Ioannis Fulias, “The
four piano concertos of Xaver Scharwenka. A contribution to the examination of
the concerto genre during the late romantic period
(Part I)”,
Polyphonia 29,
Athens 2016,
p. 7-102; “The
four piano concertos of Xaver Scharwenka. A contribution to the examination of
the concerto genre during the late romantic period
(Part IÉ)”,
Polyphonia
30,
Athens 2017,
p. 7-107.
The
present publication is the first, internationally, comprehensive study devoted
to the four concertos for piano and orchestra of Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924),
works that are not only some of the most representative of their genre during
the late romantic period, but also unjustifiably neglected for almost a century.
As an introduction, a brief biographical sketch is provided for the composer,
brilliant virtuoso and notorious piano pedagogue (among his many other
attributes), and a reference is made to his principal works; also, a critical
reconstruction of the periodisation of his whole compositional output in two
distinct phases (instead of three periods, as has been groundlessly proposed by
M. Schneider-Dominco)
is offered,
and a similar review is attempted concerning the references
to
Scharwenka’s concertos that are detected both in general and more specific
literature. Subsequently, each of the
composer’s
four piano concertos is examined from a historical and an analytical
perspective: the –
as
complete as possible – history of their creation and performances
is
based on a thorough cross-check of data from the available primary sources and
secondary literature references, leading to numerous revisions of hitherto
erroneous or deficient information, while the detailed analyses of the works
illuminate their structure and their main stylistic features in connection
with
a solid theoretical background, which
contributes
to the
elimination
of
any kind of
misinterpretation formulated for these concertos in all their previous,
superficial, approaches. Finally, in the conclusion of this study, a) the
evolution of Scharwenka’s compositional style is
evaluated
through his formal choices, the implementation of the cyclic form as a
compositional principle, and the relation between the solo instrument and the
orchestra that is developed in his four concertos, b) the possible influence
that
the works of
prominent fellow-craftsmen of his occasionally
had on Scharwenka is
put under investigation, c) the exact position of these piano concertos in the
wider history of their genre during the late romantic period is redefined, and,
inevitably, d) an inquiry is made into the causes of their displacement from the
concert repertoire after the death of their composer.
© Ioannis
Fulias