Lesson plans in Classical Period (Mozart, Haydn, etc.) performance practice?

[stubarr]

Hello all -

I teach intermediate/advanced piano at a private school. This fall I tried something new, which was having all of my students study (listen, analyze, play) Baroque keyboard music. Our playing was supplemented by study of historical and cultural movements that seemed to influence Baroque music. It was a great success -- I've never had a group of students who more uniformly "got" at least the rudiments of playing with a Baroque sensibility and style.

Next semester I want to do the same thing for the Classical Period (roughly 1750-1810). Do any of you have any resources you use to try to impart "Classical" technique and style to your students, beyond simply coaching them through a Mozart sonata? I'd like to be able to give them an overview and address how dynamics, tempi, phrasing, articulation, ornaments, pedaling, rubato, tone, etc. are most frequently approached when playing the keyboard music of this era. Do you know of any books or articles or recordings or repertoire collections that actively tackle these topics?

Many thanks!

[arungargstl]

The number one lesson I learned about the classical-era piano repertoire comes from a long pedagogical lineage tracing its roots to Beethoven (via Schnabel, Leschetizky, and Czerny). This is to think of these sonatas as operatic works. Mozart and Haydn's sonatas can often seem mundane in their notes, but lyricism is never ending in both composer's works.

Mozart, in particular, should be approached in this fashion. Most would agree that his best music are his symphonic and operatic masterpieces. If one treats the different voices and harmonic change as characters in a story, the music instantaneously comes to life. Thus, while studying at conservatory, I always forced myself to sit through operas, and lieder in order to understand Mozart's way of creating dialogue. And this is key to interpretation of his piano music. NO PEDAGOGICAL BOOKS NEEDED!

Obviously, stylistic customs must be observed: two-note slurs, quality/range of staccati and legati, phrasing between bars, breathing, use of pedal etc. But if the ultimate goal is to make the sonatas come to life by listening for characters, RESTS, balance, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY DIALOGUE, than these customs seem to fall into place, especially if the notes on a very basic level are memorized.

remember: DIALOGUE DIALOGUE DIALOGUE!!!

For great examples of Mozart's music: listen to concerti and sonate by Clara Haskil, Lili Kraus, Ingrid Haebler, Alicia de Larrocha, Maria Curcio, or Daniel Barenboim. All are unique, yet they all give interpretations that produce the sensation of a story with active characters developing the whole way.

Hope this helps!
AG

[j_menz]

Thus, while studying at conservatory, I always forced myself to sit through operas, and lieder

Forced?  I enjoyed every minute.

[outin]

Thanks arungargstl for that enlightening explanation, it finally dawned on me where my profound dislike for the classical era music comes from...my dislike for opera (and drama in general) explains it all. It would be purely a waste of time for me to even try to play such music.

[arungargstl]

Forced?  I enjoyed every minute.

If only I wasn't an ignorant ass back then ahha

[brogers70]

Arun, Yes, yes, yes. Thinking of classical period sonatas in terms of opera is very helpful. Personally, I don't like much opera after Monteverdi, but I know the common practice period composers were often obsessed with it. Even though Beethoven just wrote one, he was constantly looking for libretti, and dreaming of writing more. Opera was the big social, musical event to go to, and it dominated musical life far more then than it does now. So it's good to remember that all those folks writing classical sonatas always had opera tunes running through their heads, and I'm sure they did think of their themes as individual characters in a drama.