Great Pianists on Piano Playing

This book is a remarkable time capsule of pianistic wisdom from an era when the piano reigned supreme in domestic music-making. James Francis Cooke spent years gathering insights from nineteen of the most acclaimed keyboard virtuosos of his generation, creating an intimate window into how the great performers actually thought about their craft. Rather than a dry technical manual, this book captures the living conversation between masters and students, those intimate moments when legendary pianists reveal their deepest secrets about interpretation, the elusive quality of musical style, and the emotional truth that transforms notes into art. Each chapter becomes a personal dialogue where readers overhear these virtuosos discuss the real challenges of piano playing: how to develop technical fluency without losing musicality, how to interpret a score beyond the written notes, how to cultivate an expressive style that resonates with audiences. The included questions transform these conversations into a genuine pedagogical method, pushing students to internalize and apply the masters' wisdom to their own practice. For contemporary pianists and teachers, this book remains invaluable, offering direct access to the philosophical and technical thinking of performers who learned their art in a different era but grappled with the same fundamental questions that still challenge musicians today.