Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 , Emil Gilels, piano

Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]

entre88teclas

Published on Jan 17, 2013

– Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]
– http://www.entre88teclas.es/atdr/robe…

 

Best Classical Music-Historical musical bits:, Schubert / Emil Gilels / Amadeus Quartet, 1976: Piano Quintet in A major (“Trout”), great compositions/performances

Schubert / Emil Gilels / Amadeus Quartet, 1976: Piano Quintet in A major (“Trout”) – Complete

davidhertzberg

Published on Jan 16, 2011

In this 1976 recording, the late Russian pianist Emil Gilels (1916-1985) is joined by members of the Amadeus Quartet (Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; Martin Lovett, cello; and Rainer Zepperitz, double bass) in a performance of Schubert’s Trout quintet (“Forellenquintett”). This recording is from a cassette I purchased in the mid-70s, issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label, serial number 3300 646. In order to strengthen viewer confidence that the recording they are listening to is in fact the one it is claimed to be, I have created this video exclusively with images of the cassette and cassette cover and notes.

1. Allegro vivace
2. Andante (13:34)
3. Scherzo. Presto (20:50)
4. Thema. Andantino (24:49)
5. Finale. Allegro giusto (32:43)

More Gilels:

1968: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 37 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeW79S…

1968: Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 15 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojL4Kx…

1983, Beethoven Klaviersonate Nr. 4 Es-dur, Op. 7 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfGQ1…

Beethoven – Gilels Piano Sonata No. 2

robycheff

Uploaded on Jan 15, 2012

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Sonata No.2 in A major, Op.2, No. 2
1.Allegro vivace
2.Largo appassionato
3.Scherzo. Allegretto
4.Rondo. Grazioso

Emil Gilels, piano

BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No.7 ‘Archduke’ – E.Gilels, L.Kogan, M.Rostropovich, 1956 , great compositions/performances

BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No.7 ‘Archduke’ – E.Gilels, L.Kogan, M.Rostropovich, 1956

Emilio Pessina

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio No.7 in B-flat major, Op.97 “Archduke” (1811)
0:10 / I. Allegro moderato [12’36”]
12:46 / II. Scherzo. Allegro [11’35”]
24:22 / III. Andante cantabile ma però con moto [12’06”]
36:28 / IV. Allegro moderato [6’56”]
Emil Gilels, piano
Leonid Kogan, violin
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
(rec: Moscow, 1956)
_______________________________________
5CDs set: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=…

Emil Gilels – Schumann – Symphonic Etudes, Op 13: Great compositions/performances

Emil Gilels – Schumann – Symphonic Etudes, Op 13

  Opus 13

Robert Schumann:  Symphonic Etudes, Op 13
Emil Gilels, piano
*****************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Symphonic Etudes (French: Études Symphoniques), Op. 13, is a set of études for solo piano by Robert Schumann. It began in 1834 as a theme and sixteen variations on a theme by Baron von Fricken, plus a further variation on an entirely different theme by Heinrich Marschner.

Composition

The first edition in 1837 carried an annotation that the tune was “the composition of an amateur”: this referred to the origin of the theme, which had been sent to Schumann by Baron von Fricken, guardian of Ernestine von Fricken, the Estrella of his Carnaval Op. 9. The baron, an amateur musician, had used the melody in a Theme with Variations for flute. Schumann had been engaged to Ernestine in 1834, only to break abruptly with her the year after. An autobiographical element is thus interwoven in the genesis of the Études symphoniques (as in that of many other works of Schumann’s).^[1]

Of the sixteen variations Schumann composed on Fricken’s theme, only eleven were published by him. (An early version, completed between 1834 and January 1835, contained twelve movements). The final, twelfth, published étude was a variation on the theme from the Romance Du stolzes England freue dich (Proud England, rejoice!), from Heinrich Marschner‘s opera Der Templer und die Jüdin, which was based on Sir Walter Scott‘s Ivanhoe (as a tribute to Schumann’s English friend, William Sterndale Bennett). The earlier Fricken theme occasionally appears briefly during this étude. The work was first published in 1837 as XII Études Symphoniques. Only nine of the twelve études were specifically designated as variations. The sequence was as follows:

