Debussy and Ravel

Debussy (1862-1916) is perhaps the most famous composer from the impressionistic period in music history. He grew up poor and resided on the outskirts of Paris. He, however, did manage to gain entrance into the Paris Conservatory where he flowered as an artist and composer. He wrote a great deal of piano music that features 3-dimensional kinds of sounds and textures and layering unlike any other composer had ever managed to create. There is a story that upon Debussy's death, a friend sat down at Debussy's piano and started playing for Debussy's daughter to console her. Later, at asking her how it made her feel to have him play her late father's music, she responded simply, "daddy listened more".
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) also wrote a great deal for the piano during the course of his life. His most famous work is perhaps the Gaspard de la nuit (1908). He also, however, composed a great deal of music including the Pavone for a dead infant (1899), Jeux d'eau (1901), Sonantine and Moroirs (1905), Valses nobles (1911) and many other works. Gaspard is made up of three movements and to hear this piece requires no further explanations. There are many great recordings out there that I would recommend, my top being by former teacher, Ya-Fei Chuang, but many extraordinary recordings of this piece exist.

Faure, Grieg, Rachmaninoff & Scriabin

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) was a French composer that spent some time being taught by the great composer Saint-Saens. He wrote a great deal of organ and church music as well as some piano music. He was never popular as a composer and led a rather bitter life. He was only recognized very late in life for his accomplishments. His Nocturnes are beautiful and melodic pieces with stranger harmonies and a lit bit more exotic in style than something that we may find by Chopin.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is very famous as a Norwegian composer for his compositions of the lyric pieces (66 of them) as well as for his piano concerto in a minor. Liszt was able to sightread all of Grieg's compositions. Grieg had heavy influence by the folk tunes he was surrounded by and linked many of his pieces to things or areas of his life.
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a great legend as a concert pianist and composer. He became one of the top pianists, however he did become a concert pianist until the age of 40. He worked with hypnotherapists often and credited Dr. Nicholas Dall, who he said brought him out of depression and back into his own creative flow. Rachmaninoff lived in Hollywood, and is said to have never smiled. He wrote a great deal of magnificent piano music (including his 2nd and 3rd piano concertos, which are among my favorites in piano literature), and always presented a direct and straight forward method in both his outward appearance and personality as well as in his musical compositions.
Scriabin (1871-1915) was born on Christmas day and thought of himself as a kind of Messiah. He was raised by women and hugely influencedby this. He injured his right hand not too late in his career and during this time spent a lot of time composing pieces for the left hand. He wrote a great deal of piano music, and had the goal of writing the Mysterium, which would bring about the end of the world.

Brahms and Franck

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in Hamburg, Germany and became a very original and well known composer in the Romantic Era. His father played the flute, violin, horn, cello, and bass and his mother was a seamstress. He grew up in a lower middle class family but had an excellent education. He began to have his piano lessons at the age of 7 and also learned to be proficient on both the cello and horn. He was an avid reader and ruthless editor of his writings as well as his music. He has completely destroyed many of his compositions. Upon comment about Liszt's meeting with Brahms, Liszt replied "I was visited by a genius". Brahms later settled in Vienna and focused his skills on harnessing rhythmic and harmonic tempi, making sure that every note counted in every single one of his compositions, and developing his material further. One could describe Brahms as the enginner of music, for his approach was remarkably similar. He composed a huge range of piano literature, among my favorite of course in his second and third sonatas which best encompass his playing. He wrote those before he was 20 years old...oh my.
Cesar Franck (1822-1890) was born in Belgium and studied later at the Paris Conservatory. Although he did not compose that much music for the piano, his pieces are legends (he spent most of his time composing for the pipe organ). My favorite of his compositions in the prelude choral and fugue (performed by Evgeny Kissin), and I believe it to be one of the strongest pieces of the genre to come out of this time.

