Piano music was born at the start of the eighteenth century, when Bartolomeo Cristofori perfected his “gravicembalo col piano e forte.” With Beethoven the sonata became a miniature symphonic laboratory, while the Romantic nineteenth century of Chopin and Liszt turned the piano into a singing, dazzling voice all its own. At the century’s close Debussy used it to paint delicate soundscapes in his Préludes, while Satie fashioned pearls of ironic simplicity in the Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies. From its harpsichord roots to Impressionism, the piano has remained the preferred vehicle for experimenting with timbre, harmony and character in solo form.
All these works, and many others, are gathered in this section, performed by artists of the highest renown.
Piano
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Piano music was born at the start of the eighteenth century, when Bartolomeo Cristofori perfected his “gravicembalo col piano e forte.” With Beethoven the sonata became a miniature symphonic laboratory, while the Romantic nineteenth century of Chopin and Liszt turned the piano into a singing, dazzling voice all its own. At the century’s close Debussy used it to paint delicate soundscapes in his Préludes, while Satie fashioned pearls of ironic simplicity in the Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies. From its harpsichord roots to Impressionism, the piano has remained the preferred vehicle for experimenting with timbre, harmony and character in solo form.
All these works, and many others, are gathered in this section, performed by artists of the highest renown.