• Theme – Andante
• Etude I (Variation 1) – Un poco più vivo
• Etude II (Variation 2) – Andante
• Etude III – Vivace
• Etude IV (Variation 3) – Allegro marcato
• Etude V (Variation 4) – Scherzando
• Etude VI (Variation 5) – Agitato
• Etude VII (Variation 6) – Allegro molto
• Etude VIII (Variation 7) – Sempre marcatissimo
• Etude IX – Presto possibile
• Etude X (Variation 8) – Allegro con energia
• Etude XI (Variation 9) – Andante espressivo
• Etude XII (Finale) – Allegro brillante (based on Marschner’s theme).

Other titles had been considered in September 1834: Variations pathétiques and Etuden im Orchestercharakter von Florestan und Eusebius. In this latter case the Études would have been signed by two imaginary figures in whom Schumann personified two essential, opposite and complementary aspects of his own personality and his own poetic world. ‘Florestan and Eusebius’ then signed the Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6; but only in the 1835 version of the Études symphoniques were the pieces divided so as to emphasize the alternation of more lyrical, melancholy and introvert pages (Eusebius) with those of a more excitable and dynamic nature (Florestan). In the 1837 version Florestan prevails.

Fifteen years later, in a second edition (Leipzig 1852), the 1837 title Études symphoniques became Études en forme de variations, two etudes (Nos. 3 and 9) that did not correspond to the new title (not being exactly variations) were eliminated, and some revisions were made in the piano writing.

The entire work was dedicated to Schumann’s English friend, the pianist and composer William Sterndale Bennett. Bennett played the piece frequently in England to great acclaim, but Schumann thought it was unsuitable for public performance and advised his wife Clara not to play it.

Later publication history

In 1861, five years after Schumann’s death, his father-in-law Friedrich Wieck published a third edition under the editorial pseudonym “DAS” (an acronym for Der alte Schulmeister). This edition attempted to reconcile the differences between the earlier two, and bore both the previous titles XII Études Symphoniques and Études en forme de variations.

On republishing the set in 1890, Johannes Brahms restored the five variations that had been cut by Schumann. These are now often played, but in positions within the cycle that vary somewhat with each performance; there are now twelve variations and these five so-called “posthumous” variations which exist as a supplement.

The five posthumously published sections (all based on Fricken’s theme) are:

• Variation I – Andante, Tempo del tema
• Variation II – Meno mosso
• Variation III – Allegro
• Variation IV – Allegretto
• Variation V – Moderato.

Orchestrations

Two sections, including the Allegro brillante, were orchestrated by Tchaikovsky, and have been recorded.^[3]

Related articles

• Valentina plays Chopin.

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1, in E minor, Op. 11 – Emil Gilels/Phylarmonia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy: Great compositons/performances

Chopin:  Piano Concerto No. 1,
in E minor,  Op. 11

  Kanaal van viool7

Emil Gilels: piano-Philadelphia Orchestra–Eugene Ormandy: conductor-(1967)
**************************************************************
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a piano concerto written by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first performed on 11 October of that year, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during one of his “farewell” concerts before leaving Poland.

It was the first of Chopin’s two piano concerti to be published, and was therefore given the designation of Piano Concerto “No. 1” at the time of publication, even though it was actually written immediately after what was later published as Piano Concerto No. 2. It is dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner.

The concerto is scored for solo piano, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, tenor trombone, timpani and strings.

Structure

It contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period:

1. Allegro maestoso
2. Romanze – Larghetto in E major
3. Rondo – Vivace in E major

Opinions of the concerto differ. Some critics feel that the orchestral support as written is dry and uninteresting. Others feel that the orchestral backing is carefully and deliberately written to fit in with the sound of the piano, and that the simplicity of arrangement is in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the harmony.

Both the first and second movements feature unusual modulations; in the opening Allegro, the exposition modulates to the parallel major, i-I, instead of the expected i-III. This tonal relation (i-III) between the second and the third theme finally occurs in the recapitulation, where an actual i-I modulation would have been expected, producing a different effect. The Romanze, although not strictly in sonata form, has its second theme of the exposition ascribe to the classical model of modulating to the dominant (I-V), and, when it returns, it modulates to the mediant (III).

