CCHK Salon: Gabriel Merrill-Steskal

Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards Salon with Gabriel Merrill-Steskal: This salon will explore possibilities of melodic ornamentation in the music of Mozart and Chopin. By examining model compositions with written out ornaments of repeated themes, we can learn not only how to embellish one instance of a theme, but also how to structure a series of variations over time in an organic way. In the words of C.P.E. Bach: “Good embellishments must be distinguished from bad, the good must be correctly performed, and introduced moderately and fittingly” (from his Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments). Here, we will take a closer look especially at the second half of Bach’s instruction, and see how to introduce ornaments “moderately and fittingly” to a piece with extensive repetition. In addition, Gabriel will touch on the 19th-century practice of preluding, or linking pieces together in performance.

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