Your Set Works
D
Odeon
Ernesto Nazareth · List D No. 3
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🔑 Key Facts
Key: C# minor
Form: Rondo ABACA
Period: Late Romantic/Popular
Composed: 1910
Tempo: ♩≈84
Style: Brazilian tango
🎭 Title
Composed in 1910 for the newly-opened Odeon cinema in Rio de Janeiro (the name originally referred to a type of theatre in ancient Greece). Written in the style of a Brazilian tango — related to the habanera; both share the characteristic accompanying rhythm.
👤 Composer Bio
Ernesto Nazareth (1863–1934), Brazilian. Born Rio de Janeiro. Studied with Lucien Lambert (African-American). Influenced by Chopin. Villa-Lobos called him "true incarnation of the soul" of Brazilian music and dedicated Choros No. 1 to him. Composed 200+ works: 90+ tangos, ~40 waltzes, ~30 polkas.
📐 Structure (Rondo ABACA)
| Section | Bars | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1–17 (×2) | C# minor | Main theme — two 8-bar phrases; melody mainly in LH; habanera/tango rhythm; modulates to F# minor b.1–4 |
| B | 18–34 (×2) | E major | Episode 1 — relative major; tango rhythms in LH; upper RH chord notes are appoggiaturas; inner voice descends by semitones |
| A | 35–50 | C# minor | Main theme (without repeat, 1st time ending) |
| C | 51–69 (×2) | E major | "Trio" — even more contrasting; habanera rhythm in LH every bar; com brillo; only dim 7th, dom 7th and tonic harmony |
| A | 70–85 | C# minor | Main theme (without repeat, 2nd time ending) |
📖 Terms (Portuguese/Italian)
- Gingandoswaying
- Secco/sempre seccodry; always dry (unpedalled)
- Com brillowith brilliance
- Mimosodainty or delicate
- Menosless (softer, less brilliant)
- Expressivoexpressively
- Segue Triogo directly to the Trio
- Riten[uto]hold back speed immediately
🎨 Style Notes
Combines European Romanticism and Latin American popular dance. Characteristics: "catchy" melodies; syncopated rhythms (long-short); regular 8-bar phrase structure; colourful harmonies with expressive dissonance (appoggiaturas) and chromaticism; melodic embellishments (grace notes).
Contemporaries: Albéniz (Spanish), Granados (Spanish), Joplin (American), Villa-Lobos (Brazilian).
Contemporaries: Albéniz (Spanish), Granados (Spanish), Joplin (American), Villa-Lobos (Brazilian).
B
Waltz in A♭ major, Op. 69 No. 1
Frédéric Chopin · List B
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🔑 Key Facts
Key: A♭ major
Form: Rondo
Period: Romantic
Opus: Op. 69 No. 1 posth.
Composed: 1835
Time sig: 3/4 simple triple
Tempo: Lento
🎭 Title
A waltz (valse in French) is a ballroom dance in triple time from the German Ländler. Accompaniment: bass on beat 1, chord on beats 2–3. Op. = Opus ("work"). posth. = posthumously — published after Chopin's death. Composed 1835, published several years after he died in 1849.
👤 Composer Bio
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), Polish. Born near Warsaw. Studied with Wojciech Zwyny and Jozef Elsner (Warsaw Conservatory). First concert age 8; composition published age 15. Left Warsaw 1830; settled in Paris. Met George Sand 1836; lived together 1838–1847. Died of tuberculosis, age 39. All works involve piano; no purely symphonic music.
📐 Structure (Rondo)
| Section | Bars | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | 1–16 | A♭ major | Lyrical RH melody above waltz accompaniment; mostly soft; some chromaticism |
| A2 | 17–32 | A♭ major | Almost exact repeat, slightly more elaborate (e.g. b.27) |
| B | 33–48 | E♭ major | Dominant key; more animated; different accompaniment pattern |
| A2 | 49–64 | A♭ major | As before, con forza |
| C1+C2 | 65–89 | A♭ / F minor | Variant waltz accompaniment, dolce; suggests F minor (relative minor), returns to A♭ |
| A1 | 114–129 | A♭ major | As before, with slight changes in b.124 |
📖 Musical Terms (Italian)
- Lentoslowly
- Con espressionewith expression
- Dolcesweetly and gently
- Con forzawith strength
- Con animawith feeling/soul
- Riten[uto]hold back the tempo
- A temporeturn to former speed
- sf / sforzandostrong accent
- Ten. / tenutohold for full value
- Acciaccaturavery short grace note (b.7)
🎨 Style Notes
Romantic characteristics: lyrical melodies; rich chromatic harmonies; tempo rubato; wide dynamic range; cantabile style.
Waltz features: characteristic bass-chord-chord in 3/4; flowing, dance-like melody; taken Lento for expressive effect.
Contemporaries: Field (Irish), Bellini (Italian), Schumann (German), Liszt (Hungarian), Mendelssohn (German).
