The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier

An Essential Resource For Scholars And Performers, This Study By A World-renowned Specialist Illuminates The Piano Music Of Four Major French Composers, In Comparative And Reciprocal Context. Howat Explores The Musical Language And Artistic Ethos Of This Repertoire, Juxtaposing Structural Analysis With Editorial And Performing Issues. He Also Relates His Four Composers Historically And Stylistically To Such Predecessors As Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, The French Harpsichord School, And Russian And Spanish Music. Challenging Long-held Assumptions About Performance Practice, Howat Elucidates The Rhythmic Vitality And Invention Inherent In French Music. In Granting Fauré And Chabrier Equal Consideration With Debussy And Ravel, He Redresses A Historic Imbalance And Reshapes Our Perceptions Of This Entire Musical Tradition. Outstanding Historical Documentation And Analysis Are Supported By Howat's Direct References To Performing Traditions Shaped By The Composers Themselves. The Book Balances Accessibility With Scholarly And Analytic Rigor, Combining A Lifetime's Scholarship With Practical Experience Of Teaching And The Concert Platform [publisher's Description] The Exactitude Of Musical 'impressionism' (painting In Sound ; Painting In Musical Structure (1) : Debussy's Preludes ; Painting In Musical Structure (2) : Ravel's Gaspard De La Nuit ; Shapes And Forms ; Reflets Dans L'eau', Hokusai, Edgar Allan Poe And Leonardo Of Pisa) -- Musical Roots And Antecedents (chopin's Legacy ; 'musique Adorable ': à La Découverte D'emmanuel Chabrier ; Debussy And The Orient ; The Exotic Via Russia And Spain ; The Clavecinistes ; Romanticism) -- Fresh Perspectives (rhythmic Games In Ravel ; Rhythmic Games In Chabrier ; Repertoire Discoveries) -- At The Keyboard (what Do We Interpret? ; Editions And What They Can't Quite Tell Us ; Rhythm, Tempo, Dance And Humour ; A Fresh Look At Gabriel Fauré ; Orchestral Thinking And The Pedals ; Body Language And The Piano ; The Composer As Pianist) -- Appendices ('facilement, Facilement' : Finding Technical Ease ; Glosses On Titles And Musical Allusions ; Composers' Surviving Instruments And Recordings ; Brief Summary Of Critical Editions ; Locations Of Musical Manuscripts Discussed) Roy Howat. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [377]-388) And Index. Roy Howat has produced the book we all have been waiting for, a synthesis of his years of devotion to the subject, both as performer and scholar. Keen musical and pianistic insights are to be found on every page, and his presentation is elegant and riveting, whether he is discussing the details of Debussy's `harmonic chemistry', rhythmic games in Ravel and Chabrier, or performance and editing problems in Faure. This book belongs on the shelf of every pianist and musicologist A Book of Revelations from this author, whose unique blend of cross-fertilizing talents as pianist, musicologist, editor, analyst and teacher have finally been simultaneously focussed on the repertoire he loves best. Howat's enviable combination of perception and application makes this book an absolute must-buy for anyone interested in French piano music This is a fascinating text, and one which presents a huge amount of commentary, analysis, stylistic study, performance advice and critical commentary in a single volume. This is a very fine book - one that will be referred to for many years to come, containing a vast range of important material on all sorts of aspects of some glorious repertoire