CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
Concerto and Recital Works by Tausig, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Turina and Mozart
A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance
by
Tianhui Zhang
May 2018
The graduate project of Tianhui Zhang is approved:
______
Dr. Tali Tadmor Date
______
Dr. Lorenz Gamma Date
______
Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, Chair Date
California State University, Northridge
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Acknowledgement
Thank you to Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, Dr. Gayle Kowalchyk, Dr. Tali Tadmor, Dr. Pei-Shan
Lee, Professor Edward Francis, and Dr. Lorenz Gamma for your guidance, wisdom, and
encouragement.
Thank you to my lovely family and my sweet friends whose support made this possible.
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Table of Contents
Signature Page ii
Acknowledgement iii
Abstract v
Section 1: Scarlatti sonata “Pastorale & Capriccio” 1
arranged by Carl Tausig
Section 2: Sonata Op.10 No.3 by Ludwig van Beethoven 3
Section 3: Rondo in C minor, Op.1 by Frederic Chopin 5
Section 4: Papillons, Op.2 by Robert Schumann 7
Section 5: Zapateado by Joaquin Turina 9
Section 6: Piano Concerto No.24 in C Minor, K491. 10
Appendix A: Program I (Concerto) 12
Appendix B: Program II (Solo Recital) 13
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Abstract
CONCERTO AND RECITAL WORKS BY TAUSIG, BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, SCHUMANN, TURINA and MOZART
By
Tianhui Zhang
Master of Music in Music, Performance
In this paper, I will analyze and discuss the works that I performed on my Master Degree solo recital and concerto concert. My recital and concerto repertoire consisted of works by
Carl Tausig, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franciszek Chopin, Robert Schumann, Joaquin Turina and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The goal of this paper is to write about an analysis of the form, harmonic structure, and history of these pieces. And I also will show my personal ideas and experience about how to play and work on these pieces.
For my solo recital program, I performed a range of styles representing each of the
Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Spanish music. The variety of these styles gives the pianist an opportunity and big challenge to play a full variety of techniques, articulations, and
v interpretive approaches on the piano. Different periods of music have different musical styles.
Pianists needs to show the musical characteristics of the different periods to the audience in a concert. For my concerto recital, I chose the Mozart piano concerto No.24 in C minor. This piece is one of the only two minor-key piano concertos that Mozart composed. I played a contemporary cadenza composed by Alfred Schnittke, which made this classical piece sound more interesting.
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Section 1: Scarlatti sonata “Pastorale & Capriccio” arranged by Carl Tausig
These two Scarlatti sonatas were arranged by Carl Tausig (1841-1871). Carl Tausig was born in Poland. He was not only one of the greatest pianists but was also a great arranger and composer. When Carl was 14 years old, his father let him study with Franz Liszt. He became one of the most adored and respected pupils of Franz Liszt. He was known for his exemplary technique, and, alongside Liszt and Anton Rubinstein, is considered one of the three greatest pianists of the 19th century. These two sonatas are not well-known to the world, and there is not a lot of information on them available.
The “Pastorale” is in the key of e minor, 6/8, Allegretto. Tausig added more colorful harmonies and long melodic legato lines in this sonata, which made it sounds more colorful and rich than the original edition. Although it is a work from the baroque period, I think pianists could play this with a more romantic style. Tausig added a lot of markings in the music, which are clear to tell performer how to add the dynamics to in the music. At the beginning of section A, the left and right hands both have legato lines, I recommend that the performer try to use finger legato to play the beautiful melody as smoothly as possible. For some bars that have the same harmony throughout, one we could add some pedal, in order to make the sonority richer. When the right hand (finger 1,4 and 2,5) play the interval of a sixth, the fingers should be very relaxed and the wrist should do a little rotation, which could make the notes sound more equally. At the beginning of section B, each phrase is two bars long.
We should play the melody more dolce. When the harmony changes, we should take time to feel the color changes. Then, a similar motive which is like the one in section A shows itself again. At the end of the piece, the damper pedal should be utilized.
