IB Music SL

Romanticism

Unit 17 Piano Literature

The Piano and Its Literature

Piano: home use, favorite instrument of virtuosos

Four-hand piano music Technical improvements Steinway

The Short Lyric Piano Piece

Instrumental equivalent to the song “Prelude,” “Intermezzo,” “Impromptu” mazurka, polonaise, waltz, scherzo

Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Robert and Clara Schumann, Brahms

Chopin and Piano Music

The “poet of the piano” Frédéric François Chopin (1810–1849) French/Polish composer and pianist Early music studies Career in Paris Close friends with leading composers,

artists, poets, writers George Sand (Aurore Dudevant) Tuberculosis Early death at age 39

Chopin’s Music

Centered on the piano Modern piano style Standard repertory Smaller forms: nocturnes,

preludes, impromptus, waltzes, mazurkas, études

Larger forms: ballades, polonaises, a fantasy, sonatas, piano concertos

Chopin: Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1

One of Chopin's most heroic works Strong, stately dance feel in triple meter 3-part form:

A section marked by a martial quality B section is more lyrical

Chopin: Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4

Set of 24 preludes inspired by Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier

Expressiveness by the simplest means Gently mournful mood

Liszt and the Rise of the Performer/Composer

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) Hungarian-born composer and pianist Close friends with reigning intellectuals and artists Personal magnetism on stage and with women

Daniel Stern (Countess Marie d’Agoult) Turned entirely to composition Court conductor to grand duke of Weimar (1848–61)

“Music of the future” (Wagner, Berlioz) Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein

Abbé Liszt: religious works Successful trip to England Died at age 75

Liszt’s Music

Pure lyric expression Symphonic poem Thematic transformation Highly virtuosic, technically

difficult works Symphonies, concertos,

symphonic poems, sacred music, piano music

Liszt: The Little Bell (La Campanella)

Study pieceTranscendental Etudes after Paganini

Evokes small church bell Two musical sections (A-B) in continual

variation Physically demanding work Étude is transformed from dry exercise to

poetic mood piece

Clara Schumann: Pianist and Composer

Clara Wieck Schumann (1819–1896) German pianist, composer, and interpreter Early music studies First public concert at age nine Wife of Robert Schumann, and lifelong friend of

Johannes Brahms Concertized after Robert’s death Last public concert at age of 72

Clara Schumann’s Music

Songs, piano music, chamber music (including piano trio)

Technically difficult, deeply introspective

Piano concerto

Clara Schumann: Nocturne,

from Music for an Evening Entertainment

From a collection of 6 character pieces (Soirées musicales, Op.6)

Rich harmony, complex rhythmic structure Ternary form Robert Schumann quoted this piece in

one of his own works.

Louis Gottschalk and Piano Music in America

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) Native of New Orleans

English-born Jewish father/French-Creole mother Trained in Paris

1st internationally acclaimed U.S. composer Affinity for the Afro-Caribbean folk music

Popular in the U.S., South America, &Caribbean Organized "monster" concerts in Brazil

Died in Brazil 1869 Overdose of quinine to treat malaria

Gottschalk's Music

Remembered today for his piano music

Composed operas, orchestral works, American patriotic tunes

Exploited all manner of dance and song forms

Syncopated rhythms anticipate ragtime

Gottschalk: The Banjo (Le banjo: Fantasie grotesque)

Free form work for solo piano 2 main sections, each repeated Highly syncopated

Imitates strumming and picking of banjo Melody in coda suggests Camptown

Races