Piano Pieces Research Articles

How does the same piano piece have a different impact on the mood of different age groups and different genders?

developing in the field of music therapy. This study aims to investigate the different emotional changes experienced by participants of different ages and genders when listening to the same piece of piano music. Participants will complete an emotional scale questionnaire (options include calmness, excitemend, anger, happiness, sadness) after listening to the same stimulus (the piano piece). The results will be analyzed through a paired t-test and presented graphically. The study finds that women tend to experience more positive emotions than men. Furthermore, there are significant differences in emotional responses between different age groups, particularly with regard to how older adults react emotionally to music. These findings suggest that the same piece of music can resonate differently with various demographic groups, playing a positive role in music therapy.

Effects of two modalities of practice on the learning of piano pieces under the deprivation of auditory feedback

Sixteen piano students learned four piano pieces under two different conditions that involved the deprivation of auditory and motor feedback. One condition required study away from the piano, thus implying the removal of auditory and kinaesthetic feedback (mental practice, MP). The other condition involved study on a digital piano that was turned off (motor practice, MoP), hence depriving the participant of auditory feedback. Data on the effects of the two different modalities of practice, which also excluded external sound references during the initial study of new piano pieces, were analysed in two different ways. First, video recordings of the participants’ practice sessions were analysed to identify behaviours exhibited during these sessions, quantified by number of incidences. Second, external referees assessed final performances (audio recordings on an acoustic piano) according to four proposed parameters related to piano performance. Data from semi-structured interviews were collected as well. The results showed differences between the two conditions, especially with respect to the utilisation of support activities and pauses during practice. The analysis indicated that procedures related to MP may yield better results when the musical material is approached as small portions one at a time. Finally, the modality of MP described in this article, which bears some relation to other forms of MP, could be a valid alternative for issues of fatigue and complexity related to MP, as has been traditionally described in the literature.

Piano practice of China’s Cultural Revolution era and students’ musical creativity / La práctica de piano con composiciones de la era de la Revolución Cultural y la creatividad musical de los estudiantes

This paper describes the impact of the performance of piano pieces of the Cultural Revolution era with distinctive artistic features on the development of creative skills among students in the People’s Republic of China. The study used the SME academic test to measure the development of creative thinking. To measure the effect of practising piano on musical prowess, a control test (according to the currently accepted academic programme) was performed at the end of the study. The responses were given by students from three universities in the PRC. The total number of participants was 315 individuals. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that there is evidence of the effectiveness of piano practices that are based on musical compositions from the era of the Chinese Revolution, in terms of their positive impact. Small B groups showed 11.8% higher performance than the control group. Group B students experienced a positive impact on their level of creativity as a result of practising the piano. The average degree of creativity increased by 2.6%, while the high degree of creativity increased by 3.6%.

ADAPTACIA KLAVIRNEHO DIELA BELU KELERA ROMANTICKY ZIVOT OP. 101 PRE VYUZITIE V KLAVIRNEJ PEDAGOGIKE

Piano piece Romantic life op. 101 celebrates its 180th anniversary this year. Originally the piece was named Waltz of Bardejov Spa season 1844, referring to the birth place of the author. Bela Keler was one of the most important composer of salon music of 19th century. Kelers work represent cultural heritage, we would like to introduce to the wider audience. Based on todays requirements, it requires certain modifications mostly due to the interpretation. Romantic life op. 101 is extensive piano piece refering to the Bardejov spa. It represents ideal oportunity for adaptations to the easier piano arrangement. We created the arangements of this waltz that are for piano student of the Elementary music schools with various technical levels starting from easiest to the more difficult ones. Thanks to these arrangements, students in the first year of piano playing, will have the opportunity to actively familiarize themselves with the work of our important composer who comes from the territory of todays Slovakia, Bele Keler.

Exploration of the Integration of Ethnic Music Elements into Modern Piano Art Creation

Piano originated in Western countries, so a large number of Western cultural elements are used in piano art creation, mainly to present Western humanistic thoughts and spiritual cultural cores to the audience. In recent years, with the modernization of piano art and culture in China, many Chinese listeners have begun to demand more ethnic and folk piano pieces with Chinese characteristics. In order to meet the audience’s pursuit of modern Chinese piano art, more and more creators are integrating ethnic music elements into modern piano art creation. This article explores the integration significance of ethnic music elements in modern piano art creation and the current situation of Chinese modern piano art creation, and finds that ethnic music elements have positive help in enhancing the novelty, ethnic characteristics, and timeliness of piano art creation. Based on this, this article proposes several strategies for integrating traditional ethnic music elements into modern piano art creation, including adapting traditional ethnic music elements, creating pentatonic tunes, and modifying work titles. The aim is to provide references and inspiration for the development of Chinese piano art creation and culture.

