'kipedia sez: Liebesträume (German for Dreams of Love) is a set of three solo piano works (S/G541) by Franz Liszt, published in 1850. Liszt called each of the three pieces Liebesträume; but, often they are referred to incorrectly in the singular as Liebestraum (especially No. 3, the most famous of the three). Originally the three Liebesträume (Notturni) were conceived as songs after poems by Ludwig Uhland and Ferdinand Freiligrath. In 1850, two versions appeared simultaneously as a set of songs for high voice and piano, and as transcriptions for piano two-hands.
The two poems by Uhland and the one by Freiligrath depict three different forms of love. Uhland's Hohe Liebe (Exalted Love) is saintly, or religious, love: the "martyr" renounces worldly love and "heaven has opened its gates". The second song Seliger Tod (Holy Death) is often known by its first line ("Gestorben war ich") ("I was dead"), and evokes erotic love; "dead" could be a metaphor here referring to what is known as "la petite mort" in French ("I was dead from love's bliss; I lay buried in her arms; I was wakened by her kisses; I saw heaven in her eyes"). Freiligrath's poem for the famous third Notturno is about unconditional mature love, and warning that love lost is miserable: "Love as long as you can! The hour will come when you will stand at graves and mourn" ("O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst").
Liebestraum No. 3 is the last of the three that Liszt wrote, and the most popular, and can be considered as split into three sections, each divided by a fast cadenza requiring dexterous finger work and a very high degree of technical ability. The same melody is used throughout the entire piece, each time varied, especially near the middle of the work, where the climax is reached. At the end, the piece dies down into a final chorded section, and has a broken chord for an ending, usually played slowly as if they were individual notes, rather than rippled.
Liebestraum No. 3 is a standard repertoire piece, and most concert pianists will have studied or performed it.
'kipedia sez: Ernesto Júlio de Nazareth (March 20, 1863 – February 5, 1934) was a Brazilian composer and pianist, especially noted for his creative Maxixe and Choro compositions. Influenced by African rhythms and many musical styles like the Lundu and the Choro, he never fully accepted this influence, refusing to give popular names to his compositions. A musician of classical training, he classified his music as "Brazilian tangos", since the Argentine tango and polka dances were considered fashionable at the time. His piano repertoire is now part of the teaching programs of both classical and popular styles, as Nazareth once served at the boundary between these two worlds.
Escovado' is a common slang which means 'smart'. Ary Vasconcelos tells us in his book Panorama da Musica Popular Brasileira that Nazareth was a "devoted family man who often gave the songs he composed titles in honor of his son, sometimes his wife, or another relative. Travesso was dedicated to his son Ernesto, Marieta and Eulina to his two daughters, Dora to his wife Theodora, Brejeiro to his nephew Gilbert, etc. Escovado was first published by Casa Vieira Machado & Co. and dedicated to Fernando Nazareth, the composer's younger brother. It became one of Nazareth's greatest success, having the main theme been later tapped by the French composer Darius Milhaud in his Le Boeuf sur le Toit (1919). In September 1930, accepting an invitation made by Eduardo Souto, then artistic director of Odeon-Parlophone, Nazareth recorded this piece.
'kipedia sez: Violin Sonata No. 18 in G Major (K 301) was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in March 1778 in Mannheim, Germany and was first published in the same year as part of Mozart's Opus 1 collection, which was dedicated to Maria Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate and are concequently known as the Palatine Sonatas. The work consists of two movements: Allegro con Spirito and Allegro.
The Cambridge Companion to Mozart sez: Mozart’s works for strings only, as well as his accompanied sonatas, accordingly derive from his travels. These include two sets of string quartets (K. 155–60,Milan 1772–3, and K. 168–73, Vienna 1773),8 two flute quartets (K. 285 and 285a, Mannheim 1777–8 ), an oboe quartet (K. 370, Munich 1781) and a set of piano and violin sonatas (K. 301–6,Mannheim and Paris 1777–8 ).
