Music, Sense and Nonsense: Collected Essays and Lectures

by Alfred Brendel

Overview

The definitive collection of A lfred Brendel ’s award-winning writings and es-
says, Music, Sense and Nonsense combines all his work originally published in his two classic books, Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Music Sounded Out, along with significant new material on a lifetime of recording, perfor- mance habits, and reflections on life and art. As well as providing stimulating reading, this new edition provides a unique insight into the exceptional mind of one of the most outstanding musicians of the twentieth centur y.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785902673
Publisher:	Biteback Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Alfred Brendel is known for his recordings, international concert appearances and writings. He was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1989.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface ix



MOZART

A Mozart Player Gives Himself Advice 1

Minor Mozart: In Defence of His Solo Works 8



BEETHOVEN

Notes on a Complete Recording of Beethoven’s Piano Works 15

Werktreue – An Afterthought 29

Form and Psychology in Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 41

The Process of Foreshortening in the First Movement of Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 2, No. 1 56

Musical Character(s) in Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 63

Beethoven’s New Style 75

Must Classical Music Be Entirely Serious?: I The Sublime in Reverse 85

Must Classical Music Be Entirely Serious?: II Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations 106

The Text and Its Guardians: Notes on Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 119



SCHUBERT

Schubert’s Piano Sonatas, 1822–28 125

Schubert’s Last Sonatas 143

A Footnote on the Playing of Schubert’s Four-Hand Works 201

Testing the Grown-Up Player: Schumann’s Kinderszenen 203



THEME AND VARIATIONS

Schumann and Beethoven 213

From Mozart to Brahms 216



LISZT

Liszt Misunderstood 219

Liszt and the Piano Circus – An Afterthought 224

The Noble Liszt 227

Liszt’s Annees de pelerinage I and II 237

Liszt’s B Minor Sonata 243

Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies 249

Liszt’s Bitterness of Heart 252

Liszt’s Piano Playing 257

Turning the Piano into an Orchestra: Liszt’s Transcriptions and Paraphrases 260

Fidelity to Liszt’s Letter? 266



BUSONI

A Peculiar Serenity: On the Thirtieth Anniversary of Busoni’s Death, 1954 271

Arlecchino and Doktor Faust: On the Centenary of Busoni’s Birth, 1966 277

Afterthoughts on Busoni 280

Superhuman Frailty: On Busoni’s Doktor Faust 282

On Playing Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto 288



PERFORMANCE, PROGRAMMES, RECORDING

Wilhelm Furtwangler 299

Edwin Fischer: Remembering My Teacher 305

Afterthoughts on Edwin Fischer 309

Remembering Katja Andy 312

Coping with Pianos 316

A Lifetime of Recording 326

A Case for Live Recordings 334

On Recitals and Programmes 340

Hearing 348

On Some Performance Habits 350

Music Life in Flux 358

Audacious Chamber Music I – Schubert’s String Quartet in G Major 363

Audacious Chamber Music II – Beethoven’s ‘Grosse Fuge’ and the Quartet Op. 130 367

Children’s Orchestra 371

Farewell to the Concert Stage 373

From ‘Analysis’ to ‘Zubiaurre’: A Review of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1981 374



CONVERSATIONS

Talking to Brendel (with Jeremy Siepmann) 379

Bach and the Piano (with Terry Snow) 387

On Schnabel and Interpretation (with Konrad Wolff) 392

Afterthoughts on Life and Art (with Martin Meyer) 410

Me, Myself and I 425

Thanking the Critics 428

On Humour, Sense and Nonsense 431



Select Bibliography 437

Acknowledgements 443

Index 447

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

The mix of thoughtfulness and brilliance that irradiates his performances infuses these spirited essays. Susan Sontag



Alfred Brendel is among the most literate and verbally compelling, as well as thoughtful, of living pianists, constantly jogging received opinions and exciting argument. William Mann, The Times



Music, Sense and Nonsense includes a vivid reflection on a long musical life, but at its heart is a series of engrossing dissections of the piano music of Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. The Sunday Times



He writes so well that it seems unfair in someone who plays as he does. The Spectator



A blending of the musical and human, historical and personal. It is what gives his writing, like his playing, its sense of excitement and commitment. The Economist

Editorial Reviews

The mix of thoughtfulness and brilliance that irradiates [Brendel's] performances infuses these spirited essays.—Susan Sontag

Alfred Brendel, one of the greatest pianists of our time, is renowned for his masterly interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt, and has been credited with rescuing from oblivion the piano music of Schubert's last years. Far from having merely one string to his bow, however, Brendel is also one of the world's most remarkable writers on music—possessed of the rare ability to bring together the clarity and originality of expression that characterised his performances to the printed page.

The definitive collection of his award-winning writings and essays, Music, Sense and Nonsense combines all of his work originally published in his two classic books, Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Music Sounded Out, along with significant new material on a lifetime of recording, performance habits, and reflections on life and art.

As well as providing stimulating reading, this new edition yields a unique insight into the exceptional mind of one of the outstanding musicians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Whether discussing Bach or Beethoven, Schubert or Schoenberg, Brendel's essays are both illuminating and challenging, a treasure for the specialist and the music lover alike.

Alfred Brendel is known for his recordings, international concert appearances and writings. He was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1989.

From the Publisher