CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
COLLABORATIVE PIANO RECITAL WORKS
BY MOZART, SCHUMANN, SCHUBERT, BARBER AND
STRAVINSKY
An Graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of Master of Music
in music, in Performance
By
Ningqi Li
May 2016
The Graduate Program of Ningqi Li is approved:
______
Dr. Soo-Yeon Chang Date
______
Dr. Murray, Deanna Date
______
Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov. Chair Date
California State University, Northridge
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Table of Contents
Signature Page ii
Abstract iv
Program (Collaborative Piano Recital) 1
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ABSTRACT
COLLABORATIVE PIANO RECITAL WORKS
BY MOZART, SCHUMANN, SCHUBERT, BARBER AND
STRAVINSKY
BY
Ningqi Li
Master of Music in Music, in performance
Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart lived from 1756 to 1791 in Salzburg. He composed more than 600 brilliant pieces of music such as sonatas, symphonies, concerti, operas, choral pieces, etc. He traveled with his family to Europe many times and The European style influenced him.
He also influenced many later composers including Beethoven. In 1777 and 1778, he traveled to Europe again and he fell in love with Aloysia Weber. However, his mother then got sick and died in the same year.
Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304 is special to Mozart, he wrote it in 1778. That year he had traveled to Mannheim, therefore he must have taken some style from there. Also, it was written around his mother’s death. The sonata K.304 may reflect his sad mood and
iv it is the only minor key in his violin sonatas. It is the perfect piece for violinist and pianist who first learns Mozart’s sonata, and it is also a great introductory piece for concerts.
The first movement - Allegro
The first movement is a piece in Sonata form with passion. Theme I starts from the beginning with a tonic key as E minor. The interesting thing is the opening theme recurs seven times in the whole movement with repeats, but each time becomes a little bit different. From measure 1 to 12, the violin part and piano part have the octave melody.
The dynamic is marked piano in both parts so the pianist plays softly to avoid covering the violin part. The dominant notes start from measure 3, and with the home key appear in measure 8, the mood changes and the dynamic turns to forte. They have staccato eighth notes and have more and more tension with each measure, finally it ends in a dominant note B in measure 12. Then, the violin part replays the first theme from measure 13, as the piano part accompanies with descending and ascending chords bringing more color to the violin part. The transition picks up from measure 20 to 28 and both parts have the same two phrases. The second theme enters at measure 29 with a dynamic forte, it seems as if the violin part accompanies the piano part, and the dynamic changes to piano after two measures. The violin part replays the melody in measure 41 and the piano part has the accompaniment, then the piano has cadence and the violin has a long rest, the violin returns in measure 51 to be with the piano. The chromatic ascent occurs and the violin ends on G major very strongly (mm. 53-59). The violin imitates the piano part in a closing sentence from measure 59. Theme II recurred from measure 67 and ends in a dominant chord.
The development section is short and starts from measure 85, it sounds similar to the beginning of the exposition, where Mozart uses the dominant key of E minor. The piano v plays new material in measure 90, and the violin has an imitation sequence in measure 98 playing the same melody with the piano. Then it turns to a trill sequence after two measures and the piano has staccato notes, the atmosphere becomes intense. However, in measure 104, the piano has chromatic passages to gradually release the tension, followed by a four-measure bridge. The recapitulation picks up at measure 112, the violin part is the same but the piano part has eighth notes augmented six chords with a fortepiano mark. Coda comes at measure 193 and the piano has pedal tones on each measure until measure 198. Mozart ended the movement with a powerful tonic chord.
The second movement – Tempo di Menuetto
The second movement changed mood, it stays in E minor, but sounds more sad and lyrical. It is ABA ternary form (Minuet- trio- Minuet). Piano starts the piece and left hand has descending bass notes E-D-C-B-A-G in the first four measures and then go up.
