Liszt Funerailles

This piece opens with ominous dissonant bell sounds: low Db and C. It's really innovative in that Liszt asks the performer to capture octave C's in the opening for seventeen measures. The rhythm in the right-hand is it's is paired with the left is quite unusual, almost too intellectual. He builds this idea with the following structural plan: motive a, motive a, Extend ended motive a. He does this two more times rising the relative pitch level up a step. He continues the idea increasing intensity by using tremolos and extra chords in the left-hand. Liszt seems to do what he always does when he has to expand a section: repeat it again in octaves. After a transitional unwinding section, Liszt moves into a dark scary melody. Mysterious and without hope, this chromatic theme is again repeated in octaves (surprise) and drifts into a poor Chopin imitation theme. As is typical of a Chopin melody, the phrases are sentences (a, a, a continuation 4 +4+8. He also uses this weaving motion to move from one a motive to another: Fb, Eb, Ab, Bb, C. He also uses a typical Chopin melodic embellishment: C, Db, C, B, C, G, F. The left-hand chordal spacing is also reminiscent of a nocturne. He continues this idea. In order to avoid boredom, Liszt uses his famous textures: He adds a harmonic upper voice and puts it back in octaves with eighth-note inner chords. He rambles the phrase on preparing for the ultimate rip-off section. Although it is quite clear that Liszt is not trying to hide the Ab polonaise influence from Chopin, he could have at least made it sound as descent. The melodic line appears either too boring with constant Ab repetitions or it resembles 'I've been working on the Railroad' song. The passage gets a little more interesting on the repetition when the left-hand shifts to chromatic up and down octaves. The coolest part of this piece is the section after this. Liszt repeats the mysterious scary theme now with, guess what, octaves and big chords. After this basic insertion, Liszt dies away one last time. It is unusual that the melodic has been transposed by an augmented fourth. Just when we expect the piece to die away (morendo) Liszt decides to put in a one-more-time Chopin rip-off coda. Then it dies away and stops.

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody 12

From the beginning of the piece, Liszt is introducing all sorts of different pianistic textures. Textures which unfortunately are all too familiar to listeners. First we have the typical lone octaves (each note embellished with a repeated octave). Then we have the sudden crescendo tremolo figure. The drama is intense, but the effect is cliche since we find it many times. The variety of pianistic textures in these first few pages seems to fragment the line. All the fermatas and rests seem to chop up the music. A lot of times, his form of structure is solely based on antecedent consequent phrases. After this he immediately abandons the idea and does something new. He does, however, repeat the same kinds of figurations, here, the repeated embellishment, extended fast note ornaments, and double dotted figures. It is quite humorous how Liszt moves away from this serious over dramatic into this light shallow melody based on four note scale. The melody is long winded. Liszt is constantly delaying cadence points, something that Wagner would take even further. On the second appearance Liszt subdivides the accompaniment part into eighth notes which successfully increases the relative intensity. At the end of this first variation Liszt does something quite awesome. He sets up a faster texture in sixteenth-notes. There is no doubt in my mind that Liszt knows how to stir up a crowd. By setting up this variation system, the audience is beginning to expect another variation. This logical step from quarter-note, to eighth-note, to sixteenth-note is a simple expected progression. These four measures of lead-in material is obviously there to create anticipation and excitement in the listeners who know what is coming next. He further creates a mood / textural change at the expense of musical continuity. This very expressive Italian singing style section is so beautiful that despite the existing stereotype, the part defies any sense of overuse. The phrase length is simple: 4 and 4 antecedent consequent, followed by a a varied repetition now in octaves. The return of the first tempo and the reappearance of low left-hand chromatic octaves and right-hand tremolos signifies the serious mood. Sure enough Liszt presents the first real melodic figuration from the beginning this time in a different texture. The right-hand is now in octaves and the left-hand is a series of sixteenths tied to eighth notes. Earlier the texture was rolled chords. Liszt moves back to the giojoso (silly) section by including the same lead-in used earlier to create anticipation. This time he simplifies the already simple shallow melody. This time he adds a continuous right-hand trill and includes occasional full keyboard sweeps (chromatic, pentatonic, scalar). He keeps an element of the earlier theme variation idea going by immediately moving to a more complex section (double thirds) with similar harmonic and phrase structure. From there on out things get more and more difficult to play. Liszt asks for an increased tempo (stretta vivace) and makes the left-hand more difficult (now fast abduction and adduction rotations). The right-hand moves to thirty second-notes and then the left-hand takes the melody and then the left-hand has the thirty-second notes. There's the chromatic descending left-hand octaves, the grand repeat of the giojoso section and the typical adagio right before the end. No one can argue that this piece is not exciting.

