This week we are continuing our exploration of the music of Frederic Chopin, born March 1, 1810.   He died, most likely, from tuberculosis in 1849 and while his body is buried in Paris his heart is buried in Poland, his country of birth.

This “poet of the piano” gave us many wonderful compositions and this week you will be listening to two of his 24 Etudes.   There are two opuses of Etudes, one Opus 10 and the other Opus 25, and in both of these collections he has written studies or “etudes” that highlight a particular technical challenge.  However, unlike the studies of Czerny or Hanon these etudes are wonderfully captivating music as well!  In the first post you will listen to pianist, Pollini, playing the “Black Key” Etude, as it has been nicknamed due to the fact that the hands mostly play on the black keys because of it being written in Gb Major.  The next post you will watch Lang Lang having some fun with this etude, and the final post will be of the beautiful Etude in E Major.

Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5 performed by Pollini

http://youtu.be/ve5tfzJINaYhttp://youtu.be/ve5tfzJINaY

Lang Lang plays same etude with an orange

Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 3 performed by Murray Perhaia

Some of the most beautiful music written for piano comes to us through the genius of Frederick Chopin.  With his birthday coming soon, March 1, 1810, it seemed fitting to feature his compositions for the next couple of weeks.

Chopin’s output is impressive given his short life, and the majority of his compositions were for the piano.  His music was influenced by Polish dance and folk music as he greatly missed his home country while living and working in Paris.  You will be listening to one of the four Scherzi that he wrote which tells a dramatic musical story.  Listen for the change of tonality (major/minor) from the beginning to that at the end of the piece.  Also, notice the opening figure – the motive or “motif”- on which the composition is based.

Krystian Zimmerman playing Scherzo in Bb minor- Chopin

One of the characteristics of music written during the Baroque era (1600-1750) is  that of ornamentation.  Just as the architecture during this time was highly decorated as was the clothing, so the music abounds with turns, trills, mordents, appoggiaturas and pralltrillers.

The musical selection for this week is the Fantasia in C Minor, written by J. S. Bach, which has in it many examples of ornamentation.  The original score written in Bach’s own hand is owned by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is one of the most beautiful and clearly written of Bach’s pieces.  Though the score is beautiful to look at, I’m glad to have the modern version from which to learn!

Fantasia in C minor BWV 906 played by Han Zhao

Fantasia in C minor BWV 906 played by Alicia de Larrocha

This week you will be dipping your musical toes into one of the most characteristic forms used in the Baroque Era- the Fugue.  Here is a definition from the Harvard dictionary of music –

“Fugue:The latest and most mature form of imitative counterpoint, developed during the 17th century and brought to perfection by J. S. Bach.”

Well if that definition leaves you scratching your head and wondering what you just read try this definition.  A fugue is like a round- like Row Row Row Your Boat- where someone starts the tune and then someone else comes in a few measures later and so on.  Only the fugues developed during the Baroque era were like rounds on steroids.  The complexity is truly amazing and can be admired just for that aspect but in addition the music is enjoyable as well.  I have posted an entertaining explanation from Danny Li which uses a pop song to understand the fugue form and then you will listen to a Prelude and Fugue written by none other than J. S. Bach.

Bach wrote two volumes of 24 preludes and fugues, a pair written in all major and minor keys.  The example for this week is Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C# Major from the first volume.  Enjoy!

Danny Li explains the fugue

Prelude and Fuge in C# Major played Andrei Gavrilov

This week we will be changing our focus from Beethoven to that of the music written during the Baroque Era, that is from the time of 1600-1750.   This music is full of energy and life and has much to say to us today, but it takes, perhaps, a little more effort to understand and fully appreciate the style.

What makes Baroque music sound different from that of other eras, is that there is a lot going on at the same time.  It is complex in a way that is different from the complexity of Beethoven or Chopin or Bartok.  The term “polyphonic” is given to this style, which literally means, “many sounds” or “many voices”, and that is an apt description of much of Baroque style writing.  In contrast to the Classical style which often would have a single line melody with an accompaniment pattern, Baroque music has many parts all going at the same time which gives the listener much to enjoy but can also be confusing at times.

The music for this week is the first movement of the Italian Concerto written by J. S. Bach.  While there is clearly a “melody” that can be followed throughout the movement, listen also to the other voices and try to follow one of the lines other than the melody, all the way through to the end.  Enjoy the vitality and rhythmic energy which permeates this music.  Just be careful if you’re listening to it while driving as you may find yourself wanting to go faster!

Second movement of the Italian Concerto

Third movement of the Italian Concerto played on a harpsichord

Music written by Ludwig van Beethoven continues to be as compelling and relevant today as it was back when it was first heard.  Beethoven’s ability to put into musical expression, the struggle to overcome one’s own limitations, the heartache of unrequited love, the joy of connection and community with the human race, makes his writing something like a musical diary for all humanity.  If you want to be inspired, look up on YouTube, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Japan 2011 and you will see and hear an amazing performance done in a stadium not long after the devastating Tsunami hit that country.   Listening to Beethoven makes one feel like being a better person and to continue the struggle with renewed vigor.

