# Masterpieces of the 19th-Century (Solo) Piano: One by One



## Alypius

Almost every morning, I begin by listening to solo piano works, sometimes just a single composition, sometimes a full album's worth. For the last couple of weeks I have begun each day with works from the great 19th-century composer-pianists: Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms. And so my question:

_What are, for you, your favorite 19th-century piano compositions?_

But with one proviso, please: 
*Not more than one composition per post.*

Please post some comments about it -- brief ones, long ones, no matter. 
For example: 
*What do you personally enjoy about it? 
*What is a favorite performance of it?
*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?

NOTE: Why only one composition per post? I guess that I want to slow things down. I would like to savor each work. I plan to listen, as much as possible, to what people recommend. I generally don't find dashed-off lists very helpful. Sometimes I find it more helpful if people advocate for just a few things and explain a bit why. As for my own favorites, I'll post some of my own today and in the coming days.


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## Alypius

Today's listening:

Schubert: _Piano Sonata #14 in A minor, D.784, op. posth. 143_ (1823)

Recommended performance:










When people think of Schubert's great piano works, they think of his final ones: #19, 20, and 21 (D958-960). My discovery of this one -- or rather, my discovery of how much I enjoy this one -- has come from Paul Lewis' new performance. I had listened to this, but somehow had missed its urgency. Given its date, it postdates Beethoven's final three (which are among my favorite piano works). Schubert and Beethoven inhabit something of the same sound-world harmonically, though the generation differences are significant. Yet there are all sorts of hard-to-pin-down differences. I'm not very good are articulating the difference between the way Schubert writes for the piano compared with the way that Beethoven does. A quick caricature: Schubert's genius is with the melodies (often multiple within a movement); Beethoven's genius is what he does with his. Beethoven never seems to run out of ideas how to vary things. Schubert never seems to run out of new singing melodies. That, I grant, is a caricature.

Schubert opens the 1st movement with a powerful melodic strand -- and it is repeated again and again with only modest variation throughout the movement. It is an expression of deep yearning, even anguish. The liner notes by Roman Hinke in this Harmonia mundi edition say:



> "The principal theme of the first movement, as it makes its entrance, seems a meagre rough sketch, harmonically puzzling and counterpointed by a lyrical second theme in the dominant that, like a mere vision of an idyll, a mirage, remains without consequence in formal terms. Energetic intensifications and sharp dynamic contrasts bring this movement close to Beethoven and creat an omninous mood that also irradiates the following Andante."


True, perhaps, but there is a searching and quite beautiful lyricism, even tenderness, that punctuates and indeed holds the first movement together. The liner notes read all this as autobiographical -- as telling us something about Schubert's personal life. Perhaps that is the appropriate for Schubert. But I'm a bit skeptical. Schubert is such a dramatist, such a poet. He can enter into the mood and characters of the song-lyrics he uses. So the mood of piece may or may not tell us about Schubert's emotional biography. He's an artist, and his creations may just as well be telling us about the characters / themes he wants to sing about -- and so at best may express his own life in only an oblique way. In any case, the 2nd movement (an Andante) opens with one of those singing long-lined melodies. I get the sense that Schubert thought first in sung melodies where Beethoven thought first in purely instrumental terms. That said, at the 1:30 mark of the 2nd movement, pianistic variations come in that no singer could manage. There is in this work -- as in so many of Schubert's -- a wonderful unpredictability. It has sudden turns of mood and melody that come un-anticipated and yet in the big picture have a rightness to them.


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## Vaneyes

The 19th century is the greatest creative period for piano. Some on another thread stated that it's not the instrument that's important, it's the performer. I disagree with the bigger picture in mind.

Dare I say, were it not for the 19th C. advances in piano design and manufacturing, many of these works would not have been composed. Enthusiasm for modern piano was equally embraced by composer, pianist, and listener.

That all said, I applaud the enthusiasm for this thread...in its desire in some ways to reconstruct the feelings felt over 100 years ago. Many useful things can be revealed in a more leisurely process.

A process that will appreciate, even worship, the solo piano writings of LvB, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, Albeniz, Granados, and others.

I'll kick off my contribution with *LvB Piano Sonata 8 "Pathetique"*. Though it was written in 1798, and published in 1799, I think it bears the Early Romantic mood of the 19th C. I love its pathos, joy, and everything in between. Again, the enthusiasm for a new day a new way is pronounced.

My favorite recs. of are Gulda, Pollini, Gould, Gilels, Gelber. For the most part, the "G's" have it.:tiphat:


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## GGluek

If there could only be one composition by Liszt, I would it be the b-minor Sonata. Why? I'm not sure I could explain, but for me it represents a singular fusing of bravura writing/playing with intellectual substance -- which is important to me most times.


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## Xaltotun

I'll go with Liszt's _Harmonies Poetiques et Religueses_. I'm not even very familiar with solo piano repertoire, although I did play 8 or 9 years piano as a child... but this series of pieces is, simply put, quite wonderfully poetic and religious. When it's dense, it excites and enraptures, when it's spacious it gives the mind free reign to wander and wonder. While not being rigorous, it sprawls not in chaos but in refined style. My favourite bloody chunk of the lot is _Benediction..._, but I see the series as a single composition.

I have listened to rather many recordings of this, and Pascal Amoyel's is my favourite, although Arrau's _Benediction..._ is unbeatable.


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## shangoyal

Nice idea for a thread.

I would go with Chopin - his *Ballade No 4 in F minor*. I like almost all his music but this is a long piece, sort of mysterious. I also like how his piece have a very "salon-like" character despite their depth. There seems to be an imaginary audience of intimate friends in the composer's vision, and the music sounds "shy" and "self-conscious" - therefore it swings from being calm to being hysterical very quickly. It's this alternation of stasis and cataclysm that makes this music Romantic IMO - there seems to be a very immediate connection to some deep or eternal knowledge. It's like a storm coming into your living room.

I like Vladimir Ashkenazy's rendition of this piece very much.


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## Cosmos

I'll pick Liszt's Sonata in B minor

*What do you personally enjoy about it? 
I like the dismantling of conventional sonata form for a four-movements-in-one, with the entire work being also in sonata form, making a great example of double function. It's also in cyclic form, which is one of my favorite forms because I get to follow the metamorphosis of the themes. It also has a beautiful ending that is more sincere, rather than Liszt's usual grandiose and loud finales.

