This Is My Programme Notes, Please Have A Look, hope someone can proofread it for me, many thx Options

[binkyhk]

Programme Notes




Toccata no. 3 in D, BWV 912 J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in l685. He is the son of J. Ambrosius, director of the musicians of the town of Eisenach in Thuringia. For many years, members of the Bach family had held positions such as organists, town instrumentalists, or Cantors, and the family name enjoyed a renowned fame of various musical talents.

As a keyboard virtuoso and great composer, Bach earned himself a unique historical position by the end of 18th century. Among the works that he compused for keyboard instruments in his early years, the 7 toccatas hold a significant status. The term toccata is the name given since the 17th century to keyboard compositions for harpsichord or organ in which the touch and excution of the performer is shown in the dexterity of its running passages and full chords with sections in imitative style (fugues). The toccata presented today, BWV 912, was composed in Leipzig, 1843.

Bach’s toccatas are generally in four sections. However, in this piece, Bach tried to show some variations of his toccata form. The middle adagio is in three sections with a fugal middle section. Only a few intermediate bars separate the fugures of the C minor toccata. The G major toccata is in three-movement concerto form.


Sonata in A flat Major, Op. 26 Beethoven (1770–1827)
Andante con variazioni
Scherzo & Trio: Allegro molto
Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe
Allegro

Beethoven’s sonata in A flat major was published and performed in 1800–01 during what is regarded to as his early period. At this time Beethoven was living in Vienna, supported by many generous patrons including Prince Karl Linchnowsky, to whom this sonata and Sonata in C minor (‘Pathétique’), Op. 13 is dedicated.

Beethoven’s early sonatas were written not only for artistic but also for practical causes. As a performing pianist, Beethoven always wanted to push the limits of the ‘forte piano’ which was, at the time, still undertaking vigorous development, having only been in popular use for around sixty years. Many of Beethoven’s sonatas worked to the boundaries of the tonal range of the instruments of the day, and made full use of the dynamic range available, characteristically combining loud and soft sections to further emphasize the contrast.

It has been argued that composers like Haydn and Mozart do not scruple to name their works “sonatas” even though no movements in the whole piece are developed in a form beyond melodic sections. However, this piano sonatas, and others such as op. 27, no. 1 and op.54 are more exceptional to Beethoven than other earlier composers. Instead of building up an entirely sectional dance-movement, the rondo section of this piano sonata is in the full Rondo form. The ancestry of works of this kind is not to be required in the suite-forms.

This first movement of the sonata consists of a theme and 3 variations. There are three strains in the first theme. The first strain is a balanced 16 bar tune, 4+4 answering the half-close at 8th car by full close at 16th. The second strain starts with a sequence in 2 bar steps responding supertonic by tonic. With interrupted close leading to 2-bar echo with complete close, the piece returns to third strain (bar 27-34). Variation 1 interlaces with a smooth arpeggio figure that fits into the structure of the theme. The melody then appears in left hand at variation 2. Variation 3 starts in tonic minor. The bass is written as a climb through 6 steps of the minor scale plus a 7th step to F natural.

The second movement, in scherzo and Trio form, gives relief from the psychological tension of the first. The bar-rhythm is this movement is written for the ingeniously unprejudiced audience. The zforzandos in bar 1 and 5 stopped the audience to consider the 1st bar as unaccented. In the trio in Db section, the music starts off with eight bar stain in Db, closing into is dominant, and is repeated. The following sixteen bars, 4+4 on rising bass, passing to subdominant and theme in 8 bars to tonic close, and then is repeated.

The Military funeral march of the third movement is written in tonic minor (Ab minor), with a Trio in major, obviously representing salutes fired over the grave. The music is drastically enharmonic from bar 16-18, startling on the pianoforte. Beethoven soon afterwards organized this march for some incidental music to a play in an orchestra.

The last movement of the sonata is in full rondo form. The main theme lies in the first six bar theme answering sequence which consists of four semiquaver notes. This theme is repeated throughout the whole piece, disguising itself as an inverted figure. The music modulates to different keys all the way through : (tonic) Ab major-> (dominant) Eb major->(tonic) Ab major-> (relative minor) C minor-> tonic. After the recapitulation of first episode in Tonic, the music ends in a coda (b 154-169).


