N AMATEUR AT THE KEYBOARD

by Peter ates ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 22, 1964

Inn unusual book for the music lover, essentially the one who is to be moved from the passive appreciation of the listener to the active enjoyment of the participant, initiates him in the concept that music is not merely to be performed but to be read as one does books. Mr. Yates scans the literature for the keyboard with this view, ranging from the Elizabethans to the moderns and referring to his own favorties -- Haydn and Couperin. He then launches upon a discussion of technicalities to enlighten the player as to seales, melody, rhythm, harmony, key tuning; turns to the nature of the instrument -- organ, clavichord, piano, harpsichord; affords a brief history of keyboard music from the 16th Century to the present. He sees the amateur as one who plays for playing's ake, with no fixed absolute outside himself as must concern the professional, and he ees the place of the amateur in the musical community as accompanist, programmer, audience. Appendices further investigate temperament and tuning, rhythm and embellishment. A provocative approach with its emphasis on pleasure rather than critical performance, this opens the literature and its enjoyment to the somewhat grounded keyboard instrumentalist and offers a new vista for music-making.

Pub Date: July 22, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: ?antheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION