Research On Chabrier’s Second Period Piano Works

Alex-Emmanuel· Chabrier (1841-1894) is one of the most important French pianists and composers in the19th century. Although he is not as famous as Debussy, Ravel and other French composers to everyone, the characteristics of his piano works and creative methods of the Impressionist music factors has revealed a profound impacts on the future generations of all Impressionist composers.Chabrier’s piano creation is divided into two periods, among which the second period was the more mature period of his style.It has extremely rich in content though the number of works is very limited. His musical language is full of French-style elegancy and humor with a high degree of originality. The heritage of the French Rococo Style in his work has been a powerful impetus to the revival of French music. His piano works present a fantasy musical colors under the blend of literature and painting. The later Impressionists composers have absorbed the Impressionist music factor from Chabrier’s piano works. And the changing rhythm makes his works very expressive and provocative.Dix Pieces Pittoresques is a masterpiece of Chabrier in his second period of piano creation. In this paper, it has taken this piece as an example, summarized the characteristics of this period by time and creative approaches. It also explores the performance skills based on profession knowledge and compares between the differences of famous pianists’performances.It is aiming to conduct in-depth understanding of the meaning of Chabrier piano works and grasp its musical style in a more accurate way.