30Q #45 Hexameron

[Shapley]

Is there a keyboard used in the work?

[Shapley]

Is it a trio? If not a trio, is it a quintet?

[Hexameron]

14. Is the composer German or Austrian?

No.

15. If not, French?

Yes.

16. Is there more than one movements or part?

Yes.

17. Is there a keyboard used in the work?

Yes.

18. Is it a trio?

Yes.

[navneeth]

Was the composer born in the 18th century?

[Shapley]

Is the composer Edouard Lalo?

[Hexameron]

19. Was the composer born in the 18th century?

No.

20. Is the composer Edouard Lalo?

No.

[Hexameron]

Recapping again:

- A trio of some kind, with a keyboard instrument featured, more than one movement, and does not have vocals/chorus.
-Written between 1827-1850 by a French composer.
-Composer was not born in the 18th century

[navneeth]

Is the composer Charles-Valentin Alkan?

If so, my guess: Trio, for violin, cello & piano in G minor, Op. 30

[Hexameron]

Whoa Navneeth, two questions aced in one post!

You got it! Alkan's Op. 30 it is, a colossal and beautiful piano trio.

[bignaf]

I forgot you were the Alkan fan...

[navneeth]

And 30Q introduces me to the music of yet another composer. Thanks, Hex.

[Catmando]

Wow Nav! Phenomenal guess!

[Hexameron]

It definitely was a phenomenal guess. I thought the composer/piece I picked was a little obscure and I wondered if it would be too hard to figure out. Although I must have revealed my favoritism for Alkan somewhere, as bignaf noted, I still thought I would get 5 more questions, at least asking if it was Saint-Saens or something. But Nav nailed it.

[shostakovich]

One of Schubert's last works?

Whoever asks about 1827 should probably use 1829 or 1830, lumping Schubert and Beethoven as in or out.

Just a suggestion for the future.
Shos

funny you should consider Schubert a major composer.
I invented the 1827 question, mostly because I would have Schubert in mind when thinking of romantic music, not so with Beethoven. but I guess 1829 would be better, just two years and you eliminate another so-called major composer.
and, BTW, if you were going to ask such a small elimination question (Schubert late works), you should at least ask 1829 to eliminate a fe w more pieces.

You're right. Asking "Before 1829?" would have eliminated some additional works. I just couldn't think of any others in 1828. By the way, I like Death and the Maiden, even though I still don't consider Schubert a major composer. Lots of people do.

Congrats to both Hex and Nav. I'm impressed.
Shos

[Catmando]

I'm no expert, but I would have to consider Schubert a "major" composer.

I'm thinking if not Top 10, for sure Top 20 of all-time. IMHO.

[Hexameron]

I'm with you Catmando. Schubert is a demi-god of composers and is definitely in the top 20.

[Catmando]

And 30Q introduces me to the music of yet another composer. Thanks, Hex.

Same here, I'd never heard of Charles-Valentin Alkan until now. Sounds like an underrated. Even Lizst apparently was quoted as saying he had the perfect "technique". Interesting.

[Hexameron]

Well, Catmando, Alkan is one of those composers that confuses the music intelligentsia. His Op. 39 is probably the most original and ingenious set of piano compositions in the Romantic period. The Concerto for Solo Piano is comfortably shoulder-to-shoulder with Liszt's Sonata in B minor. But so many don't want to believe it or accept the fact that masterpieces can be ignored for so long. They think history proved that Alkan wasn't great because hardly anyone even heard of him.

I guess they didn't learn from Mendelssohn with Bach. You have to revive these forgotten masters. How can anyone grade their music if no one even hears it?

Here's my amazon list of Alkan CD's you can get if any of you are interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Discover-the-grea ... 16-2298404

[Catmando]

I think if you were French but weren't an Opera composer in the early part of the 19th Century, you were simply dismissed and ignored.

Antoine de l'hoyer is another example.

[navneeth]

I just noted in Wikipedia's disambiguation page that Alkan was, strangely, identified by his religion rather than his nationality. So I changed it.