Ballades: Piano Solo (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics) Review

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(More customer reviews)This edition of Chopin's Ballades is great. Notes are printed clearly. Fingerings are not confusing. Ballades are quite difficult so this book is suitable for late-intermediate to advanced pianists.

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Product Description:
In this edition, Palmer provides fingering and offers suggestions for the performance of ornaments and other markings as revealed through the study of original sources. The introductory material includes a helpful discussion of ornamentation in Chopin's music.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Preludes (Kalmus Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This Alfred Complete Preludes edition is very good. It contains a lot of information about the preludes that you can't never find in other edition or not as much as this edition such as introductory or background. The music is well engraved so it can be read easily (important for very complex structure music. The footprints are also helpful and valuable. This is recommend for true musician that they don't perform only the music, but do understanding about music that they play too. The CD is also incredible. It can serve as for practical purpose or listening in your car or anywhere else. Alfred always offer the best quality with the fine price.

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Nocturnes: Piano Solo (Piano Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)A great purchase and well worth the spent money.Reliable and on time delivery.Thank you.

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Nocturnes

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Fantasy in F Minor, Barcarolle, Berceuse and Other Works for Solo Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)Chopin's music is usually published by category--i.e. Mazurkas, Polonaises, Walzes, Etudes, etc. There are a number of works that don't fit into any of these categories such as the glorious and technically horrific Berceuse and the surprisingly easy to read but showy Tarentelle--not only gorgeous but a good exercise for technical proficiency.
This book is worth having just for the Berceuse and Tarantella, and also for the Barcarolle, another brilliant and showy work that is all too rarely played. This is a great addition to any piano music library, especially if you adore Chopin. Easy to read edition, clear print.

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Product Description:
Features 15 works, including one of the greatest of the Romantic period, the Fantasy in F Minor, Op. 49, reprinted from the authoritative German edition prepared by Chopin's student, Carl Mikuli.

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Chopin: Waltzes For the Piano vol. 27 (Piano Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you cannot wait for a Henle edition, this is a fine edition of the Chopin Waltzes and includes a lengthy prologue.

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Product Description:
The 17 waltzes comprising this volume are among Chopin's most popular compositions. Composed over a period of 20 years (from 1827-1847), only eight waltzes were published during Chopin's lifetime. Many of the others were written as gifts for women with whom he was acquainted. This practical performing edition is clearly spaced for ease in reading and contains a thematic index.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Chopin's Letters Review

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(More customer reviews)Reading the early passages in Chopin's letters, one is almost heartbroken by the youth, the enthusiasm, the childlike good humor evident therein.Chopin at 17 was a wide-eyed kid from Warsaw with unparalleled musicaltalent and his whole life in front of him, the world apparently his oyster. To read his letters in subsequent years -- after the Russian invasion ofPoland that stranded him in Paris; the abortive betrothal to MariaWodzinska; the complex and finally tragic relationship with George Sand --is to watch a man reach adulthood step by step.Though they contain onlysmall, tantalizing glimpses of Chopin's opinions on music, the letters makefor an effective counterpoint to his immortal compositions.The man whowrote the great Ballades and Scherzi was just a man like any other: he wasannoyed at lazy servants, he unconsciously exploited his friends, he wantedto move in the circles of great aristocrats, he had provincial andprejudiced opinions.The lesson is banal, but true, and vividly made clearin these letters.

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Nearly 300 letters reveal Chopin as both man and artist and illuminate his fascinating world-Europe of the 1830's and 1840's. "They abound in delightful gossip, are merry rather than malicious, are engagingly witty, and at times their humor becomes positively Rabelaisian."-Books. Preface. Index.

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Sonatas (A Kalmus Classic Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)The scores are generally accurate and I love that it's Urtext and without much editorial suggestions, in fact, there isn't any single writing through out the book, which comes to the reason why it is only three stars: no fingering at all. Other bothersome defects are its bindings (mine's already fallen apart and I've only had it for less than a year.) Also, it doesn't contain the complete sonatas. Lastly, though the scores are generally easy to read, but I did find some faded prints and measures (in fact, a lot of them) that should be spread longer for easy reading are instead squashed together.

I'd buy a more expensive book for better quality instead of this one.

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Product Description:
A collection of advanced Piano solos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nos. 1-10

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Great Keyboard Sonatas, Series I Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a nice inexpensive edition of some really wonderful sonatas, easily readable and with typical Dover binding that takes the abuse I give my piano books fairly well. The only warning that I would give for this book is that the editor presumed to give some dynamic and tempo markings specifically for piano that aren't in accordance with the best research on baroque performance. I would definatly recommend it for amatuer musicians because of it's usability, but college music majors would be advised to find a different edition.

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Series I of excellent G. Ricordi edition edited by Alessandro Longo includes 38 sonatas, K.478 through K.515. The crowning achievements of an outstanding Baroque composer, these sonatas feature exciting experimental effects-consecutive fifths and octaves, crossing hands, internal repetitions, and extended chords-that celebrate the marvelous potential of the keyboard.