The accompanied sonatas (...) probably owe their origin as much to Mozart’s performing as to his self-representation as a composer: on the road, they gave him a chance to show off both his compositional and his performing skills in places where works of this sort were highly regarded. It is easy to forget that Mozart was a talented string player, that his first appointment in Salzburg was as a violinist and that he continued to play regularly, at least until his move to Vienna in 1781. A report from Salzburg, dated 16 October 1769, describes a private concert at which ‘the daughter [Nannerl] first played the keyboard, then Wolfgangus, a youth aged thirteen, sang and played the violin and the keyboard to everyone’s astonishment’, and his earliest independent concerto was not for keyboard but for violin (K. 207, 1773).
The sonatas that Mozart wrote at Mannheim are traditionally thought to have been influenced by Joseph Schuster, although at least one sonata, K. 301, began life as a work for flute.
'kipediasez: Frédéric Chopin’s Waltzes are pieces of moderate length adhering to the traditional 3/4 waltz time, but are remarkably different from the earlier Viennese waltzes in that they were not designed for dancing but for concert performance. Some of them are accessible by pianists of moderate capabilities, but the more difficult of them require an advanced technique. Carl Maria von Weber's Invitation to the Dance was an early model for Chopin's waltzes.
Chopin started writing waltzes in 1824, when he was fourteen, and continued until the year of his death, 1849.
The three Op. 34 Waltzes were composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1834-1838 and published in 1838. These three waltzes were published as Grandes valses brillantes, but this title is usually reserved for the Waltz in E flat major, Op. 18.
This waltz is a lively, slow waltz in A minor. Although it was the first to be written out of the three, the waltz was the second to be published.
Ourchopin.net is rather laconic: Virtuosity, vitality, lyricism, higher quality less delicate, all spontaneity and geniality
allmusic.com sez: Viennese waltz style was a thing almost entirely foreign to Frédéric Chopin, and when the Polish-born, Parisian-based composer returned from a journey to the Austrian capital he declared to a friend that, "I have acquired nothing of that which is specially Viennese by nature, and accordingly I am still unable to play valses." To Chopin, as a result, it was left to reinvent the form on his own terms (though a certain debt to Weber's Invitation to the Dance is apparent). Chopin's very individualized waltz output falls easily into two categories: sparkling, highly ornamented little jewels suitable for actual ballroom use, or more purely musical miniatures that are far removed indeed from the fashionable Viennese waltzes of his time. The Trois Valses brillantes, Op.34 contains one example of the former category (the first of the group) and two of the latter (the second and third). Very different in tone is the Valse brillante in A minor, Op.34, No.2 that follows (indeed, the title Valse Brillant hardly seems appropriate for such a melancholy, subdued work). Of all his waltzes this was Chopin's favorite; he positively bathes himself in languor and longing throughout. A change of mode (to A major) at bar fifty-three ushers in a melody of striking loveliness, which, in a moment of bittersweet inspiration, is echoed in the minor mode some sixteen bars later. The opening sixteen-bar gesture is brought back (after a coda that asks the right hand to take over the characteristic waltz-figuration as the left one indulges in running eighth-notes) to serve as a conclusion.
Grove sez: During the 1830s and 40s Liszt made an unprecedented advance in piano technique, introducing a range of new technical and expressive possibilities. This breakthrough, coupled with the related evolution in the instrument itself, its greater strength, its bigger sound and wider dynamic range, allowed a richer variety of pianistic textures. The instrument could encompass symphonic and vocal works, and imitate a wealth of colouristic and timbral effects. Modern piano technique owes much to Liszt’s pioneering developments during these years. Pianists still turn to his music for its technical resources. When Busoni began to study the piano afresh at the age of 30, in order to remedy what he considered to be defects in his own playing, Liszt’s music was his chief guide. Out of the laws he found there Busoni rebuilt his technique. ‘Gratitude and admiration’, he wrote, ‘made Liszt at that time my master and my friend’
Leaps were a particular speciality. Liszt himself enjoyed taking risks and he sometimes asks the pianist to perform some difficult feats. The first version of Au bord d’une source (1840) contains an invitation to disaster, which is generally declined in favour of the revision of 1855. The glissando was another effect with which Liszt dazzled his audience.