Waltz features: characteristic bass-chord-chord in 3/4; flowing, dance-like melody; taken Lento for expressive effect.
Contemporaries: Field (Irish), Bellini (Italian), Schumann (German), Liszt (Hungarian), Mendelssohn (German).
C
Sonnet 140 of Petrarch
Alexander Peskanov · Grade 8 No. 6
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🔑 Key Facts
Key: E major (no modulation)
Form: Sectional — Intro, A, B, C, Coda
Period: Neo-Romantic (21st C.)
Subtitle: Tribute to Franz Liszt
Tempo: ♩≈54 Cantabile
Phrases: mostly 4-bar (14 total)
🎭 Title
Petrarch (1304–1374) was an Italian Renaissance poet. A sonnet = 14 lines of iambic pentameter (5 weak-strong syllable pairs per line) — expressing unrequited love for "Laura". Subtitled "Tribute to Franz Liszt". In E major — same key as Liszt's Sonetto 104 del Petrarca. Final chord identical to Liszt's piece.
👤 Composer Bio
Alexander Peskanov (b. 1953), Ukrainian/American. Born Odessa. Studied at Stolyarsky School and Juilliard. Proponent of the Russian Piano School. Compositions continue the Romantic tradition. Key works: 12 student concertos, Sunshine Suite, Capricci, Elegie, Intermezzo; tributes to Bach, Beethoven, Gluck, Liszt, Mozart, Scarlatti. Brother Mark is a prominent violinist.
📐 Structure
| Section | Bars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intro | 1–6 | E major; tonic pedal; melody embellished with arpeggios; tonic chord alternates with half-diminished 7th (F#-A-C♮-E) — "joy and heartache"; b.5–6 arpeggiate tonic in continuous semiquavers |
| A | 7–14 | "Three hand" effect: melody in inner (tenor) voice; arpeggiated accompaniment above + bass below; two identical 4-bar phrases each ending on dominant (V); appoggiaturas create/release tension |
| B | 15–31 | Two similar 8-bar phrases beginning with a sequence; suggests C# minor, A major, F# minor via secondary dominants (not full modulations); more expansive melody with rising octave leaps |
| C | 32–49 | Melody moves to upper (soprano) voice; second phrase extended, leading to cascading arpeggios (b.45–47) on dominant minor 9th chord (B-D#-F#-A-C♮); dominant pedal b.40–44 |
| Coda | 50–61 | Similar to Intro but slightly louder; first 2 bars two octaves lower; b.56–58 use augmentation; final chord = last chord of Liszt's Sonetto 104 |
📖 Musical Terms (Italian)
- Cantabilein a singing style
- Espressivo e cantabileexpressive and songlike
- Molto legatovery smooth and connected
- Molto accel[erando]gradually much faster
- 15ma (quindicesima)two octaves higher
- 8va (ottava)one octave higher
- Tempo I / a temporeturn to original speed
- Poco riten[uto]hold back a little (immediately)
- Molto rall[entando]gradually much slower
- Smorzandodying away
- Double sharp (𝄪)raises pitch by whole tone
🎨 Style Notes
Neo-Romantic: lyrical cantabile melodies; 7th and 9th chords with chromaticism; expressive dissonance (appoggiaturas); flowing rhythms with notated rubato; widely-spaced accompaniments; extensive pedal; "three hand" texture. Closer in style to Mendelssohn Songs Without Words than Liszt.
Contemporaries: Arvo Pärt, Kapustin, Carl Vine, Phillip Wilcher.
Contemporaries: Arvo Pärt, Kapustin, Carl Vine, Phillip Wilcher.
Flashcards
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Knowledge Quiz
Musical Periods
Your 3 pieces span Late Romantic/Popular (Nazareth), Romantic (Chopin) and Neo-Romantic 21st Century (Peskanov). Know each period's characteristics!
