List of Illustrations xi
Chapter 1 A Gathering of Traditions 3
Chapter 2 The Piano Is Born 18
Chapter 3 The First Piano Superstar 32
Chapter 4 Piano Fever 51
Chapter 5 Performers on the Road 65
Chapter 6 The Four Sounds 85
Chapter 7 The Combustibles
Part 1 The New Testament 94
Part 2 Still Setting Blazes 113
Chapter 8 The Alchemists
Part 1 Chemistry 126
Part 2 Shock and Awe 150
Chapter 9 The Rhythmitizers
Part 1 The American Adventure Begins 162
Part 2 All That Jazz 176
Part 3 Rock Solid or Teetering on the Brink 186
Chapter 10 The Melodists
Part 1 Straight from the Heart 195
Part 2 Breezy and Unflappable 218
Chapter 11 The Cultivated and the Vernacular 230
Chapter 12 The Russians Are Coming 242
Chapter 13 The Germans and Their Close Relations 263
Chapter 14 Keys to the World 276
Chapter 15 On the Cutting Edge 295
Chapter 16 Everything Old Is New Again 308
Appendix: Supplementary Notes 321
Contributor Biographies 331
Acknowledgments 333
Notes on Sources 335
Index 347