When the piano comes back to the home key of E minor the violin follows and imitates the piano part’s melody. At this time, the piano has an eighth note accompaniment and the left hand still has a descending bass line, however it ascends and descends again. The transition comes at measure 33 in G major and the piano receives the melody. The piano melody continues to rise from measure 45 to measure 49 and the music becomes more romantic. Also, the dynamic mark has piano crescendo to forte, but it becomes piano again in measure 53 and a crescendo ensues once again to forte. The dynamics change frequently to emphasize expression. The theme recurred in measure 70 and Mozart wrote a very soft closing phrase (mm. 90 – 93). The piano has a new theme in the Trio part in E major and the melody gently sweetens. The transition begins from measure 110 and has more color change. The most expressive part in this piece is the rest in measure 118 to
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119, which represents the break of silence after one has been crying. The familiar theme returned after the “sad rest” and ends in the home key. The Minuet comes at measure 128 in E minor and closing sentence comes with triplets in left hand. Mozart finished the whole sonata with triplets in piano part and forte quarter notes in the violin part.
Dichterliebe by Robert Schumann
Schumann (1810-1856) was a German composer. He was known to be a great pianist, but due to the injury of his hand, he decided to become a composer. He composed many piano works, and he also wrote Lieder, symphonies, choral works and chamber works later in his life. Gerald Moore said “Schumann’s vocal line often burgeons into a bloom of rich color from a tiny seed: the loveliest of his melodies are ignited ”.1 He is full of passion and sensitivity, however he also suffered a mental disorder. It was well known to people that he married Clara Wieck against her father’s will.
Dichterliebe is the most known song cycle by Schumann, which translates as, “A
Poet’s Love”. It has sixteen songs and it reflects his real love for Clara like a diary. This cycle was composed in 1840 and the text comes from Heinrich Heine in Lyrisches
Intermezzo. These movements are all interconnected and needs to be played without a break. This cycle ends on the seventh song in my recital with a strong ending.
I. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
The first song title of Dichterliebe means In the wonderfully beautiful month of May is so expressive. The piano sets the atmosphere first with a piano dynamic mark in F- sharp minor. When the voice comes in, the piano’s top voice doubles vocal melody and
1 Moore, Gerald. Poet's Love : The Songs and Cycles of Schumann. (New York: Taplinger Pub. Co., 1981), xi.
vii this makes the pianist control their volume to support the singer but not overwhelm them.
It is important to notice there is no tonic chord in the end; it is like waiting for the response of someone whom he deeply loved.
II. Aus meinen Tränen sprießen
This song’s title means from my tears, flowers will blossom. It’s merely one page, but it can still be divided into two sections. The score seems easy for the pianist, but they need to make their part seem transparent and build quality color to support singers. The vocal line’s notes repeat many times and each repetition should have different feelings.
The second section indicated Schumann’s love and desire so that needs a warmer sound.
The interesting part is the vocal melody ends on B three times in measure 4, 8, and 16 and piano solved the phrases in pianissimo. 2
III. Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne
The third title turns fast and happy in D major. The title means, “The rose, the lily, the dove, the sun” and the text said, “she is gentle and sweet”. The piano part has even sixteenth notes accompaniment and the vocal line has dotted rhythms to create an excited atmosphere.
IV. Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’
In When I look into your eyes, the melody calms down again. Schumann liked to utilize many repeated notes to create the emotion as well as the vocal line. Also, when the vocal line has rests (mm. 4), the piano part has repeated chords to enhance the emotions.
The piano ends the song softly and transparently.
V. Ich will meine Seele tauchen
2 Ibd., 4. viii
In this piece, the vocal part is lyrically soft and the piano part has even thirty-second notes in pianissimo. The highest notes and the lowest notes in the piano part indicate the melody. The left hand melody in piano part has a contrary motion with the vocal line in measure 7 and 15. As his other pieces in Dichterliebe, the piano did the postlude softly with ritardando.
VI. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
The sixth song has steady rhythm in both lines. The piano part imitates the cathedral organ sounds, and it sounds majestic, especially the left hand, as it has full octave notes and half octave bass notes. We need to bring it out instead of the right hand’s dotted notes. In German songs, the words place heavier in the mouth than other languages.