Transcendental Etude no. 10

Although I find much of Liszt's music over the top and quite repulsive, he does have movements of musical genius. In this etude at the second appearance of his melodic octave section accentato ed appassionato, Liszt has a simply beautiful four bar fragmentation followed by another four bar fragmentation. The melody itself is quite plain: C C C C B B C D E C A and then: C C C C B C Db Eb F Db Ab. The corresponding harmonies are am, B7, G#dim7, am, adim7, Cdim7 (same thing), and resolves to DbM. The possibilities of color change in this passage are incredible. Liszt does not stop here. Like Wagner, the melody never seems to end; we are always presented with new unexpected harmonies. And as you can see, his use of diminished chords allows him to easily shift from one tonal center to the next. The melodic and rhythmic motives make the extended period coherent ( quarter followed by dotted eighth sixteenth note). Like many of Liszt's other works (especially the Dante Fantasy), the use of chromaticism dominates his melodic lines. Even from the beginning, Liszt begins exploring these two-note chromatic slurs (mm. 3 and 6 B to c and Db to C). At m. 7 he elaborates these fragments with an added C Ab F and the end. It's as if we are peering into Liszt's compositional process. It's interesting to note the textural contrasts he sets up and uses throughout the piece. The opening interlocking hand figurations has a diatonic function. There is no real melodic significance to it, it is merely a textural effect. The two-note slur idea mixed with the 2/4 time signature remind me of a barcarole. Unlike Chopin and his etudes, Liszt does not use the same techniques throughout the study. He does often; however, create the illusion of continuous techniques. For example, on the second page of the etude, he writes out a RH sixteenth note triplet part: F G F F G F F G F (in higher and higher octaves). The music is supposed to be a simplified version of the interlocking hand figuration, which appears in the measure before and after it. The illusion figuration not only allows for a break, but also for the extra lH part. The natural assumption of associating the previous measure with the simplified measure increases the illusion of super-virtuosity. It is not until the third page that Liszt actually presents a lasting stable melody. This sense of dramatic opening larger stems from the tradition of Beethoven. Likewise the sense of organic growth and unity of motive comes from the man. What separates Liszt from Beethoven here, is that Liszt is constantly using those motives and shaping them and sequencing them in bizarre keys. For example Fm to Abm in this stable section. Unlike other pieces by Chopin, including his rhapsodies and concert etudes, this work has a clear binary type of form: introduction, Fragmentation section of half-steps, stable theme built from these half-steps, return of end of fragmentation section, exciting pure half-steps in both hands, return of fragmentation section of half-steps, stable theme built from these half-steps, return of end of fragmentation section, extended exciting suggest based purely on the organic fragments. This is basically (intro)ABCA'D ABCA'D' --a two part form. There is one interesting chord progression i wish to observe right before the Stretta section. This patterns turns out to be a series of fully diminished chords strengthened by contrary motion (as the hands reach the extremes of the piano. The chromatic descent in the list line of piece is also very exciting.

