Dreams of Love : Oxford University Press : 9780199892679 : 0199892679 : 09 Jan 2014 : "Dreams of Love: Playing the Romantic Pianist explores the attractions of the concert pianist from an innovative interdisciplinary perspective, demonstrating how such meanings have evolved over two centuries through technology and the popular media, including literature and cinema. Author Ivan Raykoff uses romantic both as the label for a historical era and musical style, as well as the more colloquial adjective referring to love, desire, and sensual feeling. Through this two-fold interpretive approach, music history and cultural mythology are read alongside one another to reveal the interconnected processes of music's social mediation. The word playing also invites multiple readings: performance or practicing, as pastime or profession, as play-acting and other modes of representation, or reproduction like a player piano. The Romantic pianist signifies more than just music; through established rituals