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Mozart 21 of His Most Popular Pieces: Alfred Masterwork Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)The Alfred Masterworks Editions are my favorite piano music books. I've been playing the piano for about 20 years, and these are the best series of books I've used. They have very good, clear notations, the arrangements are really well presented and put together, the fingering recommendations are the best I've seen (with the little numbers by the notes), and the biographical information and performance recommendations are a nice touch.

I only wish they had more books in the series.

This Mozart book is a good starter for someone who hasn't played Mozart before, and is looking to get better acquainted with his music.

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Some of Mozart's most popular works are contained in this volume, including the "Fantasia in D Minor," the "Sonata in C Major" (first movement) and the "Turkish March" from the Sonata in A Major. Other selections include intermediate-level transcriptions from operas and orchestral works. Arranged in the order of difficulty, each piece is prefaced by a short description. A biographical sketch of the composer is also provided.

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Mazurkas Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is based on FR. Kistner Leipzig edition. Editor is Chopin's pupil Carl Mikuli foreword dated 1879, 30 years after chopin's death.
There are many other editions of Mazurkas which I personally prefer to this available but I rate this book as a important reference to learn what the composer was intended. The editor Carl Mikuli was Chopin's piano pupil and many times he witnessed the performance of composer himself which were only to those of close to him. (Chopin did only a handful of public concerts and recitals in his life) However, intimate accounts of how his (Chopin)fingers were shaped during the passages could only be used as a sentimental knowledges which has little use for today's performance standard.
Nonetheless, we could keep in mind that what composer himself tried to express and teach his students his music as a great way to express our feeling through these beautiful works. Many Mazurkas have only a few pages and many could be played by begining students.
There are discussions of how the Mazurkas should be played, outside this book but Mikuli himself did not address this matter. (Where should the Mazurka's accents have to be placed--and there is a accounts of Chopin and Meyerbeer arguing reported by other pupil von Lenz who was taking lessons of Mazurka.)
Convenient package of 1 book with this inexpensive price, with the cover portlait by Eugene Delacroix, also Chopin's close friend is a great buy for the piano students of all levels.

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Product Description:
Features 51 best-loved compositions, reproduced directly from the authoritative Kistner edition edited by Carl Mikuli, a pupil of Chopin. Editor's Foreword, 1879.

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Etudes For the Piano: Complete (Alfred Masterwork Editions) Review

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(More customer reviews)This edition is awesome. It has a plastic spiral that lets the book open and lay flat, and in comparison to books without it this feature is definitely better.

The measures are numbered and they are spaced evenly throughout the pages. There is no crowding of notes and footnotes are kept at the bottom. The font and note color is big and black too.

Overall this takes the cake because Chopin's Etudes are so difficult the edition must be as clear to understand as possible.

I only wish that Alfred publishing would make more complete editions like this of other artists such as Beethoven and Debussy. In any case this edition is superior to the Schirmer editons.

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Although each study emphasizes an aspect of virtuoso piano technique, the etudes are some of the most effectively moving of all the concert works in piano literature. This 144-page volume includes the 24 Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 as well as the three etudes

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Complete Ballades, Impromptus and Sonatas Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great book. I have used it on numerous occasions and can give no more than an absolute satisfactory report. Often, publishers write incorrect fingering and/or dynamics, and this book appears to have notsubdued to that level. The publishers obviously knew what Chopin wanted anddelivered just that instead of placing marks they thought were appropriate.

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Edited by Chopin's student and teaching assistant Carl Mikuli, this edition includes highly authoritative versions of these favorite pieces: Ballades-No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23; No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38; No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47; No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 Impromptus-No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 29; No. 2 in F-sharp Major, Op. 36; No. 3 in G-flat Major, Op. 51; No. 4 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 66 (Fantaisie-Impromptu) Sonatas-No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 4; No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35; No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58 New compilation of scores originally published by G. Schirmer, New York, 1894-1895.

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Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano: Unlocking the Masters Series Review

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(More customer reviews)Amadeus Press has filled a underserved niche in the classical music literature with these marvelous little guides to the great composers and their greatest compositions.They fill the gap between the highly detailed, scholarly volumes of the lives of the great composers ... and the too-superficial tiny guides that offer too little program notes on the music or the composer.It gives you a compelling "play-by-play" description of each composition without venturing into musicology that would lose a beginner.The entire series is extremely well written and make a great guides to new discoveries.It should appeal to beginners as well as classical veterans alike.This Chopin volume is proving to be a valuable guide as I explore in depth Chopin's music and the great performances on disc.

Every major category is covered in satisfying depth to give you solid understanding of what is behind each work - and what in particular is historically and musically significant in them.ALl major works are covered: the lilting Waltzes .. the pensive and sometimes turbulent Nocturnes ... the weighty Sonatas, Scherzos and Ballades ... the delicate miniatures ... the amazing early piano concertos ... the showpieces, Etudes, Preludes and even the few chamber pieces of Chopin are explored to reveal many curious historic details.