'kipedia sez: Au bord d'une source (Beside a Spring) is a virtuoso piano showpiece by Franz Liszt; it is the 4th piece of the first suite of Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). There are three separate versions of Au bord d'une source. The first version appears in Liszt's set Album d'une voyageur (1834–1838), and the second in the first suite of Liszt's Années de pèlerinage (1836–1855). The last version is almost identical to the second, except for the final nine bars, which were added by Liszt as a coda for his Italian piano student Giovanni Sgambati, who was also a composer; this lengthened the piece by about 30 seconds. The coda was written in 1863.
The second version of Au bord d'une source is often regarded as the most popular. In the first version the technical difficulties are considerably higher to the pianist, whilst the last version adds nothing but a flashy coda.
The main theme of Au bord d’une source comprises a pattern of arpeggiated semiquavers in the right hand with short notes in the left, firstly played below the right hand and then played two octaves higher, above the right hand. This constant crossing over of hands places considerable technical demands on the amateur pianist.
Liszt links the various sections of the piece together using passages of intricate scale and arpeggio patterns ascending high into the upper register, descending back down and transforming back into the melody; this allows the whole piece to flow as one.
The piece has many intricate difficulties which are belied by the calm mood with which a successful performance is often imbued.
Grove sez: A kind of contredanse popular during the first part of the 19th century. It was quick and energetic, and the music was generally in 2/4 time. There were usually four figures danced in progressive combinations by the couples involved; in its later stages waltz-like turns were introduced (see Schottische).
The history of the écossaise is obscure. On the one hand it has been argued that its prototype was among the oldest Scottish dances performed to bagpipe accompaniment, originally of serious character and moderate movement. On the other hand Scottish origins have been denied and it has been described simply as a French conception of what a Scots dance ought to be. The écossaise was familiar in 18th-century France as one of the favourite contredanses adopted by fashionable society. It came to rival even the minuet in popularity, but its character changed, and by the 19th century the quick form had replaced the earlier moderate-paced variety.
As a ballroom favourite in Vienna it elicited music from such composers as Beethoven, who wrote a number of écossaises for piano, orchestra and wind band between 1806 and 1810, and from Schubert, who contributed many sets for piano, including those in the dances published as opp.18, 33 and 67. Weber dedicated his set of six écossaises (1802) ‘to the beautiful sex of Hamburg’. Six was the usual number of dances in a set, each a binary movement of two balanced eight-bar strains. Beethoven unified his E set (woo83) by making the second strain of each of the six dances identical. Chopin’s three écossaises (op.72 no.3) are structurally somewhat exceptional.
The word ‘écossais(e)’ also appears in titles simply to indicate that a piece is supposedly Scottish in origin or in some feature of style (e.g. Glinka’s Thème écossais varié, based on the Irish tune The Last Rose of Summer, and John Field’s Rondeau écossais). The écossaise in Jeremiah Clarke’s Suite in D, however, simply belongs to the popular post-Restoration genre of the Scotch tune.
'kipedia sez: The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, it is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano.
Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as Sonata quasi una fantasia, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement in the Classical period of fast-slow-[fast]-fast. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic Paul Bekker states that "The opening sonata-allegro movement gave the work a definite character from the beginning... which succeeding movements could supplement but not change. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude, an introduction, not a proposition.
The sonata consists of three movements: Adagio sostenuto, Alegretto and Presto agitato.
