Journal articles 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 theoretic model of the “unreliable narrative” in fiction took flight in the early 1960s; it has since become a key concept in narratology, and an indispensable one. Simply put, first-person unreliable narrators are ones about whom we as readers, in collusion with the author, learn more than they know about themselves. Romantic precursors of modernist experiments in fiction—incipient cases of narrative unreliability—arise in the works of, among others, Jean Paul Richter and Heinrich Heine, two of Robert Schumann's favorite writers. In his early solo piano cycle, Papillons, op. 2, Schumann draws inspiration from Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre, surely capturing something of the author's unreliably quirky literary style, in part through the strategy of tonal pairing. Whereas Schumann ultimately played down the programmatic elements of Papillons that trace back to the unpredictable Jean Paul, a genuine instance of the unreliable narrator is Heine's troubled poet-persona in Schumann's Dichterliebe. Here the composer invites us to perceive a second persona through the voice of the piano—one that understands the poet better than he does, and whose music reveals from the outset that rejection in love lies ahead. The emergence of narrative unreliability in fiction may have served as an influence that drove experimentation not only for Schumann but also for some of his contemporaries and successors. Debates about musical narrativity might profit from considering the recent literary concept of a “feedback loop,” in which the author, the narrator (text), and the narratee (reader)—in our case, the composer, the performer, and the listener (including analysts, performers, and composers, who are also intensive listeners)—continually and recursively interact.

ABSTRACT In September 1871, Johannes Brahms presented Clara Schumann with an untitled work in F## minor for solo piano, which he later revised and published as the Capriccio, op. 76/1. Surviving correspondence demonstrates Clara's intimate familiarity with the work throughout the 1870s. In May 1876, two years before releasing manuscripts of the Capriccio among his wider circle, Brahms composed the song Alte Liebe (Old Love) to a poem by Carl Candidus; he immediately sent an autograph to the baritone Julius Stockhausen, along with instructions to sing it to Clara, whom he proclaimed the best person to hear it. Examination of the music against the backdrop of its origins and the circumstances of its initial performance reveals that Brahms deliberately incorporated echoes of the Capriccio into Alte Liebe and points to ways in which those echoes might have influenced Clara's understanding of the song and its text. A broad array of music-analytic and documentary evidence (including the newly rediscovered autograph of Alte Liebe) permits detailed investigation of the interpretive perspective that Brahms's compositional choices encouraged from a listener with Clara's unique musical memories and manner of interacting with chamber music. Imaginatively reconstructing her encounter with Alte Liebe yields fresh insights into Brahms's compositional practice in the private genres of song and small-scale chamber music, a rich new historical context in which to ground the study of allusion in his works, and a rare opportunity to explore the musical and personal dynamics of his closest friendship.

Statement of the problem. Recently, there has been growing interest in the personality of the outstanding Polish composer, pianist, teacher and conductor M. Moszkowski (1854–1925), whose creativity occupies a significant place in the history of European musical art of the second half of the nineteenth – early twentieth centuries. The multifaceted composer’s legacy of M. Moszkowski gives a large variety of materials for researchers. His piano creativity, which encompasses composing, performing, teaching and editorial activities, is an outstanding phenomenon in the European musical culture. One of the key genres of piano music by composer is a miniature. The miniatures that were created by M. Moszkowski during his life, reflects the evolution of his individual style, clearly representing his creative method, aesthetics and piano performance features. However, the question of the genre of miniatures in the work of M. Moszkowski has not been considered by the researchers yet. Thus, there is a need for scientific analysis of M. Moszkowski’s piano miniatures in the context of the general stylistic norms of his creative work. The purpose of the article is characterization of stylistic features and attempt to classify of M. Moszkowski’s piano miniature in view of the role of this genre in the Polish composer’s creativity. Methods. The methodological basis of the study is the unity of scientific approaches, among which the most important is a functional one, associated with the analysis of the genre as a typical structure. The desire to realize the fundamental principles of scientific knowledge, comprehensiveness and concrete historical approach to the study of the target problem requires the combination of musical analysis with historical-cultural, stylistic generalizations, considering piano works by M. Moszkowski in the unity of historical, ideological, stylistic and performing problems involving the conceptual apparatus of theoretical musicology and the theory of pianism. Results. The vast majority of piano pieces by M. Moszkowski are miniatures. According to their place in the performing practice, miniatures are differentiated into concert-virtuoso, pedagogical, household directions. According to the internal genre typological features, they are divided into etudes, dance pieces (waltzes, mazurkas and polonaise serve as confirmation of the musical-historical experience of romantic composers) and others. In the palette of the latter are scherzo, capriccio, fantasia-impromptu, musical moments, arabesques, barcarole, lyrical pieces – that is, almost the whole arsenal of the most common types of miniatures of the Romantic era. The analysis of piano miniatures reveals the composer’s individual attitude to tradition, free choice of figurative and stylistic priorities by him. Under consideration are the piano cycles “Spanish dances” op. 12, “Arabesque” op. 61, the piece-fantasia “Hommage à Schumann” op. 5, Suite for 4 hands “From all over the World op. 23” and other miniatures that were creating throughout the life of the composer. These samples of the salon style of the late XIX century became a kind of generalization of creative searches of the previous constellation of composers – salon performers. Throughout his life, M. Moszkowski repeatedly turns to ancient forms and finds for creation of his miniatures an entirely new impulse: the small forms of the Baroque age. By rethinking, “romanticizing” them, the composer creates his own modifications of the genre models of ancient music in such works as “Canon” (op.15, op. 81, op. 83), “Rococo” op. 36, “Burre” op. 38, “Siciliana” op. 42, “Gavotte” (op. 43, op. 86), “Fugue” op. 47, “Sarabande” op. 56, “Prelude and Fugue” op. 85, as well as numerous “Minuets”. The latter carry out the traits of the aesthetics of the gallant style. Since 1900, Moszkowski prefers etudes. The arsenal of techniques he uses in these works is rich and diverse and emphasizes the artistic qualities of these compositions. Sometimes Moszkowski interprets the genre of the etude very freely: as a substitute for another genre (“Two miniatures” op. 67), as part of the cycle-diology (“Etude-Caprice” and “Improvisation”, op. 70), etc. Modern pianists seldom perform the piano music by Moszkowski. At the same time, the pieces represent a very interesting material that clearly reflects the originality of the musical language of the late romantic pianists, to which Moszkowski belonged. Perhaps, performers confused by the overload of musical material with various technical difficulties. The composer used a wide range of romantic pianistic means. The typical stylistic feature of his music is improvisation, based on the tradition of a brilliant piano style of performance with a romantically impulsive change in emotional states. The performance seems to be more unattainable, because the composer’s bold innovation in virtuoso texture is combined with a refined romantic manner of writing. This circumstance explains the fact that the works by Moszkowski were forgotten for many years. And only now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, when many values and priorities are revised, art salon style and Moszkowski’s compositions are becoming of great interest. Conclusions. The piano “workshop of miniatures” is the most important component of the composer’s legacy of M. Moszkowski, reflecting the peculiarity of the author’s aesthetic position – cultivating a positive mood, elegance, refinement, virtuosity as signs of ownership of the instrument. It is these aesthetic principles – the feeling of Beauty as preciosity, delicacy, non-conflict state of reality – formed his attitude to the genre of miniatures. M. Moszkowski’s piano miniatures marked by the features of virtuoso style creating associations with the music of F. Chopin and R. Schumann. Chopin’s influences can be traced in the choice of genres of miniatures – among them there are waltzes, polonaises, impromptu, etudes, scherzo and barcaroles. However, for M. Moszkowski, as a composer of Polish origin, was simply necessary to be “native” to the musical heritage of F. Chopin. At the same time, the “similarity” of certain techniques to Chopin’s in the piano works by Moszkowski, always appears in the updated version without duplicating the original sources. The influence of R. Schumann is manifested in the dominance of melodious lyric and playful scherzo’s spheres, the tendency toward the characteristic images and the cycling of pieces, often combined with a certain artistic idea, specified by the programmatic subtitles or by the suite principle. Moszkowski’s piano works are perfect in a form, in possessing of specifics of the piano texture and the richness of figurative thinking. Moszkowski’s miniatures represent a very high level of piano skills, technically, they often require the ability to have a good command of the instrument, but technical difficulties submit to a vivid, meaningful image. Piano miniatures by M. Moszkowski became a significant contribution to the development of Western European art of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The numerous piano pieces by the composer, distinguished by high artistic qualities, today should rightfully take a worthy place in the concert practice of modern pianists.

