The Capture of Inspiration (SIGNED by Schmitz and Merle Armitage)
Will A. Kistler Company, 1935. First Edition, Limited Edition No. 395 of 500 SIGNED copies. SIGNED by the author on the colophon. Also INSCRIBED "This copy for Mrs. Leopold Stokowski just back from the Spanish Main. Merle Armitage, 1936". Square small 4to. 111 pp. Frontispiece portrait after a photograph by Brett Weston; numerous diagrams, some folding, some printed in blue. Edited By Jose Rodriguez; Design and Foreword By Merle Armitage; Decorations by Giovanni Napolitano. Glossary; Bibliography. Bound in heavy tan linen with black lettering & keyboard design on front cover; spiral bound. Light age toning; short separation of endpaper where connected to spiral binding; else a fine copy. Item #21799
Ellie Robert Schmitz (1889 - 1949), was one of the great pianists, teachers, and entertainers of the 20th century. Schmitz's theories and teachings are encapsulated in the present volume, which was selected in 1936 as one of the "Fifty Books of the Year." In collaboration with Thomas Alva Edison, Schmitz made early piano recordings that have long been collector's items. "To the pianists, virtuosi or students who perform, and to those teachers whose aim it is to impart piano playing and who should also perform, this book presents the simple statement of a number of tangible facts which are based on the application of the laws of natural and physical sciences and can be used as the means of criticism for one's own good or bad habits." -Schmitz, Preface.
"Specifically, the qualities of this book comprise a rational development of technical principles without the sacrifice of artistic expression, an impersonal attitude in separating the good pedagogical material from the bad and a wealth of new and inspiring ideas. These attributes give to the book its form and its contemporary significance." - Foreword.
Price: $375.00