John Knowles Paine: Selected Piano Works

Liner Notes Cat. No. 80424 Release Date: 1993-01-01

Denver Oldham, piano

John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) was the first American composer to be fully trained to the highest international standards, which, in his day, meant German standards. He was known in his lifetime—and has increasingly become recognized in ours—as a master of the large forms, the symphony and oratorio in particular, which formed the cornerstone of an American concert-music tradition. But he also composed in smaller genres, such as the art song and the short character piece for piano that was a ubiquitous feature of the musical life of Europe and America in the mid-nineteenth century.

With the exception of two early piano sonatas (one of which is lost), Paine's output for the piano falls almost entirely within the realm of the romantic character piece, the keyboard miniature, frequently cast in song form (ABA). The titles emphasize Paine's relationship to the genres favored by the leading keyboard composers of his day: romance, impromptu, nocturne. Works of this type depend not on musical development of an idea, but rather on the immediate attractiveness of the melody and harmonies that make them up. Often, they are songs without words, to use Mendelssohn's phrase, short pieces that capture a single mood, even as they offer the composer-pianist the opportunity to create a wide variety of keyboard textures.

Paine's harmonic language reflected the developments of his own time, and he made increasingly personal use of the potential of this traditional harmony. (Many of these pieces display his desire to avoid the simple perfect cadence, which he considered to have become a cliché; he found many different ways to reach his final chord other than an unadorned progression of dominant chord to tonic.) Although he was essentially a romantic composer, his textures often show influence from the keyboard works of Bach, particularly in their motivic coherence and in his predilection for inverting melody and accompaniment.

Denver Oldham

John Knowles Paine: Selected Piano Works

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	Christmas Gift, Op. 7 John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Characteristic Pieces, Op. 25: Dance John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Characteristic Pieces, Op. 25: Romance John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Characteristic Pieces, Op. 25: Impromptu John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Characteristic Pieces, Op. 25: Rondo Giocoso John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Romance, Op. 12 John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Three Piano Pieces, Op. 41: A Spring Idyl John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Three Piano Pieces, Op. 41: Birthday Impromptu John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Three Piano Pieces, Op. 41: Fuga Giocosa John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Valse Caprice John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Woodnotes John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Wayside Flowers John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Under The Lindens John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - The Shepherd's Lament John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Village Dance John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Rainy Day John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - The Mill John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Gipsies John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Farewell John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Ten Sketches: In The Country, Op. 26 - Welcome Home John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Character Pieces, Op. 11: Frisch John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Character Pieces, Op. 11: Feierlich John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Character Pieces, Op. 11: Etwas Bewegt John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Four Character Pieces, Op. 11: Willkommen John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Funeral March In Memory Of President Lincoln, Op. 9 John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Romance, Op. 39 John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Sonata in A Minor, Op. 1: Allegro John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Sonata in A Minor, Op. 1: Adagio John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Sonata in A Minor, Op. 1: Scherzo John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Sonata in A Minor, Op. 1: Finale John Knowles Paine	Buy
	Nocturne, Op. 45 John Knowles Paine	Buy

John Knowles Paine: Selected Piano Works

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