LIUDMILA ALIZARCHYK & CELESTY WINIFRED PEREZ

THE BRIEF HISTORY

OF PIANO ART
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From the authors:

Music is universal language.

But how we can understand it if there is no words?
Historical events, Art, Fashion, Language, Geography -
all this reflects in Music.
Whether you are professional musician, student or music lover,
you should have some knowledge about different eras in music history.
This book will guide you through times and help you to interpret, understand and
appreciate Music better.
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TIME LINE AND FORMS OF

PIANO MUSIC
Periods of music
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The Four Main Periods of development of the classical Piano Repertoire

Baroque 1600- Classical Romantic 1820- Modern 1900-

1750 1750-1820 1900 present

Major and Minor Simplicity: Baroque Emotion – characterized by Each composition has its own rules:
scales (before music music was too complex the extreme expression of The harmonies can be based on unusual
was not based on and for most people. emotion and more more scales,or on no scale at all.
Major and Minor ) Classical music tried to variety and uniqueness of Each piece may be in a particular form
appeal to a broader Imagination (such as sonata form) or in no form at all.
Composers also
audience. After World War II,some pieces even
began to be more Freedom from “old” forms
began using nuts,bolts,screws,and other
precise about
Individualism – each objects placed inside the piano to alter the
instrumentation,
Counterpoint was by no composer has a “style” that sound (this is called: prepared piano – the
often specifying the
means forgotten, is more uniquely his/her sound of a grand piano is altered with
instruments on which
especially later in the own. Also, there was a objects)
a piece should be
period, and composers great emphasis on the
played instead of
still used counterpoint in performer, composer, etc. There are many different trends in 20th
allowing the
religious pieces, such as as an individual – each century music. Below are listed two of
performer to choose.
Masses. musician wanted to be them:
unique more than ever
Baroque composers Classical music also before.
Impressionism:
focused heavily on makes use of style
Nationalism – many
upper and lower galant, which contrasted
composers took a special This movement originated in painting (with
tones, or on the parts with the heavy strictures
sense of national pride and artists such as Monet). In music, this trend
to be played by bass of the Baroque style.
wrote music that reflected was most prominent from 1900 to 1920.
and soprano. This their homeland. Mostly French style of music associated
often left those Galant style emphasized
with the French composer: Claude
musicians who light elegance in place of Virtuosity – there is a great Debussy.
played in between the Baroque's dignified importance placed on Like the Impressionistic paintings of
those ranges to seriousness and “virtuosos” and virtuoso Monet,Impressionistic music is not
improvise their own impressive grandeur. music. More extreme tempo intended to give a clear image of
work. indications are being used something.
more often (presto and Chords don’t function as part of a
grave) harmonic progression,but provide “color”
Baroque Long pedals. The pulse of the music (and therefore the
compositions also time signature)is often extremely vague
focused heavily and provides a “suspension in time”.
on layered melodies, Use of whole-tone and pentatonic scales .
which meant that the Sound become Blurry, misty, easy,
same notes would dreamy.
often be repeated
throughout a Serialism: Music that is not based on any
composition, albeit scale, rather it is based on a “tone row”
played by different (like a “subject”) that uses all 12 pitches
musicians. As a before repeating any of them.
result, music that Much of this music is also called:
was originally written expressionistic. This means that it
to teach how to play stresses intense emotion (that is even
an instrument soon neurotic) and is characterized by harsh
was as popular as dissonances.
concert pieces. Arnold Schoenberg was the first to
develop this “12-tone system” in the
1920s. Two of his students: Alban Berg
and Anton Webern followed his lead by
composing 12-tone music of their own.
Many composers after them also used his
techniques.
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Terraced Dinamics -Classical Dinamics - composers use

Dynamics–a sudden pieces frequently utilize pp (or even pppp) and ff
shift from one dynamic changes such (and fff or ffff) far more
dynamic level to as crescendo (an often to designate a greater
another.(crescendos instruction to gradually range of dynamics.
and decrescendos get louder), diminuendo
were not in use ) (an instruction to
gradually get softer) and
sforzando (a sudden
strong, loud attack).
Classical pieces had
frequent changes of
dynamics, mood and
timbre, in contrast to
Baroque music.
Мelody is usually Melody – more tuneful Melody – melodies were
complicated and and balanced. tuneful and easy to
difficult to remember. Ornamentations were remember. Romantic era
For melodies are used much less than melodies often relied more
typical sequences during the Baroque. on the “singing” quality of
and ornamentations. Melodies tended to be improved pianos. This
shorter , with clear-cut meant that there were fewer
phrases and distinct “runs” than in previous
cadences. periods and melodies were
even less ornamented than
in previous style periods.
Forms: Binary form Forms – new forms - Forms – sonata form was
is very important such as sonata form . used much less. If sonata
(usually AABB) Also, Some old forms form was used, it was not
the fugue originates disappear: fugues only as clear as it was during the
during this style appear as a small part of Classical Style Period.
period and is a very a very large composition.
important method of
composition.

Early

Medieval c. 500–1400
Renaissance c. 1400–1600

Common practice

Baroque c. 1600–1750
Classical c. 1730–1820
Romantic c. 1780–1910

Modern and contemporary

Impressionist c. 1875–1925
Expressionist c. 1875–1950
1) Modern c. 1890–1975
20th century (1900–2000)
Contemporary c. 1975–present
Postmodern
21st century (2000–present)
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The Baroque Era

Johannes Vermeer - “The music lesson”

ABSTRACT- UNIT 1

• Introduction

• Artists of the time

• Johann Sebastian Bach

• The Keyboard Music of

J.S. Bach
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INTRODUCTION

The Baroque (US: /bəˈroʊk/ or UK: /bəˈrɒk/) is a highly ornate and often
extravagant style of architecture, art and music that flourished in Europe from the
early 17th until the late 18th century.
The art and architecture of the Baroque period reflects an often bizarre style
characterized by ornamental decorations. Especially noted in churches, palaces and
other buildings of the period is the profusion of worldly splendour apparent in
grandiose designs and elaborate decorations.
The term, "Baroque" was derived from the Portuguese meaning "an irregularly
shaped pearl". Baroque art is considered excessively decorative, dramatic,
flamboyant and emotional.
The Baroque period represent a gradual shift from sacred to secular music, to
elaborate and ornamental decoration and new feelings and emotions expressed in
sound. These characteristics showed themselves in highly stylized keyboard writing
and the use of contrapuntal textures
The music of the period reflects the decorative art in the use of ornamentation to
embroider melodies. Thick and complex polyphonic texture prevails in many
composers’ works. A sense of drama and urgency is incorporated into in vocal forms
such as the Cantata, Mass, Opera, Oratorio and Passion, and in instrumental forms
such as the Concerto, Concerto Grosso, Prelude, Fugue, Toccata, Sonata and Suite.
Vibrant rhythms and expressive dissonances heighten tension in many Baroque
works.
An increasing amount of religious music was also used for nor-liturgical purposes;
preludes, postludes, etc. Much music written toward the end of the Baroque period
was written for amateur performers in the households of the aristocracy and wealthy
class. Most of this music was instrumental, but vocal music was often included. In
the households of the aristocracy, small bands of musicians provided compositions
and performances of dinner music, dances and ensemble concerts. Instruction in
performance and composition was restricted to the aspiring musician and to the
household of the aristocracy and wealthy householders. There was no institutional
organization for teaching musical arts, so students (mostly male) were taught by their
own musical fathers or relatives who were attached to the household of a
composer/performer.
The first music known to have been written specifically for the fortepiano dates from
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1732, when the Italian composer Lodovico Giustini published his Sonate da
cimbalo di piano. This was a one-off composition and there was no commercial
market for this exotic instrument yet. It wasn't until the 1760s that music for the
fortepiano began to be widely published and available, and there are records that tell
us about some of the first public performances.
Much of the Baroque keyboard music written for the harpsichord and clavichord was
written in suites comprising separate dance pieces, changing in tempo and meter but
maintaining key unity throughout. The suite (Italian: Partita, Sonata da Camera;
German: Suite, Partita, Overture; French: Order, Suite; English: Lessons) consists
of dances such as the Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue and others such as
the Gavotte, Musette, Bourrée, Minuet and Pavan. Each dance movement is
usually written in two sections called Binary form, and is generally performed with
each section repeated. Other forms of keyboard music from the Baroque period are
theme and Variations, Passacaglia, Chaconne, Invention, Prelude, Fugue, Choral,
Prelude, Ricercare, Fantasy, Toccata and Concerto.
The two best known Baroque composers are Johann Sebastian Bach and George
Frederick Handel, both Germans.

Prominent Musical Characteristics:

"Tremolo" and "pizzicato" for string instruments; terraced dynamics although
dynamics such as "p", "f", "cresc." and "dim." were introduced and used sparingly;
rhythm was generally simple, but metrically strict; tempo markings such as "allegro",
"andante" and "grave" were introduced' emphasis on solo singing' homophony
introduced and existing along with polyphony; designation of ornamentation by the
use of abbreviations and signs was used a great deal -- composers used these signs
to indicate their own personal wishes in ornamentation, but performers were at
liberty to improvise their own ornamentation as well; virtuoso and "bel canto"
(beautiful singing) with florid technique; change to major/minor system of tonality;
systemized harmony; chromaticism and dissonances used for expressiveness;
improvisational style, with rapid scalar passages, decorations, free fantasy -- like
displays of technique; variation principle; clear-cut phrases; consistent mood
throughout sections of music.

Musical forms common in the Baroque era: Prelude, Fugue, Toccata, Fantasia,
Overture, Suite, Keyboard sonata, Chamber sonata, Passacaglia, Theme and
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variations, Chorale variation, Chorale prelude, Chaconne, Church sonata, Concerto.

Many of the forms we associate with Classical piano music such as the Concerto
and Sonata were actually established in the Baroque era. It spawned the Baroque
suite made up of four dance types, i.e. the Allemande, Courant, Sarabande, and
gigue. Other forms include the minuet, the gavotte, and the prelude. These provided
the building material for much of the music that was to come later, when the piano
came into its own in the Classical period.

ARTISTS OF THE TIME

Visual art:
Bernini, Rubens, El Greco, Rembrandt, Velasquez Van Dyck, Poussin, Watteau,
Hogarth, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Da Vinci, Michelangelo.

Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci

Literature:
Cervantes, Pepys, Milton, Pope, Swift, Defoe, Gray, Goldsmith, Fielding. 

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“Such a sweet complsion path in music lie”

Philosophy
F. Bacon, Descartes, Grotius, Hobbs, Spinoza, Locke, Voltaire, Hume.


“Music is a pathway to the heart”

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Music
Monteverdi, Pachelbel, Corelli, Purcell, Kuhnau, A. Scarlatti, Couperin, Vivaldi,
Telemann, Rameau, J.S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, Handel, Pergolesi etc.

“I should be sorry if I only entertained them, I

wish to make them better.”

Portrait of Handel by Thomas Hudson, 1748

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

“The aim and final end of all music

should be none other than the glory of
God and the refreshment of the soul.”

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 in Eisenach – 28 July 1750 in Leipzig)
was a German composer and organist. He lived in the last part of the Baroque
period. He never travelled very far, spending all his life in central Germany, but he
studied all the music he could find by other composers of his time. His own music
shows that he learned from the music of Italian, French and German composers. He
spent several years working at courts of noblemen. Here he wrote most of his
chamber music and orchestral music. Most of his life, however, he worked in a
church where he was expected to write church music. Bach worked in almost all
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musical genres, with the exception of the Opera. During the last part of his life most
composers were writing in a new style called the Classical, but Bach was completely
devoted to Baroque. That made some people at the time think he was old-fashioned,
but today we know that his work is the very best of Baroque music. Along with
Mozart and Beethoven, Bach is regarded as one of the greatest composers who
have ever lived.

THE KEYBOARD MUSIC OF J.S. BACH

Bach wrote dozens of keyboard pieces but it wasn't actually written for the piano.
Harpsichord and organ were his instruments, although today much of his
harpsichord music is played on a modern piano. As well as the set of preludes and
fugues mentioned above, his works include:

• 15 Inventions • The Italian Concerto

• 15 Sinfonias • The Goldberg Variations
• 6 Partitas • A Musical Offering
• 6 French Suites • The Art of Fugue
• 6 English Suites

Also harpsichord feature prominently in Bach's chamber music, the Brandenburg

Concertos being a typical example.
Some of his famous keyboard pieces are:
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written,
according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The piece opens
with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. It is one of the most
famous works in the organ repertoire.
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To a large extent the piece conforms to the characteristics deemed typical for the
north German organ school of the baroque era with divergent stylistic influences,
such as south German characteristics, described in scholarly literature on the piece.
Bach's clavier suites show the influence of French and Italian as well as of German
models. There are three sets of Six Suites each: the French and English Suites,
composed at Cüthen, and the Six Partitas published separately between 1726 and
1730 and then collected in 1731 as Part of the Clavier Übung. Part II of the Clavier
Übung also contains a large Partita in B minor, entitled "Overture in the French style
for a harpsichord with two manuals."

The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893, is a collection of two series of

Preludes and Fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, composed for solo keyboard by
Johann Sebastian Bach. This collection is referred to as The Old Testament of
keyboard music and forms the basis of the repertoire for many beginning piano
students. In the German of Bach's time Clavier (keyboard) was a generic name
indicating a variety of keyboard instruments, most typically a harpsichord or
clavichord – but not excluding an organ either.

Bach gave the title Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier, eng.)
to a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, dated 1722,
composed "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and
especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study". Some 20 years later
Bach compiled a second book of the same kind, which became known asThe Well-
Tempered Clavier, Part Two.

Modern editions usually refer to both parts as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
(WTC I) and The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (WTC II), respectively. The
collection is generally regarded as being among the most important works in the
history of Western classical music.
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The Classical Era

Vocal and instrumental concert in the Baroque period, 1771, gouache. Germany

ABSTRACT- UNIT 2

• Introduction

• Sonata-allegro form description

• Franz Josepf Haydn

• Volfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Ludwig van Beethoven

• Franz Schubert
• Artists of time
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INTRODUCTION

Classical music may not enjoy as much popularity as it used to in its golden age from
17th to the early 20th century. But it continues to impress and inspire, especially the
works by the greatest composers of all times. Some of them may have lived
hundreds of years ago but their masterpieces simply remain unsurpassed.

The First Viennese School

The First Viennese School is a name mostly used to refer to three composers of the
Classical period in late-18th-century Vienna: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Franz
Schubert is occasionally added to the list.
In German-speaking countries, the term Wiener Klassik (lit.Viennese classical
era/art) is used. That term is often more broadly applied to the Classical era in music
as a whole, as a means to distinguish it from other periods that are colloquially
referred to as classical,namely Baroque and Romantic music.
The term "Viennese School" was first used by Austrian musicologist Raphael Georg
Kiesewetter in 1834, although he only counted Haydn and Mozart as members of the
school. Other writers followed suit, and eventually Beethoven was added to the list.
The designation "first" is added today to avoid confusion with the Second Viennese
School.
Whilst, Schubert apart, these composers certainly knew each other (with Haydn and
Mozart even being occasional chamber-music partners), there is no sense in which
they were engaged in a collaborative effort in the sense that one would associate
with 20th-century schools such as the Second Viennese School, or Les Six. Nor is
there any significant sense in which one composer was "schooled" by another (in the
way that Berg and Webern were taught by Schoenberg), though it is true that
Beethoven for a time received lessons from Haydn.
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The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. The term
"Classical" refers to the reason and restraint. This style sought to emulate the
ideals of Classical antiquity, especially those of Classical Greece and in music refers
to the works of those eighteenth-century composers whose music gives the
impression of clarity, balance, lyricism and restraint of emotional expression.

The period is sometimes referred to as the era of Viennese Classic or Classicism

(German: Wiener Klassik), since Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Salieri, and Beethoven all
worked in Vienna and Schubert was born there.

Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less
complex. It is mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate
chordal accompaniment, but counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially
later in the period. It also makes use of style galant which emphasized light elegance
in place of the Baroque's dignified seriousness and impressive grandeur. Variety and
contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before and the orchestra
increased in size, range, and power.

The harpsichord was replaced as the main keyboard instrument by the piano (or
fortepiano). Unlike the harpsichord, which plucked strings with quills, pianos strike
the strings with leather-covered hammers when the keys are pressed, which enables
the performer to play louder or softer and play with more expression; in contrast, the
force with which a performer plays the harpsichord keys does not change the sound.
Instrumental music was considered important by Classical period composers. The
main kinds of instrumental music were the sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony
(performed by an orchestra) and the solo concerto, which featured a virtuoso solo
performer playing a solo work for violin, piano, flute, or another instrument,
accompanied by an orchestra. Vocal music, such as songs for a singer and piano
(notably the work of Schubert), choral works, and opera (a staged dramatic work for
singers and orchestra) were also important during this period.
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Musical eras and their prevalent styles, forms and instruments seldom disappear at
once; instead, features are replaced over time, until the old approach is simply felt as
"old-fashioned". The Classical style did not "die" suddenly; rather, it gradually got
phased out under the weight of changes. To give just one example, while it is
generally stated that the Classical era stopped using the harpsichord in orchestras,
this did not happen all of a sudden at the start of the Classical era in 1750. Rather,
orchestras slowly stopped using the harpsichord to play basso continuo until the
practice was discontinued by the end of the 1700s.

Function of music
Music during this period served a highly sophisticated and aristocratic society. : Its
most common function was to provide entertainment for guests in exclusive saloons.
Discriminating audiences patronized public concerts of orchestral music, and the
elegant spectacle of the opera. In the home, it was possible for the amateur
musicians to learn to play compositions. In fact, many serious composers were
called upon to write chamber music, as well as vocal solos and ensembles, for
amateur performances. Music for dancing was in popular demand for a society that
enjoyed lively entertainment. In the church, composers were called upon to write
sacred music for its services--but it tended to give way to a "secular" spirit.
During the Classical Period, dynamics became commonplace. This was indeed
another was of achieving contrast, employing crescendo and diminuendo, as well as
sudden changes from "ff" to "pp". Composers give explicit directions in dynamics,
tempi, phrasing form and other interpretive matters--leaving little the performer's
imagination. While ornaments were not always written out, there was a precise
formula for the execution of each figure. Music was performed with a sense of
balance, polish, order, neatness, planning and good taste. There was still some
improvisation by generally applied to the cadenza of a concerto (but most cadenzas
were written out by composer).



Prominent Musical Characteristics

The sense of "polish" and "neatness" was the norm. During this time, the pianoforte
gradually replaced the harpsichord. Music forms are now precise and clear, with
sections being clearly marked off by cadences. Classical music is characterized by
symmetry of form, with balanced musical periods (usually in units of four-measure
phrases). Folk music even became gradually introduced into serious music.
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Melodies were lyrical with smooth contours. Ornaments were often written out, but
became a lyric part of the melody itself (no longer being merely decorative). Also,
melodies were often built out of short melodic "fragments", contrasted
homophonically with a second melody. (In effect this led to the ABA formula).
Chordal structures also became melodic when broken; and in faster tempos,
ascending upwards, they were referred to as "rocket figures". Rhythm was
essentially simple and constant, clearly punctuated by rhythmic cadences. An
important device of rhythm was the "Alberti bass", which is the breaking-up of a triad
into broken-chord figures with a repeated rhythmic pattern. Even silence became
part of the element of rhythm. Strong cadences are sometimes followed by a
measure of silence in order to heighten the effect of the cadence itself. The tempo of
a movement, or section, is always constant from beginning to end. Harmony is tonal,
simple, and rarely uses anything beyond primary chords. There is a formal key
relationship between themes and movements of forms. This key relationship
provides contrast and interest without introducing new material (Sonata-allegro form
is a good example of this). Key relations between movements are not so varied. In
general, all movements are in the same key (except sometimes for the second
movement).

Classical music form:

Symphony, sonata, solo concerto, chamber music (duets, trios, quartets, quintets,
sextets), serenade, divertimenti, cassations, notturni( nocturne). Sonata-allegro,
rondo, theme and variations minuet and trio, scherzo, tenary (ABA), bagatelle,
overture.

SONATA-ALLEGRO FORM DESCRIPTION

Function and Structure
Sonata-allegro form has three main sections – the Exposition, the Development and
the Recapitulation. Even though the form composed of three sections, it is
considered a two-part form because it is based on two major modulations in tonality.
Tonal Organization
The beginning opens in the main key of the work. Then after the first the theme, the
piece modulates to a foreign key, which is typically five steps above the original key.
After arriving in this second key through a direct modulation, the work then
modulates back to the original key through many different harmonic colour and
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ideas.
So the two-part form definition stems from the music beginning in one key, then
leaving to another and then going back to the original tonal area. However, the
musical ideas of a sonata-allegro form movement are divided into three sections.
Structural Organization
The Exposition
The first section called the exposition is similar to an introduction in an essay. The
exposition introduces the main themes of the work. Typically a sonata-allegro form
movement has two main themes. The first theme is in the tonic, or main key of the
piece. The second theme is in a distantly related key. In the classical period, the
second key is typically in the key five steps away from the tonic key. Beside the tonal
differences in the themes, the two themes typically also vary in style. The first theme
is usually something declarative and memorable and the second theme is
comparatively lyrical and flowing. A key aspect to the exposition section is the repeat
at the end. After hearing the first two themes, the material is repeated exactly the
same in the same order so listeners get a second chance to hear it again.
The Development
The second section of the work is called the Development. Like the body paragraphs
of an essay, the development expands on the themes introduced in the exposition.
The development section represents the most creative and unstable section of the
work. The development section uses material from the first two themes in many
different keys as well as in many different styles. The development section sounds
somewhat improvised as the composer uses the thematic material from the
exposition to invent new ideas.
The development begins in the same key area as the second theme at the end of the
exposition. After going through all the inventions and supporting material, the
development ends back in the original key.
The Recapitulation
The last section of sonata-allegro form is called the Recapitulation. This section is a
restatement of the two themes from the exposition. This time however, there is no
modulation. The first theme is in the tonic, the main key of the work, and the second
theme remains in the tonic as well. At the very end of the work occasionally comes a
coda, which is a small section to bring the work to a close. The recapitulation
functions as a conclusion which restates the major ideas while closing the work.
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FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

“When I think of my God, my heart dances

within me for joy, and then my music has to
dance, too.”

Portrait of Joseph Haydn by Ludwig

Guttenbrunn, ca.

Franz Joseph Haydn was among the creators of the fundamental genres of classical
music, and his influence upon later composers is immense. Haydn’s most celebrated
pupil was Ludwig van Beethoven, and his musical form casts a huge shadow over
the music of subsequent composers such as Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

Structure and character of Haydn music and his sonatas in particular.

