He lived in the shadow of death painfully aware of the tuberculosis that would kill him prematurely. But Frédéric Chopin attained immortality with his Piano works which endure as pinnacles of the instrument's repertoire. This biography by one of the nineteenth century's foremost pianists--Chopin's friend and fellow artist Franz Liszt--offers a highly informed assessment of the Polish composer's musical legacy. It is further enlivened by the author's personal acquaintance with Chopin's other friends who constituted the very cream of Parisian intellectual and artistic society.Born a year apart Chopin andLiszt came of age in an era favorable to musical change when audiences as well as performers were receptive to Romanticism's innovations. Liszt surveys the technical brilliance as well as the poetry of Chopin's masterpieces including the 'Adagio' from Piano Concerto No. 2 and Polonaise in F-sharp Minor. He also chronicles Chopin's progress from child prodigy to the darling of Parisian salons. A source of rare and unparalleled insights into Chopin's world of private anguish and public triumph this memoir recounts the composer's loneliness as a Polish emigré his tempestuous romance with George Sand and his life among a glittering social set that included Balzac Hugo Berlioz Delacroix and Schumann.Reprint of the Oliver Ditson Company Boston 1880 edition.

'Altogether a sensitive and tasteful document.' ??? Library JournalA series of themed essays rather than a traditional biography this profile of the Polish composer and virtuoso pianist is the work of a legendaryconductor and performer. Alfred Cortot taught at the Paris Conservatory of Music co-founded the ??cole Normale de Musique de Paris and produced printed versions of the complete works of Chopin Schumann and Debussy. In theserevealing chronicles Cortot focuses on Chopin's compositions as well as his performances and personal relationships.Beginning with an account of the composer's physical characteristics the book examines Chopin's role asa teacher; his works as reflected by his correspondence; his identity as a Polish nationalist and his attitude toward France; and his concert performances. It further explores his friendships with Liszt and Delacroix and hisromance with George Sand as well as the composer's chronic illness and the expression of his tormented sensitive nature in his music.Reprint of the Peter Nevill Limited London 1951 edition.

Conductor composer and writer Bruno Walter (1876 1962) worked closely with Gustav Mahler as the composer's assistant and protégé. His revealing recollections of Mahler were written in 1936 marking the twenty-fifthanniversary of the composer's death. Walter first encountered Mahler more than 40 years earlier when he served as the composer's assistant conductor in Hamburg. He worked with Mahler again at the Vienna Opera and after thecomposer's death conducted the debut of the Ninth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.A staunch supporter of Mahler's genius and defender of his dour personality Walter cites the pressures faced by a gifted artist striving forperfection. This edition of his tribute to his friend and mentor features supplemental materials that include a biographical sketch of Mahler as man and artist by Ernst Krenek the composer's son-in-law and musical heir and a newIntroduction by Erik Ryding author of Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere.Reprint of Greystone Press Inc. New York 1941 edition.