The best way to track the evolution of an organism is to observe the changes that occur to it over the span of several generations. Similarly, in music it can be possible to track its evolution by observing changes to a style, genre, or concept. In this report, the focus will fall on movements from two violin sonatas. For the purposes of this discussion, a violin sonata will be defined as a work specifically written for violin and piano with the purpose of it being a chamber piece. By analyzing the movements, the progress from the Classical to the Romantic eras will become observable through subtle and apparent musical elements.
The concert these pieces were performed at was part of the Colburn Celebrity Series, presented at the Walt Disney …show more content…
Edvard Grieg was born June 15th, 1843, in Bergen, Norway, and died September 4th, 1907, in Bergen, Norway. His style is characterized as beginning purely Romantic early in his career, especially because of his exposure to the music during his education in Leipzig and Copenhagen. However, it is observed that by 1865 he begins to turn to Norwegian folk music for musical material and continues as such the rest of career. He is now regarded as a champion of Norwegian music and one of the great Scandinavian composers of his time. A survey of some of his works includes works for operas, orchestral suites, a piano concerto, violin sonatas, string quartets, and some exercise books. The piece being analyzed here is noted as being completed in a mature stage of his career, and by this time he had settled into a routine of composing from early spring till early summer, then hike around in nature till fall, upon after which he would embark on tours throughout Europe from fall till the end of winter. This structured life apparently helped him garner fame and honor, and the results of why can be seen in the …show more content…
In this piece, the piano played a more active part than the violin, especially with it starting the piece by itself and then proceeding to take on the main themes and development. Though the piece is a sonata, the piano role sounded like it began to take a character of its own while the violin went about its own character. If they could be described, it would be as if the piano was the Norwegian landscape and the violin a wondering traveler through those lands. The chromatic harmonies also present hint at the change brought about in the Romantic era, whereas in the Classical changes were kept rather constant, in this piece they really travel to various tonalities rapidly. This rapid changing also helps the storytelling as it becomes possible to visualize the many scenes that the traveller maybe encountering. This idea of storytelling or characterizing is extremely Romantic, which makes the piece a natural fit for its time
The concert these pieces were performed at was part of the Colburn Celebrity Series, presented at the Walt Disney …show more content…
Edvard Grieg was born June 15th, 1843, in Bergen, Norway, and died September 4th, 1907, in Bergen, Norway. His style is characterized as beginning purely Romantic early in his career, especially because of his exposure to the music during his education in Leipzig and Copenhagen. However, it is observed that by 1865 he begins to turn to Norwegian folk music for musical material and continues as such the rest of career. He is now regarded as a champion of Norwegian music and one of the great Scandinavian composers of his time. A survey of some of his works includes works for operas, orchestral suites, a piano concerto, violin sonatas, string quartets, and some exercise books. The piece being analyzed here is noted as being completed in a mature stage of his career, and by this time he had settled into a routine of composing from early spring till early summer, then hike around in nature till fall, upon after which he would embark on tours throughout Europe from fall till the end of winter. This structured life apparently helped him garner fame and honor, and the results of why can be seen in the …show more content…
In this piece, the piano played a more active part than the violin, especially with it starting the piece by itself and then proceeding to take on the main themes and development. Though the piece is a sonata, the piano role sounded like it began to take a character of its own while the violin went about its own character. If they could be described, it would be as if the piano was the Norwegian landscape and the violin a wondering traveler through those lands. The chromatic harmonies also present hint at the change brought about in the Romantic era, whereas in the Classical changes were kept rather constant, in this piece they really travel to various tonalities rapidly. This rapid changing also helps the storytelling as it becomes possible to visualize the many scenes that the traveller maybe encountering. This idea of storytelling or characterizing is extremely Romantic, which makes the piece a natural fit for its time