The Women and the Man

Woman in the Romantic Era

Clara Schumann was a star musician during the 19th century, but more importantly, she was a woman when her gender was not seen as equal to men. Along with raising eight children and continuing to compose, her opinion on composition was highly regarded.

Schumann was one of five children in the Wieck household. Her father, Friedrich, was a piano salesman and pedagogue. Schumann showed that she was much stronger in music than any of her siblings. With the tutelage of her father and some of the most respected teachers of the time, Schumann became one of the most acclaimed pianists of the time. Her piano playing took her all over Europe and she continued a vibrant performing career for over sixty years.

Schumann’s work the Konzertsatz in F minor was a sketch of the first movement to her second piano concerto. I found the piece well put together despite that not being all her work; the pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer completed her sketch and orchestrated it for full orchestra.

The work overall is romantic and not just because it was composed during the Romantic period. This concerto uses the orchestra equally to the soloist, a new idea that Schumann exploited during the time. The interaction between the orchestra is interwoven throughout the movement. The virtuosity demonstrated during this piece gives us an idea of how her piano playing was during the time, and she must have indeed been a great pianist because this piece does not sound like it would be an easy one to perform. I personally like the work; it caters to most of the things I like to listen to in classical music. For example, the close discussions between the orchestra and the soloist I find quite pleasing. During the middle of the first movement, the orchestra and the soloist speak back and forth in a call and answer response with a change in timbral devices, using loud dynamics. In addition, I find that the beautiful lyrical playing of both the orchestra and the pianists are emotionally moving. The harmonic progression seems a bit on the more somber side, but we can expect when the work is in F minor? I feel that this work has not made it into the Canon for obvious reasons, the main reason being that she did not complete the work herself, but its status was not helped by the role of women at the time -- women’s works where just not considered to Canonic material.

Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix’s sister, was a pioneer amongst women during this era trying to pursue a compositional career on her own. Many of the women of the time (Clara Schumann being the exception) were discouraged to publish their compositions. At the time, Fanny was heavily discouraged in publishing her compositions because of her brother Felix, who at the time had a large influence on her music. Felix and Fanny’s relationship was an interesting one. According to Grove Music, Felix encouraged her to compose but discouraged her from seeking publishers, because he was jealous about her compositional skill and did not want to have to compete with her in the realm of composition.

The majority of Fanny Mendelssohn’s compositional output was in the genres of Lieder and piano pieces. The Piano Trio in D minor, op. 11 was one of the few small chamber works she did compose. It is likely that her Piano Trio op. 11 was composed during a time in her life when she would conduct small groups from the piano. I find this piece to not be particularly interesting. It does not have the virtuosity of Beethoven’s trios and because of this, it lacks interest that other small chamber groups have. This work is akin to many other piano trios, because they have the roles of the instruments on an equal level. The cello is definitely an accompaniment role and not one of great importance like the violin. Because of the cello not having an important role in the trio, this work is not as intriguing as the trios of other composers.

Fanny Mendelssohn’s lack of creative nature throughout the Piano Trio is the reason that she has not made it into the Canon. Mendelssohn was a woman during a man’s era and despite her persistence to find publishers, I think this indubitably had an effect on her becoming an extremely well known composer from the time.

Louise Farrenc is another important woman of the Romanic Era. Farrenc came from generations of artists and she herself had a gifted mind towards music. At an early age, she was versed in the art of composition and was considered a well-educated theorist. Her formal studies began at the Paris Conservatory when she was 15 years old. She was one of the women that actually studied composition and orchestration at the Conservatory. Many of the other female musicians of the time only performed. On the other hand, she carved out a career not only in performing but became a successful pedagogue and composer.

Her Clarinet Trio in E-flat Major was one of her few chamber works. I find that this work is much more interesting than that of the Piano trio in D minor, because of the different timbral changes between the clarinet and the cello versus the violin and the cello. This work is an interaction between the roles, which are more equal than those of the previous piece. Like many of the other trios of the period, her composition removed the amateur musician from the composer’s idea. These parts are much more difficult than could be expected for an amateur to perform.

Farrenc’s trio has not made it in to the standard repertoire because of her lack of focus on pursuing a compositional career. In the later part of her life, her center of attention was on becoming a pedagogue not on being a composer, and because of this she was over looked. This work is a pleasant and it is amusing because of the catchy and balanced formal ideas, but I do not think that it competes with the complexity of the Brahms or Beethoven trios.

Marie Grandval, born to a wealthy family, began her formal training at an early age. She composed extensively and she studied with Camille Saint-Saëns. She composed mainly for opera and choral music. Deux pieces is scored for oboe, cello and piano, and this is a great tone color because it adds intensity to the harmony especially when the oboe is in its upper tessitura. I love the virtuosity of the oboist on this CD. I think that the cello and the oboe create a gorgeous timbral effect. It is a wonder that many other people did not think to write for this combination of instruments.

