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M U S 3 0 1 9 A

19th-Century Piano Music

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Objectives

Understand theimportance of andmarket for/purposes ofpiano music in the 19th

centuryKno some of the main

composers and be ab!e toarticu!ate individua!

sty!istic traits

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"mportance

Piano as a c!ose second in popu!arity after son# inthe 19thcentury

Piano as the center of the home$innovations #reat!y

increased accessibi!ity of pianos and !oered costs%omen in particu!ar p!ayed the instrument&$it as

an accomp!ishment that made them moremarria#eab!e and a!!oed them to entertain

fami!y/friends'!! these amateurs needed music to p!ay and created a

hu#e demand for pub!ications

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(ypes of pieces/Purpose

(eachin#--etudes'mateur )njoyment$

dances* !yrica! pieces*sonatas* character

sketchesPub!ic Performance$

bravura pieces forvirtuosi

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"mportant Composers

+ran, chubert+e!i. Mende!ssohn

obert chumann

+ran, 0is,t

+ryderyk Chopin

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Character Piece

hort piano piece embodyin# the character or spiritof a person of occasion

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+e!i. Mende!ssohn 1239-12456

enoned pianist* or#anist* and composer

7randson of phi!osopher Moses Mende!ssohn

' chi!d prodi#y ho rote astoundin# music as a youth

8orn eish* but converted to Protestantism8!ended inf!uences from 8ach* :ande!* Mo,art*

8eethoven* and Contemporaries

esu!t; contrapunta! c!arity* forma! concision* and

romantic e.pression combined into !yrica! pieces for piano8est knon pieces for piano;Lieder ohne Worte son#s

ithout ords6

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Mende!ssohn*Lieder ohne Worte

42 short pieces #roupedin 2 books

Pieces ritten !ike !iederin sty!e$but ithout

ords abso!ute music6;%ritten in < parts bass*

arpe##iations* me!ody6

Mende!ssohn be!ieved

abso!ute tones cou!d bemore e.pressive andspecific than ords

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+e!i. Mende!ssohn on the Meanin# of Music from the0etter of dated Oct& 1=* 124> to Marc-'ndr? ouchay&

@Peop!e usua!!y comp!ain that music is soambi#uous* and hat they are supposed to think

hen they hear it is so unc!ear* hi!e ords areunderstood by everyone& 8ut for me* it is e.act!ythe opposite$and not just ith entire discourses*

but a!so ith individua! ordsA these too* seem tobe so ambi#uous* so indefinite in comparison ith#ood music* hich fi!!s oneBs sou! ith a thousand

better thin#s than ords&

http;//&youtube&com/atchDvE"U538FK50s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIU70B6K7Lshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIU70B6K7Lshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIU70B6K7Ls

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obert chumann

:is pub!ications up to 1243 ere a!! for so!o piano&Most of his compositions are short piano charactersketches* often #rouped to#ether ith co!orfu!!iterary names$Papillons, Carnaval,

Fantasiestcke, Kinderscenen, Kreisleriana&

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chumannBs tit!es are evocative and meant toconjure up the ima#ination of the !istener& (he tit!es

ere often added after the pieces ere composedand are not meant to impose narrative or e.p!icitpro#rams in re!ation to the music& ather* they aresu##estive pieces that can represent the character ofthe person or event named in the tit!e&

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chumann* Carnaval, op& 9 12436

chumann conjures up a masGuerade ba!! incarnava! season throu#h >3 short pieces in dancerhythms&

'mon# the #uests are characters from his ritin# toembody different aspects of his persona!ity;

+!orestan named after the hero of 8eethovenBs+ide!io* and a visionary dreamer

)usebius* named after a 4thcentury pope& )usebiusis a dreamy fantasy ith a s!o chromatic bass !ine&

Piece unified throu#h recurrin# motives

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Eusebius of Ceasarea

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Ho& =; )usebius

(he dreamiest and !east dance-!ike amon# themovements

8ass !ine a!most entire!y chromatic in even Guarter

notesi#ht hand p!ays undu!atin# patterns in odd-

numbered co!!ections of notes =* 5* etc&6

+orma!!y re#u!ar* based on to a!ternatin# 4-bar

phrases ''B8'BB8B'BBB8'BB6

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Ho& F; +!orestan

+ast %a!t, in 7 Minor ith sfor,andos on off-beats

are!y cadences on 7 minor

Movement contains severa! contrastin# ideas

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Ho& 5; CoGuette

+!irtatious attitude su##ested by !i!tin# dottedrhythm in a fast tempo

:armony never sett!in# on the tonic f!irtin# throu#h

many key areas6http;//&youtube&com/atchDvEpu8I.Jits