Starts off fairly soft, with simplistic movements in both hands, creating a nice mellow atmosphere because it’s quite slow and quiet. The motif begins to build up a little more by adding in the odd bass note in the right hand too. At this point it’s still quite mellow because we drop back into the single notes in the right hand and octave root notes in the left. There’s a little tension created in the descending sections because the left and right hand together clash a little but in an effective way, i.e. when the left hand played an F but the right hand played a B. The motif is present throughout the whole piece but he develops it with different movements and notes. This makes the piece very memorable without steering into the Pop song structure, like most modern pianists. He finishes up by playing a chord, giving the piece a gentle end.
I like how he builds off the first idea without starting any new ones really and just developing that one idea until it gets stronger and stronger every time. He develops it by spread across the left hand into root, fifth and then root, including some octaves in the left hand and really playing on the movement to build up a rhythmical feel. (Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement), 2018)
Again, we can hear this instant motif that is always being developed and slightly changed. This piece begins very simplified, with barely any left hand and the right hand just playing single notes and looping the motif. He then brings in some octaves and third and root chords in the left to bring in some bass. Unlike Beethoven, he actually did go into what felt like a section B, when he played the really fast scale section that led into the section C, which is like an advanced version of section A. He uses speed and arpeggios to really develop all of his sections and bring in a different sense of emotion. After section A, everything gets louder, he uses more chords and more movements to intensify the piece. He then falls back into section A with the root note in the left hand and the chord in the right to bring the softness back whilst maintaining that rhythmical element he’d just built up. Finally, he finishes the piece with just some chords, giving it a nice gentle end.
Between Beethoven and Liszt, it appears that the 1800’s composing style is to start by establishing your motif, develop that motif with bass notes, more movement, octaves and chords, create some tension and then end very gently with some chords. I like the idea of ending gently after an intense moment because it allows them more time to feel the whole intense moment without moving on too quickly. Also, a slow pace seems to be very effective because then you can also build up speed whilst building up everything else in the intense sections. (Liszt – Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream), 2019)
Section A is around 4 – 8 bars that are looped twice, they’re simply just chords. Section B seems to develop movement a lot quicker than the other two pieces did, by using trills in the right hand. However, the slow pace and the single notes in both hands show that it’s still quite simplistic at the moment. The left hand seems to constantly be moving between different notes of the chord, giving the piece that sense of movement without it being too over powering. He uses a good range of the piano, almost 4 octaves, to really get the emotion from the different notes rather than the intensity. He uses a scale to descend and ascend into different sections of the piece, which creates subtle intensity without drawing too much attention away from the motif. Similar to the other composers, he ends his piece quite softly with a 2 octave note.
I like how he uses the higher octaves to draw emotion instead of intensifying the piece with chords like the others did, it feels like a different approach. I think it’s more effective to use the higher octaves to create more emotion too. He, like the others, did use a lot of movement though and he really used that scale to keep the piece moving and developing. (Chopin – Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (No. 20), 2019)
This is a modern piece and you can really see the pop influence in the structure. It feels like the structure goes intro, verse, pre, chorus, break, verse, pre, chorus, bridge. This does make the piece more memorable. This piece has a feeling of a constant motif too, with the left hand arpeggios, but he doesn’t solely focus on them like earlier composers did. the arpeggios in the left hand feel like they’re keeping the piece up and giving the melody more emotion. The right hand plays a melody that builds up, constantly dipping in and out of the verse etc sections. This piece pretty much sticks around around middle C as the whole piece centres around just four chords: F minor, Db major, Ab major and Eb major. . Ludovico really uses arpeggios and spreading the chord to develop his piece and create more movement. His final section does remind me of some of the earlier composers, with the way he slows down and simplifies it.
I like the repetitiveness of the piece because I feel like it’s very easy to remember and it makes you want to listen again because you kind of know the movements. However, I do like how the earlier composers worked around just 1 – 2 solid motifs, this piece feels like theres at least 4 – 5 different sections instead of motifs. (Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole Bianche, 2018)
Similar to Ludovico, the structure is very pop like, with a feel of verses and chorus’. Yiruma really focuses on the dynamics to intensify the emotions. This piece uses a similar method to the earlier composers with the motif that’s constantly being brought back in, and that’s what makes it more memorable. This piece is also quite simplistic because as soon as you know the motif, you pretty much know the whole piece but that’s why it sticks in your head.
I like the idea of the pop structure, as it makes it very memorable, but I think the earlier composers really focused on the intensity and building up the motif and it really helps you feel the piece more than just remember it. (Yiruma, (이루마) – River Flows in You, 2001)
Overall:
Earlier composers seemed to favour sticking to 1 – 2 motifs and then developing those. Whereas, modern composers seem to work more into the pop genres kind of style with the verse – pre – chorus structure.
Bibliography:
Youtu.be. 2018. Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement). [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/sbTVZMJ9Z2I> [Accessed 27 May 2022].
Youtu.be. 2016. Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XIII. The Swan. [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/JO5QYvxcvi4> [Accessed 25 May 2022].
Youtu.be. 2019. Chopin – Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (No. 20). [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/DqpPRj6UZqc> [Accessed 25 May 2022].
Youtu.be. 2019. Liszt – Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream). [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/MBOa-2b4uQQ> [Accessed 25 May 2022].
Youtu.be. 2018. Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole Bianche. [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/4VR-6AS0-l4> [Accessed 25 May 2022].
Youtube.com. 2001. Yiruma, (이루마) – River Flows in You. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7maJOI3QMu0> [Accessed 25 May 2022].