The article is devoted to the work of Ivan Glebovich Sokolov (born 1960), which unfolds in many areas of activity, and among them the main one stands out – composer and pianist. Performance directly affects his composer's searches. Realizing the special impact of the music of romantic composers on listeners, I. G. Sokolov changes the focus of his work from a «conceptual» vector to a traditional style of writing. He creates a number of works directly related to the romantic tradition, among them the piano cycle “Gospel Pictures» (2012) stands out, in which the high role of associative links with the heritage of romantic composers (J. Brahms, F. Liszt, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. N. Scriabin, P. I. Tchaikovsky, F. Chopin, R. Schumann). The focus of the article is the intertextual layer in the «Gospel Pictures», which is realized at two levels: compositional and intonational-thematic (quotes, quasi-quotes, allusions), the latter is given special attention in the article. As a result of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the noted material, which is directly related to the musical culture of romanticism, merges into a single whole with the style of the musical language of the piano cycle, forming a «mono-stylistic» (G. V. Grigorieva) musical fabric, which emphasizes the relevance the concept of extending romantic traditions in modern domestic musical culture. At the same time, this perspective of the study confirms the concept of A. V. Mikhailov about the «phenomenon of the omnipresence of romantic music», as well as its «indestructibility» and «immortality» in the process of evolution of musical culture.

The present article explores the travel diaries William Sterndale Bennett kept on his three extended journeys from London to Leipzig between 1836 and 1842. In the autumn of 1836 the young pianist and composer embarked on the first and longest of ultimately three residencies in Leipzig. Invited by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, he came to the burgeoning centre for instrumental music in order to spend productive time in the artistic circle surrounding Mendelssohn. Bennett began keeping a diary, in which he recorded his experiences – from mundane to musical – and which de facto evolved into a silent travel companion. He repeated this process on his subsequent two travels. The diaries offer valuable first-hand accounts of the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts under Mendelssohn’s leadership (who served as its Kapellmeister from 1835 to 1847) as well as the semi-private soirées in the prestigious salons of the city. In the privacy of the personal journal, Bennett did not shy away from making bold statements concerning compositions, performance practices, the quality of musical instruments or socio-cultural idiosyncrasies. Especially intriguing is the congenial connection he made with Robert Schumann. The two artists shared an ad hoc, allusive affinity and community of solidarity that has been overlooked in the past. All of this is the more revealing in light of his otherwise soft-spoken and reserved personality, particularly since Bennett’s journaling also offers a view into his own compositional and creative process during this important phase of his career. Apart from tracing musical opinions expressed, aesthetic positions maintained and cultural differences observed, this article follows the artistic bond between William Sterndale and Robert Schumann.

The relevance. The development of piano performance is the result of the interaction of two alternatives — tradition and innovation. Innovations emerge and are affirmed, overcoming the conservative resistance of traditional performance stamps. Each new stage of this evolutionary process is marked by the appearance on the musical horizon of bright names of pianists, who, stunning the audience with their unexpected performance decisions, break established traditions and form new landmarks for performing and perceiving musical works. In the modern space of world piano performance, such a unique musician is the French pianist Luc Debarg. In his extraordinary interpretations, the pianist convincingly demonstrates the new organics of performance and reflects the latest pianistic trends, which deserves special attention and determines the relevance of the study. The purpose of the article consists in realizing the performing conception of Lucas Debargue regarding the N. Medtner’s Sonata f-moll, op. 5 through identification of performing stylistics features of the French pianist. The topicality of the article. The research material was: the musical text of the Sonata f-moll, op. 5 M. Medtner; videorecording of the performance of the Sonata by Luc Debargue and Boris Berezovsky. The methodology. The study used a historical approach, the method of comparative analysis, musicological and performing analysis The result. In musical performance and musicology, N. Medtner’s Sonata f-moll, Op. 5 is grasped as retrospective in the nature of imagery. It is characterized usually by a deep but restrained melancholy, nobility, perfection of form, density and graphic texture, lack of colorism. Lucas Debargue sees the Sonata as a symbol of cultural memory. The texture becomes transparent and differentiated, each of the texture layers seems to be visually filled with color and acquires semantic meaning. Comparing textured layers during performance forms an idea of “traveling” through different time spaces. Strengthening the texture and semantic allusions of M. Medtner’s text, L. Debargue, using well-established, historically characteristic types of articulation, corresponds to the style of J. S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, R. Schumann, F. Chopin, S. Rachmaninoff, A. Scriabin. Through a carefully constructed system of interaction between microagogics, microdynamics, and texture density, the pianist forms a through image — memories that are revived by the memory but do not lose their brightness. So, the leading principle of L. Debargue’s performing style is the modernization of texts of past eras. The pianist offers a post-romantic concept of reading N. Medtner’s Sonata, which actualizes the polylogue of musical and historical eras. The scientific novelty. For the first time in musicology, the features of L. Debargue’s performing style are studied. The practical significance. The results of the work can be applied in the training courses «Piano», «History of piano performance», in further scientific researches.

