Clara Schumann - Piano Trio in G minor
Context
Sonority
Melody
Structure
Texture
RMT
Tonality
born in Leipzig in 1819
known as a concert pianist in her lifetime
reputation has growth as a composer in recent years as her works have been rediscovered
father was a piano teacher
The Piece
The piano trio was one of the most important forms of chamber music
instruments have equal roles
not particularly virtuosic - could be played by amateurs and professionals
double-stopping
loud dramatic moments
fill texture in quiet moments
violin: mainly 2 octave range
cello uses low and upper range
cello:
pedal notes support harmony
mid-range to outline inner parts
high register written in treble clef
piano:
melodic and accompaniment textures
typical of Romantic period: but more intimate and less virtuosic than Beethoven
melodic material played in single octave
mainly middle range used
piano material in lower register as to not mask the string parts
sonata form
Discursive form
Homophonic
PAH
Polyphonic
Pedal textures
Harmony
allegro moderato - small poco rit but tempo is otherwise unchanged
4/4 in places with rapid harmonic rhythm
feels more like 2/2
themes have distinct rhythmic character
anacrusis (1c and d)
dotted rhythms (1c) and syncopation (2a)
lyrical melodies and ties over the bar line
lively rhythms and quaver passage work
syncopations lose the sense of pulse and metre
tonal and diatonic
functional progressions
minor and major chords in root or first inversion
frequent cadences
traditional cadences: perfect and Ic-V-I
more complex chords = Romantic
chromatic harmony eg. diminished 7th, augmented 6th, dissonant extensions (dom min 9) and suspensions
secondary dominant
chromatic bass
circle of fifths
WL Beethoven Septet in Bb
sonata form
WL - Beethoven Septet in Bb
similar time period
chamber music
use of melodic contrast - contrasting characters between main ideas
First subject
Second subject
8 bar theme
2 4-bar phrases, conversational
2-bar ideas
b45-47 syncopated descending stepwise ending with an appoggiatura
b47-49 repeated 'chattering' quavers beginning on the sixth quaver of the bar, against a melodic dim7 in the violin
development section mainly focuses on the first two bars of the first subject
the falling fifth is expanded and contracted to fit the surrounding harmonic scheme
G minor
sonata form involves key contrast
Exposition: first subject G min (tonic), second subject Bb major (relative major)
Development: flowing set of modulations (Eb/F minor/G minor/C minor/F minor)
Recapitulation: first subject G min (tonic), second subject G major (tonic major)
brief passing modulations such as D major in the second subject of exposition and B major parallel point in recap
Coda: returns to G minor (tonic)
modulations prepared conventionally, with perfect cadances
use of tonic and dominant pedal to strengthen tonality
return to home key often abrupt
ideas are passed around ('conversational')
therefore textures change frequently
common from the beginning
b1-8 violin accompanied by piano
WL - Beethoven Septet in Bb
melody passed about
WL - Beethoven Septet in Bb: similar instruments
WL - Brahms, Piano Quintet in F minor (Mvt 3)
discursive themes
WL - Brahms, Piano Quintet in F Minor (Mvt. 3): dotted rhythms in the second subject
appears when b1-8 repeats as texture is augmented by violin and cello countermelodies
less common but seen in development section: close imitation and interplay
dominant pedal in cello
dominant pedal in violin and cello 2 octaves apart
left hand uses double octaves
block chord textures
doubling between hands - octaves and 6ths
exciting rising and falling arpeggio figures
WL - last movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata: exciting rising and falling arpeggio figures
accompaniment textures: rocking quavers, offbeat chords in RH against on beat LH, arpeggio textures
Classical composers (Mozart and Haydn) had established this form and early Romantic composers (Beethoven and Schubert) developed it
written in 1846
German Romantic composer, pianist and teacher
WL - Brahms, Piano Quintet in F minor (Mvt 3)