An inspiring collection of essays and an affirmation for music teachers everywhere.
A longtime Seattle piano teacher offers a collection of music-themed autobiographical essays relating his profound love and gratitude for his students, his teachers and the works of the great masters.
Debut author Kronacher writes that “it has repeatedly been my great, good fortune to have bumped up against some wonderful souls, and music has almost always been a conduit in bringing us together.” In these essays, his respectful approach clearly depicts each individual as a fully realized person, even if his encounters with them were brief. The author’s warmth, even in stories about his youngest students, never results in saccharine storytelling or platitudes. He brings the same spirit to his profiles of places, describing the vibrancy of New York City’s ethnic neighborhoods when he was a student and the beauty and difficulty of modern Vienna—the city of Mozart and Schubert and also the place where his mother and aunt experienced a lovingly remembered childhood and a terrible wartime escape. He’s more sentimental about pieces of music and the quirks of the various pianos he’s had the opportunity to own and play—but even then, he realizes that they only matter because of the people who bring them to life. This educator, committed to appreciating music (through his organization, Musical Experiences), seems just as committed to appreciating life; his observations are complex and nuanced without ever relying on harsh criticism. No wonder his students asked to see themselves profiled in this book. He’s no Pollyanna, but his essays showcase a deep understanding of the beauty manifest in every person—exactly what the best teachers need to find in their students.
An inspiring collection of essays and an affirmation for music teachers everywhere.Pub Date: March 28, 2013
ISBN: 978-1481192446
Page Count: 248
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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