Melodic onset asynchrony, whereby the upper or some component of a musical simultaneity may strike the ear ahead of other sounds, is a common feature in the performance of Western art music. It seems to be of high aesthetic value in the history of pianism, often harnessed to the seemingly contradictory “bass lead” that prevailed in the early 20th century, though in fact the two are far from exclusive. Departing from an application of Brent Yorgason’s taxonomy of “hand-breaking” (2009) to canonical, composed examples of onset asynchrony from Beethoven, Schumann, and Liszt, we examine timbral, organological, and aesthetic continuities that underly distinct practices of asynchrony. We consider the physical nature of such normally non-notated “microtiming”, ranging in performance from a few ms of melodic onset asynchrony to about 100ms, above which it is generally agreed that even the casual listener may perceive it. A piano-roll recording by Claude Debussy, of “The Little Shepherd”, illustrates the mix of melodic onset asynchrony, bass lead, and apparent simultaneity that may be applied in a single interpretation. We then discuss the concept of “audibility” and the question of to what extent, and in what ways, the combined transients of piano attacks may interact. We consider with reference to 20th century Russian piano pedagogy why onset asynchrony seems to have been a little documented, rather than an explicit playing technique, even though certain sources, such as a 1973 treatise by Nadezhda Golubovskaya, show it to be ubiquitous and well theorised. Finally, regarding the thinking that has predominated in musical performance studies in recent decades, with its emphasis on average practices and “ordinary” listeners, we suggest that a new emphasis will be fruitful, that is, research on what is particular about the embodied creativity of expert musicians.

Sterndale Bennett has often been characterized as an imitator of Mendelssohn. While it is true and unsurprising that there are similarities in the two composers’ musical language, actual imitation is difficult to substantiate. Bennett’s reputation as a composer has passed through several phases in the last 200 years. It was high in his lifetime in Germany as well as in Britain, when resemblance to Mendelssohn was counted as a positive asset, but later assailed by promoters of the ‘English Musical Renaissance’, who needed a preceding dark age and tended to dismiss early Victorians as copiers of Mendelssohn. Recent writers have shown a more positive attitude to the Victorian period in general. Bennett’s individuality has in fact been fully recognized from the first by such widely differing commentators as Mendelssohn himself, Robert Schumann, Henry Heathcote Statham, Frederick Ouseley, Charles Gounod, Charles Stanford, Geoffrey Bush, Peter Horton and Larry Todd. His style was founded on the Austro-German classical tradition and the London Pianoforte School headed by Clementi and Cramer, through his teacher Cipriani Potter, as is confirmed by early sources. This article surveys some of Bennett’s most characteristic piano pieces, and ends by analysing notably original features of his harmonic style that owe nothing to Mendelssohn, such as the inverted pedal note, evaded resolution of dissonance, and harmonic anticipation.

The purpose of this article is to identify cultural, musical and pedagogical aspects of the life and work of one of the leading representatives of the Moscow piano school in performance and pedagogy S. Feinberg. The formation of S. Feinberg's compositional and performing style was influenced by many composers of the Silver Age, the leading of whom were A. Scriabin and N. Medtner. The subject of the study is the circle of interests of S. Feinberg. S. Fenberg was one of the best performers of J.S. Bach, L. Beethoven, R. Schumann, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninov, N. Medtner, A. Scriabin. S. Feinberg's interpretations of A. Scriabin's works were considered the closest to the author's. S. Feinberg's performance was distinguished by its rigor, precise adherence to the author's text, intellectual interpretation. S. Feinberg summarized his views in musicological works: "Beethoven's 32 Sonatas", "Pianism as Art", "The Fate of Musical Form" and others. The object of the study is the consideration of the individual composer style of S. Feiberg. From the first opuses of S. Feinberg's work, he was interested in the genre of piano sonata. Through the synthesis of research methods, some features of sonatas No. 1, No. 2, No. 6 and No. 12 are presented. The author examines in detail compositional techniques, in particular the attraction to poetry and monothematism inherent in romantic composers, the widespread use of polyphony. A significant event for the musicians was the release of the CD "Feinberg plays Feinberg", released by the Moscow Conservatory in 2021, which included recordings of his twelve sonatas. The main conclusion of the conducted research is that S. Feiberg's style is absolutely individual, which is revealed in the nature of thematism, the ways of its development, and the methods of piano presentation. In addition, a fine connoisseur of the piano, S. Feinberg creates new types of virtuoso technique. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the study of S. Feinberg's style is based on the memoirs and theoretical studies of S. Feinberg.

Performers and scholars have argued for generations over what should be done with musical works that have been left incomplete by their composers. Though many attempts have been made to bring such works to completion, some scholars feel that these fragments should remain untouched because the pieces in question were left incomplete during the composer’s own career. With this debate in mind, I undertook a study and completion of Gustav Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A minor, a piece for which Mahler composed a complete first movement, Nicht zu schnell, and twenty-four bars of a second movement, Scherzo, when he was a student at the Vienna Conservatory. I began by analyzing Nicht zu schnell in order to understand Mahler’s treatment of motives, form, and harmony. In addition, I studied contemporary works by Schumann and Brahms. Based on my analyses, I then composed a completion of the Scherzo in a style that is, in my opinion, idiomatic of Mahler. After a performance of my completion, seventy percent of the audience responded with five on a scale of zero to six when asked in a survey how closely my Scherzo aligned with Nicht zu schnell. One hundred percent of the listeners ethically approved of the task of completing unfinished music. Adding to the discourse on musical completion, this paper addresses the musicological debate surrounding unfinished music, discusses my process of completing Mahler’s quartet, and assesses public reactions to the ethical issues, such as hubris, that often arise when an alternate composer completes an unfinished work.

