- Bagatelle (music)
A bagatelle is a short piece of music, typically for the
piano , and usually of a light, mellow character. The name bagatelle literally means a "trifle", as a reference to the innocent character of the piece.Earliest known bagatelle
The earliest bagatelle with that name was by
François Couperin , in his tenthharpsichord "ordre", in which a rondeau was entitled "Les bagatelles".Best known bagatelles
The best known bagatelles are probably those by
Ludwig van Beethoven , who published three sets, Opus 33, Opus 119 and Opus 126, and wrote a number of similar works that were unpublished in his lifetime including the piece that is popularly known asFür Elise . Other notable examples areFranz Liszt 's "Bagatelle sans tonalité " (an early exploration intoatonality ), the set byAntonín Dvořák for twoviolin s,cello andharmonium (opus 47), and sets byBedřich Smetana ,Tcherepnin 's Bagatelles, andJean Sibelius . Antonio Diabelli also wrote a Bagatelle in a short, happy form. Saint-Saëns, wrote six Bagatelles, Op. 3. In the 20th century, several composers have written sets, includingBéla Bartók , who wrote a set of fourteen (opus 6);Anton Webern , wrote a set of six forstring quartet (opus 9);Gerald Finzi , who wrote "Five Bagatelles" for clarinet and piano. Another canonical modern bagatelle is the set by György Ligeti, who originally composed "Six Bagatelles" for piano, and then later arranged it for wind quintet in 1953 ("Bagatelles for Wind Quintet").William Walton also wrote Five Bagatelles for Guitar, which has been recorded by several eminent classical guitarists, includingJulian Bream ,Christopher Parkening , andAna Vidovic . The American Composer, Charles Wuorinen, wrote a Bagatelle for solo piano, which he later orchestrated.Australian composerCarl Vine also wrote Five Bagatelles for Piano (1994), which are quite frequently performed at piano competitions, especially in Australia.ee also
Fur Elise
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