Discoveries from the fortepiano : a manual for beginning and seasoned performers

__Discoveries from the Fortepiano__ uncovers eighteenth-century performance practices and philosophical beliefs, enabling modern performers to craft an authentic, historically influenced style. Using a variety of primary sources and scholarly interpretations, noted keyboard pedagogue Donna Gunn offers a guide on Classical Era piano performance practice that is at once accurate to the scholarship and accessible to the performer. Gunn surveys and explains eighteenth-century music notational language, and from this develops tools that get at the heart of the otherwise enigmatic sound aesthetic of the era. Through over 100 music examples, Gunn provides specific answers to performance questions regarding period influences on the modern piano, including technique, dynamics, articulation, rhythm, ornamentation, and pedaling. A Companion Website houses recordings of three versions for each music example that demonstrate different interpretations and deliveries. Gunn encourages the reader to study the sources, listen carefully, and experiment with the past in the present. Remarkably researched and engagingly written, __Discoveries from the Fortepiano__ is an indispensable aid to any pianist who seeks both an academically and artistically sound approach to performing in the Classical Era style. Discoveries from the Fortepiano uncovers eighteenth-century performance practices and philosophical beliefs, enabling modern performers to craft an authentic, historically influenced style. Using a variety of primary sources and scholarly interpretations, noted keyboard pedagogue Donna Gunn offers a guide on Classical Era piano performance practice that is at once accurate to the scholarship and accessible to the performer. Gunn surveys and explains eighteenth-century music notational language, and from this develops tools that get at the heart of the otherwise enigmatic sound aesthetic of the era. Through over 100 music examples, Gunn provides specific answers to performance questions regarding period influences on the modern piano, including technique, dynamics, articulation, rhythm, ornamentation, and pedaling. A Companion Website houses recordings of three versions for each music example that demonstrate different interpretations and deliveries. Gunn encourages the reader to study the sources, listen carefully, and experiment with the past in the present. Remarkably researched and engagingly written, Discoveries from the Fortepiano is an indispensable aid to any pianist who seeks both an academically and artistically sound approach to performing in the Classical Era style [Publisher description] Content: About the Companion Website Foreword Preface Acknowledgments 1. Urgency: Why Bother? 2. Affekt and Good Taste 3. Formal Structure and Harmonic Function 4. Technique-Execution 5. Rhythm 6. Dynamics 7. Accents and Other Expression Marks 8. Articulation and Touch 9. Staccato Dots and the Other Usual Suspects Ornaments 10. Ornaments 11. Repeats 12. Damper Pedal 13. Indicated Tempo 14. Final Words With its in-depth yet succinct explanations and examples of the Viennese five-octave fortepiano and the nuances of classical interpretation and ornamentation, this manual offers an indispensable educational aid to any pianist who seeks an academically and artistically sound approach to the performance of classical works Discoveries from the Fortepiano meets the demand for a manual on authentic Classical piano performance practice that is at once accessible to the performer and accurate to the scholarship.