Books related to music

[WCosand]

Anyone else interested in texts that tie in to the piano literature?
I have recently added to my website a few books, including some by the following authors:
Byron, Chateaubriand, Amy Fay, Haweis, Heine, Hoffmann, Rameau, Senancour, Thalberg, Wieck
(Some originals and some translations.)
http://waltercosand.com/CosandScores/

[WCosand]

For literature I recommend

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

and

http://www.bartleby.com/hc/

[WCosand]

Today I uploaded books by Goethe, Hanslick, Heine, Hoffmann, Moericke, Nietzsche, Richter and Schumann in German; and added to the books in English with Nietzsche and Schumann.

[passthesalt]

Anyone interested in piano-related novels might try The Death of David Debrizzi by Paul Micou. Published in 1991, it's out of print but still can be had second-hand from Amazon. For a brief synopsis of the book, here's a quote from my user review of it on Amazon:

'This satisfying tale of a has-been pianist who is redeemed by his own student is well worth hunting down and reading. The book is about a young pianist-turned-teacher and his prodigy student. Along the way, other musicians join the cast: an eccentric Russian piano prodigy and a scheming, mediocre conductor. Professional back-stabbing, career comebacks, and prima donna pianists with hilarious affectations litter the novel.

One of the funniest episodes in the book concerns Debrizzi's recording of a fictional work of music, The Death Spiral, described as "beautifully ugly," "a putrid musical stew," and . . . impossible to play.'

I regularly re-read this novel and give it as a gift to anyone who enjoys music. It's worthy of more readership than it seems to have attracted.

[davida march]

del

[iano]

I liked this:

"It’s hard for me to describe my piano-playing sensibly, since I play at a high level but to a low standard"

[WCosand]

Does that mean more mistakes on more difficult pieces?

[rob]

Does that mean more mistakes on more difficult pieces?

I think he means he plays anything exceedingly well, but his taste is such that he wastes his talent on fripperies...

[Jean-Séb]

My understanding was that he prefers playing difficult pieces not perfectly than more reasonable pieces impeccably.

[rob]

My understanding was that he prefers playing difficult pieces not perfectly than more reasonable pieces impeccably.

I'm sure iano will explain. But I think he is being self-deprecatory in matters of taste rather than technique - but I might be wrong, for once .