CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
Graduate Recital Works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin and Ravel
A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master on Music in Music, Performance by Chang Qian
May 2018
The graduate project of Chang Qian is approved:
______
Dr. Tali Tadmor Date
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Dr. Lorenz Gamma Date
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Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, Chair Date
California State University, Northridge
ii Acknowledgement
Thank you to Dr. Tali Tadmor, Dr. Lorenz Gamma Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, and
Professor Edward Francis for your guidance, wisdom, and encouragement.
iii Table of Contents
Signature Page ii
Acknowledgement iii
Abstract v
Section 1: Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti Sonata 1
Section 2: Sonata in G Major, No. 16, Op. 31, No. 1, by Ludwig van Beethoven 3
Section 3: Scherzo No.1 in B Minor, Op.20 by Frédéric Chopin 6
Section 4: Miroirs : I. Noctuelles, II. Oiseaux tristes, IV. Alborada del gracioso by Maurice Ravel 8
Section 5: Piano Concerto in G Major by Maurice Ravel 11
Appendix A: Program I (Concerto) 14
Appendix B: Program II (Solo Recital) 15
iv Abstract
GRADUATE RECITAL WORKS BY SCARLATTI, BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN and RAVEL
By Chang Qian Master of Music in Music, Performance
In this paper, I will introduce and discuss the works that I performed on my solo and concerto recital. My recital and concerto performances consisted of works by
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and Maurice
Ravel. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the history background, form, harmony technique and articulation of these pieces.
These pieces that I performed include a variety styles; Baroque, Classical,
Romantic and Impressionism. Through these pieces, the pianist can use different interpretive ways to interpret the differences between these styles. With the development of the keyboard and the compositional idea, the performance style also changes. Scarlatti’s works were classified to Baroque style, but his compositional idea influenced classical period composers. Beethoven not only inherited Mozart and
v Haydn’s compositional style, but also opened the gate to the romantic period.
Chopin was a renowned composer and virtuoso pianist. His music contains very grave emotional expression that can represent the typical style of Romantic music. Ravel was an Impressionist composer, he absorbed a variety of musical elements from Jazz music, Spanish dance music and oriental music. Meanwhile, the Classical style, especially in Mozart’s music, influenced Ravel’s style of composing.
vi Section 1: Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti Sonata
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) was an Italian composer. His father Alessandro
Scarlatti was a renowned Baroque music composer, also his brother was a music composer. Domenico Scarlatti was a composer who was in the transitional period between Baroque style and Classical style. His works were influenced the classical period music, although they were categorized as Baroque music. He composed many kind of musical forms, but nowadays people always know him from his 555 keyboard works.
Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas are relatively shorter than classical period sonatas.
Most of his sonatas usually only contain one movement and in binary form. Since he served for the Portuguese and Spanish royal families for many years, he absorbed some elements from Iberian folk music into his works. For Baroque music, performers could add or present embellishments in their own way.
Scarlatti Sonata in E Major, K 380
This piece is one of the most popular Scarlatti’s works which written in binary form. Scarlatti composed this piece in 1754, marked Andante comodo. At the beginning of this work, the first theme played by right hand solely with bright and joyful feeling. After two measures, left hand accompanies the melodic line with single note. Then, left hand takes over the melodic line in octave lower. The melodic line played by both hands alternatively throughout whole piece. Performers could make contrast between the two hands which can present the different feeling between lower and higher voice.
1 Scarlatti Sonata in F Minor, K 466
This sonata is a distinct work in the Baroque style music. It has very lyrical music line in both right hand and left hand, which is marked Andante moderato. It does not have a complex polyphonic texture, but it sounds more like a nocturne or a vocal work.
Scarlatti Sonata in G Minor, K 108
This piece composed in 1749 which is at the early period of Scarlatti’s compositional life, marked Allegro. It is a cheerful and dance-like piece, set in 3/8 meter. This work has some typical Baroque music features; polyphonic texture, terrace dynamic, and the melodic line is short and clear. The technical challenge is the left hand because it has to cross over the right hand broadly and play precisely and lightly. Because of this, the performers need to practice left hand individual to feeling this motion then get use to it in the end.
2 Section 2: Sonata in G Major, No. 16, Op. 31, No. 1, by Ludwig van
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German classical period composer.
