William Brown is Professor Emeritus of Music and Provost Emeritus at Southwest Baptist University. He earned two graduate performance degrees while studying with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University and is the author of Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching.

A Few Words Before

Acknowledgements

A Brief Biography

Master Classes and Lessons

Interlude I. Master Classes

1. Johann Sebastian Bach

Partita No. 6 in E Minor, BWV 830

2. Samuel Barber

Sonata, Op. 26

Interlude II. Page Turners

3. Ludwig van Beethoven

Thirty-Two Variations in C Minor, WoO 80

Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 26

Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3

Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 53, Waldstein

Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110

4. Johannes Brahms

Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35, Bk. 1

Klavierstücke, Op. 76

Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2

Interlude III. Poor Pianos

5. Frédéric Chopin

Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22

Deux Nocturnes, Op. 27

Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39

Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52

Berceuse, Op. 57

Barcarolle, Op. 60

Interlude IV. Hotel Stories

6. Claude Debussy

Reflets dans l'eau, from Images, Book 1

Poisson d'or, from Images, Book II

7. George Frideric Handel

Chaconne in G Major, HWV 442

Interlude V. Missed Concerts

8. Franz Joseph Haydn

Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, HOB. XVI:52, Mvt. 1

9. Franz Liszt

Grandes Études de Paganini, S. 141

Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178

Interlude VI. Funny Stories

10. Felix Mendelssohn

Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14

11. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 281

Piano Concerto in C Minor, K. 491

Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 576

Interlude VII. Stories about Pianists

12. Serge Prokofiev

Piano Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29

13. Sergei Rachmaninoff

Étude-Tableau in A Minor, Op. 39, No. 6

Interlude VIII. Honorary Citizenship in Magdeburg, Germany

14. Maurice Ravel

Sonatine

Miroirs

Interlude IX. Through Hell and Back

15. Franz Schubert

Sonata in A minor, D. 784, Op. 143

Sonata in A minor, D. 845, Op. 42

Impromptus, D. 899, Op. 90

Interlude X. A New Love

16. Robert Schumann

Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11, Grosse Sonate

Faschingschwank aus Wien, Op. 26

Appendix A. Menahem Pressler's Musical Ancestry

Appendix B. Tributes from Former Students and Other Musicians

Bibliography

Index of Compositions

Index of Names and Concepts