One of the best known compositions from Robert Schumann's "song year" of 1840 is the ballad "Die beiden Grenadiere," op. 49, no. 1, to a poem by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856). Any work about Napoleon, in any genre, was inevitably politically charged, both at the time Heine wrote his poem (perhaps in 1821, after hearing the news of the former emperor's death on 5 May 1821) and the date of its most famous musical setting (at the beginning of the decade when Germany was edging towards revolutionary outbreak). What impelled this 21st-century investigation of the song was curiosity about its confusing initial gesture in the piano, a tonic six-four chord as an anacrusis, leading to unharmonized tonic pitches on the downbeat of measure 1. Speculation about Schumann's intention led to an investigation of both men's attitudes towards Napoleon, especially the aftermath of his downfall. That Heine venerated Napoleon (who emancipated the Jews) cannot be doubted, but Heine, given to paradox and contradiction, was no hagiographer. His poem is as much literary as it is political, with its borrowings from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Herder's translation of the Scottish ballad "Edward." The First Empire, like all empires, is not merely historical fact but a confabulation of poetic legends. Heine's underlying concern, I would argue, was not Bonapartism per se but rising German nationalism of the sort he found ominous and that Schumann, to some as yet ill-defined degree, supported. But composer and poet both associated Napoleon with the ideals of the French Revolution in the days before it and the emperor succumbed to what is darkest in human nature. In my opinion, Schumann understood Heine's delineation of nationalistic fanaticism and found apt musical gestures for that understanding. Here, I trace the composer's lifelong sense of identification with Napoleon and the compositional decisions that tell of a political point of view in "Die beiden Grenadiere."

A dobra schumanniana é um concerto-instalação que consiste em performances videográfica e pianística desenvolvidas em ambiente especialmente produzido para tal finalidade. A composição videográfica é projetada simultaneamente tanto nas paredes do ambiente quanto em tela especial, envolvendo completamente um palco central, circular e elevado, onde está localizado um piano. Através de processamento digital em tempo real, as imagens da performance pianística são mescladas à projeção mapeada de um vídeo pré-editado. Este composto videográfico não só busca traduzir a consonância da multiplicidade que atravessa a obra schumanniana com o paradigma estético processual que caracteriza o mundo contemporâneo, como também alia a expressão artística da performance pianística e da videoinstalação à prática da pesquisa organizada e do estudo crítico continuamente renovado, ressaltando a atualidade das proposições arquitetadas pelos gênios da cultura, Robert e Clara Schumann, e Johannes Brahms. Desse modo, o foco de a dobra schumanniana corrobora a coetaneidade de obras poéticas distantes no tempo.

Este estudo tem como objetivo delinear questões que ainda vêm desafiando a pesquisa acadêmica em performance musical, sobretudo as relacionadas ao gesto do performer e às condições gestuais que determinam a performance do repertório acadêmico contemporâneo para piano. Ao se falar em execução instrumental, a maneira de fazê-la, ou seja, o modo de interpretar, de tocar e de planejar a performance mostra-se relevante. O desenvolvimento consciente da sequência de gestos que constituirá a performance instrumental determina, de modo significativo, a construção interpretativa. Isto ocorre porque a imaginação sonora conduz o intérprete à escolha dos movimentos que produzirão os diferenciados sons intencionados, assim como os movimentos gestuais implicarão configurações sonoras imaginadas. Esta questão aflora ao se abordar a interpretação da música contemporânea, a qual contém um repertório vasto, crescente e apresenta tendências diversas. Por se tratar de uma prática interpretativa em construção, não cristalizada em modelos estéticos consagrados, ela demanda do performer decisões interpretativas não previstas no modelo pedagógico que o formou. Assim sendo, os desafios postos pelo repertório contemporâneo, que avivam o processo de aquisição de competências interpretativas, enfatizados nesta pesquisa, contribuem sobremaneira para a pedagogia da performance musical, implicando aportes para o reconhecimento do gesto musical dentro de uma rede de elementos de interações não convencionais que estruturem a produção do próprio gesto musical. A familiaridade, a vivência e o conhecimento adquiridos pelo performer acerca do potencial expressivo e das tendências estilísticas, contidas no texto da obra, determinam seu entendimento musical e, consequentemente, a qualidade da execução instrumental. O referencial teórico respalda-se nas considerações e nos preceitos de George Kochevitsky (1967), Leonard Meyer (1989), Robert Hatten (2004), Marc Leman (2008), entre outros.

Though published vocal scores of Broadway musicals imply sole musical authorship the archives reveal a more complex picture. Five case studies illustrate different approaches to the compositional process in the 1940s and 1950s: Richard Rodgers, who produced fair copies in piano-vocal score for each of his songs; Cole Porter, who regularly used an amanuensis but sometimes produced fair copies; Frank Loesser, who initially used an amanuensis but later in his career produced detailed fragments of music for his arrangers to turn into performance scores; Frederick Loewe, who worked closely with an arranger to produce fair copies; and Robert Wright and George Forrest, who went through a complicated process of selecting and adapting the work of composers of art music such as Borodin and Rachmaninov. Detailed study of the available manuscripts makes clear that score production was nearly always a collaborative activity on Broadway, whether it involved amanuenses, copyists, arrangers, or orchestrators. Although in each of these cases the named composer retains an authorial role, in practical terms the archives reveal them to be “collaborators” rather than “authors,” working as a member of a team to create each performance score. As such, their aims were to facilitate performance events rather than to produce fixed works.

