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A Natural History of the Piano

The Instrument, the Music, the Musicians — From Mozart to Modern Jazz, and Everything in Between

by Stuart Isacoff

Paperback, 361 pages, Vintage, List Price: $17.95 |

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Title: A Natural History of the Piano
Subtitle: The Instrument, the Music, the Musicians — From Mozart to Modern Jazz, and Everything in Between
Author: Stuart Isacoff

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Hardcover, 361 pages, Random House Inc, $30, published November 15 2011 | purchase

Buy Featured Book

Title: A Natural History of the Piano
Subtitle: The Instrument, the Music, the Musicians — From Mozart to Modern Jazz, and Everything in Between
Author: Stuart Isacoff

Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

Book Summary

The award-winning founder of Piano Today magazine presents a historical tribute that evaluates the roles of forefront composers and pianists while exploring the artistic development of various genres and the influence of the piano on Western musical traditions.

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NPR stories about A Natural History of the Piano

New In Paperback

Portraits Of An Artist, A Correspondent, 'Gossip,' And The 'Piano'

November 27, 2012 • In fiction, Paula McLain explores Hemingway's first marriage, while Anita Desai re-examines modern India. In nonfiction, Joseph Epstein defends gossip, Rosamond Bernier remembers midcentury Paris, and Stuart Isacoff lauds the piano.

What Jerry Lee Lewis And Beethoven Share

Jerry Lee Lewis, a pianist Isacoff classifies as a 'combustible,' performs at the Rainbow in London in 1972. Graham Wood/Getty Images hide caption

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Graham Wood/Getty Images

Music Interviews

What Jerry Lee Lewis And Beethoven Share

November 11, 2011 • In a new book, pianist, composer and author Stuart Isacoff proposes an aural taxonomy of pianists.

The Subspecies Of Pianists, Or, What Jerry Lee Lewis And Beethoven Share

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