Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Looking for Guide to Standard Classical Pieces

I'd love to find a book or a website that offers a commentary on some of the standard classical piano pieces. I have Jane Magrath's "The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature" which is helpful, but it doesn't go into as much detail as I'd like. I'm looking for a source of advice about interpretation, potential problems and challenges, areas requiring special attention, and perhaps background information that would aid in understanding the piece.

Has anyone found anything like this?

Carol

These are my favorites:

[i]Music for the Piano[/i] by Friskin and Freundlich

[i]Guide to the Pianist\'s Repertoire[/i] by Maurice Hinson

This topic has come up before; in fact, I posed a similar question myself in this thread !

Steven

Steven,

Thanks so much! You've given me exactly what I was looking for; I'll order the two books you've recommended. The link to the previous thread is also helpful, and I'll look into those suggestions as well.

I was at a loss as to what key words to search on, so you've saved me hours of time. I'm very grateful!

Carol

Carol,

I do have a caveat with regard to the two titles I cited. While both of them are quite comprehensive in scope, the downside of that breadth is that there's not a lot of detail about the works listed.

In comparison, a book like Jane Magrath's (which I don't own, unfortunately) actually seems to treat individual pieces with greater depth even if it's less ambitious in overall scope. So, if you want more detailed analyses, you might find the guides I mentioned frustrating.

I'm sure there are some other titles that offer in-depth discussions of selected compositions by a more limited number of composers. Based on your own requirements and interests here, you might want to continue searching (whether here or at a site like Amazon) on keywords such as classical piano repertoire.

Steven

Carol, if you can narrow your search to more specific compositions, I think you will find more. Some series or publishers offer workbooks or teacher's guides for classical publications. This includes Alfred's Masterwork Classics series (ed. Jane Magrath) and the Frederick Harris Celebration Series.