Mazurkas (Chopin) Over the years 1825–1849, Frédéric Chopin wrote at least 69 mazurkas, based on the traditional Polish dance (see mazurka): 58 have been published 45 during Chopin's lifetime, of which 41 have opus numbers13 posthumously, of which 8 have posthumous opus numbers11 further mazurkas are known whose MSS are either in private hands (2) or untraced (at least 9). The serial numbering of the 58 published mazurkas normally goes only up to 51. The remaining 7 are referred to by their key or catalogue number. His composition of these mazurkas signaled new ideas of nationalism, and influenced and inspired other composers—mostly eastern Europeans—to support their national music. Chopin based his mazurkas on the traditional Polish folk dance, also called the mazurka (or "mazur" in Polish). Chopin started composing his mazurkas in 1825, and continued composing them until 1849, the year of his death. After scholars created this myth, they furthered it through their own writings in different ways.
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann[1] (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. In 1840, against the wishes of her father, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara, following a long and acrimonious legal battle, which found in favor of Clara and Robert. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating with phases of ‘exaltation’ and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. Biography[edit] Early life[edit] Music room of Schumann 1830–34[edit] [edit]
Frédéric Chopin Photograph of Chopin by Bisson, c. 1849 Frédéric François Chopin (/ˈʃoʊpæn/; French pronunciation: [fʁe.de.ʁik ʃɔ.pɛ̃]; 22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,[n 1] was a Romantic-era Polish composer. A child prodigy, Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw. He grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815 became part of Congress Poland, and there completed his musical education and composed many of his works before leaving Poland, aged 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising. Both in his native Poland and beyond, Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest 'superstars', his association (if only indirect) with political insurrection, his amours and his early death have made him, in the public consciousness, a leading symbol of the Romantic era. Life[edit] Childhood[edit] Chopin's Polish residences Warsaw building where Chopin's family lived in 1817–27,[n 2] embellished with bas-relief of his profile
Ballades (Chopin) Chopin, 1835 Frédéric Chopin's four ballades are one-movement pieces for solo piano, composed between 1831 and 1842. They are some of the most challenging pieces in the standard piano repertoire.[1][2] The term "ballade" was associated with an old French verse-form used for grand and rhetorical subjects, but may also have connotations of the Medieval heroic ballad, which was sung and danced. There are dramatic and dance-like elements in Chopin's use of the genre, and he may be said to be a pioneer of the ballade as an abstract musical form. The four ballades are said to have been inspired by poet Adam Mickiewicz.[1][3] The exact inspiration for each individual ballade, however, is unclear and disputed. The four ballades are among the most enduring of Chopin's compositions and are frequently heard in concerts.[4] They have been recorded many times. Main theme of Ballade No. 1 Opening bars of Ballade No. 2 Opening bars of Ballade No. 3 The second theme sounds like a donkey's pace.
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (German: [joˈhanəs ˈbʁaːms]; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs". Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. Life[edit] Early years[edit] Photograph from 1891 of the building in Hamburg where Brahms was born. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training. Meeting Joachim and Liszt[edit] Brahms in 1853 Brahms and the Schumanns[edit] Brahms and Clara Schumann had a very close and lifelong but unusual relationship. Later years[edit]
Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works.[1] He spent most of his working career outside of the United States. Life and career[edit] Gottschalk was born in New Orleans to a Jewish businessman from London and a Creole mother. Only two years later, at the age of 13, Gottschalk left the United States and sailed to Europe, as he and his father realized a classical training was required to fulfil his musical ambitions. In May 1865, he was mentioned in a San Francisco newspaper as having "travelled 95,000 miles by rail and given 1,000 concerts". Gottschalk chose to travel to South America, where he continued to give frequent concerts. Works[edit] Louis Moreau Gottschalk pictured on an 1864 Publication of The Dying Poet for piano Recordings[edit] In popular culture[edit] Author Howard Breslin wrote a historical novel about Gottschalk titled Concert Grand in 1963.[7] Notes[edit]
Transcendental Etudes History[edit] The Transcendental Études S. 139 are revisions of his Douze Grandes Études. This third and final version was published in 1852 and dedicated to Carl Czerny, Liszt's piano teacher, and himself a prolific composer of études. When revising the 1837 set of études, Liszt added programmatic titles in French and German to all but the Études Nos. 2 and 10. Other works with a similar title[edit] Sergei Lyapunov, 12 Études d'exécution transcendante, Op. 11 (1897–1905)Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Études transcendantes (100) (1940–44)Brian Ferneyhough, Etudes Transcendantales (1982–85) References[edit] External links[edit]
Felix Mendelssohn Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778–1862), 1839 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (German: [ˈjaːkɔp ˈluːtvɪç ˈfeːlɪks ˈmɛndl̩szoːn baʁˈtɔldi]; 3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn,[n 1] was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, although initially he was raised without religion and was later baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent. Early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, was followed by travel throughout Europe. Life[edit] Childhood[edit] Felix's surname[edit] Career[edit] Musical education[edit] Early maturity[edit] Meeting Goethe and conducting Bach[edit] Düsseldorf[edit]