The Living Piano: A Complete Guide to Listening, Learning, and Playing

While this is catalogued as a children's book, I have found music lovers of all ages to be enthusiastic about its content and approach! In fact, no one enjoyed my son's Christmas present (this book) more than my father-in-law! The illustrations of piano history, parts of the instrument, and composers are interesting and add depth to the clear and concise text. There is an accompanying CD, a compilation of EMI recordings, which features a sample of compositions that is both instructional (with the text) and enjoyable (without the text). From cover to cover - endpapers are copies of Beethoven scores-- this book is thoughtful, well-researched and worth finding.