“The Man I love” and “I Got Rhythm” from Gershwin (1898-1937)
George Gershwin at the Keyboard

Gershwin is an American composer, pianist, and conductor. He started his career as a song plugger in New York’s Tin Pan Alley; by the time he was 20 he had established himself as a composer of Broadway shows, and by the age of 30 he was America’s most famous and widely accepted composer of concert music.
As Gershwin himself told an interviewer around 1929, ‘Ordinary harmonies, rhythms, sequences, intervals and so on failed to satisfy my ear’. He and his contemporaries enriched the diatonic idiom they inherited with modulations, melodic chromaticism and unexpected plunges into remote harmonic territory, excursions quickly followed by returns to more familiar terrain, for phrases seldom exceeded eight bars in length.
The Man I Love was first performed in 1924, The Man I Love, in which the pervasiveness of one melodic motif is offset by shifting harmonies, employs a tonal idiom and a flexible beat similar to Jerome Kern’s earlier songs and to operetta. This piece is a slow, romantic song of a type often called a ballad. It is a manifestation Gerwhsin’s the mastery of song types introduced by others in his early years.
Another famous song that Gershwin wrote is I got rhythm (1930). The piece is dominated by syncopation. It was first introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Girl Crazy. From the early 1930s into the 1950s, I got rhythm was widely performed and recorded by popular singers and pianists, by swing bands and ‘pops’ orchestra leaders, and by jazz performers. Moreover, its harmonic framework, separated from Gershwin’s melody and supplied with new ones under such titles as Cotton Tail, Little Benny, and Rhythm-a-ning, served as the most common 32-bar structure in the jazz tradition: the so-called ‘rhythm changes’.

[mrbouffant]

Just some initial thoughts as I scanned thru....

> Johann Sebastian Bach was born in l685. He is the son of J. Ambrosius
you have letter l instead of 1 in 1685... his father was also called Bach, not just J. Ambrosius

> As a keyboard virtuoso and great composer, Bach earned himself a unique historical position by the end > of 18th century.
Not really, he was largely forgotten until Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion in the 1820s

> bars separate the fugures of the C minor toccata.
fugues not fugures, or did you mean figures

> The G major toccata is in three-movement concerto form.
That's nice, but aren't you writing about the D major toccata?


> Beethoven (1770–1827)
Did he not have a first name?

> The ancestry of works of this kind is not to be required in the suite-forms.
What does this mean? I can't make sense of it.

> 4+4 answering the half-close at 8th car by full close at 16th

8th car? 8th bar? 16th what?

> Gershwin is an American composer, pianist, and conductor.

I think he's dead, so the past tense is probably best here..

I got rhythm (sic) is probably best mentioned in quote marks and with proper capitalisation if that is how it is printed in the actual score i.e. "I Got Rhythm"

[katyjay]

My comments in bold. I've reviewed rather than proof-reading as I don't think it's ready for proofing yet! General observation - need more detail on the Bach work, and on the Gershwin ones too. Too much emphasis on the Beethoven. And as the language style is different in each paragraph, are you sure you haven't inadvertently used someone else's words?

Toccata no. 3 in D, BWV 912 J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in l685. He is (you mean was, he’s a bit dead right now) the son of J. Ambrosius, director of the musicians of the town of Eisenach in Thuringia. For many years, members of the Bach family had held positions such as organists, town instrumentalists, or Cantors, and the family name enjoyed a renowned fame of various musical talents.

As a keyboard virtuoso and great composer, Bach earned himself a unique historical position by the end of 18th century. Among the works that he compused for keyboard instruments in his early years, the 7 toccatas hold a significant status. If you're going to say that, which ones and why?

Too much biography

The term toccata is the name given since the 17th century to keyboard compositions for harpsichord or organ in which the touch and excution of the performer is shown in the dexterity of its running passages and full chords with sections in imitative style (fugues). The toccata presented today, BWV 912, was composed in Leipzig, 1843. Unlikely, he’d been dead for 93 years by then.

