Academic literature on the topic 'Musical performance; Robert Schumann; piano'

Background. The problematics associated with the personal and creative relationships between Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann, as well as the nature of their reflection in art, have been worrying the minds of researchers for more than a century and a half. One of significant, but little-studied aspects is the embodiment of Schumann’s images and associations in the four-handed piano works by J. Brahms. The article objective is revealing of the semantic specifics of the reflection of Robert Schumann creativity in the Variations by Johannes Brahms on the Theme by R. Schumann, op. 23. The study methodology determined by its objectives is integrative and based on the combination of general scientific approaches and musicological methods. The leading methods of research are the semantic, compositional-dramaturgic and genre-stylistic analyses. Results. Acquaintance with Robert and Clara Schumann (soon transformed into a romantic friendship) was a landmark, turning point in the life and work of J. Brahms. It was R. Schumann, who at some time first called young Chopin a “genius” and who also predicted to Brahms – at that time (in 1853) to almost no-known young musician – a great future in his latest article “New Ways” (after long literary silence), where the appearance of new genius solemnly proclaimed. The long hours of companionship of Brahms with Robert and Clara Schumann were filled of conjoint piano playing, very often – in four hands. Addiction to the four-handed duet playing was vividly reflected in the creativity of both, Schumann and Brahms. Creativity of J. Brahms is one of the highest peaks in the history of the genre of a four-handed piano duet. A special place among Brahms’ piano four-handed duets is occupied by the only major cyclical composition – the Variations on the Theme of R. Schumann op. 23 in E Flat Major, 1861. Variations op. 23 were written by the composer for the joint four-handed performance by Clara and Julia Schumann – the wife and the daughter of R. Schumann. The author dedicated his composition to Julie Schumann, with whom he was secretly in love at that time. The theme of variations is the melody, which was the last in the creative fate of R. Schumann. This theme was presented to Schumann in his night visions by the spirits of Schubert and Mendelssohn; the composer managed only to write down the theme and begin to develop it on February 27, 1854, on the eve of the tragic attack of madness, which led him to the hospital in Endenich. Brahms’s ethical and aesthetic task was to preserve for humanity the last musical thought of the genius and perpetuate his memory, creating an artistic monument to his great friend and mentor. Brahms’ idea is connected with the composer’s philosophical thoughts about death and immortality, about the meaning of being and the greatness of the creative spirit. This idea is even more highlighted due to the genre synthesis of the “strict tune” of the choral and the mourning march “in memory of a hero”. The level of associativity of each of these genre spheres is extremely high. It includes a huge range of musical and artistic phenomena The significant associative semantic layer of music of Variations is connected, of course, with Robert Schumann’s creativity. Brahms most deeply penetrates into the world of musical thinking of Schumann, turning to the favorite Schumann’s principle of free variation. The embodiment of this idea becomes both the tonal plan of the cycle, and the peculiarities of the genre characteristic of individual variations, and the psychological accuracy of specific figurative decisions, and the logical unity of the artistic whole with emphasizing of semantic significance of private details. In Schumann style, Brahms wrote the first four variations of op. 23. (Strictly speaking, the very idea of a “musical portrait” of a friend and like-minded person comes from the Schumann’s “Carnival” and “Kreisleriana”). Tonalities in the Variations get the semantic importance: E flat major as friendly and bright and E flat minor as intensely passionate. The tonal sphere “E flat major – E flat minor” for Brahms is the symbol of unity of the sublime and earthly, bright and gloomy, tragically passionate and calmly contemplative, it is a kind of image of the Universe, the Macrocosm that created by the individual musical thinking of the composer. The features of philosophical programmaticity of generalized type inherent in the Brahms conception predetermined the peculiarities of the figurative dramaturgy of Op. 23, reflecting the development and interaction of the main emotional-semantic lines of the cycle – lyrical, sublime tragic, fantastic, heroic and triumphal. The circle of the figurative development of the cycle is closed by the Schumann’s theme, creating an intonational-thematic and semantic arch framing the entire composition. The main theme of the Variations acquires here – as a result of a long and tragic dramatic way – features of a lyrical epitaph, a farewell word: “Exegi monumentum” – «I erected the monument»… Conclusions. In general, the music of Variations by J. Brahms on the Theme by R. Schumann is striking in its moral and philosophical depth, the power of artistic and ethical influence, emotional and figurative abundance and significance, compositional completeness and clarity of the dramatic solution. Variations on the theme by R. Schumann are a unique musical monument to the genius of Robert Schumann, created by the genius Johannes Brahms in honor and eternal memory to his great friend and teacher in the name of Music, Friendship and Love.

Abstract The critics of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik idealized the private performance as an enlightened alternative to the public concert, and it was in private settings that Clara Wieck Schumann typically played Robert Schumann's music in the early years of her career. In the winter of 1839-40 she was in Berlin, abandoned by her father, Friedrich Wieck, and struggling to continue her career on her own. At Schumann's suggestion she performed his Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 in a public soirée. Afterwards Schumann decided his music was too personal for a public audience, and his major piano works were not heard again until the year of his death.

