lecture 8 romantic piano music
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8/13/2019 LECTURE 8 Romantic Piano Music
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harmonic progressions and his virtuosity precedes Liszt who then pushed the
boundaries of technique even further. It should be remembered that Chopin was
quite specific about the use of rubato in works like the Nocturnes: He said the LHshould always play in time whilst the RH can be free to play rubato in the melody.
Study in C minor [Revolutionary] . Fantasy – Impromptu in C# minor
Polonaises in A major & C minor Schumann’s solo piano output is considerable and his style was very different to
Chopin‟s pure absolute outlook. His wrote a number of collections under various
titles and each of the pieces has programmatic titles. In Carnaval he portrays
characters of Eusebius and Floristan, Chopin and Paganini! Most of these piecesare miniature in character. Collections include Papillons, Kinderszenen,
Kreisleriana, Fantasiestücke, Novelletten and Album for the Young written for
children.
Franz Liszt was a legendary virtuoso whose output for solo piano is quiteremarkable in the sheer quantity he produced. It ranges from the Years of
Pilgrimage [Pieces with character titles] to arrangements of BeethovenSymphonies and Operatic paraphrases. His technique was staggering and his musicrequires a virtuoso pianist to execute it! He is remembered for his Hungarian
Rhapsodies but for sheer brilliance of technique his 12 Transcendental Studies are
outstanding! Number 4 Mazeppa was later turned into a symphonic poem for
orchestra. His 6 Paganini Caprices taken from the famous virtuoso violinist arevery demanding including the legendary La Campanella [the Bells]. Liszt,
although writing a huge single-movement Sonata in B minor, favoured the
programmatic approach in his piano writing. He toured Europe giving recitals to packed concert halls and played his programmes from memory! He also was the
first pianist to turn the piano at a right angle to the audience and to have lid raised in
order to project the sound into the hall. Mephisto Waltz – “Der Tanz in derDorfschenke”.
Brahms was brought up in the port of Hamburg and showed great pianistic skills at
an early age. He had to play the piano in some of the low dives in the port and this
experience left a mark on his character. Brahms‟s piano music is virtually entirely
absolute music with a couple of exceptions where he quotes a Scottish poet at thetop of the music. He wrote much piano music following in the classical tradition of
piano sonatas but he also wrote 4 Ballades as Chopin had done. He was also very
interested in the music of the past and wrote Variations and Fugue on a theme of Handel, Chaconne for Left Hand on a theme by Bach and Variations on a theme of
Paganini. He was very fond of the waltzes of Johann Strauss II and wrote
collections of waltzes himself but they are smaller in scale when compared withStrauss‟s concert waltzes. Towards the end of his life he composed some intimate Intermezzi with Ballade and Rhapsody. These are very personal works from a
composer who had had a highly successful career and reflect a degree of
satisfaction and sadness in the latter years of his life.
Recommended Reading: A History of Western Music – Donald J. Grout