A central characteristic of Haydn's music is the development of larger structures out
of very short, simple musical motifs, often derived from standard accompanying
figures. The music is often quite formally concentrated, and the important musical
events of a movement can unfold rather quickly.
Haydn's work was central to the development of what came to be called sonata form.
His practice, however, differed in some ways from that of Mozart and Beethoven, his
younger contemporaries who likewise excelled in this form of composition. Haydn
was particularly fond of the so-called "monothematic exposition", in which the music
 21

that establishes the dominant key is similar or identical to the opening theme. Haydn
also differs from Mozart and Beethoven in his recapitulation sections, where he often
rearranges the order of themes compared to the exposition and uses extensive
thematic development.
Haydn's formal inventiveness also led him to integrate the fugue into the classical
style and to enrich the rondo form with more cohesive tonal logic (see sonata rondo
form). Haydn was also the principal exponent of the double variation form—
variations on two alternating themes, which are often major- and minor-mode
versions of each other.
Perhaps more than any other composer's, Haydn's music is known for its humor. The
most famous example is the sudden loud chord in the slow movement of his
"Surprise" symphony; Haydn's many other musical jokes include numerous false
endings (e.g., in the quartets Op. 33 No. 2 and Op. 50 No. 3), and the remarkable
rhythmic illusion placed in the trio section of the third movement of Op. 50 No. 1.
Much of the music was written to please and delight a prince, and its emotional tone
is correspondingly upbeat. This tone also reflects, perhaps, Haydn's fundamentally
healthy and well-balanced personality. Occasional minor-key works, often deadly
serious in character, form striking exceptions to the general rule. Haydn's fast
movements tend to be rhythmically propulsive and often impart a great sense of
energy, especially in the finales. Some characteristic examples of Haydn's
"rollicking" finale type are found in the "London" symphony No. 104, the string
quartet Op. 50 No. 1, and the piano trio Hob XV: 27. Haydn's early slow movements
are usually not too slow in tempo, relaxed, and reflective. Later on, the emotional
range of the slow movements increases, notably in the deeply felt slow movements
of the quartets Op. 76 Nos. 3 and 5, the Symphonies No. 98 and 102, and the piano
trio Hob XV: 23. The minuets tend to have a strong downbeat and a clearly popular
character. Over time, Haydn turned some of his minuets into "scherzi" which are
much faster, at one beat to the bar.
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VOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

“The music is not in the notes,

but in the silence between.”

Mozart - Johann Heinrich

Born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a
musician capable of playing multiple instruments who started playing in public at the
age of 6. Over the years, Mozart aligned himself with a variety of European venues
and patrons, composing hundreds of works that included sonatas, symphonies,
masses, chamber music, concertos and operas, marked by vivid emotion and
sophisticated textures.
Piano works: Structure and character of Mozart’s music and his sonatas in particular.
Enthusiastically championed by artists like Lily Krauss, derided by others, most
notoriously Glenn Gould, Mozart’s piano sonatas occupy a special position in his
output.
Unlike Beethoven’s sonatas, these works are not central to their composer’s
achievement. Nevertheless, they are unique as a polished body of works for a single
instrument: and this is especially significant in Mozart’s case.
His contributions in all major genres are celebrated. In the great operatic comedies
and the Singspiels he revels in the very artificiality of the stage to create real
emotional states in his characters, and to portray true relationships. In the great
concertos hi piano soloist becomes an incandescent Everyman in the ‘social’ context
of the individual wind instruments and the collective body of strings – quite unlike its
often heroic, combative role in later concertos. In the late symphonies he finds an
epic voice unimagined before in orchestral music, infusing exchanges of material
and contrasts of mood with an apparently celebratory logic – a logic the essence of
which remains elusive upon examination.
So, Mozart’s acute sensitivity to different instrumental and vocal timbres and his
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virtuosity at juxtaposing and reconciling the most unlikely materials in an apparently

effortless and natural way, place him supreme as creator of characters – whether
that be in his operas, or when he personifies instruments themselves. That is central
to virtually all his greatest achievements. And it is obvious to even the naïve listener
that dialogic interaction is crucial to the ebb and flow of the music – never more so
than in the dramas, games and discourse of sonata.
Such dialogue can be heard in these piano sonatas too, but since Mozart cannot
here characterize the instrument itself in the context of other instruments, he makes
use of contrasts in dynamics, registers and textures to enable reference to other
instrumental and vocal forces, and genres, enabling make-believe exchanges. By
contrast, in the piano concertos, however varied the role of the piano may be, the
soloist in that context has a unified identity, inevitably rendering the piano sonority
more homogenous than should be the experience when listening to the works for
piano alone. Here, then, we find concentrations of symphonic material, or concerto
tutti/solo duality and virtuoso passage work, or tender wind serenade exchanges,
ardent string quartets: but we do so through musical simile. Simile rather than
metaphor, since the paradox is that all this is cast in an eminently ‘pianistic’ idiom in
a way which would resist effective transcription.
Of course complex cross-reference like this abounds in Mozart’s language in
general, but what is special about these works is that a single player has to vivify the
implied exchanges between ‘instruments’ and ‘characters’ – and all in an
unquestionably domestic or, at least intimate, setting. These works may at times
refer to public styles of holding forth, or have large-scale implications by virtue of
depth of content, but in their original instrumentation they demand quiet listening.
This leads to some difficult questions for those who wish to play the Mozart sonatas
on a modern concert grand. Its identity as the vehicle of the recital and concerto
virtuoso, its scale of sound and the way in which that sound is produced mean that
every aspect of playing these works has to be re-imagined and re-invented. On the
one hand, the pianist may have in mind the fortepiano in its private or concert
setting, on the other the chamber, orchestral or vocal forces that are referred to.
Thus he has the option to adopt an intimate voice – or not; but given the many
contradictory qualities and capabilities of the modern piano, no obligation either way.
It is so that even with the best translation much is lost, but if the translator is himself
more than an artisan something new will be gained too. The performer might even
want to approach these works with a completely anachronistic attitude, irrespective
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of what he knows about their intended instrumentation and frame of reference.

Moreover it is inescapable that the ways in which the concert grand speaks and
sings and dances – its arts of voicing, pedalling, accentuation, touch, cantabile fully
and shrewdly manipulated – were perfected through the nineteenth century: i.e. it is
inescapable that a performance practice for these works that engages the
instrument’s full expressive potential needs to look beyond easy categories of
‘authentic’, or ‘modern’ or ‘historically-informed’. One might say that, when a pianist
immerses himself in this music, ‘interpretation’ is only one of many tools that he
takes in hand, but by no means an accurate description of what he may fashion in
the end.
These highly finished works, terse in utterance, even the more extensive amongst
them generally only around twenty minutes in length, yet very rich in activity, rich in
personality and topoi have, particularly in their fast movements, a nervous energy
and intensity that is rarely heard in piano performances. Friedrich Gulda’s recordings
of ten sonatas are a notable exception; the Lily Krauss renditions are more cultured
and varied but restless too in their quest for ever more nuances and surprises. But –
this kind of wonderful unpredictability has generally not been evident in
performances of these works.
The development of the modern piano through the nineteenth century and, one has
to concede, the impressive legacy of Beethoven’s sonatas with their robust treatment
of the instrument, largely relegated Mozart’s solo piano works to the realm of
pedagogy. These days they are still used as a training ground for decoding, and
learning reflex responses to the standard figurations of Viennese Classical music.
In any case, the way the modern instrument ‘speaks’ is so radically different from
Mozart’s instruments that it is unthinkable that adherence to even a standardised
style of articulation should ever take priority over the great varieties of touch and
stress available to the pianist. Following from this it becomes imperative too to
consider the implications for accentuation and emphasis of a fluent piano technique
– kinetically very different from a fluent fortepiano technique.
Regarding dynamics one quickly observes that, in the first nine sonatas especially,
Mozart somewhat obsessively marks, for the most part, f and p. Perhaps this is still,
relatively early on in his career, a legacy of the less dynamically sensitive
instruments he grew up with. Again, a literalist, binary reading can leave a somewhat
blunt, unresponsive impression. However, the placement of these dynamics is
extremely telling in that they very often imply phrasings and groupings that the notes
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on their own do not: more evidence of Mozart’s restless, ludic musical mind –
relishing all types of asymmetry – that seeks at least the illusion of clarification and
balancing, thus propelling the music forward. A far cry from suavity on the one hand
or prettiness on the other.
The piano sonatas fascinatingly oscillate between the domestic and the public, not
only in their references, but – being by nature playful and thoughtful – also moving
between that which includes the audience and that which does not. Vital is the image
of the improviser/composer; so too the kind of open experimentation which is a result
of abundant facility and an abundance of creativity.
Towards a narrative Viewed as a body of work, the Mozart piano sonatas present a
particularly neat picture. A chronological survey is rewarding, since the sonatas
represent all the major stylistic and emotional changes in Mozart’s mature career.
And the earliest of them date from his twentieth year, by which time their composer
had already gained tight control of his materials. From the outset each of the sonatas
has a clearly defined identity – as always with Mozart the impression being that the
choice of key is indeed key. The writing is concentrated, never wasteful, with plenty
of contrast in register and texture, the approach to the keyboard is virtuosic but not at
the cost of ‘expression’, and all the significant cadential and thematic junctures in the
music are apparently effortlessly in relief.
Those that precede Mozart’s handwritten catalogue of his own works (i.e. up to the
Bflat sonata K. 333) fall naturally into three distinct groups, markedly different in
character from each other whilst boasting an impressive internal variety:
The relatively late appearance of solo sonatas in Mozart’s oeuvre (K. 279-284,
Munich, 1775) is significant both in that they denote a departure from his numerous
early works for keyboard with violin accompaniment, and that, for the first time, he
sets down on paper a type of work which previously, one presumes, he had only
improvised. Mozart often performed these pieces on his tours, and no doubt played
some of them on harpsichords too. The frequency of archaic f and p contrasts can
perhaps be read as testimony that Mozart had yet to come to terms with emerging
possibilities of shading on new keyboard instruments of the day. In Deutsche
Chronik of 27 April 1775 the then celebrated Captain Beecke’s playing receives
praise over Mozart’s for its “agility, grace … sweetness”. By 1777 however, Mozart’s
mother could report from Mannheim that her son’s playing was regarded as superior
in “beauty of tone, quality and execution” even though Beecke had been playing
there too.
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The first six sonatas, one in C, three in flat keys, and two in sharps ones,
immediately illustrate Mozart’s brilliant powers of free-association. Quick
successions of seemingly independent, sometimes incongruous, ideas are skilfully
connected, elided, balanced to leave the impression of cohesive argument. The two
tendencies – the one to enjoy each new event in its own right, the other to give each
element its due proportion in relation to the whole – with their simultaneous tow,
seem less like opposing imperatives in later works, especially those from Mozart’s
Viennese period. Perhaps because there the delicate ambiguities of voice-leading
and phrasing, of rhythmic and harmonic polarity, become so dense as to form a web
complete in itself. But, in the works from the Salzburg years the experience is still
decidedly of unity-in-spite-of-variety.
The last sonata in this set, composed for the Baron von Dürnitz and sometimes
bearing his name in programmes, is remarkably sonorous and its finale is one of
Mozart’s richest variation sets – it is also the longest movement in all the sonatas.
This work (the only Mozart sonata Glenn Gould seems to have approved of wholly)
stands apart from its five companions; its grandeur appears to look forward to a
different manner – and indeed, throughout the next three sonatas (K. 309 and 311,
Mannheim, 1777 and K.310, Paris, 1778) it is clear that Mozart was experimenting
with new keyboard sounds.
All the subsequent sonatas date from Mozart’s Viennese period (roughly the last
decade of his life). The first four of these (K. 330-3, 1783) significantly do not open
with overt gestural pronouncements as in the preceding four sonatas, but with
ingenuous lyrical ideas, emblematic in a larger sense of the harmoniousness and
fluency that pervade throughout. It may be said that by now Mozart maintains the
generous, humane buffo perspective that is the hallmark of his mature language.
The brittleness of some of the keyboard writing in the earlier sonatas is largely
absent. Each of these sonatas has its particular, carefully modulated tonal hue, its
own balancing of the thoughtful, the affecting and the playful. The F major sonata, K.
332, for instance, boasts a spectacular digital pianistic display across the entire
range of the keyboard in its finale to balance the very specific orchestral sonorities
and vocal style that are conjured in the opening and second movements
respectively.
The Rondo alla Turca which concludes the A major sonata, K. 331 is both a clever
coup and the natural fruition of the ‘exotic’ tendencies of the preceding movements.
Citing the C minor sonata (K. 457, 1784) as a work which foreshadows Beethoven’s
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‘C minor mood’ is a popular critical misconception: the raw energy and wilfulness
that drive Beethoven’s allegros are largely absent. In fact, the more vital forte
sections scattered through the fast movements here act as a kind of frame to uphold
a work beset by a sinking sense of doubt. Most typical are the nervous changes of
mood and the frequent, enigmatic, often disconcerting, caesuras.
It is evidently a carefully constructed piece, with one of Mozart’s most beautifully
paced endings, the title referring to the stylistic quirks of a genre rather than to
haphazard improvisation. It was presumably Mozart’s haste in preparing a sonata for
his new employer, Joseph II that prompted his use of an earlier rondo (K. 494, 1786)
as finale to a newly composed Allegro and Andante (K. 533, 1788).
Although Mozart composed them in his early thirties they can be described as ‘late’
in that they are the product of a creativity that has already reached fullest expression
and that they are written from a perspective that is in a sense beyond achievement;
that is, beyond the need to ‘prove’ anything. Mozart’s later works do not set out to
critique his own earlier achievements, turn away from them in radically new
directions, or turn inward unconcerned with his audience – for that he died just too
early – but a late quality they very clearly exemplify is that they often seem to take
economy of writing to an extreme. Here are no ostentatious displays; rather these
works unfold within very carefully maintained spectra of possibility, demonstrating an
absolutely precise knowledge of what is essential and what is not. The slow
movement of K. 545, for instance, could not possibly but be the work of a past
master, showing how apparently the simplest means can be handled to their most
acute expressive effect.
These last three sonatas belong to a group of Mozart’s instrumental works to which
Hermann Hesse’s description of the “cheerfulness” of Classical music perhaps
applies best. This cheerfulness, characterised by order and lucidity, is “aware of the
tragedy of the human condition” but finds higher joy in a purer kind of beauty.
Spectacular effects of light and darkness are replaced by more subtle shifts in mood:
in the faster movements rich sonorities are generally eschewed in favour of two-part
writing which borders (in sometimes very witty ways) on the sketchy; the slow
movements now have a retrospective quality – of remembered rather than
immediate experience – of experience reflected on, and clarification gained. So,
when Mozart died young, with many circumstances in his professional and personal
life unresolved, his artistic career had in a sense come full circle – or so it seems to
us, since these later instrumental works speak anew with a childlike freshness,
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directness, and also vulnerability.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the

higher world of knowledge which comprehends
mankind but which mankind cannot
comprehend”

William J. Medcalf – Portrait of Beethoven in a

red coat

Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770 to March 26, 1827) was a German
pianist and composer widely considered the greatest of all time, whose innovative
compositions combined vocals and instruments, widening the scope of sonata,
symphony, concerto and quartet. He is the crucial transitional figure connecting the
Classical and Romantic ages of Western music. Beethoven’s personal life was
marked by a struggle against deafness, and some of his most important works were
composed during the last 10 years of his life when he was quiet unable to hear. He
died at the age of 56.

Structure and character of sonatas n8, n14 and n23

“For Beethoven, the sonata form is not a scheme that can be used in caprice one
d a y and abandoned the next. This form dominates everything he imagines and
composes; it is the very mark of his creation and the form of his thought –an inherent
form, a natural one.” - Edwin Fischer, Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas.
Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas constitute a great treasure that embodies a part of
the human eternity. Numerous pianists and musicologists have researched or
studied them, trying to impart to their students or readers the prodigality of these true
musical riches.
Beethoven holds a key role in the transformation and evolution of the sonata form.
Even if he maintains the characteristics initially set by his predecessors, Haydn and
Mozart, Beethoven imposes on the sonata his strong personality creating a new,
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impressive, form of art, in which his own life, with its joys and sorrows, is projected.
With Beethoven the musical theme acquires remarkable proportions, of such
strength, that it imposes itself over the listener’s attention and memory. As the
French composer, Vincent d’ Indy once said, with Beethoven, the musical theme
turns into an concept that spreads throughout the hole work making it easily
recognizable even if harmonic, modal or tonal aspects change.
The fundamental principle of organization of the Beethoven piano sonata is the
tonality.
We can say that Beethoven perceived tonality as the key to any composition, since it
leads to the true understanding of the musical form.
In what the structural architectonic of the Beethoven piano sonatas is regarded,
there are no apparent patterns: out of the thirty-two sonatas written by Beethoven,
twelve have four parts, thirteen have three parts and seven have two parts. Another
interesting aspect is that of the diversity of de movement types and the order of
succession. The sonatas Op. 26, 27, 54, 109 or 110 reveal this total liberty of dealing
with the character of the constitutive pats and their order in the sonata form. But, no
matter the movements or their order of succession, there can be established a
general characteristic of the Beethoven piano sonata (and work in general) can be
easily established: his great care to create a easily perceptible connection between
the constitutive parts of the sonata.
Sonata n.8 /op. 13 in C minor also known as "Pathetique" is by far the most well-
known work from his early creation, composed in 1798 but published in 1799 and
dedicated to prince Karl Lichnowsky. Some sources attribute the title to Beethoven
himself, while others state that the title was given by the publisher of the sonata, who
was so impressed by its tragic sonorities that he proposed Beethoven the name
Pathetique.
The sonata has three movements: I. Grave: Allegro di molto e con brio / II.
Adagio cantabile / III. Rondo: Allegro
Sonata n.23 / in F minor op. 57 also known under the title of "Appassionata" was
composed by Beethoven in 1804, but was only recorded in 1806. The theme of the
finale was composed during a stroll in the surroundings of Dobling. In Appassionata,
Beethoven rendered the richness of nature’s forces and the immense power of man
who manages to overcome it. The Appassionata has three parts: I. Allegro Assai /
II. Andante con moto – attacca / III. Allegro, ma non troppo - Presto
Sonata n.14 / The Moonlight Sonata op27- n.2 was composed in the summer of
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1801 in Hungary. The composition was published in 1802 and was dedicated to
Beethoven’s pupil and passion, 17 years old Countess Giulietta Gucciardi.
The Sonata is one of the most popular piano sonatas from Beethoven’s creation. It is
also named The Moonlight Sonata by poet Ludwig Rellstab who, in 1832, had this
inspiration on a moon lit night on the banks of the Lucerna River. Some biographers
make the connection between the unshared love the composer held for Giulietta
Guicciardi and the sonorities of the first part. Even more so, this sonata was
dedicated to Giulietta, the musical theme of the first part being borrowed from a
German ballad as Wyzewa observed.
According to Fischer, this image has no connection with Beethoven’s intentions. He
rather attributes this atmosphere to the feeling that overwhelmed the composer when
he took watch at the side of a friend who prematurely left the world of the living. In
one of Beethoven’s manuscripts there are several notes from Mozart’s Don Juan,
notes that follow the killing of the Commander by Don Juan, and lower, this passage
is rendered in C sharp minor in absolute resemblance to the first part of the sonata in
C sharp minor. Analysing and comparing, one could realize that it cannot be the
case of a romantic moon lit night, but rather of a solemn funeral hymn.
The piano sonata has three parts: I. Adagio Sostenuto / II. Allegretto / III.
Presto Agitato

FRANZ SCHUBERT

“Nobody understands another's sorrow, and

nobody another's joy.”

Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder 1875.

Born on January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria, Franz Peter Schubert, the
son of a schoolmaster, received a thorough musical education and won a
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scholarship to boarding school. Although he was never rich, the composer's work
gained recognition and popularity, noted for bridging classical and romantic
composition. He died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria.

Comparing to Mozart or Beethoven, Schubert was not a virtuoso and rarely

appeared in public as a pianist. But those who were lucky to hear him perform
agreed that he was a very sensitive pianist who very cared about beauty of tone. His
fascination with the expressive power of the pianoforte remained with him throughout
his short creative life from the earliest duet-fantasias, written as a boy, to the three
final sonatas, which confirmed him once and for all as Beethoven's legitimate heir.

In a succession of masterpieces for solo piano and piano duet, in chamber music,
and not least in his song accompaniments, Schubert studied and exploited the
potential of the latest instruments. Schubert wrote well over 400 piano pieces.

The real treasure of Schubert’s piano works are his sonatas ,which he start to write
at the age of eighteen. The most brilliant from them is Sonata in A-major, D. 664.

Although Franz Schubert began work on twenty-two piano sonatas, he only

completed eleven, three of which were published during his lifetime (D. 845, 850,
894). Six of the unfinished sonatas are missing one movement; Three others contain
only a fragmented first. In 1843 a publisher took five unrelated movements and
incorporated them into what was called a "sonata" as well (E major, D.459). There
are perhaps 20 works that can be considered complete enough to be included in
recitals, and they extend throughout Schubert's working life, from 1815 to 1828.

Franz Schubert wrote 2 sets of Impromptus for the piano named Opus 90 (D 899)
and Opus 142 (D 935). However, he was not the first composer to use the term
Impromptu. Anyway,on publishing Schubert's Op. 90 numbers 1 and 2, the
publisher proposed to call them 'Impromptus':

Impromptus Op. 90, D. 899 
 Impromptus Op. 142, D. 935

No. 1

No. 1 in C minor, Allegro molto in F minor, Allegro moderato

moderato
 No. 2 in A flat, Allegretto

No. 2 in E flat, Allegro 
 No. 3 in B flat, Theme (Andante) with
No. 3 in G flat, Andante 
 variations

N0. 4 in A flat, Allegretto
 No. 4 in F minor, Allegro scherzando
Schubert wrote his 8 Impromptus in 1827, one year before he died. Opus 142 was
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only printed in 1839 and the numbers 3 and 4 of Opus 90 had to wait until 1857,
thirty years after they were written.

Most of them are in a straightforward ternary form, with a relatively unquiet middle
section. In this and other respects they close to the nocturnes of Chopin and John
Field.

Schubert's uncomparable achievement in the piano duet includes dances,

marches, variations, fantasies, divertissements and sonatas. He clearly held these
works in high esteem. His first published piano duet was released in 1822 with the
dedication 'To Ludwig van Beethoven, from his worshipper and admirer Franz
Schubert' and he is said to have delivered the work personally to the older master.

The best of Schubert's duets, however, is the most tragic, the sadest Fantasie in F
minor, D. 940. Many musicians would cite it as the finest four-hand work ever
written. There is no doubt that Schubert's piano duets place great demands on their
performers sense of timbre, intelligence, ability to concern for detail. Between
January and April 1828, a few months before his death, Schubert wrote this last
fantasy that seems the farewell to life and everything that were dear to him.

Lieder and art songs

Schubert was remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his short career. His
compositional style progressed rapidly throughout his short life. The largest number
of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano (over 600). He also
composed a considerable number of secular works for two or more voices, namely
part songs, choruses and cantatas. He completed eight orchestral overtures and
seven complete symphonies, in addition to fragments of six others. While he
composed no concertos, he did write three concert ante works for violin and
orchestra. There is a large body of music for solo piano, including fourteen complete
sonatas, numerous miscellaneous works and many short dances. There is also a
relatively large set of works for piano duet. There are over fifty chamber works,
including some fragmentary works. His sacred output includes seven masses, one
oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements and numerous smaller
compositions. He completed only eleven of his twenty-stage works.

