Week 2 : Piano Music

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Brahms' Piano Music

•  His first piano sonata is very close to the opening of Beethoven's Hammerkalvier sonata;

•  His style: low lying sonorities, recapitulation first heard in the mediant, pedal points, hemiolas for rhythmic ambiguities, dense sonorities with many parallel sixths and thirds, harmonies that tend to turn toward the “flat side.”

•  His earliest compositions weighted heavily towards piano music. 1851-53 Opp. 4,2,1 and 5 piano sonatas were composed. Some of the above stated hallmarks of his mature style can be seen in his earliest pieces. They show some of the motivic development and large scale structures that he got from Bach and Beethoven, as well as thematic t transformation and colorful harmony of Liszt and Chopin and a poetic literary inclination of Schumann.

•  F minor piano sonata op. 5 1853 à draws imaginatively on all these traditions. The sonata form is built by using a clear motif in a series of transformations and wide ranging modulations as if the theme was telling a story.

•  In the scherzo of op. 4, e flat minor 1851 he compensated for the natural sectional nature of the form by creating close thematic interrelationships between the sections.

•  Op. 1 C major 1852 For example the scherzo à its beginning shows pedals on the tonic E and then the dominant B and the characteristic parallel 8-6 chords in the treble doubled below and the hemiola like metrical ambiguity in measure three.

•  The slow movements of the three piano sonatas are character pieces or songs without words. They evoke folk song like in his lieder. Andante of op. 1 is a German Minnelied and the Andante theme of op. 2 does not have text but Brahms reportedly told his friend Dietrich that is was inspired by the texto f the German Minnelied Mir is leide. Op. 5 both andantes are related to C.O. Sternau poems and portions are probably inspired by a folk like melody by Silcher set to a text attributed to Wilhelm Hauff.

•  The slow movements of op. 1 and op.2 are significant as they are his first small experiments in variation form. Each consist of only a few variations on a short theme. Both themes are call and response in structure and are free and imaginative. For example in op. 1 a brief four note motif in the middle register in homophonic choral style is responded by pianistic figuration.

•  Variations on a theme by Schumann op. 9 1854 à broad range of pianistic moods inspired by Schumann's own works. Op. 23 The Schumann variations Taken from a melody Schumann wrote down not long before his attempted suicide. It has a more restricted range of expression and character than the earlier op. 9 set showing Brahms 1860's neo classical phase. The final variation is a major mode funeral march which is woven into the original theme.

•  Variations on a Theme by Paganini op. 35 places emphasis on virtuosity and have the principle title of “studies for the piano.” As with the etudes of other great composers, including Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy, technique is always paired with powerful and contrasting musical expression.

•  Ballades op. 10, 1854 à 4 ballads. His first set of smaller piano pieces with folk sources such as the Scottish ballad.

•  Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel op 24 1856-7 à neo classical or neo baroque tendency. The Handel Variations took Bach's Goldberg and Beethoven's Diabelli variations as the starting point for building a monumental and varied structure upon a highly simple theme

•  16 Waltzes op. 39, 1865 à based on popular genres. Composed in the spirit of Schubert and his dances (the Ländler D790). Theses are miniatures in rounded or recapitulating binary form and range from the style hongrois to Biedermeir sentimentality. 1860's Brahms drew on popular styles and gypsy style.

•  Hungarian Dances for piano, 1872 a set of 21 dance tunes based on Hungarian themes. They vary from about a minute to four minutes in length. They are among his most popular works, and were the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a plethora of instruments and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano for 4 hands and later arranged the first 10 dances for solo piano. He wrote orchestra arrangements for No. 1, No. 3 and No. 10. Other composers, including Dvorak , orchestrated the other dances. The most famous Hungarian Dance is No. 5 in F-sharp minor (g minor in the orchestral version). They are large scale sectional works based on mostly pre existing gypsy tunes. He combined folk and high art as successfully as he blended different historical periods in other works.

•  Kalvierstüke op. 76, 1879 He entered a phase where he wrote shorter character pieces such as Capriccio and intermezzo. Two Rhapsodies of op. 79 are his largest independent single movement piano works after the Scherzo op. 4. Both have clear formal designs. No. 1 in ternary form in b minor and no. 2 in G minor is a full sonata form. The g minor begins with a very unusual deceptive cadence where the deception is in the melody rather than the bass.

•  Fantasien op. 116 à can be considered as a coherent whole due to his thematic, harmonic and stylistic connections. It is divided between intermezzos and capriccios begin and ends in d minor and in the middle there is a group centered on E major/minor. In the intermezzo in E op. 116 no. 4 he displays his unique treatment of structure. There are three thematic units and is not conventional ternary or recapitulating binary form but a variation somewhat like a musical prose without patterned repetition.

•  In his late piano pieces there is a breakdown of melody and harmonic identity, between ‘above' and ‘below.' The intermezzo in f minor op. 118 no. 4 . The thematic material is compressed in the middle section, the canon at the octave is a sustained chord followed by a single note.

Chopin's Piano Music

•  He performed few public concerts, but mostly performed in the salons. He devoted his output largely to solo piano and even his little chamber and orchestral music features the piano prominently.

•  He cast the piano in one of several modes, the first involved instrumental dance rhythms.

•  The other popular mode he employed for piano was compositions which imitated vocal models. Here he wrote nocturnes patterned after the serenades which were popular in Romantic literature and in 19 th century song (his Barcarole op. 60).

•  His most elaborate vocally modeled compositions are his four ballades. The second ballade is dedicated to Schumann. (Schubert's Erlkönig was set to a poetic ballad).

•  His piano technique is displayed and developed in is etudes such as in his 24 Preludes op. 28; 1839, and imporomptus such as his Fantasie impromptu op. 66 1855.

