‘Light and Shade’ – Scholarly Notes on Final Solo Recital 2022

• Author / Creator

  Yang, Jeanne Y. C.

• These notes are part of the final project for the Doctor of Music in Piano Performance degree, which included a CD of self-edited recordings and a recital performance. The recital programme comprised the Keyboard Sonata in C major (Hob.XVI:48) by Joseph Haydn, Gaspard de la nuit by Maurice Ravel, and Piano Sonata No. 6, Op. 82 by Sergei Prokofiev. The theme of ‘light and shade,’ chiaroscuro, was the underlying theme for my choice of programme. In the metaphorical sense, it can apply to musical works of different periods, and it informed my interpretive approach to the coloristic and expressive range of the piano. For Haydn’s Sonata, I studied the aesthetic and style of the Classical period through the fortepiano, and explored choices and adjustments for performance practice on a modern piano. Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit is the realization of three prose poems written by the French Romantic poet Aloysius Bertrand. I therefore focused on the literary background of the piece and the musical images of the stories, which are so closely woven with bright-darkness of its narrative themes. Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 was written before the Second World War broke out, and is considered one of the ‘War Sonatas.’ I discussed the contrasting elements, and presented a narrative synopsis of the large-scale work from a performance standpoint. The order of the program was arranged chronologically in the recital, as well as in the CD recording and the scholarly notes. Advisor: Professor Patricia Tao, D. Mus.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Piano
  • Joseph Haydn
  • Maurice Ravel
  • Sergei Prokofiev
  • Haydn Keyboard Sonata in C Major
  • Haydn Piano Sonata Hob.XVI:48
  • Haydn Piano Sonata No. 58
  • Gaspard de la nuit
  • Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 6
  • Op. 82
  • Chiaroscuro
  • Light and Shade
  • Fortepiano
  • Performance Practice
  • Aloysius Bertrand
  • Louis Bertrand
  • War Sonata
  • Ondine
  • Le Gibet
  • Scarbo
  • Edition Comparison

• Graduation date

  Fall 2022

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Music

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-wdzq-z727

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.