Style
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In July 1947 the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek discussed Schubert's style,
abashedly admitting that he had at first "shared the wide-spread opinion that
Schubert was a lucky inventor of pleasing tunes ... lacking the dramatic power and
searching intelligence which distinguished such 'real' masters as J.S. Bach or
Beethoven". Krenek wrote that he reached a completely different assessment after
close study of Schubert's pieces at the urging of friend and fellow composer Eduard
Erdmann. Krenek pointed to the piano sonatas as giving "ample evidence that
[Schubert] was much more than an easy-going tune-smith who did not know, and did
not care, about the craft of composition." Each sonata then in print, according to
Krenek, exhibited "a great wealth of technical finesse" and revealed Schubert as "far
from satisfied with pouring his charming ideas into conventional molds; on the
contrary he was a thinking artist with a keen appetite for experimentation."

While he was clearly influenced by the Classical sonata forms of Beethoven and
Mozart (his early works, among them notably the 5th Symphony, are particularly
Mozartean), his formal structures and his developments tend to give the impression
more of melodic development than of harmonic drama. This combination of Classical
form and long-breathed Romantic melody sometimes lends them a discursive style:
his Great C major Symphony was described by Robert Schumann as running to
"heavenly lengths". His harmonic innovations include movements in which the first
section ends in the key of the subdominant rather than the dominant (as in the last
movement of the Trout Quintet). Schubert's practice here was a forerunner of the
common Romantic technique of relaxing, rather than raising, tension in the middle of
a movement, with final resolution postponed to the very end.
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ARTISTS OF THE TIME

Visual art

Jacques-Louis David, Dominique Ingres...

Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de
Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825)-
Dominique Ingres

Literature

Burns, Goethe, Schiller, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Scott...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) The

first Grand Tourist, German author
 35

Philosophy

Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Feuerbach...

“Nothing great in the world has ever been

accomplished without passion.”

Hegel portrait by Schlesinger ,1831

Music

Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven (Ludwig van
Beethoven is regarded either as a Romantic composer or a Classical period
composer who was part of the transition to the Romantic era), and Franz Schubert
(also a transitional figure),Luigi Boccherini, Muzio Leopold Mozart, Johann
Christian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Christoph Willibald Gluck...

“First the music, then the words”

Antonio Salieri -Joseph Willibrord Mahler

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The Romantic Era

Vocal and instrumental concert in the Baroque period, 1771, gouache. Germany

ABSTRACT- UNIT 3

• Introduction

• Artists of the time

• Composers from Germany
• Composers from Poland and
Hungary
• Composers From Russia
• Development of Sonata and other
forms of music
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INTRODUCTION

Romantic music is a period of Western classical music that began in the late 18th
or early 19th century. It is related to Romanticism, the European artistic and literary
movement that arose in the second half of the 18th century, and Romantic music in
particular dominated the Romantic Movement in Germany.
In the Romantic period, music became more expressive and emotional, expanding to
encompass literary, artistic, and philosophical themes.
The piano became more popular than ever in the history of the piano during the
Romantic Era , the social rise of the middle class it also became the most favored
instrument in the home.
According to the Romantic ideal big contrasts of effects were in fashion.
Louder, softer and anything in between. Even orchestra was expanded to 100
people.
Concerts were no more available only to the privileged upper class, but also a
growing middle class were able to enjoy orchestras.
The worship of the musician as an idol, or almost mythical semi-god (the piano
virtuoso Franz Liszt ) was another reason the concert venues got bigger; concerts
were available now to a larger part of the population, and the admirers- fans- were
more than ever.

Programme music
As links were formed between music, painting and literature, composers started to
compose programme music - music that tells a story. (The opposite is absolute
music - music without a story.) Exmple of programme music originally written for
p i a n o : "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Musirgsky, Schumann's "Scenes from
childhood", Debussy's "Preludes" is a musical narrative , although they do not tell a
certain story with a specific scenario. Jeux d’eau ( “Water games”) and Miroirs
( Mirrors ) by Ravel and L'isle Joyeuse (Island of Joy) , Preludes and Estampes by
Debussy. ..Liszt also has a large bulk of programme Piano music, Totentanz(with
orchestra), the Mephisto Waltzes (arranged for piano ), the Bagatelle Sans Tonalité (
Bagatelle without tone), Les Années de PèLerinage (The years of pilgrimage) and
the Dante Sonata.
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Incidental Music
It is music specially composed to be heard at certain points during the performance
of a play. (To set the mood, to cover the scenery changed or as background music).
Here we have to remind Suites: several pieces of incidental music gathered
together, intended for a play, e.g. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker (All
three by Tchaikovsky), A Midsummer Nights Dream (by Mendelssohn), Peer Gynt
(by Grieg).

The Concerto
Changes were made to the form of the Concerto during the Romantic period. Instead
of a double-exposition, there was now a single exposition, usually with the soloist
entering immediately, sharing the themes with the orchestra. The cadenza was now
written out by the composer. Other changes:
• Different numbers of movements were used by different composers
(Mendelssohn wrote pieces with three movements, Liszt did pieces with one
movement.
• Larger orchestra
• Growth of the virtuoso
• More excitement and 'drama'. More 'competition' between the orchestra and
the soloist.
• The Piano and violin became the main instruments in the concerto.
Several improvements were made to the piano in the 19th Century. E.g. more notes,
metal frame as opposed to wood. The piano gained a richer sound, and gradually, a
wider range of notes. The sustaining pedal began to be used to a much wider extent.
Dynamics were more explicit than those of Classicism. Smaller changes of color and
gradations of loudness were indicated by more definite terms. Tempi were more
accurately designated by the use of metronome markings. Even the conductor
became a performer whose instrument was gigantic and capable of every Romantic
expression. This was an era of massive festival performances. The middle-class love
for music making led to the establishment of the choral society. Improvisation was
generally discarded in the practice of Romantic music, due largely to the complexity
of its composition and the complete directions for performance. A few individuals like
Chopin and Liszt, continued to make brilliant use of it however.
 39

Prominent Musical Characteristics:

There were Romantic idealists and Romantic realists. The idealists insisted music
must exist for its own sake without extra-musical devices. The realists were the
champions of program music, believing that music could (and should) tell a story,
imitate sounds of nature or express a visual scene. Some Romantic composers
excelled in spectacular virtuosity, which was expressed by brilliant technical
performances. Other composers emphasized the intimacy of miniature forms and
delicate textures to express their personal feelings. There were composers whose
aim was to extol national characteristics and evoke patriotic feelings using folklore,
folk songs and dances. There were also Romanticists who avoided nationalistic
devices in the search for a universal musical language. But there was one concept
that all Romanticists had in common, giving their music a sense of unity: their music
was aimed at the evocation of emotion as its primary function. All Romantic music
concerns itself with the problem of creating musical tension to achieve a
corresponding intensification of emotional response.

Musical structure
• Freedom of form and design. It was more personal and emotional.
• Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many chromatic harmonies and
discords.
• Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch.
• Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the invention of the valve.
• Wide variety of pieces (i.e. songs up to five hour Wagner operas)
• Programme music (music that tells a story)
• Shape was brought to work through the use of recurring themes.
• Great technical virtuosity.
Music forms in Romantic period

• Sonata • the romance

• Sonata-allegro • the song without words - the
• waltz prelude
• mazurka • the nocturne
• polonaise • the ballade
• mood and character pieces • the intermezzo
• the impromptu • the rhapsody
 40

Many pieces shared contrasting moods, and were in Ternary form. Another piece of
the time was the etude (study). It was meant to improve the playing technique of the
player. This period saw the rise of the virtuoso, a person with extraordinary musical
skill, such as Paganini (violinist people thought he had made a pact with the devil,
because he was so good), and Liszt (pianist he was very concerned with
showmanship.)

ARTISTS OF THE TIME

Visual art
Goya, Gericault, Corot, Turner, Delacroix, Millet, Daumier,Thomas Cole.

“The Departure” - Thomas Cole, 1837

Literatura
Austen, Shelley, Keats, Pushkin, Heine, Cooper, Balzac, Hugo, Stendhal, Sand
Lytton, Dickens, Poe, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Whitman, Tennyson, Eliot, Tolstoy,
Dostoevsky, Browning, Twain, Ibsen, Stevenson, Maeterlinck, Zola, Kipling.



Bound for your distant home

you were leaving alien lands.
In an hour as sad as I’ve known
I wept over your hands.
My hands were numb and cold,
still trying to restrain
you, whom my hurt told
never to end this pain.
 41

Philosophy
Mill, Comte, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Marx, Engels, Thoreau, Spencer, Huxley,
Emerson, Haeckel, Hietzsche, Berson.

'Without music, life would be a mistake'

Curt Stoeving - Friedrich Nietzsche

Music
Beethoven (late period), Paganini, von Weber, Rossini, Schubert, Donizetti, Bellini,
Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Verdi, Wagner, Gounod, Franck,
Smetana, Bruckner, Borodin, Brahms, Bizet, Mussorgsky, Tchaikowsky, Dvorak,
Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Faure, Puccini, Wolf, Mahler, Strauss, Sibelius, Czerny,
Field, Elgar, Offenbach, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Rubinstein, Rachmaninov, Scrabin
(early), Albeniz, Gottschalk, MacDowell.

“They want me to write differently. Certainly I

could, but I must not. God has chosen me from
thousands and given me, of all people, this
talent. It is to Him that I must give account.
How then would I stand there before Almighty
God, if I followed the others and not Him?”

Stift St. Florian: Anton Bruckner

 42

COMPOSERS FROM GERMANY

The early German romantics strove to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and
science, by viewing the Middle Ages (5th–15th c.) as a simpler period of integrated
culture; however, the German romantics became aware of the tenuousness of the
cultural unity they sought. Late-stage German Romanticism emphasized the tension
between the daily world and the irrational and supernatural projections of creative
genius. In particular, the critic Heinrich Heine criticized the tendency of the early
German romantics for looking to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and
society.

Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely
regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era.
Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until
1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for
voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and
chamber works. Works such as Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen,
Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C are among his most famous. His writings about
music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a
Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.
In 1840, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara, against the wishes of
her father, following a long and acrimonious legal battle, which found in favor of
Clara and Robert. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert
career as a pianist, the earnings from which, before her marriage, formed a
substantial part of her father's fortune.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833 as a
severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating
with phases of 'exaltation' and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned
or threatened with metallic items. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was
admitted to a mental asylum, at his own request, in Endenich near Bonn. Diagnosed
with "psychotic melancholia", Schumann died two years later in 1856 without having
recovered from his mental illness.

Piano works of Schumann

Schumann, has many predecessors, in whose work some or other elements of the
 43

new romantic piano style were developed. The undoubted influence was exerted on
him by late Beethoven sonatas. The essence of the "Schumann" in music is
expressed in his piano works.
Thin musician-psychologist, with amazing poetry embodied the complex,
contradictory inner world of man - this is how Schumann appears in his piano music.
None of Schumann's contemporaries reached such coverage of various impressions,
similar to emotional sharpness. Excitement, turning into excitement, impulse and
elegiac dreaminess, appearing in the most extreme contrast, whimsical mystery,
humor, sometimes on the brink of a grotesque, ballad-narrative moments - all this
gives to the piano works of Schumann's unique features.
With the works of Hoffmann are connected "Kreisleriana", "Fantastic plays",
"Night plays". Intermezzo in the Third Novellettas op. 21 composers
associated with the scene witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Intermezzo of the
Fourth Noveletta - with the song of Margarita Goethe, etc. Literary types created
by Schumann himself: Florestan, Eusebius, Ciarina (Clara Vic) and others -
repeatedly embodied in music his piano compositions (see "Carnival", First
Sonata).
"Butterfies" (Op.2, 1829-1831) inspired by the scene of a masquerade from Jean
Paul's novel "Naughty years." The Vienna Carnival was created under the
impression of a carnival festival in Vienna; Schumann's favorite idea of the struggle
of advanced artists with stagnant philistinism is expressed in the famous "Carnival".
The "novelistic" character of Schumann's piano pieces determined the uniqueness of
their musical form. Large works are formed not by sonata development, but by the
successive alternation of individual completed plays. Based on the method of
cyclization of miniatures Schumann creates a typical for him a large form in piano
music.
From the Schubert cycles and from the suite of the XVIII century, Schumann's works
are distinguished by the dramatic drama of the composition, the use of extreme
contrasts. Florestan invariably encounters Eusebius. Consistent contrasting extreme
emotional "registers" - from passionate exaltation to deep thoughtfulness or sharp
jokes - creates a sense of surprise and drama.
Not only the entire work (a compilation or a cycle), but each of its separate
"episodes" (that is, a play) tends to Shuman's maximum internal contrast. Using
different types of rondo and three-part forms, Schumann created his own type of
contrast rondo-shape (based on a double three-part form). At its basis (beginning
 44

with the smallest constructions) lies the reception of sharp "florestan-evsebiev"

oppositions.
The first of the published works of Schumann, over which he worked almost
simultaneously, - the variations of "Abegg", "Papillions", “Toccata” - already
sufficiently clearly demonstrate Schumann's identity, indicate the line of development
and the direction of creative thoughts.
It is significant that even the first independent Schumann plays do not belong to the
musical genres that have been developed for many years, from which the majority of
musicians usually started their way. Schumann immediately attracted the attention of
the works of those genres of piano music, which acquired the rights of citizenship
already in the art of mature romanticism. It is a cycle of miniatures ("Papillions"),
revived old improvisational forms (“Toccata”), a romantically new refraction of
classical variations ("Abegg").

Toccata op. 7 stands somewhat apart in the work of Schumann. Extremely difficult
in its piano technique, it can serve as a model of a magnificent virtuoso style.
Shumanovsky Toccata is a stumbling block for the most brilliant virtuoso pianists; but
the virtuosic style of Toccata is an exception in the work of Schumann.

Variations of “Abegg”, despite some saloniness and external elegance of

ornamental technique, were the first in a series of works of this kind, for the very
form of variations and the method of variational development are organic for
Schumann. Variation is used by Schumann often and in a variety of ways.
Sometimes it is a method of development within a work (for example, in a sonata fis-
moll or in a Concerto a-moll), sometimes, as in Carnaval, the variation is reduced to
an intonational connection between thematically independent constructions. Among
the variational works there is a genuine masterpiece of piano music - "Etudes in the
form of variations" or "Symphonic etudes" op. 13 (1837).

“Carnival” - the most vivid implementation of the ideological and aesthetic concept
of Schumann, the purpose and content of which was the struggle with routine, with
philistinism in art and life.
The musical idea of “Carnival” echoes the content of one of the Schumann literary
essays. In it in the form of the report of the correspondent-davidsbündler the ball,
ostensibly given by the editor of the "New musical newspaper", is described, in order
 45

to acquaint the audience with the musical novelties. At the ball, there are comic
skirmishes between the Davidsbandlers and philistines, as a result of which one of
the philistines hastened to attack the “Carnival” the next day in an abusive review.
The musical “Carnival” can be imagined as a picture of a holiday in which the
Davidbündlers, who have united their forces, solemnly oppose the Philistines
(Philistines).
Here the traditional Pierro and Harlequin, Pantalone and Colombina; fantastic masks
"Dancing Letters" ("Lettres dancantes"), original "Coquette", "Butterfies"
("Papillons"). In the motley crowd flashed familiar figures davidsbundlerov: always
inseparable Florestan and Evsebiy, Chopin, Paganini. Appear and Clara with
Ernestina, under the guise of Ciarina and Estrella ("Chiarina", "Estrella"). "Pleasant
meetings" ("Reconnaissance"), "Delicate recognitions" ("Aveu"), merry walks and
dances ("Promenade") complement the colorfulness of the picture. Towards the end
of the Carnival, the davisbundlers are smashed to the dust of the Philistines.
Schumann called "Carnival" still "miniature scenes on 4 notes." The sounds of
ASCH, taken in different sequences and combinations, form a semblance of the
theme underlying each play (ASCH is the name of a small town in Bohemia (Czech
Republic), and these are the "musical" letters in the Schumann surname.).

Prone to mystification, mystery, Schumann "concealed" the secret of the motif so

constructed in the three "Sphinxes", intricately encoding them with medieval
quadrangular notes ("The Sphinxes" are usually not performed.) Only A.G.
Rubinstein performed them in such a way that the listeners were completely amazed
this unusual, unheard-of music, "like a mighty lion's paw, Rubinstein gave these 11
notes such a thunderous, mighty, colorful sound that no one in the world could
possibly have expected here.")
This motif is on the main theme position, and all the numbers of the “Carnival” act
as variations.In the relation of the composition “Carnival” is a masterpiece of
composer's skill. The harmony and harmony of the whole are combined with the
impeccable finish of all details, brilliant wit and ingenuity.

Études Symphoniques, Op. 13

One type of romantic, characteristically variational cycle is represented by
“Symphonic Etudes” (1834). The heroic, "florestanovsky" work of Schumann, it
arose under the influence of Paganini's art, but surpassed him with his fiery
 46

romance.
The name of etudes should mean that in their seriousness and depth they go beyond
the bounds of bravura variations and approach symphonic music, that their pianistic
sound is fullness and power, timbral variety is orchestrated, and, finally, symphonic
principles prevail in the development itself.
These variations can be called an encyclopedia of images, genres and techniques of
piano romantic music of the XIX century.
“Symphonic Etudes” is one of the most dramatic and monumental works for
pianoforte. High pathetic of musical images, their dynamics, purposefulness of
development put “Symphonic Etudes” on par with the best creations of Bach,
Beethoven.
Originally Schumann wanted to call “Symphonic Etudes” "Etudes in the orchestral
spirit of Florestan and Eusebia". The title was to emphasize the orchestral character
of the music, the desire to reproduce on the piano some techniques that could cause
the effect of orchestral sound.
“Symphonic Etudes” - a work that is perfect in all respects, an example of
variations of a new romantic type. Textural development - the leading principle of
classical variations - recedes before the desire for a figurative transformation, to
individualization, characterization.
Each of the twelve etudes (variations) (In the original variation there were more
variations.) In an effort to dramatist wholeness, Schumann subsequently removed
the superfluous ones, but after their death they were restored and often printed.)
Appears in new light: a gloomy mysterious or fantastically bizarre, courageous or sad
and melancholy. Thematic, intonational intimacy, harmonic structure, "similarity" of
the structure of the theme and variations combine the composition of “Symphonic
Etudes” into a co-subordinate body.
The imaginative independence of each variation, its transformation into a complete
miniature composition, in principle, brings together the “Symphonic Etudes” with
the Schuman's cyclic compositions.

"Butterfies" (Fr. Papillons), Op. 2 - piano suite by Robert Schumann, written in

1830-1831. The work depicting a masquerade ball was created on the motives of the
"Naughty years " Jean Paul (1804-1805) and is dedicated to the daughter-in-law of
the composer Teresa, Rosalia and Emilia.
The creation of the Butterfly cycle dates back to the time of the composer's student
 47

age in 1829-1831. He compiled this opus in Heidelberg and Leipzig, when the
revealing nature of the artist dreaming of a world of music and poetry was in
constant confrontation with alien to his heart occupations in the legal sciences. "...
My whole life was a twenty-year struggle between poetry and prose or, if you like,
music and jurisprudence," Robert wrote to his mother on July 30, 1830. The decisive
influence at that time was on Schumann's writer Jean-Paul (Friedrich Richter, 1763-
1825). The relationship of their souls is in a similar way of thinking, rich in bright
colorful analogies.
One of the most characteristic ideas of Jean Paul has found its symbolic expression
in the image of a butterfly. In his opinion, the poet's thoughts appear like butterflies
flying from pupae.
Schumann writes to his mother: "While working on the Butterflies, I clearly felt like I
have independence, which nevertheless was criticized by most critics. Now the
Butterflies fluttered out into the wide, beautiful spring world; spring itself stands at the
door and looks at me - a child with sky-blue eyes.And now I begin to comprehend my
being - silence is broken ... ".

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (completed in the year 1845), is the only
piano concerto written by Romantic composer Robert Schumann. The work
premiered in Leipzig on 1 January 1846 with Clara Schumann playing the solo part.
Ferdinand Hiller, the work's dedicatee, conducted.
Schumann had earlier worked on several piano concerti: he began one in E-flat
major in 1828, from 1829–31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839, he wrote
one movement of a concerto in D minor. None of these works were completed.
In 1841, Schumann wrote a fantasy for piano and orchestra, his Phantasie. His
pianist wife Clara urged him to expand this piece into a full piano concerto. In 1845
he added the intermezzo and finale to complete the work. It was the only piano
concerto that Schumann completed.
The work may have been used as a model by Edvard Grieg in composing his own
Piano Concerto, also in A minor. Grieg's concerto, like Schumann's, employs a
single powerful orchestral chord at its introduction before the piano's entrance with a
similar descending flourish. Sergei Rachmaninoff in turn used Grieg's concerto as a
model for his first Piano Concerto.
After this concerto, Schumann wrote two other pieces for piano and orchestra: the
Introduction and Allegro Appassionato in G major (Op. 92), and the Introduction and
 48

Allegro Concertante in D minor (Op. 134).

The piece, as marked in the score, is in three movements: I.Allegro affettuoso (A
minor) / II.Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso (F major) /III. Allegro vivace (A major)
There is no break between these last two movements (attacca subito).
Schumann preferred that the movements be listed in concert programs as only two
movements: I.Allegro affettuoso / Andantino and Rondo
The three movement listing is the more common form used.

COMPOSERS FROM POLAND AND HUNGARY

Romanticism in Poland, a literary, artistic and intellectual period in the evolution of

Polish culture, began around 1820, coinciding with the publication of Adam
Mickiewicz's first poems in 1822. It ended with the suppression of the Polish-
Lithuanian January 1863 Uprising against the Russian Empire in 1864. The latter
event ushered in a new era in Polish culture known as Positivism.
The Romanticism in Poland, unlike Romanticism in some other parts of Europe was
not limited to literary and artistic concerns. Due specific Polish historical
circumstances, notably the partitions of Poland, it was also an ideological,
philosophical and political movement that expressed the ideals and way of life of a
large portion of Polish society subjected to foreign rule as well as to ethnic and
religious discrimination.

