Lectures

 Enrique Granados one of the best-known composers of Spanish piano music was born in Catalonia, (Lleida) Spain in 1867, and died in 1916 when his ship was torpedoed while crossing the English Channel.  

Although best known as a composer of piano music, Granados composed music for other mediums and was a renowned teacher who founded an academy in Barcelona that still exists. 

Although he was born in Catalonia, he along with his other contemporaries was inspired by the cultures of various parts of Spain, especially southern Spain known as Andalucia, and incorporated these features into his music. Much of his piano has also been transcribed for the guitar, the quintessential Spanish instrument. 

 Claude Debussy (1862-1918), is considered one of the most significant composers of the 20th century who developed a new harmonic language and a unique sound world that influenced many composers during the threshold of the 20th century and beyond. 

Although he did not like to be labeled the Impressionist in music, his work nevertheless embodies ideals of Impressionist art, and his music shares many stylistic features with the parallel movement.

Works include: selected songs, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Nuages, La Mer and works for piano, La Cathédrale engloutie (The Submerged Cathedral), and L’isle Joyeuse.  

Clara Wieck Schumann, the wife of Robert Schumann was a child prodigy pianist and became the chief exponent of Robert Schumann’s piano music. Although she is best known in that role, Clara Schumann was a fine composer herself, composing piano music, chamber music, and vocal music. She also became a well-known teacher who trained many pianists who came to the US and, who in turn, taught many pianists. 

The lives of Robert and Clara Schumann are some of the best-known accounts of 19th-century composers. Robert Schumann first met Clara Wieck in about 1829, when he began studying piano with Frederick Wieck, Clara’s father who was also her own piano instructor. Although Robert was nine years her senior, he developed an attraction for the young lady when he would go to the Wieck household for his piano lesson. 

Frederick Wieck did everything to stop the relationship and correspondence, as he did not want anything to distract from Clara’s career, since she was already touring Europe at a young age. This did not deter Robert Schumann, and the couple continued to correspond and eventually married in 1840. They had several children some of whom died in infancy, and Clara Schumann developed a special friendship with Johannes Brahms. She outlived her husband forty-years and became a well-known teacher. Many pianists traveled to Europe to study with her. 

One of the greatest composers in the history of music, Beethoven was also a great pianist and composed a tremendous output of music for solo piano, chamber that included piano, and orchestral music. His ability to compose his last works while being deaf best exemplifies his genius. 

Beethoven inherited a great tradition from his two most famous predecessors, Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although his early works express that heritage, Beethoven embraced German Romanticism in music in his own unique way, and paved the way for composers following this tradition.

Examples of his piano music, chamber music, and orchestral music will be heard.