The Notion of a Piano School: Interpretative Canons and the Pursuit of Creative Freedom

Doctoral student: Jurgis Aleknavičius
Supervisors: Prof. Jurgis Karnavičius, Prof. Habil. Dr. Leonidas Melnikas
Research consultant: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lina Navickaitė-Martinelli
Department: Piano
Intended duration: 2014-2019

Abstract

Jurgis Aleknavičius

It would be legitimate to ask whether the notion of a piano school can exist today as a specific entirety of interpretative canons related to different philosophical and musical ideas, national traditions, musical styles and educational stereotypes. Identifying specific piano teaching traditions and representatives of a school becomes difficult when one begins to appeal to globalisation, which manifests itself through the scale of music publishing, the industry of international competitions and a broad geography of master classes. One thus begins to deny the apparent features related to one or another tradition of musical education and piano teaching.

Well-known and widely recognised old piano schools are associated with the names of famous piano educators and composers: the Viennese school and Johann Hummel, Carl Czerny; the London school and Muzio Clementi, Jan Dusik, Johann Baptist Kramer; the Parisian school and Jean-Lois Adam, Camille Saint-Saëns; Moscow, Saint Petersburg schools and brothers Anton and Nicolai Rubinsteins.

Every textbook on piano methodologies provides its own ways of developing a technique, producing a specific sound or performing the repertoire of a specific epoch and defines the essential requirements for a piano performer. Every piano school offers its own approach to piano teaching and methodological elements and pursues goals that reflect people’s mentality in its home country and the overall national education objectives.

Once it comes into contact with contemporary culture and artistic taste, historic interpretative practice enables anticipating the priorities of a performer. The prevailing paradigm of the vocal element, the paradigm of the coloristic element and the paradigm of conceptuality bring out the essential philosophy of interpreting a piece of music. Works by Fryderyk Chopin appear very frequently in the repertoire of Lithuanian pianists. This composer, pianist and performer can be treated as an epoch, style and school in the history of the art of the piano. In the light of so many interpretations of Chopin’s music in concert halls in Lithuania and worldwide, the author of the present research paper will attempt to identify the interpretative canons of Chopin’s works used by Lithuanian pianists. This research will help to sense the influence of piano schools on the artistic taste, interpretative logic and philosophy of Lithuanian piano performers.