The Rockstar That Made the Ladies Faint

Franz Liszt was a rockstar. He found incredibly unique ways to achieve the maximum effect out of the piano of his day. From very early on he was a successful pianist and soon reached the epitome of artistic success in Europe. Many other musicians, such as Clara Schumann, frowned upon his style. His Father had been his first music teacher before he went to study under Czerny. He travelled widely around Europe and was heavily influenced by the places, people, and things that he saw along his way, and often documented them in written or musical journals (such as the Years of the Pilgramage). Pianistically, his music treats the piano more like an orchestra than anything else. He had an incredibly gifted talent for transcribing things for the piano and often did that with many other compositions. He was a missionary for music while making it his own at the same time. He developed new ways for the tremolo affect, more coloristic and chromatic uses of harmony, parallel diminished seven chords, tritones, parallel fourths, slow moving melodies with lots of figurations, cadential figures, receisative sections, repeated throbbing chords, and many other things along his compositional journey. There is so much to talk about in his music that one could not even begin to cover any part of it in a small blog entry, but suffice to say he was the greatest pianist in Europe, a rockstar, and one of the most gifted and famous artists in history.

The American Composers

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was a student of Nadia Boulangy and composed a great deal of original music for the piano including a set of piano variations (1930), a Piano Sonata (1939-1941) and the Piano Fantasy (1955-1957). Elliot Carter (1908-present) composed his sonata, night fantasies (1982) and also was a student of Nadia Boulangy. Samuel Barber (1910-1981) wrote primarily the 4 excursions (1944), his Sonata Op. 26, and his Ballade in 1977. Milton Babit was an extremely mathematical composer and had his own way of composing. Then you have countless other composers such as Willaim Bolcom and Albright (both composers in the Rag style), John Adams (minimalist), Ewsky Frederick (famous for the composition of "People United Will Never Be Defeated"), Liebermann, Cowell (most influential composer in terms of getting us to work inside of the piano during performance), John Cage (heavily influenced by eastern philosophy and perhaps most famous for his compositional work of 4:33), and George Crumb (more romantic that has a large emphasis on symbols of the sound and music).

The European 20th Century Masters

Shostakovich (1908-1975) was an extremely influential composer in music history of this time. He had a close connection to the Stalin regime, meaning that all music had to be "accessible to the workers", so therefore much of his music and melodies are very simple. He spent his life suffering because he felt his compositional integrity had suffered. He wrote many pieces for the piano including 2 piano sonatas, 24 preludes Op. 34, and 24 preludes and fugues Op. 84 (the most famous being the prelude and fugue in d minor). There are very contrupuntal pieces that mimicked the works of Bach.
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) also added his flavor to compositions of the 20th century primarily through his first piano sonata which best portrays his style. He also composed a suite of criollas dances, a set of Argentina dances, 12 American preludes as well as some other compositions.
Stockhausen (1928-present) was a piano student of Messian and a very structured worker in his composing. Everyday he would work from 10:30-1:30pm, then 3:00pm-7:00pm, then 10:00pm-12:00am. He was a problem solver and a thinker. He ventured into the area of electronic music and composed very heavy serial music. He had his own notational system and had an "aleatoric" style (latin being the world for chance).
Messian (1908-1992) was a very profound and unique composer. He literally saw colors as effects of different sounds and combinations of sounds. He wrote a great deal for the piano, perhaps the most famous works being his 20 Vingt Regards sur L'Efant Jesus. He invented his own musical language that was heavily influenced by Debussy (the sounds and sonorities) and Stravinsky (freedom of meter). Messian also used additive rhythm where he would bring the fibonacci sequence, or prime numbers, into the amount of note values for give passages of music. In 1942 he published his own book on his musical style stating that harmony was color, and not directional.

