Author: VRS

Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 870 Among the chores assigned to the prelude in the time of Bach were those of catching the listener’s attention, establishing the tonality of the following (presumably more important) piece, and in the process, warming up the player’s hands with a bit of free-form noodling.…

Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 2 in F major, Op. 80 Robert Schumann began composing in the 1830s, a time when the formation of a canon of great musical works was just beginning, thanks to new publications of older music and to concerts of ‘historical’ or ‘antique’ music such as Mendelssohn’s famous performance of Bach…

Johann Sebastian Bach Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828 The Baroque suite was the iPod shuffle of its time. It was a colourful bowl of musical Smarties with a cosmopolitan flavour, offering a collection of dances from all the major musical nations of Europe: the moderately-paced allemande from Germany, the much animated courante from France…

Franz Joseph Haydn Sonata No. 62 in E flat major, Hob. XVI:52 Joseph Haydn wrote his last three piano sonatas on his second visit to England (1794-95), keenly aware that the sound of the English piano was very different from that of its Viennese counterpart. Viennese pianos were quick and responsive but their sound, like…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata in B flat major K. 570 The period of the 1770s and 1780s brought regime change to the world of keyboard music as the harpsichord was gradually edged out by the first generation of fortepianos, capable of playing both loud (forte) and soft (piano) on the same set of keys. The…