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Parlor Music



*Vignettes = A small illustration or depiction in words or music. Artistic sketches, here as related to music.
*Parlor = A room in a private home set apart for the entertainment of visitors.
When asked to play for a dinner, a nursing home, or visiting friends, I find that they really do not want to hear a full concerto. These solos have been referred to as parlor music. In the 1800's and early 1900's most homes had a parlor. My grandmother's parlor in Franklin, Pennsylvania had a piano in it. My Father, Weldon McCoy Barr would play the piano, or his Mother Margaret Toy Barr would sing, or my Greatgrandfather William Major Toy would play his violin. I think it behooves a violinist to have in his "pocket" some vignettes to play. I think of the vignettes as the diamonds of the violin repertoire. Beautiful sparkles of music to delight the listener. Here are some suggestions of vignettes I have found to be successful audience pleasers.
I have attended several Parlor recitals and I note that many times the violinist gives a brief story about the solo they are about to perform. I have given a brief outline to these suggested solos, if you wish more perhaps you can research deeper into the composer or composition.

    Chopin/Milstein - Nocturne No.20 in c sharp minor, this is a Milstein transcription and is available as - Three transcriptions, Milstein, G. Schirmer Music Company. Also included in the small collection are Tchaikovshy, Lullaby and Liszt, Consolation.
  • Frederic Chopin composed this Nocturne in 1837, however it was not published until 1938. John Field was the first to use the word notturno for tranquil piano pieces. Chopin then used the word with more introspective and romantic ideas. This arrangement leaves the main form and harmony in tact. There is a lovely solo recitative -type section played by the violin.
    deFalla/Kreisler - Danza Espanola
  • La vida breve
    Tempo di Menuetto - Kreisler
  • Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) made great contributions to violin repertoire by composing and arranging. Tempo di Minuetto in the Style of Pugnani, is a mock minuet and trio. It is richly ornamented.
    Melodie from Orfeo and Euridice - von Gluck/Kreisler
  • Christoph Willbald Gluck (1714-1787) wrote the opera orpheus and Eurydice. It is an opera conatinaing some of the most beautiful music he ever composed. In the opera this Melodie is scored for solo flute and is played as Orpheus enters the valley of the blessed to seek his wife.
    Edward Elgar - Salut d'amour, op.12
  • Edward Elgar wrote lovely salon solos. Salut d'amour was composed in 1888 as Liebesgruss (love's greeting)for his soon to be wife Alice Roberts.
    Antonin Dvorak/Kreisler - Songs My Mother Taught Me Op.55 No4.
    Pablo de Sarasate's Spanish Dances - Dance V Playera Op.23,
    Smetena - From My Homeland
    Massenet - Meditation from Thais
  • This Thais is taken form the opera Thais by Jules Massenet (1842-1912). This Meditation is played between two scenes of Act II as Thais undergoes a spiritual conversion. It is scored for solo violin in the opera.
    Sarsate - Romanza Andaluza
  • This is Pablo de Sarasate's III Spanish Dance. It has a romantic feeling.
  • Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) was born in Spain but educated in France. He was a famous violin virtuoso. He wrote music that was the essence of the Spanish dance. Romanza Andaluza is a bright and colorful Spanish dance.
    Liebesleid (love's sorrow)- Kreisler
    Liebesfreud (love's joy) - Kreisler
  • These are two of Fritz Kreisler's greatest hits. These are old Vienna dance strains using Viennese folk melodies.
    La Precieuse - Kreisler

  • COLLECTIONS available:


      FRITZ KREISLER Collections:
      VolumeI - Carl Fischer - Caprice Viennois, Tambourin Chinois, Liebesfreud, Liebesleid, Schon Rosmarin,Rondino, La Gitana, Variations on a theme by Corelli,Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane, Sicilienne and Rigaudon, Praeludium and Allegro, Melodie from Orfeo ed Eurdice, Rondo by Mozart, Song Without Words, Slavonic dance by Dvorak, Spanish Dance by Granados, Tango by Albeniz, Dance Espagnole by deFalla, Three Cadenzas for the Beethoven D Major Concerto, Cadenza for the D Major Brahms, Cadenza for the D Major Paganini
      VolumeII - Carl Fischer - Andantino in the style of Martini, Scherzo in the style of Dittersdorf, Tempo di Minuetto, La chasse in the style of Cartier, Preghiera in the style of Martini, Allefretto in the style of Boccherini, Grave in the style of Bach, Largetto from the Sonata No.1 for violin and piano by von Weber, Ballet Music No. 2 from Rosamunde von Cypern, Romance in A from Drei Romanzen for Oboe and Piano by Schumann, Hungarian Dance No. 17 by Brahms, Caprice in A minor by Wieniawski, Hymn to hte Sun by Rimsky-Korsakov, Song of India by Rimsky-Korsakov, Andante cantabile form String Quartet No.1 by Tchaikovsky, Humoresque from Pieces by Tchaikovsky, Chanson sans paroles ( Song without words) by Tchaikovsky, Slavonic Dance No.1 in g minor by Dvorak, Slavonic Dance No.3 in G major by Dvorak, Songs My Mother Taught Me by Dvorak, Poupee valsante by Poldini, Midnight Bells, Serenade by Lehar, La danse des demoiselles by Friml, Invocation by owen, Nocturnal Tangier by Godowsky, Lotus Land by Scott, Gypsy Caprice, Shepherd's Madrigal, Polichinelle, Syncopation, The Old Refrain, Berceuse romantique, marche miniature viennoise, Recitativo and Scherzo,
      VolumeIII - Carl Fischer - Corelli: La Folia, Corelli: Sarabande and Allegretto, Tartini: Devil's Trill Sonata, Tartini: Fugue in A, Paganini: Caprices No. 13, 20, and 24, Paganini: Le Streghe (The Witches), Paganini: Non piu mesta, Paganini: I palpiti, Paganini: Moto Perpetuo, Paganini: La Campanella


      JASCHA HEIFETZ Collections:
      New Favorite Encore Folio - Carl Fischer - Rigaudon by Rameau, Ave Maria by Schubert, Menuet by Mozart, On Wings of Song by Mendelssohn, Prophetic Bird by Schumann, Hungarian Dance No.7 by Brahms, Valse Bluette by Popper, Zapateado by Sarsate, Malaguena by Sarsate
      The Heifetz Collection - Carl Fischer - Hora Staccato, Toccata, Rondo in E-flat major, Valse Bluette, Alt-Wien, Dance No. 4 Krein, The Bumble-Bee, March Op. 12. No.1 from the Opera love for Three Oranges, Masks from Romeo and Juliette, Oriental Sketch, Daisies, Golliwogg's Cake-Walk, L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune, Beau Soir, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Mouvements perpetuels, Huella, Ao pe da fogueira, Mediterranean, Estrellita, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, Sea-Murmurs, Tango by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Deep River, Cadenzas to the D major Concerto by Mozart, Cadenza for the Concerto in D Major by Brahms,

    Corner Parlor    
  
© Sheila Helser
© Sheila Helser
The mice have come to hear Sheila Mouse play some vignettes on her violin.
Performing in a small group setting with friendly faces for the audience can do a lot to help learning the process of playing in front of an audience. A living room setting and some tea (or milk) and cookies create a nice atmosphere. Of course a glass of wine would work too. I have tried to give at least one parlor (living room) recital a year. There are many, many more solos suited for parlor music vignettes.

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