Study about expressions of music

[andru]

Hi,

During the next year I must do a longer work for school. I've decided to do it in classical music (what else?).

My music teacher made me the proposition to write about "what a specific composer wants to express with a specific piece and how he tries to express it" (you know, things like the ocean etude or the butterfly etude from chopin).

It's a pity I don't already have too much experience in these things, I now don't know which componist to choose and which pieces.

But maybe you have a few ideas about which pieces would be great for such a study (not too difficult), or which componist is very famous because of his ability to express things in his works.

Oh yes, important: Do you know any litterature about the pieces you would propose, because the historical background, actual feeling of the composer at the point of composing it,...   are very important to the success of my work.

Thanks very much


Greez, Andru

[donjuan]

well....you could talk about Rachmaninoff's hypnosis and his second piano concerto, or Liszt's Dante sonata and how it reflects Dante's "Divine Comedy" (all the stages of purgatory, etc..) or how Liszt's Legendes relate to the specific passages in the bible about Francis of Paola walking on the waters, or the sermon to the birds...

If I were lucky to have such a fun assignment, I would most definately talk about Liszt because many of his works revolve around texts and stories.

donjuan

[galonia]

I would pick Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, because Berlioz had a very interesting life, and this symphony has a specific story to it, which reflected things in his life.  Plus the music is amazing.

[donjuan]

I would pick Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, because Berlioz had a very interesting life, and this symphony has a specific story to it, which reflected things in his life.  Plus the music is amazing.

YES!!! thats a great one!  Read up on the story of himself and Harriet Smithson.  It truely is a masterpiece with great representation for the story behind it.

[andru]

oh yes, I forgot to add something:

After analyzing the whole piece, I'll compose one on my own, trying to do it in the way the composer did, so maybe it's not of a big advantage if it's the music of a comedy.

I'm more looking for pieces that express a specific theme, like "four seasons", "Wanderer Fantasie", "Ocean Etude", but for piano solo, because my work is limited to 18 pages.

The score I'll choose should be 8-14 Pages long and not too difficult (I'll have to present my own work  )

Would be nice if you know pieces similar to those...

Greez, Andru

[faulty_damper]

You mean "express" as in perhaps a theme the composer was thinking of writing on like Beethoven's "Hunt" sonata or "Tempest"?  Of course he didn't formally name these sonatas and were either given these nicknames by the editors or by music critics.

Many composers wrote with a human-related theme in mind whether it be a poem, a story, an epic story, a novel, a human activity, etc.

Liszt's Liebestraum No.3, works on the theme of death and the devil (totentanz et al)
Schubert's many song cycles
Schumann's many song cycles
Beethoven's piano sonatas (Pathetique, "Tempest", "Appassionata", "Hunt", "Cuckoo", "Pastorale", Lebowohl...)
Alkan's The Knight, The Railway, Op33 Grand sonata, Op 63 Esquisses (many simple but musically beautiful pieces in the 48 piece set each with an interesting title and often less than 1 minutes in length.)
Bach's many cantatas
Couperin's Le Tic Tock Choc
Grieg's lyric pieces