This week you will be listening to the first Piano Concerto in C major though it was not the first of this genre to be written by Beethoven but simply the first to be published.  As with many large-scale works this one is divided into three parts which are in terms of tempo -fast, slow, then fast again.  The first movement is Allegro con brio (fast with fire) the second movement is Largo- slow, and the third movement is Rondo Allegro Scherzando (playfully)  A Rondo is a type of form in which a theme is alternated with other thematic material.   See if you can keep track of how many times the Rondo theme is played in the final movement. Also in this performance, the pianist is also the conductor which was common practice in the Classical era.

Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major performed by Krystian Zimmerman

The piano is essentially a percussion instrument in that the sound is created by hammers striking strings.  Many composers have written music designed to counteract this physical reality by creating long cantabile phrases and use of the pedal to layer the sounds.  Composers such as Chopin and Debussy would almost have us believe that the piano was a non-percussive instrument with the beautiful legato sounds of their music.

However, other composers embraced the percussive nature of the piano and wrote music that emphasized that characteristic of the instrument.  Sergei Prokofiev, a Russian composer living from 1891-1953, was one such composer and his music maximizes the percussive nature of the piano writing music full of drive and energy.  At one time when Prokofiev was touring the United States, he was described as “the bad boy of the piano” because his manner of playing was so aggressive and because of the percussive nature of his music.

It would leave you with in incomplete impression though, if you thought that the only music Prokofiev wrote was in this percussive style.  He also wrote achingly beautiful legato melodies with rich, complex harmonies.  One of the works for which he is best known is his musical story, Peter and the Wolf, where each character is given its voice through an instrument of the orchestra.  Another well-known composition of Prokofiev’s is his ballet music for Romeo and Juilet.

In addition to several other ballets and operas, Prokofiev also wrote 5 Piano Concertos, 9 Piano Sonatas, 7 Symphonies as well as other instrumental music written for violin, cello and other combinations of instruments.  Prokofiev continues to speak to the 21st century with his music that is full of passion, energy, sometimes sarcasm and longing for what he had thought would have been a better world.

The first selection that you will be listening to is the Piano Concerto No. 1 the Allegro Brioso movement.  It was not well received by the audience upon first hearing it, and comments such as, “the cats on the roof make better music than this!” were heard from the departing crowd.  What do you think of this music?  Cats on a roof?  Exciting? Confusing? In the first post notice how the character of the music changes about half-way through and then returns to the original theme. In the second post hang onto your seats as you are in for a wild ride.  One cannot remain neutral and ignore this music.

Piano Concerto No. 1 Allegro Brioso played by Alexander Kobrin

Precipitato from Sonata No. 7 played by Valentina Lasitsa

This week you will be listening to the music of Bela Bartok, an Hungarian composer and pianist who lived from 1881-1945.  Bartok’s influence on 20th c. music cannot be overstated and his interest in and his recording, cataloguing and analyzing of native folk melodies from Hungary and surrounding areas were the beginning of ethnomusicology.

Bartok showed musical talent at an early age and by the time he was eleven years old he had begun performing.  He studied at the conservatory at Budapest and while there met Zoltan Kodaly, another Hungarian composer who shared his interest in the folk music of Hungary.  Bartok also greatly admired the music of Claude Debussy and Strauss and others, but he eventually found his own voice and many of his compositions incorporate the folk melodies of his native country.  He also was a teacher and wrote a “piano method book” for his son called Mikrokosmos which is still used today.

Hilary Hahn, violin  Valentina Lisitsa, piano playing Roumanian Dances

Helene Grimaud plays the Roumanian Dances

This week you will be listening to the music of Scott Joplin, the person responsible for the creation of the musical style known as “ragtime.”  Ragtime is a blend of the music brought by the black slaves from Africa with the European forms such as the polka and march.

Scott Joplin was born in 1867/68 (exact date unknown) in Texas and died in 1917 in New York.  His father was a freed slave and his mother a free-born African-American.  It was evident from an early time that Scott had exceptional musical ability and his mother did all in her power to provide musical training for him.  While the family was living in Texarkana the eleven-year old Scott was able to study piano with Julius-Weiss a German-Jewish music professor who had immigrated to the United States from Germany.  Professor Weiss, seeing the financial difficulties facing the family, taught Scott free of charge for the next five years.  Joplin never forget his kindness and when he was earning a steady income would send his old teacher money.

Joplin was involved in a number of musical groups that traveled around the country, but opportunities were few for African-American musicians at that time.  It was at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 that Joplin got his first big break with the publication of the Maple Leaf Rag.   By 1897, the popularity of rag-time music had so spread to be described as a national craze in American cities.  Joplin also wrote two operas one which was destroyed and the second one, Treemonisha, was not fully produced until 1975.  It was in 1974 that the movie, The Sting, was created which featured the music of Scott Joplin and in 1976 Scott Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize.  Jazz historian, Floyd Levin wrote this about Scott Joplin in describing his death in 1917, “those few who realized his greatness bowed their heads in sorrow.  This was the passing of the king of all ragtime writers, the man who gave America a genuine native music.”

Maple Leaf Rag written by Scott Joplin and played by Scott Joplin

Bethena a Concert Waltz by Scott Joplin played by Massimiliano Damerini