•  Sonatas play a lesser role among his compositions (like Schumann).

Musical Style

Almost exclusively short piano pieces devoid of programs

Dance pieces; waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises (heavy stamping on the first beat in triple meter); Pieces resembling sonata form à ballads and scherzos. Other short pieces; preludes, etudes and nocturnes.

He has a more introverted style as opposed to Liszt's extroverted style.

Form

Sectional, ABA .

Melody

Altered scale degrees +4 th and lowered 2 nd . Neopolitan. Comes from polish music; used melodic dissonance freely and highly ornamented.

Harmony

Extended chords by 3rds, 11ths, 13ths (influenced Debussy) some avoid tonic altogether.

Texture

Widely spaced broken chords arranged to bring out the overtone series. Mazurka; polish dance (now associated with French folk music) ¾ time with stress on the second beat.

Polonaise op. 53 A flat major 1843,

Had the sobriquet, “Heroic.”

The Introduction is grand and embellishes a dominant harmony with chromatic motion. Chromaticism is evident in the parallel motion of the 16 th notes in first inversion but also the larger harmonic progression upward every four measures until a circle of fifths begin in measure 9. This kind of chromatic motion, if sustained long enough becomes structural rather than decorative .

His music was attractive to audiences with his short and long range harmonic experimentation as well as the strongly accented rhythms of the dance.

 

Ballade in g minor op. 23 1836

His first ballade.

The introduction and the coda act to frame the action as a narrator in a poetic or vocal ballad might. The “action” is played out in the body of the piece and unfolds as an improvisation on two themes, one in the minor mode and the other in major mode.

His cantabile melodies are distinctive and present musical characterizations (like Mendelssohn's themes in his concert overtures).

He presents fragments of the themes in various ways and contrasts them until the dramatic resolution. Underneath this is the sonata form therefore is an example of how the traditional musical and extramusical coexist and play against one another.

 

Liszt's Piano music

•  Was greatly influenced by Paganini and harmonic and pianistic innovations of Chopin.

•  He was the most cosmopolitan of the avant garde composers.

•  His virtuosic music for piano is not like the Leipzig style and more like Chopin's music as it sometimes invokes exotic nationalism of the expatriate.

•  He did transcriptions of lieder by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann and opera overtures and excerpts by Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, and Wagner; and symphonies by Beethoven and Berlioz.

Hungarian Rhapsodies à Here he draws on the dance music of Hungarian Gypsy verbunkos bands as the way to display his piano technique. The second Hungarian Rhapsody C sharp minor 1847 consists of two loosely joined improvisations on a slow “Lassan” dance song and a fast “Friska” dance song. Some of his Rhapsodies actually use Gypsy melodies along with relying on certain stereotypical traits that signify the folk style. The second Rhapsody include minor mode in the slow section, an initial drone that becomes an ostinato and imitation of a gypsy violin in it s low register. He imitates the Hungarian cimbalom which then gives way to a dance in F sharp major that ends in a coda with a series of runs.

Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

•  An example of his more intimate writing.

•  This consists of descriptive miniatures from his years of touring. The first being of Switzerland , the second of Italy and the third of Rome .

•  This is a “song without words.”

•  Originally composed its three Petrarch Sonnets as songs.

•  The piano versions translate strophic repetition into a series of ornamental variations.

•  The first stanza à cantilena in right hand with sparse chordal accompaniment which increases with every reprise. This is an example of the Parisian tendency to abandon functional chord progression. He bases the introduction on an octatonic scale and because this scale is symmetrical, it established no tonal center and no repose thus expressing Pace non trovo (I find no piece) à The octatonic scale would later become a favorite tool for composers such as Russians, Rimsky Korsakov and Stravinsky (Petrushka and the Rite of Spring).

Nuages Gris 1881 (Grey Clouds)

•  In his later years, he became more experimental, and unlike most of his works that are virtuoso in nature, this one is quite short and simple. The harmonies are based on intervals of fourths (outlining tritones) and the piece contains many augmented triads. These harmonies are quite different from those in his earlier works.

 

B minor Piano Sonata 1853 (below analysis taken from Groves Dictionary)

•  Inspired by Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy. Schubert used the same limited number of musical elements to create a broad four movement work and used a fugal 4 th movement.

•  Dedicated to R. Schumann.

•  This represents one of the most original contributions to sonata form to come out of the 19 th century.

•  Four movements rolled into one movement but they are composed against a background of a full scale sonata scheme unfolding in about 30 minutes of unbroken music à A sonata across a sonata.

•  The material is constantly contributing to two sonata forms à A double function structure didn't have a successor until Schoenberg and his first chamber symphony.

•  Scholars have viewed this piece as programmatic (Faust story, a depiction of the Garden of Eden with themes symbolizing God, Satan, Adam and Eve and others view it as an autobiographical portrait of Liszt.

•  Most of the structure is generated from a small group of thematic cells.

•  The ‘gypsy' scale (which begins the sonata) is used to close down all major structural points of form

•  The Andante sostenuto (compound ternary form) in F sharp major and is of the style of slow movements in late Beethoven.

•  The fugue second is three part and is reminiscent of Beethoven. The fugato is both a third movement and an extended return to the recapitulation in b minor.

•  He initially thought of ending the sonata with a loud flourish but rather he ends with a quiet ending recalling the Andante sostenuto.

•  The sonata is notable for being constructed from a small number of motivic elements that are woven into an enormous musical architecture. The motivic units are continuously transformed throughout the work to suit the musical context . A theme in one context may sound menacing and violent, is then transformed into a beautiful lyrical melody. This technique helps to bind the sonata's extensive structure into a single cohesive unit, although the technique of the musician must to be advanced to achieve this in performance.

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