The relevance of the article. Clara Wieck-Schumann is one of the most famous female composers today, an outstanding artist of the XIX century. A significant amount of musicological researches has been devoted to her performance and compositional activities, and the recognized interpreter of the music of Robert and Clara Schumann, the Belgian pianist Joseph de Benhouwer, recorded all of her piano opuses. However, some certain issues related to the specifics of C. Schumann’s compositional work still require scientific research. The purpose of the article. Determination of the specifics of the compositional and dramaturgical solution of the program cycle of C. Schumann’s piano miniatures Soirées musicales, Op.6, which turns out to be one of the bright examples of this genre in the artist’s work and currently requires a comprehensive scientific research. The methodology. It is based on an integrative approach, and involves the use of analytical, systematic, structural-functional, comparative and inductive methods. The results. The cycle of piano miniatures Soirées musicales, Op. 6 is distinguished not only by its scale but also by its more pronounced programming. Unlike the other two piano cycles by C. Schumann, namely Quatre pièces characteristiques Op. 5, Quatre pièces fugitives Op. 15, which are rather a collection of diverse pieces united only by a common name, Op. 6 shows a certain dramaturgical line of development. The dramaturgy of the cycle is united with the help of a tonal arch, which is formed by a common tonality for 1 and 6 pieces. The miniatures represented in the cycle are quite diverse in their figurative structure. Conclusions. Among the important compositional and dramaturgical principles of building a cycle are the unification of diverse material from a thematic point of view with the help of intonation relationships or certain rhythmic formulas, comparison within miniatures of the same tonality, in which the middle sections of the form are usually written, stand out. The practical significance. The material of the article can be used in the further study of the specifics of C. Schumann’s compositional style, as well as in the study of the artist’s works in special piano classes, passing theoretical courses on the history of music and analysis of musical works.

In several essays from the first half of the nineteenth century, Robert Schumann and other music critics used the rhetoric of the sublime when describing select, unconventionally intense virtuosic showpieces and performances, evoking this category’s associations with overpowering, even fearsome experiences and heroic human qualities. These writings formed one strand of a larger discourse in which musicians and critics attempted to describe and identify instances of virtuosity that supposedly rejected superficiality and aimed at serious aesthetic values: in the nineteenth-century imagination, the sublime abnegated mere sensuous pleasure; inspired a mixture of attraction, admiration, and trepidation; and implied both masculinity and intellectual cultivation. It offered a framework for self-consciously elevating virtuosity rooted in the sheer intensity and, in some cases, perceived inaccessibility of particular works and performances. Schumann extended the mantle of sublimity to Liszt during the virtuoso’s 1840 Leipzig and Dresden concerts. Critics described three of Schumann’s own 1830s piano showpieces using the rhetoric of the sublime, comparing the finale of the Concert sans orchestre, Op. 14, to violent forces of nature to illustrate the way its virtuosic passagework disrupts and engulfs lyrical themes within an anomalous formal structure. They also linked the Toccata, Op. 7, and Etudes symphoniques, Op. 13, to Beethoven, hinting at the ways in which Schumann alluded to or modeled these showpieces on Beethoven symphonies. These episodes in Schumann’s career broaden our understanding of the contexts in which nineteenth-century writers on music evoked the sublime, showing how they described this quality not only in symphonies and large choral works but also in solo performances and showpieces. They illuminate the politics of the sublime, revealing its significance for nineteenth-century thinking about the cultural prestige that particular musical works and performances could attain.

This paper presents a musical-aesthetic educational project which combined the piano piece Faschingsschwank aus Wien by Robert Schumann and improvisations of adolescent patients in a psychiatric ward. The patients explored both musical and non-musical material, such as pictures and masks. They could bring in their own ideas, not only in designing the masks and in the improvisation, but also in the development of the choreography. At the end of the project, the results were presented in a final performance. As part of the project, interviews with participants and hospital staff were conducted and qualitatively analysed. The participants clearly expressed a changed perception of themselves. These transformations can be interpreted as indicators of musical-aesthetic educational processes. This case study constitutes a contribution to music education research in hospitals and may even encourage the implementation of similar educational offers in hospitals in the future.

Discussions of music performance often stress diversity and artistic freedom, yet there is general agreement that interpretation is not arbitrary and that there are standards that performances can be judged by. However, there have been few objective demonstrations of any extant constraints on music performance and judgment, particularly at the level of expressive microstructure. This study illustrates such a constraint in one specific case: the expressive timing of a melodic gesture that occurs repeatedly in Robert Schumann's famous piano piece, "Traumerei." Tone onset timing measurements in 28 recorded performances by famous pianists suggest that the most common " temporal shape" of this (nominally isochronous) musical gesture is parabolic and that individual variations can be described largely by varying a single degree of freedom of the parabolic timing function. The aesthetic validity of this apparent constraint on local performance timing was investigated in a perceptual experiment. Listeners judged a variety of timing patterns (original parabolic, shifted parabolic, and nonparabolic) imposed on the same melodic gesture, produced on an electronic piano under control of a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). The original parabolic patterns received the highest ratings from musically trained listeners. (Musically untrained listeners were unable to give consistent judgments.) The results support the hypothesis that there are classes of optimal temporal shapes for melodic gestures in music performance and that musically acculturated listeners know and expect these shapes. Being classes of shapes, they represent flexible constraints within which artistic freedom and individual preference can manifest themselves.