Bach’s toccatas are generally in four sections. However, in this piece, Bach tried to show some variations of his toccata form. The middle adagio is in three sections with a fugal middle section. More of this stuff – why is it interesting and worth your time playing it? Only a few intermediate bars separate the fugures of the C minor toccata. The G major toccata is in three-movement concerto form. Which one are you playing? Why is this stuff relevant?

Sonata in A flat Major, Op. 26 Beethoven (1770–1827)
Andante con variazioni
Scherzo & Trio: Allegro molto
Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe
Allegro

Beethoven’s sonata in A flat major was published and performed in 1800–01 during what is regarded to as his early period. At this time Beethoven was living in Vienna, supported by many generous patrons including Prince Karl Linchnowsky, to whom this sonata and Sonata in C minor (‘Pathétique’), Op. 13 is dedicated. Not too bad, except the grammar.
Beethoven’s early sonatas were written not only for artistic but also for practical causes. Yes, the most practical cause is to earn a living! But I don’t think that’s what you mean. Unneccesary comment given the next sentence . As a performing pianist, Beethoven always wanted to push the limits of the ‘forte piano’ which was, at the time, still undertaking vigorous development, having only been in popular use for around sixty years. Many of Beethoven’s sonatas worked to the boundaries of the tonal range of the instruments of the day, and made full use of the dynamic range available, characteristically combining loud and soft sections to further emphasize the contrast.

It has been argued that composers like Haydn and Mozart do not scruple to name their works “sonatas” even though no movements in the whole piece are developed in a form beyond melodic sections so what?. However, this piano sonatas, and others such as op. 27, no. 1 and op.54 are more exceptional to Beethoven than other earlier composers. Exceptional is an absolute, you can’t have more exceptional. Instead of building up an entirely sectional dance-movement, the rondo section of this piano sonata is in the full Rondo form. The ancestry of works of this kind is not to be required in the suite-forms. What does this sentence mean in English?
This first movement of the sonata consists of a theme and 3 variations. There are three strains in the first theme. The first strain is a balanced 16 bar tune, 4+4 answering the half-close at 8th car by full close at 16th. The second strain starts with a sequence in 2 bar steps responding supertonic by tonic. With interrupted close leading to 2-bar echo with complete close, the piece returns to third strain (bar 27-34). Variation 1 interlaces with a smooth arpeggio figure that fits into the structure of the theme. The melody then appears in left hand at variation 2. Variation 3 starts in tonic minor. The bass is written as a climb through 6 steps of the minor scale plus a 7th step to F natural. That’s more like it!

The second movement, in scherzo and Trio form, gives relief from the psychological tension of the first. The bar-rhythm is this movement is written for the ingeniously unprejudiced audience. The zforzandos in bar 1 and 5 stopped the audience to consider the 1st bar as unaccented. In the trio in Db section, the music starts off with eight bar stain in Db, closing into is dominant, and is repeated. The following sixteen bars, 4+4 on rising bass, passing to subdominant and theme in 8 bars to tonic close, and then is repeated. Good
The Military funeral march of the third movement is written in tonic minor (Ab minor), with a Trio in major, obviously representing salutes fired over the grave. The music is drastically enharmonic from bar 16-18, startling on the pianoforte. Beethoven soon afterwards organized this march for some incidental music to a play in an orchestra. OK
The last movement of the sonata is in full rondo form. The main theme lies in the first six bar theme answering sequence which consists of four semiquaver notes. This theme is repeated throughout the whole piece, disguising itself as an inverted figure. The music modulates to different keys all the way through : (tonic) Ab major-> (dominant) Eb major->(tonic) Ab major-> (relative minor) C minor-> tonic. After the recapitulation of first episode in Tonic, the music ends in a coda (b 154-169). Fine


“The Man I love” and “I Got Rhythm” from Gershwin (1898-1937)
George Gershwin at the Keyboard