Frédéric François Chopin

Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and

pour out my despair at the piano! “

Frédéric Chopin, by Delacroix

 49

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the
Romantic era who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained
renown worldwide as a leading musician of his era, whose "poetic genius was based
on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation."
Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw and grew up in Warsaw,
which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his
musical education and composed his earlier works in Warsaw before leaving Poland
at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830
Uprising.
At 21 he settled in Paris. Thereafter, during the last 18 years of his life, he gave only
some 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon.
He supported himself by selling his compositions and by teaching piano, for which he
was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired
by many of his musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. In 1835 he
obtained French citizenship. After a failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska from
1836 to 1837, he maintained an often troubled relationship with the (female) French
writer George Sand.
A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with Sand in 1838–39 was one of his most
productive periods of composition. In his last years, he was financially supported by
his admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848.
Through most of his life, Chopin suffered from poor health. He died in Paris in 1849,
at the age of 39, probably of tuberculosis.
All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, though he
also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish
lyrics. His keyboard style is highly individual and often technically demanding; his
own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity. Chopin invented the
concept of the instrumental ballade.
His major piano works also include mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises,
études, impromptus, scherzos, preludes and sonatas, some published only after his
death. Influences on his composition style include Polish folk music, the classical
tradition of J.S.Bach, Mozart and Schubert, as well as the Paris salons where he was
a frequent guest. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and his
association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late
Romantic period.
Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest superstars, his association (if
only indirect) with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made
him a leading symbol of the Romantic era in the public consciousness. His works
remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of
varying degrees of historical accuracy.
According to A. Rubinstein, "Chopin is a bard, a rhapsode, a spirit, a piano soul."
With the piano is connected the most unique in Chopin's music: its quivering,
 50

finesse, "singing" of all the texture and harmony enveloping the melody with an
iridescent "haze". All the multi-colored romantic attitude, everything that usually
required for the embodiment of monumental compositions (symphonies or operas),
in the great Polish composer and pianist, was expressed in piano music (there are
very few works with the participation of other instruments, the human voice or
orchestra of Chopin). Contrasts and even polar opposites of Romanticism in Chopin
have been transformed into a higher harmony: flaming enthusiasm, increased
emotional "temperature" - and strict logic of development, intimate confidence of the
lyrics - and the conceptuality of symphonic scales, artistry brought to aristocratic
sophistication, and next - the pristine purity of " pictures ". In general, the uniqueness
of Polish folklore (its frets, melodies, rhythms) permeated all the music of Chopin,
who became the music classic of Poland.
Friederik Chopin is a great Polish composer and pianist, innovator in the field of
content, musical language, forms, genres, harmony, the founder of Polish classical
music.
He enriched music with new content, introduced new techniques of pianistic
performance. His work coincides with the era of Romanticism, for which the genre of
miniature is characteristic. Chopin's work is closely connected with the events of his
life: separation from the beloved home, dreams of a free country. Chopin was one of
the first to bring Slavic intonation and fret elements into Western music. Brilliantly
revealed the technical and expressive possibilities of a piano instrument, for which
almost all his works were written. His music was recognized during his lifetime, and
nowadays the Chopin contests are held.
The main theme of Chopin's piano work is subtle romantic lyrics, human feelings,
emotions, experiences. Chopin created a new piano ballad genre, although originally
it was given its name as a Provençal dance song, then as a literary and poetic genre,
and from the beginning of the 19th century as vocal and instrumental plays of a
narrative depot.

Chopin united various genres:

¾ chorale, polonaise sounds in nocturnes
¾ polonaise in the mazurka
¾ mazurka in the finale of the piano concerto
¾ Prelude sounds like a march, mazurka, pastoral, elegy
Major works: 58 mazurkas, 16 polonaises, 17 waltzes, 21 nocturnes, 25 preludes, 27
sketches, 4 impromptu, 3 sonatas, 4 ballads, 4 scherzos, fantasies, concerts.

Chopin significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of many genres (such as

mazurka, polonaise, etude, waltz, etc.), turning them into concert works.
 51

Piano pieces of small forms of Chopin can be conditionally divided into two groups:
predominantly "European" in melody, harmony, rhythm and distinctly "Polish" in
color. The first group includes most sketches, preludes, scherzo, nocturnes, ballads,
impromptu, rondo and waltzes. Specially Polish are mazurkas and polonaises.
Chopin had a unique melodic gift, the individuality of his melodies - in the organic
combination of vocal cantilena, declamatory, speech intonations, dance elements.
Particularly popular is the cycle of 24 preludes (Chopin first began to interpret the
prelude as an independent play), composed in the 30s. Many Preludes are written
in one-part form, in the form of a period.
Chopin's Preludes are frank lyrical statements. This cycle is a kind of encyclopedia
of feelings and emotions. Preludes are written in all 24 keys arranged in a quintup
circle. Ladder and tempo contrasts emphasize the contrast of images.

Nocturnes (from French "night") - a romantic miniature in which poetic images of

the night, dreams, memories are revealed. Almost all of Chopin's nocturnes are
written at a slow pace. Conditionally they can be divided into two groups: lyrical,
contemplative plays and tragedy, dramatic plays.
Melodies of nocturnes - choral, declamatory, march.
Priority in creating a musical genre of nocturne belongs to John Field. He outlined
the main contours of this romantic lyrical miniature. But the elegant form, a beautiful
piano texture did not relieve his play of some salon sensitivity, which narrowed the
scope of the distribution and impact of the Nocturnes of the Field. A great and long
life for this new genre brought Chopin's genius. He transformed the modest by
design and pianism of the film nocturne, putting into his works a huge force of lyrical
feeling, tragic pathos or tender elegiac and melancholy. Enriching the inner content
of musical images, dramatizing the form, Chopin does not transgress the boundaries
that are natural for small forms of chamber music.
For most Chopin nocturnes, there are typically two sharply contrasting images. This
manifests a greater complexity of content, which in turn leads to enrichment of form,
and sharpness of contrasts - to the dramatization of the genre itself. Examples of this
type of composition are the nocturnes op. 15, F-dur and Fis-dur.
Each work Chopin always finds individual solutions.). Despite the similarity of the
composition plan and the general shape contours, the internal relationships, the very
type of contrast, are different.
The most famous is the nocturne Op. 9 B-flat minor .
 52

Etudes
Also Chopin composed about three dozen Etudes, whose purpose is to help the
pianist in overcoming specific artistic or technical difficulties (for example, in the
execution of passages by parallel octaves or thirds). Chopin's Etudes are primarily
brilliant music, brilliantly revealing the possibilities of the instrument; didactic tasks go
to the background, they are often not remembered.
Most often the form of etudes is simple three-part.
The genre of etude from other composers basically means "exercise". In the work of
Frederic Chopin this genre has a different meaning. Despite the fact that all his
etudes develop one type of piano texture (octave technique, double intervals,
arpeggios and others), each of his Etudes is a complete play, harmonically and
melodically bright and memorable.
Études Op. 10 is first set of Études was published in 1833 (although some had
been written as early as 1829). Chopin was twenty-three years old and already
famous as a composer and pianist in the salons of Paris, where he made the
acquaintance of Franz Liszt. Subsequently, Chopin dedicated the entire opus to him
– "à mon ami Franz Liszt" (to my friend, Franz Liszt).
Some are so popular they have been given nicknames; arguably the most popular of
all is Op. 10, No. 3, sometimes identified by the names "Tristesse" ("Sadness") or
"Farewell" ("L'Adieu"), as well as the "Revolutionary Étude" (Op. 10, No. 12). No
nicknames are of Chopin's original creation.
In Ballads, Chopin talks about his country, Poland, about the beauty of her
landscapes and the tragic past. In these works he uses the best features of the folk
epic. At the same time Chopin is exceptionally original. His music differs bold
imagery and nowhere does it suffer from whimsicality.
Op. 23 g-moll (1831-1835); Op. 47 As-dur (1840-1841);
Op. 38 F-dur (1836-1839); Op. 52 f-moll (1842);

The ballad is one of the favorite genres of romantic art. In attention to it the interest
of romantic composers to the historical past, reflected in ancient legends and
legends, embodied in epic poetry, was manifested.
In the musical art, the ballad first received a classical expression in Schubert's vocal
work "The Forest Tsar". The creation of an instrumental ballad belongs to Chopin.
Later in this genre wrote List, Brahms, Grieg and other composers, but Chopin's
creations remained an unsurpassed example.
 53

Often pointed to the connection of the ballads of Chopin with the ballads of
Mickiewicz. Indeed, they have much in common: ideological motives, the nature of
imagery, national color. At the same time to consider Chopin ballads as a direct
reflection of the poetry of his great compatriot and contemporary - it means to reduce
the originality of the idea and the generalizing power of these genius works.
Dramatic development, which reveals a kind of "plot" of each ballad, is so bold that it
does not require any literary program.
The inner content of ballads, their artistic images have the same origins: thoughts
about their native country and its heroes, about its historical past and its tragic fate in
the present, about what the future holds for it.
The very genre of the ballad assumes the concretization of these thoughts in the
images of epic, dramatic and lyric, and their interaction and development determines
the "storyline" of each ballad, which has its own individual composition.
Ballade No. 1 is one of the more popular Chopin pieces. It is prominently featured in
the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist

Sonata b-moll
Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B- minor, Op. 35, popularly known as
the Funeral March, was completed in the time of 1839 at Nohant, near Châteauroux
in France. However, the third movement, whence comes the sonata's common
nickname, had been composed as early as 1837.
More than a decade separates the First sonata from the Second, B-flat minor.
Completion of the second sonata with a funeral march refers to 1839, therefore
Chopin worked on it at the time of the highest creative heyday. The b-moll sonata
is the fruit of not only the miraculous revelation that illuminated the artist: it is the
result of incessant searches accompanying every step of the artist's great creative
life.
By its concept, scope, degree of emotional impact sonata b-moll can be compared
with the most significant phenomena of symphonic music. The greatness of this
sonata is predetermined by the fusion of the dramatic fate of the artist with the
tragedy of a whole generation, the identification of personal suffering with the
suffering of the whole people. The theme of the Motherland, interwoven with the
problem of the artist's life, torn off from the roots that feed him, is expressed with
drama, whose power is amazing even for Chopin.
In the four-part composition of the sonata, as in a great novel or a multi-act dramatic
 54

work, obeying the logic of the leading idea - the tragic indissolubility of personal and
folk destinies - is shown the complex process of transition from a psychological
drama to an epic picture of universal grief.
That is why the funeral march, composed much earlier than other parts, so naturally
"fit" into the overall composition of the sonata. Moreover, this march (the third part of
the sonata) is the center or axis of the whole work.
There is some analogy with Beethoven's Heroic Symphony: in both cases the funeral
march helps to understand the concept of the work. Chopin, unlike Beethoven, is
deeply tragic.
Sorrowful lyricism and the gloomy power of this "one-of-a-kind march" (Stasov) could
be inspired by events of only epic significance and scale.
The images of death, death, prevailing in the third part and in the finale, are
preceded by internal collisions, revealed in the first two parts. It is full of boundless
drama the struggle of life and death, the inability to reconcile the dream with reality,
the search for a way out, deliverance.

Chopin's compositions for piano with orchestra

For pianoforte and orchestra, he created Andante Spianato and Polonaise in E
fat major, Two concerts (E minor and F minor), a Fantasy on the Polish
theme, a Rondo-cracoviak, and Variations on Mozart's theme La ci darem
la mano (aria from the opera Don João).
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a piano concerto written by
Frédéric Chopin in 1830, when he was only twenty years old. It was first performed
on 11 October of that year, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during one of
his “farewell” concerts before leaving Poland.
It was the first of Chopin's two piano concertos to be published, and was therefore
given the designation of Piano Concerto “No. 1” at the time of publication, even
though it was actually written immediately after the premiere of what was later
published as Piano Concerto No. 2.
 55

Franz Liszt

“Truth is a great flirt”

Liszt,portrait - Lehmann

Hungarian classical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian
antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture [using the]
musical world of the folk song". Although the Hungarian upper class has long had
cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of
European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that
by the end of the 19th century Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant
music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style
The Romantic era was one of the period of great progress and change. There were
changes around this time were some of the biggest changes in the history including
the industrial revolution, Charles Darwin’s Theory of' evolution and the demolition of
the slave trade across Europe. Hungarian by birth, Franz Liszt was born in 1811 and
throughout his life he had created a massive impact on the music of the romantic
era.

Piano music : Masterworks

Liszt's piano works are usually divided into two categories:
On the one hand, there are "original works", and on the other hand "transcriptions",
"paraphrases" or "fantasies" on works by other composers. Eg: "Années de
pèlerinage" ("Years of Pilgrimage") : includes arguably his most provocative and
stirring pieces.
Liszt also made piano arrangements of his own instrumental and vocal works.
Examples of this kind are the arrangement of the second movement "Gretchen" of
 56

his Faust Symphony and the first "Mephisto Waltz" as well as the "Liebesträume No.
3" and the two volumes of his "Buch der Lieder".

Transcriptions
In the mid-19th century, orchestral performances were much less common so Liszt's
transcriptions played a major role in popularising a wide array of music such as the
symphonies of Beethoven.
Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert songs, his fantasies on operatic melodies, and his
piano arrangements of symphonies by Berlioz and Beethoven are other well-known
examples of piano transcriptions.

Organ music
Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam" and the
Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H – Liszt's important organ works.
Liszt also wrote some smaller organ works, including a prelude (1854) and set of
variations on the first section of movement 2 chorus from Bach's cantata Weinen,
Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12.
He also wrote a Requiem for organ solo, intended to be performed liturgically, along
with the spoken Requiem Mass.

Sonata in B minor
It was completed in 1853 and published in 1854 with a dedication to Robert
Schuman. In return for Schumann's dedication of his Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
(published1839) to Liszt. His wife Clara Schumann did not perform the Sonata;
according to scholar Alan Walker she found it "merely a blind noise”.
Camille Saint-Saëns made a two-piano arrangement of the Sonata in 1914In return
for Schumann's dedication of his Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 (published1839) to
Liszt. August 1914,the two-piano arrangement was something that Liszt had
announced but never realized.

Works of Liszt
Liebesträume (German for Dreams of Love) It was published in 1850. Originally the
three Liebesträume were conceived as lieder after poems by Ludwig Uhland and
Ferdinand Freiligrath.
In 1850, two versions appeared simultaneously as a set of songs for high voice and
 57

piano, and as transcriptions for piano two-hands.

The Consolations are a set of six solo piano works by Franz Liszt. The
compositions take the musical style of Nocturnes with each having its own distinctive
style. There exist two versions of the Consolations. The first (S.171a) was
composed by Liszt between 1844 and 1849 and published in 1992 by G. Henle
Verlag. The second (S.172) was composed between 1849 and 1850 and published
in 1850 by Breitkopf & Härtel, containing the familiar Consolation No. 3, Lento
placido, in D-fat Major.

La Campanella
La Campanella is one of the most popular and characteristic of Franz Liszt's huge
output of showy piano etudes. As is often the case, it exists in more than one form
and is also a setting of music by an earlier composer.
In matters of style and showmanship, Liszt profoundly admired the great Italian violin
virtuoso Niccolò Paganini (1782 - 1840). Paganini virtually invented the persona of
the touring virtuoso, drawing huge audiences and commanding stellar fees on the
basis of his star power. He drew unprecedented technical effects from the violin,
often achieved by specially tuning the strings to notes other than standard, allowing
himself to create unusual double stops and to allow the violin to ring in resonance on
unexpected notes. Liszt similarly built his public performances around a carefully
constructed stage persona and an ability to stun the audience with brand-new feats
of virtuosity, some taking advantage of technical advances incorporated in newer
pianos. He could unleash torrents of chords and whispering or chiming sounds that
were new to music altogether, and in general play the part of the creative artist, the
new hero of Romantic literature and music.
In 1838 he completed a set of six piano pieces collectively entitled Études
d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini (Etudes of Transcendent
Performing Difficulty, after Paganini).

Mephisto Waltzes
There are four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt.
Nos. 1 and 2 were composed for orchestra,and later arranged for piano, piano duet
and two pianos, whereas 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is
the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded.
Associated with the Mephisto Waltzes is the Mephisto Polka, which follows the same
 58

program as the other Mephisto works.

The orchestral version also has an alternate, softer ending which, while not as
rousing as the usual coda, some critics argue is closer to the intent of Lenau's tale.
While this ending is not often heard in the concert hall, both Fritz Reiner and James
Conlon have recorded it. He also provided twoextra passages for the piano solo
version it was a habit of Liszt’s later years to make alterations while teaching his
works to his pupils.

Transcendental Études
It is a series of twelve compositions for solo piano by Franz Liszt. They were
published in 1852 as a revision of a more technically difficult 1837 series, which in
turn were the elaboration of a set of studies written in 1826.
Liszt's piano teacher, and himself a prolific composer of études. The set included
simplifications, for the most part: in addition to many other reductions, Liszt removed
all stretches of greater than a tenth, making the pieces more suitable for pianists with
smaller hands. However, the fourth étude of the final set, Mazeppa, is actually more
demanding than its 1837 version, since it very frequently alters and crosses the hand
to create a "galloping"effect.

Piano Concertos
Piano Concerto No.1 consists of four movements and lasts approximately 20
minutes.The concerto consists of four relatively short movements:I.Allegro
maestoso / II.Quasi adagio / III.Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato /
IV.Allegro marziale animato

Piano Concerto No. 2

This concerto is one single, long movement, divided into six sections that are
connected by transformations of several themes.

Piano concerto No.3 - was not finished

Concerto in the Hungarian Style

Hungarian Gypsy Melodies (Concerto in the Hungarian Style), is a single-movement
work for piano and orchestra of about 17 minutes. The work was written in 1885
(with possible help from Liszt), was orchestrated by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892,
 59

and first performed by Menter (with Tchaikovsky conducting) in 1893.

Grandes études de Paganini

The Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141, are a series of six études for the piano by
Franz Liszt, revised in 1851 from an earlier version
Étude No. 1 in G minor Étude No. 4 in E major
Étude No. 2 in E-flat major Étude No. 5 in E major
Étude No. 3 in G-sharp minor Étude No. 6 in A minor

Hungarian Rhapsodies
Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and
which he believed to be folk music,
though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle
class, or by composers such as József Kossovits,often played by Roma (Gypsy)
bands.
The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian
dance in several parts, each with a differenttempo.
Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical
Gypsy improvisation—the lassan ("slow") and the friska ("fast").
At the same time, Liszt incorporated a number of effects unique to the sound of
Gypsy bands, especially the pianistic equivalent of the cimbalom. He also makes
much use of the Hungarian gypsy scale.

Hungarian Rhapsody N2
Most unusual in this composition is the composer's invitation for the performer to
perform a cadenza, although most pianists choose to decline the invitation. Marc-
André Hamelin composed a cadenza that has since become famous for its
originality, musicality and playfulness, and Sergei Rachmaninoff also wrote a famous
cadenza for his interpretation. Liszt himself wrote several cadenzas for the piece, but
these are rarely performed. Other pianists have arranged their own versions of the
Rhapsody with changes beyond that of simply adding a cadenza, most notably
Vladimir Horowitz in 1953.
The piece consists of two distinct sections.The first is the lassan, with its brief but
dramatic introduction. Although beginning on the C-sharp major triad, C-sharp minor
is soon established as the home key. From this point on, the composer modulates
 60

freely, particularly to the tonic major and the relative major. The mood of the lassan
is generally dark and melancholic, although it contains some playful and capricious
moments.The second section is the friska. The orchestral version of the Rhapsody
produced by Liszt by himself.
Popularity of this composition very difficult to overestimate. Even nowadays this
Rhapsody very popular in pop culture.
The first such appearance in pop culture was as part of a piano solo by Mickey
Mouse in The Opry House in 1929 where he has to deal with an animated piano
intent upon obstructing the performance.

COMPOSERS FROM RUSSIA

Russian Romanticism underwent a number of changes, enjoying a relatively long life

and combining with other trends and movements. In the 1820s and 1830s, the poetic
and intimate images of man typical of early Romantic portraits combined with a
garish, often theatrical treatment of the subject
Russian classical music is a genre o f classical music related to Russia's culture,
people, or character. The 19th-century romantic periodsaw the largest development
of this genre, with the emergence in particular of The Five, a group of composers
associated with Mily Balakirev, and of the more German style of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Portrait of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Nikolai

Kuznetsov
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The romantic in Tchaikovsky found its greatest outlet in his three great ballet scores,
all of which are eternally popular.
Tchaikovsky displayed an unusually wide stylistic and emotional range.
The Nutcracker- seems to embody the intense, heartfelt, romanticized suffering
which Tchaikovsky's music gives voice to so often.
Tchaikovsky hinted that this symphony had a program of some kind, but never made
clear what it was. That it is about suffering and tragedy is evident from this melody,
one of the composer's greatest, and from the fact that the symphony's finale is in the
highly unusual form of a brooding and sad lament.
His music employs a personal musical idiom that facilitated intense emotional
expression
Music he composed

Ballets : 3 (Piano concertos: 3)

Songs : 103 Orchestral suites and Serenade : 5
Operas : 11 Chamber music : 8
Symphonies : 7 Choral music : 20
Overtures : 11 Arrangements of the works of other
Cantatas : 4 composers : 25
Concertos and concertante pieces : 11 More than 100 piano pieces.

Piano concerto
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It is one of the most
popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano
concertos.
Concert Fantasia in G for piano and orchestra, Op. 56 (1884),
Andante and Finale for piano and orchestra, Op. Posth. 79 (1893)

Piano concerto no.1

Movements: The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:
I.Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito (B-fat minor –
B-fat major)/ II.Andantino semplice – Prestissimo—Tempo I (D-fat
major)/ III.Allegro con fuoco—Molto meno mosso—Allegro vivo (B-fat
minor – B-fat major)
A standard performance lasts between 30 and 35 minutes, the majority of which is
 62

taken up by the first movement. Tchaikovsky revised the concerto three times, the
last being in 1888, which is the version usually now played. One of the most
prominent differences between the original and final versions is that in the opening
section, the octave chords played by the pianist, over which the orchestra plays the
famous theme, were originally written as arpeggios. The work was also arranged for
two pianos by Tchaikovsky, in December 1874; this edition was revised December
1888.

Solo piano music

Some of Tchaikovsky's piano works can be challenging technically; nevertheless,
they are mostly charming, unpretentious compositions intended for amateur pianists.
While this view could hold true to some point, there is more attractive and
resourceful music in some of these pieces than one might be inclined to expect.
The difference between Tchaikovsky's pieces and many other salon works are
patches of striking harmony and unexpected phrase structures which may demand
some extra patience but will not remain unrewarded from a musical standpoint. Many
of the pieces have titles which give imaginative pointers on how they should be
played.

Seasons:
The Seasons, Op. 37a is a set of twelve short character pieces for solo piano by the
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Each piece is the characteristic of a different month of the year in the northern
hemisphere. The work is also sometimes heard in orchestral and other
arrangements by other hands.
Individual excerpts have always been popular – Troika (November) was a
favourite encore of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Barcarolle (June) was enormously
popular and appeared in numerous arrangements (for orchestra, violin, cello,
clarinet, harmonium, guitar and even mandolin).
The Seasons was written between December 1875 and May 1876, and was first
published in monthly instalments in the Saint Petersburg journal Nuvellist.
Tchaikovsky did not devote his most serious compositional efforts to these pieces;
they were composed to order, and they were a way of supplementing his income.
He saw the writing of music to a commission as just as valid as writing music from
his own inner inspiration, however for the former he needed a definite plot or text, a
 63

time limit, and the promise of payment at the end.

Most of the pieces were in simple ABA form, but each contains a minor melodic
masterpiece.