Poulenc, Szymanowski, Hindament & Prokofiev

There are so many composers that come out of this time in music history and all of them exhibit their own style and unique approach to music and composition. Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) is probably most famous for his quote, "Don't analyze my music, love it!". His Biggest and most influential piano piece was probably Les soirees de nazelles which are a set of 8 character pieces with a prelude and finale which last a total of approximately 30 minutes. All of his music for piano fits onto three CD's. Most of it is very pleasant and tonal, such as Napoli for example. It is a short 1:30 second piece with beautiful lines and pleasant tonalities.
Szymanowski (1882-1937) is somehow often forgotten in the mix of 20th century composers, yet he was arguably the greatest Polish composer since Chopin. He was heavily influenced by Scriabin, Strauss, Debussy, Stravinsky and Chopin. He has a very impressionistic sound and wrote some very lovely piano music including the Etude No. 4 which is a piece every pianist should learn!
Paul Hindament (1895-1963) was a well-known German composer. He believed that music shoulder be useful and functional. He believed in the "craft" of music verses the "mountaintop experience of music". In 1937 he wrote a very famous text titled, "The Craft of Musical Composition". In 1942 he took at position as professor at Yale University. His most famous piece for piano is most likely the Suite of 1922 which consists of 5 movements based on early 17th century dance styles. He said in his book, "Forget everything you have leared, and use the piano as an interesting percussion intrument".
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is another legendary composer to come out of this time period. He wrote around 100 smaller pieces for the piano as well as some rather large ones. He was a neo-classical composer and his sonatas were in classical form. He displays a great sense of rhythm with a dry tones and often many faster notes in a row. He often uses motor rhythms to just keep the piece driving from the first note to the very last. His Piano Sonata No. 6 is a good example of typical Prokofiev style composition. It is very rigurous with fantastic progressions throughout.

Bartok and Stravinsky

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) was an astoundingly gifted composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. His primary goal was to marry the native Hungarian folk tunes with the more western and classical traditions. Like Dohnanyi, Bartok also studied composition under Hans Koessler. During the course of his life, Bartok published almost 2,000 folk songs. in 1907 he became professor at the Budapest Academy where he collected a lot of his material. He had three major compositional periods: his early period (1907-1917), middle (1918-1935), and late (1936-1945). His music is extremely motivic, based on melodies that are expanding, based on many tritones continuous meter in a classical sense, a dryness of sound, a folk-like quality and character, a melodic contour of line, and a great sense of pathos throughout. There are two main styles of Bartok. The first is the more declarative, slower, and chant-like style known as Parlando-Rubato, and the second which is faster and more dance-like known as Tempo-Giusto. Bartok's Out of Doors Suite often plays the melody twice in a row. The second time is usually more elaborate...much like Mozart's style. Bartok is mimicking the classical style in this piece. He does use a different key signature at times, and uses many folk-like melodies based on simple ideas with ornamental influences.
Stravinsky (1882-1971) is perhaps most famous for the composition of the Rite of Spring (1913) which caused the infamous riot upon its debut performance. His Piano Sonata (1924) also represents a very similar style to the Rite of Spring in Stravinsky's compositional methods.

Dohnanyi and Kodaly

The Hungarian artist Ernst Dohnanyi (1877-1960) studied at the Budapest Academy (now known as the Liszt Academy) with Hans Koessler. He made his debut recital in Berlin at the age of 20 years old as a virtuoso concert pianist which launched him into a wonderful career. He went back to teach at the Budapest Academy for a short time before coming to the USA. He then became very interested in folk song and later became a professor at the Florida State University College of Music and is now buried in Tallahassee, Florida. His Ruralia Hungarica is a set of seven movements. These pieces certainly have a folk element to them and the rhythmic motives are probably the most memorable aspect of the performance of this piece along with the folk harmonies.
Kodaly (1882-1967), made significant contributions to the field of music education. He was Bartok's assistant in many things and received his PhD in folk music. His only really significant piece of piano was his Dances for Marosszek (1927) which were later orchestrated in 1930.

Ives and Griffes

I believe that Charles Ives (1874-1954) is one of the more fascinating composers. Born in Danburry, Connecticut, he grew up studying music with his dad, who was the village band director, and developed a very open mind. He went on to study with Hiratio Parker at Yale, and then became an insurance seller. He never was a professional musician. He viewed music from an entirely different perspective, and when you read his words, it is completely fascinating how he views art. My favorite piece by this composer is Alcotts from the Concord Mass. It is based on the Beethoven 5th symphony motive and expands on it in a truly magnificent and virtuosic way.
Charles Griffis (1884-1920) was also a well known composer of this era. He was a New Yorker and a rebel seeking to break out of tradition. He is responsible for the idea of sensory passiveness (receiving through the senses), and said "There is more to experience in a sunset than in student a Beethoven Sonata". He experienced things instead of creating them in his philosophy. His 3 tone pictures Op. 5 are a great example of this. They are relatively tonal and sensitive pieces, but one can grasp a kind of sensory passiveness throughout the entity.

