Performance Aspects of Louise Farrenc’s Études for Piano

Stratigou, Maria (2021) Performance Aspects of Louise Farrenc’s Études for Piano. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Royal Northern College of Music in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

The present thesis combines performance with musicological research on Louise Farrenc’s four sets of piano Études. Its purpose is to highlight and explore the piano Études of a neglected female composer, performer, pedagogue,and early music scholar who is worthy of rediscovery. It seeks to add new knowledge to current piano pedagogy and to the field of nineteenth-century piano music performance. Moreover, it aims to enrich our knowledge of Louise Farrenc’s compositional style and to promote further research into her music. As a result of her multiple musical pursuits, the study of her compositions, and particularly her Études, can shed light upon the teaching methods and the performance practices of her time. My methodology suggests an approach to other, similarly neglected repertoire for researchers and performers. The first chapter, which focuses on the composer’s life and her work at the Paris Conservatoire, places the creation of her Études in context, as three of the sets were composed and published during the years of her appointment. Chapters 2–4 are focused on the manuscript scores and editions of the Études, since a detailed analysis of the differences between the manuscript scores and editions of the Études can benefit the performer and inform their interpretation. In Chapter 5, I present a commentary on the performance guidance which Farrenc provided as written text in two works that she edited, Le Trésor des pianistes and Bernard Viguerie’s piano method, while in Chapter 6 I demonstrate the application of nineteenth-century performance practices to her Études. My written commentary is accompanied by the first professional studio recording of the complete sets (87 Études in total), as well as excerpts of them and additional musical examples to support my arguments.