His compositional life could be divided into three phases. The first phase is from 1783 to 1802. In this period, his music was most influenced by Mozart and Haydn. The second phase is from 1803 to 1814. He wrote abundant works in this period. The last phase is from 1815. In this period, he reached the peak of his compositional life.
Beethoven composed thirty-two piano sonatas. The Piano Sonata No.16 was composed during 1801 to 1802, and was published in 1803. At that time, he started to break through the conventional compositional style, and attempted to make his own original idea in music. There is an example in the first movement; usually, the second theme of the explosion in sonata form is starts with dominant key, but in this piece, it is in B Major and B Minor keys.
The first movement, marked Allegro vivace. It is a light and cheerful movement.
The humorous feature presented in two aspects – dynamic and rhythm. The music starts at the upbeat. The light motive and dotted notes make the music lively. For the dynamic aspect, there are some dramatic contrast between p and f. The technical point in the movement is that there are some continuous scales passages that need performers play clearly and evenly.
The second movement is unique in Beethoven’s piano sonatas, since it is the longest movement within his sonatas. The form of this movement is A – B – A’ –
Coda. This movement marked Adagio graziso. It points out the music should be
3 performed with ease and grace. The style of this movement is very special among
Beethoven’ sonatas. In the A section, the right hand melodic line starts with a long trill.
It allows performers to play it freely. The first subject is very lyrical. There are many embellishments in this movement that make the music more vivacious. The B section start in c minor and a new melody material. Compared to the A section, this part is more intense. The main difference of the A’ section is the composer amplified the left hand accompany part. That makes the music richer than A section. The dynamic of the coda part is builds gradually from p to f, then fade gradually and finish at pp. There are two cadenzas that should be played playful, joyful and graceful rather than showing the technical ability.
The third movement is a Rondo which marked Allegretto. The character of this movement is similar with the first movement; both are light and humorous. But it is more exciting. The first subject start with fugue. When the left hand take over the melodic line and the right hand accompany for it with eight-note scale, the music flows into the exciting atmosphere. When the new theme comes in, it is accompanied by an abundant of eight notes with a fast speed. Two hands play the melodic line alternatively like there is a conversation between these two hands, and it needs to practice the melodic line and accompany part separately. Another technical challenge is that the range of left hand accompanying part is wide; it is hard to play fast and smoothly at the same time. The coda part in this movement starts with polyphony which corresponds with the beginning part. It contains several tempi; Allegretto,
Adagio and Presto. That gives performers the space to create dramatic effects. The
4 Presto is shifting between f and p, then build up to ff and gradually decrease to pp. It gives the music the humorous sense which is similar to the ending of the first movement.
5 Section 3: Scherzo No.1 in B Minor, Op.20 by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish Romantic composer who is one of the greatest composers in the world. He was a child prodigy who composed the first piece at the age of seven. Before twenty, he already composed two piano concertos. His works are mostly written for piano. Because of the Polish—Russian war, Chopin escaped from his hometown to France in 1830.
The Scherzo No.1 in b Minor composed in 1831 and published in 1835. This piece was dedicated to Thomas Albrecht who was one of Chopin’s friends. Scherzo means “joke” in Italian. Traditionally, this musical term refers to light, fast, playful and with humorous character passage. In Baroque period, Scherzo was usually used in vocal and instrumental works. In the late 18th century, Haydn used it in his string quartet as an independent movement. Later, Beethoven used Scherzo as a movement to substitute minuet and augmented the emotional depth. Chopin’s b minor Scherzo presents as an individual piece which is broke through the traditional sonata norm. It contains more than humorous or playful character, it has more deep sentiment; struggle with life, sorrow and self-mockery.
This piece is written in A – B – A form and there is a coda in the end. Two dissonant chords open this piece dramatically. When playing these two chords, performers should bring out the highest note of the first chord and the lowest note of the second chord. This way could show the range between these two chords and enlarge the dramatic effect. After that, the music proceeds in a tremendous speed.
Although the speed is very fast, performers should pay attention to the breath between
6 each phrase.
