An investigation of love pieces in piano repertoire through a recital project

This capstone project is a summary of my five-year studies at Education University of Hong Kong. I applied my art administration skills and musical knowledge to organize a public piano recital on 26th February, 2022. The one-hour recital, entitled “A Journey of…”, represents the experience of love in our lives through music. Therefore, it is divided into three stages of love – “Passion,” “Marriage,” and “Farewell.” It features six love pieces written in the Romantic Period (ca. 1820-1910) by renowned composers, including Three Romances, Op. 11 by Clara Schumann (1819-1896), Three Romances, Op. 28 by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Marriage, S. 161/1 by Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Op. 65, no. 6 by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Franz Liszt’s (1811-1886) piano transcription of Isolde’s Love Death from opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Leopold Godowsky’s (1870-1938) piano transcription of Good Night from Winter Journey by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). An in-depth study and detailed music analysis of the programme concerning their historical background, compositional elements, stylistic practice, and thematic ideas with the support of score quotation are done. All findings are presented in a live-broadcast recital. A presentation and a final reflective report conclude my project.