his death: Chopin as classical composer, as salon composer, as modernist, as 'otherwordly', as androgyne. The next four essays contextualize and define aspects of his musical language, including narrative stuctures, baroque affinities, progressive tendencies and functional ambiguity. The last four deal with analysis and source study as related to performance, structure and expression, tempo rubato and 'authentic' interpretation. The book ends with a thumbnail sketch of Chopin as revealed in a recently discovered diary for 1847-8.

The twelve essays in this volume reflect the most important trends in the study of musical performance. Three areas are investigated: the psychology of performance, the semantics of performance, and the relation between performance and analysis. The first section broaches fundamental issues such as text, expression, musical motion and the role of practice in the acquisition of expertise. The next four chapters address the shaping of structure and the projection of meaning in performance, while the last four consider performance as analytical paradigm, as dramatic narrative, as act of criticism, as temporal process. Among the distinguished international authorship are many accomplished performers whose practical experience ensures that the book contains vital and stimulating insights into the interpretation of music, and that it will speak to a wide musical audience.

This book unravels the complexities of playing music and reveals aspects of learning, playing and responding to music relevant to performances of all levels. A survey of performance through the ages leads to a presentation of basic historical, analytical and psychological concepts. Four chapters follow on teaching, development, practice and memorization. The next section considers the "translation" from score to sound, physical projection, ensemble playing and performance anxiety. The final section addresses the act of listening, the legacy of recordings, music criticism and "performers on performance".

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.

This second volume of essays in Chopin Studies contains Chopin research by twelve leading scholars. Three main topics are addressed: reception history, aesthetics and criticism, and performance studies. The first four chapters investigate certain images associated with Chopin during his lifetime and after his death: Chopin as classical composer, as salon composer, as modernist, as 'otherwordly', as androgyne. The next four essays contextualize and define aspects of his musical language, including narrative stuctures, baroque affinities, progressive tendencies and functional ambiguity. The last four deal with analysis and source study as related to performance, structure and expression, tempo rubato and 'authentic' interpretation. The book ends with a thumbnail sketch of Chopin as revealed in a recently discovered diary for 1847-8.

From the cylinder to the download, the practice of music has been radically transformed by the development of recording and playback technologies. This 2009 Companion provides a detailed overview of the transformation, encompassing both classical and popular music. Topics covered include the history of recording technology and the businesses built on it; the impact of recording on performance styles; studio practices, viewed from the perspectives of performer, producer and engineer; and approaches to the study of recordings. The main chapters are interspersed by 'short takes' - short contributions by different practitioners, ranging from classical or pop producers and performers to record collectors. Combining basic information with a variety of perspectives on records and recordings, this book will appeal not only to students in a range of subjects from music to the media, but also to general readers interested in a fundamental yet insufficiently understood dimension of musical culture.

This book unravels the complexities of playing music and reveals aspects of learning, playing and responding to music relevant to performances of all levels. A survey of performance through the ages leads to a presentation of basic historical, analytical and psychological concepts. Four chapters follow on teaching, development, practice and memorization. The next section considers the "translation" from score to sound, physical projection, ensemble playing and performance anxiety. The final section addresses the act of listening, the legacy of recordings, music criticism and "performers on performance".

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.