The 12 pieces with their subtitles are:

January: At the Fireside (A major)
February: Carnival (D major)
March: Song of the Lark (G minor)
April: Snowdrop (B-flat major)
May: Starlit Nights (G major)
June: Barcarolle (G minor)
July: Song of the Reaper (E-flat major)
August: Harvest (B minor)
September: The Hunt (G major)
October: Autumn Song (D minor)
November: Troika (E major)
December: Christmas (A-flat major)

Orchestral and other arrangements

A number of musicians have orchestrated Tchaikovsky's pieces.
Aleksandr Gauk arranged The Seasons for symphony orchestra in 1942.
In 2011 Sergei Abir created a new orchestra version.
Morton Gould retained the piano part for many of the pieces and orchestrated the
work throughout, recording it with himself at the piano in 1951 for American
Columbia. In 1965, Kurt-Heinz Stolze orchestrated a number of the pieces as part of
the music for John Cranko's ballet Onegin.
More recent orchestral versions have been produced by David Matthews (for
symphony orchestra), Peter Breiner (for solo violin and symphony orchestra), and
Georgii Cherkin (for solo piano and symphony orchestra).
French composer Philippe Sarde arranged the Barcarolle as a main theme for the
1988 movie The Bear. Slava and Leonard Grigoryan play a arrangement of The
Pieces for two guitars, which was arranged by their father Eduard Grigoryan.

Children's Album: 24 Easy Pieces, for piano, Op. 39

Tchaikovsky intended these 24 easy pieces to be played "by" children, rather than
"for" them.
No. 1 is a slow, tender "Morning Prayer" in 3/4 time.
Things pick up with the second item, a moderately-paced but stimulating "Winter
Morning."
No. 3 is a brisk, highly staccato 3/8 picture of a "Little Horseman."
No. 4 is "Mama," an expressive, lingering portrait.
 64

A balance for such feminine material comes with No. 5, a sprightly "March of the
Wooden Soldiers." All may be quiet on the battle front, but there's trouble back
home.

The sixth piece, "The Sick Doll," is a languishing Lento in G minor.

The unfortunate sequel is "Dolly's Funeral," a C minor march marked,
appropriately, Grave. Something of a wake comes with No. 8, a lively waltz.
Then, the nursery being a fickle place, "The New Doll" arrives in a charming
Andantino movement.
A series of folk-inspired pieces begins with No. 10, a D minor Mazurka.
No. 11 is a simple, extremely short (ten bars) "Russian Folksong", one that
Tchaikovsky had included in the 50 Russian folk songs he'd arranged for piano duet
in 1869.
No. 12 is a sentimental "Peasant's Song", in which Tchaikovsky evokes a
concertina wheezing back and forth between two chords.
No. 13 is called, generically, "Folk Song" (Russian Dance), and employs the
same tune Glinka used in his orchestral Kamarinskaya.
No. 14 is a rousing little polka. The next piece heads south; it's a lively "Italian
Ditty" with the staccato oom-pah-pah accompaniment one hears in many early and
middle Verdi arias.
No. 16 swings northwest for a placid, antiquesounding, G minor "French Melody."
No. 17 is a "German Song" with a hint of yodeling,
No. 18 it's back to Italy for a "Neapolitan Dance Tune," a stripped-down version
of part of the "Neapolitan Dance" in Swan Lake.
No. 19 returns to the nursery at bedtime with an evocative C major "Old Nurse's
Song." When the lights go out, the witch "Baba-Yaga" appears in E minor -- yet she
seems to have arrived from Liadov's quirky little orchestral piece of the same name
rather than from the terrifying penultimate movement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an
Exhibition.
No. 21 brings lovely, melodic "Sweet Dreams," the set's longest piece. Soon it's
time to wake up to the "Song of the Lark," a relatively bravura piece full of right-hand
arabesques. It's Sunday morning, as we'll soon discover, and upon leaving the
house we encounter "The Organ-Grinder," Tchaikovsky picked up this Moderato 3/4
tune from a Venetian street singer and would soon incorporate it into the middle
 65

section of the "Rêverie interrompue" closing his Opus 40 set of piano pieces. Finally,
No. 24 finds us "In Church" -- Russian Orthodox, of course, as we can tell from the E
minor chanting and low pedal-point tolling of a bell toward the end.

Dumka
The word "dumka" literally means "thought".
It came to mean "a type of instrumental music involving sudden changes from
melancholy to exuberance". Though generally characterized by a gently plodding,
dreamy duple rhythm.
Tchaikovsky's Dumka in C minor, Op. 59 subtitled "Russian Rustic Scene"
(Scéne rustique russe), was written in February 1886 at Maydanovo.
There is one movement—Andantino cantabile (C minor, 138 bars)—lasting around
10 minutes in performance.
The Dumka was the result of commission from the Parisian music publisher Félix
Mackar, who in the 1880s had begun to publish Tchaikovsky's works in France.
The Dumka is dedicated to Antoine François Marmontel (1816–98), French pianist,
composer and professor at the Paris Conservatory.
It begins with an Andantino cantabile ballad that may derive from a Russian folk
song. The theme undergoes some rudimentary development before giving way to an
eccentric, exciting con anima section, followed by a more relaxed passage, a
bravura cadenza, and a hammering Moderato con fuoco. Relief arrives with two
broader passages, Andante meno mosso and Adagio, diminuendo. The opening
ballad sneaks back in, very quietly at first but marking its departure with three loud,
abrupt chords. The work's virtuosic demands have attracted flamboyant pianists
through the years, but the work has never quite achieved repertory status; still, the
Dumka remains Tchaikovsky's most outstanding solo work for concert rather than
salon use.

Grans Sonata op37

The Grand Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37, was written by Russian composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1878.
Though initially received with critical acclaim, the sonata has struggled to maintain a
solid position in the modern repertoire.
Nevertheless, the sonata has been recorded numerous times and is recognized as
one of the composer's masterworks. It is dedicated to Karl Klindworth.
 66

The work is in an expanded four-movement form, and is distinctly symphonic in

character: I.Moderato e risoluto (G major) / II.Andante non troppo quasi
Moderato (E minor) / III.Scherzo. Allegro giocoso (G major) /IV.Finale.
Allegro vivace (G major)
Structurally, the four movements are connected by the 'Grand Motif' introduced in the
first movement, though it is expressed in a variety of contexts.
The first movement is written in common sonata-allegro form, and an array of
techniques are used to mimic orchestral colors. The themes presented are
undoubtedly Russian, but the composer's strict observance of Western musical
tradition is still prevalent.
The second movement is a melancholy Andante which lends itself to Tchaikovsky's
natural gift for lyricism. It is considerably longer than the two movements that follow
it.
The third movement is a brief, fast-paced Scherzo, and foreshadows some of the
techniques later used by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, mainly in its
melodic direction.
The fourth and final movement is a galloping Allegro that is very much characteristic
of Tchaikovsky's musical style. After sections of difficult passage-work, the sonata
closes with an exuberant coda.
The average playing time is about 31 minutes.

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-fat minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in
the summer of 1879 and again in December 1888. The first version received heavy
criticism from Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky's desired pianist. Rubinstein later
repudiated his previous accusations and became a fervent champion of the work. It
is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known
of all piano concertos.
Tchaikovsky revised the concerto three times, the last being in 1888, which is the
version usually now played. One of the most prominent differences between the
original and final versions is that in the opening section, the octave chords played by
the pianist, over which the orchestra plays the famous theme, were originally written
as arpeggios. The work was also arranged for two pianos by Tchaikovsky, in
December 1874; this edition was revised December 1888.
There is some confusion regarding to whom the concerto was originally dedicated. It
 67

was long thought that Tchaikovsky initially dedicated the work to Nikolai Rubinstein,
and Michael Steinberg writes that Rubinstein's name is crossed off the autograph
score.However, Brown writes that there is actually no truth in the assertion that the
work was written to be dedicated to Rubinstein.Tchaikovsky did hope that Rubinstein
would perform the work at one of the 1875 concerts of the Russian Musical Society
in Moscow. For this reason he showed the work to him and another musical friend,
Nikolai Hubert, at the Moscow Conservatory on December 24, 1874/January 5,
1875, just three days after finishing its composition.Brown writes, "This occasion has
become one of the most notorious incidents in the composer's biography."

Sergey Rachmaninov

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff : 1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 –28 March 1943)
was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor of the late Romantic period, some
of whose works are among the most popular in the romantic repertoire.
Rachmaninoff's style showed initially the influence of Tchaikovsky
Its brutal gestures and uncompromising power of expression were unprecedented in
Russian music at the time.
Its flexible rhythms, sweeping lyricism and stringent economy of thematic material
were all features he kept and refined in subsequent works.
After the three fallow years following the poor reception of the symphony,
Rachmaninoff's style began developing significantly.
He started leaning towards sumptuous harmonies and broadly lyrical, often
passionate melodies.
His orchestration became subtler and more varied, with textures carefully contrasted,
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and his writing on the whole became more concise.

Rachmaninoff's use of an intra-tonal chromaticism that stands in notable contrast to
the inter-tonal chromaticism of Richard Wagner and strikingly contrasts the extra-
tonal chromaticism of the more radical twentieth century composers like Arnold
Shoenberg. Yasser postulated that a variable, subtle, but unmistakable characteristic
use of this intra-tonal chromaticism permeated Rachmaninoff's music.
Works of Rachmaninov
Especially important is Rachmaninoff's use of unusually widely spaced chords for
bell-like sounds: this occurs in many pieces, most notably in the choral symphony
The Bells, the Second Piano Concerto, the E flat major Étude-Tableaux (Op. 33, No.
7), and the B-minor Prelude (Op. 32,No. 10.This much is self-evident. What is
extraordinary is the variety of bell sounds and breadth of structural and other
functions they fulfil.
He was also fond of Russian Orthodox chants. He uses them most perceptibly in his
Vespers, but many of his melodies found their origins in these chants. The opening
melody of the First Symphony is derived from chants.
Rachmaninoff's frequently used motifs include the Dies Irae, often just the fragments
of the first phrase. Rachmaninoff had great command of counterpoint and fugal
writing, thanks to his studies with Taneyev. The above-mentioned occurrence of the
Dies Irae in the Second Symphony (1907) is but a small example of this.
Very characteristic of his writing is chromatic counterpoint. This talent was paired
with a confidence in writing in both large- and small-scale forms. The Third Piano
Concerto especially shows a structural ingenuity, while each of the preludes grows
from a tiny melodic or rhythmic fragment into a taut, powerfully evocative miniature,
crystallizing a particular mood or sentiment while employing a complexity of texture,
rhythmic flexibility and a pungent chromatic harmony.

Technique
His playing was marked by precision, rhythmic drive, notable use of staccato and the
ability to maintain clarity when playing works with complex textures.
Rachmaninoff possessed extremely large hands, with which he could easily
maneuver through the most complex chordal configurations.

Compositions for piano and orchestra:

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and
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orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April
1901.
The second and third movements were first performed with the composer as soloist
on 2 December 1900. The complete work was premiered, again with the composer
as soloist, on 9 November 1901, with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting.
The concerto was dedicated to Nikolai Dahl, the physician who had done much to
restore Rachmaninoff's self-confidence.
The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 composed in 1909 by Sergei
Rachmaninoff has the reputation of being one of the most technically challenging
piano concertos in the standard classicalrepertoire.
The third movement is quick and vigorous and contains variations on many of the
themes that are used in the first movement, which unites the concerto cyclically.
However, after the first and second themes it diverges from the regular sonata-
allegro form.

Piano solo compositions:

Preludes : His most important works in this genre are the 24 preludes that cover
all 24 major and minor keys.
These were, however, written and published at different times, not as a unified set.
Of all the composers who wrote sets of 24 pieces in all the keys,
Rachmaninoff seems to be the only one who did not originally set out with such a
goal in mind.
He also wrote three other individual preludes.
Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2

It Is one of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions. It is a ternary (ABA)

prelude for piano in C-sharp minor, 62 bars long, and part of a set of five pieces
entitled Morceaux de fantaisie; and also known as The Bells of Moscow since the
introduction seems to reproduce the Kremlin's most solemn carillon chimes.
Its first performance was by the composer on 26 September 1892, at a festival called
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the Moscow Electrical Exhibition.After this première, a review of the concert singled
out the Prelude, noting that it had “aroused enthusiasm”. From this point on, its
popularity grew. Rachmaninoff later published 23 more preludes to complete a set of
24 preludes .The prelude became one of Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions.
His cousin Alexander Siloti was instrumental in securing the Prelude's success
throughout the Western world.
In the autumn of 1898, he made a tour of Western Europe and the United States,
with a program that contained the Prelude. Soon after, London publishers brought
out several editions with titles such as The Burning of Moscow, The Day of
Judgement, and The Moscow Waltz. America followed suit with other titles (such as
The Bells of Moscow). It was so popular that it was referred to as "The Prelude" and
audiences would demand it as an encore at his performances, shouting "C-sharp!"

Ten Preludes, Op. 23

is a set of ten preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1901
and 1903. This set includes the famous Prelude in G minor.
Together with the Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3/2 and the 13 Preludes, Op. 32,
this set is part of a full suite of 24 preludes in all the major and minor keys.
The Ten Preludes, along with the Op. 3 prelude and the Thirteen Preludes of Op. 32,
are considered to be among Rachmaninoff's best works for solo piano.
The "Russian" quality of the Op. 23 preludes is often noted by listeners: after hearing
Boris Asafyev play the preludes, the painter Ilya Repin noted a streak of Russian
nationalism and originality in rhythm and melody.
Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5

It was included in his Opus 23 set of ten preludes, despite having been written two
years earlier than the other nine.
The Prelude's taut structure is in ternary form, consisting of an opening "A" section
with punctuated sixteenth-note chords (marked: Alla marcia, march), a more lyrical
 71

and melancholy "B" section with sweeping arpeggios in the left hand (marked: Poco
meno mosso), a transition into the original tempo, and a recapitulation of the initial
march.
Rachmaninoff's 24 published preludes of Opp. 3, 23, and 32 have most often been
recorded as a unified set of 24.

Rachmaninov wrote 2 sonatas for piano solo :

It is Piano Sonata No.1, in D minor, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Sergei
Rachmaninoff, completed in 1908. It has three movements, and takes about 35
minutes to perform. The sonata is structured like a typical Classical sonata, with fast
movements surrounding a slower, tenderer second movement.
The movements feature sprawling themes and ambitious climaxes within their own
structure, all the while building towards a prodigious culmination.
Although this first sonata is a substantial and comprehensive work, its successor,
Piano Sonata No. 2,in Bb minor, Op. 36, Composition of the Piano Sonata No. 2
occupied him from January into September of that year. The Sonata No. 2
demonstrates in abundance those qualities of Rachmaninov's art that make his
music permanently appealing, hence valuable, and great.
Today the sonata remains less well-known than Rachmaninoff's second sonata, and
is not as frequently performed or recorded.
Rachmaninov's 1931 revision -- the version usually heard -- cut 120 bars from the
original, pared some of the virtuosic extravagances, and made for more transparent
textures.
The sonata is in three interrelated movements: I.Allegro agitato (B fat minor) /
II.Non allegro—Lento (E minor—E major) / III.Allegro molto (B fat
major)
It gives the impression of being a single movement due to being joined by two Non
allegro bridges. The piece follows sonata form strictly.
A performance of the original version lasts approximately 25 minutes.
A performance of the revised version lasts approximately 19 minutes.

Six moments musicaux Op.16

it is a set of solo piano pieces composed by the Russian composer Sergei
Rachmaninoff between October and December, 1896.
Each Moment musical reproduces a musical form characteristic of a previous
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musical era. The forms that appear in Rachmaninoff's incarnation are the nocturne,
song without words, barcarolle, virtuoso étude, and theme and variations.
1. Andantino, B-fat minor
Andantino is the longest in the set by playing tim (about 8:30).It is described as a
"generic-hybrid," combining elements of the nocturne a n d theme and variation
genres.
2. Allegretto, E-fat minor
The second piece, referred to as a "glittering showpiece", is positioned in contrast to
the lyrical and "atmospheric" melody of the first piece.The piece is in the quick tempo
allegretto (quickly), at 92 quarter notes per minute.
3. Andante cantabile, B minor
create what is called the "most Russian" piece of the set, containing both sonorous
bass and a solid melody, characteristics of Russian music.
4. Presto, E minor
The fourth piece reveals resemblance to Chopin's Revolutionary étude in the
taxing left hand figure place throughout. The piece is 67 measures long, with a
duration of about three minutes, and has the fastest tempo of the set, Presto (quick)
at 104 quarter notes per minute, and is the shortest work in terms of playing time.
5. Adagio sostenuto, D-fat major
The left hand plays almost identical figures throughout Adagio sostenuto.
The piece is similar to the form of a barcarolle, a folk song with a rhythmic tuplet
accompaniment. Playing it takes approximately five minutes, and it is 53 measures
long, the shortest in terms of measures.It’san adagio sostenuto (sustained at ease)
at 54 quarter notes per minute, with a simple melody presented in ternary form.
6. Maestoso, C major
Maestoso is one of the most difficult pieces in the set. Stamina and strength are
required to sustain a full resonant sound, while the continuous thirty-second figure
can be tiring for the pianist. Consistent tempo is a problem for this piece, due to the
melody being interspersed with two other elements. Additionally, the dynamics,
mostly "loud" and "very loud," indicate that an accurate vision of relative volume is
necessary.

Vocalise
It is a song by Sergei Rachmaninoff, composed and published in 1915 as the last of
his 14 Songs or 14 Romances, Op. 34. Written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with
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piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using any one vowel of the
singer's choosing (see also vocalise). It was dedicated to soprano Antonina
Nezhdanova.
Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Op. 34/14 (1912), is one of the few members of the most
easily recognizable repertoire. In fact, having been arranged for orchestra, piano,
various chamber ensembles, and solo string instruments, it is one of the easily the
most popular and often perfoming.

Prelude in C-sharp minor

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C♯ minor (Russian: Прелюдия), Op. 3, No. 2, is
one of the composer's most famous compositions. Part of a set of five piano pieces
entitled Morceaux de fantaisie, it is in 62-bar prelude in ternary (ABA) form. It is also
known as The Bells of Moscow since the introduction seems to reproduce the
Kremlin's most solemn carillon chimes.
Rachmaninoff later published 23 more preludes to complete a set of 24 preludes
covering all the major and minor keys, to follow earlier works by Bach, Chopin,
Scriabin and others.
This work was one of the first the 19-year-old Rachmaninoff composed as a "Free
Artist", after he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory on 29 May 1892. It was
printed the following year as the second of five Morceaux de fantaisie (Op. 3), all
dedicated to Anton Arensky, his harmony teacher at the Conservatory. Because at
the time Russia was not party to the 1886 Berne Convention, Russian publishers did
not pay royalties, so the only financial return he ever received for this piece was a 40
ruble (about two months' wage of a factory worker) publishing fee.

Rachmaninov wrote 5 concertos for piano with orchestra.

The most popular are Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 a n d Piano
Concerto No. 3 in D Minor,op30.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, composition for piano and orchestra
by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It premiered on November 9, 1901, and contains themes
that, throughout the 20th century, would be reborn as the melodies of several
popular songs, including Frank Sinatra’s 1945 “Full Moon and Empty Arms” and Eric
Carmen’s 1975 “All by Myself.” It was made most famous when set as the haunting
motif of David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter.
This concerto saved Rachmaninoff’s compositional career. This concerto saved
 74

Rachmaninoff’s compositional career. In 1897, the premiere of his Symphony No. 1

had gone badly, victim of the fact that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was
highly intoxicated that evening. Reviews of the performance, and the symphony
itself, were so cruel that Rachmaninoff, finding himself crippled with writer’s block,
swore off composition in favor of piano performance. Three years later, friends and
family persuaded him to consult with Dr. Nicolai Dahl, a pioneer in techniques of
hypnotism, and, not incidentally, an avid amateur musician. After months of
sessions, Rachmaninoff found again the courage to compose and completed a new
concerto, the No. 2 in C Minor. Its premiere was given to great acclaim in Moscow on
November 9, 1901, with the composer himself as soloist. In gratitude, Rachmaninoff
dedicated the score to Dr. Dahl, perhaps the only hypnotist ever to earn such an
honor from a major composer.
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor,op30. The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor,
Op. 30 composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff has the reputation of being one of
the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.
The concerto is respected, even feared, by many pianists. Josef Hofmann, the
pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never publicly performed it, saying that it
"wasn't for" him. Gary Graffman lamented he had not learned this concerto as a
student, when he was "still too young to know fear".
The concerto was first performed on Sunday afternoon, November 28, 1909 by
Rachmaninoff himself.
Rachmaninoff called the Third the favorite of his own piano concertos, stating that "I
much prefer the Third, because my Second is so uncomfortable to play."
Nevertheless, it was not until the 1930s and largely thanks to the advocacy of
Vladimir Horowitz that the Third concerto became popular.

Another great work for Piano and orchestra is The Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini, Op. 43. This is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is
written for solo piano and symphony orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto.
Rachmaninoff himself, a noted interpreter of his own works, played the solo piano
part at the piece's premiere at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, on
November 7, 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold
Stokowski. Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first
recording, on December 24, 1934, at RCA Victor's Trinity Church Studio in Camden,
New Jersey.
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In 1934, having already completed four piano concerti, Rachmaninoff began a new
concerto-like piece consisting of 24 variations on Paganini’s well-known violin theme.
The task was an ambitious one, given that the theme had already been used by
other composers, notably Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. Rachmaninoff’s piece
is not a concerto in the conventional sense, having only one movement rather than
the usual three, but it follows the tempo pattern of a typical concerto, beginning and
ending briskly, with a slower middle section. The best-known of Rachmaninoff’s
variations is the lyrical 18th, which presents a melodic inversion of
Paganini’s theme, meaning that rising steps are transformed into equivalent falling
steps and vice versa.
The Paganini theme serves as the thematic foundation, a subsidiary melody, the
plainchant Dies irae (“Day of Wrath”) from the requiem mass is also featured at
times. This evocation of fire and brimstone appears most obviously in the 7th, 10th,
and 24th variations.
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The Modern Era

ABSTRACT- UNIT 4

• Introduction

• Impressionism
 77

INTRODUCTION
The term modernism is widely used to identify new distinctive features in the
subjects, forms, concepts, and styles of literature and the other arts in the early
decades of the present century, but especially after World War I (1914-18)
New forms of literary construction and rendering had obvious parallels in the
violation of representational conventions in the artistic movements of expressionism
and surrealism, in the modernist paintings and sculpture of Cubism, Futurism, and
Abstract Expressionism, and in the violations of standard conventions of melody,
harmony, and rhythm by the modernist musical composers Stravinsky, Schoenberg,
and their radical followers. (M.H.Abrams, 1999)
In music, modernism is a philosophical and aesthetic stance underlying the period
of change and development in musical language that occurred around the turn of the
20th century, a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older
categories of music, innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and
approaching harmonic, melodic, sonic, and rhythmic aspects of music, and changes
in aesthetic worldviews in close relation to the larger identifiable period
of modernism in the arts of the time.
Late 19th century origins

As with many other arts, the consciousness of modernity appeared before music
which is now labelled "modernist". Mahler and Puccini both thought of themselves as
modern composers and were concerned with their place in modern music. The end
of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century saw a host of harmonic, melodic
and instrumental innovations in music, but in an effort to preserve and build upon the
past, rather than radically alter it.
The defining break with the Victorian and Romantic tradition was the alliance of
music with the depiction of new subjects, removing old unities, and with an intent to
push the audience forward. The rise of musical modernism can be tied to the rise of
expressionism, primitivism and cubism in the arts, Freudian theory in philosophy and
the range of other artistic and scientific ideas which flowered forth from 1890 through
the beginning of the First World War. There was a conscious sense of seeing an
analogue between changes in music and changes in the other arts among the first
wave of musical modernists.
The transitional moment came with the introduction by Debussy and Ravel of an
expanded chord vocabulary now labelled "impressionism", this movement in painting
and music is generally regarded as transitional, because while the intent was
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aesthetic appeal, its means were a departure from the formal, some might say
academic, norms which held in the arts. While initially controversial, Impressionism
became widely acceptable very quickly in all but the most conservative of artistic
circles. However, the precedent for a radical break with previous technique had been
set.
Another transitional force was the synthesis by Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler
of the music of Wagner. By detaching Wagner's musical innovations from the setting
of the musical drama, Strauss and Mahler excited a generation of composers eager
to use the broader range of chromatic possibilities which their techniques offered.
A third, and less carefully examined, road into musical modernism was the
progressively more percussive use of the orchestra found in both Italian opera and in
Russian concert music. While Rimsky-Korsakov is not generally thought of as a
precursor to Modernism, some of his innovations were influential on the young Igor
Stravinsky as well as other young Russians of the early 20 th century. These included
a use of exotic scales rarely seen in western music, as well as a brighter, colourful
style of orchestration increasingly reliant on percussion for its effect.

