Evocations of water at the piano: From Schubert to Liszt and Ravel.
Item
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Title
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Evocations of water at the piano: From Schubert to Liszt and Ravel.
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Identifier
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AAI3187399
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identifier
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3187399
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Creator
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Lewis, Alexandra M.
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Contributor
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Adviser: L. Michael Griffel
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a number of factors converged to create a unique repertoire for the piano that sought to evoke water. Integral to this was the evolution of the piano and its emergence as a principal force in shaping the period's aesthetic. By tracing the lineage from Schubert through Liszt and Ravel, one may observe how water imagery developed a musical language of its own.;Informing these works are two of the nineteenth century's chief preoccupations: Nature and realism. Composers' responses to these led to the creation of a unique repertoire that effectively expresses water with its fascinating qualities and multifaceted character. In addition, this music manifests some of the larger developments of the century (the use of increasingly coloristic harmony, more nontraditional tonal relationships, innovative textures, exotic scales). This body of music can therefore be seen to reflect an evolution froth the Classical ideal, with drama generated primarily by abstract formal relationships, to the Romantic and, later, the Impressionist idioms, in which extramusical elements inspired musical narrative and a freer, more fluid soundworld became the norm.;Crucial to the creation of water music was the rapidly evolving pianoforte, which possessed a more responsive action, greater dynamic range, and a lusher, more liquid sonority than its predecessors. The emergence of this new instrument coincided with the first flood of virtuoso pianist-composers. The imaginations of many of these composers---with their increasing predilection for virtuosity---were ignited by the piano's everbroadening palette. In turn, their demands spurred piano manufacturers to greater technological advances.;This study traces the origins of water music for the piano from Schubert's inventive song accompaniments, through Liszt's song transcriptions, songs, and piano solo works, to the piano works of Ravel. These composers span the entire Romantic period through Impressionism. Each had a profound effect on his successor, and nowhere is this more apparent than in their piano works that contain water imagery, a body of music that includes the seminal "Les jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este" and Jeux d'eau , which in many ways stand at the crux of the period's aesthetic.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