Цель статьи - изучить вопрос исполнительского стиля выдающейся китайской пианистки Ванг Юджи. Специфика мастерства Юджи Ванг исследуется на основе аудиозаписей ее концертных исполнений музыки Ф. Шопена, Р. Шумана, П.И. Чайковского. Подчеркивается, что выбор данных композиторов для искусствоведческого анализа продиктован широкой мировой известностью их фортепианных опусов и включенностью последних в репертуар многих известных музыкантов. Автором отмечается самобытность личности китайской пианистки и оригинальность ее трактовок произведений композиторов-романтиков и музыкального наследия П. И. Чайковского. Исследуется характерная для Юджи Ванг манера исполнения и подвергаются анализу ее репертуарные предпочтения. The purpose of the article is to study the performance style of the outstanding Chinese pianist Wang Yuji, who was born in 1987 in Beijing. The specificity of Yuji Wang's mastery is studied on the basis of audio recordings of her concert performances of music by F. Chopin, R. Schumann, P.I. Tchaikovsky. It is emphasized that the choice of these composers for art history analysis is dictated by the wide world fame of their piano opuses and the inclusion of the latter in the repertoire of many famous musicians. The author notes the originality of the personality of the Chinese pianist and the originality of her interpretations of the works of romantic composers and the musical heritage of P. I. Tchaikovsky. The article examines Yuji Wang's characteristic style of performance and analyzes her repertoire preferences.

Under consideration are various facets of the creative work of Rostislav Genika, a comprehensively educated musician, universally gifted personality, one of the founders of the Kharkov piano school. The research is based on the study of critical reviews of R. Genika’s and his students’ concerts. Under analysis is the main genre of R. Genika as a composer and pianist – a transcription represented by the piece “Concert Paraphrase” to the motive of “Kupava’s Complaints” from P. Tchaikovsky’s music to the play “The Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky. Rostislav Genika (1859 – 1942?) focused on piano art, which can be considered the key basis of all his theoretical, historical and musical-critical generalizations and conclusions, as well as practical activities as a performer, teacher and composer. The education received by R. Genika in the class of N. Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory prompted the Kharkov musician to pay tribute to piano performance in the early stages of his career. The information about the pianist R. Genika, which came to us from publications in the press and the memoirs of his colleagues, gives an opportunity to reconstruct, although not in full, the style of his piano playing as a soloist, ensemble performer and accompanist. All this together constituted the subject of a comprehensive review and the relevance of this article. The research material includes reviews of R. Genika’s concerts and an example of his composer’s heritage in the field of piano music – a transcription “Concert Paraphrase” to the motive “Kupava’s Complaints” from P. Tchaikovsky’s music to the play “The Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the universalism of the composer’s talent, the scale of his work, which was mainly focused on piano performance, through the analysis of various aspects of Rostislav Genika’s creative work. It would be wrong to call R. Genika a concert pianist in the traditional sense of the word. He had few solo concerts in his practice and they refer to the very beginning of his work career in Kharkov. As a concertist, he mostly performed works mastered in the class of N. Rubinstein, as well as piano parts in various ensembles, learnt by him when playing with “K. Gorsky Quartet” and other ensemble performers. The piano repertoire of R. Genika included pieces by I. S. Bach, G. Handel, D. Scarlatti, L. van Beethoven, K. M. Weber, F. Liszt, F. Chopin, R. Schumann, M. Mussorgsky, P. Tchaikovsky and others. Raised on the best examples of piano music, R. Genika appreciated such an interpretation that would meet not only the criteria of "accuracy", but would also be spiritually filled, sublimely emotional, and not outwardly ostentatious. Since the first days of working in Kharkov R. Genika, was able to combine lecturing, performing and correspondent activities with piano pedagogy. The sphere of pedagogy was one of the prevailing and time-consuming in his life. There is quite little information about R. Genika as a teacher and it can be found mainly in the reviews of his students’ concerts, in the notes of the local press as well as in the reports on academic concerts and exams at Kharkov Music College and Conservatory. The personal pianistic experience of R. Genika and the pedagogical style of his teacher N. Rubinshtein affected the choice of virtuoso programs and concert programs for his students. R. Genika’s composing experiments are closely related to his concert-pianistic and pedagogical work, as well as to the study of piano music history. The circle of his genre interests in this area was quite symptomatic. As an ardent supporter of concert pianism traditions R. Genika considered the genre of transcriptions and arangementds in the Liszt-Talberg spirit to be a new wave in piano literature of that time, a promising direction. This is how his transcriptions to the motives from “Parsifal” by R. Wagner, a piano arrangement of the “Arabic Dance” from the “Nutcracker” by P. Tchaikovsky, a fantasy “Abyss” to the motive of E. Grieg appeared. R. Genika also wrote short pieces intended for his concerts, as well as for educational practice. Unfortunately, the score of these works are still either not found or not preserved. An exception is the “Concert Paraphrase” to the motive of “Kupava’s Complaints” from P. Tchaikovsky’s music to the play “Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky (author’s handwritten text dedicated to the pianist V. Timanova). Being a pianist was very important for R. Genika. Understanding pianism as a musical aesthetic phenomenon resulted in a multifaceted and deep understanding of the essence of musical art, which was characteristic of R. Genika as a music educator. The musician thought of himself precisely as a “generalist” who could handle any music profession – a performer’s, teacher’s, or researcher’s one. Hence, further study of the creative and critical heritage of R. Genika will invariably affect the spheres of other areas of musical art (opera, chamber, etc.). Such universal personalities as R. Genika have always been an engine for the musical-historical process, idea generator of the era. Nowadays such universal musicians, who would be a kind of "litmus test" of their time and faithfully served the art, are still in need. One of such outstanding figures in Ukraine, a universal personality was Valerii Oleksandrovych Bohdanov (07/13/1939 㶹– 10/10/2017) – performer, teacher, scientific researcher, composer. His multifaceted activities encompassed a wide range of musical art and were reflected in many years of pedagogical work, a large number of research works, transcriptions, and composer’s experiments. We would like to hope that this anniversary collection dedicated to V. Bogdanov will serve as a prelude to a deep and comprehensive study of the life and work of this bright and extraordinary musician.

The question of adding embellishments in music performance is generally regarded from a primarily practical perspective. In this article I make a case for embellishments as an object of music-theoretical inquiry in their own right. While exploring this question mainly in conjunction with Mozart's music for solo piano, I address the more fundamental question of what makes a given moment in the music suitable for added ornamentation. Tolerance to embellishment is defined as a quality of the melodic surface tantamount to the flexibility and exchangeability of melodic formulations with variants. Thus defined, only some of the embellishments notated by composers are indicative of a flexible melodic surface (optional embellishments), whereas others are shown to be irreducible owing to their participation in substantive thematic processes (obligatory embellishments). My investigation focuses on embellishments introduced in sonata-form recapitulations and other types of recapitulatory restatements (e. g., the return of the refrain in the rondo form). A movement's form and tempo are shown to affect its amenability to added ornamentation. At a local level, I draw on aspects of music perception and musical memory to account for a correlation between a passage's temporal position in the movement and its suitability for added embellishments. I conclude by pointing to a Mozart-specific category of unembellishable motives, demonstrably intended by the composer to be performed with no decoration. Engaging in a dialogue with Robert Levin's recorded embellished version of the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488, this primarily theoretical discussion also leads to some tentative practical implications for performance.

