Descriptive Analyses of Piano Works For the Use of Teachers, Players, and Music Clubs

"Descriptive Analyses of Piano Works" by Edward Baxter Perry is a guide from the early 1900's tailored for music educators, pianists, and music societies. It gives detailed reviews of different piano pieces, highlighting their emotional impact and storytelling qualities rather than just their technical structure. The book seeks to connect the science of music with the experience of music as an emotional form of art. The book starts by explaining Perry’s goals and ideas about understanding and enjoying music. Perry shares his method, which stresses that understanding the feelings and historical background of music is important. He points out that common analysis methods usually miss the emotional parts of music, and he suggests a type of examination that notices the artistic meaning of compositions, focusing on understanding the artistic value of pieces, and how performers can struggle to share the deep feelings within the music they play, preparing for reviews of piano works by famous composers.