Robert Schumann

John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era. Sousa was born in Washington, D.C. on November 6, 1854, to John Antonio Sousa and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus. Born of both Portuguese and Bavarian ancestry. His father was Portuguese, and his mother of Bavarian ancestry. Sousa started his music education by playing the violin as a pupil of John Esputa and George Felix Benkert for harmony and musical composition at the age of six. At this time he also began studying voice, violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone, trombone and alto horn. He was found to have absolute pitch. When Sousa reached the age of 13, his father, a trombonist in the Marine

On his return to Hamburg he ventured, on 21st September 1848, to give a concert on his own account for the first time. The programmed included the adagio and tondo from a concerto by Rosenhain, Dohler?s fantasy on William tell, a serenade for the left hand alone by his master, Marxsen, a study by the fashionable Henri Herz, a Bach fugue, and his own Variations on a Folksong. He early showed as love for the folksong of his fatherland, which he used as themes for some remarkable variations a musical form, by the

Music in the nineteenth century saw the creation and evolution of new music genres such as the piano miniature, short expressive piano pieces. During this time raw emotion and expressionism prevailed as the focus of music during this described “Romantic” movement. Robert Schumann’s “Grillen”, from Fantasiestucke, Opus 12 was written in July 1837 contains several virtues of music during his time period. Schumann’s uses various qualities in his music such as form, pitch, rhythm and meter, and texture so express different attitudes within his music. These qualities convey music that characterizes romanticism as very emotional, expressional, and dramatic. Schumann’s piano miniature remains a supreme example of the Romantic style in its uses

I have chosen these two cycles to analyse because they represent the two side of one story, the masculine and feminine points of views of love.

I also enjoyed listening to this piece Fantasiestucke, Opus 88. This piece was played in Romanze and duet, and was performed by the pianist Luiza Borac, violinist Vladimir Dyo, and cellist Yves Dharamraj. After a deep sesearch about this piece I find out that the work was came at a happy time in the composer's life: Schumann had married his beloved Clara Wieck in 1840 after her father had made many attempts to thwart their matrimonial plans. The four pieces, or movements, comprising the trio are "Romanze," "Humoreske," "Duett," and Finale. During this program I feel that the "Romanze" opens in a tentative, mysterious mood, but then turns warmly Romantic, the piano dominating throughout. The "Duett" that follows, marked Slowly and with feeling, is for cello and violin, the piano providing a soft, running accompaniment to their passionate singing. The Finale, designated in March tempo, exhibits a heroic character at the outset, but turns lighter and more playful in succeeding variations. The main theme returns and the subdued, lively ending are sheer magic in its feathery nonchalance, its graceful instrumental exchanges,

Ever since his father began teaching him as a child to play the violin and clavier, any keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord, Ludwig van Beethoven has been amongst the most renowned and influential composers of music. Despite the harsh punishments and mistreatment Beethoven suffered through while practicing with his father, he still managed to become a “prodigy” at a rather young age, having his first public recital at around seven years old. After his first recital role music played in his continued to grow, and soon after dropping out of school to pursue music “full time” he published his first composition.

The first piece we had heard was Noonday Witch, which was the piece I chosen to write; because of this piece showed the various pitches as the story was flowing; I felt like that I was experiencing the story about how the mother and son’s struggles. Noonday Witch was written by Antonin Dvořák’s (1841-1904), a Czech nationalist composer. This piece debuted in 1896 (European Studies Blog). In 1892, Dvořák moved to America and his music inspired many Americans (PowerPoint). This is a program music, which is instrumental music that associates with stories, poems, ideas and scenes (Unsupported Browser).

To continue, Clara’s husband Robert Schumann was unable to compose music after a few years. This is the time that she stepped to make both of their music. Eventually, Robert was diagnosed with depression and had to be taken to a mental asylum. This specific event was very heartbreaking to her and her family. Clara Schumann

Clara Josephine Wieck was born on September 13, 1819 in Leipzig, Germany into a musical family. Her father, Friedrich Wieck, was “a first-rate piano teacher.” Her mother, Marianne Tromlitz, was a soprano and one of Wieck’s piano students. Clara Wieck’s parents divorced when she was five years old, leaving her and her four brothers in her father’s custody. Tromlitz married Adolf Bargiel and moved to Berlin, but she still kept in contact with Clara through letters.

He was forced to return to Bonn only a few days after arriving in Vienna because his mother was very ill. In this time, Beethoven was the only source of support for his family since his mother and younger sister died, and his father was lost in the world of alcoholism. As for his profession, he was at a standstill, so he just continued teaching other children. In 1789, he played the viola in the court orchestra and was introduced to numerous operas (Jones, n.d.).

Schumann left school in 1828, due to family pressure (Par 3). He entered the University of Leipzig as a law student (Par 3). Instead of studying law while in Leipzig, he studied song composition, improvisation at the piano, and attempted to write a novel (Par 3). Schumann studied piano with a teacher, Fredrick Wieck for a few months (Par 3). While studying with Wieck, Schumann met Wieck’s nine-year-old daughter, Clara. Whom he will fall in love with years later (Par 3).

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart was a composer in his own right as well as a poet whose works were set by other composers. Die Forelle and An mein Klavier, also set by Schubert, are among his most famous poems. Schubart was

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

The depression however, did not last and Beethoven continued carrying on as a young musician. In 1790, Beethoven, just 19 years old, received a remarkable honor of composing a musical memorial for the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. With no reasons known, this piece was never played. “However, more than a century later, Johannes Brahms discovered that Beethoven had in fact composed a ‘beautiful and noble’ piece of music entitled ‘Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II.’ It is now considered his earliest masterpiece” (“Biography”). Just under two decades old, this man was pronouncing himself in the world. As Mozart said before, he was giving the world amazing music to talk about.

During the Romantic era the piano was improved and it made it easier to play notes quicker, a great help in Gretchen am Spinnrade where sixteenth notes are played constantly throughout the piece. It is possible to hear which composer wrote the piece, due to the melody being very lyrical, one of the characteristics of Schubert’s music, which makes Gretchen am Spinnrade individualistic and self-expressed (“OnMusic”). The piece modulates to many different keys, helping to build tension and express emotion, even though many Romantic composers build tension with chromatics and unstable chords.