This volume on Chopin makes for compelling reading and is one of the only modern volumes of program notes on the piano music of Chopin I could find.The number of works covered is large and satisfying with enough detail to give you a deep appreciation of the significance, musical structures and impact of each work.In a way, it reads much like program notes in a CD, but covering the entire range of Chopin's life and works.Other reviews below outline the range covered.The volume, supplemented by classic volume like Schonberg's "Lives of the Great Composers" should give a high quality education to the music of Chopin.This book includes a Naxos CD containing performances by Idl Bieret which gives a quality intro to Chopin, but some listeners will surely want to explore the great Chopin performances of pianists like Rubinstein, Horowitz, Kissin, Perahia, Argerich and many others.Bottom line: these "Unlocking the Masters Series" are a great investment to deepening one's appreciation that will not go out of style any time soon.5 stars.

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Product Description:
Frederic Chopin died a famous man with his place in the musical pantheon secure. Yet the works that were once most popular tended to be his lightest and least challenging, leading many listeners and critics to view him as a miniaturist and composer for the salon. The bold pieces now revered as his masterpieces-the epic and tragic structures of the ballades, scherzos, polonaises, and sonatas, and the compact but daring preludes and mazurkas-were rarely played and poorly understood. In fact, a larger proportion of Chopin's pieces are now in the active repertory than that of any composer. Chopin - A Listener's Guide to the Master of the Piano takes a detailed tour through the life and oeuvre of the sovereign master of the keyboard. The composer's metabolic adaptation of the melodic structures of Italian opera and the folk music of his native Poland for the resources of the piano are examined in detail, as are the originality and boldness he displayed throughout his tragically short, astonishing career. The book is accompanied by a CD containing 15 complete compositions (and one full movement from his Piano Sonata No. 2) performed by pianist Idil Biret, from her complete survey of the composer's music on the Naxos label.

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Sonatas, Vol. 1: Nos. 1-15 (Urtext Edition, for Piano) Review

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(More customer reviews)In a snobby music world, where editions like Durand and Henle are too quickly deemed top dog, it's very nice to be able to find an edition like this one for so cheap.It's the urtext, so one has a lot more confidence in this edition than say, the Schirmer edition.(NEVER buy a Beethoven Schirmer if you ever want to play REAL Beethoven!)
Beethoven is always a joy, and the top sonata in this volume is the Pastorale, of course!Get volume 2 if you want to enjoy op. 78 (a favorite) and the Waldstein.

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A collection of advanced piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, urtext edition.

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Chopin: An Introduction to his Piano Works (Book & CD) Review

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(More customer reviews)This doesn't try to be really challanging, but it does give tons of good pieces to start with.I'd say it's a good way to get to know our friend Chopin and his music.It has a pretty even mix of various music styles from Preludes to a Polonaise or two.In general the pieces get harder as you progress through the book (as is usual).The volume is clean and does contain some suggestions on how to play some tricky parts.However, these suggestions are written in the book with the lightest of font which can make reading them a chore (the darkness varies to show what was written by Chopin and what is simply suggested).As I said before: it's a good beginning book which will prepare you for some more comprehensive volumes.

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Known as a "pianist's composer," Chopin's love, passion and devotion to piano music resulted in over 200 compositions. This collection contains the more accessible pieces which still have vivid melodies and lush harmonies.

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Chopin: Mazurkas For The Piano (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics Vol. 28.) Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all this is a Shirmer,s book. Any day my piano teacher brought a package from Shirmer's was a red letter day. Shirmer's rocks.
Why Mazurkas??I owned this book since the fifties or so but it must have evaporated or disappeared. But on a foggy day there is nothing like a rollicking Mazurka to get the blood going, so I rebought it. And here is my mother's story.
In the thirties when she first arrived Wanda Landowska gave master classes, and my mother attended. Wanda was playing Mazurkas, and she would sing along (in Polish) the words of the original folk tune. At the end of the lesson all the students would file by to shake the great hand and she would ask them their musical ambitions.When it came my mother's turn Wanda looked down her considerable nose and asked "And vat are you?"

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Mazurkas

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The Complete Preludes & Etudes: For Solo Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)Speaking of correcting misinformation, this is definitely *not* the Paderewski edition. The Mikuli and Paderewski editions are certainly not the same, although if you look in the commentary in the back of any Paderewski Chopin score, you will find that the Mikuli is one of the many sources that were consulted for the Paderewski.

Dover used to publish a reproduction of the Paderewski edition years ago, and it was wonderful. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to do so.

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Chopin's piano works are of such uniformly high quality that they are all absolutely essential in the repertoire of any aspiring pianist. The Preludes and Etudes are exquisitely beautiful examples of his genius. Numbering 52 pieces in all, they are reproduced here from the authoritative Mikuli edition and are available for the first time in a low-priced, one-volume publication. The opus listings are: 25 Preludes-Op. 28, Nos. 1-24; Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45. 27 Etudes-Op. 10, Nos. 1-12; Op. 25, Nos. 1-12; and Trois Nouvelles Etudes Unabridged (1998) republication of works from an authoritative early edition. New unified table of contents.

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