Download - Piano Period History Examining significant composers of piano music through music history
Piano Period History
Examining significant composers of piano music
through music history.
Baroque1600 - 1750
Decorative music (characteristic of time period)
Fundamental Bass LineAll parts of Baroque music must be subservient to a bass line.
Fugue: composition with musical line articulated in one voice and rearticulated by following voices in repeat, inversion, etc
Johann Sebastian Bach1685-1750
• German composer• Was an organist• Known as one of the
greatest fugue writers.• Pianoforte was created
in his mid-life• Listen to Minuet in G
Classical Period1750-1830
• Orderly music (return of interest in Greek time period)
• Sonata (composition & form)• Sonata Form:
Exposition – introduce themeDevelopment – develop themeRecapitulation – return of theme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart1756-1791
• Austrian composer• Melody writer• Wrote many Sonatas• Died young• Listen to Piano Sonata
No. 11 in A Major
Romantic1860-1920
• Emotion in sound• Dramatic music
through: – strong dynamic changes– large instrumentation– drastic key changes
Ludwig van Beethoven1770-1827
• Crossover composer - began in Classical period ended in Romantic period
• THE composer to push the Romantic style
• Extreme personality helpedin extreme music
• Know for his 9 Symphonies• Became deaf at end of life• Listen to Sonata Pathetique
Johannes Brahms1833-1897
• Structured composer – followed style of BachBut incorporated dramaticRomantic qualities such as drastic key changes
• Listen to Intermezzo in A
Frederic Chopin1810-1849
• French composer• Wrote almost exclusively
for the piano• Wrote “etudes” (studies)– Each explored a single
technical problem, usually set around a single motif.
– Listen to Etude #4 in C# minor,Op 10, Nocturne in E flat Major
Franz Liszt1811-1886
• Hungarian composer• Know mostly for
piano works• Extremely big hands
and long fingers – which made for difficult compositions
• Pieces technically difficult• Listen to Hungarian Rhapsody
Impressionismlate 19th century
• French movement in the arts• Characteristics:– Creating mood– Asian pentatonic scale–Whole tone scale– Tone color– Irregular rhythm– Dissonance
Claude Debussy1862-1918
• French composer• Didn’t like the label
Impressionist (meant to be derogatory from the painters)
• Know for his piano works• Listen to Claire de Lune
Modern/Contemporary1920 - present
Breaks with or redefines the conventions of the past.
Uses experimental techniques.Show the diversity of society and the
blending of cultures.• Jazz – syncopation, call & response,
unique harmonies
Scott Joplin1867-1917• African American
composer• Known for
writing Ragtime (style leading into Jazz)
Duke Ellington
1899-1974• African American
composer• Known for Jazz
style