Mily Balakirev re-orchestrated the concerto (using the same orchestral forces as Chopin employed), and also wrote arrangements for violin and orchestra as well as for piano solo of the second movement.

First movement

Chopin followed the structural example of concertos in the style of Jan Ladislav Dussek and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, with which he was familiar. He was interested in neither the Beethoven-style dialogue between orchestra and soloist, nor in a Weber-style interweaving of voices.

The first movement of the E minor concerto has three themes, which are introduced by the orchestra. The piano then plays the first theme (bar 139), followed by the lyric second theme (bar 155), accompanied by the main motif of the first theme in bass counterpoint. The third theme is in E major, introduced in the exposition by the orchestra and taken over by the piano (bar 222). The development begins in bar 385, with the piano opening with the second theme; the orchestra then develops the first theme. The recapitulation begins in bar 486 again with the orchestra playing its opening theme. The coda, whose bass trill paints a gloomy backdrop, requires utmost care by the pianist.

Related articles

• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
• Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Beethoven-Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major Op. 58 (Rudolf Serkin: piano-Philadelphia Orchestra-Eugene Ormandy)
• fabulous musical moments: Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in C Major, WoO 36, No. 3 – Amadeus Quartet
• Great Musical Moments: Rubinstein-Chopin-Piano Concerto No.2
• Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
• Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin: Concerto no. 2

Schumann: Études Symphoniques, Op. 13 (Emil Gilels, piano): great compositions/performances

Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]

   entre88teclas
– Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]
– http://www.entre88teclas.es/atdr/robe…

Related articles

• make music part of your life series: Robert Schumann Symphonic Studies (Etudes Symphoniques) op.13 (complete) Mehmet Okonsar,piano
• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1

fabulous musical moments: Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in C Major, WoO 36, No. 3 – Amadeus Quartet

[youtube.com/watch?v=tsJWfMkkDYo]

Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in C Major, WoO 36, No. 3 – Amadeus Quartet

In this 1969 recording, Christoph Eschenbach and members of the Amadeus Quartet — Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; and Martin Lovett, cello — perform the Beethoven Piano quartet in C major, WoO 36 No. 3. I recorded this video from a cassette I purchased back in the early 1970s, issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label (serial number 3335 174-10).

Allegro vivace (0:08)
Adagio con espressione (6:10)
Rondo: Allegro (12:57)

More Beethoven:

-Beethoven / Gilels / Szell, 1968: Piano Concerto in G major, Op. 58 – Complete – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXoxpW…
-Leonid Hambro, 1970: “Happy Birthday Dear Ludwig” – Variations in The Style of Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Uga3…
-Fur Elise – Wilhelm Kempff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DSjo…
-Fur Elise – Alicia de Larrocha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFMUEe…
-Beethoven / Artur Balsam, 1952: Piano (Violin) Concerto in D major, Op. 61a – Movement 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKCGw…
-David Oistrakh: Romance No. 2 in F major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 50: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4JEY…–
-Wilhelm Backhaus: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 – London, 1950s, Karl Böhm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSTwj…
–Emil Gilels, 1968: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 37 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeW79S…
-Emil Gilels, 1968: Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 15 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojL4Kx…
-Emil Gilels, 1983, Beethoven Klaviersonate Nr. 4 Es-dur, Op. 7 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfGQ1…
-Stephen Kovacevich, 1975: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 37, Movement 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYBM5z…
-Beethoven / Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio: Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 – Archduke (Allegro), 1966: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQAswV…
-Solomon, 1958: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 – Rondo – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Vi8m…
-Friedrich Gulda, 1954: Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (1) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RwDZs…
-Christoph Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in C Major, WoO 36, No. 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBp3jh…
-Artur Balsam: Piano (Violin) Concerto in D major, Op. 61 – Rondo, 1950s – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD8ul2…

Related articles

• Make Music Part of Your Life: Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in E flat Major, WoO 36, No. 1 – Amadeus Quartet
• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
• Beethoven / Gilels / Szell, 1968: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 ( Best musical shivers ever?)

