Great Pianists on Piano Playing collects James Francis Cooke’s interviews with the leading keyboard virtuosos of the early twentieth century, including such figures as Paderewski, Hofmann, and Busoni. Each conversation explores technique, interpretation, practice, and the artistic temperament, set down in the performers’ own words.
More than a technical manual, the book offers the accumulated wisdom of a generation of master pianists on how music should be studied and played. Cooke draws out their views on tone, phrasing, memorising, and the discipline of daily work, producing a portrait of the pianistic culture of its era that remains valuable to students, teachers, and music lovers.