"For a biographer, there''s a lot to untangle. Alan Walker does so brilliantly in Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times , a magisterial portrait . A polyphonic work that elegantly interweaves multiple strands." -- Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times Book Review "An ideal composer biography should combine several qualities: a deep knowledge of the artist''s life and milieu, fortified by a reexamination of all available sources; an intimate understanding of the composer''s personality (and, when possible, some affection for it, too); and an ability to speak of the creative work in a manner that will edify both scholars and the general public, and take us all back to the music. Alan Walker''s Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times manages this hat trick very well indeed . This is now the best biography of Chopin -- meticulous, scholarly and well-told." -- Tim Page, The Washington Post "There is more than enough for everyone at this literary feast, and come awards time, it''s likely you''ll see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year . Walker''s narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when providing descriptions of the artist .
Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest." --Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor "At last, the definitive biography of Chopin has arrived. This substantial new study is a masterpiece, indispensable to specialists and general music lovers alike. It overflows with revelatory information, deft characterisation and pertinent, readable explorations of the music. All this is set against a minutely detailed depiction of his world. Walker''s style is elegant, literary and empathetic, while his unfailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.K.
) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writesd come awards time, it''s likely you''ll see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year . Walker''s narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when providing descriptions of the artist . Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest." --Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor "At last, the definitive biography of Chopin has arrived. This substantial new study is a masterpiece, indispensable to specialists and general music lovers alike. It overflows with revelatory information, deft characterisation and pertinent, readable explorations of the music. All this is set against a minutely detailed depiction of his world.
Walker''s style is elegant, literary and empathetic, while his unfailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writes (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writesd come awards time, it''s likely you''ll see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year .
Walker''s narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when providing descriptions of the artist . Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest." --Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor "At last, the definitive biography of Chopin has arrived. This substantial new study is a masterpiece, indispensable to specialists and general music lovers alike. It overflows with revelatory information, deft characterisation and pertinent, readable explorations of the music. All this is set against a minutely detailed depiction of his world. Walker''s style is elegant, literary and empathetic, while his unfailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.
K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writesd come awards time, it''s likely you''ll see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year . Walker''s narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when providing descriptions of the artist . Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest." --Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor "At last, the definitive biography of Chopin has arrived. This substantial new study is a masterpiece, indispensable to specialists and general music lovers alike. It overflows with revelatory information, deft characterisation and pertinent, readable explorations of the music.
All this is set against a minutely detailed depiction of his world. Walker''s style is elegant, literary and empathetic, while his unfailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writes (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative .
Walker [writes (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writesd come awards time, it''s likely you''ll see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year . Walker''s narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when providing descriptions of the artist . Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest." --Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor "At last, the definitive biography of Chopin has arrived. This substantial new study is a masterpiece, indispensable to specialists and general music lovers alike.
It overflows with revelatory information, deft characterisation and pertinent, readable explorations of the music. All this is set against a minutely detailed depiction of his world. Walker''s style is elegant, literary and empathetic, while his unfailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writes (U.K.
) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writesailing love for the music shines from every page." -- Sunday Times (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative . Walker [writes (U.K.) "Thorough and authoritative .
Walker [writes] with the narrative expertise one would expect of the masterly biographer of Liszt . Walker is brilliant on piano technique and its musical consequences. These passages are like talk of pigment and brushstrokes in a book about painting: technical in a sense yet free of jargon, easily understood, even perhaps by someone who has never laid hand on a piano keyboard." -- Stephen Walsh, The Guardian "Absorbing . Walker integrates [many] different aspects into an entirely convincing entity. It''s a measure of Walker''s achievement that even in such a lengthy book, he keeps the reader engaged, presenting accessible and illuminating comments backed up with the full weight of scholarly authority." -- Erik Levi, BBC Music (five stars) "[Alan Walker has] shed new light on many aspects of Chopin''s life and cleared away a thicket of myths . Scrupulous as it is, this monumental biography is deeply engaging and enjoyable.
" -- The Economist "An informative and exceptionally engaging read." -- James F. Penrose, The New Criterion "Not one paragraph of this meticulously researched and often poignant account is wasted."-- Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs "A real landmark. For the ''casual'' music-lover it contains peerless writing; for the scholar, scotched myths and startling discoveries; and for the musician, insights galore . Walker leaves no stone unturned in his search for the truth about Chopin''s life. Full of vivid detail, it is a perceptive chronicle through which one seems to live the composer''s life alongside him . [ Fryderyk Chopin ] is the most important biography of Chopin in years and will be treasured by musicians and music-lovers as the definitive life for many more.
" -- Jessica Duchen, Sunday Times (U.K.) "Alan Walker has produced the most comprehensive biography and musical analysis to date on Poland''s most famous musician and composer . Highly readable and engaging . [ Fryderyk Chopin ] brings to life one of the 19th century''s and Poland''s most beloved, legendary, and celebrated artists. It deserves a place of merit at every university, music, and school library." --Carol Katz, New York Journal of Books "[An] expansive, authoritative biography . Packed with information and insightful analyses of Chopin''s major works that will interest professional musicians, and even nonspecialists will be entranced by [Alan] Walker''s piquant storytelling and graceful prose.
" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A sensitively discerning examination of a 19th-century superstar . a magnificent, elegantly written biography . An absorbing biography unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon." -- Kirkus (starred revi.