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.