*What is a favorite performance of it?
Instead of the big named ones, I'll nominate Zeynep Ucbasaran's interpretation for her articulate phrasing

*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
I am not, and will probably never reach the level to tackle this monster

*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?
For me, it was one of the first pieces that gave me a sense of "epic" in music, i.e. a dramatic structure, though it is absolute. I heart it before I fully got into Beethoven, so I didn't know of conflict within music


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## joen_cph

For works up to 1900, some of the shimmering *early Scriabin* can be included ... here´s an unusual, interesting, and to my ears fresh, enigmatic and nuanced - recording by Pogorelich of the _Sonata 2_ (1893-98):


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## hpowders

My favorite 19th century piano piece is is Brahms Variations and Fugue on A Theme by Handel.

Julius Katchen and Rudolph Serkin are both very fine.


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## hpowders

My second favorite 19th century piano piece is Schumann's Symphonic Etudes, especially as performed by Claudio Arrau.


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## GreenMamba

Beethoven's *Waldstein* sonata is probably my favorite.

The first movement is quintessential Beethoven for me, more about rhythm and drive than sweeping melodies. He gets so much out of seemingly innocuous themes. The slow movement is an intro for the finale, building up the tension. The beginning of the last movement (with no break before it) is Beethoven at his best. I just love how gracefully the opening theme sounds as it emerges. The last movement is a Rondo.

The piece doesn't sound show-offy to me, as a lot of Romantic era piano works do.

The performance I own is by John O'Connor. I've heard others, but I'm not a big performance comparison guy. I suspect if I owned Arrau's, for example, I might think that was the best.


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## Headphone Hermit

Beethoven? Liszt? 

Ha-ha! Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) performed by Michel Dalberto

I know that it isn't very trendy to like Liszt's transcriptions, but this was one of the main ways that Beethoven's symphonies (and some other works, including Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique) were diseminated throughout northern Europe in the years before recorded music. Liszt's transcriptions are genuine works in their own right and I often listen to one as a real alternative to the full symphony because they get you to listen to (and hear) a really familiar work in a different way ... and thus I hear new things when I do this


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## EdwardBast

Alypius said:


> Today's listening:
> 
> Schubert: _Piano Sonata #14 in A minor, D.784, op. posth. 143_ (1823)


I have always liked this one as well. The first movement and parts of the finale strike me as almost orchestral in conception - or at least these parts set me to thinking about how one would orchestrate it if one was going to. This is not a normal reaction for me listening to piano music.

The B theme of the finale is the clearest and loveliest writing I know of in the so-called harmonic major mode (major with flatted 6th degree).

As a teen I got a recording of this by Ashkenazy with a great sonata in A major on the other side. Loved them both.


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## Whistler Fred

Tough to narrow it down, but I'll cheat a bit by naming Liszt's "Années de pèlerinage." Three sizeable volumes of very beautiful piano music that can go from storming the heavens (the "Dante" Sonata) to gentle poetic musings (Pastorale from "First Year: Switzerland"). I'm most familiar with Aldo Ciccolini wonderful performance, but if anyone has a recommended alternative version I'll be happy to check it out.


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## KenOC

Headphone Hermit said:


> Beethoven? Liszt?
> 
> Ha-ha! Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) performed by Michel Dalberto
> 
> I know that it isn't very trendy to like Liszt's transcriptions, but this was one of the main ways that Beethoven's symphonies (and some other works, including Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique) were diseminated throughout northern Europe in the years before recorded music. Liszt's transcriptions are genuine works in their own right and I often listen to one as a real alternative to the full symphony because they get you to listen to (and hear) a really familiar work in a different way ... and thus I hear new things when I do this


Ditto here. I've enjoyed the Katsaris set of the Liszt transcriptions for some years.


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## Alypius

Great! What's come up thus far are works I, for one, will be listening to in the coming days (and there's one work I need to purchase--Liszt's Harmonies--which is not in my collection; and I don't know his Transcriptions). Here's a chronological listing of what people have talked about thus far (let me know if I've missed any):

Beethoven: Piano Sonata #8 in C minor (“Pathétique”) (1798) – Gulda, Gould, Gillels, Gelber, Pollini
Beethoven: Piano Sonata #21 in C (“Waldstein”) (1803-1804) – O’Connor
Schubert: Piano Sonata #14 in A minor, D.784, op. posth. 143 (1823) – Lewis, Ashkenazy
Schumann, Études symphoniques, op. 13 (1833-1838) – Arrau
Liszt: Transcription of Beethoven's Symphony 6 (1838) - Dalberto, Katsaris
Liszt: Années de pèlerinage (esp. “Dante” Sonata) (1835-1842) - Ciccolini
Chopin: Ballade #4 in F minor, op. 52 (1842) – Ashkenazy
Liszt: Harmonies poetiques et religieuses (S 173) (1847) - Amoyel
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor (S 178) (1853) – Ucbasaran, Hamelin
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, op. 24 (1861) – Katchen, R. Serkin
Scriabin: Piano Sonata #2 (“Sonata-Fantasy”) in G# minor, op. 19 (1897) – Pogorelich


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## DavidA

Schubert's last sonata no 21

So sublime. Have many recordings. Kovacevich is simply wonderful! But then so are Lupu, Kempff, Etc..


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## Alypius

Today's morning listening:

There were several recommendations of 
Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor (S. 178) (1852-1853).

My favorite performance is a recent one by Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion, 2011)










Here's a commentary on the work by Ted Libbey ("NPR Classical 50," NPR, Oct. 13, 2009):

"In this vast, single-movement composition, Franz Liszt achieved a synthesis of symphonic and sonata forms that has never been surpassed for its cogency, scope and imagination. He managed this in a work that demands the utmost from the performer in musical as well as technical terms, a work that in the best of accounts can spark a powerful emotional experience in the listener.

It is sometimes difficult to see the forest for the trees in this piece. The writing is so virtuosic that the long-range relationship of motives and harmonic regions to an overall plan tends to be indistinguishable. But the plan is there, and it is superbly well executed.

On one level, the work is a single-movement sonata lasting half an hour, with an exposition in three broad key areas: a development, a recapitulation and a coda. But it can also be perceived as a four-movement symphonic structure, with the standard features of an opening allegro, an andante, a scherzo (in the form of a fugue) and a finale. To make both of these schemes work, Liszt relies on the technique of thematic transformation upon which so much of his music is based, developing the work's entire thematic material from a constellation of cells presented in the opening measures. In the foreground at any given time, there is great diversity of texture and character - enough for a true multi-movement work - but in the background, there is tremendous unity."


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## Alypius

This morning's listening:

Brahms: Klavierstücke, op. 119 (1892)










In a letter to Clara Schumann in 1893, Brahms wrote the following about the first of his four (final) "Piano Works":



> I am tempted to copy out a small piano piece for you, because I would like to know how you agree with it. It is teeming with dissonances! These may [well] be correct and [can] be explained-but maybe they won't please your palate, and now I wished, they would be less correct, but more appetizing and agreeable to your taste. The little piece is exceptionally melancholic and 'to be played very slowly' is not an understatement. Every bar and every note must sound like a ritard[ando], as if one wanted to suck melancholy out of each and every one, lustily and with pleasure out of these very dissonances! Good Lord, this description will [surely] awaken your desire!


