Salon music
Encyclopedia
Salon music was a popular music genre
in Europe
during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano
in the romantic
style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and often focus on virtuoso pianistic display or emotional expression of a sentimental character. Common sub-genres of salon music are the operatic paraphrase or fantasia, in which multiple themes from a popular opera are the basis of the composition, and the musical character-piece, which portrays in music a particular situation or narrative.
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
in the romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and often focus on virtuoso pianistic display or emotional expression of a sentimental character. Common sub-genres of salon music are the operatic paraphrase or fantasia, in which multiple themes from a popular opera are the basis of the composition, and the musical character-piece, which portrays in music a particular situation or narrative.
Salon composers
Many popular composers wrote at least a few pieces which fall into the category of salon music. Some pianists composed only salon music, but many of these specialists have become highly obscure.- Sigismond ThalbergSigismond ThalbergSigismond Thalberg was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.- Descent and family background :...
specialized in operatic paraphrases, often featuring a "three-handed" technique that was his trademark. Often regarded as the greatest of the "salon only" pianists. - John FieldJohn Field (composer)John Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi...
composed a series of nocturneNocturneA nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...
s that greatly influenced Chopin. - Frédéric ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
was a far more important composer than the majority of salonists, and most critics regard his music as being "too good" to be classified with the majority of the genre. Nevertheless, elements of salon style appear in many of his works. - Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, like Chopin, transcends the genre. Only a few of his compositions (the Galop Chromatique, or some of the operatic fantasies) can be said to lie entirely within the salon tradition. - Louis Moreau GottschalkLouis Moreau GottschalkLouis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works...
is notable as the first American pianist to achieve success in Europe. - Henri HerzHenri HerzHenri Herz was a pianist and composer, Austrian by birth, and French by domicile.Herz was born Heinrich Herz in Vienna...
- Ignaz MoschelesIgnaz MoschelesIgnaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...
- Benjamin GodardBenjamin GodardBenjamin Louis Paul Godard was a French violinist and Romantic composer.-Biography:Born in Paris, Godard was a student of Henri Vieuxtemps. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1863 where he studied under Vieuxtemps and Napoléon Henri Reber and accompanied Vieuxtemps twice to Germany...
- Désiré MagnusDésiré MagnusDésiré Magnus was a Belgian concert pianist, teacher and composer of salon music who published under the pseudonym D Magnus.-Biography:...
- Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
- Julius SchulhoffJulius SchulhoffJulius Schulhoff, was a Bohemian pianist and composer of Jewish birth. He was the great-uncle of the 20th century composer Erwin Schulhoff....
- Martinus SievekingMartinus SievekingMartinus Sieveking was a classical composer and pianist. He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands.A pupil of Julius Röntgen, he was the accompanist of the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris. Though some of his many charming compositions are best described as salon music, he also wrote inventive serious...
- Erik SatieErik SatieÉric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
- Francesco Paolo TostiFrancesco Paolo TostiSir Paolo Tosti was an Italian, later British, composer and music teacher.-Life:Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began his music education at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella at the age of...
- Georges Boulanger (violinist)Georges Boulanger (violinist)Georges Boulanger was a Romani-Romanian violinist, conductor and composer.-Biography:Georges Boulanger was born in Tulcea, Romania from a Romani Romanian family with a very long tradition in music . His father's name was Vasile Pantazi. He was known as the typical Romanian Romani virtuoso...
- Franz BehrFranz BehrFranz Behr was a prolific, but minor, and now almost forgotten, German composer of songs and salon pieces for piano.He was popular at one time, and many of his works were published . His works include names such as The Camp of the Gypsies, Will o’ the wisp, Valse des Elfes Franz Behr (1837–1898)...
Well known performers of salon music
- Adolf BuschAdolf BuschAdolf Georg Wilhelm Busch was a German-born violinist and composer.Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering...
- Fritz BuschFritz BuschFritz Busch was a German conductor.Busch was born in Siegen, Province of Westphalia. He held posts conducting opera at Aachen, Stuttgart and Dresden. In 1933 he was dismissed from his post at Dresden because of his opposition to the new Nazi government of Germany...
- Jacques ThibaudJacques ThibaudJacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...
- Rudolf SerkinRudolf SerkinRudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
- Jascha HeifetzJascha HeifetzJascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
- Fritz KreislerFritz KreislerFriedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
- Emanuel FeuermannEmanuel FeuermannEmanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
- Pablo CasalsPablo CasalsPau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
- Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...