Marie Ja�«ll: The Magic Touch

Sound Bite

Marie Ja�«ll was a world-renowned piano prodigy, composer, and influential teacher. Admired by Liszt, Saint Sa�«ns and Paul Val�©ry, she was at the center of a revolution in musical pedagogy. As a brilliant pianist, she was the first to interpret all of Liszt. This book weaves together three themes: the cultural life of nineteenth-century Europe, the Romantic vision of music that finds its fullest expression in piano sounds, and Marie Ja�«ll's creativity in piano pedagogy.

About the Book

Marie Ja�«ll was a musician of exceptional destiny. A piano prodigy, composer, and revolutionary pedagogue, her career exemplifies the optimism, the excitement and the intellectual passion that swept the world as 19th-century Romanticism acquired the tools and methods of modern science to explore and improve human life. Born in 1846, Ja�«ll lived through an epoch in full upheaval, an epoch of sweeping economic and social changes. Revolutionary ideas were bursting forth but society was still anchored by the roots of tradition. Vibrant Romanticism renewed literature and poetry, and painting broke loose from old conventions and embraced an impressionist style. Music seemed to lag behind; then, suddenly, harmony took bold steps and French music in particular took off, with innovations in timbres, rhythms and audacious harmonic combinations. Technical improvements in the construction of keyboard instruments permitted and at the same time inspired more colorful composition and more nuanced musical technique. Admired by Liszt, Saint Sa�«ns and Paul Val�©ry, Marie Ja�«ll was at the center of a revolution in musical pedagogy. As a brilliant pianist, she was the first to interpret all of Liszt. At the apogee of her famous career, she quit concert performing and threw herself into mastering the piano in a scientific way by applying rigorous methodology. She reinvented herself as a scientist. What seemed before to be a matter of individual luck and "good days" in playing piano, she turned into a subject of formal mental training. She documented how one can draw forth crystalline sounds from the piano on a conscious basis.While talent remains a powerful ingredient in the art of music, it could now be enhanced by a powerful methodology. Marie Ja�«ll's analytical breakthroughs have helped pianists perfect their touch, drawing forth more beautiful musical sonority. Bibliography, Index