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Almost a Waste of Time
Entertaining, but only mildly informative
A waste of time
Chopin bible
Best book on the music of Chopin that I have ever read.

Chopin: The Man and His Music
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 048621687X

Book Description

This classic in music biography and criticism reflects the intimate, thorough knowledge of Chopin's music Huneker acquired while studying to be a concert pianist and his unusually keen insight into the character of the composer. Part 1 deals with Chopins life; the 2nd offers brilliant piece-by-piece analysis of the entire body of his music. Introduction and notes.

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James Huneker's biographical classic reflects his extensive research on the life and works of Chopin (while studying to be a concert pianist). Huneker's acute perception of the composer's life provides a complete understanding of the historic circumstances surrounding Chopin's musical development as the ultimate lyric genius of the highest realm. His dignity of spirit alternated with petulance and serious depression. Though both proud and timid he led an isolated life, but it was in his art that he was bold and impassioned. In Part Two of this remarkable work Huneker presents a brilliant piece-by-piece review of the entire collection of Chopin's music, identifying him as the most poetic of composers. Please Note: This book has been reformatted to be easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

Customer Reviews:

Almost a Waste of Time.......2007-02-07

The biography is very disappointing, the musical descriptions are poetic but don't get into much detail. If you want a general feel for Chopin's music but don't want intricate musical detail, the descriptions of the pieces may suit your need. That's the only reason I didn't give this book the lowest possible rating.

For biographical info, "Chopin in Paris" by Tad Szulc is much more informative and accurate. Huneker's biography, besides being relatively short, takes off on gossipy tangents that often jump around in time making it hard to get a good feeling for Chopin's progression thru life.

My problem with the musical descriptions (the book is divided into 76 pages of biography and 141 pages of music "analysis", divided into sections on preludes, mazurkas, etc.) is again the gossipy nature. For example, the chapter on the preludes is 13 pages long. The first four pages are strictly about who claimed when and where they were written.

I recently played Prelude No. 4 in E Minor at Peabody in Baltimore. Prior to the recital, I was deluged with coaching at college master-class play-ins, etc. The discussions centered on things like why the downbeat beginning each measure is played weaker than usual, contributing to the feeling of hopelessness in the piece.

Huneker's descriptions are: "The melody seems literally to wail..", "This tiny prelude contains wonderful music", "The whole is like some canvas by Rembrant.."

In the relatively few times Huneker does go into musical detail there may be some insight, but just as frequently a few bars of music are shown accompanied by an explanation like, "Volcanic mutterings these!" -when the music shown is a pianissimo (played very softly) passage!

For anyone looking for insights on actually playing the pieces, Walker's "The Chopin Companion.." which can be found "used" at Amazon, is a much better choice.

Entertaining, but only mildly informative.......2002-09-10

This book (originally published in 1900) is split in two sections. In the first 100 pages, the life of Chopin is discussed by Huneker in a very colorful and poetic style, although unfortunately very few biographical facts are revealed. When I finished this section I felt I had hardly learned anything new about Chopin.

The next 150 pages deal with Chopin's music, in which Huneker comments briefly on every one of Chopin's compositions (with the exception of several pieces unknown to Huneker), categorized by type (Ballades, Preludes, etc.). This section, like the first, is amusing but not very helpful. The author never really goes into great depth about any single piece. Instead he simply says a word or two on mood or style, often quoting authorities such as Kullak and Niecks, and compares several major editions of the work. I would recommend this to someone very interested in editorial details... anyone else could probably do without most of this section.

People familiar with Chopin should find Huneker's writing somewhat enlightening, though far from substantial. Those looking for an introduction to Chopin may find the first section very helpful, if they can tolerate the author's verbosity.

A waste of time.......2001-02-19

This book does not present much information about Chopin the man, and stumbles around endlessly about Chopin's music. The prose is laughably dated. Who can not help laughing at sentences like "Chopin distrusted Jews, but that's the way Poles are." The French, English, Germans, and Hungarians: Huneker comes up with some interesting stereotypes for them too. Many of the facts are incorrect, as the editor supplies the corrected facts in the footnotes on nearly every page of the text. And the music discussions have the spirit of "What a powerful melody! However, I believe the third note of the 14th measure of Etude 12 op. 10 should be an F sharp, though it's written differently in some scores." What a snore. I suggest looking elsewhere for real information about Chopin and his music. This book offers no insights though some occasional unintended laughs.