GreatCompositions/Performances: Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]

[youtube.com/watch?v=OX7ezWwUSjg]

Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]

– Schumann: Études Symphoniques Op. 13 [Emil Gilels, piano]
– http://www.entre88teclas.es/atdr/robe…

 

Related articles

• Emil Gilels plays Balakirev “Islamey”
• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
• Beethoven / Gilels / Szell, 1968: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 ( Best musical shivers ever?)

Great Compositions/Performances: Emil Gilels plays Ludwig van Beethoven’s – Piano Sonata #31 in A-Flat, Op. 110

[youtube.com/watch?v=MGUsaSZazEw]

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata #31 in A-Flat, Op. 110

Composed in 1821.

I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo (@ 0:00)
II. Allegro molto (@ 7:29)
III. Adagio — Fuga (@ 9:49)

Performed by Emil Gilels.
Paintings by William Blake.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed in 1821. It is the central piano sonata in the group of three opp. 109–111 which he wrote between 1820 and 1822, and the thirty-first of his published piano sonatas.

The sonata is in three movements. The moderato first movement in sonata form, marked con amabilità, is followed by a fast scherzo. The finale comprises a slow recitative and arioso dolente, a fugue, a return of the arioso lament, and a second fugue that builds to an affirmative conclusion.

Composition

In the summer of 1819 Moritz Schlesinger, from the Schlesinger firm of music publishers based in Berlin, met Beethoven and asked to purchase some compositions. After some negotiation by letter, and despite the publisher’s qualms about Beethoven’s retaining the rights for publication in England and Scotland, Schlesinger agreed to purchase 25 songs for 60 ducats and three piano sonatas at 90 ducats (Beethoven had originally asked 120 ducats for the sonatas). In May 1820 Beethoven agreed, the songs (op. 108) already being available, and he undertook to deliver the sonatas within three months. These three sonatas are the ones now known as opp. 109–111.

Beethoven was prevented from completing all three of the promised sonatas on schedule by factors including an attack of jaundice; Op. 109 was completed and delivered in 1820, but correspondence shows that Op. 110 was still not ready by the middle of December 1821, and the completed autograph score bears the date December 25, 1821. Presumably the sonata was delivered shortly thereafter, since Beethoven was paid the 30 ducats for this sonata in January 1822.

Form

Alfred Brendel characterizes the main themes of the sonata as all derived from the hexachord – the first six notes of the diatonic scale – and the intervals of the third and fourth that divide it. He also points out that contrary motion is a feature of much of the work, particularly prominent in the scherzo second movement.

Related articles

• Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10 No 1; 22; 26; 81a – review
• Ten Thousand Miles – Day 28
• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1

Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Emil Gilels – Schumann – Symphonic Etudes, Op 13

Robert Schumann
Symphonic Etudes, Op 13

Emil Gilels, piano

Related articles

• Robert Schumann: Paganini of Piano
• Schumann: Klavierstücke Op 32; Brahms: Ballades Op 10; Chopin: Sonata in B Minor, etc – review
• Great Pianists Technique Collection

Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Emil Gilels – Mozart – Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat major, K 595 – Ovchinnikov

*****Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
*****Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat major, K 595

*****Emil Gilels, piano
*****USSR State Symphony Orchestra
*****Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, conductor

Related articles

• Mozart: Piano Concertos K.503 & K.466 – review
• Sviatoslav Richter, 1976: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1

Make Music Part of Your Life: Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in E flat Major, WoO 36, No. 1 – Amadeus Quartet

Make Music Part of Your Life:  Beethoven / Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in E flat Major, WoO 36, No. 1 – Amadeus Quartet

From David Hertzberg: “In this 1970 recording, Christoph Eschenbach and members of the Amadeus Quartet — Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; and Martin Lovett, cello — perform the Beethoven Piano quartet in E flat major, WoO 36, No. 1. I recorded this video from a cassette I purchased back in the early 1970s, issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label (serial number 3335 174-10). 

Allegro con spirito (6:53)

(Last year I uploaded this recording in three separate segments.)

