The Concert Review of the Poet of the Piano: Celebrating Clara

The concert was called the Poet of The Piano: Celebrating Clara Schumann at 200.This took place at Founder’s Hall in Saint Francis college on October 28th, 2019. The music that was listed on the program can best be described as classical music from the romantic era in western classical music. Solely celebrating the great composition and works of this memorable female German pianist, some of her most highlighted pieces are played. The pianist and performer playing the pieces is Dr. Yelena Grinberg. An elegant playing female pianist born in Moscow, Russia whom started her piano studies from the age of five and took it well through a career and professional level.

Dr. Grinberg played three pieces during this concert. The first piece that was played was Selections from Soirées musicales, Op.6 composed by Clara Schumann. This included movements Mazurka in G Minor, Notturno in F major, and Polonaise in A Minor. The second piece that was played is Variations on a Theme composed by Robert Schumann. The third piece that was played was Romanace No. 1 in A Major, Op. 21 composed by Clara Schumann. The final piece that was played was Piano Sonata in G Minor also composed by Clara Schumann. This includes movements: Allegro, Adagio, Scherzo and Rondo. This concert is the celebration of some popular pieces composed by Clara Schumann with an additional piece by her husband Robert Schumann whom works she’d help edit and premiere.

Selections from Soirées musicales Mazurka in G Minor was ear capturing and sonically interesting from the beginning. With this being a solo piano performance the elegance and graceful way the notes of the piece flow together creating an emotional driven mood drew I the ears of audience members. The tempo stays slow and steady throughout the piece with some repeated melodies. Played in k of G minor. Various tonal ranges can be found played by the performer as beautifully emotions are created. Nocturne in F Major by Clara Schumann is a performed showing a style of music inspired by the night that conveys a dramatic crescendo filled mood. The melody flows throughout in a smooth legato sound. Dynamics are heard played very soft or what is described as pianississimo. The passionate connection to the piano through the elegant graceful performance is consistently heard and shown. This is played in the K of F major.

Piano Sonata in G minor was an enjoyable piece to listen to. Clara Schumann creates a equilibrium between vibrant passion and a balanced composed tone. The suspenseful mood starts with the Allegro quickly in the beginning. The piece is in a larger form and of a much longer length of the previous ones played. The Piano Sonata in G Minor was originally composed in 1841-1842. Allegro the first movement is in sonata form. The exposition ends at m. 89. The development section starts in m. 90 and ends at m. 122, followed by the recapitulation from mm. 123-192. Finally, the coda gives the conclusion to the movement from mm. 193- 219. Two themes are introduced in the exposition. The first theme (mm. 1-14) is in the key of G minor. The theme contains two contrasting ideas: (1) the homophonic theme is presented initially; (2) the polyphonic phrase that follows adds a lyrical element. The transition (mm. 14-26) leads the piece into the second theme and moves the key to E-flat major. The second theme consists of two parts as well: mm. 26-43 and 44-70. Compared to the first theme, the second theme is more complicated in terms of extensive use of chromaticism. The first part features scalar figures, while the second part is more developmental: it contains extreme amounts of chromaticism, and the harmonies are unstable. The tempo increases to a faster speed.

The development section features an arpeggiated triplet figure that has no connection with the themes of the exposition. Although it is a short development compared with its exposition, the development shows some interesting tonal relationships. The recapitulation has almost the same structure as the exposition. The second theme moves to the parallel major, G major with the brief tonicization of A minor in mm. 155-156 and mm. 159-161. In the lengthy coda section, Clara indulges in some virtuosic pianism before concluding with the closing-area material. This movement follows the traditional structure of a sonata form. However, Clara Schumann stretches the tonal scheme in some unusual ways, through a systematic use of chromatic mediant relationships, to break the shell of the old-fashioned sonata form established in the Classical Period.

The Adagio is the most lyrical one of all four movements. It uses the harmonic language that is frequently used in the Romantic Period, such as passing-tone diminished seventh chords and common-tone diminished seventh chords. These chords reflect the increasing use of chromatic harmonies in the Romantic Period, adding colors to a rather basic tonal melody. The song-like melody may indicate Clara’s growing interest in composing Lieder. The form of the movement is shown in the chart below: In contrast to the song-like nature of the Adagio, the Scherzo is a spritely dance. The articulation used in the Scherzo is mostly staccato with one exception in the left hand of the B section. In contrast, the trio that follows is more legato. The harmonic language of this movement is mostly traditional. The form of the movement is shown in the chart below This is the most virtuosic movement of the Sonata. It features perpetually moving sixteenth notes from the beginning to the end.

Some noticeable similarities can be found in the first movements of the Piano Sonata and Piano Trio. First, Clara used G minor as the key for both pieces. Second, the expositions, recapitulations, and codas are approximately the same length. Third, Clara uses scalar patterns in both movements frequently. Fourth, the thematic ideas used in the expositions are similar; for example, the second themes both contain two distinctive melodies while maintaining the same tonality. However, the tonal scheme in the Piano Trio is more conventional than that of the Sonata, as the second theme of the Trio moves to the relative major. The development section of the Piano Trio is forty measures longer than that of the Sonata.