When Clara received the manuscript, she enthusiastically asked for others as well. The first three of the four are marked as "intermezzos," while the fourth is described as a "rhapsody." In a letter to Brahms, musicologist Philipp Spitta remarked after his encounter with them:



> They are ideal for slowly imbibing in silence and isolation, not only to think about afterwards but also to think about in advance... 'Intermezzos' have preconditions and consequences, which every performer and listener must take into account in the present case.


These four gems are among Brahms' finest solo piano works, an autumnal bloom. Brahms and the piano had found a startling communion in his late years. No less striking are his previous three piano clusterings: the Seven Fantasias of op. 116, the Three Intermezzos of op. 117 and the mix of Intermezzos with a Ballade and Romance of op. 118.

I was slow to discover the solo piano works of Brahms. While I long enjoyed his four Symphonies, most of my attention in recent years was taken up in exploring his wide array of chamber works: the Piano Trios, the Piano Quartets, the Piano Quintet, the String Quartets, the String Quintets, the String Sextets, etc. Only about 3 years ago did I explore the breadth of his piano oeuvre. Given his late piano renaissance, it's a shame he didn't continue on in the medium. He found for himself an original and fresh voice in these late brief gems.


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## Blancrocher

I'll mention Franck's "Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue," composed in 1884. It's one of those wonderful and unexpected works that doesn't fit in well with its time, and certainly can't be identified with a school: a decided once-off (though critics--starting with the composer's wife!--have found it too conservative and backward-looking). It concludes with a terrific fugue, in which appears material from the earlier movements. My favorite part, though, is the impossible-to-play chorale that many professionals nevertheless manage to pull off. I like the humming, haunting bass-notes throughout. The whole thing is dark and Bachian--but ultimately all Franck!

Stephen Hough, who is a superb performer of the piece, has a lovely discussion:

http://www.stephenhough.com/writings/album-notes/franck-piano-music.php

My desert-island performance is by Moravec.


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## Alypius

Whistler Fred said:


> Tough to narrow it down, but I'll cheat a bit by naming Liszt's "Années de pèlerinage." Three sizeable volumes of very beautiful piano music that can go from storming the heavens (the "Dante" Sonata) to gentle poetic musings (Pastorale from "First Year: Switzerland"). I'm most familiar with Aldo Ciccolini wonderful performance, but if anyone has a recommended alternative version I'll be happy to check it out.


One of those (many) gaps in my collection is Liszt's _Année de pelerinage_. This may be a good moment to address it. Fred said he was unsure about his choice. As I have been reading around, one of the finest reviewed is a recent one.

Bertrand Chamayou, _Liszt: Année de pelerinage_ (Naive, 2011)










Review:



> In November 2011 I heard Bertrand Chamayou for the first time during the Lucerne Piano Festival, where his recital in the Lukaskirche featured an ample selection from Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage. I was frankly bowled over by the young French pianist's staggering technique, commanding artistry, wide color palette, and controlled concentration. These qualities consistently inform his Naïve recording of the complete cycle, which may well become a version of reference alongside Muza Rubackyté's out-of-print Lyrinx edition....He dispatches the octaves in Orage, the Dante Sonata, and Vallée d'Obermann with zero effort, volatile sweep, and shapely musicality... If his repeated notes in the Tarantella do not quite match Marc-André Hamelin's near-inhuman speed and evenness, Chamayou's intelligent dynamic scaling and shimmering translucence positively ravish in Les jeux d'eau de la Villa d'Este. Naïve's superb, realistic engineering makes me forgive the rather pretentious booklet annotations. An outstanding release in every way."-Jed Distler, ClassicsToday (10 of 10 Artistic Quality & Sound Quality)


One alternative seems to be Daniel Grimwood, who plays these on a period instrument. This too has received radiant reviews.










Has anyone heard either? Own either?


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## Whistler Fred

Alypius said:


> One of those (many) gaps in my collection is Liszt's _Année de pelerinage_. This may be a good moment to address it. Fred said he was unsure about his choice. As I have been reading around, one of the finest reviewed is a recent one.
> 
> Bertrand Chamayou, _Liszt: Année de pelerinage_ (Naive, 2011)
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> Review:
> 
> One alternative seems to be Daniel Grimwood, who plays these on a period instrument. This too has received radiant reviews.
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> Has anyone heard either? Own either?


Actually, I very much like Ciccolini's performance and would not hesitate to recommend it. But I like to hear different artists' take on favorite pieces. I just got the Chamayou recording and am familiarizing myself with it, and so far I'm impressed! Grimwood on a period instrument? Hmmm...


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## EdwardBast

Here is one I have always found magical, Schumann's, "Vogel als Prophet" ("The Prophet Bird"), from _Waldszenen_:


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## Alypius

Edward, Thanks for the recommendation. While I have a decent percentage of Schumann's solo piano works, I don't have _Waldszenen_ -- which is one reason I have my eye on one extremely well-reviewed new release of it by Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion, 2014). It's high on my wishlist.

Here's a description of the opus (and especially the piece you cited) from the editors of ArkivMusic:



> Schumann's Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82 (1848-49) consists of nine short pieces similar in style and spirit to the composer's Kinderszenen (1838). "Eintritt" (Entrance) features unusual, asymmetrical phrasing. "Jäger auf der Lauer" (Hunter in Ambush) is an exciting, technically challenging piece in the cast of a typical nineteenth century hunting song. The difficulties of "Einsame Blumen" (Solitary Flowers) lie in maintaing balance between the two distinct voices in the right hand; otherwise, it is simple and melodic. "Verrufene Stelle" (Haunted Spot) evokes an air of eerie mystery with passages in slow dotted rhythms, while the fast, tricky triplets of "Freundliche Landschaft" (Friendly Landscape) create a surprisingly poetic effect. "Herbege" (At the Inn) presents a variety of material that requires great sensitivity to balance.
> 
> The best-known and most striking piece of the set is "Vogel als Prophet" (The Prophet Bird); its cross-relations, incomplete melodies, and extreme delicacy of texture create a weirdly beautiful atmosphere. "Jagdlied" (Hunting Song) is the second of the Waldszenen in this style and the example more typical of the genre. Rapidly repeated triplet chords both lend the piece rhythmic drive and pose a substantial technical challenge. The concluding "Abschied" (Farewell) is a touching song without words. Waldszen may rightly be regarded as Schumann's last really fine keyboard work.