In her contemporaries’ imaginations Clara Schumann transcended aesthetic pitfalls endemic to virtuosity. Scholars have stressed her performance of canonic repertory as a practice through which she established this image. In this study I argue that her concerts of the 1830s and 1840s also staged an elevated form of virtuosity through showpieces that inhabited the flagship genres of popular pianism and that, for contemporary critics, possessed qualities of interiority that allowed them to transcend merely physical or “mechanical” engagement with virtuosity. They include Henselt's études and variation sets, Chopin's “Là ci darem” Variations, op. 2, and Clara's own Romance variée, op. 3, Piano Concerto, op. 7, and Pirate Variations, op. 8. Her 1830s and early 1840s programming offers a window onto a rich intertwining of critical discourse, her own and her peers’ compositions, and her strategies as a pianist-composer. This context reveals that aspirations about elevating virtuosity shaped a broader, more varied field of repertory, compositional strategies, and critical responses than we have recognized. It was a capacious, flexible ideology and category whose discourses pervaded the sheet music market, the stage, and the drawing room and embraced not only a venerated, canonic tradition but also the latest popularly styled virtuosic vehicles. In the final stages of the article I propose that Clara Schumann's 1853 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op. 20, alludes to her work of the 1830s and 1840s, evoking the range of guises this pianist-composer gave to her virtuosity in what was already a wide-ranging career.

Background. The performance practice of recent decades demonstrates an obvious tendency to expand and update the repertoire due to the use of the works of those composers whose pieces had “lost” over time against to the pieces of their more famous contemporaries. At the same time, in sociology, psychology, culturology, gender issues are largely relevant. Musicology does not stand aside, applying the achievements of gender psychology in the study of composer creativity and musical performing (Tsurkanenko, I., 2011; Gigolaeva-Yurchenko, V., 2012, 2015; Fan, Liu, 2017). In general, the issue of gender equality is quite acute in contemporary public discourse. The indicated tendencies determine the interest of many musicians and listeners in the work of women-composers (for example, recently, the creativity by Clara Schumann attracts the attention of performers all over the world, in particular, in Ukraine the International Music Festival “Kharkiv Assemblies” – 2018 was dedicated to her works). The theme of the proposed work is also a response to the noted trends in performing practice and musicology discourse. For the first time in domestic musicology an attempt is made to give a brief overview of the life and career of another talented woman, whose name is little known in the post-Soviet space. This is a Swedish violinist, composer and pianist Amanda Röntgen-Maier (1853–1894), a graduate of the Stockholm Royal College of Music and the Leipzig Conservatory, a contemporary of Clara Schumann, J. Brahms, E. Grieg, with whom she and her husband – composer, pianist, conductor Julius Röntgen – were associated for enough long time by creative and friendly relationships. In the post-Soviet space, not a single work has been published that would be dedicated to the works of A. Maier. In European and American musicology, the composer’s personality and creative heritage is also not widely studied. Her name is only occasionally mentioned in works examining the musical culture and, in particular, the performing arts of Sweden at that time (Jönsson, Å., 1995, 151–156; Karlsson, Å., 1994, 38–43; Lundholm, L., 1992, 14–15; Löndahl, T., 1994; Öhrström, E., 1987, 1995). The aim of the proposed study is to characterize Amanda Meier’s creative heritage in the context of European romanticism. Research results. Based on the available sources, we summarized the basic information about the life and career of A. Maier. Carolina Amanda Erica Maier (married Röntgen-Maier ) was born on February 20, 1853 in Landskrona. She received the first music lessons from his father, Karl Edward Mayer, a native of Germany (from Württemberg), who worked as a confectioner in Landskrona, but also studied music, in particular, in 1852 he received a diploma of “music director” in Stockholm and had regular contracts. In 1869, Amanda entered to the Kungliga Musikaliska akademien (Royal College of Music) in Stockholm. There she learns to play several instruments at once: the violin, cello, piano, organ, and also studies history, music theory and musical aesthetics. A. Maier graduated from Royal College successfully and became the first woman who received the title of “Musik Direktor”. The final concert, which took place in April 1873, included the performance of the program on the violin and on the organ and also A. Maier’s own work – the Romance for Violin. In the spring of 1874, Amanda received the grant from the Royal College for further studies at the Leipzig Conservatory. Here, Engelbert Röntgen, the accompanist of the glorious orchestra Gewandhaus, becomes her teacher on the violin, and she studies harmony and composition under the guidance of Karl Heinrich Karsten Reinecke and Ernst Friedrich Richter. Education in Leipzig lasts from 1874 to 1876. In the summer and autumn of 1875, A. Maier returns to Landskron, where she writes the first major work – the Concerto for violin and orchestra in one-movement, D minor, which was performed twice: in December 1875 in Halle and in February 1876 