Grove sez: The opening reverie of the ‘Moonlight’ is such a startling conception, even today, that Beethoven’s very careful plotting of the sequence of the movements in this sonata seems to pale by comparison. Unprecedented for a sonata opening is the half-improvisatory texture, the unity of mood, and especially the mood itself – that romantic mestizia which will have overwhelmed all but the stoniest of listeners by the end of the melody’s first phrase. An equally bold and emotional, but also more intellectual, experiment marks the opening of op.31 no.2. Here the first theme in a sonata form movement consists of antecedent and consequent phrases of radically different characters: a slow improvisatory arpeggio and a fast, highly motivic agitato. Both of these ideas can be heard echoing in the later movements of the sonata.
Amazon.com sez: It's apparent that the matter of which Beethoven piano cycles (or large portions thereof) you favor is very much a matter of very personal and subjective taste and preference. I already have those of Kempff, Pollini, Gelils, and Goode. Each very good in its own way, even the older Kempff and Gelils DG remasters, which sound excellent. Although I admire Barenboim's other piano recordings, it's not as if I seek him out, and I unintentionally found this set by searching here on Amazon and giving the sample tracks a listen. I'm impressed on many levels. The pure and deep all-digital sound is nice, as is Barenboim's unhurried (yet never too slow) and purposeful control and performance of the early, middle, and late sonatas. The slower adagio and andante movements are delicate but never lose their momentum, as is the case with other, more leisurely pianists. The faster pieces are dynamic but never bombastic or overperformed. A nice balance all the way around. This cycle now goes to the top of my list.
'kipedia had a lot to say!: Frédéric Chopin's four ballades are one-movement pieces for solo piano, composed between 1835 and 1842. They are some of the most challenging pieces in the standard piano repertoire.
The ballades are considered an innovation of Chopin's and cannot be placed into another form (e.g. sonata). Though they do not conform exactly to sonata form, the "ballade form" created by Chopin for his 4 ballades is a distinct variant of sonata form with specific discrepancies, such as the mirror reprise (presenting the two expositional themes in reverse order during the recapitulation). The ballades have also directly influenced composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms who, after Chopin, wrote ballades of their own.
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, was composed in 1842 in Paris and Nohant and revised in 1843. The work was dedicated to Baroness Rothschild, wife of Nathaniel de Rothschild, who had invited Chopin to play in her Parisian residence, where she introduced him to the aristocracy and nobility. According to Robert Schumann, this Ballade was inspired by Adam Mickiewicz's poem The Three Budrys, which tells of three brothers sent away by their father to seek treasures, and the story of their return with three Polish brides.
A phrase in the dominant key (marked piano) opens the seven introductory measures and leads into the first subject of sonata-form exposition, a melody with Slavonic coloration. The first theme undergoes four cumulative transformations with decorations, counter-melodies, counterpoint, and a nocturne-like fioritura. The development of the second theme and its intertwining with the first heightens the complexity of the musical structure and builds tension. Through the intertwining and thus the simultaneous development of the two themes, Chopin effectively combines the use of both the sonata form and the variation form. The body of the piece concludes with a series of accented fortissimo chords, followed by a momentary calm of five pianissimo chords. This then suddenly leads into an extremely fast, turbulent coda, written in exuberant counterpoint. Structurally Ballade No. 4 is decidedly intricate.
