Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) was a Chilean pianist who devoted his life to an international performing and teaching career. As a child prodigy, he gained national recognition from government officials in Chile, including President Pedro Montt, who later funded Arrau's education in Germany. He completed his studies in Berlin with Martin Krause, a pupil of Franz Liszt, and later immigrated to New York City, where he began his teaching career and mentored a sizeable group of pupils. His unique and magnetic style impassioned his pupils and motivated them to teach his principles to the next generation of students, including author Victoria von Arx.
Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau highlights interviews with Arrau's surviving pupils (from his class in New York City, which he taught from 1945 to the early 1970s) that give readers an in-depth description of Arrau's principles of technique and performance. Quotations and lesson transcripts make Arrau's voice - and those of his former pupils - audible, and detailed references to over one hundred examples from filmed recordings make his famed technique visible. The bulk of the book features edited and previously-unpublished transcriptions of lessons Arrau gave his pupils, lavishly illustrated with musical examples. The author, herself a teacher and performer, draws information from numerous interviews with Arrau's pupils, from her experience studying with two of them, from videos of Arrau's performances, and from the recorded lessons. By culling these disparate sources of information and presenting them systematically in a single book, von Arx provides an insider's view of the art of piano playing as exemplified by one of the great artists of the twentieth century and offers the reader a virtual piano lesson with Claudio Arrau.

Victoria von Arx is a currently a member of the music faculty at the University at Albany and an active performer of piano and chamber music. She has written articles appearing in the Journal of the Society for American Music, the International Dictionary of Black Composers, and the RiD'im Newsletter.

- Introduction
- SECTION 1: ARRAU'S PREDECESSORS
- Chapter 1 Martin Krause
- Chapter 2 Arrau and the Lisztian Legacy
- Chapter 3 Rudolf Breithaupt
- Section 2: TECHNIQUE
- Chapter 4 Arrau's Concept of Technique and Virtuosity
- Chapter 5 The "Arrau Technique"
- 5.1 Hand and Wrist Position
- 5.2 The Fingers
- 5.3 Dropping the Arm
- 5.4 Pushing the Arm Up
- 5.5 Reciprocal Vertical Motion
- 5.6 Vibration
- 5.7 Rotation
- 5.8 Circular Motion
- 5.9 Fingering and use of the Thumb
- Section 3: TEACHING
- Chapter 6 Arrau's Collaboration with Rafael De Silva: A Community of Learners
- Conclusion
- APPENDIX: LESSONS
- 1. Frederic Chopin: Ballade no. 2 in F major, Op. 38
- mm. 1-46
- mm. 38-83
- mm. 79-170
- mm. 169-end
- 2. Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 110
- Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo
- Allegro molto
- Adagio ma non troppo
- Fuga - Allegro, ma non troppo
- 3. Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
- Scarbo mm. 1-119
- mm. 119-220
- mm. 232-332
- mm. 332-end
- 4. Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
- Ondine mm. 1-41
- mm. 41-49
- mm. 49-70
- mm. 70-80
- 5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Fifteen Variations with Fugue, Op. 35
- "Eroica"
- 6. Richard Strauss: Burleske, TrV 145
- Bibliography
- Index