Congratulations to Professors Halina Goldberg and Jonathan D. Bellman whose anthology, Descriptive Piano Fantasias, was recently published by A-R Editions. These critical performing editions are prepared by researchers and include commentary on historical context and performance practice to aid scholars and performers alike.
Descriptive Piano Fantasias contains once popular but forgotten compositions from the late eighteenth through nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These pieces, ubiquitous throughout Europe and the United States, were often based on historical and fictional events and mainly addressed to amateur pianists.
The anthology offers insights into compositional techniques found in canonic repertory, including the music of Fryderyk Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Johannes Brahms, while shedding light on historical listening practices. Exploring this genre helps to contextualize nineteenth-century aesthetic debates of descriptive versus idealistic music (and later programmatic versus absolute music). This repertory also highlights music’s role in depictions of political events and national sentiments.
The edition is available here.
Leave a Reply