Composer

:

Anton Webern

Genre

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Keyboard

Style

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Character Piece

Compose Date

:

1925

Average_duration

:

2:27

Anton Webern's Klavierstück for piano, Op. posth. is a short, atonal work composed in 1929, after the composer had already developed his mature style. The piece was not published during Webern's lifetime and was only discovered after his death. It was first performed in 1955 by Eduard Steuermann. The Klavierstück is a single movement work that lasts only about a minute and a half. It is characterized by its sparse texture, with only a few notes played at a time, and its use of silence as a structural element. The piece is also notable for its use of extreme registers of the piano, with some notes played in the very high or very low range of the instrument. The piece begins with a series of single notes played in the high register of the piano, followed by a brief pause. This pattern is repeated several times, with the notes becoming more widely spaced and the pauses becoming longer. The middle section of the piece features a series of chords played in the low register of the piano, with each chord separated by a brief silence. The piece ends with a return to the high register, with a final series of single notes played before the piece abruptly ends. Overall, the Klavierstück is a concise and tightly structured work that showcases Webern's mastery of atonal composition. Its use of silence and extreme registers of the piano create a sense of tension and unease, while its sparse texture allows each note to be heard with great clarity. Despite its brevity, the Klavierstück is a significant work in Webern's oeuvre and a testament to his innovative approach to composition.

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