After the exciting A section, the music turns to a slow tempo in B section and in
B major. It is a very lyrical and very expressive part. The melodic line played by right hand and left hand accompanies for it. Chopin borrowed the melody from and old
Polish Christmas song at the beginning of this part which is sounds simple and serene.
It might represent his memory of his childhood and mother country. Then, he built the music into f gradually and he melodic line becomes more complex. It sounds like the composer fulfilled with sorrow, disturbance and even with anger. The B section combined with two different sentiment. When playing this part, the performer should interpret these two different feelings. The melody which comes from the old Polish
Christmas is repeats three time. In the last time, the music gradually fade in the end and suddenly back to the first dissonant chord in ff. That brings audiences back to the
A section with agitating emotion.
The coda is very virtuosic which is even faster than A section. The music build up with a series of arpeggio from f to ff. Then, the music reaches the climax with repeats the dissonant nine ten-note chords nine times in fff.
The technique of this piece is very hard. When practicing this piece, performers should practice very slowly and phrase by phrase. The B section should practice both hands separately and practice the melodic line and the accompany part individually.
7 Section 4: Miroirs: I. Noctuelles, II. Oiseaux tristes, IV. Alborada del gracioso by Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a French composer who was considered as an
Impressionist composer, although he objected to this term. He was born in a Basque town which is near Spain. He studied piano since age seven and entered Paris
Conservatoire at the age of fourteen. In the conservatoire, he showed his desire to break traditional composition concepts. In his early compositional phase, he was influenced by Debussy’s work. In the First World War (1914-1918), he experienced the army life. After that, his works shows more rich emotional expression and mature compositional techniques. Ravel’s music absorbed many Spanish musical elements; apart from the location of his hometown is the adjacent area of Spain, one of his most important friends, Ricardo Viñes, was a virtuoso Spanish pianist who linked Ravel to
Spanish music also. He was a master of orchestration and using polytonality to make his music colorful.
Ravel participated a group which gathered some young radical artists, musicians, poets and critics around 1900. This group was named as Les Apaches or
“hooligans”. Ravel composed Miroirs for this group in 1905, and published it in following year by Eugène Louis Demets who was one of the most famous music publishers at that time. This suite has five movements and each movement was dedicated to a member of the Les Apaches group.
The first piece is dedicated to Leon Paul Fargue and titled “Noctuelles”
(“Moths” ). According to the name, this piece depicts moths fly at night and
8 accompany with moon light. The music start in pp which brings out the dark and quite atmosphere. Before the slow middle section, the music reaches the peak of ff, then suddenly drops into ppp and flow to a very calm and very expressive passage. It is like moths dropping on the ground. Since that, the sad feeling is throughout this slow section. This piece concludes with the music gradually disappearing. It like moths fly away and disappeared in the dark night.
The second piece is dedicated to Ricardo Vines and titled “Oiseaux tristes”
( “Sad Birds” ). This piece depicts a lonely bird sing sadly in the forest. The melodic line is clear and sorrowful. This is a very chromatic piece; the sound of this piece has many different layers. In the middle of this piece, the music suddenly break through the quiet atmosphere. It is like the bird suddenly gets scared and feel very anxious.
After a while the music gradually transitions to peacefulness. The music ends with a very slow tempo – Encore plus lent in ppp and restate the first subject. It imitates the bird whistling more and more soft.
I choose the fourth piece as the ending of this suite because of compare to the other pieces of this suite, this work is the most exciting and cheerful one. It dedicated to M.-D. Calvocoressi and titled “Alborada del gracioso” ( “The Jester’s Aubade” ).
The conception of this work originates from Spanish paintings. It contains various performance techniques and the dance-like rhythm which need performers to present the dance feeling. Ravel rearranged this piece into instrumental work. Since that,
9 performers could imagine the sound of the different kinds of orchestral instruments that could help performers to present the different color of sound.
10 Section 5: Piano Concerto in G Major by Maurice Ravel
This work was composed 1929 to 1931, during his second time visiting the
United States. Since Jazz music was very popular music at that time, Ravel used Jazz music style into this piece. He also said this piece is composed with Mozart and
Saint-Saëns’s spirit; the orchestra section as important as piano part, and the music is bright, lively and brilliant. This piece is cheerful and bright, it does not have very complex emotional expression. Initially, he wanted to give the premiere by himself.