Heathering Winds von Dan Dediu, oder die Ausbreitung der Melodie

As a musical parameter, melody – conventionally understood as a (consecutive) succession of sounds – is an essential coordinate of Romanian music, which claims stylistically and historically from the parlando-rubato aesthetics of tradition folk music. In Dan Dediu’s piano piece Heathering Winds we discover a new perspective on the composition of melody (an essential parameter in the composition of music), which can also be regarded as a new view, as a different aesthetics, both for first, and the second half of the 20th century, therefore characteristic to our time. The analytical approach presents an overview of the piano piece inspired by Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, in which key points from the British writer’s novel are presented, followed by an overview of the formal dramaturgy and presentation of the piano piece’s main musical ideas. Finally, our melodic analysis uses the theorising of the composer himself (Dan Dediu, Melodia, 2006) to capture the complexity of melodic structuring, which – breaking the traditional pattern of a melodic line, in which the ratio of durations and pitches is optimal to be perceived as such – expands, tending towards what Dediu calls infra- and supermelody, i.e. a melody that pushes its boundaries, creating, from a single “melodic thread”, the illusion of an innovative musical syntax.

Analysis of Technical Difficulties in the Performance of Liszt’ Etude La Campanella

Liszt’s Paganini Etude La Campanella belongs to a high difficulty etude, which is a piano piece adapted by Liszt based on the theme of III. Rondo "La Campanella" of Italian violinist Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor. The author analyzes the creative background, structure, and technical exercises targeted by various variations of Liszt’s Paganini Etude La Campanella, and compares it with different adapted versions, so that performers can master each variation of the main theme of La Campanella and overcome technical difficulties in difficult parts one by one based on a thorough understanding of the work and have a preliminary understanding of the characteristics of Liszt’s arrangement. By comparing different adapted versions of La Campanella, the performer can gain new inspiration from it.

Inspiring Repertoire for Enrichment

One of the enduring challenges for piano teachers is selecting appropriate repertoire to enrich a student’s piano education, which has foundations in leveled books. A response to the challenge is to select a collection from a composer’s works to immerse the student in the style and technical demands of that specific composer. In this study, Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces Opus 12 were investigated for their effectiveness as pedagogical tools for intermediate piano students. The analysis included: (1) contextualizing the collectionhistorically through related literature; (2) identifying primary technical elements to determine an effective pedagogical approach for introducing the specific elements to students; and (3) identifying stylistic features and Norwegian cultural connections to provide meaningful insights for students’ interpretation of the pieces and lead to a set of guiding questions to pose to students. Historically, Grieg’s Lyric Pieces capture the Norwegian spirit by incorporating folkloric elements into classical compositions, and his intention in the compositions was to supply his music school with short, digestible instructional material. The Lyric Pieces are accessible piano pieces that allow students to discover complex technical elements such as melodic nature, varied approaches to the keys (touch), complex rhythms, and ornamentation. They also provide opportunities for students to grow their understanding of stylistic features through the titles and descriptive phrases, as well as connections to Norwegian culture, which allow them to develop their interpretation of the pieces. This study contributes to the professional learning of studio piano teachers and the application of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces in teaching intermediate students.

From Unfamiliarity to Mastery -- A Deep Dive into Preparing “From Forgotten Melodies, Sonata Reminisce in A Minor Op. 38 No. 1” For Performance

This paper provides a comprehensive study and performance guide for pianists aspiring to independently learn Nikolai Medtner's "From Forgotten Melodies, Sonata Reminiscenza in A Minor Op. 38 No. 1." It explores the historical context of Medtner's work, analyzes the musical structure, and offers practical suggestions for performance, including considerations for tempo, articulation, and pedaling. The paper also examines Medtner's unique musical language and compares interpretations from five reference recordings by renowned pianists. By delving into the depths of this exceptional composition, pianists can gain insights to enhance their understanding and performance of this challenging solo piano piece. The study aims to serve as a valuable resource for pianists embarking on this exploratory musical voyage.

A Study on the Application of Alexander Technique in Chinese Piano Pieces —— Take “Pinghu Autumn Moon” as an Example

The Alexander Technique is a scientifically recognized method that is widely used worldwide. In the field of piano playing, this technique enables individuals to comprehend their own body structure and movement characteristics, thereby correcting playing problems and bottlenecks caused by long-term incorrect movement habits. Numerous scholars have researched this topic. However, the author aims to begin with existing works to uncover principles and methods that can be applied to specific cases and effectively guide and advance Chinese piano music.

