Chapter IV: Part II: The Romantic Period of Pianoforte Music

VI. MENDELSSOHN, SCHUMANN AND BRAHMS 211

Influence of musical romanticism on pianoforte
literature--Mendelssohn’s pianoforte music, its
merits and demerits; the ‘Songs without Words’;
Prelude and Fugue in D minor; _Variations Sérieuses_;
Mendelssohn’s influence, Bennett, Henselt--Robert
Schumann, ultra-romanticist and pioneer; peculiarities
of his style; miscellaneous series of piano pieces;
the ‘cycles’: _Carnaval_, etc.--The _Papillons_,
_Davidsbündler_, and _Faschingsschwank_; the Symphonic
Études; _Kreisleriana_, etc., the Sonatas, Fantasy and
Concerto--Johannes Brahms; qualities of his piano music;
his style; piano sonatas, ‘Paganini Variations,’ ‘Handel
Variations,’ Capriccios, Rhapsodies, Intermezzi; the
Concertos; conclusion.

VII. CHOPIN 250

Chopin’s music and its relative value in musical
value; racial and personal characteristics; influences
and preferences; Chopin’s playing--His instinct for form;
the form of his sonatas and concertos; the
_Polonaise-Fantaisie_; the Preludes--Chopin as a harmonist;
Chopin’s style analyzed: accompaniment figures, inner
melodies, polyphonic suggestions, passages, melodies and
ornaments--His works in general: salon music; waltzes;
nocturnes; mazurkas; polonaises; conclusion.

VIII. HERZ, THALBERG, AND LISZT 284

The career of Henri Herz, his compositions and his style;
virtuosity and sensationalism; means of effect--Sigismund
Thalberg: his playing; the ‘Moses’ fantasia, etc.;
relation of Herz and Thalberg to the public--Franz Liszt:
his personality and its influence; his playing; his
expansion of pianoforte technique; difficulties of his
music estimated--Liszt’s compositions: transcriptions;
fantasia on _Don Giovanni_--Realistic pieces, Années de
pèlerinage--Absolute music: sonata in B minor; Hungarian
Rhapsodies; conclusion.