Classical and Early Romantic Music

Abstract

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries produced a host of great composers, many of them associated with particular kinds of compositions. Haydn earned a reputation as a master of the string quartet and the symphony, Mozart of opera and piano concertos, Beethoven of symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets, Schubert of Lieder and piano sonatas, Chopin of the polonaises and mazurka of his native Poland; and Robert Schumann of many compositional forms. Fortepianist Malcom Bilson discusses early keyboard instruments and Mozart’s music. Claude Frank and Richard Goode consider Beethoven’s sonatas and their own sonata performances, while Paul Badura-Skoda and Brian Newbould concentrate on Schubert’s works (some finished, some tantalizingly incomplete). Finally, Elly Ameling and Thomas Hampson focus attention on Schumann’s music; especially his Lieder.