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## Swiss Cheese

Greetings (first post here)

I second the praises for the Scriabin and Franck, and would add:

SIGISMUND THALBERG: Opus 50 "Fantasia sulla Lucrezia Borgia"

Undoubtedly a very demanding piece, from a technical standpoint, but that can't take away from its greatness. Although Thalberg was firstly known for his virtuosity as a player - as opposed to his his massive output as a composer - his music was praised by the Liepzig camp of the War Of The Romantics. This, plus on ongoing rivalry with Liszt, almost doomed his legacy when the Weimar followers gained in popularity. Thankfully, his reputation and catalog mostly survived the mud-slinging. 

The piece only starts off rather unassuming (to my ears), but by the 4 minute mark in this clip begins to reveal some real aplomb:


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## Alypius

This morning's listening:

Schumann: Fantasie C-dür, op. 17

While there are many fine performances, I especially enjoy that of Leif Ove Andsnes (EMI, 1997)










Schumann was, for me, something of an acquired taste. His style is compositionally, very different from what precedes him, nothing like Haydn or Mozart or Beethoven, nor Schubert. There's an unusual, almost improvisational feel to his works, unusual starts-and-stops and quicksilver shifts of mood, not to mention, unexpected humor or sudden dark moods. One could argue that for his predecessors, architecture took precedence; for Schumann, the emotional (whether serious or whimsy) trumps -- or at least stands more strongly in the foreground. I once read in a blog the following comments from a pianist about the challenges of playing another of Schumann's masterpieces _Kreisleriana_. I find it eloquent. Let me quote it here:

"Schumann's fantastic imagination coupled with his multiple personalities, his depression, and the sometimes biographical nature of some of his works gives pianists an excuse to indulge in playing that likely bears little resemblance to performance practice during Schumann's own lifetime .. Any composer can be played in a willfully self-indulgent manner ... and Schumann's music is particularly tempting given his biography and his music's eccentricities. This is what makes Schumann so difficult: how does one make sense of the fantastic and how much 'sense' ruins the fantastic? There are ecstasy, contemplation, fire, deep melancholy, wild laughter, panic, Baroque counterpoint, waltzing, conversations between literary characters including a vainglorious tomcat whose paws are covered in ink, horror ... all in the space of a mere ~25 minutes of _Kreisleriana_. Some of this occurs within a mere few moments. It's difficult. In fact, it's the most difficult piano music ever written. And I haven't even mentioned technique."


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## Alypius

Today's listening:

Debussy: Ballade (slave) pour le piano (1890, revised 1903).

Performance: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, _Debussy: Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 2_ (Chandos, 2007)










Debussy's piano oeuvre is full of these marvelous free-standing gems. Debussy originally gave the work the title "Slavic Ballad" even though there was nothing slavic about the melody. According to Roger Nichols, it was simply a ploy to appear exotic (and thus appealing to a French clientele impressed with exoticisms). Debussy may sound lushly "tonal" to our ears, but here as elsewhere he breaks all manner of textbook rules. The opening has a series of triads that violates then established rules; there are chromatic modulations; and a modal recasting of the main theme in the middle section. That said, this epitomizes Debussy's lush, beautiful melodicism and is a microcosm of Debussy's superb gift for sound-painting.


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## Alypius

Today's listening:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata #15 in D major ("Pastorale"), op. 28 (1801)

















Listening to Debussy the other day comes from the very end of the century, today's listening from the very beginning. The nickname "Pastorale" comes not from Beethoven, but rather Beethoven's publisher, Cranz.

Here's a link to Andras Schiff's 2006 lecture on the work (from the _Guardian)_. He discusses the work in detail (it's 26 minutes), demonstrating the structure and themes and development. Much recommended:
http://audio.theguardian.tv/sys-audio/Arts/Culture/2006/11/22/04_15DMaj.mp3

Here, by the way, are links to the score:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No.15,_Op.28_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)


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## TurnaboutVox

Gabriel Fauré
Nocturne No 6 in D♭ major, Op 63 (1894)










I'd like to suggest you try a favourite 19th century piano work of mine. I find Fauré's best piano works subtle and elusive but very evocative. Of course, the Nocturnes 1-7 and the barcarolles 1-6 are all 19th century works, so if you like this, you could try all of them!


> The sixth nocturne, dedicated to Eugène d'Eichthal, is widely held to be one of the finest of the series. Cortot said, "There are few pages in all music comparable to these." The pianist and writer Nancy Bricard calls it "one of the most passionate and moving works in piano literature."
> 
> Fauré wrote it after a six-year break from composing for the piano. The piece begins with an emotional, outpouring phrase, with echoes of Fauré's song cycle La bonne chanson. The second theme, at first seemingly tranquil, has what the composer Charles Koechlin calls a persistent inquietude, emphasised by the syncopated accompaniment. The initial theme returns, and is followed by a substantial development of a gentle, contemplative melody. A recapitulation of the principal theme takes the piece to its conclusion. Copland wrote that it was with this work that Fauré first fully emerged from the shadow of Chopin, and he said of the piece, "The breath and dignity of the opening melody, the restless C sharp minor section which follows (with the peculiar syncopated harmonies so often and so well used by Fauré), the graceful fluidity of the third idea: all these elements are brought to a stormy climax in the short development section; then, after a pause, comes the return of the consoling first page."


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## Alypius

TurnaboutVox said:


> Gabriel Fauré
> Nocturne No 6 in D♭ major, Op 63 (1894)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'd like to suggest you try a favourite 19th century piano work of mine. I find Fauré's best piano works subtle and elusive but very evocative. Of course, the Nocturnes 1-7 and the barcarolles 1-6 are all 19th century works, so if you like this, you could try all of them!


Turnabout, Thanks. Yes, tomorrow morning, it will be Fauré, one of my favorite composers. I'll listen to Nocturnes #1-7 and post on this thread and then Wednesday do #8-13 and post on the 20th-century thread.


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## GioCar

As nobody has mentioned Charles-Valentin Alkan, I'll do.

One of the most underrated (and "underplayed") piano composers of the 19th Century.
His works are among the most difficult ever written, and perhaps this is the main reason why he almost disappeared from the repertoire until recently, when some brave pianists brought him back for our joy and pleasure.

Marc-André Hamelin is one of these, and I'd recommend to listen to:










*Concerto for solo piano (1857)*, from his Op. 39 (Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs)
Almost one hour of of amazing and superbly played piano music, which deserves to be better known.


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## PetrB

Hoping not all the 'masterpieces' need be 'the big / bigger' pieces.

Grieg ~ Holberg Suite. (the original of what Grieg orchestrated for string orchestra with some re-writing to better it as a work for that ensemble.) I much prefer the piece as a piano piece. Maria Grinberg here (amazing pianism.)