Gershwin is was, surely, he’s been dead for 68 years! an American composer, pianist, and conductor. He started his career as a song plugger in New York’s Tin Pan Alley; by the time he was 20 he had established himself as a composer of Broadway shows, and by the age of 30 he was America’s most famous and widely accepted composer of concert music.
As Gershwin himself told an interviewer around 1929, ‘Ordinary harmonies, rhythms, sequences, intervals and so on failed to satisfy my ear’. He and his contemporaries enriched the diatonic idiom they inherited with modulations what does this mean?, melodic chromaticism and unexpected plunges into remote harmonic territory, excursions quickly followed by returns to more familiar terrain, for phrases seldom exceeded eight bars in length.
The Man I Love was first performed in 1924punctuation?, The Man I Love, in which the pervasiveness of one melodic motif is offset by shifting harmonies, employs a tonal idiom and a flexible beat similar to Jerome Kern’s earlier songs and to operetta. This piece is a slow, romantic song of a type often called a ballad. It is a manifestation Gerwhsin’s the mastery of song types introduced by others in his early years.
Another famous song that Gershwin wrote is I got rhythm (1930). The piece is dominated by syncopation what do you mean dominated by? It was first introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Girl Crazy. From the early 1930s into the 1950s, I got rhythm was widely performed and recorded by popular singers and pianists, by swing bands and ‘pops’ orchestra leaders, and by jazz performers. Moreover, its harmonic framework, separated from Gershwin’s melody and supplied with new ones under such titles as Cotton Tail, Little Benny, and Rhythm-a-ning, served as the most common 32-bar structure in the jazz tradition: the so-called ‘rhythm changes’.

[tbjhilton]

Among the works that he compused for keyboard instruments in his early years, the 7 toccatas hold a significant status... The toccata presented today, BWV 912, was composed in Leipzig, 1843

As katyjay rightly points out, had Bach been dead 93 years in 1843. However, in addition to this, assuming you mean 1743 (when he was indeed at Leipzig), then these are not EARLY works. Bach lived from 1685 to 1750, so anything written in 1743 is a late work rather than an early one.

I can't recall the date of the work in question, so I have no idea if it is early or late, but what you have at the moment is a contradiction - it is either early, or 1743, not both.

[ajm3212]

I'm not sure if your analysis goes beyond the understanding of a generalist audience. Will telling them anything about the tonic minor help their understanding of the music? If you can explain clealy why it does keep it.

Remember you must know and understand and be able to elaborate in detail exactly what you write about. If some of the writing is unclear they will ask you to explain and clarify it.

[AnotherPianist]

Firstly you really need to understand that you can't simply copy the notes from someone else. This section is a blatant reworking of YAP's programme notes from the site:

Beethoven’s sonata in A flat major was published and performed in 1800–01 during what is regarded to as his early period. At this time Beethoven was living in Vienna, supported by many generous patrons including Prince Karl Linchnowsky, to whom this sonata and Sonata in C minor (‘Pathétique’), Op. 13 is dedicated.

Beethoven’s early sonatas were written not only for artistic but also for practical causes. As a performing pianist, Beethoven always wanted to push the limits of the ‘forte piano’ which was, at the time, still undertaking vigorous development, having only been in popular use for around sixty years. Many of Beethoven’s sonatas worked to the boundaries of the tonal range of the instruments of the day, and made full use of the dynamic range available, characteristically combining loud and soft sections to further emphasize the contrast.

Beethoven’s ‘Pathétique’ sonata was published in 1799 during what is referred to as his early period. At this time Beethoven was living in Vienna, supported by many generous patrons including Prince Karl Linchnowsky, to whom this sonata is dedicated.

Beethoven’s early sonatas were written not only for artistic but also for pragmatic reasons. As a performing pianist, Beethoven sought to push the boundaries of the ‘forte piano’ which was, at the time, still undergoing rapid development, having only been in popular use for around sixty years. Many of Beethoven’s sonatas worked to the extremes of the tonal range of the instruments of the day, and made full use of the dynamic range available, characteristically adjoining loud and soft sections to further accentuate the contrast.

The music modulates to different keys all the way through : (tonic) Ab major-> (dominant) Eb major->(tonic) Ab major-> (relative minor) C minor-> tonic. After the recapitulation of first episode in Tonic, the music ends in a coda (b 154-169).