Вackground. The composer creativity of the talented Polish pianist Maria Szymanowska, her concert activity was arousing an exceptional interest among the public in the 1920s. However, shortly after her death, she was undeservedly forgotten for a long time. At the end of the XX – beginning of the XXI centuries a revival of interest in her work is observed. Her works are increasingly performed by contemporary musicians, and not only Polish (among them, for example, the Dutch pianist Bart van Oort is); international scientific symposiums are devoted to her creativity – in particular, in November 2015, the Сonference was held in Paris on the works by M. Szymanowska. In 2019, in connection with the 230th anniversary of this outstanding Polish artist, the Polish Sejm declared the year of Maria Szymanowska. The time distance between the eras and the change in cultural paradigms that has occurred today, prompt to rethink approaches to various cultural-forming activity in past eras, in particular, in the first half of the 19th century, to evaluate them from the standpoint of the modern creative thought. Indeed, the problems of choosing between universalism and specialization, of the search for effective means of artistic communication, the freedom of interpretation of the author’s text, with which M. Szymanowska has be faced, remain relevant and for modern cultural figures. In Ukraine, a steady interest in the music of M. Szymanowska, as well as the desire of scientists to study her works, has not yet been observed. The separate steps have been taken in this direction – for example, the publication of Maria Yanyshyn (2016), who is trying to explore some aspects of the creative work of the Polish artist, relying on modern methodological tools. Oddly enough, the concert activity of M. Szymanowska in Ukrainian cultural centers is also ignored: local historians did not publish a single critic review of her performances, although not only the Polish pianist was participating in such concerts, but also the local musicians. At one time, the example of such careful archival work was demonstrated by I. Belza (1956), who analyzed the newspaper reviews that were printed primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the correspondence of the figures of Russian culture, in which he found the references to M. Szymanowska and published them in his monograph. The present article intends to designate a corpus of problematic issues rather than thoroughly solve them. It cannot be said that and Polish scientists today made significant progress in their resolution, although Renata Suhovejko (2012) and others (Slavomir Dobzansky, Maria Stolarzhevich) touch on certain aspects Maria Szymanowska’s creative activity in their articles. The purpose of this article is to reveal the features of M. Szymanowska’s creative approaches to piano (concert) performing and composer activity, which are the object of this study. The subject of the study is the features of cultural arising, of the formation of creative attitudes and the principles of artistic activity, of the means of cultural communication and artistic interpretation of M. Szymanowska. The results of the study. The scientific novelty of the study is to identify little-known facts of Maria Szymanowska’s creative biography and their new interpretation, to form new ideas about the specifics of her creative methods in both piano and composer works. The important role of self-education in her creative development and the ability to self-development are emphasized, as well as the conscious cultural universalism, the penchant for innovation (for example, the introduction to concert practice of playing without the notes – from memory, playing in “three hands”, the rapid formation of playing skills on various types of instruments). Attention is focused on conflicting moments of the approach to the interpretation of copyright texts (for example, the frequent use of cuts). The comparative characteristics of pianism and individual creative methods of Maria Szymanowska and Clara Schumann also give in the article. Perhaps the most important difference between Clara Schumann and Maria Szymanowska was laying in their relation to the mission of the performer. Clara Schumann was among the first artists in the history of pianism who acted as a fairly strict “intermediary”, subordinated to the composer “guide” of his musical ideas to the listener. M. Szymanowska asserted the right of a performer to greater creative independence, taking the same position that, in essence, F. Liszt defended. At the same time, individual reading of the text, personal attitude to the work was important for both pianists. Emotional openness, lyricism and poetry, sincere performance, melodious full-blooded sound, large scale of the playing, ardent temperament, and a tendency to improvisation were distinguished the both from a number of pianists of the academic direction. Rationalistically verified approaches of M. Szymanowska to the organization of information support of her concert activity are determined, based on three communicative levels: there are friendship, professional contacts and short-term acquaintances. These communicative spheres realize in such directions of activity as maintenance of the albums of autographs, preparation and sending the letters of recommendation, establishing the contacts with the press, and the use of musical criticism. The latter becomes an instrument for the formation of an artistic myth that mobilizes the audience. The study also reveals, through which Ukrainian cities went along the route of the concert tours of the Polish pianist (Kiev, Tulchin, Zhytomyr, Dubno, Kremenets, Lviv and Vinnitsa). The success of the tour, confirmed by the press, proved the high competitive ability of M. Szymanowska in the European concert market, and the proficiency to offer an original creative product ensured a stable interest to her of the audience. Сonclusions. Using the example of M. Szymanowska’s creative biography, it is proved that on the basis of the growth of the personality’s cultural potential, the process of self-development, self-education acquires a conscious and focused character and contributes to the artist’s creative productivity. In a situation of the choice between specialization and universalism, M. Szymanowska demonstrates a penchant for creative universality. Her intensive performing and composing activities are marked by the search for effective means of artistic communication, by innovativeness, creativeness, emotional openness, freedom of interpretation of the musical text.