German Composers

Schoenberg (1874-1951) is one of the most known composers to come out of this time period. Large self-taught in piano and composition, he saw himself as continuing an old tradition (verses Debussy, for example, who saw himself as rebelling against the tradition). He is largely responsible for the "emancipation of dissonance", meaning that dissonances in music no longer need to resolve. He does away completely with the idea of tension and resolution. He also had a very expressionalist way of writing. This means that it is usually hyper intense, distorted in expression, and full of atonality in order to set the music free from any kind of expectation. This was largely due to the theories by the noted psychologist Freud. Schoenberg was trying to set the subconscious mind free. His Piano Piece Op.33a is only 2 minutes in length but clearly demonstrates these ideas in action.
Anton Webern (1883-1945) was another German composer of this time and a student of Schoenberg. His pieces are most noted for their sparse textures, condensation of expresion, shortness in length of his pieces (most under one minute), focused intensity, and motivic concentration. The biggest piece that he ever wrote for piano was the Piano Variations Op.27 (written in 1936). Many have stated this Webern's music is like Brahms, and should be played in that style...meaning highly expressive and filled with rubato. His death in 1945 was very tragic. He was out during curfew in 1945 smoking a cigar, and was shot dead, accidentally, by American soldiers.
Another student of Schoenberg is the noted composer Alban Berg (1885-1935). His most popular piece of the piano is his Sonata for piano Op. 1 (1908). It is based on tonality very much in the late romantic style and is constructed in sonata allegro form (it even repeats the exposition!!). It is highly chromatic with lots of counterpoint and a sound very reminiscent of Scriabin to my ears.

Spanish Composers

When listening to music composed in Spain during the late 1800's and early 1900's, one cannot help but become aware of its unique characteristics.
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) is a noted Spanish composer of this time period. A virtuosic pianist, he gave his first piano recital at the age of 4, and at the age of 7 some say he was accepted into the Paris Conservatory, but then rejected after he threw a rock through a window, others say he was not accepted due to his age. Regardless, he went to the USA for sometime, and by the time he was 15 years old he was travelling all around performing and working with some of the greatest teachers, including the noted composition teacher Felipe Pedrell. When listening to the music of Albeniz such as Triana from Ibelia, you can really begin to hear the unique characteristics of his music. Most notably would be his dance rhythms of Spain, exotic scales and chordal textures, guitar idioms, and his "cante jondo", or intoned musical singing.
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) is another noted Spanish composer of this time period (also a student of Filipe Pedrell). His most famous piece is probably Goyescas (1911) which was later the subject for an opera he wrote in 1914. La Maja y el ruisenor is from this set of pieces and is very music in the romantic piano style. It is extremely lyrical with many beautiful, melodic passages, rubato and exotic harmonies.
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) was also a noted Spanish composer and student of Filipe Pedrell. He is best known for his ballets. He spent seven years of his life living in Paris where he came into contact with Debussy, Ravel, and many other famous composers. His Fantasia baetica (1919) is also one of his more well known pieces. This has an incredibly modern and percussive sound throughout and was actually written for Artur Rubenstein. It has some very strange clusters of tones and an extremely rhythmic feel throughout.

The Polish Piano Master

Chopin is perhaps the greatest favorite for the pianist to perform. There is something about the lyrical melodies, the virtuosic flutters of sound, the deep bass chords, the artistic and emotional rubato, or the way that the notes fit so well under the human hand that seduces the pianist in Chopin's music. His 24 preludes are one of his more famous works. Chopin was a big fan of Bach, and these are a tribute to him. They are preludes to nothing. Nothing whatsoever follows each prelude except another prelude. Most likely these were not meant to be performed all together at once, although they certainly do work out nicely that way. Unlike Bach, who organized his prelude in fugues beginning in C Major and then moving chromatically up the piano, Chopin pairs each major key prelude with its relative minor. All of these pieces are relatively short. The longest is the Db Major prelude often nicknamed "Raindrop" which is approximately six minutes in length. These preludes span a wide range of sound and pianist features. Some are slow, lyrical, and deep, while others are very flashy and technical. Some have large full sounding chords, and others are made up of flutters of sound. One thing for the pianist to consider is always how much time to take in between preludes. Some, such as the first one in C Major, connect very well with their parallel minor prelude, while others do not do this nearly as smoothly. These are wonderful pieces and I always love to hear them performed all together in concert. Chopin's Mazurkas are also amazing pieces of music literature. Performances of these mazurkas are extremely varied because of the genre of this music. His etudes are also outstanding pieces of music. Perhaps what is most amazing about these pieces is how concert-worthy they are. Many etudes can sound like technical exercises which, in essence, they are. But, Chopin manages to take the listener away from just the technical aspect of these pieces and transform them into musical, lyrical, and dramatic works of art.

