SCHUMANN: Dichterliebe, op. 48 (1840)
Dichterliebe means “ A Poet’s Love.” The poem tells a series progression in love for a beloved person between expectation, remorse, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Schumann made the piano settings mirrored with equal significance with the vocal part. Meanwhile, he perfectly adapted each poem and offered an emotional atmosphere with dedicated suspensions and dramatic chromatism. Another greatest in the piano part is the postlude. Some postludes are nearly half the length of the song. It is not only an accompaniment function, but a narrator, like the poet himself, who drove the story forward.
BRITTEN: Cello Sonata, op. 65 (1960)
The cello sonata consists of five movements, named Dialogo, Scherzo-Pizzicato, Elegia, Marcia, and Moto Perpetuo. The beginning of the first movement is like a dialogue. The cello part leads, the piano responds and sometimes exchanges. While the final movement is different, experiencing all of the polyrhythms and syncopation, piano and cello finally agree to get together. The second movement is a showcase of cello technique. In this movement, the cello plays pizzicato through the whole piece at a fast tempo. The third movement and fourth movement are like the transaction from peace to insane, which rises up to a result in the final movement.
DEBUSSY: Violin Sonata in G Minor (1917)
Debussy determined himself in chamber music and composed the cello sonata, flute, viola, and harp sonata, and the violin sonata. All these pieces were involved with both sadness and hopefulness. He planned to compose six sonatas, with the final sonata featuring all the instruments from the previous five. But he died with only three sonatas completed. This whole piece is like suggesting an endless and open world. In the first movement, the key changes from G minor to E major, C major and back to G minor, which makes the piece full of color change. The second movement is like improvisations. Many repeated intervals in piano continually create a feeling of endless. The Finale movement opens with returning to the main theme of the first movement. Then, both piano and violin start spinning and rising up into a new level.
