In a live recording from the Amerikahaus, Munich, Friedrich Gulda reveals the versatility of his keyboard playing. On the clavichord he plays three preludes and fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (in A minor BWV 889, in C major BWV 846, in A flat major BWV 886) on the piano; his own re-working of Schubert’s song Der Wanderer, ending with Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau and a selection of his own compositions.
Watch the recital here:
http://www.classicaltv.com/v530/friedrich-gulda-solo-flight

*** MUSICAL HOLIDAY GIFTS FROM PIANO STREET ***
Free sheet music for the pieces in the above video
(click images to open in new window):

Bach: Prelude & Fugue WTC II no 20

Bach: Prelude & Fugue WTC I no 1

Bach: Prelude & Fugue WTC II no 17

Schubert: Der Wanderer

Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau

Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) won first prize at the International Competition in Geneva in 1946. He began going on concert tours throughout the world.
Together with Jörg Demus and Paul Badura-Skoda, Gulda formed what became known as the “Viennese troika”.

Gulda had a strong dislike of authorities like the Vienna Academy, the Beethoven Ring of which he was offered in recognition of his performances but which he refused, and even faked his own death in 1999, cementing his status as the enfant terrible among pianists. Nevertheless, Gulda is widely
regarded as one of the most outstanding piano players of the 20th century.
His piano students included Martha Argerich and the conductor Claudio Abbado. He is also remembered as an accomplished jazz-pianist, musical thinker and avant-garde artist. Although most famous for his Beethoven
interpretations, Gulda also performed the music of J.S.Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and Ravel.

Wanderer Fantasy
Considered being his most technically demanding piano composition Schubert himself said “the devil may play it” about his Wanderer Fantasy, opus 15.
It was composed in 1822 and dedicated to Emanuel Karl Edler von Liebenberg, who was a student of Hummel.

Schubert’s Diabelli Variation
Schubert wrote one variation on the well known Waltz by Diabelli, which Beethoven based his 33 Diabelli Variations on.
Diabelli was known not only as a composer but also as a publisher. In 1819 he decided to publish a volume of variations made by several composers on a Waltz of his own.
Fifty composers responded with pieces for this publication. The idea was to make one each. However, Beethoven came with 33 and his were published in a volume of their own as 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli.

The above two works by Schubert and several other pieces have now been added to the Piano Street sheet music library, including two varation works and several smaller compositions.
See the complete list for this addition.

Wanderer Fantasy, opus 15
Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli
Variations on a Theme by Hüttenbrenner
Ten Variations, D. 156
Five Piano Pieces, D. 459
Three Piano Pieces, D. 946
Piano Piece in A Major
Allegretto, D. 915
Andante in C Major, D. 29

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EDIT 13 January 2008:
The audio files are no longer available
for free but will soon be added to the
Gold membership resources.

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We would like to wish you Happy Holidays with some of our new recordings for you to enjoy!

The seven new recordings below are freely available until 12 January 2009.

(The sheet music of the pieces are availabe for instant download within the Piano Street Gold membership by clicking the sheet music images.)

1. Johannes Brahms:

2. Johannes Brahms:

3. Franz Schubert:

4. Charles Mayer:

5. Matthew Camidge:

6. Samuel Maykapar

7. Anton Diabelli:

Opus 142 (D 935) by Franz Schubert are now available in PS Urtext edition.

This collection of four Impromptus starts and concludes with pieces in the same key (F-minor) which is one of the reasons for the speculations by Robert Schumann that parts of this opus was originally intended as a sonata (although refuted by some contemporary musicologists) but was instead published as separate pieces in order to increase the sales potential.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 142 No 1
A dramatic, recitativo-like introduction followed by the second theme hidden in a 16th notes texture set us in a mood for a quite large scale piece. The middle section is very peaceful featuring unique pianistic effects. The structure of the first Impromtu can be interpreted as a sonata form without a development section, supporting the view of the four Impromptus Opus 142 as movements of a single sonata.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 142 No 2

This well known minuet-like Impromptu has a main section consisting of a simple, well-balanced melody with chordal accompaniment. A D-flat major section featuring an arpeggiated texture forms the Trio (middle section in minuet form).
The opening bars of the melody are highly reminiscent of a similar theme, from the opening of Beethoven’s Sonata op 26.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 142 No 3

The charming third Impromptu is a theme with five variations. Shubert has used this theme twice before, in the incidental music composed for the play Rosamunde (Chézy, 1823) and in the slow movement of his A-minor String Quartet.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 142 No 4

The opus concludes with one of Schubert’s most brilliant and rhytmically vital works, a quick 3/8 tempo piece containg interesting hemiola effects, virtuosic passagework as well as surprising modulations which take the piece quite far from its main key of F minor.
The impressive coda influenced by Hungarian rhythms further heightens the drama in this already intense piece which is finished off by an astonishing six octaves descending scale through the entire tonal space.

The impromptus opus 90 and Moments Musicaux opus 94 by Franz Schubert are now available in PS Urtext editions.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 90 No 1
A march-like melody written in C minor although the tonal ambiguity at the start of the piece highlights the romantic composer’s need for abstract imagery through music. This is the longest impromptu in this set.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 90 No 2
This is one of Schubert’s most well-known piano pieces. It starts off as a gently flowing melody but is transformed into a piece of great passion. The beautiful hymn-like air in the middle section perfectly captures feelings of fear, anger and uncertainty and the minor-major contrasts when it is repeated is attempting to resolve the conflict.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 90 No 3
Though written in G-flat major, this Impromptu was first published in G major.
Why? Did they expect their customers to be scared off by all accidentals and consequently to sell more copies of this piece if it was in a key with less accidentals? Publisher might have had more influence on the output of our great composers of the past than what we believe…
The original version of this simplistic and complex, static and dynamic, beautiful and brutish “song-without-words” is now generally preferred.

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 90 No 4
Schubert’s use of cascading arpeggios throughout this piece has led it to be nicknamed the “waterfall” Impromptu.

Moments Musicaux