Baroque
c.1600 – c.1750
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Characteristics
- Ornate and elaborate textures
- Instruments: harpsichord, clavichord
- Forms: binary, ternary, ritornello
- Compositions: dance suites, preludes, fugues, toccatas
- Terraced dynamics; ornamentation; basso continuo
Composers
Purcell English
Couperin French
J.S. Bach German
Handel German
Scarlatti Italian
Telemann German
Classical
c.1750 – c.1810
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Characteristics
- Light, elegant and restrained
- Instrument: fortepiano
- Forms: sonata, rondo, minuet and trio, theme and variations
- Clear, balanced phrase structures (4-bar, 8-bar)
- Homophonic texture; gradual dynamic changes
Composers
Haydn Austrian
Mozart Austrian
Beethoven German
Clementi Italian
Schubert Austrian
Romantic
c.1810 – c.1900
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Characteristics
- Passionate and expressive
- Instrument: pianoforte (still developing)
- Forms: ternary, through-composed
- Character pieces, études, impromptus, nationalistic dances
- Wide dynamic range; extensive pedal; rich chromatic harmonies
- Lyrical cantabile melodies; tempo rubato
Key Composers
Chopin Polish
Liszt Hungarian
Schumann German
Mendelssohn German
Brahms German
Grieg Norwegian
Nazareth Brazilian
Impressionist
c.1890 – c.1918
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Characteristics
- Delicate and misty
- Instrument: pianoforte
- Descriptive pieces — often water imagery
- Through-composed (free form)
- Whole-tone/modal scales; unresolved harmonies
Composers
Debussy French
Ravel French
Delius English
Scott English
Neo-Romantic / 20th–21st Century
c.1900 – present
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Characteristics
- Great diversity of styles
- Some abandoned common practice (no key/metre)
- Serial techniques: 12 chromatic pitches treated equally
- Neoclassicism: mix of traditional and modern
- Neo-Romantic (Peskanov): continues 19th-century Romantic tradition; lyrical melodies; rich harmonies
Neo-Romantic Composers
Peskanov Ukrainian/American
Rachmaninoff Russian
Medtner Russian
Miriam Hyde Australian
Arvo Pärt Estonian
Carl Vine Australian
Quick Reference
🎯 Exam Checklist
- 1Title — meaning; associated composers
- 2Composer — nationality, dates, teachers, key events, other works
- 3Time signature — explain it
- 4Main key / tonality
- 5Important modulations (relationship to tonic)
- 6Form — sections, themes, similarities/contrasts
- 7Style/period — time frame, 3 composers, typical compositions
- 8Stylistic characteristics of the piece
- 9Musical terms (Italian/Portuguese) in the score
- 10Musical signs (^, –, 𝄐, sf, 8va, etc.)
📋 Piece Snapshot
| Odeon | Nazareth · C# minor · Rondo ABACA · Brazilian tango · 1910 |
| Waltz Op.69 No.1 | Chopin · A♭ major · Rondo · 3/4 · Romantic · 1835 · posth. |
| Sonnet 140 | Peskanov · E major · Sectional (Intro+A+B+C+Coda) · Neo-Romantic |
📖 Key Terms
| Cantabile | in a singing style |
| Dolce | sweetly and gently |
| Con forza | with strength/force |
| Con anima | with feeling/soul |
| Lento | slowly |
| A tempo | return to former speed |
| Rubato | expressive flexibility in tempo |
| Riten[uto] | hold back speed immediately |
| Smorzando | dying away |
| Gingando | swaying (Portuguese) |
| Secco | dry, unpedalled |
| Com brillo | with brilliance |
| 15ma | two octaves higher |
| Augmentation | note values lengthened |
| Appoggiatura | dissonant note resolving by step to chord note |
🔑 Key Relationships
| C# minor → E major | Relative major — Odeon, Episodes B and C |
| C# minor → F# minor | Subdominant minor — Odeon b.1–4 |
| A♭ major → E♭ major | Dominant (5th above) — Waltz Section B |
| A♭ major → F minor | Relative minor — Waltz Section C |
| Secondary dominant | V7 of another chord; momentary suggestion only, no full modulation |
| Half-diminished 7th | F#-A-C♮-E in Sonnet 140 Intro — "bittersweet" |
| Dominant minor 9th | B-D#-F#-A-C♮ — cadenza in Sonnet 140 b.45–47 |
🎼 Chopin General Knowledge
| Born / Died | 1810, near Warsaw, Poland — 1849, Paris, France (age 39; tuberculosis) |
| Teachers | Wojciech Zwyny (piano/violin); Jozef Elsner (harmony/composition, Warsaw Conservatory) |
| Career | First concert age 8. Left Warsaw 1830. Settled Paris. Played aristocratic salons; gave piano lessons. Met George Sand 1836; lived together 1838–1847. Virtually abandoned public performing. |
| Style | All works involve piano. Intimate; lyrical cantabile melodies; rich chromatic harmonies; rhythmic independence of melody and accompaniment; tempo rubato; widely-spaced broken chord textures; extensive sustaining pedal. |
| Piano solo | 3 sonatas, 4 ballades, 4 scherzos, 4 impromptus, 27 études, ~60 mazurkas, 21 nocturnes, 12+ polonaises, 26 preludes, 19 waltzes, Barcarolle, Berceuse, Fantasy |
| Other works | 2 piano concertos (E minor, F minor); piano trio; cello sonata; ~20 songs |
| Opus/catalogues | posth. = published posthumously (from Op. posth. 66). CT = Chomiński–Turło catalogue (standard reference). |
| Contemporaries | Field (Irish, 1782–1837), Bellini (Italian), Berlioz (French), Mendelssohn (German, 1809–1847), Schumann (German, 1810–1856), Liszt (Hungarian, 1811–1886), Verdi (Italian) |