The “Capriccio” is in the key of E major, 2/4, Vivace. This sonata needs to be played in a style full of energy and also very fast. Each and every note needs to be clean, so when we
1 practice, we need to use a slow and moderate tempo, in order to make sure that every finger needs to be strong enough. At the beginning of this piece, measure 1 to 4 are the same with measures 5 to 8. So the first phrase should be played forte and second phrase should be played piano, which will make the two phrases sound like an echo of each other. In the following part, Tausig arranged a lot of slusr and staccatos, and pianists should play staccato like a “mean” notes, which makes a big contrast with the slurs. This can make the music sounds more interesting. In the section B, the performer’s fingers should focus on the top notes, which has more of the melody, and less on the right thumb. At the end of the piece, there is a long string of running sixteenth notes that should be played strongly and clearly.
Pianists can divide them into some groups and also practice them with the dotted rhythm.
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Section 2: Sonata Op.10 No.3 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was born in Bonn. He is regarded as one of the greatest composers and pianists in the history of music. He was considered as a Classical composer, but he was also the important turning point in the transitional period between the
Classical and Romantic eras in Western classic music. When he was young, he studied with
Joseph Haydn, and this is also when Beethoven became a virtuoso pianist. Among his greatest masterpieces, Beethoven’s compositions include 5 piano concertos, 9 symphonies,
32 piano sonatas and innumerable other works of chamber music. In my solo recital, I selected the piano sonata No.7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3. This sonata was written in 1798; and there are four movements in this sonata.
The first movement: Presto, D Major, 2/2.
This movement is written in sonata form. The structure is more compact here than in his previous sonatas, and the music feels brilliant, clear, fast, powerful and rich in the music. The first theme begins with an octave scale in D major, which feels like an implied motivation.
After that, a beautiful melody in b minor suddenly changes the musical atmosphere. After this theme gradually increases in tension, the second theme appeares in a minor. The development begins with the first theme from piano to forte, then a development of the theme.
In the recapitulation, everything is similar to the exposition, except the key change. At the end of the first movement, there is a gorgeous ending with a technically challenging and virtuosic display closing the movement.
The second movement: Largo e mesto, d minor, 6/8.
This movement is written in sonata form. Although the second movement is very slow, it demonstrates strong profound emotion and expression. In addition, this is Beethoven’s last
3 time to compose a Largo e mesto movement in a sonata. The movement opens with the first theme which can be characterized as melancholy. The second theme is a beautifully soft melody in a minor with deep sadness. After the second theme, a new musical theme is introduced that contrasts greatly with the previous sad themes. A musical dialogue then ensues between the left hand and the right hand. This is followed by a small coda of a three-bar melody that echoes the second theme. After a little break, the development appears in F major, and the color of the music changes. The impressive sixty-fourth notes continues to float. The Recapitulation is similar to the first part.
The third movement: Allegro, D Major, 3/4.
This movement is a Minuet. From the gloomy atmosphere of the previous movement, the mood has now shifted to a bright dance. One of the characteristics of Beethoven is the sudden change of musical color. The theme of the minuet is extremely soft. The middle section is in
G major. The right hand plays the accompanying triplets, while the left hand plays the melody. Then, the A section is restated.
The fourth movement: Allegro, D Major, 4/4.
This movement is a Rondo. The main theme of the Rondo begins with the questioning motive, and it has been said Beethoven used this motive to express a feeling of anxiety. The first theme starts in D major. The first two bars must be phrased like a question, repeated twice, then followed by an answer which played like a cadenza. At the end of the movement, the main theme is still going on. At the end of music, the right hand plays chromatic running notes and the left hand plays the melody. Finally the music ends in a quite atmosphere.
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Section 3: Rondo in C minor, Op.1 by Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was a famous Polish pianist of the romantic period, he is also regarded as the one of the greatest composers of music for the piano.
When Chopin was very young, he composed Rondo Op.1. It is the earliest published works by Chopin. This work was published in 1825, and dedicated to “Madame de Linde”.
Although Chopin didn’t have a developed compositional technique at that time, this piece is still an amazing work. The structure of this piece is A, B, C, A’, D, B’, A’.
The piece starts in Allegro. Chopin used a small phrase consisting of several octaves which successfully leads to the main theme. Then from the fifth bar, the main theme – section
A of Rondo - is immediately entered. The theme is exquisite and elegant, like a playful child full of joy. The main theme consists of four similar phrases which are marked by slurs and staccato, which must played exactly as written by composer, to make music sounds more interesting. The second theme in section A highlights technical aspects. When performed, A special focus must be paid to the middle voice in a polyphonic setting while the other three voices must be subdued.