Early modern Late modern

Movements
(1850-1900) (1900-60)
impressionism Debussy Ravel
Expressionism - Schoenberg
moderate modern - Stravinsky
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IMPRESSIONISM

Claude Monet Regatta At Argenteuil art painting

INTRODUCTION
Impressionism started with Monet’s painting: “Impression, Sunrise” in 1872. Monet
was one the most famous Impressionist painter, and the term was borrowed from
that painting. Impressionist artists were concentrated on the "manner" in which a
picture was painted, and were completely unconcerned with subject matter. Their
chief aim was to reproduce the general "impression" of the moment made by the
subject on the artist.
The hero of the Impressionist was not man, but light. They chose as subjects
dancing girls (ballerinas), picnics, boating, cafe scenes and nature.
The whole idea with Impressionism was that musicians and artists – were drawn to
conveying moods with their music, instead of distinct melody lines. They wanted their
pieces to evoke a feeling. So this music (and artwork) was less fixated on details and
making things “perfect” – oftentimes the music is just the opposite, vague and
blurred, but still incredibly impactful. "Impressionism" lasted only a few decades into
the twentieth century.
Impressionism in music
Impressionist composers liked to write compositions that weren't in any key at all –
and we call that atonality.

Impressionists composers were trying escaped the major/minor modality and explore
different harmonies and keys. This led to a return to more ancient styles, like
medieval music, which was centred around unusual harmonies like fourths and fifths
 80

(as opposed to thirds, which we’re used to).Exotic Eastern scales came into play,
such as the whole-tone scale, which Debussy was fascinated by. He was also
inspired by the different rhythms and instruments from the far-east. A lot of
impressionist music lacks a steady, defined rhythm. Very often in impressionist
music composers used the pentatonic scale (a 5-note scale (penta = 5) that
originates with folk music from Scotland, to Ireland, to China). The impressionist
music carried on beyond that, in its various off-shoots like neo-impressionism.

Prominent Musical Characteristics:

Modal Infuences: The medieval modes were attractive to composers who sought
to escape the "tyranny" of the major/minor sound. Emphasized were primary
intervals -- octaves, fourths, and fifths -- in parallel motion. This resembled a
medieval procedure known as "organum", where a melody was harmonized by
another which ran parallel to it at a distance of a fourth or fifth.
Whole-Tone Scale: Claude Debussy heard the musicians of the Far East (Java,
Bali, and Indo-China). He was fascinated by the music of the native orchestra, the
gamelan, with percussive rhythms and bewitching instrumental colors. The music of
the Far East makes use of certain scales, which divide the octave into equal
major/minor system and leads to obscured fluidity.
Pentatonic Scale: The pentatonic (five-note) scale is sounded when the black yes
of the piano are struck (or also C, D, F, G and A). This scale is popularly associated
with Chinese music, but is even more familiar to us through Scottish, Irish and
English folk tunes ("Auld Lang Syne" and "Comin' Through the Rye").

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was born on the 22nd August 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye,

France. The young Debussy started piano lessons at the age of seven. His family
 81

weren't musical: his father owned a china shop, and his mother was a seamstress.
Aged ten, Debussy started his studies at the Paris Conservatoire
In 1880, Debussy went travelling with Tchaikovsky’s wealthy patroness, Nadezhda
von Meck. In 1880 she sent Debussy’s Danse bohémienne to Tchaikovsky, but he
wasn’t really sold on it: “It is a very pretty piece, but it is much too short,” he wrote.
“Not a single idea is expressed fully, the form is terribly shriveled, and it lacks unity.”

It was not until 1894, aged 32, that Debussy completed the first piece to truly declare
his independence of thought: Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un Faune, a highly innovative
piece inspired by a poem of Stephane Mallarmé.
Debussy entered a new creative phase in 1903 with La Mer, completed while
staying in Eastbourne, where he observed that "the sea behaves with British
politeness".
The success of Pelleas et Melisande's long-delayed premiere in 1902 made
Debussy a celebrity. In 1914, just as he was at the height of his powers, Debussy
discovered he had cancer. An operation left him so debilitated that he composed
nothing for over a year.
Before his death on March 25th 1918 in Paris, he completed one final masterwork,
the Violin Sonata.
Debussy's obvious talent for the piano led to his winning a place at the junior
department of the Paris Conservatoire in 1872 when he was only 10 years old.
Debussy’s music:
Debussy’s music is often described as ‘impressionist’, He always claimed that he
was looking for "new ways" in musical art. Nevertheless, his innovation has never
been a refuse of the achievements of the past. He was raised as a romantic
composer, having passed the "German school" in the conservatory, having also
experienced the influence of French romanticism with his interest in the nature of
musical sound and the ancient frets and genres.
Those that did try to imitate Debussy directly proved to be not very interesting at all.
In their case it was little more than a matter of combining the harmonic elements
More interesting were the composers who adopted Debussy’s innovations and went
some way to making them their own.

Piano music of Claude Debussy

Suite bergamasque.It is one of Debussy’s most famous piano suites. He started
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writing it in 1890, but didn’t publish the work until 1905.

While it is not known how much of the Suite was written in 1890 and how much was
written in 1905, it is clear that Debussy changed the names of at least two of the
pieces.
The Suite bergamasque consists of four movements:

I. "Prélude" (Moderato, F major, 4/4)

The first piece in the suite is entitled "Prélude", in the key of F and marked tempo
rubato. It is full of dynamic contrasts with a vigorous beginning and ending. It is a
festive piece, which holds much of the Baroque style that is commonly found in
preludes.
II. "Menuet" (Andantino, A minor, ¾)
The second part of the Suite bergamasque is the "Menuet", in A minor. Its playful
main theme contrasts with an alternatively mysterious and dramatic middle section.
This piece is particularly original, as it does not conform to the particular style that
most minuets share. Rather than being very airy and dainty, it shows much more raw
comedy. Again, Debussy sets a very novel piece in the guise of an old dance style.
III. "Clair de lune" (Andante, D♭ major, 9/8)
The third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque is "Clair de lune", in
D♭ major. It epitomizes the understated, melancholic beauty of Debussy’s style.It is
written in 9/8 meter, marked andante très expressif, and to be played mostly
pianissimo. Musically, Debussy's "Clair de lune" belongs to French Impressionism.
IV. "Passepied" (Allegretto non troppo, F♯ minor, 4/4)
The final movement is "Passepied" in F♯ minor, Allegretto ma non troppo. passepieis
a type of dance, which originated in Brittany. Debussy's "Passepied" is a happy,
strangely medieval piece, which is surprisingly faster than its Baroque counterparts.

The Suite bergamasque has been orchestrated by many conductors, for example
by Leopold Stokovsky. Clair de lune in particular has been arranged for a wide
variety of instrumental combinations. One such is Dimitri Tiomkin's arrangement for
organ in the score for the 1956 film Giant
The 1953 ballet L'ange gris utilised orchestrations by André Caplet ("Clair de lune")
and Gustave Cloëz (the other three pieces). "Passepied" has been arranged by the
Punch Brothers for bluegrass instrumentation in their album The Phosphorescent
Blues.
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The Two Arabesques (Deux arabesques), L. 66

It is a pair of arabesques composed for piano by Claude Debussy when he was still
in his twenties, between the years 1888 and 1891.
The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music, following the
French visual art form. His view of a musical arabesque was a line curved in
accordance with nature, and with his music he mirrored the celebrations of shapes in
nature made by the Art Nouveau artists of the time. The two arabesques are given
these tempo marks: Andantino con moto / Allegretto scherzando

Children's Corner, L. 113

This is a 6-movement suite for solo piano by Claude Debussy. It was published by
Durand in 1908, and was given its world première in Paris by Harold Bauer on 18
December that year. In 1911, an orchestration of the work by Debussy's friend André
Caplet received its première and was subsequently published. A typical performance
of the suite lasts roughly 15 minutes.
It is dedicated to Debussy's daughter, Claude-Emma (known as "Chou-Chou"), who
was three years old at the time.The pieces are not intended to be played by children;
rather they are meant to be evocative of childhood and some of the toys in Claude-
Emma's toy collection.

Arabesque No. 1 was the theme music to the PBS show Jack Horkheimer: Star
Gazer. The version used is an electronic rendition by Isao Tomita, from the album
Snowflakes Are Dancing. This version is also played thematically during the opening
and end credits of the Spanish TVE series Planeta imaginario.
Arabesque No. 1 is used in the third season of the British television show Skins
(2009), featuring in JJ's episode along with other Debussy pieces such as
Golliwogg's Cakewalk and Clair de lune,where the impressionist music reflects JJ's
inner thoughts and emotional personality.
Arabesque No. 1 is used as background music in the video "Masterpieces Of The
Met", to accompany the images and verbal description (by Met director Philippe de
Montebello) of a painting by the French Impressionist artist Monet. Marching band
composer and arranger Key Poulan arranged the second arabesque for marching
band in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds."
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The Petite Suite, L 65 -1889; 1907.

This is a suite for Piano four hands by Claude Debussy. It has been transcribed
many times, most notably in an orchestral version by Debussy's colleague Henri
Büsser. Length: c. 13 minutes

One third of the art songs Debussy composed were settings of the poems of Paul
Verlaine (1844-1896). The poet’s influence on the composer was immense. A
description of the poet’s style, one favoring insinuation over declaration, might even
be applied to Debussy’s music. An accumulation of fleeting subtleties is more to the
point than a grander revealed structure.
Debussy’s music captures perfectly a mood of water-borne serenity and languor,
opening with a kind of musical sigh that made the Petite Suite immediately popular
with a wide audience.
Debussy composed at all, but is itself a kind of translation. Debussy’s suite was
originally written for piano duet.

Préludes (1909-13)
The two books of Préludes contain some of Debussy’s best-known piano music, split
up into two sets of 12 pieces. The first edition included the title in brackets at the end
of the music, so the pianists could interpret the music for themselves without being
influenced by Debussy’s title.
Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the
former appearing in 1910. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both
pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical history and, like the
Preludes of Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, are short, independent works.
Debussy warns us against taking any literary suggestion too seriously.
Initially, Debussy and other pianists who gave early performances of the works
(including Ricardo Viñes) played them in groups of three or four preludes, which
remains a popular approach today. This allows performers to choose preludes with
which they have the strongest affinity, or those to which their individual interpretive
gifts are most suited.
The first complete recording of both sets was made in England in 1938 by the South
African pianist Adolph Hallis.
Book 1
The most popular preludes are:
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6. Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the snow). A bleak landscape. The source of
the title is unknown, but speaks for itself.
7 . Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest (What the West Wind saw). Probably after Hans
Christian Andersen. The swirling turbulence of the virtuoso piano writing is changed
into orchestral textures that would be hard to transcribe back to the original.
8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (The girl with the flaxen hair). A poem by Leconte de
Lisle (after Robert Burns). It would have been easy to arrange this, perhaps the best
known of all the preludes, conventionally; but its familiarity demanded something
different, and after much indecision I decided to halve the speed and score it for just
strings and harps, giving it added weight and depth.
9 . La sérénade interrompue (The interrupted serenade). The source is unknown
though clearly Spanish: the second of the interruptions is music from Debussy’s
Ibéria, first performed in 1910.
12. Minstrels. Apparently inspired by black-faced minstrels whom Debussy saw at
Eastbourne, where he took a holiday in 1905 after completing La mer.
Book 2
The most popular preludes are:
6 . General Lavine—eccentric. ‘In the style and tempo of a cakewalk’ is Debussy’s
marking for this lively tribute to Edward Lavine, an American clown at the Théâtre
Marigny in the Champs Élysées.
7 . La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The terrace of audiences of
moonlight). From a newspaper description of the crowning of George V as Emperor
of India. Solemn but magical.
8 . Ondine. Probably after Arthur Rackham’s illustrations to Friedrich de la Motte
Fouqué’s Undine, the story of a water nymph. Another miniature tone-poem, like La
danse de Puck.

Orchestrations and arrangements:

French composer André Caplet orchestrated the entire suite in 1911.
Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen orchestrated the entire suite in 2015.
Leigh Howard Stevens transcribed several movements for marimba.

Estampes ("Prints"), L.100 ,1903.

"Pagodes" ("Pagodas") – approx. 6 minutes.
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"La soirée dans Grenade" ("Evening in Granada") – approx.  5 1⁄2 minutes.

"Jardins sous la pluie" ("Gardens in the Rain") – approx.  3 1⁄2 minutes.
I. "Pagodes"
"Pagodes" evokes images of East Asia. It makes extensive use of pentatonic scales
and mimics Chinese and Japanese traditional melodies while also incorporating hints
of Javanese gamelan percussion.
As this is an Impressionistic work, the goal is not overt expressiveness but instead
an emphasis on the wash of color presented by the texture of the work. Debussy
marks in the text that "Pagodes" should be played "presque sans nuance", or
"almost without nuance".
II. "La soirée dans Grenade"
"La soirée dans Grenade" uses the Arabic scale and mimics guitar strumming to
evoke images of Granada, Spain. At the time of its writing, Debussy's only personal
experience with the country was a few hours spent in San Sebastián de los Reyes
near Madrid.
III. "Jardins sous la pluie"
"Jardins sous la pluie" describes a garden in the Normandy town of Orbec during an
extremely violent rainstorm. Throughout the piece, there are sections that evoke the
sounds of the wind blowing, a thunderstorm raging, and raindrops dropping. It makes
use of the French folk melodies "Nous n'irons plus aux bois" and "Dodo, l'enfant do".
Chromatic, whole tone, major and minor scales are used in this movement.

Debussy and his style of piano Music

Debussy succeeded – in a series of piano works starting with Estampes in 1903 and
culminating in the two books of Préludes in 1910 and 1912 respectively – in creating
what can only be called an ‘impressionist’ technique. He did much the same for the
orchestra: ‘Nuages’ from the Nocturnes of 1900 is as magically suggestive of what
he actually called ‘impressions and special effects of light’ as any painting by his
favourite artists Turner or Whistler. But the even greater achievement was to do the
same with ‘that box of hammers and strings.’
In so doing he added to the piano dimensions of expression scarcely touched on
even by Liszt. This is not to deny that Liszt had much to do with the development of
Debussy’s technique. He heard the master play in Rome and was impressed above
all by his use of the sustaining pedal ‘as a form of breathing.’ Much of the secret in
Debussy’s piano impressionism rested in his use of the pedals, in effect in the
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blurring of lines and the veiling of textures. In a similar spirit he insisted on playing
the piano with the lid down ‘pour mieux noyer le son’, and drowning the sound is
precisely what ‘La cathédrale engloutie’ (Préludes Book I) is all about.
What Debussy was doing in the Préludes and earlier works with a similar inspiration
was composing with sounds rather than notes. It is that, rather than their picturesque
qualities, that changed history. Debussy did nothing less than liberate music from the
domination by functional harmony which had prevailed for three centuries. Take
‘Voiles’ from Préludes Book I: whether it was intended to create an impression of
‘veils’ or ‘sails’ (the French title could refer to either) it does so by almost exclusive
use of the whole-tone and pentatonic scales. That doesn’t make it strictly atonal but
it does set it free from the triad to float wherever the movement of the dancer or the
wind on the water takes it. Of course, Debussy used triads in these works but usually
in the intention of creating atmosphere while, by juxtaposing chords with no
relationship between them, defying the rules of harmony. Tonality becomes
colour.
Maurice Ravel

Henri Manduin – Portrait of Maurice Ravel

The name Impressionism was first used derisively in 1874, when a group of young
painters, among them Renoir, Cezanne, Dega, and Manet, organized a stock
company and exhibited their works in Paris. The exhibition was received with shrieks
of laughter, and a newspaperman, taking his cue from the title of one of Janetis
canvases, Sunrise, an nrnsion, labeled the entire group as impressionists. But as the
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movement gained popularity, the once-derisive term became the descriptive name
for all painters who sought to record sensations of light and color. 1 Although
Impressionism as a movement began in the latter half of the nineteenth century, its
beginnings appear in the paintings of Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863). Delacroix
believed that art is not a mere imitation of nature, but the product of genius seeking
to fathom inner causes. To him, art in the final analysis was a product of the
imagination, the total of the artist's experiences and emotions. In discussing the
paintings of Antoine Jean Gros (1771-1835) and Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).

Impressionism in literature is represented chiefly by the poets Paul Verlaine (1844-

1896) and Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), who sought to portray the dominant
element of the subject in vague, unrelated word groups, which combine to produce
the impression of the whole. Literature could not compete with painting,, because of
the definite meaning and association of the words.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is often called the greatest of the Impressionists with the
exception of Debussy. To call Ravel an Impressionist is not strictly correct, for one
finds in the music of Ravel a clarity, a rhythmic verve, and a taste for form that are
not compatible with the spirit of Impress ionistn. Ravel did adapt some of the
technical features of Debussy's style, but fitted them to his individual needs, causing
the end result to be quite different in essence.
Ravel is best classified as a composer who extended the principles and means of
Impressionism, Where Debussy, true to the actual spirit of Impressionism, is content
to paint a vague image, giving it no definite shape, merely suggesting the spirit,
Ravel attempts to give his models a truer reproduction with definite lines.
In Ravel's later works, he gave way more and more to his natural taste for musical
form, seen in such early works as J eeux _d'Eau (1901), the Stri artet (1902-3), and
the Sonatine (1905). Guido Pannain, in discussing Ravel's application of musical
form, declares that the Sonatine is Ravel's definitive work, representing an ideal
balance of form and free melodic expression; a perfection of "that harmony between
the part and the whole which is at once the cross and the reward of all artistic
creation." 28 Ravel perhaps achieves this unity by a recurrence of the "falling fourth"
motif in all three movements.
The entire main theme of the first movement is stated, in altered rhythmic and
harmonic form, as the secondary theme of the last movement. This theme is also
extended as the basis for the development section of this movement and recurs
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again later in the piece.

Parallel triads are quite frequent in the music of Ravel.
Pedal Point.--Ravel's most striking use of the pedal point is without doubt in Je Gibet
(Gaspard de la Nuit)
A parallel exists between Couperin and Ravel in their detailed directions to the
performer. Gil-Marchex has said that Ravel left very little to the imagination of the
player, but prepared the formulas himself and expected his wishes to be carried out
strictly.6 Couperin directs the performer in very much the same way in his e
Rossignol en Amour,7 in which he commands, "Lentement, et tres tendrement,
quoy-que measure. "
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The End of 19th - 20th century.

Other styles and composers.

ABSTRACT- UNIT 5

• Aleksander Scriabin
• Bela Bartok
• Igor Stravinsky
• Arnold Schoenberg
&Anton Webern
• Paul Hindemith
• Sergey Prokofev
• John Cage
• Georg Gershwin
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Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Skriabin – portret by Alexander Pirogov

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (English: /skriˈɑːbɪn/; 6 January 1872 [O.S. 25

December 1871] – 27 April [O.S. 14 April] 1915) was a Russian composer and
pianist. Scriabin, who was influenced early in his life by the works of Frédéric
Chopin, composed works that are characterised by a highly tonal idiom (these works
are associated with his "first stage" of compositional output). Later in his career,
independently of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a substantially atonal and
much more dissonant musical system, which accorded with his personal brand of
mysticism. Scriabin was influenced by synesthesia, and associated colours with the
various harmonic tones of his atonal scale, while his colour-coded circle of fifths was
also influenced by theosophy. He is considered by some to be the main Russian
Symbolist composer.
Alexander Scriabin was the son of an aristocratic Russian family. As a small child
the composer displayed a musical memory reminiscent of the young Mozart,
reproducing the entire composition at the keyboard after only one hearing.
It is a commonplace to state that Scriabin's early piano music is strongly influenced
by Chopin, he composed works that are characterized by a highly tonal idiom (these
works are associated with his "first stage" of compositional output). Later in his
career, independently of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a substantially
atonal and much more dissonant musical system, which accorded with his personal
brand of mysticism.
Scriabin was influenced by synaesthesia, and associated colours with the various
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harmonic tones of his atonal scale, while his colour-coded circle of fifths was also
influenced by theosophy. He is considered by some to be the main Russian
Symbolist composer.
Scriabin began building pianos after being fascinated with piano mechanisms. He
sometimes gave away pianos he had built to house guests. Scriabin as very shy and
unsociable with his peers, but appreciative of adult attention.
Piano Style
The most extensive part of Scriabin's work is composed by piano compositions. In
the early period of his art he writes exclusively for pianoforte, and later the piano
becomes a kind of creative laboratory for the creation of symphonic works. Features
of his creative style are directly related to his manner of playing the piano, which
contemporaries called "technique of nerves.” Scriabin played exceptionally freely,
with large tempo deviations, but in fast pace he was unstoppable. His game was not
so much virtuosic but spiritual and subtlety.
The evolution of Scriabin's style is vividly manifested in his piano music. Scriabin
refuses traditional dance genres, but a new form - POEMA - appears. The
composer's innovation lies in the fact that he brought this genre from symphonic
music to piano. The first samples of piano poems were two poems op32, which are
two opposites: the sophistication and languor of the first poem is contrasted with the
heroic ecstasy of the second poem. The second poem is based on a melody with
active accents and wide jumps (in symphonic works of Scriabin such a melody is
usually assigned to brass instruments).

