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Syllabus for Piano Literature I

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Syllabus for Piano Literature I Piano Literature I Instructor: Mathilde Handelsman Office RUE 242 [email protected] Textbook: History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players by Oscar Bie, Da Capo Press, New York, 1966. Piano Notes, by Charles Rosen Evaluation Participation 10% Listening journal 10% Short performances 10% Presentation 20% Midterm quiz, with listening section 25% Final exam (historical & listening quizzes, 2 essay questions) 25% Learning Outcomes 1. Gain a thorough sense of the development of the piano and works for piano in history, from its beginnings through Beethoven, and the progression of the sonata genre. 2. Recognize aurally a selection of representative works for each era and style. 3. Become familiar with styles as both a listener and performer. 4. Develop critical thinking on performance practice. Evidence of student learning Throughout the semester, students will perform a short piece in class (LO #3), in relation with the weekly topic (i.e. Frescobaldi, movements of Clementi sonatas, short pieces by Heller, Johann Christian Bach…), followed by a discussion on their choices regarding ornaments, phrasings, tempo, rubato, etc. Each student should perform at least once in front of their peers (memorization is not required; informal setting). They will be assigned weekly readings taken from their textbook (Oscar Bie) and Charles Rosen, and other musicological or literary excerpts, as well as weekly listenings. They will regularly update an online journal to reflect on their readings and listenings (LO# 2, 3 and 4). Regular quizzes interspersed in the semester will assess their historical knowledge (LO# 1). Midterm and final exams will contain several sections: a historical quiz, a listening quiz and two essay questions (LO #1, 2, 3 and 4). Half way through the semester, they will produce a 10 minute presentation comparing three interpretations of a Classical or Baroque keyboard work, on either modern piano or epoch instruments (LO #4). COURSE PLAN Week 1 Introduction to the course Overview of the piano’s ancestors: organ, harpsichord, clavichord, virginal —> English school: Thomas Tallis, John Dunstable, William Byrd, John Bull Elizabethan era Fitzwilliam Virginal Book Week 2 Italian school: Frescobaldi Continuing early keyboard works —> French school: Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Rameau, Couperin, Daquin In Italy, the “sonata” emerges as the new principal genre, as secular instrumental music takes over. Progressive decline of the organ and religious music; decline of the old harpsichord genres: toccata, fugue, suite. Not the same “sonata” as late 18th century. First appears under many forms. Week 3 —> Birth of the keyboard sonata by Johann Kuhnau, in Leipzig. Predecessor of Bach as cantor of St Thomas Church in Leipzig. Extensive collections of works for keyboard. Programmatic sonatas (each one depicts a scene from the Bible.) —> Scarlatti (1685-1757) sonatas: binary form (forma bipartita), only one movement. —> Handel (1685-1759) keyboard suites —> Bach (1685-1750) Toccatas, Partitas, Inventions & Sinfonias, Suites, Fantasias, Concertos Die Wohtemperiertes Klavier Goldberg Variations in G major BWV 488 Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor BWV 903 Week 4 Birth of the piano in 1709 in Italy, by inventor Bartolmeo Cristofori - Sammartini, Keyboard sonatas - Empfindsamer Stil Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach —> The sonata genre continues to develop. Becomes a multi-movement work. —> Works start being composed specifically for the piano, whereas before they could be for either harpsichord or piano. - The galant style Johann Christian Bach —> Keyboard concertos, influence on Mozart Dussek Read: Charles Rosen, chapter 7, “Styles and Manners” Week 5 the Classical era & Age of Enlightenment dialectic: two opposing passions —> this dialectic is symbolized in music by the sonata form Haydn (1732-1809) & Mozart (1756-1791) Haydn — created the transitions to development and recap in sonata form, gives more harmonic unity, every aspect of harmony contained in his themes Mozart — fluidity in creation of themes, dense network of motives Concertos Sonatas —> idiomatic sonata form Other pieces: Variations, Rondos, Fantasies, etc. For Mozart, sonatas are not the most important part of his oeuvre —rather, his writing for keyboard is at its best developed in the concertos. Emblematic pieces: Mozart, Sonatas in C major, K. 279, C minor K. 457 and Fantasia in C minor K 475 Concerto no. 23 in A major Week 6 Broadwood firm of pianos, originally from Switzerland Square pianos with pedals —> Broadwood patents the pedal system Socio-economic context of the piano, bourgeoisie, Hausmusik 1770s - Development of the fortepiano in England first 1780-90s Broadwood spreads all over Europe Clementi 110 sonatas, first real monumental work for fortepiano Predecessor of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas broadens register of the piano by adding a lower half-octave his sonatas use the lower register a lot they explore all the possibilities of the pianoforte registers have different timbres —> so in Clementi’s sonatas, there is also a reflection on the nature of timbre. well-known sonatas include: Op. 40 His sonatas cannot be performed on the harpsichord: pedal, range, etc. Real break with the past, as beforehand, most keyboard music could be played either by harpsichord or piano. Read: Charles Rosen, Chapter 2, “Listening to the Sound of the Piano” Charles Rosen, chapter 3, “The Instrument and Its Discontents” Week 7 Midterm Week 8 Sturm und Drang radical vision in prolongation of Enlightenment: mankind is not always balanced between these two passions, sometimes man can’t dominate himself. —> sonatas starting and finishing in a minor key. Listen: Mozart, C minor and A minor sonatas D minor string quartet (no major tonality appears in the development! minor keys pervade the entire movement), an example announcing Sturm und Drang. Sturm und Drang origins: starts in literature: group of poets in Göttingen, then Hanover. An interest in British literature (the genre of the “ballade”). Then, center in Strasbourg: Goethe and Herder. Germany seeks a cultural identity. References: Goethe, Werther, 1774 Schiller, Die Räuber, 1782 Schubert (1797-1828) Wanderer-Fantasy, 1816 Week 9 Presentations Week 10 Beethoven (1770-1827) 32 sonatas Innovations: Conception of the sonata as a whole, from the first to the last movement unlike for Mozart and Haydn, the piano sonata occupies one of the main places in Beethoven’s oeuvre, with sonatas foreshadowing many of his other works, such as string quartets and symphonies (the late sonatas, for instance, take us into the sonic world of the 9th symphony). The piano sonata becomes, with Beethoven, the large form of keyboard music. Other important works: Variations in F major, op. 34, Eroica Variations op. 35, Diabelli Variations op. 120. Bagatelles, op. 33, 119 and 126. His smaller pieces announce Romanticism. New virtuosity, thoughts on technique, the “Etude”: Czerny, Cramer Other composers: Stephen Heller, Hummel Week 11 Beethoven Sonatas: Early period, or “Youth” —> 1782 - 1801 Sonatas opp. 2 to 22 Emblematic works: Sonata no. 8 “Pathétique,” op. 13 Week 12 Beethoven: Romantic style 1802 - 1814 Heiligenstadt Testament, 1802 Sonatas opp. 26 to 90 Emblematic works: “Moonlight” op. 27 no. 2, “Tempest” op. 31 no. 2, “Waldstein” op. 53, “Appassionata” op. 57 Development of sonata form: - Some sonatas only in two movements: Opus 54, Opus 78, Opus 79, Opus 90. - New genre: “Sonata quasi una fantasia” (op. 27) - Inclusion of a funeral march in opus 26. Week 13 Late Beethoven 1815 - 1826 Sonatas opp. 101 to 111 Emblematic work: Hammerklavier, op. 106 - Explosion of form, transcends the genre of the sonata - Last movements contain fugues Week 14 Review Finals.
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