Well, I lucked onto this one. Best new ideas in months. It's worth reading this book just for the chapter on the influence the emerging craft of Photography had on the Impressionists. After I read it I longed to be able to hash out points with the author, looking at Bazille as a modernist trying to find "the point of view of painting" as he called it.

It's not a biography, though it tells his story. I guess everyone wonders what Bazille would have become if he'd lived. A major painter of his day, a patron of his wild and later famous friends, or both? This book makes a powerful case for his painting and his point of view, and advances some intriguing theories about theatricality, pure art, posing and gaze for photography and painting of the time.

This is a massive, solid scholarly work with a gorgeous cover. Enough to drool over.

When I wrote Biologic in the early 90s, it was after I had an epiphany about Human/Nature. We are altering the planet's biosphere radically because we don't design to meet the needs of nature and humans. I did extensive research on the way nature works, which was built upon my own years of hands-on experience in the garden.

I wrote a book that explains new ways of thinking: preventively, holistically, bio-logically, then designing our products, our agriculture, transportation, architecture, and so on WITH NATURE IN MIND.

The book has been an inspiration to creative thinkers like Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken, Hazel Henderson, and many others, and is just as relevant in its accessible, non-academic, core thinking as it was when I wrote it.

College professors have told me their students will read this concept book far more readily than a typical textbook, and that Biologic tends to generate lots of creative discussion.

Have a look-- whether you're a businessperson,an educator, a consumer, or a designer, you'll find food for thought here. As Edward Abbey phrased it, "We must learn to think not only logically, but biologically..."

For those who have been there or those who are planning to go this book is a must. It's amazing how publishers are able to realize author's and reader's dreams when they want to. Here you will find: schematic drawings, historical background, maps, breathtaking pictures and all the symbolism associated with this cosmic mandala. "The architectural traditions of India and Java"; "The mystery of the hidden base"; "The mudras or gestures of the hands"; "Borobudur as a pilgrimage site"; "The indonesian Cult of Ancestors"; "The sacred texts behind the reliefs" etc. are just some of the contents. The appendix brings little black and white photographs of hundreds of reliefs. Almost as a buddhist comic-strip. I hope Angkor and Bagan could get a devoted tribute like this one.

The Boy Who Drew Cats is a little hard to classify; it is both a ghost story and a monster story. I first read this story when I was about ten years old, and I have never forgotten it. This is a great story for Halloween, and a wonderful story if you love cats. It's sure to make you appreciate your own feline companion.

....we are all aware of the greatness of chopin. a few are privy to the greatness of george sand. here finally we learn a little of the chemistry which flowed between these two giants of the artistic paris in the 1840's. also importantly, the details, clearly presented, of the questions concerning chopin's music of the last years. this is a calm and reasoned book, showing the author's comprehensive knowledge of the subject. this is not a biography, rather a set of vignettes on particulars of chopin's life and gorgeous music. if you want some brilliant and clear-headed discussion of his gender ambiguity as a person and as expressed in his nocturnes, i encourage you to read this fine work.

The most concise and definitive work of this type for the Chopin pianist. Each chapter, written by a different author, is a gem, and as a whole the book describes nearly all of Chopin's works in detail. It is very logically organized and musically delighful! Examples abound, references both to and from other composers works are enlightening and with very few exceptions, the authors are quite objective in their discussions of Chopin's music. Whenever I decide to record or play a Chopin piece, I still first read the commentary in this book which relates to the piece. The book contains several databases of Chopin's works, one chronological and one by type of piece. The chapter covering Chopin's songs is worth the price of the entire book. If you play Chopin, then this book is required reading. If you do not play Chopin then you will after reading the book. And you can't have my copy, which I purchased in 1973 and which I still use every day.

gerry

This masterly set represents every major feature of Romanticism. The modest skill requirements of no. 20 encourage the deeply emotional musician in the intermediate player, while the demands of no. 8 celebrate virtuosity. No. 16 indulges in stormy bombast, whereas no. 7 unabashedly embraces simple sentimentalism. The harmonic advances of the nineteenth century are explored in no. 9, while broad melody comes to the fore in no. 6. The serious, spiritual overtones of the central portion of no. 15 are balanced by the capricious whimsy of no. 23. The tonal clarity and simplicity of no. 3 are balanced by the complexity and, in some passages, virtual atonality of no. 14. And the grinding ugliness of no. 2 is matched by the elegant, sonorous beauty of no. 19. And the set as a whole successfully expresses so much variety that it offers a sensitive view of an awesome world every bit as deep and rich as (if not more so than) a Wagner music-drama, a Tchaikovsky symphony, or a Strauss tone poem. If you love Romantic music and don't know these pieces, you'll want to own them. If you don't love Romantic music, this set will probably win you over.

Renowned Polish composer Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) composed an amazing variety of compositions including some 50 mazurkas, 25 preludes, 24 etudes, 21 nocturnes, 17 waltzes, 11 polonaises, 4 ballades and 3 sonatas. Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos, however, are particularly important as they played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. Chopin: The Piano Concertos, written by Chopin expert John Rink - recipient of a Ph.D. from Cambridge University for his thesis The Evolution of Chopin's 'Structural Style' and its Relation to Improvisation in May, 1989 - provides an engaging, comprehensive analysis of these concertos as well as providing vital information about the environment in which these Concertos were composed and how they were received. The author's multifaceted exploration of these concertos successfully provides the reader with a sound understanding of Chopin's Piano Concertos as well as offering a deeper appreciation for his work and his genius. As well as including Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos, the book is complete with an in-depth analysis of Chopin's enigmatic 'third concerto', the Allegro de concert.

