ARTH 25 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Art Of Europe, Papillons, Mazurka
7 May 2020
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Document Summary
Interest in piano music after the middle of the century eclipses even orchestral music; the number of symphonies composed declines dramatically. Improvements in piano construction and design result in greater brilliance of tone and stability of tuning. The action becomes more sensitive and permits more difficult music to be performed; this is mirrored by a great interest in virtuosity on the part of concert performers, which pushes the manufacturers to improve the mechanism of the piano. Smaller instruments become features in middle-class homes while the larger; grand pianos are true concert instruments. This was the era of the pianist-composer (such as chopin, liszt, brahms and a host of lesser known performers0 and is a distinctive aspect of the romantic era. New genres and forms emerge, especially short pieces with descriptive titles, as well as stylized dance pieces such as the waltz, mazurka, and the polonaise. Numerous free forms came into being with no predetermined formal structure such as the romanza.
