Reflections on Liszt

Reflections on Liszt

by Alan Walker (Author)

Synopsis

No one knows more about Franz Liszt than Alan Walker. Malcolm Bowie, Times Literary SupplementIn a series of lively essays that tell us much not only about the phenomenon that was Franz Liszt but also about the musical and cultural life of nineteenth-century Europe, Alan Walker muses on aspects of Liszt's life and work that he was unable to explore in his acclaimed three-volume biography of the great composer and pianist. Topics include Liszt's contributions to the Lied, the lifelong impact of his encounter with Beethoven, his influence on students who became famous in their own right, his accomplishments in transcribing and editing the works of other composers, and his innovative piano technique. One chapter is devoted to the Sonata in B Minor, perhaps Liszt's single most celebrated composition.Walker draws heavily on Liszt's astonishingly large personal correspondence with other composers, critics, pianists, and prominent public figures. All the essays reveal Walker's broad and deep knowledge of Liszt and Romantic music generally and, in some cases, his impatience with contemporary performance practice.

$80.77

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Edition: illustrated edition
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: May 2005

ISBN 10: 0801443636
ISBN 13: 9780801443633

Media Reviews

The collection of essays is a sort of appendix to Alan Walker's three-volume biography of Liszt. That was not a study of the music, though it commented selectively on the music as part of the composer's life, but it was is one of the most readable and engrossing biographies of any subject ever written. Adrian Jack, BBC Music Magazine (August 2005)


Walker is unashamedly a Lisztian, of course, but his advocacy is never fanatical. Rather, it is mantled in terse, accomplished prose, supported by faultless research, and buttressed by copious musical examples and musicological argument. In this indispensable book, Walker has strengthened his case for a reevaluation of the composer's accomplishments with care, detail, and the word is not too strong virtuosity. Conor Farrington, Times Literary Supplement (24 November 2006)

Author Bio
Alan Walker is Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster University, Canada, and author of numerous books, including The Death of Franz Liszt Based on the Unpublished Diary of His Pupil Lina Schmalhausen; and the definitive three-volume biography, Franz Liszt, all from Cornell. He has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize and the medal Pro Cultura Hungarica, presented by the President of Hungary.