Target setting. In the modern musical culture of the Republic of Moldova M. V. Sechkin stands out as one of the key figures. He proved to be a multi skilled musician: piano player, conductor, and pedagogue. The scientific challenge disclosed in the article touches on creation of a coherent reflection of the work conducted by M. Sechkin in musical and artistic institutions of the Republic of Moldova during 1988–2015. Thus, notably contributing to the theoretical perception of the process of musical art development in the Republic of Moldova at the turn of the 21st century while filling up the gap in studying the history of Moldovan musical culture. Review of literature. The activity conducted by M. Sechkin was not reflected in the scientific literature. The present paper is the first attempt to present the creative portrait of the musician by summarizing press articles and a range of interviews. The purpose of this paper is confined to disclosing the contribution made by the famous piano player, conductor, and pedagogue M. Sechkin in the process of musical art development in Moldova at the turn of the 21st century. Research methodology. In the research of creative activity of M. Sechkin, use has been made of a complex of methods applicable in modern study of art: the empirical level of scientific research was established through informal personal conversations with M. Sechkin and other musicians, directly linked with his activity. Applied at the theoretical level were general scientific methods, such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparison, etc. Statement of basic material. Over the years, M. V. Sechkin, born on March 31, 1943 in the Ukrainian City of Kharkov, has contributed decisively to the development of musical culture in the Republic of Moldova as a pianist, opera and symphony orchestra conductor, professor and public figure. He took his first lessons in music from his mother Maria Sechkin Zakharchenko, the follower of K. N. Igumnov. He attended the profile secondary musical school, class of Regina Gorovitz – the sister to the famous pianist Vladimir Gorovitz. In 1966, M. Sechkin graduated from Kharkov Conservatoire as a pianist on the class of Professor Mikhail Khazanovsky and then selected to remain with the Chair as an assistant. However, his dream of making a carrier of symphony and opera conductor has taken the young musician to a different path. The interest for conducting appeared under the influence of the art of conducting revealed by Leonid Khudoley, disciple of Nikolay Golovanov. Therefore, two years later, after graduation, M. Sechkin has entered the faculty of conductors at Kharkov Institute of Arts. One year later, he moves to Kyiv Conservatoire named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, where he attended the class of Professor Mikhail Kanershtein, disciple of one of the founders of the Soviet school of conducting Nicolay Malko. Next followed probation assistantship, where M. Sechkin attended a training course headed by the outstanding Ukrainian conductor Stephan Turchak. Having accomplished his probation assistantship, M. Sechkin has joined the Symphonic orchestra of Zaporozhye Philharmonics and later on invited to Donetsk Opera Theatre, where he mastered a rather comprehensive theatrical repertoire. The Chisinau (Moldova) period of maestro’s creative biography started beck in 1988, when he accepted the invitation to join the Moldovan State Conservatoire as Professor of the Chair of Special Piano and the Chair of Operatic Training. By then he headed the Students Symphony Orchestra, being one of the first conductors of Opera Studio. The Studio repertoire included the best images of West European and Russian opera classics. Prepared from the scratch were such operas as Carmen by G. Bizet and the Noblewoman Vera Sheloga by N. А. Rimsky Korsakov. The students – alumni of this conservatoire then worked successfully at the National Opera Theatre, performed in prestigious opera scenes around the world; among these one could mention Petru Racovita, Natalia Margarit, Lilya Sholomey, Yuri Gasca, Robert Khvalov, Stephan Curudimov, Mefodie Bujor, and Liliana Lavric. The Opera Studio Orchestra was touring in Italy and Spain. For a number of decades, M. Sechkin acted as one of the key conductors at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, while from 1990 to 1992 acted as the Principal Conductor and the Art Director. Here he worked on staging the ballets Romeo & Juliette by S. Prokofiev, Spartacus by А. Khachaturian, and operas the Marriage of Figaro by W. Mozart, Don Carlos by G. Verdi, and Iolanta by P. I. Tchaikovsky. In parallel to the theatre plays, M. Sechkin has brightly proven his qualities as a conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonics named after S. Lunchevici. Under his leadership (2008–2013), the orchestra performed more than twenty show programs, including premiere hits by P. Tchaikovsky (Symphony No. 5, symphony Manfred), A. Scriabin (Symphony No. 2 and No. 3), and S. Rachmaninoff (Symphony No. 3). Many of the musicians are marking high conducting mastery of M. Sechkin in performing orchestral accompaniment and special work with the soloists prior to orchestra performance. Likewise appreciated was the work of maestro with young musicians. The conductor devotes a lot of his time to promoting the oeuvre of Moldovan composers. Since 2000 and until nowadays, within the frameworks of the Days of New Music Festival, jointly with the National Philharmonics Orchestra, the maestro prepared a number of programs compiled from the works of V. Polyakov, V. Zagorsky, V. Rotaru, A. Luxemburg, O. Negruza, B. Dubossarsky, and Z. Tcaci. In 30 years of his activity in Chisinau, M. Sechkin cooperated with all of the known orchestra ensembles. Back in 90th, maestro was successfully touring with the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Rumania and Chile. In Rumania, M. Sechkin was working full time as a conductor and then as the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the city of Botosani (1998–2013), where he managed to stage about 70 show programs. The multifaceted and fruitful activity of the musician was repeatedly marked with Certificates of Honor and Diplomas. In 1996, he was decorated with the award Maestru în Artă (Master of Arts) and in 2018 with the noble award of the People’s Artist of the Republic of Moldova. Conclusions and prospects. While appreciating the contribution made by this outstanding musician into the development of the musical culture in the Republic of Moldova, one could clearly see the determinant trajectory of his life and artistic journey – the stalwart devotion to music, musical education, nurturing young performers and listeners of different age group generations.

In this paper I look at the relationship between Christianity and popular entertainment in Ghana over the last 100 years or so. Imported Christianity was one of the seminal influences on the emergence of local popular music, dance, and drama. But Christianity in turn later became influenced by popular entertainment, especially in the case of the local African separatist churches that began to incorporate popular dance music, and in some cases popular theatre. At the same time unemployed Ghanaian commercial performing artists have, since the 1980s, found a home in the churches. To begin this examination of this circular relationship between popular entertainment and Christianity in Ghana we first turn to the late nineteenth century.The appearance of transcultural popular performance genres in southern and coastal Ghana in the late nineteenth century resulted from a fusion of local music and dance elements with imported ones introduced by Europeans. Very important was the role of the Protestant missionaries who settled in southern. Ghana during the century, establishing churches, schools, trading posts, and artisan training centers. Through protestant hymns and school songs local Africans were taught to play the harmonium, piano, and brass band instruments and were introduced to part harmony, the diatonic scale, western I- IV- V harmonic progressions, the sol-fa notation and four-bar phrasing.There were two consequences of these new musical ideas. Firstly a tradition of vernacular hymns was established from the 1880s and 1890s, when separatist African churches (such as the native Baptist Church) were formed in the period of institutional racism that followed the Berlin Conference of 1884/85. Secondly, and of more importance to this paper, these new missionary ideas helped to establish early local popular Highlife dance music idioms such as asiko (or ashiko), osibisaaba, local brass band “adaha” music and “palmwine” guitar music. Robert Sprigge (1967:89) refers to the use of church harmonies and suspended fourths in the early guitar band Highlife composition Yaa Amponsah, while David Coplan (1978:98-99) talks of the “hybridisation” of church influences with Akan vocal phrasing and the preference of singing in parallel thirds and sixths in the creation of Highlife.