Works of Scriabin - Preludes

Scriabin wrote 89 preludes for piano. Since the time of Bach, no composer has paid
so much attention to this genre. Prelude is closely related to improvisation, and
improvisation is one of Scriabin's most important distinctive features.
The early period of Scriabin's work is connected with the genre of piano miniatures,
including preludes.
Scriabin wrote 89 preludes for piano.
Prelude is closely related to improvisation, and improvisation is one of Scriabin's
most important distinctive features. The combination of elements of improvisation
with a high culture of form and finish, generally characteristic of Scriabin art, was
revealed in his preludes especially strongly. In them the composer showed himself to
be a subtle and original master of laconic piano miniature, a master innovator who
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creatively develops the best traditions of this genre.

Prelude in C major, Op. 11, No. 1-Alexander Scriabin plays his Prelude in C
major, Op. 11, No. 1 for Welte-Mignon in Moscow, January 1910.
Poems
The first poems of Scriabin were written for piano, these are the two poems of
Op.32.
Piano sonatas, beginning with the Fourth Sonata (1901-03), are in essence poems,
although the composer himself does not give them such a title.
Vers la flamme (Toward the flame), Op. 72, is one of Alexander Scriabin's last pieces
for piano, written in 1914.
The melody is very simple, consisting mainly of descending half steps, but the
unusual harmonies and difficult tremolos create an intense, fiery luminance.
Etudes
Scriabin wrote 26 etudes: Étude in C-sharp minor, No. 1 from Trois morceaux, Op. 2
(1887), 12 Études, Op. 8 (1894),8 Études, Op. 42 (1903),Étude in E-flat major, No. 1
from Trois morceaux, Op. 49, Étude, No. 4 of Quatre morceaux, Op. 56, 3 Études,
Op. 65 (1911-12) Étude in C-sharp minor, No. 1 from Trois morceaux, Op. 2 (1887)
is an étude for piano, written in 1887.
This étude was written in 1887, when Scriabin was just 15 years old. It was the first
of the Three Pieces, Op. 2, and was one of Scriabin's earliest successes.
Étude Op. 2 No. 1 is in 3/4 time and is in the key of C-sharp minor.
The melody is poignant and heartfelt, showing many characteristics of Russian
Gypsy music. It is accompanied by repeated chords in both hands, featuring rich
harmonies, inner voices, and large spreads in the left hand. The dynamics of the
piece are varied constantly to display emotion and passion and to add interest.
The piece features many key changes but finally concludes in the original key.
Although it is a slow and somber piece, like many other études, it is considerably
difficult to perfect.
This étude lasts for about three minutes.
Etude N12 from 12 Études, Op. 8 (1894)
Étude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12, is an étude for piano composed by Alexander
Scriabin in 1894. It features many technical challenges, including treacherous
stretches with intervals up to an eleventh, numerous jumps in the left hand, repetitive
chord strikes, and abundant octaves. It is a particular favorite among pianists and
audiences alike. This piece was a favorite encore of Vladimir Horowitz.
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The dramatic motive and moving recitative of the solo in the upper voices on the
Chordal background is characteristic of Scriabin's early creations. The typical Tempo
for the piece is around 100-112 bpm. The right hand is always playing octaves
except for the piece's ending. Similarly, the left hand is continually jumping around
until the final chord is struck.
Sonatas
Scriabin wrote twelve sonatas for piano, ten of which he published. The first four are
in the Romantic style. Initially the music is reminiscent of Chopin, but Scriabin's
unique voice, present from the beginning, becomes fully present even in these early
pieces. With the brief fourth sonata, Scriabin explored more complex,chromatic
harmonies. Each of the following sonatas are often highly dissonant and have a new
form of tonality that some describe as atonal and others describe as simply different
from conventional tonality. “Vers la flamme” was intended to be the eleventh sonata,
but he was forced to publish it early due to financial concerns. Beginning with the
fifth, Scriabin's published sonatas consist of only a single movement.
Out of Scriabin's ten sonatas (1892-1913), only the first four correspond to the
traditional notions of genre - they are multi-part compositions. The other six (since
1907) - works one-part, they do not indicate the tonality. The composer sought to
convey in the soul a spiritual impulse, languor, delight. Sometimes the state of the
soul, expressed in sounds, is so ambiguous that it is difficult to describe. Such
sensations change each other quickly and suddenly, and episodes built on a gentle,
"transparent" sound, as a rule, are severely cut off by powerful chords and piercingly
sharp harmonies.
The fourth sonata is, of course, the most popular and often performed from Scriabin
sonatas. It is compact and purposeful - two parts follow without a break, and in this
context the first part can be perceived as a slow entry. Scriabin described the
content of the sonata in a separate program, based on the dream of a distant star,
the desire for it and, finally, achievement (certainly in a metaphorically figurative
sense). Masterfully transferred to the transformation of the main theme: from the
initial unsteady, barely formed dream to the dazzling joyful climax in the code of the
sonata ("I drink you, O sea of light!" – Scriabin writes in the program about this
moment). It is also interesting to note that in the color-acoustic scale of Scriabin, the
F-sharp major corresponds to a bright blue color (as later discovered by
astronomers, this is the color of the hottest stars in the universe).
Among the masterpieces of piano music of all times a special place is taken by
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Scriabin's Fifth Sonata - the most inspired of his piano creations. Sonata is equally
unique with its innovative technique (Svyatoslav Richter once in a conversation
called it the most difficult piano opus for performing) and the richest emotional
content - from delicate languor to creative ecstasy of cosmic proportions. The sonata
is preceded by the poetic epigraph chosen by Skryabin from his program to the
Poem of Ecstasy: I call to life, hidden aspirations, you drowned in the dark depths of
the spirit of the creative, You, fearful of the life of the embryo, I bring you boldness!
The fifth sonata by Alexander Skryabin is a dazzlingly joyful hymn to creativity and
piano art.
The seventh sonata is, undoubtedly, the brightest of Scriabin's later sonatas. Its
scorching emotional contrasts and incredible intensity of expression for many seem
superhuman (the fact is known that the great V. Sofronitsky never played this sonata
on stage - he was afraid he would lose consciousness). The seventh sonata is
closely connected with the idea of the "Mystery" - a grandiose musical action, which,
according to Scriabin's idea, was to be performed by all the people of the world.
Thus, the initial theme of the sonata is correlated with the bell ringing, which was to
usher in the beginning of the "Mystery", in the working materials for the "Mystery"
there were also a side theme of the sonata ("disembodied matter") and the final
("star dust"). Extremely effective is the end of the sonata: rapid development ends
with a chord-explosion of twenty-five sounds, and from its after-sounding with almost
tangible clarity, sprouts of a new life are born. Written in 1913.

Piano Concerto (fs-moll), Op. 20

In 1896, 25-year-old Alexander Skryabin returned from a foreign tour organized by
the publisher and patron Mitrofan Petrovich Belyaev, and literally in one breath wrote
his only Concerto for piano and orchestra. In his compositional luggage there was
already a lot of salon piano music, but with the orchestra Scriabin dealt with almost
the first time.
In the three parts of the concert different models of the participants' relationships are
used. In the second part, written in the form of variations, the orchestra accompanies
the piano, in the third - vies with it. In the first part, the orchestral instruments seem
to be the continuation of the piano strings. The orchestra gradually joins the sound of
the piano, picks it up and raises it to powerful climaxes.The music of the first part is
painted with deep pessimism. Scriabin chose the same tonality as Rachmaninoff for
his First Concerto - F-sharp minor, the tonality of Herman's ariaso "Forgive, the
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heavenly creature" from the opera "The Queen of Spades" by Tchaikovsky. The
piano part is written in a maximalist fashion – hardly two dozen bars are typed,
wherever the piano is silent. In the finals, the "Polish accent" is heard repeatedly -
the echoes of the brave and brilliant pages of Chopin's music. And in the melancholic
episodes, Scriabin is inspired by the "sequentia of Tatiana", which opens "Eugene
Onegin" by Tchaikovsky.
The concert consists of three parts with a total length of about 28 minutes:
Allegro
Andante
Allegro moderato
Scriabin's harmonic boldness, certain qualifications must be admitted in other areas,
rendering his music something of a paradox. Though enraptured by increasingly
complex sonorities throughout his career, he remained surprisingly uninquisitive from
a rhythmic point of view, relying too heavily on long cycles of four measure phrases.

Bela Bartok

Bela Bartok – Portrait by Pablo Schugurensky

Béla Viktor János Bartók (/ˈbeɪlə ˈbɑːrtɒk/; Hungarian: [ˈbeːlɒ ˈbɒrtoːk]; 25 March
1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungariancomposer, pianist and an
ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the
20th century; he and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers (Gillies
2001). Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the
founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology.
The piano music of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) is significant in a number of ways. His
 97

unique compositional style involving both tonal and atonal elements, incorporates
classical formal procedures with deeper understanding than does the music of
almost any other twentieth-century composer; also, his keyboard extended writing
the technical development of the instrument in a manner virtually unrivalled; in
addition, his pedagogical works enriched the repertoire immeasurably at every level;
finally, his music in all genres demonstrated to a generation or more of composers
what could be gained from the study of indigenous folk idioms.
In his autobiography he states that by the time he was eighteen he knew music
literature-solo music, chamber music, orchestral literature, and opera-from Bach to
Brahms, "pretty well." At that time, in 1899, he was accepted into the Budapest
Academy of Music, where the professors were so impressed with his audition as a
pianist that all fees and other examinations were instantly canceled.
Studing folk melodies, Bartok wished to internalize peasant music to such an extent
that it would be like a musical mother tongue.
Evident that Bartok was a pianist as well as a composer, and that his keenly sought
"musical renaissance" was worked out more often at his favourite instrument.
Bartok's greatest contribution to the solo repertoire is surely the Sonata (1926). In
this relatively short three-movement work he brought together the two principal
currents of his compositional life, a deeply rooted understanding of the manner in
which central European classical formal procedures could be used in the twentieth
century, and a completely digested synthesis of folk idioms originating outside the
classical tradition.
Bartók’s only sonata for piano is a radical departure from his overtly folk-based

pieces of the previous time.

The opening movement is cast clearly in sonata-allegro form. It is dominated by

machine-like energy, percussive, propulsive, filled with irregular phrases and brutal

punctuations. The themes of the exposition can feel overpowering, but subtle

distinctions are certainly present: the second theme group is more relaxed and more

charming than the insistent opening theme; the closing theme is more festive. Wit

animates the short development, and the truncated sotto voce recapitulation is

wonderfully understated. A stretto variation of the opening theme leads to the

headlong coda and its explosive closing glissando.

The second movement, in ternary form, opens with a frozen, grief-stricken theme: a
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single pitch, and a single chord – both repeated insistently in a ritual of alternation. A

second theme, of plangent, widely-spaced chords, introduces a four-note diatonic

scale. Part A develops both themes in a bare polyphonic texture. Part B is a single

sustained event: a slow-growing, chromatic, and chordal crescendo over a pedal-

tone, which lends great power to the return of the opening material, now altered and

foreshortened. At the end, the lamenting single note of the opening leads to an

abrupt and inconclusive closing chord, a poignant, enigmatic halt.

The finale opens with an unequivocal burst of folk dance, a theme which will return

often, with marvelous decorations including the suggested twitterings of a bird in

variations 5 and 7. Interruptions cleverly dramatize each new iteration of the theme.

Unlike the first movement juggernaut, this movement is filled with capricious shifts of

tempo. A final variant of the theme reminds this listener of “Good King Wenceslas”

and builds to a brief coda: brisk and precipitous!

Another two very interesting works for piano are: Microcosm and Romanian
Christmas Carols.
Microcosm (in Hungarian, Mikrokozmosz; in German, Mikrokosmos) Sz. 107, BB
105 consists of 153 progressive piano pieces in six volumes written between 1926
and 1939. The individual pieces progress from very easy and simple beginner
etudes to very difficult advanced technical displays, and are used in modern piano
lessons and education. In total, according to Bartók, the piece "appears as a
synthesis of all the musical and technical problems which were treated and in some
cases only partially solved in the previous piano works." Volumes one and two are
dedicated to his son Péter, while volumes five and six are intended as professionally
performable concert pieces. Bartók also indicated that these pieces could also be
played on other instruments; Huguette Dreyfus for example has recorded some
pieces on the harphsychord.

Structure of the composition:

All of the six volumes progress in difficulty, namely:
Volumes I and II: Pieces 1–36 and 37–66, beginner level
Volumes III and IV: Pieces 67–96 and 97–121, moderate to advanced level
Volumes V and VI: 122–139 and 140–153, professional level
In 1940 Bartok arranged seven of the pieces for two pianos, to provide additional
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repertoire for himself and his wife Ditta Pasztory-Bartok to play.

As for Romanian Christmas Carols, Sz, 57, BB 67, it is very good collection of
typical Christmas songs from Romanian villages, habitually sung by small groups of
children, adapted in 1915 by Hungarian composer to be played on the piano after
hearing them sung in the below villages.This work consists of twenty little songs put
together into two major series.

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky -Portrait Painting by Preciada Azancot

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (sometimes spelled Strawinski, Strawinsky, or

Stravinskii; tr. Igorʹ Fëdorovič Stravinskij, IPA: [ˈiɡərʲ ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ strɐˈvʲinskʲɪj]; 17
June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian-born composer, pianist, and
conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential
composers of the 20th century.
He looked to the music of the past for formal models and even for stylistic
characteristics, though his musical personality was so strong that he was able to
transform whatever model he chose into his own specific and incomparable style, full
of wit and vigor.More than anyone he was responsible for the establishment of the
neoclassic movement in the 1920s, not a "school" per se but rather a point of view
that found unacceptable the blurred pastels of impressionism and the anguished
gloom of expressionism, neither of which seemed appropriate to those who had just
lived through the agonies of World War I.
The composer's comments on "non-expression" in music have been given wide
currency, but it is enough to suggest now that he wished his music to receive the
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same rhythmic respect accorded that of Mozart which is to say that rhythmic liberties
should be both extremely discreet and musically justified. Stravinsky's son, Soulima,
a pianist, composer, and pedagogue of considerable insight and acclaim, repeatedly
said that his father's views on musical expression were far from inflexible, and that,
in fact, he was quite put off by a cold, "objective" performance.
Compare to great orchestral scores, Stravinsky’s works for solo piano form a minor
part of his output. Few works beyond the Three Dances from Petrushka ballet are
heard at all frequently and discs entirely devoted to his smaller-scale keyboard works
are comparatively rare .
Stravinsky may have regarded the piano primarily as a percussion instrument but in
the early works he has not moved on that far from Mussorgsky, his teacher Rimsky-
Korsakov and, in the Four Etudes (1908), Scriabin. It is the complex polyrhythms of
the latter work that present the greatest problem for the performer.
Among his piano pieces, it should be noted The Firebird (French: L'Oiseau de feu ) is
a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was
written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the
original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with a scenario by Alexandre Benois
and Fokine based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and
curse it possesses for its owner. When first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25
June 1910, the work was an instant success with both audience and critics.
The ballet has historic significance as Stravinsky's breakthrough piece.
Alexandre Benois wrote in 1910 that he had two years earlier suggested to
Diaghilev the production of a Russian nationalist ballet.
Diaghilev approached the Russian composer Anatoly Lyadov (1855–1914) to write
the music. There is no evidence, however, despite the much-repeated story that
Lyadov was slow to start composing the work, that he ever accepted the commission
to begin with. There is evidence to suggest that Nikolai Tcherepnin had previously
started composing music for the ballet—music which became The Enchanted
Kingdom—but that Tcherepnin, for reasons unexplained, withdrew from the project
after completing only one scene.Diaghilev eventually transferred the commission to
the 28-year-old Stravinsky.
Firebird Suite was originally written for large orchestra by Igor Stravinsky in 1911.
However, the piano version was introduced by the composer in 1910, shortly before
the orchestra version will be presented. The orchestra version was considered as
original version and the piano version was reduction.
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Another significant work for piano is Sonata of 1924 year.It was premiered by the
composer himself at the Donaueschingen Festival in July 1925. It was eventually
edited by Albert Spalding and published by Boosey & Hawkes in 1925. It is
dedicated to the Princess Edmond de Polignac, Winnaretta Singer.The sonata is in
three movements and takes between 9 and 11 minutes to perform. The movements
are:
♩ = 112
Adagietto
♩ = 112
In some recordings, the first movement is titled Moderato and the third Allegro
moderato; however, such titles or tempo markings are not present in the original
score.
Among other Stravinsky's piano works are Sonata for Piano, Etudes ( 4) ,
Ragtime ,Circus Polka, Tango, Valse pour les enfants, Piano-Rag Music, Prologue to
Mussorgsky's 'Boris Godunov',Polka, Serenade,Sketches for a Sonata.

Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern

Arnold Schoenberg – Self-Portrait

Even Schoenberg was forced to pause in his work. This was in part because of the
anguish and devastation of the war, of course, but he had also come to a creative
impasse, the solution for which was not easy. He knew that the music he had
produced up to that time was well-written, deeply felt, and even praiseworthy-
Schoenberg was never lacking in feelings of self-worth. But he was dissatisfied with
the intellectual underpinnings of his work.
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What emerged from Schoenberg's deliberations was, eventually, the twelve tone
method, a technique for organizing total chromaticism.
The implication is that the twelve-tone technique is so coldly mechanical that most
music employing it can by definition be neither poetical nor personal.
Twelve-tone music can be beautiful or ugly, poetic or academic, enthralling or
tedious
In this it is like music written in any style, at any time, with any ground rules.
This much stated, it is fair to add that Schoenberg’s discovery' became by mid-
century, the most important and influential compositional procedure of the century. It
spawned the many theories and sub-theories
Associated with what is called serialism. Composers who were at first repelled by the
method-Stravinsky, Copland, Sessions, Carter, Britten, and many others-eventually
adopted some aspects of it for their own purposes. That this technique should
become the most compelling source of basic compositional techniques for so many
decades is surely proof of its flexibility and artistic usefulness.
One of the most remarkable things about the two sets of piano pieces, Op. 23 and
Op. 25, given that they were written more or less within the same time period, is that
each set is stylistically consistent within itself and at the same time striking!;' different
from the other.

The Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, can hardly fail to remind the sensitive listener of the
postromantic ardour of Schoenberg's earlier works. Though they are sparer in
texture than the sometimes dense sonorities of the Op. 11 pieces from fifteen years
before, the fervency of the expression is similar.
The implications of this are not obvious, but certainly Schoenberg was not
regressing, as has been inferred by some.

In addition, Schoenberg's use of titles and old forms suggests that the twelve-tone
technique does not relieve the composer of the task of choosing and constructing
forms.
Implied, finally, is that the emotional substance of the music is still as much the task
of the composer to realize as always, and if the method might help unify a
composition (as it does in Op. 25) there is no guarantee that it will.
That Schoenberg felt it was possible to create a link between row techniques and
formal procedures, as tonality had united harmonic and constructive practices, is
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clear from the nature of subsequent compositions.

Of all the pupils and successors of Schoenberg, the one who most immediately
carried forward the development of twelve-tone methods was another Austrian Anton
Webern, It is not known exactly how he came to study with Schoenberg.
Schoenberg's twelve-tone formulations in the early 1920s were, if anything, more
congenial to Webern than to their originator. He immediately adopted the principles
set forth by Schoenberg, adapting them to his own purposes. His compositions
thereafter continued to be unusually brief and concerned with the balance of tiny
motives and canonically related row forms. His scores took on a spare, almost
hygienic aspect, which contributed to some unfortunate misunderstandings
concerning their interpretation.
Webern became the patron saint of the post-war avant-garde; this is most succinctly
demonstrated by the fact that the "in" music of the period was given the appellation
"post-Webern.
For this the composer is, at least partially, at fault. As mentioned earlier. Webern's
music, consisting essentially of miniscule motives arranged with geometric precision,
was notated in the most austere, spare manner. One might imagine, glancing at the
primly meticulous score, that. The music was to be played without feeling of any
kind. To the leaders of the post-war avant-garde, anxious to avoid traditional
expression and determined (at least for a brief period) to do away with all vestiges of
subjective inspiration, this reading of Webern's music was consistent with their
cause.
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Oskar Kokoschka - Portrait of Anton Webern

Webern, in fact, thought of his music as standing squarely in the mainstream of the
expressive Austro-German romantic tradition. While at work on the Piano Yariations
he ha_d referred to the piece as sounding "like Brahms." And though willing he was
willing to discuss his row techniques', palindromes, and the like with other
composers, I he refused to concede that these matters had anything to do with
performance.

Paul Hindemith

Rudolf Heinisch, Portrait Paul Hindemith, 1931

“With Paul Hindemith we encounter one of the strangest characters of 20th century
music. He is, beyond question, one of the most accomplished, most prolific, most
articulate, musicians of our time. He is also, without in the slightest contradicting any
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of these attributes, the least influential. I cannot think of a single important composer
of our generation upon whom the influence of Hindemith is noticeable and this is
especially odd because in this most insecure, most unstable, most trying period of
music's history, almost everyone who is prolific, who is accomplished, and who is
articulate, have those to whom they represent a source of inspiration and a point of
departure. “ - Glen Gould (Brilliant Canadian pianist, Winner of Grammy in BEST
ALBUM NOTES - CLASSICAL : Hindemith, Sonatas For Piano ( album notes
writer ).)
Of course no composer's influence remains precisely constant from one generation
to the next, but Hindemith is a special case. No other composer of this century had
such a dominating position in the minds of so many composers, both in Europe and
America, only to see it wane and virtually disappear while he was still alive.
Hindemith was the eldest child of a poverty-stricken Silesian family. Precocious, he
learned to play the violin at an early age. After his father was killed in France during
World War I he helped sustain his mother by playing in small orchestras and
chamber groups of various kinds. He composed prolifically and, though he was
circumspect in his dealings with most people, demonstrated to those closest to him
that he was a "veritable volcano of opinions, convictions and feelings" even as a
young man.
Another of his strong beliefs, one that became even stronger as he matured, was
that music had to be tonal to be comprehensible. He rejected out of hand the viability
of atonal music, and was vehement in his opposition to Schoenberg's twelve-tone
technique, which he viewed as a restrictive set of rules rather than a method that had
evolved naturally.
Even in wartime America, interest in musical composition rapidly, an interest that
increased many times over after 1945. There was, however, considerable confusion
as to which direction to take. Still in awe of cultural matters emanating from Europe,
young composers in the United States seized upon this unprecedented guidebook by
a famous German composer.
Hindemith's popularity was immense. His music was played with great frequency.
His star as a composer-pedagogue, at least for a few years, outshone all others.
The problem that eventually surfaced was not that Hindemith had too much
influence. Rather, it was that the influence was too specific. His students began to
complain that it was nearly impossible to develop their own individuality under his
strict guidance.
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His early music is full of romantic fervor and displays both imagination and (not
surprising for someone who so often played in performances of his own works)
idiomatic mastery.
Stylistically, youthful works such as the four fine string-piano sonatas, Op. 11 (1918
and 1919), and the impassioned Third String Quartet, Op. 22 (1921), show kinship to
the music of Brahms and Reger with some influence from Richard Strauss. But
Hindemith seemed not to trust these ardent outpourings as time went on and, just as
Schoenberg, Bartok, Stravinsky, and others before him had moved from youthfully
strong but derivative music to more mature, individual modes of expression, so
Hindemith strove for a leaner, more rational, and technically polished style.
Amoung Hindemith's compositions for piano, the most popular the first of his three
piano sonates. They were published in 1936 year.
“His formal structures for the most part have been a 20th century rethinking of the
sonata style of the Mozart-through-Schubert generation but out of this odd mixture
there has developed a genuine musical personality – a man who may have become
imprisoned by his own dexterity but a man who, despite the evident restrictions of his
language, has made a very substantial contribution to the music of our time. “- Glen
Gould.
Sonata N1 was subtitled Der Main (translated into English as The River Main) after
a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin.The sonata was inspired by a poem entitled Der Main
by Friedrich Hölderlin, though it did not contain its text nor did the sonata make any
specific reference to any of the parts of the poem. This composition was published in
Mainz by Schott Music that same year.
Other significant work for piano is Ludus Tonalis. In Ludus tonalis (1942) for solo
piano, Hindemith wove together the varied strands of his professional and artistic life
up to that point. Hindemith's subtitle for the work, "Studies in Counterpoint, Tonal
Organization and Piano Playing," perhaps carries a deceptive connotation of dryness
or academicism. But Ludus tonalis ranges well beyond the stated intent of its
heading, exploring matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. It is
in effect, a veritable catalogue of the composer's mature style, expressed in lively,
imaginative, compact vignettes. While a complete performance requires nearly an
hour, none of individual parts is longer than four minutes.
Ludus Tonalis ("Play of Tones" or "Tonal Game"), subtitled Kontrapunktische, tonal,
und Klaviertechnische Übungen (Counterpoint, tonal and technical studies for the
piano), is a piano work by Paul Hindemith that was composed in 1942 . It was first
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performed in 1943 in Chicago by Willard MacGregor. The piece explores, "matters of

technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. It is in effect, a veritable
catalogue of the composer's mature style."
The piece, which comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys, starts with a three-part
Praeludium in C resembling Johann Sebastian Bach's toccatas, and ends with a
Postludium which is an exact retrograde inversion of the Praeludium. In between,
there are twelve three-part fugues separated by eleven interludes, beginning in the
tonality of the previous fugue and ending in the tonality of the next fugue (or in a
different tonality very close to that). The tonalities of the fugues follow the order of his
Serie 1 and use the keynote C (see The Craft of Musical Composition).
Ludus Tonalis was intended to be the twentieth-century equivalent to J.S. Bach's
The Well-Tempered Clavier. Unlike Bach's work, though, the non-fugal pieces in
Ludus Tonalis frequently repeat the work's main theme.
Ludus Tonalis can be thought of as the most direct application of Hindemith's theory
that the twelve tones of the equally tempered scale all relate to a single one of them
(called a tonic or keynote). The affinity of each note with the keynote is directly
related to its position on the harmonic scale. In this system, the major–minor duality
is meaningless and the practice of modulation is dropped.