Clara Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn

Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was an extraordinary woman and fantastic pianist and composer. Married to Robert Schumann and referenced in many of his major compositional works, Clara was a famous concert pianist during that time. What is most notable about her fame is the fact that she was a woman, which was seen as unfit for many of that time. As an artist, she was perhaps the polar opposite of her pianistic rival; Franz Liszt. She cared all about the art of making music and the meaning behind each note, and had no interest in showing off or flaunting her abilities. Her Notturno and Mazurka from Soirees Musicales Op. 6 are both wonderful pieces of music. The Notturno (#2) has a beautiful melody that, for me, is similar almost to that of Chopin. There are virtuosic aspects to the piece as well adding to the depth and drama of this piece. The melody spans a very wide range of the keyboard which has a humbling affect on the listener due to the depth of the piano the melody reaches during the course of this piece. Her Mazurka (#5) begins extremely rhythmic and almost march-like. This is balanced with a more playful section that follows with light runs and figures. The interchange remains for the rest of the piece.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was also an extraordinary composer. As a child prodigy, his compositional abilities rivaled that of W.A. Mozart. The difference between the two composers was that, unlike Mozart, Mendelssohn's abilities did not really improve with age. This is most likely due to the fact that he was very wealthy, so improvement was not required for his success or stability in life. He came from a wealthy background with his father being a Banker. Mendelssohn contributed a great number of works towards piano literature, perhaps most notably his eight books of "Songs without Words" and his six preludes and fugues (Mendelssohn greatly admired J.S. Bach's work as did his teacher Zelter). Mendelssohn's Variations serieuses consist of a group of variations based on a single theme. The interesting thing about Mendelssohn's writing is that he goes back into a more classical and actually baroque style in that some of the variations are variations on a previous variation, such as variations two being a variation of variation one. These variations encompass a wide range of musical possibilities on the piano ranging from chordal octaves to light scattered sounds to syncopated rhythms and lyrical chordal progressions. Emotions and visions of all kinds can be explored throughout this piece and, despite the varied textures of the variations, this piece remains one large unit as if a thread was linking all these smaller variations together into one great masterpiece.

Schumann's Fantasy

"This is my most impassioned work" wrote Robert Schumann in a letter describing the creation of his Fantasy. Composed in approximately 1836 during the time that Clara was away from him, he poored all of his attention and artist creation into this piece of music. It is a major tribute to Beethoven as wel as a yearning for Clara. Clues to this are hidden throughout the piece. For instance, there is a distinct five-note decending scale symbolizing the five letters of Clara's name. Also, in the Adagio section of the first movement, Schumann quotes "To My Distant Beloved" which is from Beethoven's first song cycle. It is also a reference to Clara, his "distant beloved". There are several other sections in this piece where Schumann hints at major works of Beethoven, such as the beginning of the third movement where the opening is extremely similar to that of the moonlight sonata. This piece is incredibly beautiful and perhaps my favorite work by Schumann.

