Chamber Music ─ A Listener's Guide

Approaching the tradition of chamber music with knowledge and passion, Keller serves as the often opinionated but always genial guide to 192 essential works by 56 composers, providing illuminating essays on what makes each of these ensemble works distinctive and admirable. Keller spans the history of this intimate genre, from key works of the Baroque through the emotionally stirring "golden age" of the Classical and Romantic composers, to modern masterpieces rich in political, psychological, and sometimes comical overtones. For each piece, from Bach through to such contemporary figures as George Crumb and Steve Reich, the author includes an astute musical analysis that casual music lovers can easily appreciate yet that more experienced listeners will find enriching. Keller shares the colorful, often surprising stories behind these compositions, incorporating up-to-date research to provide accurate information about their early histories and exploding a few myths along the way. In decoding their hidden messages, he reveals how chamber music masterpieces have reflected the euphoria of love and the grief of loss, how they have depicted places real and imagined, how they have launched friendships and engendered feuds.

Crafted to enhance the listening experience of a broad spectrum of music-lovers, from curious novices to seasoned professionals, these engaging essays reveal Keller's affection for the men and women who have made the most irreplaceable contributions to the repertoire of chamber music, the art form once described by Goethe as the musical equivalent of "thoughtful people conversing."

James M. Keller, longtime Program Annotator of the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, was awarded the prestigious ASCAPuDeems Taylor Award for feature writing about music in Chamber Music magazine, where he has been Contributing Editor for more than a decade. A former Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, he also serves as Critic-at-Large for Pasatiempo/The Santa Fe New Mexican.