SEATON SNOOK AND THE BUILDING OF A PARAFICTIONAL SEASIDE TOWN

AbstractSeaton Snook was a thriving community of fishermen, blacksmiths, teachers, seacoalers, labourers and musicians on the coast of County Durham, UK. After 1968, however, government records and newspaper reports referring to the town cease and there are, apparently, no former residents still living. This article outlines the creation of What Happened to Seaton Snook?, an internet-based archive of sounds and music from the area, its residents and its workers, devised to try and form a picture of the town and what happened there. Among the nearly 100 artefacts in this ethnomusicological study are pieces for piano and harpsichord, pedagogic works, folk tunes for voice and Northumbrian smallpipes, brass band music, Krautrock, psychedelic rock and works for magnetic tape. There are biographies and photographs of people key to the history of the town, and interviews with experts in matters pertaining to the artefacts. The archive also seeks to examine the economic and cultural neglect of the North East of England and the importance of the stories we tell around the music we make.

THE PEDAGOGICAL ROLE OF THE CYCLE OF CHILDREN’S PIANO PIECES “RAINBOW” BY G. G. OKUNEV IN TRAINING PIANISTS OF CHINA

The purpose of the article is to reveal the artistic content and pedagogical potential of the little-studied cycle of piano pieces “Rainbow” by G. G. Okunev, which naturally combines musical-didactic and artistic-figurative principles. The educational, developmental and upbringing functions of the cycle are considered in the context of Chinese musical pedagogy and the importance of pieces in the development of performing skills and figurative thinking of young pianists of the People’s Republic of China. The study made it possible to prove that Okunev’s cycle will be useful and will increase the effectiveness of the training process for Chinese pianists due to the rich figurative content, which at the same time corresponds to children’s perception, given the specifics of modern musical education in the PRC, which combines the principles of world art and traditions of national culture.

An Annotated Corpus of Tonal Piano Music from the Long 19th Century

We present a dataset of 264 annotated piano pieces of nine composers, composed in the long 19th century (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7483349). Annotations adhere to the DCML harmony annotation standard and include Roman numerals, phrase boundaries, and cadence types. The scores are encoded in the XML-based MuseScore 3 format. Annotations are embedded within the MuseScore files. In addition, all harmony information, alongside key features of the encoded measure and note objects, is provided in the form of plaintext TSV-formatted tables for increased interoperability with other datasets and analysis tools. Annotations were collaboratively created and reviewed by a pool of trained music theorists. Collaboration took place asynchronously online via a semi-automated GitHub-based workflow designed for quality assurance, allowing cycles of revisions and reviews until consensus is reached. The full revision history is retained, providing data for further empirical research on inter-annotator agreement and related topics. We also present descriptive statistics about the nine corpora and the dataset as a whole, including comparisons of pitch-class contents, phrase lengths, modulations, and cadence types. We conclude with a discussion of our musicological principles for corpus building and considerations of representability.

Piano Pieces for Children in Serhiy Bortkevych’s Musical Heritage

The article reveals the artistic and pedagogical potential of piano music for children by the Ukrainian Diaspora’s prominent composer Serhiy Bortkevych. For this purpose, we analysed the piano cycles Little Traveller, Marionettes, Musical Wonderland (based on H. H. Andersen’s fairy tales) and From My Childhood. We specified the stylistic features of his music, didactic and educational tasks, which can be determined by working on small pieces of lyrical, dance, scherzo and march genres with their inherent modest scale and simplicity of presentation. S. Bortkevych tends to the chamber type of expression, modesty of texture, and absence of external effects, which reveals the composer’s commitment to the art of the Biedermeier. This component of S. Bortkevych’s creative personality is complemented by his constant interest in the world of childhood, both in terms of imagery and content, as well as didactics and education. All of S. Bortkevych’s children’s piano cycles clearly demonstrate the great importance of programmatic model in revealing the figurative content of piano pieces, in which nature paintings, portrait sketches, emotional experiences, travelling motifs, cities and countries, fairy-tale images, puppetry, etc. take an equal position. Up-tempo pieces (toccata, scherzo) require the same work as etudes, but with the difference that in etudes, artistic tasks are auxiliary, while in music pieces they are the main goal. In dance pieces, the basis for the work is the need to identify the specificity and character of the dance (waltz, mazurka, polka, hopak) and the originality of the rhythm. Lyrical pieces develop musicality, emotionality, artistry and performing initiative due to the musical language accessibility, vivid imagery and laconism of the form. The works of this group are of pedagogical value as they are aimed at gradual mastery of certain piano skills and techniques. S. Bortkevych’s compositional achievements deserve attention in terms of including his heritage in the educational repertoire of modern music institutions to deepen the educational and cognitive process of children’s and youth’s musical and aesthetic education.

