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Should this be
The Capture of Inspiration
?

It should be, that is what I wrote.

I guess Schmitz' book on the piano music of Debussy, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, should be on the list.

Perhaps this is as good as any thread to ask this question...

Has anyone seen this book: "Anna Nikolaevna Esipova:", by Nikolai Bertenson, pub. 1960, Leningrad.

It may not have been translated from the original Russian, although I would have it translated. Because she was the student and wife of Leschetizky, and a formidable pianist-teacher in her own right, I am very interested in acquiring this book.

Regards,

JB

Jonathan,

You might contact this importer.

http://shop.russia-on-line.com/text/contact.php

Good Luck!

Thank you Marty, I will look into it.

Couple of my favorite books:
Domenico Scarlatti; Ralph Kirkpatrick
The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti; W.Dean Sutcliffe

That's a fine and thorough book in my opinion. I wonder though, how close was Schmitz actually to Debussy? It appears he cannot have been awfully old when Debussy died? I'm asking because the edition that I have (Dover press) states that he was a good friend of Debussy, so...In any case, a good read for sure.

Regarding his other book the capture of inspiration, I'm having troubles finding info/excerpts. Is it out of print or something? Hard to find info online.

And I guess nobody knows whether anyone is intending to translate Samuil Feinberg's "Pianism as art"? Segments have been translated so far. Every pianist I know that understands russian says it is undoubtedly one of the most valuable books on piano playing.

I had a good friend who studied with Schmitz. He said that Schmitz would accompany Mary Garden when she sang for Debussy. I think he studied the piano works with Debussy.

Schmitz worked to get Jewish musicians out of France ahead of the Nazis. That is how Darius Milhaud came to Mills College and Pierre Monteux came to the San Francisco Symphony. He is sadly neglected these days, but he was a great humanitarian.

The Capture of Inspiration is long out of print, as are the accompanying editions of music. I have the book and the Chopin and Thompson Etudes which he edited. I guess they would be easier to find around here, since he ended up in San Francisco.

I was told that the CHopin etudes have a COMPLETELY unique set of fingerings unlike all other editions. I believe someone told me that the left hand opening stuff in the Revolutionary etude alters between two fingers??? (presumably for clearer accents...?)

Not that I am aware of. The opening of the Revolutionary is fingered the same in all three editions that I have: Schmitz, Paderewski and Friedheim.

Wonderful book on the Chopin piano concertos (also covers the Allegro de Concert) - highly recommended:

John Rink - Chopin: The Piano Concertos
http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/music/nineteenth-century-music/chopin-piano-concertos

Here is a comprehensive summary/review of the book:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/3.1.00/bonkowski_rink.html

Can new contributors please add their selections to the master list? Just hit "quick quote" on the list and add yours alphabetically. Thanks!

FYI - I'll be moving this to the FAQ section of the site fairly soon. Add your other favorites now!

Excellent. Thank you.

I'd just like to add, please add your selections to the master list by clicking on quick quote. That way, maintaining the list becomes a group effort.

Hello!
I'm looking everywhere for this great book "the Capture of Inspiration" of Robert Shmitz and it is SO RARE. I saw some users writing about this book here and so I wondered if anyone has this book scanned, as a pdf or if anyone has found it online!
Happy to excahnge it with anything that I have too!

I have a copy but don't want to photocopy it as that is labor intensive. If you have other ideas, let me know as I don't mind sharing as long as it doesn't involve me copying page by page.

@murr - why don't you just borrow it from a local library - this is not a rare book. Type your area code in the box. This book is also available for sale in used form online.

The capture of inspiration
Author:
E Robert Schmitz; José Rodríguez
Publisher:
New York, C. Fischer [©1935]

https://www.worldcat.org/title/capture-of-inspiration/oclc/2280692

Thanks a lot for the answers! I live in Greece and I have searched in all our musical libraries. Not any of them had the book unfortunately. There are few hardcover editions of the book at amazon, ebay etc but they are too expensive! At least I'd prefer to search it inside before giving so much money.
@Tyrone Slothrope thanks! As long as you don't live in Greece I cannot imagine any good or easy way of sharing!

Are Henle Books good or bad.