VII. Ich grolle nicht
The last song in my recital is a transition among the song cycle. The seventh song illustrated a man singing about his broken heart, about losing someone. It’s similar to
Clara’s father being against their love and he was angry. The piano part left hand has a bass line and the right hand has continued eighth note chords. Each chord needs to move forward, but still keep the steady tempo. When the singer finishes in C major, the piano part needs to show the feelings of a broken heart with expressive and powerful chords.
Impromptu in A-Flat Major, D.899-4 (Op.90, No.4) by Franz Peter Schubert
Schubert was born in 1797, and he was a prolific composer that has more than
1500 works. Some critical said his works lack deep feelings, but his works have been well known and verified at the time. He composed eight impromptus around 1827 that was one year before his death. Op.90 has four impromptus and the style influenced by his teacher.
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The No. 4 Impromptu is a three sections (A-B-A’) form in A-flat Major. The beginning right hand has four times descending arpeggios in pianissimo, which are A-flat major, C-flat minor and B, minor (mm. 1-30). The quarter notes chords have a steady rhythm like a Waltz between these arpeggios. In measure 31, the tonic key returned and continued the arpeggios. From measure 39, the right hand continued a sixteenth note pattern until measure 63 and the harmonics gradually have more tension. A new material entered after the dominant piano sixteenth notes in measure 72. The right hand used triplets to release instead of sixteenth notes, however, triplets do not last a long time, and the sixteenth notes comes again in measure 80 which are the same with measure 39.
The sudden change shows in the Trio in C-sharp minor, both hands have equal eighth notes. The highest notes of the right hand part have a beautiful melody like singing and the left hand has chords to support the melody. From the second part of the Trio, the sounds become more and more emotional and tense. There are many mezzo di voce marks. The full crescendo comes naturally in measure 157 and it finally fades to pianissimo in measure 173. After the Trio, the contrasting A’ comes similarly to the first section of this impromptu and ends with two strong quarter chords in the home key.
Hermit Songs by Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber was an American composer who was born in 1910 in a small town.
He traveled to Europe many times and he was inspired by Traditional Irish culture in his young age. He enjoyed reading Irish poems when he was young; also, his uncle introduced many Irish books and poets to him. Barber utilized European elements introducing a new style to America.
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Hermit Songs is a ten-movement song cycle, which was influenced by Irish traditional poems and music elements. This cycle not only used translated English poems but also used Irish folk melodies. Barber introduced his song cycle saying, “They are small poems, thoughts or observations, some very short, and speak in straightforward, droll, and often surprisingly modern terms of the simple life these men led, close to nature, to animal and to God.” 3 The soprano and I performed seven songs of Hermit
Songs in my recital.
I and II. At Saint Patrick’s Purgatory and Church Bell at Night
The first song marked is Allegretto, in steady rhythm. The words described the Irish missionary Saint Patrick who lived in the fifth century. The piano has triplets on the right hand and steady bass “bell” sound. Although the second song was slowly in Molto adagio, it still presents “bell” sound at night with rolling chords in a mystery atmosphere, and these chords imitated Irish harp sound.
III. St. Ita’s Vision
The third song’s text is also described an Irish saint named Ita, she would like to raise God as her child and imagined her life if she were to take care of Jesus. This song used strophic variation form and sounds majestic.
V. The Crucifixion
The Crucifixion uses 6/8 rhythms and begins in Aeolian mode. The piano comes first and the singing melody imitates the piano part for several measures. The piano part also imitates the sounds of a harp with rolling and the fifth interval.
3 Barbara Heyman, Samuel Barber The Composer and His Music. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).
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VII and VIII. Promiscuity and The Monk and His Cat
The seventh and eighth songs are vivid and full of humor. Promiscuity merely has one page and two sentences. Every time after the singing line finishes, the piano imitates the musical line to enhance the imagery of gossiping. The Monk and His Cat used Ionian mode and the words are easy to understand. The strong/weak beat through the whole song not only in singing part but also in the piano accompaniment, which presents the cats’ behavior. Also, this song has many hemiolas and sound joyful.