This section is dry and technical, not the sort of thing a generalist audience wants to read when coming to a concert. Instead perhaps say why you feel the modulations are important to point out and what the effect on the overall structure of the music is.

This first movement of the sonata consists of a theme and 3 variations. There are three strains in the first theme. The first strain is a balanced 16 bar tune, 4+4 answering the half-close at 8th car by full close at 16th. The second strain starts with a sequence in 2 bar steps responding supertonic by tonic. With interrupted close leading to 2-bar echo with complete close, the piece returns to third strain (bar 27-34). Variation 1 interlaces with a smooth arpeggio figure that fits into the structure of the theme. The melody then appears in left hand at variation 2. Variation 3 starts in tonic minor. The bass is written as a climb through 6 steps of the minor scale plus a 7th step to F natural. That’s more like it!

The second movement, in scherzo and Trio form, gives relief from the psychological tension of the first. The bar-rhythm is this movement is written for the ingeniously unprejudiced audience. The zforzandos in bar 1 and 5 stopped the audience to consider the 1st bar as unaccented. In the trio in Db section, the music starts off with eight bar stain in Db, closing into is dominant, and is repeated. The following sixteen bars, 4+4 on rising bass, passing to subdominant and theme in 8 bars to tonic close, and then is repeated. Good
The Military funeral march of the third movement is written in tonic minor (Ab minor), with a Trio in major, obviously representing salutes fired over the grave. The music is drastically enharmonic from bar 16-18, startling on the pianoforte. Beethoven soon afterwards organized this march for some incidental music to a play in an orchestra. OK
The last movement of the sonata is in full rondo form. The main theme lies in the first six bar theme answering sequence which consists of four semiquaver notes. This theme is repeated throughout the whole piece, disguising itself as an inverted figure. The music modulates to different keys all the way through : (tonic) Ab major-> (dominant) Eb major->(tonic) Ab major-> (relative minor) C minor-> tonic. After the recapitulation of first episode in Tonic, the music ends in a coda (b 154-169). Fine

This section here is a paraphrase (and differs from the original mainly in grammatical errors) of Tovey's analysis of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Taken from pages 89-90 of Tovey's 'Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas'. You cannot simply copy from this text: it is very well known, any piano diploma examiner will no doubt have read countless attempts to plagiarise this in programme notes and will spot it instantly (plagiarism results in disqualification from the exam). I cannot stress enough that you must write this yourself. I am no ABRSM examiner, but I spotted instantly this bit as not being your work, purely from the difference in writing style, and knew exactly where to look (popular text) to find where the original would be. It's not something that's easy to get away with; nor something you should be trying to get away with.

He and his contemporaries enriched the diatonic idiom they inherited with modulations what does this mean?, melodic chromaticism and unexpected plunges into remote harmonic territory, excursions quickly followed by returns to more familiar terrain, for phrases seldom exceeded eight bars in length.

I quote this from Katyjay's post because what she's said is exactly what an examiner will say to you, this bit stands out like a sore thumb as being taken from somewhere else, I've not looked for a source but I'd bet money that it is. Much of the notes on the Gershwin seem to be in this same style, I suspect it may be a paraphrase of another source.

The Bach notes do seem more like your own work, although as has been pointed out earlier, we need more descriptive writing about the piece itself. As far as I'm aware there is no standard text for this, you will have to look at and analyse the piece yourself. Say what happens at each stage, and how it's important to the development of the piece. Maybe mention something too about the piece being written for organ and the differences between playing it on an organ and on a piano.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you really must do the work yourself, copying from others is simply not an option. It is quite obvious when it has been done. Good luck with your exam, and when you have got a version of the notes that you've done yourself then do post them and we will proof read them to help you with the English and point out any mistakes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif).

[katyjay]

Just to let you know: I have reported my own post earlier in this thread. AP has identified that it contains a major breach of copyright, and I have asked the moderators to review the situation.

[mrbouffant]

What? Why?

[binkyhk]

What? Why?

