Category: Piano History - Page 3

This Week in Piano History: Happy World Piano Day!

Written By Curtis Pavey

THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we are celebrating World Piano Day and the accomplishments of all pianists!

The piano was invented over three hundred years ago by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian builder. His ingenious design from 1700 used hammers inside the action of a harpsichord to create a wider dynamic range. Cristofori’s instrument ignited the interest of keyboard makers throughout Europe including Gottfried Silbermann who created a similar model that eventually got the approval of Johann Sebastian Bach. Although today’s piano is quite different from its prototype, the legacy of Cristofori’s invention is undeniable.

In celebration of the many pianists who have brought inspiration and joy to the world since the inception of the instrument, today we are highlighting several pianists who have been featured in Piano Magazine over the years. We hope you enjoy reading about these excellent musicians and hearing their thoughtful music making.

Martha Agerich on Respect and Love for the Music

According to many pianists of today, Martha Argerich is frequently cited as the greatest living pianist. Originally from Argentina, Argerich began studying piano at an early age with Vincenzo Scaramuzza and later Friedrich Gulda, Stefan Askenase, and Maria Curcio. She rose to prominence in her adolescent years after capturing the top prizes at both the Chopin and the Busoni International Piano Competitions at the age of 16. Known especially for her performances of Chopin, Ravel, Liszt, and Prokofiev, Argerich has toured around the world and has performed with every major orchestra.

In 2015, Argerich sat down with Leonne Lewis for an interview with Piano Magazine in which she recounted her experiences with her teacher Friedrich Gulda, her thoughts on piano teaching, the importance of exploring different styles, and more. You can read it here.

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Gabriela Montero on Improvisation and Advocacy

Hailing from Venezuela, Gabriela Montero, described by Argerich as “a wonderful pianist and improviser,” is known for her creative performances mixing both classical repertoire and her improvised reactions. After winning the third prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1995, her performing career took off. Besides her work as an artist, Montero is committed to ensuring human rights around the world and was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015. In an interview with Piano Magazine, Montero described her experience with improvisation as a personal practice until she was encouraged to share it with the world by Martha Argerich.

In the interview, she states that improvisation “has become more and more a tool of storytelling, and reporting what’s going on in the world, and issues that I want to speak about. It has always been there. It’s the first thing I do when I sit down at the piano to say hello.” You can read more about Montero’s thoughts about her musical upbringing and her exciting concert schedule in the interview, accessible here.

Spencer Myer on Unique Practice Methods

Spencer Myer, is an active recitalist and performer around the world. Myer, who studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, launched his career after winning the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianist Association and the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He was recently appointed Associate Professor of Music (Piano) at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music In 2019, Myer presented a workshop on practicing at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (now NCKP: The Piano Conference).

In an interview with Barbara Fast, Myer told Piano Magazine (formerly Clavier Companion) that his interest in unique practice methods began while preparing for international piano competitions. One of his unique practice methods to secure memory involves occasionally lifting one’s hands from the piano keyboard while playing and “mentally continuing to play.” Myer’s practice methods and tips for developing pianists are discussed fully in this article.

Sean Chen on The Role of Piano Teachers

Another winner of the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association, Sean Chen, was catapulted onto the world’s stage after his third prize win at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University, Chen is a Steinway Artist. In addition to his performance career, Chen is also passionate about computers, math, and science.

Chen describes his musical upbringing along with his decision to enroll in Juilliard over Harvard and more in this interview with Piano Magazine (formerly Clavier Companion).

Sources

O’Brien, Michael. “Cristofori, Bartolomeo.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 31 Oct. 2022. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.uc.idm.oclc.org/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000006835.

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This Week in Piano History: The Premiere of Mendelssohn’s G Minor Piano Concerto, October 17, 1831

Written By Curtis Pavey

THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we celebrate the premiere of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 25, premiered by the composer himself on October 17, 1831 in Munich. The concerto, made famous by Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt (and later ridiculed by Hector Berlioz!), became incredibly popular with pianists throughout Europe for its brilliant passagework.

The Background

The concerto is composed as a three-movement work, but all of the movements are connected together without breaks. Mendelssohn lifted the structure of this piece from Weber’s Konzertstück, which inspired many other compositions of the time, including Liszt’s famous Piano Sonata in B Minor. Many other works of the standard concerto repertoire include a similar linking of movements, including Beethoven’s last two piano concerti, both of which connect the middle and last movements together. Among the many technical challenges presented in this piece are its use of light passagework, octaves in both hands, arpeggios up and down the piano, and of course, playing beautiful, lyrical melodies.

