Derived from a popular series of lecture-recitals presented by Carol
Montparker over the past several years, The Composer's Landscape
features eight insightful essays on the piano repertoire. Each chapter
focuses on a single composer: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert,
Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, and Mendelssohn. Montparker uses landscape as
a metaphor for the score, whether it be a well-tended garden of Mozart
or the thorny thickets on a Schumann page: the topographical peaks and
valleys, the circuitous melodic lines, the thoroughfares where all the
voices convene, and so on. The discussions include thoughtful
suggestions for navigating these "landscapes " which differ so greatly
from one composer to the next, taking note of the essential technical
and interpretive elements, as well as the challenges for the "explorer
pianist." As an actively performing pianist, lecturer, teacher, music
journalist, and author of six other books on music, Montparker has the
experience and understanding to guide readers through these issues while
elucidating the finer points. Woven into her text are excerpts from her
interviews with world-renowned pianists, from Alfred Brendel to AndrÉ
Watts, conducted during her many years as senior editor of Clavier
magazine. The book also includes images from original autograph
manuscripts and a CD of Montparker performing selections by composers
featured in the book.