But because of his health issue, the French pianist Marguerite Long did this premiere with Orchestre Lamoureux in 1932, and Ravel conducted this concert.
The first movement marked Allegramente, written in the typical sonata from, but the length of the exposition section is 106 bars that is a very large part compare to the development and recapitulation part in this piece. The exposition part contains a variety musical elements that almost includes all musical ideas of the first movement.
This movement opened by whip-crack which shows the character of the Basque and
Spanish music style. In the introduction section, the piano accompanies the orchestra part which plays the first subject. After this part, the piano stops and the orchestra continuous playing the first theme. When piano plays again, it starts in b minor and the tempo slows down. This passage is marked Meno vivo which means less lively.
Ravel wrote espressivo in this passage that allows performers to take time and feel the sound of those notes rather than counting the time. There are some staccato notes are played by both hands for making intense feeling. Because this piece affected by jazz music, these notes could create a sound which has a metallic quality. Performers
11 could keep the tension of hands and play these notes very quickly. For this part, the harmony shifts between major and minor, showing it was influenced by jazz music.
The second theme starts with dissonance, this section influenced by Gershwin’s work
– Rhapsody in Blue. After this part, the development part starts. This section uses some musical elements from the first subject. The cadenza of this piece start with soft volume and build up very slowly. The right hand continuously play trills which accompany the melody, demanding the right hand play those notes softly and evenly.
That creates a feeling like the stream flows naturally. The melodic line is in the left hand which restates the second theme. Left hand plays the melody and abundant sixteen notes at the same time, it demands the left hand play those sixteen notes very carefully and play the melody lyrically. From the coda, we could hear the jazz elements through the rhythm; these accent notes are not only at strong beats, but also present in other beats. Performer would feel awkward at the first time. When performers practice this rhythm, they should be practiced slowly and exaggerate these accent notes in the beginning.
The second movement marked Adagio assai. Compare with the first movement, this movement is a more lyrical, more expressive and more classical. The 3/4 meter shows the character of dance-like style. It written in ternary form which is A – B – A’.
This movement starts with piano solo; the atmosphere is very quietness and the melodic line is very lyrical. The A section is written in Mozart’s style; elegant, peaceful and pleasant. In the B section, the piano is the accompany part for the orchestra. With the right hand is continuous play sixteen notes, this section has more
12 tension that section A. But it does not have any dramatic contrast, the music flows gradually and naturally. Since the left hand is changes harmony frequently, the pedal should be changed precisely. In the A’ section, the first theme restated by orchestra and piano accompanies for it. This movement has a short coda part which retells the first theme partially by orchestra and the piano play trills as the background music.
The third movement is written in a very fast tempo – Presto. It creates an atmosphere that is full of passion and excitement. Same with the first movement, this movement contains many jazz music elements. One of the technical points is that right hand and left hand play sixteen notes alternately in a very fast tempo. It is easy to omit some notes and played unevenly. In the end of this movement, the piano starts solely, then the orchestra joins in and they finished together. That creates a brilliant and powerful ending of this work.
13 Appendix A: Program I (Concerto) California State University, Northridge Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication Department of Music Presents
Chang Qian, piano
In her Master of Music Concerto Recital*
A Student of Prof. Edward Francis
With Yuting Peng, Piano
Sunday, April 9th, 2017, 12:30 P.M.
Cypress Recital Hall PROGRAM
Piano Concerto in G Major....…………….Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)
I. Allegramente II. Adagio assai III. Presto
*In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance
14 Appendix B: Program II (Solo Recital)
California State University, Northridge Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication Department of Music Presents
Chang Qian, piano
In her Master of Music Recital*
A Student of Dr. Tali Tadmor
Thursday, April 19th, 2018, 4:30 P.M.
Cypress Recital Hall PROGRAM
Sonata in E Major, K 380……………Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) Sonata in F Minor, K 466 Sonata in G Minor, K108
Sonata in G Major, No.16…………Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro vivace II. Adagio grazioso III. Rondo, allegretto-presto Intermission Scherzo No.1 in B Minor, Op.20……………Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Miroirs…………………………..…………..Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
I. Noctuelles II. Oiseaux tristes IV. Alborada del gracioso
*In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance
15