Chopin Ballade #1

The form of this ballade is quite interesting. I call mm 8-31 A, 32-66 B, 67-93 C, 94-105 A, 106-117 B, 118-165 D, 166-193 B, 194-205 A, 206-264 coda(E). This is an overall ABC ABDB AE form with three reappearances of the opening melodic theme and three repetitions of the B theme (m. 32). Of course most of the excitement of the piece has to occur in the coda which, like all the other sections, is blurred into the preceding sections. This blurring forces performers to gauge, in advance how they are going to change the tempo and style: dramatically or gradually. Performance of this piece demands an understanding of coloristic varieties. Since Chopin blends sections together it is the performers task to smoothly shift between lyrical nocturne styles and fast, sparkling, brillant styles. There are several areas in the A and B sections that demand phrase variety due to repeated melodic figures. For example, observing how a performer might differentiate m. 8 and m. 16 is important. Do they create changes, or repeat exactly the same? Also how do performers change the tempo between sections A and B? Considering the expanse of the form, do the performers create long term lines or are they caught up in overemphasising melodic fragments. Important harmonic changes that seem unusual in the context of a section should also be observed. For example m. 91 suddenly reaches a G minor chord. How do pianists shape at the microscopic level?
Listening on the microscopic level the opening five bars are absolutely essential to understanding how these pianists are going to play the whole piece. #1 rushed through the opening eliminating any sense of anticipation or grandness although, he (or she), like the others, had moments of hesitation crucial to this style. #2 was the most clear and articulate. He had some nice hesitations, particularly in the third measure. Perhaps this artist was striving for a polonaise style, more than a legato dreamy mood. The third performer revealed, from the start a variety of color changes and subtlties and balanced the time of the three measures perfectly. The time spent on the quarter-note G in the third measure made up for the time taken away in the second measure.
On a larger scale it is interesting to see how these performers move out of the A section into the B. #3 is the best in terms of tempo smoothness, however he sacrifices a little bit of musicality. All three pianists play m. 8 and m. 16 the same. #1 hesitates on the second chord of m. 10 and exactly the same on m. 18. #2 has this instant fade away effect: the high D in m. 9 is instantly dimmed into the C in m. 10 (he does this exactly the same on the repeat). Between m. 20 and m. 35, #1 and #2 have moments of rubato. #2, as he did in the beginning, has somewhat abrupt moments of rubato. #1 uses more dynamic overloading but has some rubato also. All three performers successfully gauge the tempo change, slowly increase speed at m.36. #1 seems to push ahead quite rapidly at m. 48 (sounds like Rachmaninoff).
m. 180 is another highly exciting moment in this piece. How are the performers to deal with the simple repetition? Performer #1 is my favorite. He (she) has a subtle diminuendo into the end of the first phrase (m. 184). He contrasts the repeated phrases in m. 184-186 by initiating the soft pedal at m. 186. He also dissolves the left hand in order to stress a stronger diminuendo at m. 187. #2 has a very articulate approach with very little variety. #3 is the most expressive, and unfortunately the most speratic. Each figuration is emphasised (overly so). There is a huge rubato in m. 187 and an amazing pause between m. 189 and 190 to emphasize the minor triad. He clearly emphasizes this the most.
The coda is another interesting spot to see a variety of interepretations. #1 is the most dramatic in mm. 206-207. He pounds out the melody slowly. #2 is slightly faster, and #3 has the most logical natural pulse. This also the case throughout the remaining piece. #1 lingers starting at m. 231 to emphasize the cresendo. #2 Has some problems and has substancial slow downs between mm. 225-226. This pianist however has the fastest right hand in m. 246! #2 has very clean pedal changes even at the end where I believe Chopin desires more of an effect than a clearly articulated chromatic line. #2 however, does create the best contrast between the virtuosic parts and the p chords at mm. 252 and 256.

Chopin Sonata op. 35

This week I gave a presentation on Chopin: his life and his second sonata. I did quite alot of prepartion for this assignment. The more I learn, the more I don't know. At first I had a conception that he wrote the whole sonata at one point. Later I realized The funeral march was written two years before the rest of the sonata. Then I read that in 1837, there were at least three different french editions of the march. Apparently Chopin did not know what he wanted out of this piece. Then I learned that in a letter to his publisher Juljan Fontana in Paris he discussed his plans for writting a Sonata. Deduced from the letter, Chopin might have written the second movement even earlier then previously assumed. To make things even less clear, I read that the second part of the funeral march (the lyrical section) was actually written as a four-hand piano piece. Also the presence of an Autograph of the lyrical section of the funeral march suggests this part was perhaps to be a seperate complete piece.