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of K. Reinecke. The further career of A. Maier, both performing and composing, developed very successfully. She made several major concert trips between 1876 and 1880: to Sweden and Norway, to Finland and St. Petersburg; she also played to the Swedish king Oscar II (1876); concerts were held with constant success. While studying in Leipzig, A. Maier met her future husband (the son of her violin teacher) Julius Röntgen, composer and conductor. They married 1880 in Landskrona. Their personal relationships included active creative communication, both playing music together, and exchanging musical ideas, getting to know each other’s works. Part of his chamber opuses, for example, the cycle of Swedish folk dances, A. Maier created in collaboration with her husband. An analogy with life of Robert and Clara Schumann may take place here, although the Röntgen spouses did not have to endure such dramatic collisions that fell to the lot of the first. After the wedding, Röntgen family moved to Amsterdam, where Julius Röntgen soon occupies senior positions in several music organizations. On the contrary, the concert and composing activities of A. Maier go to the decline. This was due both, to the birth of two sons, and to a significant deterioration in her health. Nevertheless, she maintains her violin skills at the proper level and actively participates in performances in music salons, which the family arranges at home. The guests of these meetings were, in particular, J. Brahms, K. Schumann, E. Grieg with his wife and A. Rubinstein. The last years of A. Maier’s life were connected with Nice, Davos and Norway. In the fall of 1888 she was in Nice with the goal of treating the lungs, communicating there with her friends Heinrich and Elizabeth Herzogenberg. With the latter, they played Brahms violin sonatas, and the next (1889) year A. Maier played the same pieces with Clara Schumann. Amanda Maier spent the autumn of 1889 under the supervision of doctors in Davos, and the winter – in Nice. In 1890, she returned to Amsterdam. His last major work dates back to 1891 – the Piano Quartet in D minor. During the last three years of her life, she visited Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where she performed, among other, her husband’s works, for example, the suite “From Jotunheim”. In the summer of 1889, A. Maier took part in concerts at the Nirgaard Castle in Denmark. In 1894, she returned to Amsterdam again. Her health seems stable, a few hours before her death she was conducting classes with her sons. A. Maier died July 15, 1894. The works of A. Maier, published during the life of the composer, include the following: Sonata in H minor (1878); 6 Pieces for violin and piano (1879); “Dialogues” – 10 small pieces for piano, some of which were created by Julius Röntgen (1883); Swedish songs and dances for violin and piano; Quartet for piano, violin, viola and cello E minor (1891). Still unprinted are the following works: Romance for violin and piano; Trio for violin, cello and piano (1874); Concert for violin and orchestra (1875); Quartet for piano, violin, viola and clarinet E minor; “Nordiska Tonbilder” for violin and piano (1876); Intermezzo for piano; Two string quartets; March for piano, violin, viola and cello; Romances on the texts of David Wiersen; Trio for piano and two violins; 25 Preludes for piano. The composer style of A. Mayer incorporates the characteristic features of the Romantic era, in particular, the Leipzig school. Lyric elements prevail in her works, although the composer is not alien to dramatic, heroic, epic images (the Piano Quartet E minor, some pieces from the Six Songs for Violin and Piano series). In the embodiment of such a circle of images, parallels with the musical style of the works of J. Brahms are quite clearly traced. In constructing thematic structures, A. Maier relies on the melody of the Schubert-Mendelssohn type. The compositional solutions are defined mainly by the classical principles of forming, which resembles the works of F. Mendelssohn, the late chamber compositions of R. Schumann, where the lyrical expression gets a clear, complete form. The harmonic language of the works of A. Maier gravitates toward classical functionality rather than the uncertainty, instability and colorfulness inherent in the harmony of F. Liszt, R. Wagner and their followers. The main instrument, for which most of the opuses by A. Maier was created, the violin, is interpreted in various ways: it appears both, in the lyrical and the virtuoso roles. The piano texture of chamber compositions by A. Maier is quite developed and rich; the composer clearly gravitates towards the equality of all parties in an ensemble. At the same time, piano techniques are reminiscent of texture formulas by F. Mendelssohn and J. Brahms. Finally, in A. Mayer’s works manifest themself such characteristic of European romanticism, as attraction to folklore, a reliance on folk song sources. Conclusions. Periods in the history of music seemed already well studied, hide many more composer names and works, which are worthy of the attention of performers, musicologists and listeners. A. Mayer’s creativity, despite the lack of pronounced innovation, has an independent artistic value and, at the same time, is one of such musical phenomena that help to compile a more complete picture of the development of musical art in the XIX century and gain a deeper understanding of the musical culture of this period. The prospect of further development of the topic of this essay should be a more detailed study of the creative heritage of A. Maier in the context of European musical Romanticism.