«ТРИ ЧЕТВЕРТИТОНОВЫЕ ПЬЕСЫ» ЧАРЛЗА АЙВЗА: ЧЕРТЫ НОВАТОРСТВА В ТРАКТОВКЕ ФОРТЕПИАНО

The article is devoted to studying the music of one of the founders of American national music, Charles Ives (1874–1954). Charles Ives was an outstanding American composer, organist and Pulitzer Prize winner. In the context of traditional music, Ives’s piano style gains freshness and innovation through the use of modern writing techniques. On the example of Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for piano (1925), the article traces exactly how traditional and innovative compositional features are reflected in Ives’s work. In these pieces, the composer imposes a new technique of quarter-tone writing based on microtonal and microchromatic intervals. In addition to innovative compositional techniques, Ives employs traditional techniques such as symmetrical episodes, palindromes, whole-tone scales, quotations from American and French national anthems and patriotic songs. The theoretical material used for the publication is the composer’s article “Some Quarter-Tone Impressions”, an important document in which Ives gives a theoretical justification for his innovative quarter-tone system. The article was first published in March 1925 in the Franco-American Musical Society Bulletin. Ives’s article has never before been published in Russian.

АЛЕКСАНДР ЧЕРЕПНИН: РУССКО-КИТАЙСКИЙ КОМПОЗИТОР-ПИАНИСТ-ПЕДАГОГ

The article is devoted to the activities of the greatest Russian composer and pianist A. Tcherepnin, son of the famous Saint Petersburg professor N. Tcherepnin. The author traces the work of the Tcherepnin dynasty, which for almost a century and a half contributed to the development of musical art not only in Russia and China, but also in the Far East, Europe and America. A. Tcherepnin is characterised as a Russian and American composer, pianist, theorist, teacher and critic. The stages of life of an outstanding composer and musician are considered and structured. The most important innovations introduced by Professor Tcherepnin in the system of pedagogy are noted, concerning the change in the chronology of the vectors of studying Classics and Modernity, as well as the revision of the fundamental sound basis of music teaching aids and the actual creation of a new Chinese repertoire for performers. The evolution of aesthetic and stylistic views of young Chinese composers is traced: while in the 1920s the emphasis was placed on harmonious combination of the traditions of Eastern and Western music, in the following decades the interest in national roots increased significantly. A. Tcherepnin’s main thesis receives scientific analytical substantiation — to teach the Chinese to create and perform, preserving their belonging to the Chinese national tradition. The characteristic of the cycle of piano pieces “From Tcherepnin” analyses the etudes, that have a programme interpretation in a literary epigraph or in an expanded title, which is an aesthetic norm of Chinese music.

Fast and Functional Structured Data Generators Rooted in Out-of-Equilibrium Physics.

In this study, we address the challenge of using energy-based models to produce high-quality, label-specific data in complex structured datasets, such as population genetics, RNA or protein sequences data. Traditional training methods encounter difficulties due to inefficient Markov chain Monte Carlo mixing, which affects the diversity of synthetic data and increases generation times. To address these issues, we use a novel training algorithm that exploits non-equilibrium effects. This approach, applied to the Restricted Boltzmann Machine, improves the model's ability to correctly classify samples and generate high-quality synthetic data in only a few sampling steps. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by its successful application to five different types of data: handwritten digits, mutations of human genomes classified by continental origin, functionally characterized sequences of an enzyme protein family, homologous RNA sequences from specific taxonomies and real classical piano pieces classified by their composer.

