Here’s a short account of the rise of the “virtuoso” school in the early nineteenth century that identifies the stylistic characteristics of the ‘virtuosi’ by referring to three works by three different composers. It includes comments on the social and musical significance of the “virtuosi” and discusses to what extent their arrival was a consequence of the development of the piano in the early nineteenth century.
In the early nineteenth century, people focused their attention on personal expression. This was initiated by the French Revolution, which preached the idea of the power of the individual and a rise of the middle class. Consequently, concert venues and concerts became a significant part of the social life. Because of the development of virtuosity, people started perceiving a performer not only as an artist but also as a hero and a virtuoso. Virtuosity was considered by some to be essential and by others to be detrimental. Critics claimed that focusing on the technical aspect of the performance detracts from the emotions that music expresses. Although we can demur the stylebrillante, mainly due to the superficial bravado, this is what contributed to its spread. Virtuosity was very characteristic of Fryderyk Chopin’s and Ferenz Liszt’s music. Some forms and genres practised by them were also typical of Carl Czerny. Fashion for virtuosity also influenced composers that we cannot include in representatives of this style e.g. Felix Mendelssohn.
Are you currently working on pieces by Chopin or Liszt and would like to improve your technique? Please get in touch with Edyta Lajdorf to find out more about private piano lessons in London.
It is worth mentioning that an improvement in the economy in the beginning of the nineteenth century allowed an increase in piano production. The instruments became bigger and more durable and therefore more suitable for public performances in big concerts halls. Piano makers also worked on increasing the singing quality of the sound, promptness of the action and the resonance.
Piano music in the first half of the nineteenth century was strongly influenced by violinist Nicollo Paganini’s 24 Caprices for violin solo. Right after the first publication, the pieces seemed to be unfeasible. Paganini not only performed them easily, he enriched his performances in such a way that not all the technical and interpretive tricks he utilized could be found in the scores. ‘He enlarged the resources of the violin in every direction, employing double stopping, harmonics, and the high positions with a freedom previously unknown.’[1] Unexpectedly Paganini was raved about not only by the representatives of the style brillante, but also by the composers battling against this style. Robert Schumann transcribed Paganini’s Caprices in Studien nach Capricien von Paganini, op. 3 and in Études d’ après des Caprices de Paganini, op. 10. ‘Schumann enriched the current of musical discourse by his experiments having their departure from Paganini, thereby accomplishing something which Paganini did not; for while the great violinist’s works are of astonishing value for the violin, they are not particularly significant as tone-poetry. They are pleasing and sensational, and at times passion-ate, show pieces for the virtuoso’.[2]
[1] W. S. B. Mathews, A Popular History of the Art of Music, (Ebook 2010), 431
[2] W. S. B. Mathews, A Popular History of the Art of Music, (Ebook 2010), 431
Would you like to learn more about ‘virtuoso’ school in the early nineteenth century? Please continue reading the following parts of the article or contact Edyta Lajdorf in regards to piano lessons London.