Brilliant, practical, and humorous conversations with one of the twentieth-century's greatest musicologists on art, culture, and the physical pain of playing a difficult passage until one attains its rewards. Throughout his life, Charles Rosen combined formidable intelligence with immense skill as a concert pianist. He began studying at Juilliard at age seven and went on to inspire a generation of scholars to combine history, aesthetics, and score analysis in what became known as ?new musicology.? The Joy of Playing, the Joy of Thinking presents a master class for music lovers. In interviews originally conducted and published in French, Rosen's friend Catherine Temerson asks carefully crafted questions to elicit his insights on the evolution of music?not to mention painting, theater, science, and modernism. Rosen touches on the usefulness of aesthetic reflection, the pleasure of overcoming stage fright, and the drama of conquering a technically difficult passage. He tells vivid stories about composers from Chopin and Wagner to Stravinsky and Elliott Carter. In Temerson's questions and Rosen's responses arise conundrums both practical and metaphysical. Is it possible to understand a work without analyzing it? Does music exist if it isn't played? Throughout, Rosen returns to the theme of sensuality, arguing that if one does not possess a physical craving to play an instrument, then one should choose another pursuit. Rosen takes readers to the heart of the musical matter. ?Music is a way of instructing the soul, making it more sensitive,? he says, ?but it is useful only insofar as it is pleasurable. This pleasure is manifest to anyone who experiences music as an inexorable need of body and mind.?

The Joy of Playing, the Joy of Thinking: Conversations about Art and Performance

Biographies & Memoirs

Rosen, Charles

Temerson, Catherine

Arts & Literature

Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press

Book by Zaourou, Bernard Zadi, Kourilsky, Francoise, Temerson, Catherine, Vogel, Stephen J., Brewster, Townsend, Mac Dougall, Jill, Miller, Richard, N'Tumb, Diur, Tansi, Sony Labou

Afrique

Miller, Richard

Kourilsky, Françoise

Mac Dougall, Jill

Vogel, Stephen J.

Tansi, Sony Labou

Zaourou, Bernard Zadi

Brewster, Townsend

N'Tumb, Diur

Literature & Fiction

UBU Repertory Theater

Book by Fabien, Michile, Temerson, Catherine, Harris, Jessica, Mac Dougall, Jill, Schwarz-Bart, Simone, Johns, Timothy, Miller, Richard, Gallaire-Bourega, Fatima, Bonal, Denise

Plays By Women (Ubu Repertory Theater Publications)

Johns, Timothy

Schwarz-Bart, Simone

Harris, Jessica

Bonal, Denise

Fabien, Michile

Gallaire-Bourega, Fatima

Dramas & Plays

Two major works by the winner of France's 1991 Molière award for Best Playwright.

The Free Zone /The Workroom

Grumberg, Jean-Claude

Book by Conde, Maryse, Bonal, Denise, Kourilsky, Francoise, Mac Dougall, Jill, Miller, Judith G., Lewis, Barbara Brewster, Temerson, Catherine, Miller, Richard, Farhoud, Alba, Liking, Werewere

Plays by Women: Book Two: An International Anthology

Condé, Maryse

Liking, Werewere

Miller, Judith G.

Lewis, Barbara Brewster

Farhoud, Alba

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