Naivität und Ironie

New Essays by Alfred Brendel - on music, literature, and aging. Alfred Brendel is not only one of the greatest pianists of our time but also one of the most stimulating essayists, who has engaged with music with great knowledge and empathy. When Goethe claims, "He who does not love music deserves not to be called a human; he who loves it is half a person, but he who practices it is a whole person," it is the "whole person" Alfred Brendel who speaks in these new works. Whether he writes about Goethe's "musical needs" or "Goethe and Beethoven," about Mozart or the often-overlooked Haydn, he always opens our eyes to the special aspects of their music. Regarding Haydn, he says, "Alongside the confusing variety of his work, it is the widespread lack of humor that I see as a main reason why Haydn is still often underestimated." In addition to the major essays, there are three conversations that provide insight not only into his relationship with music and the music industry but also with literature, which he has loved throughout his life, and with aging, which has now also reached this person. In a conversation about Busoni, he sketched a small self-portrait: "What captivated me immediately about him was the diversity of his personality: pianist, composer, and educator, writer and book lover, editor and arranger, lover of the visual arts and architecture as well as theater... all in one person. Do you know another musician with such a broad horizon?".