More Beethoven:

Beethoven / Gilels / Szell, 1968: Piano Concerto in G major, Op. 58 – Complete – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXoxpW…

Leonid Hambro, 1970: “Happy Birthday Dear Ludwig” – Variations in The Style of Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Uga3…

Fur Elise – Wilhelm Kempff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DSjo…

Fur Elise – Alicia de Larrocha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFMUEe…

Beethoven / Artur Balsam, 1952: Piano (Violin) Concerto in D major, Op. 61a – Movement 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKCGw…

David Oistrakh: Romance No. 2 in F major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 50: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4JEY…

Wilhelm Backhaus: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 – London, 1950s, Karl Böhm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSTwj…

Emil Gilels, 1968: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 37 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeW79S…

Emil Gilels, 1968: Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 15 (Rondo) Beethoven – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojL4Kx…

Emil Gilels, 1983, Beethoven Klaviersonate Nr. 4 Es-dur, Op. 7 –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfGQ1…

Stephen Kovacevich, 1975: Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 37, Movement 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYBM5z…

Beethoven / Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio: Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 – Archduke (Allegro), 1966: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQAswV…

Solomon, 1958: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 – Rondo –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Vi8m…

Friedrich Gulda, 1954: Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (1) –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RwDZs…

Christoph Eschenbach, 1970: Piano Quartet in C Major, WoO 36, No. 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBp3jh…

Artur Balsam: Piano (Violin) Concerto in D major, Op. 61 – Rondo, 1950s – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD8ul2…

Stephen Kovacevich: Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 13, Movement 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGamRs…“

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In European classical music, piano quartet denotes a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments. Those other instruments are usually a string trio consisting of a violin, viola and cello.

Piano quartets for that standard lineup were written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák andGabriel Fauré among others. In the 20th century, composers have also written for more varied groups, with Anton Webern‘s Quartet, opus 22 (1930), for example, being for piano, violin, clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Paul Hindemith‘s quartet (1938) as well as Olivier Messiaen‘s Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940) both for piano, violin, cello and clarinet. An early example of this can be found in Franz Berwald‘s quartet for piano, horn, clarinet and bassoon (1819), his opus 1.^[1]

A rare form of piano quartets consist of two pianos with two players at each piano. This type of ensemble is informally referred to as “8 hand piano”, or “2 piano 8 hands”. 8 hand piano was popular in the late 19th century before the advent of recordings as it was a mechanism to reproduce and study symphonic works. Music lovers could hear the major symphonic works all in the convenience of a parlour or music hall that had two pianos and four pianists. Many of the popular works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák were transcribed for two piano eight hands. The majority of 8 hand piano music consist of transcriptions, or arrangements.

 

Ludwig van Beethoven (ⁱ/ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪ.toʊvən/; German: [ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən] ( listen); baptised 17 December 1770^[1] – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He also composed other chamber music, choral works (including the celebrated Missa Solemnis), and songs.

Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and Christian Gottlob Neefe. During his first 22 years in Bonn, Beethoven intended to study with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and befriended Joseph Haydn. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 and began studying with Haydn, quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. In about 1800 his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. 

The three piano quartets of WoO 36, written when the composer was 15, are among the most substantial of Beethoven‘s earliest compositions. They are so early, in fact, that the autograph score calls for “clavecin” instead of piano. The same manuscript gives “basso” instead of cello, with the pieces ordered C major, E flat major, and D major. The pieces were not printed until 1828 in Vienna, in the order E flat, D, and C. Material from the C major Trio was subsequently used in the Piano Sonatas, Op. 2, Nos. 1 and 3. These are the only works Beethoven composed for this ensemble, which he abandoned for the piano trio after moving to Vienna.

When he was a boy, Beethoven was musically influenced primarily by Christian Gottlob Neefe(1748-98), a composer and one of Beethoven‘s first music teachers, Abbé Franz Sterkel(1750-1817), one of the foremost pianists in Europe, and Mozart. Of these influences, Neefe’s was the most immediate and Mozart‘s the most profound. Each of the three quartets of WoO 36 draws on a specific violin sonata by Mozart, from the set published in 1781. The first ofBeethoven‘s quartets is modeled on Mozart‘s K. 379/373a, the second on K. 380/374f, and the third on K. 296. All three quartets of WoO 36 are in three movements.