OK, what I am going to do this week, is to write a less technical programme notes. I will try to deviate the style that I adapted from all the related reference and hopfully produce something more original....


Then you guys can have a look again..

I am sorry to write some craps....I feel guilty to do so.

What? Why?

OK, what I am going to do this week, is to write a less technical programme notes. I will try to deviate the style that I adapted from all the related reference and hopfully produce something more original....


Then you guys can have a look again..

I am sorry to write some craps....I feel guilty to do so.

What? Why?

OK, what I am going to do this week, is to write a less technical programme notes. I will try to deviate the style that I adapted from all the related reference and hopfully produce something more original....


Then you guys can have a look again..

I am sorry to write some craps....I feel guilty to do so.

What? Why?

OK, what I am going to do this week, is to write a less technical programme notes. I will try to deviate the style that I adapted from all the related reference and hopfully produce something more original....


Then you guys can have a look again..

I am sorry to write some craps....I feel guilty to do so.

BTW, will I get penalised for the work pasted in the forum in the exam?
Please answer me.


This world is going crazy.

[mrbouffant]

BTW, will I get penalised for the work pasted in the forum in the exam?
Please answer me.

Do you mean will you be penalised for posting your programme notes on the forum? Doubtful, if they were truly your work, you can do with them what you wish. If you mean will you get penalised for pasting in YAP's programme notes and passing them off as your own, then yes you may well get penalised...

My advice is read all the source material, let it soak in, put them away and then write your notes straight out of your head. If you want to lift a particular quote or block of information from someone else's work, then quote it!

Good luck!

[binkyhk]

BTW, will I get penalised for the work pasted in the forum in the exam?
Please answer me.

Do you mean will you be penalised for posting your programme notes on the forum? Doubtful, if they were truly your work, you can do with them what you wish. If you mean will you get penalised for pasting in YAP's programme notes and passing them off as your own, then yes you may well get penalised...

My advice is read all the source material, let it soak in, put them away and then write your notes straight out of your head. If you want to lift a particular quote or block of information from someone else's work, then quote it!

Good luck!

my question is, truly, if some of the work in my programme notes is orginally from YAP's, will I get penalised in the exam by posting it in the forum?

Do you see what I mean?

I am going crazy now...

[mrbouffant]

I think binky has learned his/her lesson, I think the question is will they get penalised for pasting YAPs copyright material on the forum. The short answer to that no for the exam, but you might get mod'd on the forum for your efforts....

[iridium77]

my question is, truly, if some of the work in my programme notes is orginally from YAP's, will I get penalised in the exam by posting it in the forum?

Do you see what I mean?

I am going crazy now...

I don't think you will be. In the end, on this forum you could be anyone.

But seriously, plagiarism is not a good idea. Am I correct in thinking that your first language is not english? In which case it's even more important that you really understand what you're writing. Just running a thesaurus over somebody else's work is clearly an attempt to cheat, and since your english isn't sufficient to cover up the inconsistencies, it is very easy to spot.

You need to do your own work. It's as simple as that. You are undertaking a diploma, this is a higher level of study and you need to take yourself and this seriously. It's time to stop thinking about "what do I need to do to pass" and start thinking about "what do I need to know?"

For these notes, It might help to try writing in your native language and then translate to english. Do whatever works for you, but make sure that you really understand what it is you're writing.

[pianist_1210]

Ohohoh....so we're allow to post our programme notes onto the forum to ask for help??
Can someone please help me with mine as well?? Because my Dip Exam is in two weeks' time now and my programme note are too long (1400 words after effort of trimming....), can someone please give me some oppinion of what to trim or to correct?? Thankyou soooooooooooo much.............
There are there:



Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 Eisenach - 1750 Leipzig)