This article examines cross-relationships and mutual influences in the D-minor symphonies and concertos written in the 1850s by a close-knit circle of composers: Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and their friends Joseph Joachim, Julius Otto Grimm and Albert Dietrich. Outlining the overlapping compositional timelines of Brahms's First Piano Concerto (at one point a candidate to become his first symphonic work), the violin concertos of Joachim and Schumann, and the symphonies of Grimm and Dietrich, it demonstrates that the pieces were shared among the composers during their periods of composition and explores musical correspondences indicating mutual influences both among the composers and from other specific works. The musical choices involved in this group of pieces seem to point to an underlying backdrop of Beethovenian influence involving specific works from Beethoven's body of orchestral music, an oeuvre concluding with an unforgettable symphonic work in D minor—to which the younger generation's collection of works may relate symbolically. This study not only emphasizes the central role that Beethoven played in the minds of these composers in the mid-1850s, but also underscores the musical intimacy that extended from the social intimacy of the composers in the Brahms–Schumann circle.

The emergence of imaginative children’s music in the second half of the nineteenth century reframed the relationship between children and music in revolutionary ways. The dominant paradigm had been for children to repetitiously practice mechanistic exercises, a time-consuming occupation that the German composer Robert Schumann considered particularly wasteful and tasteless. In response he composed Album für die Jugend in 1848, a collection of children’s pieces that utilised a combination of text, picture and music to appeal to the interests of children, and to inspire their enthusiasm for musical play. Schumann envisioned his music as an extension of familial nurturance, which played a powerful role in directing children towards a musically and spiritually rich adulthood. As the tradition of imaginative children’s music developed during the nineteenth century, the dual themes of entertainment and education remained central to its generic identity, and continued to speak to the significance of piano music as a tool for the socialisation of children. The work of Jacqueline Rose offers a lens through which to explore this music’s manipulative influence upon children. The multimodal and performative characteristics of these musical pieces demonstrate the hidden influence of the adult’s guiding hand and the dire consequences that come to those who transgress musical and social boundaries.

This article studies two late works by Schumann: the Lied ‘Meine Rose’, Op. 90 No. 2 (1850), and the Fantasiestück, Op. 73 No. 1, for clarinet and piano (1849). It analyses the works in the light of nineteenth-century developments in approaches to the treatment of tonality. Both ‘Meine Rose’ and the Fantasiestück are miniatures and can thus be linked with music-making in private salons. The choice of the two works is based on musical as well as aesthetic factors. Musically, they both avoid confirming their main tonic in a firm manner, a feature that the article links with aesthetics of the time. Most importantly, the music's inability to secure a firm tonal centre can be associated with early nineteenth-century aesthetics of longing: in the same way that unsuccessful attempts to secure the tonic underlie the two Schumann works, so contemporaneous aesthetics saw human existence as being governed by unfulfilled longing. The paper argues that in ‘Meine Rose’ the Romantic ideology can be connected to transcendental qualities associated with nature, while the Fantasiestück can be associated more generally with infinity and longing. In both works, it is precisely Schumann's special treatment of the tonic, drastically departing from Classical conventions, that justifies connecting the works with these aesthetic issues.

For Karol Berger This article begins with an analysis of the ‘F.A.E. Sonata’ (fall 1853), a work for violin and piano composed jointly by Robert Schumann (movements 2 and 4), Albert Dietrich (first movement), and Johannes Brahms, for their returning friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. The title of the work derives from the musical motto that Joachim had chosen as his own, representing the words ‘Frei aber einsam’ (free but alone). The analysis identifies the unifying elements of the movements; allusions play a role, especially regarding Beethoven. The study then proposes that Wagner's 1850 essay ‘The Artwork of the Future’ inspired this collegial effort as a rebuttal to several ideas, suggesting that Joachim took his personal motto as a contradiction of Wagner's statement: ‘The solitary individual is unfree’ (Der Einsame ist unfrei). One of the more intriguing sections for Schumann and his followers was likely the chapter entitled ‘The Artist of the Future’. There he asserts that individuality will never be as consequential as a collective effort, proclaiming that ‘the free artistic community is therefore the basic prerequisite for the artwork itself’. Schumann challenged his devoted disciples to take Wagner at his word and compose something as a collective. The stakes of the dispute between Schumann and Wagner were high: a path into the future that best continued the line connecting both of them to Beethoven. This sonata was composed at the same time as Schumann's article, ‘New Paths’ (Neue Bahnen), which also constitutes a response to Wagner's The Artwork of the Future.

Among all barriers to a professional pianist’s performance, hand injuries can be the most traumatic. Chronic pain and other debilitating problems can cause not only physical suffering, but severe and emotional turmoil. When discouraged by countless cancellations due to physical problems, many pianists consider themselves failures. Throughout history, celebrated pianists such as Robert Schumann, Alexander Scriabin, Gary Graffman, Leon Fleisher, and Glenn Gould fell victim to hand injuries, in some cases even causing permanent damage that sidelined, or even terminated, their performing careers. Often traditional medicine is not the most ideal solution for effectively curing a pianist’s hand injuries, as most problems are more likely related to improper movement and use of the body while playing. The purpose of this essay is to introduce three effective somatic approaches to piano playing, offering not only possibilities for the treatment of physical problems, but also preventive methods in obtaining a pain-free experience for performing pianists.

Much of Beethoven’s music—especially that of the late period—demands that the performer follow interpretive markings that seem to be musically counterintuitive. Conflict between the competing desires to follow musical intuition and to obey Beethoven’s performance instructions creates psychological discomfort in the performer. Social psychologists refer to this phenomenon as “cognitive dissonance.” This article will examine the ways in which the first movement of Beethoven’s Op. 101 piano sonata creates cognitive dissonance in the performer that is ultimately felt physically as well as mentally. In particular, the author revisits Robert Hatten’s reading of the movement and offers an alternate interpretation that takes into account the performer’s (as well as theorist’s) experience with the music.