Piano Pieces

Am I ever glad to have found this book. In spite of being slow and very careful reading requiring much pondering and afterthought, it is worth every second of hard concentration. The reader needs to be in love with classical music and with piano-playing, be a true artist as well as having a deep understanding of vibrant colors, painting and the visual arts. 'Piano Pieces' brings the reader closer to a new understanding that... Read Full Review

I recently discovered this little book in the public library and in the first few pages realized I must own it. Mr. Sherman is a brilliant thinker and writer. I am inspired and enlightened by his pianistic and artistic wisdom. I look forward to each and every page and can't wait to own what will become a cherished and important addition to my personal library.

I think it was Lincoln who made the wise comment that "you can please some of the people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time." True enough but to the reviewer who allegedly gave it up "after two pages" and another who rendered the book as "pretentious [...] cerebral flatus" , I must do an ad hoc Sir Wilfrid Robarts [Charles Laughton] for the defense here and offer some reverse coin considerations... Read Full Review

I'm surprised by the reviews that denounce this book. Sherman's tone is at once informal and high-minded, which might limit the appeal of Piano Pieces to a particularly North American sensibility. Still, when I read it in the spring of 1996, I knew Piano Pieces would remain one of the most intellectually and creatively inspiring books that I would read on any subject. Sherman treats a range of issues related to performing... Read Full Review

As a concert pianist and pedagogue myself, I find Russell Sherman's Piano Pieces to be one of the most inspiring books on piano performance I have ever read. It is non-prescriptive and does not conform to conventional didactic approaches or methodologies. (So, if you want a self-help manual or detailed instructions on how to play the piano, this is not the book!) Instead, the book is a collage of a series of "pieces" of... Read Full Review