Chopin bible.......2000-06-15

Who can count themselves learned in Chopin who has not read Huneker's wonderful, purple-prosy, unabashedly romantic examination of the Polish Master's music? If the musicology is a tad dated, the enthusiasm, the sheer love of music present on every page, are more evident than ever. This is absolutely essential reading for the Chopin lover.

Best book on the music of Chopin that I have ever read........1998-10-11

Huneker was an aspiring concert pianist (as well as a brilliant writer), and his analysis of Chopin's music and poetry are simply amazing. Like Chopin, Huneker expresses from the heart and hears the music at a whole new level. His interpretation is raw and as full in energy as the music itself (especially for etude op.25 no.11 and the ballade no.1).

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Chopin : the Man and His Music
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1406929883
Release Date: 2006-11-03

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Chopin: The Man and His Music
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Echo Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1406813729

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CHOPIN: THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC
HUNEKER
Manufacturer: CHARLES SCRIBNER\'S SONS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S39TCO

Chopin (Large Print Edition): the Man and His Music

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Chopin (Large Print Edition): the Man and His Music
James Hunekar
Manufacturer: BiblioBazaar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1426420226
Release Date: 2006-02-08

Book Description

Gustave Flaubert, pessimist and master of cadenced lyric prose, urged young writers to lead ascetic lives that in their art they might be violent.

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Chopin: The Man and His Music
James G. Huneker
Manufacturer: Dover Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NWBM6Q

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Chopin the Man and His Music
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1432619829

Book Description

1927. Preeminent as an in-depth music critic, Huneker's impressionistic, but incisive criticism in all fields of art made him one of the most influential of his day. This is an exciting and thorough account of Chopin the Man and His Music. Contents: Poland-Youthful Ideas; Paris-In the Maelstrom; England, Scotland and Pere la Chaise; The Artist; Poet and Psychologist; The Studies-Titanic Experiments; Moods in Miniature: The Preludes; Impromptus and Valses; Night and Its Melancholy Mysteries: The Nocturnes; The Ballades: Faery Dramas; Classical Currents; The Polonaises: Heroic Hymns of Battle; Mazurkas: Dances of the Soul; and Chopin the Conqueror. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

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Chopin: The Man and His Music
Herbert Weinstock
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MTTVJK

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Fundamental essay to take into account!

CHOPIN: The Man and His Music
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Cosimo Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1596057475

Book Description

Chopin, "subtle-souled psychologist," is more kin to Keats than Shelley, he is a greater artist than a thinker. His philosophy is of the beautiful, as was Keats', and while he lingers by the river's edge to catch the song of the reeds, his gaze is oftener fixed on the quiring planets. He is nature's most exquisite sounding-board and vibrates to her with intensity, color and vivacity that have no parallel. Stained with melancholy, his joy is never that of the strong man rejoicing in his muscles. -from "Poet and Psychologist" James Huneker describes Chopin's mazurkas as the music in which "the Pole suffers in song the joy of his sorrow." Such distinctive literary lyricism fills this classic 1900 life of the 19th-century French-Polish pianist and composer. After exploring the storied artistic circles in which Frédéric Chopin moved in Paris and his tempestuous relationship with the novelist George Sand, Huneker delves into the artistic psychology of his music, with in-depth analyses of Chopin's studies, many of which Huneker finds "poetic"; his preludes, which Huneker deems "moods in miniature"; and the "melancholy mysteries" of Chopin's nocturnes. A striking portrait of genius, Huneker captures an artist who was "pleasant" and "persuasive" in public and "a neurotic being" in private, and finds a composer whose music aches with "the pathos of spiritual distance." American arts critic JAMES HUNEKER (1860-1921) also wrote Iconoclasts: A Book of Dramatists (1905), Egoists: A Book of Supermen (1909), Franz Liszt: Illustrated (1911), and The Pathos of Distance (1912).

Customer Reviews:

Fundamental essay to take into account!.......2006-05-23

James Huneker made an praised essay around the different stages of Chopin's life as well an extensive, meticulous and detailed analysis about every one of his compositions. The way he analyzes and even collates this Polish composer reveals not only a deep engagement but besides a remarkable description supported by a poetic trait that stimulates still more the necessary reading.

If you are engaged with Chopin's micro cosmos, go for this notable essay.

Chopin: The Man and His Music. A colorful life of the composer,

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Chopin: The Man and His Music. A colorful life of the composer,
HERBERT WEINSTOCK
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQTNIW

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