Robert Schumann was an eccentric composer and musical critic who influenced the Romantic-era musical community through the formation of the Davidsbündler. This “league of David” was Schumann’s idea of a musical society which exemplified a distinctly pure style of modern musical composition. The style of the Davidsbündler was based on the idea that music must reflect the personal life experiences of its composer. Needing a journal to publish musical writings of Davidsbündler, Schumann created the New Journal for Music. Having himself suffered from mental instability throughout his life, Schumann’s music often displayed unique levels of polarity and passion in order to show his own life experiences. Schumann’s mental polarity and instability was directly showcased in his music through the natures of fictional characters Florestan and Eusebius. These characters are clearly displayed though the piano works Carnival and the Davidsbündlertänze. Through the use of modern musical compositional techniques such as chromaticism and syncopation along with clear characterizations of Florestan and Eusebius, the Davidsbündlertänze stands as a testament to the ideals of the Davidsbündler.

Background. In recent years, there has been an increased interest of musicologists in the phenomenon of “late Schumann” in the aspect of usage of different historical and cultural traditions by the composer, that constituted problematic aura of given research. Modern scholars investigate this matter from several positions: bounds of Schumann’s style with antecedent music, Viennese classics and art of Baroque (K. Zhabinskiy; 2010); formation of aesthetic and stylistic principles of composer in 1840s–1850s, foreseeing musical phenomena of second half of XIX century (A. Demchenko; 2010), realization of natively national cultural meanings in “Album for the Young” op. 68 in his late works (S. Grokhotov; 2006). The content of given above and other modern researches allows to reconsider still unfortunately widely accepted conception of a “twilight” of Schumann’s genius in the last years of his creative life (D. Zhytomirskiy) and to re-evaluate all the works created by the composer in that time. In the given article, one of them is studied, “3 Piano Sonatas for the Young” op. 118, one of the last among them. This choice is effectuated by two main reasons: by op. 118 being an example of “children music” of R. Schuman, that adds additional marks to the portrait of composer, taking a journey through happy pages of his life, preceding its tragic ending; and by possibilities to study typically “Schumannesque” on this example in constantly changing artistic world of German Romantic, who was on the verge of radical changes in national art of second half of XIX century. In order to conduct a research, the following methods of studying of musical phenomena are used: historical, evolutional, genetic, genre and typological, compositional and dramaturgic, comparative. Regarded through the prism of traditions, Sonatas for the Young reveal simultaneous interjections of contained ideas both with musical past, practice of national culture, including modern one, and with author’s own experience. Dedicating every Sonata to one of his own daughters, R. Schumann continues tradition of addressing his works, a tradition, that in fact has never been interrupted. As one can judge by R. Schumann’s dedications, as a rule, they mask an idea of musical portrait. The First Piano sonata op. 11, 6 Studies in canon form op. 56, Andantino from Piano sonata op. 22 are cited (the last one – according to observation of K. Zhabinskiy). The order of the Sonatas for the Young has clear didactic purpose, as if they were mastered by a child consecutively through different phases of learning piano, that gives this triad a feeling of movement towards general goal and makes it possible to perceive op. 118 as a macrocycle. Another type of cyclization, revealed in this article, discloses legacy of works like suites and variations, created by R. Schumann in 1830s, a legacy effectuated in usage of different variative and variant principles of creating the form on different levels of structure. For example, all the movements of the First sonata are bound with motto, consisting of 4 sounds, that allows to regard this cycle simultaneously as sonata and as variations, and if we take into consideration type of images used, we can add a suite cycle to these principles. In a manner, similar to “Carnival” and “Concerto Without the Orchestra”, author’s “explanation” of constructive logic lays within the composition, in the second movement (“Theme and Variations”). To end this list, the Finale of the Third Sonata for the Young contains a reminiscence of the themes from previous Sonatas, that in some way evokes “Children’s scenes” op. 15 (1838). Suite-like traits of Sonata cycles in the triad op. 118 can also be seen in usage of different-leveled titles, indicating: tempi (“Allegro”, “Andante”), programme image (“The Evening Song”, “The Dream of a Child”) or type of musical form (“Canon”), that underscores a bound of Sonatas for the Young with R. Schumann’s cycles of programme miniatures. In addition to that, a set of piecesmovements refl ects tendency of “late Schumann” to mix different historical and cultural traditions, overcoming the limits of autoretrospection. Tempo markings of movements used as their titles allows to regard them predominately as indications of emotional and imagery content, that resembles a tradition of composer’s practice of 17th – 18th centuries. “Allegro” as a title is also regarded as an announcement of the beginning of the Sonata cycle, and that especially matters for the fi rst Sonata, that, contrary to the Second and Third, is opened not with sonata form, but with three-part reprise form. Of no less signifi cance is appearance of canon in “children” composition with respective title, a canon simultaneously referring to the music of Baroque epoch and being one of obligatory means of form-creating, that young pianist is to master. The same can be addressed to the genre of sonata. Coming from the times of Viennese Classicism, it is preserved as the active of present-day artistic horizon, required from those in the stage of apprenticeship, that means sonata belongs to the present time. For R. Schumann himself, “child” triad op. 118 at the same time meant a return to the genre of Piano sonata, that he hadn’t used after his experiments of 1830s, that can also be regarded as an autoretrospection. Comparative analysis of Sonatas for the Young and “Big Romantic” sonatas, given in the current research, allowed to demonstrate organic unity of R. Schumann’s style, simultaneously showing a distance separating the works of composer, belonging to the different stage of his creative evolution. Created in the atmosphere of “home” routine, dedicated to R. Schumann’s daughters, including scenes from everyday life as well as “grown-up” movements, Three Sonatas for the Young op. 118 embody typical features of Biedermeier culture, a bound with which can be felt in the last works of composer rather distinctly. The conclusion is drawn that domain of “children” music of the author because of its didactic purpose refl ects stylistic features of “late Schumann”, especially of his last years, in crystallized form.

The objective of this dissertation is to review the discrepancies between Concert Sans Orchestre and Grande Sonate edited by Ernst Herttrich, Grosse Sonate No.3 Op.14 Erste and Zweite Ausgabe edited by Clara Schumann of Robert Schumann's No.3 Op.14, providing assistance for performers by clarifying inconsistencies between the three editions. Information in reference to major aspects such as notes, rhythms, metronome marking and expression signs is presented. Examples of discrepancies found throughout the first movement are discussed in Chapter 3. Suggested solutions are followed by each example.

Clara Wieck (1819-96) was a particularly successful nineteenth-century musician. Unlike many of her female contemporaries, and contrary to her social conditioning, she occupied space within the male dominated public sphere of music making, as both a performer and composer. Her participation in dichotomous social realms was unique, and affected the normalcy of her personal life and relationships. Accordingly, during their courtship, Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann (1810-56) were forced to communicate their love through a means that departed from the nineteenth-century norm---music. This thesis argues that many of their early piano works, spanning the decade of the 1830s, were written with some intention of correspondence or message to the other party. Three main conceptual frameworks are employed for musical analysis: firstly, the characteristics of sentiment, social context, mood, and gender as betrayed by genre; secondly, the overt relevance of musical quotation; and finally, the perceived relevance of titles and dedications. Wieck and Schumann's music and courtship is explored herein to determine the extra-musical communicative potential of music for solo piano.

