A slice of history: Three Important Eras

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Anya Owens full profile / Solo Piano / 1 musician

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Scarlatti Sonatas K. 213 and K. 141.
Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who was active during the Baroque era who is most remembered for his collection of 555 short sonatas for harpsichord. He moved to Portugal to compose for Princess Maria Barbara who would then become Queen of Spain. Scarlatti performed and composed music for the Spanish crown until his death in 1757.

Beethoven Sonata Op. 2 No. 1
Beethoven is one of the most famous and important figures of the Classical era. He was a German composer whose career was divided into three major periods: early, middle, and late. This sonata was written in his early period while he was a student of Joseph Hadyn and it was his first published piece for piano. This piece is dedicated to Hadyn.

Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 No. 1
Chopin was a Polish composer who was active during the Romantic era. He was known as the "poet of the piano" due to his very romantic and introspective personality and composing style.

Liszt Funerailles
Liszt was a Hungarian composer from the Romantic period who is credited as the creator of the modern recital. Previously, musicians performed in small salon-like venues and only played their own pieces. Liszt and his father toured around Europe when Liszt was a child and he would perform other composers' pieces as well as his own transcriptions and compositions.
Funerailles was written in October 1849, right after the crushing of the Hungarian revolution by the Hapsburgs. Liszt knew three people who took part in the revolution and died as a result. Along with this, Chopin, a close friend of his, died after a long period of being ill. Chopin's influence can be seen in the middle section of the piece, where the left hand has similar octaves to the ones seen in Chopin's Heroic Polonaise. This is one of Liszt's more serious pieces.

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