In July several countries celebrate the spirit of freedom
and independence: National Canada Day on July 1, the U.S. Independence Day on
July 4, France’s Bastille Day on July 14, to name a few. Such patriotic fervor
has long time roots. And it reverberates today as much as ever in our hearts.
Tomoko places a high
value on freedom and independence. She was a very brave young woman seeking
opportunity when she left Japan for the United States, and she was worked hard
as an independent woman, breaking ground as the first Asian woman teacher at
the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, for instance.
Composers have also revered freedom and independence through
their piano music.
One of Tomoko’s favorite composers, Frederic Chopin, was one
of the first composers to incorporate nationalistic elements into his compositions:
mainly through the folk idiom of his mazurkas and polonaises.
Another Polish composer, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, was also inspirited
by Polish folk music such as his Polish Fantasy for piano and orchestra. Paderewski
became a diplomat and spokesman for Polish independence.
The founder of the Russian national school of composition,
Mikhail Glinka highlighted Russian culture in his subjects and melodies, as exemplified
in his Capriccio on Russian themes for piano duet.
Czech composer Antonin Dvorak also drew on his native Slavic
folk dance forms in his piano duet piece Slavonic Dances. Moravian and
other Eastern European traditional music forms also inspired him.
Another one of Tomoko’s favorite composers, Franz Liszt, was
known as a Hungarian nationalist. In that vein, he based his Hungarian
Rhapsodies for piano on traditional art songs performed by Romani band.
Following Liszt’s model, Hungarian Bela Bartok, was inspired
by Magyar folk melodies, which were well times with his society’s interested in
traditional nature culture. An interesting example are 80 folk tunes collected
in the two-volume set For Children.
Edvard Grieg helped create a national identity through his compositions,
which were inspired by Norwegian folk music. Grieg recorded many of his own piano
works.
Finlandia is the ultimate patriotic song, composed by
Jean Sibelius.
Tomoko enjoys the freedom and independence that are expressed
in these European piano composers. In that respect, their value of traditional
musical form expresses a sense of communal culture and independence that transcends any
nationalism.
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