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Burgmuller
Selection
Burgmüller - 9. La Chasse (Hunting Song) in C Major (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
The previous two studies were about delicacy and control of sound in the softer dynamic levels; La chasse has all the energy and colour of a hunt, with a dynamic range from pp to f. The form is rondo (A-B-A-C-A), with an introduction and a coda. We clearly hear the hunting horns and the galloping of horses’ hooves, and we feel the excitement of the occasion. Do we also detect a certain compassion for the poor fox in the troubled B section (dominant minor, poco agitato) and the expressive C section in the relative minor, marked dolente (sadly)? The staccato... Read >>
Burgmüller - 7. Le Courant Limpide (The Clear Little Stream) in G Major (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
Le Courant Limpide (The Clear Little Stream) is a charming study in tonal control, evenness of touch, and using the imagination to create a vivid soundscape. The study features virtually continuous triplet motion in the right hand, the left hand crotchets providing a simple drone in the A section, and a counterpoint to the right hand’s hidden melody in the B section. The melodic element in the first eight bars is in the right thumb (you will notice these melody notes have their own crotchet stems), so for this reason it is good practice to play the thumb line minus... Read >>
Burgmüller - 8. La Gracieuse (Gracefully) in F Major (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
La Gracieuse (Gracefully) is in the subdued key of F major, and features written-out turns against a simple chordal background. The left hand has the chance to explore the ornament in the B section of this ternary form study, but we begin with the right hand. The turn consists of four notes - the note above, the principal note, the note below, and the principal note again. If this study were written with the usual ornament sign for a turn, the page would look much cleaner. Instead of all the demisemiquavers (or 32nd note in the American nomenclature), we would... Read >>
Burgmüller - 15. Ballade in C Minor (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
Ballade is surely one of the most popular studies from the set. The form of the Ballade is ABA with coda, the A sections in C minor, and the B section in the tonic major (C major). Marked Allegro con brio we will want to feel one main beat in a bar. The title Ballade simply means story, and there is no better piece for the intermediate player to use their imagination to decide what is happening in their particular version of the story. Perhaps we are about to enter a haunted house, the right hand repeated chords representing our... Read >>
Burgmüller - 16. Douce Plainte (Tender Appeal) in G Minor (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
Douce plainte (Gentle Complaint) is a study in expressive playing, requiring very careful listening indeed. In the key of G minor, and marked dolente (sadly), we find expression not only in the melodic line that passes from one hand to the other, but also in the rises and falls in the accompaniment figuration (we respond by adding our own gentle hairpins, with no accent on the final quaver of the slurred groups). Playing a melodic line in legato cantabile style involves not merely projecting it over the accompaniment, but also paying attention to how one note relates to the next... Read >>
Burgmüller - 17. La Babillarde (The Chatterbox) in F Major (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
La babillarde (Chatterbox) is a tuneful and humorous study in repeated notes, useful because both hands get the chance to develop this important skill. Only 35 bars long, there is great value in observing the repeats once the study has been mastered. Allegretto tells us the tempo is lively, but not too fast. The original French edition gives a tempo of 72 per dotted crotchet, rather on the fast side. I suggest experimenting with various different tempi starting from 60 per dotted crotchet. It is not always the case that repeated notes must be played with a change of finger,... Read >>
Burgmüller - 18. Inquiétude (Restlessness) in E Minor (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
In Inquiétude (Restlessness) we find just one basic pattern – left hand staccato chords on each beat of the bar and scurrying semiquaver groups in the right hand, off the beat. It makes sense to begin learning the notes with the left hand, the conductor. The wedged staccato dashes tell us to play short and emphatically, with energy in the tips of the fingers. The right hand groups need to be played close to the keys, yet with a sense of shaping and mobility in the hand and wrist. The wider intervals, such as we find in bars 5-6, and... Read >>
Burgmüller - 19. Ave Maria in A Major (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
Ave Maria, literally translated as “Hail Mary”, is a hymn-like piece with delicate harmonic touches. The andantino marking tells us that, while on the slow side, the tempo needs to move forwards. In the warm key of A major, the form is A B A* plus coda (from bar 24). The opening of the piece is chordal, the returning A section developed with quaver (eighth note) movement that suggests a little more intensity and flow. The main technical challenges are chord voicing, and control of legato. We listen carefully to the tonal balance of each chord, ensuring we have a... Read >>
Burgmüller - 23. Le Retour (from 25 Easy and Progressive Etudes, Op. 100)
Le retour (The Return) is all about the excitement of seeing a friend again after an absence. Marked molto agitato quasi presto, there is a strong sense of agitation and eager expectation; the diminuendo e poco ritenuto in the coda seems to express relief that all the excitement is over, and contentment that both parties are happily reunited. It is worth noting that the title, key and time signature are the same as in the finale of Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat, op 81a (“Les Adieux”). The main technical challenge of the étude is how to manage the repeated notes without... Read >>