Sergei Prokofev

A Portrait of the Composer Sergei Prokofiev. 1934 - Igor Grabar.

History has seen many composer-pianists. Among the more important were
Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Medtner, and Scriabin.
Their profound knowledge and experience with the keyboard can readily be seen in
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the music they wrote for the instrument. So, Prokofiev is one of them.
"Prokofiev's way of writing for the piano arose from his own distinctive manner of
playing it." -Alfred Frankenstein .
Harold Schonberg states:
As a pianist Prokofieff was the New Man of the century. He had little in common with
the past, and his playing was completely original.
His influence upon the century's piano philosophy was profound. This was the kind of
approach needed to play Bartok, Stravinsky and the other moderns."
Prokofiev's pianism not only influenced his style of writing for the piano but was also
to influence the performance styles required to play other twentieth century
composers. Bartok, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, treated the piano basically as a
percussive instrument in opposition to the piano style suggested by Debussy.
Poulenc referred to Prokofiev as the "Liszt of Russian music."
“Prokofiev's playing conveyed energy, confidence, indomitable will, steel ,rhythm and
a powerful tone.”
One critic's account of Pro- kofiev's unique style was His tone was somewhat dry,
but he played with amazing assurance and freedom. Beneath his fingers the piano
does not sing or vibrate. It speaks with the stern and precise tone of a percussion
instrument, the tone of the old-fashioned harpsichord." And his style of playing
strongly connected to his composer style. PIano technique presented no problems .
Because of this, he even gained the title of "football pianist."
Amoung the best Prokofiev's piano works are:
Prokofiev made a few recordings of his own works. From them one can get an even
better idea of his style. His recording of his Third Piano Concerto is considered as
one of the best.
Sergei Prokofiev set to work on his Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16, in 1912
and completed it in 1913. But this concerto is lost; the score was destroyed in a fire
following the Russian Revolution. Prokofiev reconstructed the work in 1923, two
years after finishing his Third Concerto, and declared it to be “so completely rewritten
that it might almost be considered [Concerto] No. 4”. The work is dedicated to the
memory of Maximilian Schmidthof, a friend of Prokofiev's , who had committed
suicide in April 1913 after having written a farewell letter to Prokofiev.
Reaction of audience was very different. One part of listeners was talking: "What is
he doing, making fun of us?"/ "The cats on the roof make better music!")...but
another part was definetely impressed with modernists manner of composer and
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performer. Anyway, until nowadays this concerto remains one of the best Prokofievs
work. Other very popular works are Prokofiev's own transcriptions of his music for
ballet: March and Scherzo from "The Love for Three Oranges, Ten Pieces from
"Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75 (1937), Three Pieces from "Cinderella", Op. 95 (1942),
Ten Pieces from "Cinderella", Op. 97 (1943), Six Pieces from "Cinderella", Op. 102
(1944)...
Among Prokofiev's piano works are: 9 sonatas, 5 concertos, several
suites,Sarcasms , Toccata, Transcriptions of Various Works etc.

John Cage

John Cage- Portrait

John Cage (b. 1912). Always regarding the piano as his primary instrument, he has
written for it repeatedly. His wide-ranging and radically provocative ideas have made
him one of the twentieth century's seminal figures. His fame as an experimenter had
its first major breakthrough in 1938 when, possibly as a result of his association with
Henry Cowell in California, he wrote his first piece for prepared piano, Bacclzanale
(1938), transforming the instrument into something that sounds like a Balinese
gamelan. This and similar pieces, using few pitches and repeating them in small,
circling figures at great length, are still influential today, prototypes of the long,
mesmerizing productions of the minimalists.
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George Jacob Gershwin

Gershwin – Self-portrait

George Jacob Gershwin (/ˈɡɜːrʃ.wɪn/; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an
American composer and pianist.Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and
classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best-
known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An
American in Paris (1928) as well as the contemporary opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
Gershwin's compositions have been adapted for use in many films and for television,
and several became jazz standards recorded in many variations. Many celebrated
singers and musicians have performed his songs.
Gershwin was influenced by French composers of the early twentieth century. In turn
Maurice Ravel was impressed with Gershwin's abilities, commenting, "Personally I
find jazz most interesting: the rhythms, the way the melodies are handled, the
melodies themselves. I have heard of George Gershwin's works and I find them
intriguing." The orchestrations in Gershwin's symphonic works often seem similar to
those of Ravel; likewise, Ravel's two piano concertos evince an influence of
Gershwin.
He sought out tutors throughout his life. His piano teacher Charles Hambitzer was an
early influence; Gershwin said he made him ‘harmony conscious’. In the 1930s,
Joseph Schillinger helped lighten his orchestrations; he also, more controversially,
proposed mathematical formulae as a means of controlling material. Gershwin
requested help from 20th-century gods such as Ravel, Stravinsky, Nadia Boulanger
and Schoenberg (a tennis partner in Los Angeles). Henry Cowell and Wallingford
Riegger, American experimentalists, also agreed; most others declined, not wishing
 111

to damage his natural gifts.

George Gershwin asked to study with Ravel. When Ravel heard how much
Gershwin earned, Ravel replied with words to the effect of, "You should give me
lessons." (Some versions of this story feature Igor Stravinsky rather than Ravel as
the composer; however Stravinsky confirmed that he originally heard the story from
Ravel.)
Gershwin's own Concerto in F was criticized for being related to the work of Claude
Debussy, more so than to the expected jazz style. The comparison did not deter him
from continuing to explore French styles. The title of An American in Paris reflects
the very journey that he had consciously taken as a composer: "The opening part will
be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and Les Six, though
the tunes are original."
Aside from the French influence, Gershwin was intrigued by the works of Alban Berg,
Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg. He
also asked Schoenberg for composition lessons. Schoenberg refused, saying "I
would only make you a bad Schoenberg, and you're such a good Gershwin already."
(This quote is similar to one credited to Maurice Ravel during Gershwin's 1928 visit
to France – "Why be a second-rate Ravel, when you are a first-rate Gershwin?")
Gershwin was particularly impressed by the music of Berg, who gave him a score of
the Lyric Suite. He attended the American premiere of Wozzeck, conducted by
Leopold Stokowski in 1931, and was "thrilled and deeply impressed".
In 2007, the Library of Congress named their Prize for Popular Song after George
and Ira Gershwin. Recognizing the profound and positive effect of popular music on
culture, the prize is given annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime
contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins.
On March 1, 2007, the first Gershwin Prize was awarded to Paul Simon.
The conductor Serge Koussevitsky described seeing Gershwin at the keyboard: 'As I
watched him, I caught myself thinking, in a dream state, that this was a delusion; the
enchantment of this extraordinary being was too great to be real.' Gershwin may
never have learnt to read music fluently, but that didn't matter. His keyboard wizardry
was an alchemy of finger dexterity, memory and a phenomenal capacity for instant
invention.
He was a compulsive performer. At parties, he would commandeer the piano and
play variations on his show-tunes into the night. When even his mother told him not
to overdo it, he just said, 'If I don't play at a party I don't have a good time!'
 112

Having left school at 15, Gershwin became the youngest 'piano pounder' on Tin Pan
Alley ( Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music
publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in
the late 19th century and early 20th century). But he never performed the sheet
music as printed.
Gershwin had listened to ragtime pianists in Harlem as a boy, assimilating their
styles and mannerisms along with the blues-laden soulfulness and rhythmic
ingenuity of Negro jazz. He wanted to extend the potential of jazz into larger forms,
but he was not the first to use it in concert music. Milhaud, Satie and Stravinsky were
among the European composers who were attracted by ragtime and American
dance-crazes such as the foxtrot.
Anyway, Gershwin was the first to put American concert music on the map. The
patriotic anthem 'My Country! 'Tis of Thee', or Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America',
might have seemed the most appropriate climax for the opening ceremony of the
1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But the choice was not on them. It was the
synchronous sound of 84 pianists at 84 white pianos playing Rhapsody in Blue.
Rhapsody in Blue
Until nowadays "Rhapsody in Blue" exists in multiple versions.
Gershwin must have been concerned that his songs might not live once the shows
had closed. Of the tune in Rhapsody in Blue, he said, 'If I had taken the same
themes and put them into songs they would have been gone years ago.' Concert
music seemed to have a future, compared with the fragility of Broadway.
This piece is a concerto because it is written for solo piano and orchestra but its
structure is that of a rhapsody as it is one extended movement instead of three or
four separate movements. This “rhapsody” label is also supported by frequent
extreme musical contrasts in texture, timbre, tempo, and dynamics.
In January 1924, as George Gershwin and his lyricist friend B.G. DeSylva relaxed at
a local pool hall in New York while his brother Ira was reading the New York Herald
Tribune. The heading “Whiteman Judges Named, Committee Will Decide ‘What Is
American Music’” catches his eye where near the end of the brief article Gershwin’s
name appears. Whiteman has advertised that George is at work on a jazz concerto.
Surprisingly, George is not! Consumed with the final details of Sweet Little Devil,
George has just a few weeks to compose “Rhapsody in Blue,” his first piece in a
classical form and one of the greatest American classical works. Originally the work
was titled “American Rhapsody,” George changed it at the suggestion of his brother,
 113

Ira, who had recently attended an exhibition of artworks by James McNeil Whistler.
Whistler’s focus on “art for art’s sake” affected his painting titles. For instance, what
we know as “Whistler’s Mother” was actually named “Arrangement in Grey and
Black.” “Nocturne in Black and Gold” was the painting title Ira shared with his
brother, and “Rhapsody in Blue” was born.
On February 12, 1924 the audience including Sergei Rachmaninoff were ready for
An Experiment in Modern Music. Promised compositions by Irving Berlin and Victor
Herbert preceded the much anticipated first classical work by Gershwin who would
be performing (actually improvising because he hadn’t had the time to write it out)
the solo piano part of his concerto . Although favorably received by that evening’s
audience, the critic’s reviews were not as positive.
Even Bernstein’s comments later in the century were mixed: The Rhapsody is not a
composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together. The themes
are terrific – inspired, God-given. I don't think there has been such an inspired
melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky. But if you want to speak of a composer,
that's another matter. “Rhapsody in Blue” is not a real composition in the sense that
whatever happens in it must seem inevitable. You can cut parts of it without affecting
the whole. You can remove any of these stuck-together sections and the piece still
goes on as bravely as before. It can be a five-minute piece or a twelve-minute piece.
And in fact, all these things are being done to it every day. And it's still the
“Rhapsody in Blue”.
Nevertheless, in the months following its premiere, Gershwin performed his
groundbreaking piece twice at Carnegie Hall and recorded it in June of that year . At
age 25 Gershwin did not yet have any experience in orchestration, so his 1924
composition was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. Grofé worked for Paul Whiteman and
his 18 member jazz band. The piece was orchestrated again by Grofé in 1926 for pit
orchestra but the full orchestra version, published in 1942 but scored as early as
1937, is the one most used today. A film score version was created in 1930 and in
1938 one for concert band without piano (published also in 1942). In addition
Gershwin published a version for piano only as well as one for two pianos. He
intended to orchestrate the piece himself having committed to his publisher to do so
in 1937, but he died before beginning this project.
The Rhapsody became the unqualified hit it has remained to our own day. It has
been arranged to a fare-thee-well and received well over 200 recordings, and its big
broad tune toward the end has been used for such things as ring tones and
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commercials. Among another piano compositions by Gershwin are Tango, (1915) for
solo piano, written when he was 15; Three Preludes, (1926) first performed by
Gershwin at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City; Blue Monday, (1927) a piano
suite based on Gershwin's one-act opera of the same name and other...

Portrait of Schoenberg written by George

Gershwin. Gershwin with his portret of
Schoenberg. Like Schoenberg, Geroge
Gershwin was also an amateur painter.

George Gershwin with his portret of

Schoenberg
 115

About piano schools

Piano schools exist, but artistic personalities are placed above. It is possible to
ground the existence of national piano schools based in national tendencies of
leading performing tradition, gathering pianists at the end of the nineteenth century,
beginning of twentieth century. Important is, in fact, the adequate analytical exercise.
Always within a certain performing tradition, piano schools are important as effective
model or analytical instrument, as it is not possible to apply this generic category to
each one of the pianist as a genius. Schools are generic categories that have not
always real existence in the characterization of each artist. In fact, there are great
groups. They are made in a generic way, containing a very big group of very diverse
artistic personalities. On the other hand, categories are not to be mistaken with
nationalities.
When we attend a piano recital it is the individual artistic personality that stands out
and not a certain piano school. There is still the reality circumstance of the individual
career of each international artist, with frequent contact with distinct cultural
influences. This international circulation of artists with contrasting performing
personalities, always present, also during the first half of the twentieth century, took
us to another important observation, regarding the categorization and generic groups
that have been referred. As an example we may quote the Russian school pianists,
in their most charismatic representatives, for instance, as regards to repertoire.
While all of them dedicate themselves to the classic, romantic repertoire and to
works of Russian composers, we think immediately of the name of Sviatoslav
Richter, CITAR JOURNAL in choices and consequent conclusions, because none of
these important pianists failed to perform Beethoven and provide testimony of
Beethoven’s music through recording.
The Russian school believes, once more, in the assertion of work’s structure, in
slower movements, emphasizing a greater polyphonic clarity. All this is shown by the
performances of Richter, Gilels, Feinberg and Sofronitzky, in the sampling made.
The music structure becomes much clear, when playing, overlapping melody. Many
are the examples pointed out, as for instance, the case of 2nd movement’s theme,
where the polyphonic line is very perceptible. Example 3. Beethoven, Sonata op. 57.
Appassionata, second movement (bars 1-8) 4 | Discussion Another group, “OTHER
SCHOOLS”, includes Arturo L. V BEETHOVEN( 1770 - 1827) Sonata Nº 23 f minor
op.57 Appasssionata (1st Movement) Tempo Outline Table 2. Beethoven, Sonata
op. 57. Appassionata, first movement Figure 3 Beethoven, Sonata op. 57.
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Appassionata, second movement (bars 1-8) 11 as a pianist of universal and eclectic

taste, who plays all the repertoire, including many twentieth century and
contemporary works. Another important conclusion of this research, is that baroque
and classical repertoire reveals itself, generally, more defining of the performing
interpretative direction of each pianist. In the universe of the comparative analysis of
sampling made in this research, it is the case of recordings of works by D. Scarlatti,
J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, L. v. Beethoven and F. Schubert.
In the analysed work of Scarlatti, it is Horowitz (Russian school) who chooses a
slower tempo, inspiring a more personalized conception of the work, and less
conventional and standard in stylistic terms. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli prefers to
follow a more conservative performing style of baroque music, with a faster tempo,
less agogic patterning daring and less pedal. Also voice leading is simpler and
reminding the harpsichord and dance rhythms. C. Haskil stands in a compromise
result, as although movement is relatively quick, the agogic patterning supports, the
pedal and clarity individual lines of polyphonic texture are more released and give
the performance more creativity and imagination elements. Prelude and Fugue in C
major by J. S. Bach, Book 1 has been also analysed in the check-list survey. S.
Richter’s main concern (and also of V. Margulis) is performance in the sense of form
transmission. He gives great emphasis to structure, reaching the culminating
harmonic points with allargandi or significant agogic patterning. Edwin Fischer, of
German school, takes different options, giving more importance to melody and less
to structure and form. Thus his preference for a faster tempo, as a slower tempo
gives more clarity to polyphonic lines and structure. Likewise, Fugue is performed in
a slower tempo by Richter (vocal character, voice and singing) and by Fischer in a
faster tempo (musical instrument keyboard character, harpsichord). Richter still gives
the opportunity to the listener of following the clarity of individual lines of the
polyphonic texture of Fugue, without giving special prevalence to the theme’s many
entries. He manages to outline the dialogue between the voices in an organic and
attractive way. It may be then remarked the “organ” like performance tendency by
Richter, “piano” like performance by Fischer and the intended “clavichord voice”
performance by Margulis.
Different keyboard musical instruments (organ, piano, clavichord), different sonority
and expression. Here were expressed some differences between the Russian school
and the German school, regarding the preference for the structure and for the asset
in the polyphonic speech. In Fantasy in C minor KV 475, other characteristics are
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shown, such as the use of pedal by Sofronitzky, contrasting with the option of
Gieseking, who almost doesn’t use the right pedal adept of contention in the use of
right pedal. He uses, by contrast, una corda pedal many times. According to pianist
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli “Being a pianist and a musician, is not a profession. It
is a philosophy, a life conception that cannot be based on good intentions, or natural
talent. First of all, it is necessary to have an unimaginable spirit of sacrifice” All these
great pianists and whose audio register have been previously analysed surely go
with this approach of performing art and pianism
(www.arturobenedettimichelangeli.net).

Russian school
The russian School of Piano Playing is the piano method officially recommended for
use in children’s music schools throughout the Soviet Union today. It represents the
work of a number of distinguished teachers and pianists, and is generally considered
to be one of the most systematic and successful piano methods ever to be produced.
It aims at people possessing the essential progressional knowledge. However, the
explationary notes can also help adults to teach themselves the basic musical
rudiments and first step in piano playing.

German school
“While the German musicians focus their interest of musical performing on the side
of music architecture, being that their generic structures point out to a static
component in the core of performance, pianists of Russian tradition have more
interest on the progress of character of music, or by the sequence of internal
events.” says Großmann (Rathert at al. 1998).

French school
The French school is not very far from some perspectives of the German school, as
Marguerite Long (1874-1966), who was a great apologist of the “unconditional
respect for the text” (Timbrell, 1999), had as main concern, pianism precision, what
includes a total commitment to technical improvement. The jeu perlé, predilection for
the “subtle” pedal, as Yvonne Léfébure states, preference for a lighter and
“insensitive” repertoire, are other recognizing characteristics, as belonging to the
French piano school. As Daniel Wayenberg states, her main concern was the
pianism precision, in her book “Le Piano”, everything is referred and grounded
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(Long, 1956). The same thing can be observed in other testimonies, as for example
from E. Robert Schmitz “French love for rigour differs from the German, as it is less
massively concrete, and more logical, clearer, and easier to understand. I may even
state that these are the qualities that characterize the “French school” of piano,
singing, composition, art, of everything that has its roots in the French heart and
mentality.”

Italian School
Alongside the German, Russian, and French schools of piano playing during the
1800’s in Naples, the Neapolitan piano school, founded by Francesco Lanza (1783-
1862) and subsequently by Sigismund Thalberg (1812-71), was flourishing. Well into
the first part of the 1900’s, Naples with its conservatory was the center of piano
playing in Italy. Pianists such as Michelangeli, Ciccolini, Pollini, and most of the
Italian pianists have their roots in this school.

Furthermore, as pianists use their whole body to enhance their communication of the
music’s spiritual, emotional and dramatic essence, this study also aims to contribute
into research on performance practice.
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Content

1 Time line and forms of piano music. Periods of music pp.3-5

2 The Baroque era. Introduction pp.6-9
3..Artists of the time (Baroque era) pp.9-11
4.Johann Sebastian Bach pp.11-12
5.The keyboard music of J.S.Bach pp.12-13
6.The Classical era.Introduction pp.14-18
7.Sonata -Allegro form description pp.18-20
8.Franz Joseph Haydn pp.20-21
9.Volfgang Amadeus Mozart pp.22-27
10.Ludwig van Beethoven pp.28-30
11.Franz Schubert pp.30-33
12.Artists of the time(classical period) pp.34-36
13.The Romantic era.Introduction pp.37-40
14.Artists of the time( romantic period) pp.40-41
15.Composers from Germany ( romantic period) pp.42
16.Robert Schuman pp.42-48
17.Composers from Poland and Hungary pp.48
18.Frederic Chopin pp.48-54
19.Franz Liszt pp.55-60
20.Composers from Russia pp.60
21.Pyotr Tchaikovsky pp.60-67
22.Sergey Rachmaninov pp.67-75
23.The Modern era.Introduction pp.76-78
24.Impressionism pp.79-80
25.Claude Debussy pp.80-87
26.Maurice Ravel pp.87-89
27.Alexander Scriabin pp.91-96
28.Bela Bartok pp.96-99
29.IgorStravinsky pp.99-101
30.Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg pp.101-104
31. Paul Hindemith pp.104-107
32.Sergey Prokofiev pp.107-109
33.John Cage pp.109
34.George Jacob Gershwin pp.110-112
35.Rhapsody in Blue pp.112-114
36.About piano schools pp.115-118
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