Who is composer xaver scharwenka

The Sonata has much to commend, it yet has many weaknesses. The work opens with a F double sharp whereas G natural is the obvious correct usage. There are passages in sharp keys with some many flats that the composer should have changed the key signature. It is a mark of a poor composer, or a composer ignorant of both technique and grammar as confirmed by senior music professionals. The opening movement is given as allegro appassionato.

There are a few modulations. The scherzo is vivacissimo and is playful but rather trite. The adagio is in five flats with a lot of unnecessary accidentals where a key change would be easier. This leads directly into the finale allegro molto agitato. In , he composed his finest work, the Piano Concerto no 1 in B flat minor Op This is a magnificent achievement even by the highest standards. It is original and the Chopin influence is gone.

This is a masculine work containing contrasting and memorable themes. It has moments of appealing lyricism and stunning pianism. The second movement is a scherzo and is an absolute winner, far more than merely attractive but disarmingly beautiful in its own way. It is a joy to play, if you can play it, and a joy to hear.

It has been said that that it is the finest movement of its kind in any music literature. The third movement opens with power but it is a slow movement of extraordinary content while the finale is a real finale. But readers must not take these comments as being dismissive of Tchaikovsky. The Piano Concerto no 2 Op 56 dates from , a fruitful period for him with the completion of both his Piano Trio no 2 and the Piano Sonata no 2.

The Piano Sonata no 2 in E flat is an exemplary example of piano writing. It is a confident ,sunny piece with excellent themes and superb construction, exquisitely written for the piano and a real delight. In Scharwenka founded his own Music School which quickly became successful.

He was the director from to The next director was Klindworth — followed by Philipp — and Xaver again until This music school became known as the Klindworth-Scharwenka School. Scharwenka took up conducting and gave a series of concerts of music by Beethoven , Berlioz and Liszt in His most famous compositions were innocent little piano pieces that literally sold millions of copies and were endlessly reprinted in popular piano music anthologies.

Lacking business savvy, Scharwenka sold his miniatures for a flat fee when he could have made massive royalties around the world. Unsatisfied, he added an orchestral introduction and presented the work as a single-movement fantasy in Berlin in Still not entirely satisfied, he reshaped the work as a concerto and dedicated the work to Franz Liszt, for whom he performed it privately.

Unfolding in three movements, the concerto nevertheless reflects its rather unusual genesis. It has no dedicated slow movement, but merely an adagio intermezzo as part of the opening movement. As such, it might be the only concerto in existence that features 3 consecutive Allegro movements. And it became a hit! However, the best discs contain his own Polish Dance Op.

These early recordings in good sound for their age reveal a pianist of taste and technique although the primitive recording process barely displays his renowned beauty and quality of tone. They are, however, an important document of one of the great composer-pianists of the second half of the nineteenth century.

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