Women played a great role during the development of music during the Romantic period. I understand why more of their works are not better known considering at the time it was frowned upon to publish women’s works, and during this time most of the important musicians and pedagogues were men, who did not take women to seriously in music. Another reason that women were not more prominent voices during this time was because of the role that women were to play. At this time women where to be modest and homey, if they were to gain fame and fortune this would separate them from the social normality. Historians are beginning to look back to what the effects these women had on the repertoire of the time. Without the interpretations of Schumann or the persistence of Mendelssohn, it would be interesting to see the difference of how music would have evolved.

Isaac Albéniz

People of the mid 19th century knew of a man who was a virtuoso pianist and a talented composer; this man was Isaac Albéniz. A native of Spain, he, like Mozart, was a child prodigy, performing his first concert at the age of four. At the age of seven, he was admitted for examination to the Paris Conservatory. He did not, however, receive admission at this time because he was deemed too juvenile for the conservatory. He eventually grew up and was forced to transition from a child prodigy to mature composer. By the time he was in his mid 20s, he was an acclaimed composer in Madrid. Albéniz became a known composer for many reasons, one of which was the amount of different influences that he received throughout this travels. One of the works that he composed that demonstrated his nationalistic ideals is the Suite Española, no. 1 and no. 2. The works are overall in the same form and are listenable only in moderation because of the constant formal repetition.

He traveled to and settled in Barcelona where he made the acquaintance of Felipe Pedrell, who many historians consider the father of Spanish music. This time in Barcelona proved to be one of the most crucial times for Albéniz, because his encounters with Pedrell would influence his compositional style for the rest of his life. Pedrell coached and educated Albéniz on different compositional techniques, such as traditional harmonizations and various ornamentations. A few years later, Albéniz left Barcelona and traveled back to his native area of Spain.

At this time in history, nationalism was an overwhelming compositional concept and Albéniz, like many other composers of the time, was right in the middle of it. After listening to Albéniz’s music, one can hear his Spanish heritage. This Spanish composition style also could be a result of the time he studied with Felipe Pedrell. The Suite Española, no. 1 and no. 2 are outstanding examples of his nationalistic compositional styles. Throughout these works, one can hear all the different locations that Albéniz traveled to and the different Spanish characteristics of each region. The constant arpeggiations and the written out ornamentations directly reflect the different regions that Albéniz had visited and Pedrell’s teachings.

“Granada,” from Suite Española, no. 1, is not only the title of this movement, but it is also a city and a region of Spain. After listening to this movement, Albéniz must have considered the people of Granada to nonchalant, an impression caused by the strong tonal centers and the constant repeated chords in the right hand. One could definitely realize the Spanish heritage of this movement because of the rhythmic stability. He also has rhythmic stability in the more virtuosic “Aragon,” one the later movements, but it still resembles the “Granada” because of the use of the repeating theme during both movements.

From the interesting people, coming out in the opening chromatic descend, to the thick chordal structure, Albeniz is describing Barcelona, which is located in Cataluña. “Cataluña” is the second movement in Suite Española, no. 1. After residing in Barcelona for many years, he did what he could to describe to the listener his experiences with the people there. This movement has much more chromatisism than any of the other movements in the suite.

One of the most famous cities in all of Spain, Sevilla (the title of the next movement in the suite), was an exciting place for Albéniz. With the meter being in three-four, this movement feels more like a dance than any of the other movements. It, like many of the other movements, has strong tonal center, which is emphasized by the many block chords. The style however changes drastically in the meno mosso section. This section brings to mind a somber feel. The section modulates to the minor and the articulations change to molto legato and sonoro. It also reminds me of some of Bach’s sections in his inventions with all of the parallel thirds running throughout the 16th notes. The following movement, the “Cadiz,” also has many of the same characteristics that the “Sevilla” had, such as the three-four time signature and the strong tonal centers.

The Asturias is another autonomous community in Spain that Albéniz most likely visited. The “Asturias” movement is by far my favorite out of all of the movements. The first and last sections of this work are continuous running 16th notes. This movement brings to mind Schubert’s Der Erlkönig, which also has horse like rhythmic motifs.

In last two sections of the Suite, the “Castilla” and “Cuba,” he uses his experiences with parlor playing to aid in bringing the listener to these locations. These last two last movements can be envisioned in a parlor. The use of the nationalistic melodies in these two movements or the lackadaisical ornamentation causes one to think that he was composing this work on the fly. He might have composed both of these movements while he was trying to make a living performing in the parlors of Spain.

All of the movements were similar. In my opinion, Albéniz had a formula for his piano composition: he started in some sort of a major key and after completing the first major section, he slowed down and modulated into a minor section. This minor section was usually legato and much slower. Then towards the end of this section, he did an accelerando and proceeded to recap the first section. This resulted in almost all of the movements of this work being ternary in form. I found that after a while this similarity gets frustrating. I really enjoyed his music for the first two or so works, but after the constant form repetition, I needed a break.
I did enjoy all of Albéniz’s movements of this work; the only problem with them was I could only take them in moderation. From lack of variety in his style to his predictable tonality changes, his compositions have not made it into the Canon. A second strike that he had against himself was the time at which he was performing. He was fighting against some of the most advanced pianists of the time. Both of these strikes against Albéniz I believe are the reasons that he is not more known or in the modern Canon.