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This research tested two different applications of the performance cue s memorization model (CHAFFIN et al., 2002) in Robert Schumann s Abegg Variations. The aim of the first model s application was the memorized public performance of the piece with no memory lapses. The second application, otherwise, adopted a different view of the model and its aim was to improve musical interpretation through the utilization of the performance cues as points of attention during performance, and it purposes were: (1) to test expressive performance cues as points of attention during performance, and its influence in the resulting sound, and (2) to investigate the potentiality of timbre and timing as parameters of the expressive performance cues applied in the Abegg Variations s performances. The methodology was supported by two practice diaries and audio recorded tests of the applications in four public performances. In these performances the number of memory lapses was inexistent or almost inexistent. We also realized a comparative analysis of the timbre and timing in two recordings of these public performances, to verify the result of the use of performance cues projected in the sound. The results of this research confirmed the efficacy of the performance cue s memorization model in the Abegg Variations and also revealed the possibility of using the expressive performance cues in the refinement of the musical interpretation, mainly in the second application of the model.
Esta pesquisa testou duas aplicações do modelo de memorização através de guias de execução, proposto por Chaffin et al. (2002), nas Variações Abegg de Schumann. A primeira aplicação do modelo teve como fim a memorização da peça e a execução da mesma em público, visando uma performance sem falhas de memória. A segunda aplicação adotou uma visão diferenciada do modelo e buscou aprimorar a interpretação da peça através da utilização dos guias de execução como focos de atenção durante a performance, tendo como objetivos: (1) testar os guias de execução expressivos como focos de atenção durante a performance e a sua influência na produção do som e (2) investigar a potencialidade do timbre e da manipulação temporal como fonte de guias de execução expressivos nas Variações Abegg, de Schumann. A metodologia contou com o suporte de dois diários de estudo e testes das aplicações em quatro apresentações públicas. Nestas apresentações o número e falhas de memória por parte da intérprete e autora deste trabalho foi praticamente nulo. Realizamos também uma análise comparativa de aspectos de manipulação do tempo e timbre entre duas gravações de performances públicas das Variações Abegg, realizada através do software Sonic Visualiser, com o intuito de verificar o resultado sonoro efetivo da utilização dos guias. Os resultados desta pesquisa, além de comprovar a eficácia do modelo a partir de guias de execução na memorização da peça, revelaram a possibilidade de utilização dos guias expressivos no aprimoramento da interpretação musical, principalmente na segunda aplicação do modelo.

While China possesses one of the world's richest musical heritages, it remained unaffected by Western music until early in this century. Subsequently, there was a movement of nationalism in music approximately three decades after the introduction of Western music. This movement, aimed at utilizing Western compositional techniques to create musical works that still would be uniquely Chinese, continues even today. Huang's piano concerto was written in 1982, just a few years after the Cultural Revolution. At the time, most Chinese composers were "handicapped" by their lack of knowledge of Western contemporary music and by their limited study of both Western and Chinese traditional forms. Huang Anlun, a composer-in-residence at the Central Opera House in Beijing, traveled to North America to study at the University of Toronto and Yale University. Subsequently his music is widely performed and well received around the world. After presenting background information on Western music in China and an introduction to basic Chinese music theory, this study has analyzed Huang's piano concerto, with a particular focus on identifying, comparing, and analyzing elements of Western and Chinese music. After a survey of the formal structure of the concerto, this study has discussed Chinese modality and Western harmony--the two most important factors in the conception of Huang's concerto. A comparative study between Chinese folk songs and the thematic materials in Huang's concerto is followed by a discussion on "imitations" of Chinese instruments. The study has also examined Western compositional techniques incorporated into this concerto, such as thematic transformation, contrapuntal writing, cyclic procedure, as well as atonal and serial techniques. Through a detailed analysis, this study attempts to demonstrate how Huang has blended Western and Chinese musical syntaxes to create an artistic work that is also uniquely Chinese.

Volumes one and two of Annees de Pelerinage contain travel impressions. The pieces in volume three serve as a means of expressing a religious pilgrimage. The religiousmeaning is implied by the titles and by letters Liszt wrote concerning specific pieces. For the pieces to have programmatic significance, the music must support the verbal clues. This dissertation maintains that selected pieces in Annees de Pelerinage III are programmatic and that Liszt provided musical clues that have not been discovered or, if noticed, have not been analyzed in detail. Also, the dissertation explores similarities between selected pieces of Annees de Pelerinage III and other programmatic or texted works by Liszt sharing the same subject. The findings reinforce the premise that Liszt deliberately intended to express certain extra-musical ideas within the music itself. The paper briefly analyzes the musical reasons for labeling Annees de Pelerinaae III a cycle. Different sources call these pieces cyclic, citing the shared common religious theme as the reason. This dissertation discusses musical reasons that reinforce the idea of a cycle. Chapter II discusses Liszt's views on program music. Chapter III identifies common themes in Liszt's programmatic works and discusses the symbolic significance of thematic transformation. Chapter IV suggests an approach to analyzing program music. Chapter V discusses Liszt's musical narrative and his use of common rhetorical devices. Chapter VI analyzes extra-musical associations in selected pieces from the Annees de Pelerinaae—Troisieme Annee. Five pieces have been selected for analysis—Anaelus1. Aux Cypres de la Villa d'Este I and II, Marche funebre. and Sursum corda.

