The art of music, Vol. 07 (of 14) — Reading Companion

I. KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF KEYBOARD TECHNIQUE 1

Keyboard instruments and their derivation; the clavichord and its mechanism; the harpsichord and its relatives, virginal, _cembalo_, etc.; technique and use of the harpsichord--The beginnings of harpsichord music; the Gabrielis and Merulo; early forms; the influence of harmony and the crystallization of form--Frescobaldi and other organist-composers for harpsichord; early English virginal collections; John Bull, etc.--Genesis of the suite; influence of lute-music; Froberger, Denis Gaultier, etc.; Kuhnau--Development of the harpsichord ‘style’; great players: Chambonnières, etc.

II. THE GOLDEN AGE OF HARPSICHORD MUSIC 40

The period and the masters of the ‘Golden Age’--Domenico Scarlatti; his virtuosity; Scarlatti’s ‘sonatas’; Scarlatti’s technical effects; his style and form; æsthetic value of his music; his contemporaries--François Couperin, _le Grand_; Couperin’s clavecin compositions; the ‘musical portraits’; ‘program music’--The quality and style of his music; his contemporaries, Daquin and Rameau--John Sebastian Bach; Bach as virtuoso; as teacher; his technical reform; his style--Bach’s fugues and their structure--The suites of Bach: the French suites, the English suites, the Partitas--The preludes, toccatas and fantasies; concertos; the ‘Goldberg Variations’--Bach’s importance; his contemporary Handel.

III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIANOFORTE SONATA 89

Vienna as the home of the sonata; definition of ‘sonata’--Origin and history of the standard sonata cycle; relationship of sonata movements--Evolution of the ‘triplex’ form: Pergolesi’s ‘singing allegro’; the union of aria and binary forms; Padre Martini’s sonatas, Scarlatti’s true sonata in C; Domenico Alberti; the Alberti bass; the transitional period of the sonata--Sonata writers before Haydn and Mozart; J. C. Bach; Muzio Clementi--Schubert and Wagenseil; C. P. E. Bach; F. W. Rust.

IV. HAYDN, MOZART AND BEETHOVEN 131

The ‘Viennese period’ and the three great classics--Joseph Haydn; Haydn’s clavier sonatas; the Variations in F minor--W. A. Mozart; Mozart as pianist and improvisator; Mozart’s sonatas; his piano concertos--Ludwig van Beethoven; evolution of the modern pianoforte--Musical qualities of Beethoven’s piano music; Beethoven’s technical demands; his pianoforte sonatas; his piano concertos; conclusion.

V. PIANOFORTE MUSIC AT THE TIME OF BEETHOVEN 175

The broadening of technical possibilities and its consequences--Minor disciples of Mozart and Beethoven: J. N. Hummel; J. B. Cramer; John Field; other contemporaries--The pioneers in new forms: Weber and Schubert; technical characteristics of Weber’s style; Weber’s sonatas, etc.; the _Konzertstück_; qualities of Weber’s pianoforte music--Franz Schubert as pianoforte composer; his sonatas; miscellaneous works; the impromptus; the Moments musicals--The Weber-Schubert era and the dawn of the Romantic spirit.

PART II. THE ROMANTIC PERIOD OF PIANOFORTE MUSIC

VI. MENDELSSOHN, SCHUMANN AND BRAHMS 211

Influence of musical romanticism on pianoforte literature--Mendelssohn’s pianoforte music, its merits and demerits; the ‘Songs without Words’; Prelude and Fugue in D minor; _Variations Sérieuses_; Mendelssohn’s influence, Bennett, Henselt--Robert Schumann, ultra-romanticist and pioneer; peculiarities of his style; miscellaneous series of piano pieces; the ‘cycles’: _Carnaval_, etc.--The _Papillons_, _Davidsbündler_, and _Faschingsschwank_; the Symphonic Études; _Kreisleriana_, etc., the Sonatas, Fantasy and Concerto--Johannes Brahms; qualities of his piano music; his style; piano sonatas, ‘Paganini Variations,’ ‘Handel Variations,’ Capriccios, Rhapsodies, Intermezzi; the Concertos; conclusion.

Chopin’s music and its relative value in musical value; racial and personal characteristics; influences and preferences; Chopin’s playing--His instinct for form; the form of his sonatas and concertos; the _Polonaise-Fantaisie_; the Preludes--Chopin as a harmonist; Chopin’s style analyzed: accompaniment figures, inner melodies, polyphonic suggestions, passages, melodies and ornaments--His works in general: salon music; waltzes; nocturnes; mazurkas; polonaises; conclusion.

VIII. HERZ, THALBERG, AND LISZT 284

The career of Henri Herz, his compositions and his style; virtuosity and sensationalism; means of effect--Sigismund Thalberg: his playing; the ‘Moses’ fantasia, etc.; relation of Herz and Thalberg to the public--Franz Liszt: his personality and its influence; his playing; his expansion of pianoforte technique; difficulties of his music estimated--Liszt’s compositions: transcriptions; fantasia on _Don Giovanni_--Realistic pieces, Années de pèlerinage--Absolute music: sonata in B minor; Hungarian Rhapsodies; conclusion.

PART III. MODERN PIANOFORTE MUSIC

IX. IMITATORS AND NATIONALISTS 320

Inevitable results of Schumann, Chopin and Liszt--Heller, Raff, Jensen, Scharwenka, Mozkowski, and other German composers--The influence of national characteristics: Grieg, his style and his compositions; Christian Sinding--The Russians: Balakireff, Rubinstein, Tschaikowsky, Arensky, Glazounoff, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and others--Spanish traits; I. Albéniz; pianoforte composers in England and the United States.

X. MODERN FRENCH PIANOFORTE MUSIC 341

Classical traditions: Saint-Saëns, and others; C. V. Alkan--César Franck: his compositions and his style--Vincent d’Indy; Fauré--The new movement: Debussy and Ravel; Debussy’s innovations: new harmonies, scales, overtones, pianoforte technique; his compositions--Ravel differentiated; his compositions; Florent Schmitt and Eric Satie--Conclusion.

PART IV. VIOLIN MUSIC

XI. EARLY VIOLIN MUSIC AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF VIOLIN TECHNIQUE 368