Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856) Humoreske Op. 20 “I’ve been at the piano all week, composing and writing and laughing and crying, all at the same time,” wrote Schumann to his beloved Clara from Vienna in March 1839. “You will find this state of affairs nicely evoked in my Opus 20, the grand Humoreske.” The Humoreske is […]
Leoš JANÁČEK (1854–1928) Sonata “1. X. 1905, From the Street” I. Předtucha (Presentiment) II. Smrt (Death) Posterity shall forever be grateful for the good sense of the pianist that saved one of the most important piano works of the twentieth century from oblivion. Janáček was an ardent Czech nationalist who, with his aggressively anti-German sentiment, […]
Béla BARTÓK (1881–1945) Piano Sonata BB 88 (SZ. 80) I. Allegro moderato II. Sostenuto e pesante III. Allegro molto Hungarian composer Béla Bartók dedicated much of his life to the study of folk music. Both he and his friend and fellow-composer, Zoltán Kodály, are considered to be among the first of the modern ethnomusicologists. In […]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856) Fantasie in C major Op.17 I. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen II. Mäßig III. Langsam getragen By 1836 Robert had deeply fallen in love with Clara, the daughter of his piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck. Her father bitterly opposed their marrying and had them living in enforced separation. Out of this period of […]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791) Fantasia in C minor, K.475 Sonata in C minor, K.457 I. Molto Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro assai A commonly held belief is that the genius of Mozart enabled him to compose entire pieces in his head before writing them down from beginning to end in one continuous stream. The genesis […]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750) French Suite No.5 in G major, BWV 816 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gavotte V. Bourée VI. Loure VII. Gigue Like Bartók, much of Bach’s music has a firm footing in the rhythms and feel of dance, even when the titles do not necessarily suggest it. His numerous instrumental […]