Friday, October 3, 2008

When is an Impromptu not an impromptu?


The invention of piano Impromptu is generally credited to the Bohemian composer Jan Hugo Vorisek. It genre became a hit in Vienna and when Franz Schubert wrote four short piano pieces for his new publisher Tobias Haslinger. Being a businessman and wanting in on the "Impromptu" fever Haslinger re-titled the pieces Impromptus and the sales were quite respectable for a little known composer like Schubert.

What is interesting is that Haslinger pegged the works exactly. Schubert may not have intended to write Impromptus, but that is what they are, delicate ruminative flowers that are as fresh today as they were when penned in 1827.

Tune in to the Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 for Schubert's Impromptus (part 1) on KPAC and KXTI.

host Randy Anderson

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