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## PetrB

GioCar said:


> Charles-Valentin Alkan
> His works are among the most difficult ever written, and perhaps this is the main reason why he disappeared from the repertoire until recently, when some brave pianists brought him back for our joy and pleasure.
> 
> Marc-André Hamelin is one of these, and I'd recommend to listen to:


Is this wild misconception that Marc-André Hamelin has near single-handed rescued Alkan, Sorabji, Godowsky, etc. from a brutally unfair near or total obscurity a part and parcel of the PR around and about this pianist? Is that is what is on the liner notes of his concerts and recordings?  Or is it simply due to public ignorance that Hamelin is the third or fourth generation pianist to champion these pieces and tout them in concert?


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## GioCar

PetrB said:


> Is this wild misconception that Marc-André Hamelin has near single-handed rescued Alkan, Sorabji, Godowsky, etc. from a brutally unfair near or total obscurity a part and parcel of the PR around and about this pianist? Is that is what is on the liner notes of his concerts and recordings?  Or is it simply due to public ignorance that Hamelin is the third or fourth generation pianist to champion these pieces and tout them in concert?


Well, okay, I have just added "almost" before "disappeared" in my previous post.
Anyway I didn't say that...Hamelin is just one (and possibly now the most well-known) of those pianists.

Here the full discography of the Concerto for solo piano:
http://www.cnk.dk/Alkan Concerto pour piano seul discography.htm


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## Chordalrock

Brahms - Rhapsody in G minor (Gould)

When I first listened to this composition I don't recall particularly liking it, but as I kept listening to Gould playing it or parts of it again and again in a home recording of Gould practising the piece, I became addicted to it.


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## Headphone Hermit

GioCar said:


> Well, okay, I have just added "almost" before "disappeared" in my previous post.
> Anyway I didn't say that...Hamelin is just one (and possibly now the most well-known) of those pianists.
> 
> Here the full discography of the Concerto for solo piano:
> http://www.cnk.dk/Alkan Concerto pour piano seul discography.htm


I have Ronald Smith's version. I cannot compare it with Hamelin as I haven't heard it, but I did very much enjoy Smith's playing (and a whole heap of his other recordings of Alkan) and I agree very much that there is some wonderful music here.

I like the link - interesting to see the dates of recordings of this work :tiphat:


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## Alypius

Here's a listing of works recommended thus far in the thread (chronological order):

Beethoven: Piano Sonata #8 in C minor (“Pathétique”) (1798) – Gulda, Gould, Gillels, Gelber, Pollini
Beethoven: Piano Sonata #15 in D major ("Pastorale"), op. 28 (1801) – Lewis, Schiff 
Beethoven: Piano Sonata #21 in C (“Waldstein”) (1803-1804) – O’Connor
Schubert: Piano Sonata #14 in A minor, D.784, op. posth. 143 (1823) – Lewis, Ashkenazy
Schumann: Études symphoniques, op. 13 (1833-1838) – Arrau
Schumann: Fantasie C-dür, op. 17 (1836-1838) – Andsnes 
Schumann: "Vogel als Prophet", from Waldszenen (1848-1849) - Pires
Chopin: Ballade #4 in F minor, op. 52 (1842) – Ashkenazy
Liszt: Harmonies Poetiques et Religueses, S.173 (1847) - Amoyel
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178 (1853) – Ucbasaran, Hamelin 
Liszt: Années de pèlerinage (esp. “Dante” Sonata) (1ere: 1855, 2eme: 1858, 3eme: 1883)– Ciccolini
Alkan: Concerto for solo piano, op. 39 (1857) – Hamelin, Smith
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, op. 24 (1861) – Katchen, R. Serkin
Franck: Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue (1884) – Hough 
Grieg: Holberg Suite, op. 40 (1884) - Grinberg
Debussy: Ballade (slave) (1890, rev. 1903) – Bavouzet 
Brahms: Klavierstücke, op. 119 (1892) - Perahia
Fauré: Nocturne No 6 in D♭ major, Op 63 (1894) – Stott, Owen
Scriabin: Piano Sonata #2 (“Sonata-Fantasy”) in G# minor, op. 19 (1897) – Pogorelich
Thalberg (1812-1871): Fantasia sulla Lucrezia Borgia, op. 50 (date?)


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## Alypius

Turnabout recommended that I listen to Fauré's _Nocturnes_ 1-7, which are the ones composed in the 19th century, recommending especially #6. So tonight's listening:

*Nocturne no. 1 in E flat minor, Op. 33/1 (1875-c.1877)
*Nocturne no. 2 in B major, Op. 33/2 (c.1881)
*Nocturne no. 3 in A flat major, Op. 33/3 (1883)
*Nocturne no. 4 in E flat major, Op. 36 (1884)
*Nocturne no. 5 in B flat major, Op. 37 (1884)
*Nocturne no. 6 in D flat major, Op. 63 (1894)
*Nocturne no. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 74 (1898)

I listened to two performances: by Charles Owen (Avie, 2008) and by Kathryn Stott (Hyperion, 1995)

















For most, the _Requiem_ is Fauré's best known work. About 5 years ago, I began exploring Fauré's chamber works, his Piano Trio, his Piano Quartets and Quintets. I happened to be in London that summer, and used the opportunity to comb the various classical music stores around the city. In a shop near Nottingham Hill, I stumbled upon Charles Owen's splendid and well-reviewed performance of the _Nocturnes_. Owen's playing is passionate, deeply committed, and threaded with wonderful nuances. It gave me fresh insights into the works. Fauré's _Nocturnes_ owe something to Chopin, especially structurally--with tranquil beginnings and endings and turbulent interiors. According to Fauré's son Philippe, the Nocturnes "are not necessarily based on rêveries or on emotions inspired by the night. They are lyrical, generally impassioned pieces, sometimes anguished or wholly elegiac."

Bryce Morrison, in his liner notes to Kathryn Stott's performance, says that "No. 6 ranks among the most rich and eloquent of all of Fauré's piano works, wandering as if absent-mindedly from the home key only to return to it with magical resource, and including an _allegro moderato_ alive with the bird-song of the _Ballade_ [op. 19 from 1879]." It begins tranquilly, meditatively, then with increasing anguish in the arpeggiated harmonic shifts. A 2nd theme appears about 2:00, returning to passionate account of the original theme around 3:15. At 4:00, it breaks into a rapid-fire allegro recasting of it. Finally, toward the end (around 6:30), it returns rather abruptly to tranquility, to a reiteration of the theme. The romantic passions, the ebbs and flows, capture the lush, sensuous character of Fauré's early music.

