Fanny Mendelssohn

The fifth and final section of Bach’s work is overall the shortest and the most contrasting of all of the other parts. This section is also almost entirely in the tonic major; which is most commonly used as the representation of a final resolution. During the last section, the pedal is used to its greatest extent which covers the full range present on the organ.

Chopin’s prelude in Dᵇ is from the romantic period, which began in the late 18th/early 19th century. Composers like Chopin were at the forefront of this change in music, developing the writing and playing of solo piano, orchestral and opera works and how music was performed. There were many composers from this era that were very well known, especially in their later years, or after their deaths: Liszt, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Strauss are just a few of the better known ones. There was a lot of experimentation at the start of the period therefore changes in how composers wrote and played melodies, harmonies and rhythms

Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, is a two-part musical composition for organ, written by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), a German composer, and musician of Baroque period, is known for its magnificent sound, classic, state-of-the-art rhythm having methodological command, with artistic splendor and intellectual gravity. Bach's abilities as an organist were respected throughout Europe during his lifetime but at that time he was not recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19thcentury. Nowadays he’s regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. (Blanning, 2008)

When Bach was in Arnstadt when he was younger, the organ ordinarily lacked a 16-foot register on the keyboard; consequently, it sounds an octave lower than the normal 8-foot register. Accordingly, in order to create the effect, Bach used octave doubling; consequently, he continued the resounding effect of the opening bars; conversely, there is no octave doubling in any of Bach’s later organ works; moreover, the fugue sounds furious with its uninterrupted series of fast notes. Also, Bach felt embarrassed about his crude style, and he put the work aside; consequently, Bach lost a lot of his other early organ work completely. Conversely, the Tocca and the Fugue has an unstructured form, and that means that keyboard players can let their imagination run wild; as a result, Johann Gottfried Walther described the Toccata as a long piece in which both hands alternate, sometimes accompanied by long pedal notes. For this reason, Bach connected the Toccata’s freedom to the stylus phantasticus; moreover, stylus phantasticus was popular in North Germany from the seventeenth century; in addition, people described this style of composition as “freed from all constraint”. Moreover, it’s remarkable that Bach paired the toccata with the prelude and the fugue because it’s subject to strict compositional rules; nevertheless, the fugue derives its thematic material from the preceding part.

Composers since the early classical era have used sonata form to express through music ideas which are at once complex and unified. This form contains a variety of themes and permutations of these themes, but is brought together into a comprehensible whole when these excerpts reappear. Beethoven, in the first movement of his Piano Sonata Opus 2 Number 3 utilizes this form to its full potential, modifying the typical structure in his characteristic way.

2. Name two important writers of literature (not musicians) from the Classical Period. ( 1 point)

He was of significance to his pupils and contempory musical connoisseurs in a way that set the foundation for the rest of Western Art music to follow. For many Bach is like coming home, in fact, “…in old Bach there is always something astonishing, and, what is the main thing, there is always something to be learned from

Seen today as one of the most influential and inspirational composers Bach’s magnificence and brilliance was not truly recognized until a hundred years after his death. Bach raised the bar for how music was composed and played. He strove for perfection in his pieces. This all started from his childhood upbringing, be it his Lutheran faith or the tragedy that stuck when he was merely ten. These parts of his childhood shaped the master pieces of Bach’s work.

He began to write preludes for organs but did not cover large- scale organization, when two melodies interact at the same time. A few years after playing for the church, Bach made a visit to Dieterich Buxtehude in Lubeck. This visit reinforced Bach’s style in music with the works he has made.

By now Bach had high ideals for the church music of Germany. He began organizing the rather poor facilities of Muhlhausen; he started by making a large collection of the best German music available, including some of his own. The first result of these efforts was his cantata ‘Gott ist mein Konig’. This, incidentally, was the only one of Bach’s cantatas to be published during his lifetime. This success gave Bach the hope to put in a long and detailed report, proposing a complete renovation and improvement of the organ. The council agreed to carry the proposals out, and Bach was given the job as supervising the work, for not only now was he a brilliant player, but he became an expert on constructing organs.

Who is the composer (full name and dates)? List three points about his life and environment.

(2) Schubert was one of the most prominent composers in the Romantic era. He was the first composer to live off only the money he got from composing. He wrote many compositions during his short lifetime, especially art songs (“OnMusic”).

Chopin’s third sonata is a masterwork filled with pianistic elements, daring harmonies, experimental form, and a wealth of expressivity. In this four-movement work, references to other Chopin compositions and influences from fellow composers are found. At the same time, there is a progressive element; it looks forward to the heights which would be achieved by Chopin and later composers.

Already rising up to becoming a great icon, Chopin played a major role in the art of composing piano pieces. Chopin created his own original technique that made his music so ingenious. He composed the “Trois Nouvelles Etudes”, the three new studies. These studies showed his various new techniques that later influenced the keyboard, and music itself (Hueneker 140). Chopin also constructed his own original pieces by including different genres of music into one composition. For example, he would combine a polonaise and a mazurka, two different Polish dances, one being slow while the other is lively. Frederic Chopin also influenced composition with his genius use of the piano. He used the instrument to its fullest effect to create a beautiful and expressive piece (Politoske, Daniel T.). His creativity was prominently brought out this way as he was able to produce melody and harmony (Samson 4). As a matter of fact, Chopin reached fame for his various piano compositions rather than his orchestral pieces (Politoske, Daniel T.). His arrangements utilized the piano in the most unique way which is why other musicians and his audiences admired his music. Arthur Rubinstein stated that, “…all possible expressions are found in his compositions and are all sung by him upon his instrument,” (Hueneker 91). Even