This doctoral submission consists of 4 CD recordings of my performances of Schumann’s piano works (from Opus 72 to the last piece he composed) supported by an exegesis. The works performed and discussed are: Vier Fugen Op. 72 (1845), Vier Märsche Op. 76 (1849), Waldszenen Op. 82 (1848/9), Bunte Blätter Op. 99 (1836-49), Albumblätter Op. 124 (1832-45), Drei Fantasiestücke Op. 111 (1851), Drei Klavier-Sonaten für die Jugend Op. 118 (1853), Sieben Stücke in Fughettenform Op. 126 (1853), Gesänge der Frühe Op. 133 (1853), and the Geistervariationen WoO 24 (1854). Recent scholarship suggests that Schumann’s late piano works have been unreasonably neglected. This neglect has been justified by reference to his mental condition, which has often been assumed to have deteriorated as he got older, allegedly affecting the quality of his composition. Empirical evidence from the 1980s onwards supports a burgeoning school of thought that casts misgivings on the once commonly held belief that Schumann’s late works are inferior in quality. These recordings provide a fresh interpretation of the material and are intended to contribute towards a 21st century Schumannian renaissance as we approach the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2010. The exegesis discusses the process of researching, learning, performing and recording these works. Interpretative decisions are described and validated through an examination of the implications of the score, and specific pianistic issues arising through the maturation of Schumann’s late style are also discussed. The works have been examined on the basis that historical prejudice may have prevented a fair assessment of the quality of the composer’s music of this period.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 2010

Cuando pensamos en la interpretación musical muchas veces nos situamos en el resultado final. Al escuchar a un gran intérprete admiramos su ejecución, su destreza técnica, su capacidad de transmitir emociones… Pero, ¿cuándo comienza realmente la interpretación? ¿Cuál es el recorrido que nos lleva a ese resultado final? Cada una de las etapas que transitamos es parte fundamental del proceso, y puede ser explorada y analizada para perfeccionarse. La reflexión acerca de las características de la práctica, la búsqueda de estrategias de estudio y el análisis del proceso de construcción de una interpretación, constituyen las temáticas principales a las cuales nos dedicaremos en este trabajo. Para ello, además de realizar una investigación bibliográfica, tomando ideas de grandes maestros y pedagogos de la música y del piano, se llevó a cabo una encuesta sobre una población de intérpretes de diferentes instrumentos (nueve pianistas, tres violinistas, dos guitarristas, un saxofonista, un percusionista y un cantante), estudiantes y egresados de las carreras de música de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, con entre nueve y veintisiete años de estudio. A partir de las preguntas, se indagó acerca de sus concepciones del estudio instrumental, lo cual aportó material significativo para las temáticas abordadas. El presente trabajo constituye la instancia final de la Licenciatura en Perfeccionamiento Instrumental en Piano de la UNC, en conjunto con una presentación solista, y un concierto con orquesta. Dichas instancias representaron momentos de reflexión y experimentación para la realización del trabajo escrito. El desarrollo del mismo consta de tres capítulos: “la preparación”, referida a los momentos iniciales del momento de práctica, “estrategias de estudio”, en donde se profundiza acerca de diferentes maneras de abordar el estudio y por último, “la presentación”.

This book is the first history of keyboard improvisation in European music in the postclassical and romantic periods (c. 1815–1870). Grounded in primary sources, it documents practices of improvisation on the piano and the organ, with a particular emphasis on free fantasies and other forms of free playing. Case studies of performers such as Abbé Vogler, J. N. Hummel, Ignaz Moscheles, Robert Schumann, Carl Loewe, and Franz Liszt describe in detail the motives, intentions, and musical styles of the nineteenth century’s leading improvisers. The book further discusses the reception and valuation of improvisational performances by colleagues, audiences, and critics, which prompted many keyboardists to stop improvising. Its central argument is that amid the decline of improvisational practices in the first half of the nineteenth century there emerged a strong and influential “idea” of improvisation as an ideal or perfect performance. This idea, spawned and nourished by romanticism, preserved the aesthetic, social, and ethical values associated with improvisation, calling into question the supposed triumph of the “work.”

Chapter 4 details Robert Schumann’s evolution from an eager and fluent improviser into a composer who advocated writing music away from the piano entirely. His evolution demonstrates the growing polarization between improvisation and composition, modes of music-making that were generally viewed as mutually beneficial until the 1830s. His early, piano-centered output provides clues into how certain transitional and rhetorical strategies were rooted in keyboard improvisational practices, but consciously invested with a “depth” or “psychology” that gave them a romantic cast. The chapter’s interpretive lens is then broadened to consider how Schumann’s anxiety over improvisation was shaped by an “ethos of economy” then common to the educated classes. Improvisation thrived on certain anti-economic impulses—a dilated sense of temporal unfolding, a strenuous type of performer training, a risk of inefficacious communication—that ran counter to bourgeois ethical codes such as the containment of excess and the rational ordering of available resources.

Chapter 8 begins with historical precedents, including Brahms’s appointments as a choral conductor during his early professional life, his interest in and performance of works by J. S. Bach, and his association with Robert Schumann—of short duration but of profound influence. Substantial discussion is also given to the texts about life suffering that Brahms chose for most of his sacred choral compositions. The Requiem is discussed in terms of its long gestation, unification through use of musical motifs, and balanced and mirror structures. Performance practice issues include timbre and vibrato, metric accentuation, disposition of performers on stage, and tempo fluctuation.