I should add that I enjoy Nocturnes #2 and #4 nearly as much. Alfred Cortot, an advocate of Fauré's music, once complained about #4 that he found it "rather too satisfied with its own langour". I must risk disagreeing. In Owen's performance especially, it offers a richness of emotion -- and contrapuntal sophistication that is simply entrancing. It begins simply enough, with a stately theme. At the 1:30 mark, it moves from stately to a depth of yearning, marked musically subtle counterpoint and cross-themes and runs that is quite remarkable.


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## Headphone Hermit

Hi Alypius

I notice that Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) performed by Michel Dalberto has dropped of your list (it was on the earlier one)


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## Headphone Hermit

Chopin - Scherzo No 1 in B minor Op 20

This piece was written during the November Uprising against Russia (As you will know, Poland was partioned between Prussia, Russia and the Austria-Hungarian empire for most of the C19 and there was considerable repression and resistance during these years). A _scherzo_ should be light and jolly (as it is Italian for 'joke') but here is a dark piece with pungent nostalgia, angst and anger.

Two chords start off the piece. They demand attention but then there is a frenetic, very quick outburst that pounds away at your ears - it must have been pretty startling to hear this in 1831!! Soon, a soft melody is heard - if you are Polish, then you will instantly recognise this as one of the best-loved, gentlest Polish Christmas carols, almost a Christmas lullaby ... _Lulajze Jezeniu_ ... it is just about as Polish as you can get and, being so redolent of Christmas with peace, calm, family and nostalgia, it is an ear-crushing clash with the chaotic clattering that has just occurred - though of course, if you are not Polish then you will not realise the significance of this - it will just have been a sugary tune. The two opening chords 'invade' this calm and the two ideas struggle away at each other before there is a virtuosic dispaly of fireworks all over the keyboard before a triumphant end looks optimistically and defiantly to the future.

A great political piece - the choice and treatment of themes within this work are clearly and obviously political with a giant, capital 'P'. It is a work of eloquent defiance, political comment, nationalistic assertion, resistance to a cruel and repressive regime - and a beautiful piece of music that can be enjoyed just as a piece of music. Claudio Arrau, Artur Rubinstein and, famously, Vladimir Horowitz play this very well - but there are many other fine performances


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## quack

Alypius said:


> Turnabout recommended that I listen to Fauré's _Nocturnes_ 1-7, which are the ones composed in the 19th century, recommending especially #6


I didn't know Fauré's Nocturnes were that old. As 20th century pieces they would have a hard time competing amongst all the works I like from that century but as 19th century works they are right up near the top. Difficult to articulate why I like them and it is probably heresy to like them more than Chopin's offering but the simple, and to my ear, unaffected, subdued beauty of them just transports me. I tend not to like old crusty recordings especially in solo piano but if you can stand to hear another version Germaine Thyssens-Valentin's 1956 rendition is heaven.


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## Alypius

Headphone Hermit said:


> Hi Alypius
> 
> I notice that Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) performed by Michel Dalberto has dropped of your list (it was on the earlier one)


HH, Thanks for the catch. I can no longer edit that post, but I'll re-add it on the next update.


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## science

Great thread! 

My single favorite is Schubert's 21st sonata (D 960), but being completely ignorant about everything that I'm supposed to know before I talk, I'm hesitant to talk. I just like it. I particularly enjoy that rumble and rest in the opening bars of the first movement, which astonish me. I feel like I'm listening to some kind of late-19th century irony or something. That's just the first and simplest (but maybe the most dramatic) of the surprises. It's really quite an experience to sit through. I think it's even my favorite composition by Schubert. I don't mean of course to sit in judgement of Schubert, I wouldn't presume to do that, I just mean it's the one I enjoy most.

Edit: I'll add a recording, because I have a favorite. This doesn't mean much because (a) I have no idea what a knowledgeable person might say about any performance of this work, and (b) I have only heard three recordings anyway! But worth as little as it is, my personal favorite is Richter's 1972 recording. I have it on the Alto label, but it might be available on others. He takes it noticeably slower, and for me, it's as if he indulges the music, lets it speak on its own terms. Again, this is just my ignorance overflowing, but that's how I feel about it.


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## Bruce

For me, the Romantic era provided so many works which are unequaled in their beauty. Other eras have fascinating composers, but for sheer pleasure, the Romantic era is tops for me. 

Some of my own favorites (sticking as close as possible to the 19th century):

Thalberg - Variations on Semiramide, Op. 51
Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6
Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 2 in G# minor, Op. 19
Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 3 in F# minor, Op. 23
Schumann - Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 14
Schubert - Drei Klavierstücke, D.984
Schubert's Impromptus - All of 'em.
Rheinberger - Duo for 2 pianos in A minor, Op. 15
Liszt -Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
Liszt - Venezia e Napoli
Franck - Prelude, Chorale and Fugue
Dussek - Piano Sonata in A-flat, Op. 64 "Le retour á Paris"
Dukas - Piano Sonata in E-flat minor
Chopin - Piano Sonati, Ballades, Scherzi, Impromptus, Fantasy in F minor
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3, as well as numerous shorter piano works
Alkan - Les Quatre Ages 

There are many others, but these stand out.


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## Alypius

Bruce said:


> For me, the Romantic era provided so many works which are unequaled in their beauty. Other eras have fascinating composers, but for sheer pleasure, the Romantic era is tops for me.
> 
> Some of my own favorites (sticking as close as possible to the 19th century):
> 
> Thalberg - Variations on Semiramide, Op. 51
> Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6
> Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 2 in G# minor, Op. 19
> Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 3 in F# minor, Op. 23
> Schumann - Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 14
> Schubert - Drei Klavierstücke, D.984
> Schubert's Impromptus - All of 'em.
> Rheinberger - Duo for 2 pianos in A minor, Op. 15
> Liszt -Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
> Liszt - Venezia e Napoli
> Franck - Prelude, Chorale and Fugue
> Dussek - Piano Sonata in A-flat, Op. 64 "Le retour á Paris"
> Dukas - Piano Sonata in E-flat minor
> Chopin - Piano Sonati, Ballades, Scherzi, Impromptus, Fantasy in F minor
> Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3, as well as numerous shorter piano works
> Alkan - Les Quatre Ages
> 
> There are many others, but these stand out.


Bruce, Thanks. If you look at the opening post, I asked if one could limit one's recommendations to a single work _per post_, and perhaps discuss why one is moved by / enjoys / thinks about that given work. In a sense, I'm seeking to slow down our reflections and savor individual works. Many have posted a number of posts, but one work per post. So of the ones you list, could you pick one that you could speak more about, more at length about?


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## TurnaboutVox

science said:


> Great thread!
> 
> My single favorite is Schubert's 21st sonata (D 960)... I think it's even my favorite composition by Schubert. I don't mean of course to sit in judgement of Schubert, I wouldn't presume to do that, I just mean it's the one I enjoy most.
> 
> Edit: I'll add a recording, because I have a favorite... Richter's 1972 recording. I have it on the Alto label, but it might be available on others.


