Music for Piano: A Short History

by F.E. Kirby

This historical survey focuses on music for piano solo but also includes important compositions for piano duet and two pianos. Scholarly yet readable, it covers the entire repertoire from the Renaissance to the late 20th century and incorporates a bibliography of 1 100 sources for further study.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

468 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Lynnette]

Finally pushed through and finished. This is an odd book. It reads like a timeline with a few anecdotes to pinpoint how piano music developed. It's not quite a reference book because it is written in chapters and flows like a history book instead of an encyclopedia. But it's very dull to just read straight through because he also lists groupings of the most influential pieces by various composers and sometimes gives a few words to explain. It was odd. I'll probably use it as a reference book, but Hinson would be much easier to navigate if you want to find a piece.