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drplaceboIt's Forgotten Masterpiece Friday!
Marie Jaëll (1846-1925) was best known as a pianist and piano pedagogue. Her piano students included the physician and organ virtuoso Albert Schweitzer, and Jaëll herself revolutionized piano pedagogy by being one of the first to study human anatomy and physiology and apply that knowledge to the teaching of piano techniques. During her life, Jaëll was also known for her transcriptions of orchestral music for four-hand piano.
In addition, Jaëll was a fairly prolific composer in her own right. Her contemporaries compared her work to that of her teacher Franz Liszt, but she favored thicker, almost Brahmsian textures. (Ironically, Brahms did not care for her work, though he was probably rather biased by his ongoing feud with Liszt.) But she was never popular, in part because she broke gender stereotypes. Women composers of the era commonly faced an unfortunate dilemma: they could either write lighter music and be dismissed as lacking depth, or write heavier music and be attacked as unladylike. Jaëll chose the latter. As a pianist, her own playing style was criticized by some of her contemporaries as "manly," "headstrong," and even "barbaric," and her two piano concerti were similarly criticized for their aggressive virtuosity.
Jaëll's second piano concerto is especially masterful. In form, it reminds somewhat of Liszt in that the movements are connected without any pause between movements and rely heavily on transformation of common themes from movement to movement. Indeed, there are even some other nods to Liszt, such as a brief allusion to Liszt's "La Campanella" in the slow movement. But this is a far weightier piece than Liszt's concerti, brooding, passionate, and unapologetically outspoken in its drama.
Movements:
I. Allegro
II. Andante (11:58)
III. Vivace (16:55)
Marie Jaëll (1846-1925) was best known as a pianist and piano pedagogue. Her piano students included the physician and organ virtuoso Albert Schweitzer, and Jaëll herself revolutionized piano pedagogy by being one of the first to study human anatomy and physiology and apply that knowledge to the teaching of piano techniques. During her life, Jaëll was also known for her transcriptions of orchestral music for four-hand piano.
In addition, Jaëll was a fairly prolific composer in her own right. Her contemporaries compared her work to that of her teacher Franz Liszt, but she favored thicker, almost Brahmsian textures. (Ironically, Brahms did not care for her work, though he was probably rather biased by his ongoing feud with Liszt.) But she was never popular, in part because she broke gender stereotypes. Women composers of the era commonly faced an unfortunate dilemma: they could either write lighter music and be dismissed as lacking depth, or write heavier music and be attacked as unladylike. Jaëll chose the latter. As a pianist, her own playing style was criticized by some of her contemporaries as "manly," "headstrong," and even "barbaric," and her two piano concerti were similarly criticized for their aggressive virtuosity.
Jaëll's second piano concerto is especially masterful. In form, it reminds somewhat of Liszt in that the movements are connected without any pause between movements and rely heavily on transformation of common themes from movement to movement. Indeed, there are even some other nods to Liszt, such as a brief allusion to Liszt's "La Campanella" in the slow movement. But this is a far weightier piece than Liszt's concerti, brooding, passionate, and unapologetically outspoken in its drama.
Movements:
I. Allegro
II. Andante (11:58)
III. Vivace (16:55)