| (1) Why study Stravinsky's Piano Quatre Etudes, opus 7As a composer, musician, conductor and pianist, Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) had various music styles that covered every pioneer field in the 20th century with a far-reaching influence. Stravinsky was the most innovative composer who liked to learn the best of others and, with his continuous efforts, established his unique style. Although Stravinsky did not focus his compositions on piano, with only about a dozen piano works, piano was the bedrock of his glorious life of professional composition. Nothing, not even his ballet plays, was comparable to his piano works to which his long and prolific composition life was attributed. So far, the link between Stravinsky and his piano works has remained to be studied. The existing research literature that can be found has focused on his ballet plays in the"Russian Period", chamber music and some piano works in the neo-classical period, and his works in the late Sequence period. In order to understand a multi-faceted Stravinsky, this thesis will study one of the mature works in his"Russian Period", the only piano etude, and will enhance our artistic feeling of his early piano works and will add values to the future research.(2) Objectives and structure of the study of Stravinsky's Piano EtudesThis thesis focuses on the only set of four Piano Etudes, Op.7 in Stravinsky's "Russian period"(1908). Through analysis of the styles and characteristics of his piano composition in this period, the thesis aims to explore the etude's special values and the meaning of its existence. From my personal practice and performance experience, I will offer some guidance on how to perform these pieces.The structure of this thesis is as follows. First I will describe the diverse composition styles in Stravinsky's entire life. Then I will delve into the versatile styles in his early composition years, the"Russian Period", and discuss in detail the characteristics of his etudes in this period. |