“The Well-Tempered Clavier”-No. 12 in F minor

Johann Sebastian Bach, probably the most famous composer ever known, was admired for his excellence of contrapuntal writing, adventurous harmonies and fancy melodic lines. As a composer who was born of a large ancestry of Bachs covering six generations from 1580-1845,he was largely self-taught by copying numberless scores of earlier great composers, which caused him to have bad eye sight and to go blind in his last year or so of his life. He married twice and had twenty children. Bach was not well known as a composer in his living days, instead, he was more recognised as a virtuoso organist. His music was ignored after his death, even by his own sons. Thanks to Mendelssohn who revived his music a century later, and his popularity has continued to grow in the present day.
“The Well Tempered Clavier” is two books of compositions containing 48 Preludes and Fugues (two in every major and minor key), written to demonstrate the advantages of tempered tuning. Bach had his own tuning system and it is actually hidden in the cover of the “Well Tempered Clavier”. The secret lies in the upper line of the loop windings that were thought to be decorations of the title page-discovered by Bradley Lehman. The number of windings in each loop represents the turns of tuning starting from C then down a perfect 5th then so on. “The Well Tempered Clavier” is written for non-specific keyboard instruments and they were not only written to demonstrate the well-tempered tunning, but also used for teaching purposes.
This twelfth Prelude and Fugue is in the first book of “The Well Tempered Clavier”, which is written when Bach was the conductor in charge of chamber music in the court of Cothen (1717-1723).
The Prelude begins with flowing melodic lines of semi-quavers, which remains consistant in the entire Prelude. With the natural rise and fall of the melody, which suggests emotions. This Prelude is an allemande(a stately dance in 4/4, flowing in character although without the characteristic upbeat(s)).
The Fugue consists of four parts in purely in a fugal form which gives it strength, dignity, and solemity. In the exposition the main theme is played by one part after another. The main melody is firstly brought out by the higher part of the bass clef (as if the tenor part), then it is given to the lower part of the treble clef (alto), then the lowest part of the bass clef (bass) part and finally the higher part in the treble part (soprano). After the main theme has been carried out in all of the four parts, the music then undergoes the development, during which a new theme comes up. The fugue has rather sophisticated fingerings to ensure that all the parts can be played as if they are each played by a solo melody instrument. Although the key of this Prelude and Fugue is in F minor, Bach deliberately ends both of the Prelude and the Fugue with a tierce de picardie (raising the minor third to a major third) to give the piece a satisfying ending.



Franz Schubert (Austria, 1797-1828)

Piano Sonata No.5 in A, D.644
Allegro moderato
Andante
Allegro

Franz Schubert, as the son of a schoolmaster, he showed an astonishing talent for music in his childhood, studying the piano, violin, organ, singing and harmony and, while a chorister in the imperial court chapel, studied composition with Salieri (1808-1813). He and his friends/ colleagues frequently gathering for domestic evenings, playing his own music (called “Schubertiads”). This group not only represented the new fact of the rising middle class as educated, musically aware: it gave him an approving audience and important contacts (i.e. the Sonnleithners and the baritone J.M. Vogl), moreover helped him to built up his confidence in 1818 to break with his fate of school teaching. Therefore giving him more time to compose - songs, and instrumental pieces and creative piano sonatas.

This Piano Sonata in A major reflects his lyrical style of composing, especially in the first and the second movement. In the first movement, the music has a special flow but the melodic line is being harmonised by unusual number of widely-spaced chords. Since some of them are too big for most players to stretch, there can be no doubts that Schubert intended them to be played as quickly, broken chords wherever necessary. Despite of the melodic flow, the movement is not fully a chain of ‘song-like’ melodic lines; the music builds up to a climax which suddenly turns into a passage of savage octave playing swapping between the two hands, then sooths back to the gentle and flowing melody.

In the beginning of the second movement, the melody is backed up by the homophonic playing (melody with accompaniment), then the music breaks to a more flowing passage on the same theme but with the Alburtis bass as the accompaniment, this gives the change of mood from calm, simplity to more decorative and more expressive.

In the last movement, the start of the music proclaims a positive mood. The movement is quick, busy and playful, and also is lively to the listeners. The episode in this movement (which is the waltz-like section after one bar of separation form the main theme) gives it the graceful mood as a relief from the playful theme. The melody in this episode on the treble is repeated later in the bass. In the start of the second section of the movement, the music modulates from the original key to it’s relative minor(vi), which is famous in Schubert, to show the mood change from cheerful to depressing. Eventually the movement ends with the main theme.



