Jan 14th, Schumann

Schumann - Fantasie in C major
played by David Wilde

The first thing that struck me as being original within this work was that it is divided into separate movements. This makes me wonder what there is about it that classifies it as a Fantasie and not as a Sonata. Half way through the second movement I became increasingly aware of certain pianistic techniques that Schumann was reusing consistently in order to romanticize the texture. Syncopation, trills, dotted rhythms and three-voice textures. These things on their own could easily be used in any 18th century piano piece, but the combination of these elements created a blurred symmetry which, when combined with major dynamic contrasts, made for an incredibly romantic sound. I should note the the chromatic-mediant progression which begins the third movement is very enjoyable to me.

At this stage in the course I find myself wondering what makes this music sound different from Beethoven or Schubert. The dynamics are not far removed from Beethoven's use. The drawn out use of one accompaniment style is not far removed from Schubert. The range utilized on the piano is also similar to any transitional-style sonata. I believe that the evolving personality of the work makes it distinctly romantic. The sounds are in no way predictable to me, the last movement being the slow/soft movement took me very much by surprise. This music is not about economy of resources, but rather about an ever changing idea and a courageous pursuit of it.

*The first theme of the final movement sounds just like something from Schubert, but I cant think of it...

Schumann Humoresque in B-flat Op. 20
played by Freddy Kempf

I. Einfach- The way this movement begins reminds me of a Bach prelude in an unmistakeable way. The remainder of the movement is not unlike Schubert to me, with the dance rhythms and unchanging accompanimental figure.
II. Hastig- This movement sounds quite jazzy to my ear. I would not hesitate to admit that the first page sounds to me a lot like Bolcom's Grateful Ghost Rag. This is the earliest example I have seen in my studies of a three-staff piano score. I have also noticed many similarities between this movement and the Fantasie in C major (the dotted rhythm syncopations and the ascending "swirly" alberti figuration). I quite enjoy the swirling section at the middle of this movement because of his use of the "la-so-do" motive, which to me sounds similar to Rachmaninoffs Etude-tableaux in C minor.
III. Einfach und zart- The beginning of his movement is impressive to me in Schumann's ability to use the theme also as the accompaniment, thus giving it an extremely unified sound. This movement sounds to me like an exercise in prioritizing melodic content. I am seeing in the Intermezzo another instance of an accompaniment that is of equal importance to the music as the melody, this intermezzo sounds like a definite precursor to pieces like Rachmaninoff's Moments Musicaux No. 4.
IV. Innig- This movement seems a bit short and unconsequential to me. This seems to me like a suite movement.
V. Sehr lebhaft- This reminds me of a Schubert Moments Musicaux. I enjoy the magnitude of it and the titled emotional changes. The fact that Schumann could maintain unity within the music which such drastic texture changes is very impressive.
VI. Zum beschluss- I once again appreciate Schumann's courage to choose a slow movement as his last, despite the fact that he goes for speed and chromaticism in the end to bring the work to an exciting close. I need to analyze the music more intently over time to figure out why it is that Schumanns use of chromaticism and romantic style still sounds like conservative and symmetrical music to me. I would have a very difficult time discerning some of these movements from late Beethoven sonatas if I were quizzed on them to be honest.