X. The Desire for Hermitage
The last song of the cycle shows Barber’s desire for a peaceful life. He likes quiet environment and he lived in a monastery for a while. He even had a cottage named The
Hermit for many years. The left hand of piano part also used rolling chords to illustrate the harp sound. The frequent dynamic change shows the desire of his heart. In the end, a very soft sound enters and he marked expressively to create the atmosphere.
Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano by Igor Stravinsky
Stravinsky was born in 1882 and he was a Russian composer. His parents wanted him to learn law, but he pursued his love of music instead. He studied with Rimsky-Korsakov in his early year until Rimsky-Korsakov died in 1908. He turned to the neo-classical writing style during the 1920’s and used serial compositional technique after 1950s.
Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano (1932) was arrangement of the orchestration
“Pulcinella” which written by Stravinsky and performed in 1920 at Paris Opera. Later in
1933, Stravinsky reworks the suite for violin and piano with violinist Samuel Dushkin.
This piece includes six movements and shows Stravinsky’s characteristics, which have a stable rhythm in each section and suddenly changed the mood in one movement.
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Introduzione
The first movement has Baroque style; the piano needs to play detached between each chord and notes. The cello introduces the theme then the piano accompaniment follows in the first four measures. Later the piano part shows the melody first and cello followed. This conversation appears through the whole piece.
Serenata
The second movement Serenata is a slow movement marked Larghetto. The Cello indicates the melody in the beginning and the left hand of piano has descending or ascending bass notes, meanwhile, the right hand of the piano part keeps fast shake notes to building the atmosphere. Piano starts the theme melody from measure 23, but it only last three measures then the piano goes back to the accompaniment until the end.
Aria and Tarantella
The cello has many pizzicato notes and chords in this movement, which are a challenge for the cellist. The aria changed from passionate to largo and expressive. The dynamics change frequently in this movement, however, the fourth movement Tarantella did not have much dynamic marking. The whole Tarantella keeps the same rhythm and has the sound of a machine. The last measure suddenly becomes fortissimo.
Minuetto and Finale
The last two movements connect to each other without stop. Piano starts the
Minuetto with stability and deep feeling. Then the cello imitates the piano part. In the end, the cello and piano have chords together with a crescendo into Finale in C major. The
Finale starts really strong and fortissimo with chords in piano. It is really a challenging
xiii movement for both cello and piano, which has big, leaping notes, and a large range of chords Which Stravinsky ended the piece with briefly and confidently.
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PROGRAM
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE COLLEGE OF
ARTS, MEDIA, AND COMMUNICATION
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
PRESENT
NINGQI LI, Collaborative Piano
A Student of Dr. Soo-Yeon Chang
In her Master of Music Recital*
Sunday, April 3rd, 2016, 10:30 A.M.
Music Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304...... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) I. Allegro II. Tempo di Menuetto
Stefan Krut, Violin
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Dichterliebe...... Robert Schumann (1810-1856) I. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai II. Aus meinen Tränen sprießen III. Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne IV. Wenn ich in deine Augen she V. Ich will meine Seele tauchen VI. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome VII. Ich grolle nicht
Manfred Anaya, Tenor
Impromptu in A-Flat Major, D.899-4 (Op.90, No.4)...... Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
INTERMISSION
Hermit Songs ...... Samuel Barber (1910-1981) I. At St Patrick’s Purgatory trans. by Seán Ó Faoláin II. Church Bell at Night Howard Mumford Jones III. St Ita’s Vision Chester Kallman V. The Crucifixion Howard Mumford Jones VII. Promiscuity Kenneth H. Jackson VIII. The Monk and his Cat W.H. Auden X. The Desire for Hermitage Seán Ó Faoláin
Tingting Tang, Soprano
Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano...... Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) I. Introduzione II. Serenata III. Aria IV. Tarantella V. Minuetto VI. Finale Daniel Grab, Cello
*In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music in Collaborative Piano Performance
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Bibliography
Moore, Gerald. Poet's Love: The Songs and Cycles of Schumann. New York: Taplinger Pub.
Co. 1981.
Heyman, Barbara. Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1994.
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