Approaches towards the formal learning of piano playing with respect to musicianship is one that demands the understanding of musical concepts and their applications. Consequently, it requires the boldness to immerse oneself in performance situations while trusting one’s instincts. One needs only to cultivate an amazing ear and a good understanding of music theory to break down progressions “quickly”. Like an alchemist, one would have to pick their creative impulses from their musical toolbox, simultaneously compelling their fingers to coordinate with the brain and the music present to generate “pleasant sounds”. My exploration leading to what will be considered Keyboard Musicianship did not begin in a formal setting. Rather it was the consolidation of my involvement in playing the organ at home, Sunday school, boarding school at Presec-Legon, and playing at weekly gospel band performances off-campus and other social settings that crystalized approaches that can be formally structured. In fact, I did not then consider this lifestyle of musical interpretation worthy of academic inclusivity until I graduated from the national academy of music and was taken on the staff as an instructor in September, 1986. Apparently, what I did that seemed effortless was a special area that was integral to holistic music development. The late Dr. Robert Manford, the then director of the Academy, assigned me to teach Rudiments and Theory of Music to first year students, Keyboard Musicianship to final year students, and to continue giving Piano Accompaniment to students – just as I have been voluntarily doing to help students. The challenge was simply this; there was no official textbook or guide to use in teaching keyboard musicianship then and I was to help guide especially non-piano majors for practical exams in musicianship. What an enterprise! The good news though was that exemplifying functionalism in keyboard, organ, piano, etc. has been my survival activity off campus particularly in church and social settings.Having reflected thoroughly and prayerfully, it dawned on me that piano literacy repertoires were crafted differently than my assignments in Musicianship. Piano literacy repertoires of western music were abundant on campus but applied musicianship demanded a different approach. Playing a sonata, sonatina, mazurka, and waltzes at different proficiency levels was different from punching chords in R&B, Ballard style, Reggae, Highlife or even Hymn playing. However, there are approaches that can link them and also interpretations that can categorize them in other applicable dimensions. A “Retrospective Introspection” demanded that I confront myself constructively with two questions: 1. WHAT MUSICAL ACTIVITIES have I already enjoyed myself in that WARRANT or deserve this challenging assignment? 2. WHAT MUSICAL NOURISHMENT do l believe enriched my artistry that was so observable and Measurable? The answers were shocking! They were: 1. My weekend sojourn from Winneba to Accra to play for churches, brass bands, gospel bands and teaching of Choirs – which often left me penniless. 2. Volunteering to render piano accompaniment to any Voice Major student on campus since my very first year. 3. Applying a principle, I learnt from my father – TRANSFER OF LEARNING – I exported the functionalism of my off-campus musical activities to compliment my formal/academic work. 4. The improvisational influences of Rev. Stevenson Alfred Williams (gospel jazz pianist), Bessa Simmons (band director & keyboardist) and at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Ray Ellis “Afro Piano Jazz Fusion Highlife” The trust and support from lecturers and students in the academy injected an overwhelming and high sense of responsibility in me which nevertheless, guided me to observe structures of other established course outlines and apply myself with respect to approaches that were deemed relevant. Thus, it is in this light that I selected specific concepts worth exploring to validate the functionalism of what my assignment required. Initially, hymn structures, chords I, IV, V and short highlife chordal progressions inverted here and there were considered. Basic reading of notes and intense audiation were injected even as I developed technical exercises to help with the dexterity of stiff fingers. I conclude this preface by stating that, this “Instructional guide/manual” is actually a developmental workbook. I have deliberately juxtaposed simple original piano pieces with musicianship approaches. The blend is to equip learners to develop music literacy and performance proficiencies. The process is expected to compel the learner to immerse/initiate themselves into basic keyboard musicianship. While it is a basic book, I expect it to be a solid foundation for those who commit to it. Many of my former and present students have been requesting for a sort of guide to aid their teaching or refresh their memories. Though not exhaustive, the selections presented here are a response to a long-awaited workbook. I have used most of them not only in Winneba, but also at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center (Atlanta) and the Piano Lab (Accra). I found myself teaching the same course in the 2009 – 2013 academic year in the Music Department of the University of Education, Winneba when Prof C.W.K Merekeu was Head of Department. My observation is that we still have a lot of work to do in bridging academia and industry. This implies that musicianship must be considered as the bloodline of musicality not only in theory but in practice. I have added simplified versions of my old course outlines as a guide for anyone interested in learning. Finally, I contend that Keyboard Musicianship is a craft and will require of the learner a consistent discipline and respect for: 1. The art of listening 2. Skill acquisition/proficient dexterity 3. Ability to interpret via extemporization and delivery/showmanship. For learners who desire to challenge themselves in intermediate and advanced piano, I recommend my book, “African Pianism. (A contribution to Africology)”

This chapter discusses the results of an experiment testing audience response to Robert Morris’s Clear Sounds among Hills and Waters (1989, revised 2013), for solo piano, under five different preparatory conditions: simple identification (ID), program note (PN), aesthetic/visual introduction by the composer on video (AES), structural/aural introduction by the composer on video (STR), and the combination of all of the preceding (CMB). Qualitative analysis of responses suggested that preparations ID, STR, PN, AES, and CMB, in that order, were increasingly beneficial for audience appreciation and understanding. The piece’s context and meaning needed to be explained before structural information could be employed effectively. The combination of aesthetic with structural information was more helpful than either alone. Indirect knowledge about the piece must translate into direct knowledge for greater impact. The chapter then explores broader issues implicated in audience reception of new music: characteristics of the listener, social and cultural factors, and features of the musical language, described by analogy to phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Stimuli for the experiment, including Leong’s performance of Clear Sounds on video, may be found online.

Clara Schumann’s 1850 tour of northern Germany with her husband officially ended with a successful concert in Altona where Jenny Lind made a surprise appearance. Immediately thereafter, one more concert featuring the pianist, singer, and Robert’s music was added at the last minute to take place in Hamburg. This too was a success. But a detail that made it especially memorable was Lind’s position behind the piano lid so that, as Clara recounted in her diary, many audience members could hardly catch a glimpse of her. This paper explores the rationales and implications of this singular and fleeting moment, and teases out aspects of the two star performers’ relationship both on and off the stage. In the process, the paper draws attention to hitherto neglected variables in the performance practice of Lieder and seeks to expand our lines of inquiry with regards to the 19th-century Lied as cultural practice.