Impromptu
A collection of Impromptus, Fantasies and Impressions for piano solo, played by Brian Chapman. Although only two of the pieces presented in this collection carry the title Impromptu, many of the other works possess an improvisatory quality.
Beethoven's simply constructed 'easy' sonata may well have been a written out improvisation that only became published years later when the composer realised that his encroaching deafness made his future more dependent on composition and publication than on public performance. And we might fairly describe as 'doodling' the manner of commencement of Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, the two Spanish pieces and the first four of the Debussy selections.
Artist
Brian Chapman
Born in England in 1944, Brian Chapman studied piano in Brisbane with Nora Baird from 1952, and in Melbourne from 1954 with Lindsay Biggins, J.A. Steele and Roy Shepherd. After obtaining his AMusA performing diploma in 1958, he discontinued piano lessons the following year for five years, returning to study with Roy Shepherd in 1964.
Track Listing
- Fantasia in D minor, K.397 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Minuet in D, K.355/576b Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Allegro, ma non troppo
- Tempo di minuetto
- Minuet in G, WoO 10, No. 2 Ludwig van Beethoven
- Andante - Allegro - Tempo I
- Allegro molto e vivace
- Adagio con espressione
- Allegro vivace - Tempo I - Presto
- Goyescas The Maiden and the Nightingale Enrique Granados
- El Albaicin from Iberia Book III Isaac Albéniz
- Suite bergamasque Clair de lune Claude Debussy
- Footsteps in the snow
- The girl with the flaxen hair
- The engulfed cathedral
- Estampes Gardens under rain Claude Debussy
Impromptu in G flat, Op. 90, No. 3 Franz Schubert
Sonata in G major, Op. 49, No. 2 Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata quasi una fantasia in E flat, Op. 27, No. 1 Ludwig van Beethoven
Preludes, Book 1 Claude Debussy
Performers
Composers
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. Today, Schubert is admired as one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. The crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.
Enrique Granados
Born in Lerida in 1867, Enrique Granados studied the piano and composition in Barcelona and then in Paris, returning to Barcelona in 1889. He won distinction as a pianist and popularity in Spain with his contributions to the form of zarzuela.
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms (many of which have been transcribed by others for guitar).
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions.
Where to buy
Impromptu is available as as CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer secure online ordering.
Move CDs can be ordered through music retailers across Australia including Readings.