I was going to keep my own suggestions to a minimum, but I can't resist adding a recommendation for Schubert's great B flat sonata D. 960 to Science's post, which is...
No, not Brendel, but Wilhelm Kempff on DG. He also takes this sonata slowly, or rather, with stately dignity. For me the sonata is one of the best examples of Schubert's 'heavenly length'. It's a lieder cycle for solo piano, if you like, seemingly unedited (I know that such artfulness was carefully designed, in reality, though). A work of stunning beauty and only apparent simplicity.

Alfred Brendel writes:



> "Examination of Schubert's sketches for the sonatas reveals him as highly self-critical; moreover, it shows that the 'heavenly lengths' of the sonatas were actually a later addition, not conceived from the start. In his subsequent corrections, Schubert elaborated on his themes and expanded them, giving them more 'musical space. In the revision, "proportions are rectified, details start to tell, fermatas suspend time. Rests clarify the structure, allowing breathing space, holding the breath or listening into silence"


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## hpowders

Nobody mentioned the Chopin Etudes yet? Ashkenazy gets my vote.


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## Headphone Hermit

Schubert - Lebenssturme D 947

can I sneak in a work for one piano, but four hands? 

Oh, go on! Please! Pretty please!!!!


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## science

Headphone Hermit said:


> Schubert - Lebenssturme D 947
> 
> can I sneak in a work for one piano, but two hands?
> 
> Oh, go on! Please! Pretty please!!!!


I guess you mean four hands? I'd like to see anyone play any of the works mentioned so far with only one hand!


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## Headphone Hermit

science said:


> I guess you mean four hands? I'd like to see anyone play any of the works mentioned so far with only one hand!


Doh! Must be close to bedtime for me!


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## Alypius

hpowders said:


> Nobody mentioned the Chopin Etudes yet? Ashkenazy gets my vote.


Following hp's recommendation:
*Chopin: 12 Études, op. 10 (1833)*
performance: Murray Perahia (Sony, 2002)










_Review:_


> From Perahia there is order and lucidity at the heart of even Chopin's most audacious fire-storms and in, for example, Etudes Nos 1 and 4 from Op 10, you are made more aware than ever of an incomparable mix of poetry and precision. Perahia's may be a wholly modern voice yet he truly speaks in the spirit of his revered masters of the past, of Cortot and Fischer in particular, and this, allied with his immaculate infinitely polished and shaded pianism, gives his performances the rarest distinction and quality. How superb and unfaltering is his mastery in No 1, that magnificent curtain-raiser to Op 10, how magical his improvisatory touch in its closing page. His textural translucency and musical breathing, his rubato in No 3, like that of Rubinstein, is that of a great and natural singer of the keyboard. Chopin would surely have cried out once again, 'ah, mon patrie!' if he had heard this performance. No 8 is delightfully rumbustious and just when you note a touch of evasion in his rapid spin through the morbid near-Wagnerian chromaticism of No 6 you find yourself relishing his cool tempo, a musical ease and flexibility that give new meaning to Chopin's prescribed con molto espressione. ... Perahia realises the mountain echoes and final desolate peal of bells in No 9 from Op 10 - its pulsing agitation deeply underlined - and where else have you heard a more impassioned or articulate Revolutionary Etude?... Faced with artistry of this calibre, criticism falls silent; one can only listen and wonder at such unalloyed perfection. Personally, I would never want to be without Cortot's inimitable recording of the Etudes ...yet Perahia's is the finest of all modern discs of the Etudes. Sony's sound captures all of his artistry...."-Bryce Morrison, Gramophone (Nov. 2002)


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## Alypius

First listen to a new arrival (sparked, I should add, by this thread):

Liszt: _Années de pélerinage: Première année_, S. 160 (1846-1854)










In fact, it's my first ever listen to this work, at least to the first year. (I have the "Supplement" to the "2nd Year": "Venezia e Napoli"). A remarkable work that ranges widely in structure and mood and sound -- from dance-like to quietly meditative to rolling thunder. Since this is new to me, I have to depend here on critics to judge the quality of the performance. This recent performance has won fine reviews, and various awards (e.g. _Gramophone_'s "Editor's Choice"). Excerpts from a couple of reviews:



> "He's a pianist of tremendous resources, both technical and musical, possessing all the equipment to cope with Liszt's most extreme demands without ever flaunting it. He shapes even the most massive climaxes (his dynamic range is vast) with fastidious care, and much more pungent characterisation than he showed in his disc of César Franck last year...It's all the work of a major Liszt intepreter."-_The Guardian_ (December 1, 2011). Rating: **** (of possible 5)





> "One to make even the finest Lisztians look to their laurels. Hear him in the three Petrarch Sonnets, where a soaring sense of ecstasy is complemented by blazing eruptions of passion, everything engulfed as it were in restless and romantic enquiry. His 'Dante' Sonata brims over with a virtuoso savagery that dazzles and astounds...Yet even more remarkable is Chamayou's profoundly expressive response to the third and final book."-_Grammophone_ (March 2012).


I'll see if I can find a little time this weekend to post some notes from Charles Rosen's comments on Liszt in his _Romantic Generation_.

Question: Can anyone think of earlier works that try to create these sonic travelogues? In the early 20th century, such things would become quite frequent (e.g. Albeniz, Debussy, Ravel, Turina)


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## science

Alypius said:


> Question: Can anyone think of earlier works that try to create these sonic travelogues? In the early 20th century, such things would become quite frequent (e.g. Albeniz, Debussy, Ravel, Turina)


That is a great question. It would've been a remarkable thing to do before romantic nationalism.

There were things like Bach's "Italian" and "French" works. Not the same really, but... I look forward to seeing what others think of in this line.


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## joen_cph

^^^^

Agree concerning De Severac. I´ve got Eidi on Ogam CD, Huybregts on Orion LP and some with Doyen on MHS LP. Eidi is good as well.


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## hpowders

Alypius said:


> Following hp's recommendation:
> *Chopin: 12 Études, op. 10 (1833)*
> performance: Murray Perahia (Sony, 2002)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Review:_


 I'm sure it must be fine. I will stick with Ashkenazy in his prime. Got universal critical praise and I concur. 

It is recommended by the Definitive Performance Committee.


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## Ian Moore

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it. How about Balakirev - "Islamey"


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## Stavrogin

I know it's always strange to read it, but Satie's Gymnopédies were written in the 19th century; so they actually belong in here.


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## PetrB

Stavrogin said:


> I know it's always strange to read it, but Satie's Gymnopédies were written in the 19th century; so they actually belong in here.