The E flat major quartet is unusual in that its slow introductory movement jumps without pause into an Allegro con spirito in E flat minor. The E flat minor movement, in sonata form, features a tiny development, but contains some adventurous passages in the recapitulation. The final movement is a set of six variations in an ornamental style on a high-Classical-era theme with two eight-measure segments. Each of the segments is repeated, the first moving to the dominant and the second returning to the tonic. Beethoven follows this pattern in all of the variations, the fifth of which is in E flat minor. After the variations have run their course, the theme returns, only slightly rearranged, followed by a coda reminiscent of the first variation. Throughout the work, the piano dominates the proceedings.

Beethoven cast the D major quartet in a more traditional format, with a central slow movement enclosed by two fast ones. The opening Allegro is in sonata form and modulates to the dominant. Boasting a much larger development section than that of the E flat quartet, the movement touches on D minor before the recapitulation. The second movement, in F sharp minor, is in two parts and marked Andante con moto. The piano opens the concluding Rondo, a movement of youthful energy dominated by the keyboard part.

The quartet in C major is also in three movements, the second of which is in a relaxed F major. After a very brief development section, Beethoven begins the recapitulation on the subdominant, a procedure Schubert would use in several of his works. The second movement features some of the most compelling melodic passages of Beethoven‘s youth, although his tendency to double most of these robs them of some of their delicacy. Nearly all of the thematic material in the closing Rondo is concentrated in the piano part.

Despite the degree to which some aspects of the Piano Quartets, WoO 36, look forward to the mature Beethoven, they have little independent life as concert pieces that command interest for more than curiosity value

Great Compositions/Performances: Sviatoslav Richter plays Borodin “Au Convent” (from ‘Petite SUITE’)

 

GREAT PERFORMANCES: Emil Gilels “Symphonic Variations” by C. Franck

Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra
by César Franck
Emil Gilels, piano
Radio Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Karl Eliasberg, conductor
04.III.1951
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Symphonic Variations (Variations symphoniques), M. 46, is a work for piano and orchestra written in 1885 by César Franck. It has been described as “one of Franck’s tightest and most finished works”,^[1] “a superb blending of piano and orchestra”,^[2] and “a flawless work and as near perfection as a human composer can hope to get in a work of this nature”.^[3] It is a fine example of Franck’s use of cyclic unity, with one theme growing into various others.^[4] The piano and orchestra share equally in the continuous evolution of ideas.^[3] The work is in F-sharp minor (with the last movement in F-sharp major). Duration in performance is about fifteen minutes, and the instrumentation is piano solo and orchestra: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; four horns; two trumpets; timpani; and strings.^[5]

The work was dedicated to Louis Diémer, who on 15 March 1885 had premiered Les Djinns – a symphonic poem for piano and orchestra that brought Franck one of his rare critical successes. He promised to reward Diémer with “a little something”, and the similarly scored Symphonic Variations was the result.^[6] Franck started work in the summer of 1885, and completed the piece on 12 December.

In 1946 the choreographer Frederick Ashton used Franck’s work for a ballet, also called Symphonic Variations.

Ralph Vaughan Williams‘s Fantasia (quasi variazione) on the Old 104th Psalm Tune for piano, chorus, and orchestra (1949) has some similarities to the Symphonic variations, but it lacks Franck’s adherence to classical variation form.^[10]

 

Beethoven – Sonata No. 15 D-dur – Valery Afanasiev, piano

Не правда ли, необычное (как бы странное) исполнение (интерпретация)?
Конец сонаты в этом моём ТВ-рипе, к сожалению, обрезан (отсутствует).
==========================================

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Valery Afanassiev (Russian: Валерий Павлович Афанасьев, Valerij Pavlovič Afanasiev; born 8 September 1947) is a Russian pianist, writer and conductor.

 

 

Great Performances: David Oistrakh – Mozart – Violin Sonata No 32 in B flat major, K 454

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Sonata No 32 in B flat major, K 454

1 Largo – Allegro
2 Andante
3 Allegretto

David Oistrakh, violin
Paul Badura-Skoda, piano

 

Emil Gilels – Schumann – Symphonic Etudes, Op 13

Robert Schumann
Symphonic Etudes, Op 13

Emil Gilels, piano

 

Emil Gilels spielt Robert Schumann: Arabeske Op. 18

Ort: Moskauer Konservatorium 1977

 

Emil Gilels spielt Robert Schumann: Arabeske Op. 18

Ort: Moskauer Konservatorium 1977

 

Gilels plays Scarlatti – 7 Sonatas (live in Locarno, 1984)

Gilels could do no wrong.