Popularity and Criticism

The concerto was a success at the premiere, but Franz Liszt’s performance in Paris was what catapulted the piece into the repertoire of many great European pianists of the time. The piece became so popular that Hector Berlioz, who was not a fan of the piece, felt the need to criticize it publicly. After hearing the piece performed numerous times in Paris, Berlioz mocked the piece in a fictional story about an Erard piano. In the story, Berlioz remarked that the instrument had to be destroyed after it was used to perform the concerto too many times. Berlioz wrote:

“M. Erard arrives, but try as he will, the piano, which is out of its mind, has no intention of paying him any heed either. He sends for holy water and sprinkles the keyboard with it, but in vain—proof that it wasn’t witchcraft but merely the natural result of thirty performances of [Mendelssohn’s G minor] concerto. They take the keyboard out of the instrument—the keys are still moving up and down by themselves—and they throw it into the middle of the courtyard next to the warehouse. There M. Erard, now in a fury, has it chopped up with an axe [sic]. You think that did it? It made matters worse. Each piece danced, jumped, frisked about separately—on the pavement, between our legs, against the wall, in all directions, until the warehouse locksmith picked up this bedeviled mechanism in one armful and flung it in the fire of his forge, finally putting an end of it…Such a fine instrument!” – Hector Berlioz

The Music

The concerto begins with a foreboding orchestral introduction in G minor lasting just seven bars before being interrupted by the pianist with a fiery set of octaves and dazzlingly fast passagework. The stormy quality of the opening theme persists with surging scales and impressive virtuosity, which sets the stage for the tranquillo second theme in B-flat major. The second theme is lyrical yet unstable with surprising shifts in harmony. The remainder of the first movement contains extensive and challenging passagework for the performer, allowing them to fully demonstrate their virtuosic finger technique. Before the end of the first movement, the music takes a dramatic turn with a brass fanfare announcing a modulation to E minor and a piano interlude that leads directly to the middle movement.

The E major harmonies of the second movement seem otherworldly—a place of repose amidst the drama of the first and final movements. Here Mendelssohn’s brilliant lyrical style, made popular in his Songs Without Words, appears in full bloom with cascading scales and filigree decorating this expressive movement.

The final movement begins with brass repeating their fanfare from the first movement; this version, however, leads us to G major. The brilliant passagework of the final movement is seemingly endless, but Mendelssohn surprises the listener with a quote from the first movement—the second theme reappears before a final show of virtuosity from the pianist in the coda that ends this exciting concerto.

Check out this recording of Yuja Wang performing the concerto with the Verbier Festival Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur.

This Week in Piano History: The Birth of R. Nathaniel Dett, October 11, 1882

Written By Curtis Pavey

THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we celebrate the birth of composer and virtuoso pianist, R. Nathaniel Dett, who was born 140 years ago on October 11, 1882. Though born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Dett spent most of his life in the United States. A prodigious child, Dett received piano lessons when he was young and quickly developed interests in musical composition. At a benefit concert at the Cataract Hotel, a man named Frederic H. Goff heard Dett’s musical talents and offered to pay for his tuition for study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Upon his graduation from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1908, Dett was the first Black American to receive the school’s Bachelor of Music degree, double majoring in piano and composition. His study did not end there – Dett received a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1932 and he pursued lifelong musical study, including summer study with Arthur Foote at Harvard and with Nadia Boulanger in Fountainbleau.

Although Dett was influenced by a number of composers and performers, Dett’s compositional journey truly began upon hearing Dvorak’s “American” Quartet in a concert at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Dett recollected about the performance: “Suddenly it seemed I heard again the frail voice of my long departed grandmother calling across the years; and in a rush of emotion which stirred my spirit to its very center, the meaning of the songs which had given her soul such peace was revealed to me.”¹ From this point forward, Dett strove to incorporate spirituals and other African American folk songs into his music.

Besides his musical compositions and work as a performing artist, Dett was a passionate writer. As a child, Dett’s mother required him to recite poetry, which developed his lifelong love of writing. Multiple collections of his work have been published including his poems in a work called The Album of the Heart. His essay, The Emancipation of Negro Music, won a literary prize during his study at Harvard University in 1920. Dett’s love of poetry shows up in his musical publications, many of which include short excerpts from various poems.

Dett’s piano music consists of six suites largely in the Romantic style. His most popular suite, In the Bottoms, was a success in his concert tours and was further popularized by pianist and composer, Percy Grainger, who recorded the final movement, Juba, in 1945.

The legacy of R. Nathaniel Dett is undeniable. He taught at multiple colleges and held guest professorships at institutions such as Northwestern University. Dett received multiple honorary doctorates including from Howard University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In addition, he inspired generations of future composers with his brilliant examples of preserving African American folk music and spirituals.

Footnotes:

“About Nathaniel Dett,” accessed October 2, 2022, http://nathanieldett.org/.

Want to learn more about influential black composers? Check out these resources:

ONLINE COURSE: Unsung Heroes in Piano Pedagogy: 20 Pieces by Black Composers to Use in Your Studio Now, led by Leah Claiborne
ARTICLE: “Hidden Figures” in Piano Pedagogy: Leveling Piano Music by Black Composers, by Leah Claiborne
ARTICLE: Reclaiming an Alternative History: New Piano Music of Florence Price, by Asher Armstrong

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