Before going into Chopin's Piano Concertos, the author sets the tone for the book by noting that "Chopin's piano concertos have enjoyed enormous popularity ever since their composition ... but they have also suffered some of the harshest scholarly criticism inflicted on his works". He rebuttals with, "... when viewed as music to be performed rather than scores to be dissected on paper, they belong to [Chopin's] most successful creations". He offers this book as "[an attempt] to set the record straight, re-evaluating the concertos against the early nineteenth-century traditions that shaped them so that their many outstanding qualities can be better appreciated."

In his first chapter, appropriately titled "Creation", the author explains the great significance of the Piano Concertos to Chopin's evolution as a musician. He describes the creation of Chopin's F minor Concerto, Chopin's newly found commitment to a virtuoso career, the creation of the E minor Concerto, and offers a brief introductory analysis of the parallels between these two concertos. He goes on to describe the first performances, first reviews and first editions of these concertos, explaining the general acceptance of Chopin as a genius in the musical community, yet also the criticism Chopin faced introducing a creativity that was often mistaken as a weakness. The chapter continues with an overview of the publication of these concertos and concludes with an insightful section titled "Chopin as teacher", outlining Chopin's teaching practices and depicting a connection between the glosses in scores used by Chopin's pupils and associates and Chopin's own playing and teaching styles.

Before reevaluating the concertos, the author provides a chapter titled "Interpretation", summarizing Chopin's incredibly diverse reception over the past 150 years and providing an inclusive summary of reactions from noted critics, composers, editors and performers. These reactions include, among others, those of critics Ludwig Rellstab, Gottfried Fink, J. W. Davidson, and those of composers Schumann and Liszt. An analysis of Frederick Nieck's influential biography of Chopin - the first scholarly monograph on Chopin - and its impact on society and influence on future authors assessing the concertos is also included. The author continues with a description of the trials and tribulations in the musical scores of these concertos, explaining the evolution of the scores from first edition to later versions, collected editions, editions with second-piano accompaniment, full scores, transcriptions and arrangements and finally re-orchestrations. The chapter concludes with a discussion titled "Performers", a very interesting and informative section considering Chopin's first two concertos are available on over seventy recordings each, performed by most concert pianists throughout the twentieth century. The author describes an appeal from several of Chopin's former students - Lenz, Mikuli and Princess Marcelina Czartoryska - that Chopin's concertos had been misinterpreted, and goes on to further debate the interpretations of Chopin's music.

Having successfully prepared the readers, author John Rink goes on to offer his own re-evaluation of the two concertos. Beginning my explaining the principles and premises by which music is evaluated, he describes his narrative approach in the analytical re-evaluation of Chopin's concertos:

"I shall first define each movement's skeletal structure, identifying important 'stabilizing' features such as tonal scheme and sectional form, and then in tracing through the music I shall observe temporally defined processes like the generation and relaxation of momentum, rhythmic flux, and small- and large-scale gestural impulse, all of which help to transform the structural bedrock into a living musical statement."

He goes on to do just that, providing 17 pages of analysis on Chopin's Opus 21 and a subsequent 22 pages of analysis on Opus 11. He cautions that "words can never fully capture musical experience: its temporal course and emotional impact ultimately lie beyond the powers of verbal description" and continues by stating that "the foregoing analytical re-evaluation is in one sense another futile attempt to encapsulate the concertos in words, but at least it has been undertaken in a spirit of appreciation, not denigration. If nothing else, it has revealed the utter hollowness of Nieck's criticisms and those of his successors".

Finally, the fifth and final chapter "Chopin's third concerto" explores Chopin's third concerto, the Allegro de concert... Unlike the other two concertos, the author concludes that the current evaluation of this concerto is quite fair and states:

"it may be a legitimate interpretation, sure to be superseded in due course, but for the time being enlightening some aspect of the music's elusive meaning while leaving space for fresh evaluations to come."

The nature of this book is somewhat complex, however this book appeals not only to the music scholar but also to the music enthusiast. The comprehensive, informative and engaging nature of the book alone is sufficient to give it purpose, however, the heart of this book really lies in the re-evaluation of Chopin's first two concertos. John Rink set out to set the records straight, and succeeded to do so in an analytic and objective manor. As a devoted admirer of Chopin's work myself, having listened to Chopin everyday during the entire 9 month term before my birth and having learned to play his pieces since the age of 3, I find deep emotion, passion and genius in Chopin's work. However, to write a book such as this one takes a vast scholastic understanding of music and Chopin in particular, and John Rink is certainly qualified to do so. Previously I had little knowledge of these concertos, however I'm sure that even if I had, I would still have found this book to be very valuable, as I'm sure many others have and will. It is a valuable and much needed contribution to the study of Chopin.

This volume was originally published in 1959, and includes updated versions of discographies that were written for "High Fidelity" magazine by the author. Mr. Schonberg gives a biographical sketch of both Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann. For Chopin, the author gives discographies as of 1959 for his Piano and Orchestral Works, Solo Piano Works, Chamber Music, and Songs. For Schumann, he gives discographies as of 1959 for his Concertos, Works for Solo Instrument and Orchestra, Orchestral Works, Chamber Music, Piano Works, Vocal Works, and Melodrama. Should you buy this book? It is arcane information for the serious or professional collector. If you are like me, recordings through the decades are fascinating for their subtle (and not subtle!) differences. Mr. Schonberg has an obvious love for the composers and their works -- it shows.

The collaborative effort of computer animation experts Frederic I. Parke and Keith Waters, Computer Facial Animation is a fascinating, in-depth, and thoroughly "user friendly" technical guide to the art and craft of three-dimensional computer animation, especially as applied to faces and expressions. An in-depth, exhaustive, and scholarly "how-to" text, Computer Facial Animation is an impressively comprehensive, 365-page textbook which is especially recommended for advanced students of graphics, mathematics, and programming.