How long does it take to read The Great Pianists?
The Great Pianists by Harold C. Schonberg takes about 8 hours 13 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 8 hours 13 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1962. 448 pages, about 123,200 words.
17 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 13 hours 41 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 8 hours 13 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 8 minutes |
The page count is the median across 8 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
From Mozart's fabulous legato that "flowed like oil" to Beethoven's oceanlike surge, from Clara Schumann's touch "sharp as a pencil sketch" to Rubinstein's volcanic and sensual playing, The Great Pianists brings to life the brilliant, stylish, and sometimes eccentric personalities, methods, and technical peculiarities of history's greatest pianists. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author Harold C. Schonberg presents vivid accounts of the artists' performances, styles, and even their personal lives and quirky characteristics -- such as Mozart's intense competition with Clementi, Lizst's magnetic effect on women (when he played, ladies flung their jewels on stage), and Gottschalk's persistent nailbiting, which left the keys covered with blood. Including profiles of Horowitz and Van Cliburn, among others, and chapters detailing the playing and careers of such modern pianists as de Larrocha, Ashkenazy, Gilels, Gould, Brendel, Bolet, Gutierrez, and Watts, The Great Pianists is a comprehensive and fascinating look at legendary performers past and present. - Back cover.
Subjects: Biography, Manuscripts, Pianists, Specimens, Biographies, Pianistes
