#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalSchool Week 2
By Ralph Graves
Traditionally, September is the back-to-school month. The Classics a Day team decided to mark the occasion. Classical School is the theme for September 2019. To participate, just post a piece of classical music that’s somehow related to education with the appropriate hashtags.
What would count? Any classical work about school, or using themes from schools; examination pieces; composer tributes to their teachers (or students); etudes or other instructional works, just to name a few.
Below are my selections for the second week of #ClassicalSchool
9/9/19 Johann Sebastian Bach – Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Bach compiled two practice notebooks for his second wife, who played the harpsichord. They have both original works and arrangements of other composers’ music.
9/10/19 Carl Czerny – The Art of Finger Dexterity, Op. 740
Czerny was a piano virtuoso and educator (he taught Franz Liszt). His collection of finger exercises is but one of many sets of etudes he wrote for student and professional improvement.
9/11/19 Johann Sebastian Bach: Clavier-Übung (keyboard practice)
Bch published four volumes of Clavier-Übung. These pieces were primarily for practicing technical skills rather than performance. The fourth volume is the Goldberg Variations.
9/12/19 Maria Szymanowska: Vingt exercises et préludes
Szymanowska was a leading concert pianist and salon music composer the early 1800s. She would eventually be overshadowed by Chopin, 11 years her junior.
9/13/19 Heitor Villa-Lobos’ virtuoso 12 Études for guitar
Villa-Lobos wrote these etudes to serve two purposes. Each one focuses on a technical skill to master. And each was intended as virtuoso showpieces for public performance.