Orchestration of Proper Piano Pieces as a Self-Interpretation

"The study is focused on the problem of composers’ self-interpretation in the orchestrations of their own piano pieces. This specific case of a creative re-thinking contains not only adaptation of a piano score to orchestral instruments, but also adding new semantic meaning, sound atmosphere and texture principles as well as further development of initial music idea. For the analysis two pieces of Maurice Ravel and Borys Lyatoshinsky – two prominent masters of orchestration and piano miniature of 20th century, were chosen. Their approaches are distinguishably different: (a) the detailed reordering of the initial idea from an “instrument Piano” to an “instrument Orchestra” (Ravel); (b) throughout development with essential changes firstly within piano means, than by orchestral means in the genre of Symphony (Lyatoshinsky). Keywords: creative re-thinking, self-interpretation, self-orchestration"

René Espere’s concert pieces: from the composer’s concept to the performance interpretation

Statement of the problem. Under consideration is René Eespere’s piano works created during the period of his maturity. The composer’s work is marked not only by its depth and originality, but also reflects the spiritual wealth and national identity of the Estonian people. Estonian music remains little known in Ukraine, therefore the article proposes to popularize the work of René Eespere, which will contribute to the establishment of cultural communication between Ukraine and Estonia. The research is based on performance experience and scientific analysis of three concert pieces by the composer: “Ludus tactus”, “Alter ego” and “Persona mea”. Analysis of recent research and publications. The article based upon the studies by K. Pappel (1992) and S. Pylypenko (2021, 2023) who highlight René Eespere’s piano works created by him during the period of creative searches (until 1995). Information pertaining to the mature phase of the composer’s career, is derived from various sources: the press materials (Hinn, 2016), interviews (Colucci, 2012), and our personal correspondence with the composer. The theoretical base of the study is formed by the works of Ukrainian musicologists, contributed to the theory of interpretation of musical works (Moskalenko, 2013) and musical communication as an interpretive phenomenon (Nikolaievska, 2021), performance issues (Bezborodko, 2017; Verkina, Bondarenko, Sagalova, & Timofeyeva, 2020; Chernyavska, Ivanova, Timofeyeva, Syriatska, & Mits, 2023), typologies of compositional styles (Serhaniuk, Shapovalova, Shehda, Kazymyriv, & Kolubayev, 2021). Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to highlight the conceptual aspects of compositional thinking and its embodiment in performance on the example of René Eespere’s three concert pieces for piano. The genre and stylistic, functional and structural, compositional and dramaturgical, as well as interpretive methods were used in the study. The article presents the first theoretical and performance analysis of René Eespere’s concert pieces in the Ukrainian musicological field. Research results and conclusion. The history of creation of works is described; the conceptual principles of compositional and performing thinking are highlighted; the regularities of the musical dramaturgy of each of the opuses were analyzed; a complex of expressive means is revealed; a brief description of the content and a scientific analysis of the works are given. It has been established that the concert piece “Ludus tactus” has significant compositional and performing potential, because the multifaceted author’s idea of the piece requires of flexibility and freedom in its pianistic implementation. The first performance of the piece by Ralf Taal is analyzed, which is of great interest, because the pianist’s artistic and technical skill allows him to find harmony between the author’s idea and his own performance vision of the composition . The piece “Alter ego” is aimed at revealing the artistic possibilities of a pianist, promotes the development of his artistic and emotional thinking, which is demonstrated by Polina Abolimova’s interpretation of the piece, the young performer who skillfully conveys its content aspects, its artistic sophistication. The piece “Persona mea” is the composer’s “small-format self-portrait”, an example of sound self- expression of the artist. The rendition of the piece by famous Estonian pianist Kalle Randalu, analyzed in the article from the point of view of the objectification of the composer’s idea, is a bright example of its interpretation, impeccable in the technical aspect, exceptionally detailed and refined in the sound.

BELA BARTÓK’S POLYMODAL CHROMATICISM IN CHICK COREA’S CHILDREN SONG NO.5 AND NO.15

This study focuses on the application of Bela Bartók’s theory of polymodal chromaticism in Chick Corea’s selected piano pieces from Children’s Songs, 1984. The selected pieces of Children Song No.5 and No.15 provide examples of the application of Bela Bartók’s theory of polymodal chromaticism as a compositional device in jazz music. Despite the significance of these pieces, there exists a scarcity of musical analyses examining the use of polymodal chromaticism, indicating a need for further research in this area. This study reveals the compositional method, style, and tool that Corea uses in applying the theory of polymodal chromaticism. Integration of polymodal chromaticism with functional harmonic progression and unique combinations of modal and compound scales that Corea employs to achieve polymodal chromaticism is revealed in this study. Qualitative method of music analysis and quasi-`Schenkerian music analysis were applied to highlight modal and compound scales, ostinatos, harmonic progression, and compositional techniques Corea used in developing polymodal chromaticism in the selected pieces. The study led to detailed insights into the compositional techniques used to achieve polymodal chromaticism, as well as the discovery of unique compound scales and combinations of scales that led to chromaticism. The methods of applying polymodal chromaticism are detailed in this study, allowing further exploration of the theory in other areas of jazz and contemporary music.