Chopin at the Boundaries

“Chopin at the Boundaries aim[s] ‘to expose and partially recover aspects of Chopin’s style perceived in his day to be marginal or foreign, but which today’s listeners have transformed or repressed.’ In this respect and in others, [it] succeed[s] brilliantly; Kallberg’s scholarship is consistently of the highest caliber, his research meticulous and exhaustive, his arguments engaging.”—John Rink, Times Literary Supplement

“Mr. Kallberg…[explores] connections between ‘gender and genre’ by way of showing Frederic Chopin’s small forms and surface beauties congruent with 19th-century concepts of feminine expression. Most of the pages [of his book] are given over to fine analysis of Chopin’s work. There is in particular an excellent examination of that strange end piece to Chopin’s career, the F-minor Mazurka.”—Kenneth LaFave, Washington Times

“[Kallberg’s] meticulous scholarship is presented lucidly, and his acquaintance with pertinent literature of the past century and a half is impressive.”—Choice

“Kallberg is internationally accepted as one of the most knowledgeable writers on Chopin today. This book shows that he is also the most original. It is an extremely successful attempt to open out the study of Chopin into both social criticism and the history of reception… It is certainly the most stimulating book of Chopin criticism I have ever read.”—Charles Rosen