Claude Achille Debussy (St. Germain-en-Laye, 1862 – Paris, 1918)

Prelude no.10 from book 1 – “La Cathedrale Engloutie”

When music lovers mention the era of “Impressionism” the name Claude-Achille Debussy instantly comes into mind. Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, a Paris suburb, in 1862. Although he didn’t have much chance to be formally educated in his childhood, he was nevertheless a gifted music student. Debussy is famous for splendid piano playing as well as a display of musical imagery – delicate theme catching melodies that are remarkably Claude Debussy. At age 46, late in life, Debussy married his wife Emma in 1908 and the following year Emma gave birth to his and only daughter Claude-Emma nicknamed "Chou-Chou".
As a young music student Debussy rejected traditional musical theory. He declared to the music world "There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law." Debussy had his own remarkable way of composing – the composer writes music, but it is the listener who must find their own meaning in the melody.He wanted his music to sound improvisatory, as though it had not been written down. Debussy illustrate that he was inspired by poetry of his friends from which he created musical melody; mainly the poems of his closest two friends - Paul Verlaine and Pierre Louys. Inspirations came to Debussy; the Impressionists - Monet and Renoir attempted to paint ‘light and atmosphere’, Debussy’s music was recognised for its various unusual harmonies mixed with unresolved dissonances. Otherwise said Debussy felt his music in the way that the completed work was new to the music world of the day.


Debussy wrote his 24 Preludes between 1909 and 1913.The “La Cathedrale Engloutie” (“The Sunken Cathedral”) being one of the twenty-four Preludes which belongs to “the lost city of Y's - that sunk to the bottom of the sea as punishment – the message in the music emerges for a brief moment each morning to remind the people of their sins, but then slowly re-submerges. The cathedral bells and monks' chants may be heard through the mist of dawn.” Debussy was inspired by this disastrous story and captured melodic themes to highlight the mythology. Hence, in music terms, the piece is programmatic (“to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood”- Wikipedia definition). The music ends with the sound of the beginning “Dans la sonorite du debut”. This piece of work is noticeable for its consistent bass notes that are to be held all over the piece together with the higher left hand part. It is impossible to hold the long base notes while playing other notes in the same hand, but such a daunting task maybe achieved by using the selective sustain pedal on a grand piano, which is rare in many piano music but but not in Debussy – as he is a music genius who explores unique things.


Thanks alot... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[mrbouffant]

Here we go again. Perhaps some of us diploma holders should start charging for this service (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

My comments (from a brief read through) in bold...

BACH...

Johann Sebastian Bach, probably the most famous composer ever known, was admired for his excellence of contrapuntal writing, adventurous harmonies and fancy melodic lines.
colloquial - "most famous composer ever known".. "fancy melodic lines"..

numberless scores of earlier great composers
scores without numbers? or a large number of scores?

Bach was not well known as a composer in his living days, instead, he was more recognised as a virtuoso organist. His music was ignored after his death, even by his own sons. Thanks to Mendelssohn who revived his music a century later, and his popularity has continued to grow in the present day.
"living days" ? strange turn of phrase ... The Mendelssohn sentence doesn't make sense and it was about 75 years after his death that Mendelssohn revived the St Matthew Passion, not 100.

Your analysis of the piece is overly technical and verbose. Did you do all this analysis? If not, then you should be quoting your sources. I would pare this down a large amount and you can save wordcount here

SCHUBERT..

studied composition with Salieri (1808-1813).
this infers Salieri was five years old when he died. If you are indicating when Schubert studied with him you can probably leave this out

DEBUSSY

Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, a Paris suburb, in 1862.
You already said this in your composer title

Debussy had his own remarkable way of composing – the composer writes music, but it is the listener who must find their own meaning in the melody.
very inspired comment.. did you copy this from somewhere else? if so, you need to quote your source

Thanks alot... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
You are welcome.. In summary, I think you have included some interesting material which hasn't been cited properly. Some of your grammar is poor and you need to remove the colloquial writing. Your technical analysis, whilst thorough is perhaps too wordy and dry for the generalist audience targetted by a recital like this.