Book excerpt: Annotation. Admired by Liszt, Saint Sa ns and Paul Val ry, Marie Ja ll was at the center of a revolution in musical pedagogy. As a brilliant pianist, she was the first to interpret all of Liszt. At the apogee of her famous career, she quit concert performing and threw herself into mastering the piano in a scientific way by applying rigorous methodology. She reinvented herself as a scientist. What seemed before to be a matter of individual luck and "good days" in playing piano, she turned into a subject of formal mental training. She documented how one can draw forth crystalline sounds from the piano on a conscious basis. While talent remains a powerful ingredient in the art of music, it could now be enhanced by a as powerful methodology. Marie Ja ll's analytical breakthroughs have helped pianists perfect their touch, drawing forth more beautiful musical sonority.