Ralph Kirkpatrick

Reviews / Votes

Fascinating, behind-the-scenes details. Provides much biographical insight. The photographs . . . are an excellent addition. Kirkpatrick's letters reveal a richness of detail that, while history from today's vantage point, shows the vibrancy of the musical world he inhabited less than a century ago. * MLA NOTES * Offers fascinating insights into the life and work of a highly significant figure. The book, excellently edited and organised by Kirkpatrick's niece Meredith . . . is beautifully produced, containing many photographs of Kirkpatrick throughout his career, as well as others with whom he worked. . . . One of the most invigorating aspects of his letters is their directness; he pulls no punches...The range of subjects covered is vast, and the exchanges give every impression of being frank and honest. Kirkpatrick himself always wrote courteously, but stated his views trenchantly. . . . This book goes a long way to reaffirming Kirkpatrick's seminal role in our present-day understanding of early keyboard music. . . . A significant publication that should be read by everyone with an interest in early keyboard music especially. . . . [The letters to harpsichord builder John Challis] are full of interesting insights and repay careful study. -- John Kitchen * EARLY MUSIC PERFORMER * Engrossing picture of a brilliant and passionate man working to establish a place for what he loved, against many handicaps, in a world that was barely ready. The correspondents include musical and artistic luminaries of the age, such as Nadia Boulanger, Serge Koussevitzky, Roger Sessions, Elliott Carter, [and] Thornton Wilder. * EARLY MUSIC AMERICA * Goes a long way toward fleshing out our knowledge about one of the most prominent and respected figures in the 20th-century American harpsichord revival. Important correspondence with American composers Roger Sessions, Elliott Carter, Otto Luening, Quincy Porter, Vincent Persichetti, Henry Cowell, and Mel Powell, as well as Europeans Frank Martin and Bengt Hambraeus. Carefully selected and annotated. -- Larry Palmer * DIAPASON * Scrupulously edited. Sympathetic yet honest appraisals by Mark Kroll and guitarist Eliot Fisk bookend a fascinating document that chronicles not just a life lived through scholarship and performance, but also a revolution that was profoundly indebted to Kirkpatrick in how we experience the music of the past. Letters to family . . . prove the most vivid. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *