March On for Classic Piano Composers

 

As spring arrives, here we get to celebrate ten major piano composers born in March.

Frédéric Chopin (March 1, 1810): Known almost exclusively for his piano works, Chopin's output includes legendary nocturnes, etudes, and ballades.

Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678): A prolific Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and priest, he significantly influenced the development of the concerto form. He is most famous for composing The Four Seasons.

Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875): A master of Impressionism, Ravel composed complex piano masterpieces like Gaspard de la nuit and Le Tombeau de Couperin.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (March 8, 1714): A pioneer of the "sensitive style" (Empfindsamer Stil), he was a prolific composer of keyboard sonatas that bridged the Baroque and Classical eras.

Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910): While known for his Adagio for Strings, he wrote significant piano music, including his formidable Piano Sonata and the Excursions.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (March 18, 1844): Known for his nationalistic style, he produced famous works like Scheherazade and the Russian Easter Festival Overture, while also serving as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. 

Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21/31, 1685): Though a Baroque composer, his keyboard works like The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations are fundamental to piano pedagogy and performance. His birthday is often celebrated on March 21st (Old Style) or March 31st (New Style).

Modest Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839): A Russian composer, he drew heavily on Slavonic folk music and natural speech rhythms. He is most known for his vivid piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

Béla Bartók (March 25, 1881): A major 20th-century composer who wrote extensive piano music, including the pedagogical series Mikrokosmos and three piano concertos.

Franz Joseph Haydn (March 31, 1732): A prolific composer of over 50 keyboard sonatas, he helped define the Classical style.

Music to Ice Skate By

 The winter Olympic Games are upon us. Tomoko's daughter Beata was an Olympics dance skater, and she continues in that profession. Beata had the advantage of knowing about music, starting with her mother, so she understood the importance of music -- and choosing the most effective pieces -- for choreographing a skating routine.

Classical music is a mainstay of ice skating, ranging from lighthearted winter waltzes to intense dramatic scores used by Olympic champions. 

Iconic Classical Pieces for Skating

These works are specifically associated with the atmosphere of ice skating or are frequently performed in competitive routines: 

• The Skaters' Waltz (Les Patineurs) by Émile Waldteufel: Composed in 1882, this is the most iconic piece of "skating music," featuring flowing melodies and the sound of bells to mimic a wintry rink.
• Boléro by Maurice Ravel: Famous for its steady, building rhythm, most notably used in the perfect 6.0-scoring routine by Torvill and Dean in 1984.
• Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: A competitive staple, used by gold medalists like Oksana Baiul (1994) to evoke elegance and drama.
• The Four Seasons: "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi: Features sharp, rapid string work that matches the precision of high-level footwork.
• Carmen (Habanera/Prelude) by Georges Bizet: Frequently used for its intense energy; famous for the 1988 "Battle of the Carmens" between Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas.
• Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven: A popular choice for romantic or emotional programs, used by pairs such as Gordeeva and Grinkov. 

 

Popular Orchestral Selections

Many skaters select movements from larger classical works that provide a mix of slow, lyrical sections and powerful finales: 

• Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 and No. 3.
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade.
• Saint-Saëns: "The Swan" from The Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre.
• Stravinsky: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.
• Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. 

 

Curated Playlists & Collections 

You can find these and other classical skating tracks on the following platforms:

• 55 Ice Skating Classics (Spotify): A comprehensive collection including Strauss waltzes and Puccini arias.
• Figure Skating's Greatest Hits (Europadisc): A curated CD featuring Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Vivaldi.
• Best Figure Skating Classics (Apple Music): Includes competitive favorites like the "Sabre Dance" and "Méditation" from Thaïs. 

Music to Grandmother’s House

 

It’s Thanksgiving time, with the popular song about going over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house. For centuries, composers have been inspired by the country life in their compositions. Here is a sampling.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" is a classic example, with movements like "Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the country" and "Scene by the brook," and even includes a musical depiction of a thunderstorm.

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, in particular for now its autumn season, evokes a carefree feeling: of letting go and embracing change.

Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, 1st movement is often described as having a countryside feel.

Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony depicts depicting a mountain landscape, reflecting  pastoral qualities with its nature-inspired themes. 

Singing as you go visit the family is a great start for Thanksgiving. 

Autumn Leaves of Notes

Autumn offers a subtle mix of weather and somberness. Here are some composers and their works related to autumn:

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 

  His "October, Autumn Song" is a programmatic piano piece from The Seasons, a set of twelve character pieces representing each month of the year. 
• Fanny Mendelssohn: 

  Her piano cycle Das Jahr ("The Year") features pieces for each month; "September," "October," and "November" specifically evoke autumnal moods. 
• Antonio Vivaldi: 

  While primarily for violin and orchestra, his famous "Autumn" from The Four Seasons (1723) is the quintessential programmatic piece capturing the season. 
• Joseph Haydn: 

  His oratorio The Seasons includes a section on "Autumn," reflecting the composer's musical portrayal of the season and its joys. 
• Jules Massenet: 

  He wrote songs, including the piece "Pensée d'automne" ("Thoughts in Autumn"), which conveys the passing of time and fading memories. 
• Edvard Grieg: 

  Composed an overture In Autumn, which features many elements found in his orchestral and piano works. 

Thanksgiving for Music

 

Thanksgiving is a well known holiday in the United States, and there are several classical music pieces that fit for this time of year.

A popular choice is Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring, which was composed as a ballet to tell the story of American pioneers building a farmhouse. A piano arrangement can be heard at https://youtu.be/zyrOl4vwyD0. Even though the season is spring, this suite expresses the American frontier spirit associated with Thanksgiving.

Vivaldi’s third movement, “Autumn,” from his 1725 composition The Four Seasons certainly capture the feeling of fall. In addition, the lyrics “celebrate the peasant, with songs and dances, and the pleasure of a bountiful harvest.”

England has celebrated days of Thanksgiving for centuries. The 18^th century English composer Maurice Greene wrote the anthem “Thou Visited the Earth, which is very appropriate for Harvest Thanksgiving. The lyrics are based on Psalm 65: ‘Thou visitest the earth, and blessest it; and crownest the year with thy goodness.”

The hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth,” written in 1864 by Folliott Sanford Pierpoint, was first considered a communion hymn, but soon became a popular song for Thanksgiving.

William Lloyd Webber -- a London composer, organist, and choirmaster—wrote “A Hymn of Thanksgiving” in 1936. You probably know his son Andrew Lloyd Webber better because of his 21 musicals and other scores.

But the 4^th century Saints Ambrose and Augustine could be considered the earliest Thanksgiving composers with their “Te Deum,” although Saint Niketas, bishop of Remesiana about the same time in history, is also credited for this hymn of Thanksgiving. The Te Deum is still part of the Liturgy of the Hours, giving thanks to God.

In all these cases, we can be thankful for such classical composers.

Falling For The Piano

 

Musicians are often inspired by nature. For instance, Tomoko likes to garden, and she sees the garden as a metaphor for musicians; both take much work and much patience. “Labor is labor,” says Tomoko. Both require connections, and both offer ways for self-expression. The rewards can be immediate, as when planting or weeding – such as working through a particular section of a composition – and sometimes it takes years to see the results.  Autumn is one example of inspiration for composers.

One of the most known compositions is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons’ “Autumn,” which has been arranged for piano.

Tchaikovsky’s composition The Seasons is comprised of 12 movements, one for each month. Autumn months paint musical scenes of a harvest and a hunt, and his October movement “Autumn Song” reflects a mournful fall.

While Felix Mendelssohn is very famous, his sister Fanny is not as celebrated. Indeed, some of her compositions were written under her brother’s name. Her excursions into nature inspired her cycle of piano pieces titled Das Jahr (The Year), which include autumn months.

Born soon after Fanny died, Cecile Chaminade was a French composer and pianist – and the first female composer to be award the prestigious Legion of Honor. Her most famous piano composition is Automne, Etudes de Concert, Opus 35, which contrasts seasonal peace and melancholy with a dramatic storm scene.

In his second book of preludes for piano, Debussy’s piece Brouillards (Fog/Mist) leverages the black keys to create a hazy sound, more pronounced than the faint left hand chords.

A more upbeat impression of fall is captured in Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.“

An even more recent piece is American composer Joseph Schwantner’s piano miniature “Veiled Autumn,” which mirrors the changeability of fall weather.

So if autumn feels like the darkening end of the year, music lovers can feel uplifted by this autumn-inspired piano works.

 

The Secret Facts of Composers

Piano teachers need to know their music, and it’s useful to know about the composers themselves. Tomoko likes to read biographies – especially those of composers. And she relates stories about them to her students, providing context for the compositions as well as making those composers more human. Here are some of the lesser known facts about some of them.

Vivaldi became a priest when he was 25, and served as a master of violin at an orphanage. Vivaldi suffered from bronchial asthma throughout his life, which kept him from playing wind instruments.

Liszt was very popular when young, and he was quite the playboy. One of his illegitimate daughters become Richard Wagner’s wife. Nevertheless, throughout his life he considered becoming a priest, and took four minor religious orders when 54.

Schubert was famous for his musical parties, which sometimes lasted until dawn. Yet he was very prolific; he wrote more than 20,000 bars of music, including 600 songs. He wrote 8 songs in one day. 

Rachmaninoff's fingers could span 12 keys.  On the other hand 😉, Schumann ruined his performing career by practicing with a homemade finger-stretching device; then he would plunge his hands into slaughtered animals’ entrails to heal himself.

Frederic Handel loved rich food and wine. He would order enough food for three people – for himself. The food caused him gout, and the wine may have caused him lead poisoning. 

Johann Sebastian Bach frequented Leipzig’s Café Zimmermann where he would drink several cups of coffee (which was a luxury beverage at the time). He liked coffee so much he wrote the Coffee Cantata about a woman who was trying to stop her coffee drinking habit.  Bach was also an amateur mathematician, which is evident in his compositions, especially his canons.

Speaking of coffee, Beethoven was so meticulous that he would measure exactly 60 beans when making coffee.

Mozart’s life included many interesting facts. He could write music before he could write words. He could listen to a piece of music just once and be able to write it down from memory perfectly. He wrote half of his symphonies between the age of 8 and 19. was a big cat fan. He would imitate cats when bored during rehearsals. In fact, he liked cats so much that he wrote a song called "The Cat Duet,” in which the husband asks his wife questions and she answers back in meows.