Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching

328 Pages·2008·6 MB·English

by  William Brown

Menahem
Pressler

Menahem
Pressler

ARTISTRY IN PIANO TEACHING
William Brown
Indiana University Press
bloomington and indianapolis
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© 2009 by William Brown
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, William Paul, date–
Menahem Pressler : artistry in piano teaching / William Brown.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-35241-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Pressler,
Menahem. 2. Pianists. 3. Piano teachers 4. Piano—Perfor-
mance. 5. Piano music—Interpretation (Phrasing, dynamics, etc.)
I. Title.
ML417.P75B76 2009
786.2092—dc22
[B]
2008022724
1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10 09
To Menahem Pressler,
mentor and friend, whose teaching and performing have
enriched and transformed generations of musicians.
This page intentionally left blank
C ONTENT S
Preface: A Few Words Before xi
Ac know ledg ments xiii
Part One
A Life in Teaching
one A Brief Biography 3
two Th e Studio 5
three Pressler’s Early Training 9
four Th e Debussy Competition 16
five Opportunities in America 23
six Bloomington 35
seven General Aspects of Pressler’s Teaching 44
eight Th e Technical Approach 54
nine Principles of Expressive Per for mance 65
ten Guides for Practicing 87
eleven Technical Instructions 93
twelve Pressler’s Humor 113
thirteen Pressler at the Met: Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 110 122
fourteen Pressler at the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute 137
Part Two
The Music
fifteen Johann Sebastian Bach 155
partita no. 2 in c minor, s. 826
sixteen Béla Bartók 161
out of doors
seventeen Ludwig van Beethoven 165
[ vii ]
contents
concerto no. 5 in e-fl at major, op. 73,
emperor sonata, op. 81a, les adieux
eighteen Johannes Brahms 177
sonata in f-sharp minor, op. 2
piano trio in b major, op. 8
nineteen Frédéric Chopin 189
sonata no. 3 in b minor, op. 58
nocturne in e major, op. 62, no.2
twenty Claude Debussy 196
prélude, “les collines d’anacapri,” book 1, no. 5
prélude, “feux d’artifi ce,” book 2, no. 12
l’isle joyeuse
twenty- one Joseph Haydn 204
sonata in c major, hob. xvi:50
twenty- two Franz Liszt 207
après une lecture du dante
twenty- three Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 212
sonata in b-fl at major, k. 281
twenty- four Serge Prokofi ev 215
sonata no. 7 in b-fl at major, op. 83
twenty- five Maurice Ravel 219
gaspard de la nuit
le tombeau de couperin
piano trio in a minor
twenty- six Franz Schubert 237
fantasie in c major, d. 760, wanderer
twenty- seven Robert Schumann 245
kreisleriana, op. 16
concerto in a minor, op. 54
twenty- eight Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 256
piano concerto in b-fl at minor, op. 23
[ viii ]
contents
twenty- nine Carl Maria von Weber 261
“perpetual motion”: sonata in c major, op. 24,
fi nale
Appendix A. Menahem Pressler’s Musical Ancestry 265
Appendix B. Lineage of Pressler’s Piano Teachers 267
Appendix C. Tributes to Pressler 273
Appendix D. Pressler’s Studio Rosters, 1955–2008 283
Bibliography 295
Index of Compositions 297
Index of Names and Concepts 303
[ ix ]