It almost seems too perfect when considering the motivation and purpose to Chopin's writting of this composition. His engagement to Maria Wodzinski was concelled by her mother in 1837. The previous August he had fallen in love with her while staying with the family in Dresden. People have speculated about way the engagement was cancelled. Most researchers say it was because of his health. Everything, as the mother Teresa said "depended on his health." Because he was always sickly, perhaps the family was uncomfortable with the notion of early death and Maria becoming a widow. Others speculate that his life was very unstable. As a musician, Chopin was always traveling, unsure about his plans. Obviously the Wodzinski's would be looking for someone he was healthy and predictable. In any case, Chopin recieved the sorrowful letter while he was in London talking to Pleyel (the piano maker). It is very frustrating trying to read Chopin's letters. He is very good at hiding his feelings even in the letter to Teresa right after she sent the bad news. The only evidence that he even recieved that letter is from this statement "Your last letter reached me in London, where I spent last month dawdling about. I had thought of going from there to Germany through Holland--I came back here, as it is getting late, and in my room it will probably be altogether too late for me. I hope for a less sad letter from you than the last. Perhaps my next one will be only a postscript to one from Antos." What is really sad about the whole situation is that Chopin was pretty excited about going back to the Wodzinski's that summer of 1837. Even though, as I have said, Chopin hides feelings, the anticipation is clear: "And is the summer beatiful at Sluzew? Is there much shade? Can one sit under the trees and paint? Has Teresa still a good place for her cheese-making? Does she not miss Panna Josefa's of Mlle Malet's heop with it? Shan't you see them soom? I could ask a thousand questions. The silly happiness in the tone is rather depressing when compared to the following emotionless one, which lacks any sense of personality, just facts.
I have always wondered why Chopin's music sounds so fragile, dark, and beautiful. It is so interesting how close Chopin is to his music. His whole life is full of sorrow, disappointment, and sickness. His music is always so painful. Even in the most beautiful moments their is a certain amount of poignancy. Even in his teens, when he was studying at the conservatory, tuberculosis was effecting his health: "[my head has] been aching, I don't know why, for the last four days. They have put leeches on my throat because the glands have swelled, and our Roemer says it's a catarrhal affection." Catarrhal is basically a swelling of the throat, a symptom of TB. His famous trip to Majorca is another period of intense pain and sickness. I wonder if his music would have just as good if he had not been a victim of constant suffering. He did write most of his preludes while he was there. I strongly believe that in order to convey a genuine emotion in music, one has to experience it in their life. Beethoven suffered greatly, and so his music has this deep real meaning to it. Any attempt to reproduce an emotion that one has never experienced is going to yield a certain amount of artificiality. Chopin had many friends die from disease in Poland. He knew death and he knew suffering. The whole second sonata is full of grim moods and suggests. Even the Doppio Movimento is full of painfull dissonance and exciting macabre moments.
Speaking of dark pieces, Chopin's polonaise in F-sharp minor is full of power and emotion. Like Chopin's other later pieces, this piece is full of chromaticism. Even the opening introduction is built on half-step ominous motives. Following a general ternary form A B A, the A is built on repeated variation. The first appearance is a single melody line that quickly becomes thirds and then octaves. In its reapearance the whole melodic passage becomes octaves, and by the third iteration the left-hand adds this sweeping gesture which adds to the drama. The B section is basically vamp material. This section keeps the listener waiting, waiting for a melody or something to come on top of this accompainment passagework which is solely connected by ryhthmic continuity. What keeps this passage from boredom is the suddenly harmonic intensification. Instead of returning to the A section, as listener's might expect, Chopin includes an italian style mazurka in the middle (how unusual!). The beautiful rather light section is almost comical in relation to the rather serious A part. With the help of creepy loud irregular scale patterns, Chopin transitions back into the darker stormy polonaise.

