Piano sonata

Robert Schumann is known as one of the greatest German composers of the Romantic era. His contributions to the world of music are not only vast in numbers, but they span a very broad range of composition including his piano sonatas and lied. Although this output is grand and very influential, it is important to keep in mind that Robert Schumann was fighting with mental illnesses throughout his life. With the knowledge of his struggles with depression and other illnesses, one must look deeper…

The sonata-allegro form typically includes three sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation. The exposition of sonata-allegro presents the two themes consecutively, introducing them to the audience for the rest of the piece. Beethoven opens with his first theme, a powerful, urgent, and frantic melody in a…

been playing piano. It has been the most consistent thing in my life and has grounded me during the ups-and-downs of my adolescence. My journey with the piano began as a seven year old at the end of my short affair with the violin. On a trip to my grandparent’s home in Jamaica, I sat at an electric piano with my grandfather and he taught me Hot Crossed Buns. When I returned home, I begged and pleaded with my parents to sign me up for piano lessons, and I abandoned my bow for a bench. Piano soon…

Analysis: Mozart Symphony no.40 in G minor K.550 (1788), first movement There are more questions surrounding Mozart's final three symphonies nos. 39, 40, and 41 or "Jupiter" than answers. Mozart’s Symphony in G minor, K550 “is one of the greatest final trilogies that Mozart composed and the process of composing this piece lasted from six to eight weeks during the summer of 1788”(Heninger, 2003, p.1) Firstly, it was written for “strings, flutes, oboes and bassoons. It is then revised to give…

First Selection: -Symphony No. 1 (“ Classical”), first movement- Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) First Hearing: Happy, Calm Second Hearing: Prokofiev wanted to create a kind of the homage for the composers of the Classical era. I really like the sound of this song. It put me in a happy, calm mood. Third Hearing: The pitch starts off low. The melody is disjunct. The rhythm is duple meter. The tempo is a steadfast. The dynamic is widely varying levels at the beginning of the song. It increases…

the nobility and the church to the middle class. The classical music period contained contrasting moods with rhythmic variety. The classical period was homophonic in texture. The three main forms in the classical period are sonata form, theme and variations, and rondo. Sonata form is single movements that consist of three parts; the exposition, the development, the recapitulation, and the ending concluding section called the coda. In the exposition the themes are present, then in the…

This piece was first performed in 1808 and achieved its fame shortly afterwards. Beethoven was a major composer who help music transition from the classical to the romantic era. Beethoven did not only compose 9 symphonies but he also composed a few piano concertos, violin concertos and many more. The symphony consists of four movements: Allegro con brio, Andante con moto, Scherzo allegro and Allegro. The fourth movement: This movement starts in C major which is unusual because normally a…

The understated work of Haydn’s 95th Symphony displays a variety of uncommon techniques and symphonic devices that create a dramatic yet lyrical work of music. The work is the third of Haydn’s 12 London Symphonies and diverts from common characteristics of Haydn’s works most notably it being the only minor tonality among the London Symphonies. The first movement (of which will be explored in this essay) creates a unique stance among Haydn’s other symphonies, in that the work omits a slow…

quality that is followed by scale passages in the woodwind and strings in bars 69 – 70. Scale passages (m. 68 – 72): After this turbulent affair we see the return of the second subject which makes a light ending in measures 77 – 88 as the initial piano minim-followed-by-quaver motif is commanded by the lower stringed instruments while there are sustained long notes played by the woodwinds and a soft piannisimo accompaniment by the string section. Return of the second subject with light…

The unity of music is related to the music structures. People followed the musical structures and expected the direction or message of the music. In the 18th century, the most of the music had almost same musical structures and forms. Most of music in this period progressed to the same ways and the structures and forms had conventional elements. Historically, the music became less conventional after the French revolution and the composers had been interested in their own identities for their…