Music, Sense and Nonsense: Collected Essays and Lectures

Alfred Brendel: Alfred Brendel is known for his recordings, international concert appearances and writings. He has been credited with almost single-handedly rescuing from oblivion the piano music of Schubert's last years. He was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1989.

The definitive collection of pianist Alfred Brendel's writings and essays on music.

Preface ixMOZARTA Mozart Player Gives Himself Advice 1Minor Mozart: In Defence of His Solo Works 8BEETHOVENNotes on a Complete Recording of Beethoven's Piano Works 15Werktreue - An Afterthought 29Form and Psychology in Beethoven's Piano Sonatas 41The Process of Foreshortening in the First Movement of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 2, No. 1 56Musical Character(s) in Beethoven's Piano Sonatas 63Beethoven's New Style 75Must Classical Music Be Entirely Serious?: I The Sublime in Reverse 85Must Classical Music Be Entirely Serious?: II Beethoven's Diabelli Variations 106The Text and Its Guardians: Notes on Beethoven's Piano Concertos 119SCHUBERTSchubert's Piano Sonatas, 1822-28 125Schubert's Last Sonatas 143A Footnote on the Playing of Schubert's Four-Hand Works 201Testing the Grown-Up Player: Schumann's Kinderszenen 203THEME AND VARIATIONSSchumann and Beethoven 213From Mozart to Brahms 216LISZTLiszt Misunderstood 219Liszt and the Piano Circus - An Afterthought 224The Noble Liszt 227Liszt's Années de pèlerinage I and II 237Liszt's B Minor Sonata 243Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies 249Liszt's Bitterness of Heart 252Liszt's Piano Playing 257Turning the Piano into an Orchestra: Liszt's Transcriptions and Paraphrases 260Fidelity to Liszt's Letter? 266BUSONIA Peculiar Serenity: On the Thirtieth Anniversary of Busoni's Death, 1954 271Arlecchino and Doktor Faust: On the Centenary of Busoni's Birth, 1966 277Afterthoughts on Busoni 280Superhuman Frailty: On Busoni's Doktor Faust 282On Playing Schoenberg's Piano Concerto 288PERFORMANCE, PROGRAMMES, RECORDINGWilhelm Furtwängler 299Edwin Fischer: Remembering My Teacher 305Afterthoughts on Edwin Fischer 309Remembering Katja Andy 312Coping with Pianos 316A Lifetime of Recording 326A Case for Live Recordings 334On Recitals and Programmes 340Hearing 348On Some Performance Habits 350Music Life in Flux 358Audacious Chamber Music I - Schubert's String Quartet in G Major 363Audacious Chamber Music II - Beethoven's 'Grosse Fuge' and the Quartet Op. 130 367Children's Orchestra 371Farewell to the Concert Stage 373From 'Analysis' to 'Zubiaurre': A Review of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1981 374CONVERSATIONSTalking to Brendel (with Jeremy Siepmann) 379Bach and the Piano (with Terry Snow) 387On Schnabel and Interpretation (with Konrad Wolff) 392Afterthoughts on Life and Art (with Martin Meyer) 410Me, Myself and I 425Thanking the Critics 428On Humour, Sense and Nonsense 431Select Bibliography 437Acknowledgements 443Index 447