Download Virtuosi

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
• Polish pianist and composer
• Relationship with novelist
“George Sand” (Aurore Dudevant)
• Personal Style
– Preferred salon performances
– Short pieces that would often
evoke either a mood or a dance
• Polish dance forms (based on the meter and dance
feel, not melodies)
• Mood music: nocturnes, preludes, etudes, etc.
– Characterized by either grace and elegance, or
explosions of virtuosity
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
• Hungarian pianist and composer
• Teens- moved to Paris to perform
– Age 19 – witnessed Paganini and
became a recluse
– Worked on technique to become
the “Paganini of the piano”
• A new type of virtuoso – overwhelming talent,
wowed audiences, one of the first musical
“sex symbols”
– My 10 fingers have the power to reproduce
harmonies created by 100 performers”
– His compositions were intense, loud, thick, and
often considered vulgar
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
• Led Bach revival
– St. Matthew’s Passion
• Violin Concerto
– One of the most commonly
performed
– Reversed and altered
‘double exposition’
– Cadenza-like passages
through-out