Comparing Felix and Clara's Variations

Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses and Clara Schumann’s Variations on a theme by Robert Schumann are completely different pieces. To start out, Clara Schuman’s piece starts with a relatively unimaginative theme, which is not a bad thing. However, she does little to alter these themes throughout the piece. The main eight measure parallel period contains many repetitions of C#. The second or B section is in a sentence structure—meaning a lot of repetitious fragments here “C# B# C# E C#”. The first variation basically fills in the harmony with broken chords and interesting chromatic neighboring tones. The second features sixteenth-note chords which hide the melodic line fairly well. Only in the return of the A section does the original theme appear. The third variation is interesting that the key changes from F# minor to F# major. Besides that, there is not a lot of difference. The following variation contrasts greatly: Schumann returns to F# minor and adds a brilliant style with rapid right-hand scales and broken arpeggio figures. Once again it sounds impress, but there is nothing about it that stands out. There is nothing abnormal and that is its greatest fault.
Mendelssohn however starts off with an unusual theme filled with chromatic pitches. The basic form is binary, so, unlike Schumann’s piece, Variation Serieuses has eliminated a possible problem: redundancy. Theme and variation form, in itself, implies a substantial amount of repetition. There is nothing wrong with a rounded binary theme; however composers should be cautious in how they use it. The first variation is similar to Clara’s in that Mendelssohn creates a faster chromatic voice in-between the theme and the base. He creates variety in his texturing: the bass consists of sparse dry octaves. Unlike Schumann’s piece, Mendelssohn paces the intensity of the piece through several variations. This intention is clearly delineated by the expressive markings: “Un poco piu animato….piu animato…” Although the rhythmic division increases only from var. 1 to var. 2, the increase in texture in var. 3 (left-hand octaves) justifies another aspect of intensification. Unlike Clara’s piece, Mendelssohn loses the theme almost immediately. It is not too hard to see where Mendelssohn is getting his ideas from. Beethoven is well known for his use of variations: Diabelli, and in his late sonatas (for example op. 111). His use of grotesque melodies and harmonies as well as experimental textures reflects Beethoven’s style.
I enjoy Schuman’s last variations (5-7) because there is more of a sense of interconnectedness. For some reason, she decides to place the end of her third variation in the middle of the seventh. This is probably the most interesting aspect of her use of form. It is also interesting that this last variation is, along with var. 3, in F# major. Is there a symbolic purpose in having this key end the piece? Perhaps she recognizes the problems in her life: the struggle between Robert and her father, his mental sickness. But perhaps in the middle of all these thoughts, these painful experiences, she remembers her love. She remembers that she wrote this piece for him, that the memory of him allows her to push through the darkness in her life. The fifth variation seems to reflect a Liszt technique: maintaining a simple melody but with complementary left-hand octaves. The effect is dazzling but the value, the deep intrinsic musical expression is somewhat shallow. But variation six is full of sensitive colors beautiful ninth sonorities. It is simple yet, full of surprising suspensions.
Mendelssohn continues to develop his variation in a Beethoven obsessed way. His discipline to stick to organic elements within each variation suggests Beethoven ideals. Perhaps he has a more universal goal in terms of human expression. Clara, however, portrays a more personal form of expression.

Chopin Preludes

Chopin's first prelude is welcoming. Being in a Major key (c)and having a simple form suggests a certain amount of accessibility. The The two-note melodic gestures that make up this piece make me think of a visual welcoming gesture. It reminds me specifically of the wrist movement that people use when they are trying to signal someone to 'come here'.Here's a diagram of showing Chopin's use of up-gestures (first note is lower than the second represented as |) and down-gestures (first note is higher than the second -).

Phrase 1: | | | | - - - -
Phrase 2: | | | | | | - | | | | | - - - -
Phrase 3: | - | - - - - -

He uses the up-gestures to increase the intensity and make the melodic line ascend. He uses the down-gestures to decrease the intensity and make the melody descend. The second phrase is the most intense do the the ryhthmic dimunition and length.

Like Chopin's first prelude, I think his fourth one is tied to human emotion and movement. The piece has this repetive two-note motion, which is hardly interesting in itself. This groups hint at the sighing gesture seen in a lot of sad vocal music. This lamentation is fuller seen a a physical, yet subtle, collapse of the body. In this prelude I imagine a sad person lost in this cycle of confusion saying the same thing over and over. Here and there, their is a coherent thought, but the mind inevitably returns to the wandering. Meanwhile, something from the inside is building up. The non-functional chords of the piece represent the chemistry of the body. The slow chromatic descent suggests deepening despair and anguish. Finally it explodes and anger. Once the pain has been realised..suddenly C major! Something is different; something has changed. Yet, the pain is never completely gone.