Amazingly, all three composed in 1888 with two of the three (privately) published within the same year, and written only five years after the death of Wagner, with the European musical world pretty much in thrall to later Germanic romantic musical style.

Though in music halls there was a very different sort of music going on, with which Satie was closely familiar, there are still within the classical rep very few works which so stand out in the context of their date in contrast to 'all that was officially going on' at the time.


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## Cosmos

Sad to see Chopin not getting enough recognition.

Fantaisie in f minor, op. 49

This is a single movement work, about 15 min or less to play. I've always felt that Chopin does his best work the less he is constrained by following the rules of a form. Here, the music is free-flowing, almost as if it were organic (even when it repeats itself). The work is divided into a few contrasting sections. The introduction is like a dirge, but more nostalgic than sombre. This meditative mood goes on to a slow marching beat, until the next section, that creates a dramatic little storm and ends with a joyous chordal dance. Then, the music dies off and, typical Chopin, we go to a much calmer lovely middle section. After a few repeats, we go back to the storm, and follow the music to its inevitably triumphant end.

This is another work that shares a common "theme" with many other Romantic era works; the idea of sudden conflict and resolution [I blame Beethoven for this trend :lol:]. It's a great stand alone work, that I find being on the same level as the Ballades and Polonaises, but not nearly as popular. Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't heard of it.


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## Animato

hpowders said:


> Nobody mentioned the Chopin Etudes yet? Ashkenazy gets my vote.


My favourite pianist for Chopin's Etudes is Frederic Chiu. My first recording with the Etudes was the one with Maurizio Pollini. Nowadays I consider his playing a bit too virtuoso. Frederic Chiu's performance is technically perfect and very romantic.

Does anybody know Abbey Simon's recordings of works by Chopin? They are extraordinary as well.


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## Nick D

Whistler Fred said:


> Actually, I very much like Ciccolini's performance and would not hesitate to recommend it. But I like to hear different artists' take on favorite pieces. I just got the Chamayou recording and am familiarizing myself with it, and so far I'm impressed! Grimwood on a period instrument? Hmmm...


Amen times three! Ciccolini (his second version is the one re-issued in the 5 CD red EMI box) is my favorite of older versions. I've lived with the Chamayou for quite a while now, and it's the one I reach for when I want to hear any of the three "years" complete - or for that matter ALL of them straight through. His debut album, on Sony, of the Liszt "Transcendentals" is also terrific, as are his performances of some of the Schubert song transcriptions on a more recent Erato album. Among his many other sterling qualities as an artist, Chamayou possesses a superb sense of form: you sense that he really understands that Liszt is not only a great composer, but a good one. The way that he varies the length of the pauses between items in the Years of Pilgrimage shows an unsurpassed grasp of the overall shape of each collection: Liszt as inventor of the "concept album," long before the Beatles and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! 
I really like Grimwood's version too, and not only for the shock of the sound(s) of the 1850s Erard piano. Grimwood is a fine pianist, and like Chamayou really conceives of each "Year" as a totality; in a few places - I won't spoil them for you by identifying them - he actually segues directly from piece to piece, always with impeccable musical and spiritual logic. Very much worth hearing; however, note that Grimwood does not include the Supplement to Year Two, "Venezia e Napoli."
Speaking of which, I am currently enjoying a 2CD set of that name from the excellent Italian pianist Costantino Catena (which I had to order from Taiwan: it's issued by a Japanese label, Camerata). Fantastic program, focusing on the barcarolle and the tarantella, spanning nearly 50 years of Liszt's creative life, beautifully played and recorded. A great example of thoughtful and imaginative programming. 
Finally, a few other favorite Liszt albums. For the complete Harmonies: above all, the late Brigitte Engerer (Mirare), and also Philip Thomson (Naxos) - yin and yang. And once you know every note of Year One (Switzerland) by heart, check out English pianist Ashley Wass's recording of the earlier versions of five of the pieces, from the collection Album d'un Voyageur (Naxos).
Happy Listening!


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## DiesIraeCX

I remember when Alypius created this thread, I wasn't into solo piano music at the time, unfortunately.

I'll go with my favorite piano sonata, Beethoven's 28th in A major, Op. 101. It was composed in 1816 and dedicated to the pianist and Baroness Dorothea Ertmann. "Many musicians admired this "amateur" from the nobility. When composer and virtuoso Muzio Clementi heard her he could not help repeatedly calling out as she played, "She is a great master!... The influence of Ertmann's playing spread around Vienna as well, Anton Schindler called her "a conservatory all by herself"" (Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, Swafford)

Beethoven wrote in Romantic fashion, that this sonata was a "series of impressions and reveries". The first movement is full of tenderness and sublime melodies, it's entitled _Etwas Lebhaft und mit innigsten Empfindung_is roughly translated as "rather lively and with the warmest feeling." There is something very poignant about the recalling of the first movement's themes in the third movement, the beauty of that theme is starkly contrasted with the pure joy of the Finale. I think it's one of the most joyous single movements he ever wrote, this is the movement where I judge pianists, whether they capture the joy inherent to this movement, entitled _Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit_ (Swiftly, but not overly and with determination.)

Charles Rosen calls Piano Sonata #28, Op. 101 one of Beethoven's Romantic works, or Romantic experiments, along the cyclical works of 1812 - 1816, Piano Sonata #27, Cello Sonatas #4 and #5, and An die Ferne Geliebte. I quote, "Piano Sonata op. 101 begins as if in the middle of a musical paragraph; in other words, here is an essay in, or at least a movement towards, the open forms of the Romantic period. The harmonic structure of the finale of op. 101 has an unclassical looseness that brings it close to many works of Mendelssohn. The exposition is as classical as any other of Beethoven's, but the development consists entirely of a fugue, its opening is completely detached from what precedes, and it remains in the tonic minor throughout. This is a way of evading classical tension (harmonically here) and reaching the relaxed expansion of large Romantic forms." (The Classical Style)

Jan Swafford writes, "In this movement one can make out on the page the familiar sonata-form elements: an exposition with two themes, development, recapitulation. But that is not the sounding impression. The landmarks are blurred, the second theme only a wisp, there is no repeat of the exposition, the recapitulation flows unnoticed from the development. The familiar form has receded under the surface, leaving a sense of a steady unfolding with little repeated exactly - like a fantasia. Through the sense of A major is clear enough, the music never cadence unequivocally on A until bar 93. As in the cello sonatas, the lack of resolution, the purposeful meandering of the harmony, creates not tension but rather a rapt suspension. As the harmony drifts like a summer cloud, likewise the sense of pulse and downbeat drift around the bar."

My favorite performance of this sonata is Maurizio Pollini. Other favorites are Solomon, Wilhelm Kempff, and Emil Gilels.


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