Section B is Piu Lento which is means “a little slower”. The tempo needs to be slower than before but not too much. The melody is very simple and touching, just like in a dream or a sweet memory. In performance, pianists need to focus on clean pedal and harmony. The second theme in section B is similar with the first theme, but the accompaniment in left hand is harmony chord. Then change to broken chord which makes the sounds richer than first theme. Be careful that pedal need be clean. The melody needs to keep going to Forte, then follow the diminuendo and ritardando. The new interesting motive like a storm is followed.
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Section C returns to the original tempo. The music brightens up after the dark mood of the previous episode. The left hand has a broken chord accompaniment and the right hand plays a chromatic descending melodic line, after which section A returns.
After the section A, a very special theme shows up, ushering in the section D. This section D is a canon in D - flat major and the character here is dolce. The left hand Plays a scale style accompaniment, which should be played legato and soft, like a flowing water. The pedal should be used sparsely. The section A then returns. At the end of the piece, the last phrase extends into the little coda, with the chromatic descending octaves making for a grand ending on the c minor tonic chord.
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Section 4: Papillons, Op.2 by Robert Schumann
The German composer Robert Schumann was regarded as one of the greatest composers of the romantic period. Papillons, Op.2 is an early representation of his work.
“Papillons” means “Butterflies”. This piano suite was completed in 1831, it was the earliest piano suite composed by Schumann, and also represents a type of programmatic music for the piano. “Papillions” consists of 12 short pieces of very colorful contrast characters. Even little piece has its own thematic material and tempo rhythm. This music is a romantic love story with masquerade as its background. The story is about the love dispute between twin brothers Walt and Vult who fight for the love of Wina. It is very important for pianists to know characters and themes for every piece.
In the piano suite “Papillons”, Schumann has been looking for a balance between the diversity and uniqueness of harmony. In the whole suite, the function of harmony is weakened, and the use a lot of dissonant chords is widespread. Schumann also uses inversion chords and non-harmonic tones, such as grace notes in the suite. In the following paragraph, I will analyze some important pieces.
The moderato introduction is a very short piece in D major which is a waltz style with
Moderato tempo. The phrases in this piece should be played as a question-like, as if saying:
“do you want dance with me?”, a gentleman’s invitation of a lady to a dance. Moving into te first piece, a Waltz in D major, the melody is set in flowing octave scales. It is recommended that the vocal line should be alternated with 3,4 and 5 fingers to ensure the legato quality of the melody. At the same time, arms and wrists need to be relaxed and coordinated. The fingers should be focused on bringing out top vocal line and the left hand quarter-note chords should sound gentle and rhythmically elastic, flowing like a swinging dance.
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No.4 is a Presto in F sharp minor. From measure 25 to 30, every bar has its own tonality, which is #g-#c-#f-b-e-#f. The rich harmonies are employed to modulate measure by measure, but it also supports the melody through the transition. Because of this, it is an unexpected and surprising twist in the piece.
No.6 is a Waltz in D minor. Its tonality change is very rich that is in d minor – A major – d minor – F major – d minor, ending in the latter key. The beginning of No. 6, not only has
Dominant seventh chord in d minor but also has seventh chord in F major which made the music sound very rich. These chords reflect the diversity of harmony as a characteristic of the romantic style of writing.
No.11 is a Polonaise in D major. This piece is the longest and most brilliant one in the whole suite, the rhythm is combined by four four and four three, and the change is also the most varied and most complex of the twelve. The strong dance rhythm runs through the piece which made music sounds gorgeous and bright.
No.12 is Finale in D major. The main theme is a German tradition song. This theme is heard in the base, while the melody of the first piece returns. From measure 21, the texture quickly turns polyphonic, which the movement’s main theme heard in the base and seving as a counter subject to the reappearing first theme from. Two hands need keep balance which like two melodies developing in the same time. From measure 43, bass D continues on about
25 measure, main melody in right hand become less and short but German motive still keep going ff. From measure 70, the music faded away, and finally music disappeared in the silence.
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Section 5: Zapateado by Joaquin Turina
Joaquin Turina was a Spanish composer who helped to develop the national Spanish music of 20th century. He learned piano with Moritz Moszkowski and learned composition with Vincent d’lndy. I choose the Zapateado which is the third piece of Danzas andaluzas op.8 as the last piece in my program. Because Zapateado often be played as a solo piece. This suite was composed by 1912, the whole suite is about 12 minutes in all.