Domenico Scarlatti 
[1] Sonata in D minor, K 141
[2] Sonata in F major, K 518      4:39
[3] Sonata in D minor, K 32       9:38
[4] Sonata in F minor, K 466   12:43
[5] Sonata in A major, K 533   17:45
[6] Sonata in B minor, K 27     20:50
[7] Sonata in G major, K 125   25:36

Emil Gilels (piano)
Recorded: September 25, 1984, live, Chiesa di San Francesco, Locarno, Switzerland

Emil Gilels plays Beethoven: Piano sonata nº21 in C major op_53 “Waldstein”

From Wikipedia:  Beethoven‘s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period beside the Appassionata, Op. 57, and Les Adieux, Op. 81a. Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven’s previous piano sonatas in its scope, the “Waldstein” is a key early work of Beethoven’s ‘Heroic’ decade (1803-1812) and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner.

Heinrich Neuhaus plays Beethoven Sonata No. 24 Op. 78 in F sharp Major (“À Thérèse”)

I. Adagio cantabile – Allegro ma non troppo
II. Allegro vivace 
rec. 1950   (the best interpretation of ” À Thérèse”)

Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus (Russian: Генрих Густавович Нейгауз, Genrikh Gustavovič Nejgauz; 12 April [O.S. 31 March] 1888 — October 10, 1964) was a Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German extraction. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964. He was made a People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1956. His pedagogic book The Art of Piano Playing (1958) is regarded as one of the most authoritative and most widely used treatments on the subject.
He was born in Elisavetgrad (known since 1939 as Kirovohrad), Ukraine. Although both his parents were piano teachers, he was largely self-taught. The biggest influences on his early artistic development came from his cousin Karol Szymanowski (tutored by another relative, Gustav Neuhaus) and especially his uncle Felix Blumenfeld on his visits to his sisters’ home. He also received some lessons from Aleksander Michałowski. In 1902 he gave a recital in Elisavetgrad with the 11-year-old Mischa Elman and in 1904 gave concerts in Dortmund, Bonn, Cologne and Berlin. Subsequently he studied with Leopold Godowsky in Berlin and from 1909 until the outbreak of World War I at his master classes in Vienna Academy of Music.

In 1914 Neuhaus started teaching in Elisavetgrad and later Tbilisi (Tiflis) and Kiev (where he befriended Vladimir Horowitz). After having been temporarily paralyzed, Neuhaus was forced to halt his concert career in the interests of his pedagogical activities. In 1922 he began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory where he was also director between 1935 and 1937. When the Germans approached Moscow in 1942, he was imprisoned as a “German spy” but released eight months later under pressure from Dmitri Shostakovich, Emil Gilels and others. His pupils there included Yakov Zak, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Anatoly Vedernikov, Tikhon Khrennikov, Yevgeny Malinin, Lev Naumov, Tamara Guseva, Ryszard Bakst, Teodor Gutman, Vera Gornostayeva, Alexander Slobodyanik, Leonid Brumberg, Igor Zhukov, Oleg Boshniakovich, Anton Ginsburg, Valeri Kastelsky, Gérard Frémy, Zdeněk Hnát, Rudolf Kehrer, Eliso Virsaladze, Alexei Lubimov, Aleksey Nasedkin, Victor Eresko, Vladimir Krainev, Evgeny Mogilevsky and Radu Lupu.

He died in Moscow in 1964.

Neuhaus was renowned for the poetic magnetism of his playing and for his artistic refinement. He was a life-long friend of Boris Pasternak, and Osip Mandelshtam expressed his admiration for Neuhaus’s playing in a poem. Stanislav Neuhaus, Heinrich’s son by his first wife Zinaida (who married Pasternak in 1931), was also a noted pianist; Stanislav Bunin is his grandson.
(Wikipedia)

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