Pre-concert lecture: capturing a fleeting emotion through the character piece

In this pre-concert lecture, Magdalena Baczewska explores the evolution of a distinctive nineteenth-century genre, for piano. In contrast to symphonies, which became ever more monumental, character pieces were free-standing vignettes, consisting of a few minutes of music. Sometimes they were grouped into larger cycles. Capturing a fleeting emotion, character pieces created an intimate connection with the listener. Cultivated by the great Romantic composers, the piano miniature continues to be a part of a musical language for composers to this day. Watch the full lecture here.