The structure of this piece is a ternary form – A B A’. It is a Spanish dance music. The important thing in this piece is tempo. The rhythm should sound like dance. Although this is a short piece, it is a hard piece. From bar 1 to 11 is like a little introduction, then followed by main theme. In the section A, the melody should be played clear and accompany part should be played soft. Pianist should be pay attention that there is a hemiola rhythm in measure 30.
From measure 45, the second theme of section A is coming. The second theme is very different from the first theme. The first theme sounds like a funny story, and the second theme is more like a love story. This part should be played very express and focus on the harmony color change. When play the expressive melodic line, fingers should play into the key which could make music to have a deep feeling. Then the introduction motive shows again and goes to the section B.
Section B is Allegretto which need be play more steady. The entire section has a strong melody and repeat again and again. In the second part of section B, texture is more rich than the first part which make the music sounds more magnificent. Then music turns back to the section A, at the end of music, composer used octaves to play the theme melody, this is an effective way to double the melody sound and catch the attention of the audiences. Pianist should relax the wrist, and use the power of body to play the final few chords which make the ending feel very brilliant.
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Section 6: Piano Concerto No.24 in C Minor, K.491 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart was one of the greatest influential composers of the classical period. He composed over 600 works, such as piano sonatas, concertos, operas, chamber music and so on.
Mozart piano concerto No.24 in C minor was completed by 1786. This piece is one of the only two minor-key piano concertos that Mozart composed. The other one is No.20 in D minor. At this time, Mozart was not influenced by gains of material and reputation, but more inclined to express his inner feelings in his compositions. He did not want to be bound by the taste of the audience. In this C minor concerto, Mozart used music to talk about his depression. This is mainly due to the influence of the Enlightenment, love freedom and the misery of life.
The first movement is Allegro in C minor, it is a concerto sonata form. Its been said that this first movement is longer than other concerto’s first movement which composed by
Mozart. The first theme consists of arpeggiando, diminished seventh interval, chromatic motive and so on. The second theme is played by piano first then followed by orchestra part.
The piano plays the fast notes group again, then under the orchestra guidance. The development is began to develop the piano with the theme of the first theme, after the orchestra played the first theme, the piano began to development quickly. The second theme and sub-theme comes back in C minor, after cadenza, the first movement ends with broken chords. There are a lot of running notes in the first movement, when pianist practice, we should use slow tempo to practice, and every finger should be strong. Notes should be played clear but sounds very flowing.
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The second movement is Larghetto in E flat major. The main theme is very peaceful and lyrics. When piano play the solo parts, pianist should into the key to express the melody. In this movement, piano and orchestra often like a dialogue to communicate with each other.
The third movement is Allegretto. This movement includes a main theme and eight variations in C minor. The main theme is related to the first movement, emphasizing the chromatic scale. The theme consists of two phrases, each phrase has eight measures. The first phrase is from c minor to dominant g minor and second phrase comes back to c minor. The first variation uses tone pattern. The second variation, piano play fast running notes. The third variation, piano makes conversation with orchestra. Then variation turns to the A flat major.
In fifth variation, key turn back to the c minor but the theme is like a polyphony. The sixth variation changes to the C major. The last two variations stay in c minor key.
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Appendix A: Program I (Concerto)
California State University, Northridge Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication Department of Music Presents
Tianhui Zhang, piano
In her Master of Music Concerto Recital*
A Student of Prof. Edward Francis
With Nan Cai, Piano
Sunday, December 4, 2016 2:30 P.M. Cypress Recital Hall
*In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance
PROGRAM
Piano Concerto No.24 in C Minor, K.491....…….……Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
I. Allegro Cadenza by Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) II. Larghetto III. Allegretto
Nan Cai, Orchestral Reduction
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Appendix B: Program II (Solo Recital)
California State University, Northridge Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication Department of Music Presents
Tianhui Zhang, piano
In her Master of Music Solo Recital*
A Student of Dr.Tali Tadmor
Saturday, April 21th, 2018 4:30 P.M. Cypress Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Scarlatti sonata ...... Carl Tausig (1841 - 1871)
Pastorale
Capriccio
Sonata Op.10 No.3...... Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Presto
Largo e mesto
Menuetto
Rondo
- INTERMISSION -
Rondo in C minor, Op.1...... Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Papillons, Op.2...... Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Zapateado...... Joaquin Turina (1882 - 1949)
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