ourchopin.net sez: The fourth ballade is considered the greatest of the four and generally the epitome of of romantic music, which can be compared to 'Mona Lisa' in painting. It is not overstating to say so. This ballade captures almost all elements of musical ideas and human expressions with just the piano; it also summarizes Chopin's lifetime creative experience. It was composed around 1842-43 and dedicated to Madame la Baronne C. Nathaniel de Rothschild. Madame Rothschild invited Chopin to play in her Parisian estate to introduce him to the aristocrat and nobility. The ballade was said to be inspired from Mickiewicz's "Budri", a story of a father sending his sons to fight the enemy but ending up with three wedding feasts. Despite the overall key signature of F minor, the ballade opens with a major key that fades out for the main theme to appear. The main theme in F minor is so haunting and mysterious, yet a little bit sad, and it requires a great sense of rubato to interpret successfully. This Slavonic theme is slightly modified and repeated before a calming and serene octave section. The development section before leading to a silent point uses the same pattern as the main theme but in an opposite way, like an answer to the question proposed by the main theme. That question is still unanswered, as seen in the fading Gb repeating three times and turning to the main theme again. The main theme has for this third time more modification and expression, still elegant yet more powerful with the stormy and dramatic rising octaves that lead to the second subject in B flat major. This major key section seems to follow the motif of the second ballade where peace returns. The next modulation in A flat major is very delicate and it requires a good technique to master the double notes on the right hand and trills on the left hand. This long passage goes slowly and gives way for the return of the opening theme. The returning theme, in A major, slightly moves to the sad corresponding F sharp minor and quickly returns to the original bright key with a passage of grace notes. Then comes a wandering variation of the main theme in a strange tone, which suggests some doubts irresolvable and only relieved until the return of the common theme in F minor. The main theme appears again for this fourth time with many modification and at a faster pace, and so does the second subject, yet in D flat major, after. The recap of the two main subjects leads to a climax of arpeggios and successive chords that end suddenly. Calmness returns in the six 'pianissimo' mysterious chords modulated into C major, but just temporarily. The turbulent coda requires very high technical mastery of double notes. Is is said that this shattering section provokes a scene of horses running into the forest, which is featured in the climbing passages of double notes. The most fiery passage of rolling arpeggios concludes this most dramatic ballade with a 'triple forte' bass F and four massive ending chords.
Grove sez: [color=#000000;][font="Arial;"]A term applied to an instrumental (normally piano) piece in a narrative style. It was first used by Chopin (Ballade in G minor op.23, published in 1836 but begun in 1831). He composed four ballades, whose common features are compound metre (6/4 or 6/8) and a structure that is based on thematic metamorphosis governed not so much by formal musical procedures as by a programmatic or literary intention. Full of melodic beauty, harmonic richness and powerful climaxes, they are among his finest achievements. They were said to have been inspired by the ballad poetry of his compatriot Adam Mickiewicz, particularly by his Switeź and Switezianka, poems concerning a lake near Nowogródek and a nymph of the lake; but Chopin himself provided no evidence whatever for that belief and probably had no specific ballad or story in mind.[/color][/font]
The original video in this post was taken down... And replaced by a reupload!
'kipedia sez: The Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45 (sometimes listed as Prelude No. 25), was composed in 1841. It was dedicated to Princess E. Czernicheff (Elisaweta Tschernyschewa), and contains widely extending basses and highly expressive and effective chromatic modulations over a rather uniform thematic basis.
Chopinmusic.com sez: Op. 45 is the twenty-fifth prelude with widely extending basses and shifting harmonic hues. It is a bit dark and elegiac but pinpricked with more hopeful excerpts, though still ultimately sorrowful.
Chopin himself(!) sez: "Yesterday, Thursday, I stopped here. I did the prelude in C sharp minor for Schlesginer, short, the way he wanted it. I shall give him for his album today's prelude, which being well modulated I can boldly send." - From a letter sent by Chopin to Fontana in Paris, Nohant 30 Sep 1841.
"I am sending you the prelude in bigger script for Schlesinger and smaller for Mechetii. You shall similarly cut my manuscript of the polonaise and fold it (having numbered the pages) after the fashion of the prelude. Also do not forget to add the opus on the polonaise and the subsequent number on the prelude, which you will be sending to Vienna. I do not know how to spell Czernicheff: Tscher or Tcher, is it Elisabeth and it is Tschernischef or ff, what is their manner of spelling it." - From a letter sent by Chopin to Fontana in Paris, Nohant 6 Oct 1841.