I find the eighth prelude pretty impressive. Not only because the performer has to play eight notes on every beat, but because of how Chopin tightly constructed the piece. The piece follows a simple rounded binary form.
The first phrase 1-4 is a sentence structure --fragment, repeated fragment, fragment with continuation and cadence.
The second phrase 5-8 has a similar idea but the range is increased to heighten the tension. The developmental phrases consisting of the next ten measures 9-18 is harder to descern. What makes this part exciting is the fact that the performer can decide where to start new phrases. For example, a performer might clearly articulate M. 15 as the start of two two-measure phrases. The performer might not want to suggest anything at all. The return (19-26) increases the intensity of the beginning by reaching an even higher climax into the phrase starting at M. 23. What I find particulary exciting about this piece is the coda 27-34 which is a longer sentence structure: 2 measure fragment, 2 measure fragment, 4 measure fragment and continuation. I love how Chopin plays on tonality in this section. Although the melodic contour has basically vanished, the interesting harmonic surprises make up for any bland qualities. These include the Major quality swith in M. 30 and the minor shift in M. 32.

Prelude 12 is obviously organic in the sense that the same figuration dominates throughout the melodic line. This figuration is built of two-note slurs. They are linked. The second note of each group is generally the same note as the beginning of the next group. This line is textured with bombastic low octaves creating this irape attitude. The speed suggests the rampaging fury. Similar to the prelude previously discussed, the form is rounded binary form. The developmental, unstable section elaborates the two-note slurs into double-thirds and octaves. The prelude is very repetitive: the opening chromatic ascending figure shows up six times. Similar to the previous studied preludes, this piece has a mini-tag on codetta built on featured motives, here fragmented into shorter phrases.

Prelude 18 is a sharp acerbic piece mostly unison arpegiated/ scalar figures with ocassional supported harmonies. The acidic quality is due to the constant use of half-steps, whether it is in the melody or harmony. The eighth-note harmony chords-frequently seen at the end of measures (M. 1-2 for example), have a richly sonorous minor ninth interval. If placed as a minor second the sound would be totally different. The interval and placement on the keyboard (the lower middle-section) allow for that dark, deep resonant sound which Chopin loves to exploit. Here, once again, Chopin shows his close connection to classical forms. Like his other preludes he strives for motific organicism. The whole point of a prelude is to create this effect--take the audience to another world just to catch a glimpse. The mystery and awe of the pieces is enhanced by the brevity. To only show a part, is to allow others to imagine. The creativity of the human mind far surpasses the reality of the mundane.

Prelude 22 is not my favorite. To stick to the pattern, I forced myself to write about this piece. The substance is in short quantity: the left-hand maintains the melody throughout. It is interesting how in the second half (M.18), the two main phrases are broken up (M.24). Chopin achieves this by switching the function of the left-hand part. Now the pattern is harmonic rather than melodic (circle of fifths progression). The form is again rounded-binary. The right-hand serves to establish the harmony and fill in the gaps when the left-hand does not play. The form is boringly classical with no particularly exciting features. I guess Chopin cannot be perfect every time-although you have to give his credit for his craftsmenship.

Just to close things off, though I have to break the pattern, the last Prelude (24) is exotic and grand. The ostinato bass sets up this vehicle for movement. It makes me think of a desert carvan or one of those royal processions: perhaps a king is being carried in a cart, while slaves hold up with two parallel beams. Perhaps a parade of people with a nationalistic unity, this heroic couragous melody. Layering above this is the king looking around. Relatively speaking he is moving with the rest of the procession, yet he is free on his own plane. The slow singing style of the melody suggests this. The unusual switch from B natural to Bb at the end of the first section also hints at exoticism. Perhaps the scene is really a prince on a elephant. The grand sweeping gestures might be the lifting of his hands in a symbolic royal gesture: powerful and purposeful. The last three notes might be the trunk of the elephant smashing the ground. The whole piece is majestic and big; whatever one imagines the mood is clear. This is the end. Lets go out with a bang.