Schumann's XII Etudes Symphoniques

Robert Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques, Op. 12, or Symphonic Etudes is a set of beautiful etudes (or studies) written for the piano. This set of etudes is best on a theme by Ernest von Fricken's flute work. Ernest von Fricken was the father of Ernestine von Fricken, to whom Schumann was engaged. She was referenced in Schumann's Carnival Op. 9 in "Estrella". This piece is filled with things very typical in Schumann's own unique compositional style. These include many uses of completely overdotted rhythms as well as many chordal tones and march rhythms. It is difficult to locate any etude involving scales or arpeggios, which is the normal foundation for an etude of Chopin or Liszt. The only location in this piece where scales are really present is in the Fantasy-like etude. But those are more in the style of what Schumann was going for in reference to that specific etude, and not necessarily anything he needed or used to make the piece a whole. It is also interesting to note that this piece is in c-sharp minor except for two of the etudes. These are number XI which is in g-sharp minor, and the finale which is in the key of D-flat Major. This is perhaps Schumann's most technically demanding work for keyboard, although it is demanding in a different way than a book of Chopin or Liszt etudes.

Schumann's Carnaval

One cannot study Schumann's piano music without looking in great depth one of his finest works; Carnaval Op. 9. Carnaval is the period before Lent. This means that it is the last time that one gets to attend to their pleasures before the period of giving those up. Carnaval is made up of 22 parts...Preambule, Pierrot, Arlequin, Valse noble, Eusebius, Florestan, Coquette, Replique, Sphinxes, Papillons, A.S.C.H.-S.C.H.A., Chiarina, Chopin, Estrella, Reconnaissance, Pantalon et Colombine, Valse allemande, Paganini, Aveu, Promenade, Pause and Marche des "Davidsbuendler" contre les Philistins. Robert Schumann is famous for referencing other things outside of his music amidst his compositions. This piece is primarilly built on a main motive on four notes. These are referenced under the title where Schumann writes, "Scenes mignonnes sur quatre notes" which roughly translates to, "Small Scenes", or "Little Scenes on four notes" These notes are a, e-flat, c, and b. In German, the a remains a, the e-flat becomes es, and c remains c, and the b becomes h. This then spells A.S.C.H. This is the name of the town in Bohemia which was the birthplace of his girlfriend, Ernestine von Fricken. This motive appears in Arlequin, Florestan, Coquette, Pierrot, Papillions, and hidden in Eusebius as well. Schumann also bluntly refers to others things in this work. For instance, Arlequin is referencing the jester. Valse Noble is refrencing Schubert's set of these works and Chiarina is referencing Clara. Chopin is referencing the composer, Frederic Chopin, Paganini is referencing Paganini, and Estrella is referencing Ernestine, to whom he was engaged. Sphinxes is an interesting creation in this work. It is divided into three parts, all with the pitches, e-flat, c, b, and a. This, in German would equal; es, c, h, a or S.C.H.A. which is a musical spelling of Schumman's name. This is not usually performed in concert, although Rachmaninoff has a fantastic recording where he created harmonizations to this part of Carnaval. This musical piece is a beautiful and extraordinary work of art and certainly one of the most famous pieces composed by Robert Schumann.

Schumann's Papillions

When listening to Schumman's Papillions, or butterflies, one cannot help but be intrigued by its playful beauty and sweeping passages. Inspired by Jean Paul Richter's romance entitled "Die Flegeljahre", Schumann set out to depict the final chapter of the book using sound. The chapter depicts an elaborate masked ball. One listening to this piece can vividly imagine the "brightly lit ballroom, full of fluttering figures and fancy hats, all of them in an enchanted frenzy", depicted by light brilliant figures in the piano, or the "giant boot that was gliding along, wearing and carrying itself", depicted by an accented octave solo melody in the lower range of the piano.
All twelve parts of this piece are wonderfully written for the pianist. They allow moments of virtuosic sparkle while also retaining a kind of musical simplicity. The majority of this piece takes place within the middle range of the piano, which one could expect of Schumann's writing, and also virtuosic in sections, these parts are not dominated by scales and arpeggios, as with most composers, but rather with chordal kinds of passages. The last section of this piece, number twelve, incorporates the popular "Grandfather's Dance" traditional tune. According to history, this was to mark the end of the ball, which is appropriate in this piece because during this section, one can distinctly hear the six A natural pitches sounding in the treble of the right hand, symbolizing that it is now six in the morning and they have danced the night away.

Piano Literature

This is my first blog on my site. Throughout the next 15 weeks or so I will be making several posts about music being studied in piano literature class at the Florida State University College of Music.