Green Synthetic Approaches for

Biologically Relevant Heterocycles

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Green Synthetic Approaches for
Biologically Relevant Heterocycles
Volume 1: Advanced Synthetic Techniques
Advances in Green and Sustainable Chemistry

Green Synthetic
Approaches for
Biologically Relevant
Heterocycles
Volume 1: Advanced Synthetic Techniques

Second Edition
Edited by

Goutam Brahmachari
Laboratory of Natural Products & Organic Synthesis, Department of
Chemistry, Visva-Bharati (A Central University), Santiniketan, India
Elsevier
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 Dedication

Professor (Dr.) Srinivasan Chandrasekaran,

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
Contents

List of contributors xvii

Editor xxi
Foreword xxiii
Preface xxv

1. Green synthetic approaches for biologically relevant

heterocycles: advanced synthetic techniques—an
overview
Goutam Brahmachari
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 An overview of the book 2
1.2.1 Chapter 2 2
1.2.2 Chapter 3 3
1.2.3 Chapter 4 3
1.2.4 Chapter 5 4
1.2.5 Chapter 6 4
1.2.6 Chapter 7 4
1.2.7 Chapter 8 5
1.2.8 Chapter 9 5
1.2.9 Chapter 10 6
1.2.10 Chapter 11 6
1.2.11 Chapter 12 7
1.2.12 Chapter 13 7
1.2.13 Chapter 14 7
1.2.14 Chapter 15 7
1.2.15 Chapter 16 8
1.3 Concluding remarks 8

2. High-pressure cycloaddition reactions in the

synthesis of biologically relevant heterocycles
Davor Margetić
2.1 Introduction 9
2.2 Diels-Alder cycloadditions 10
2.2.1 Furan cycloadditions 10
2.2.2 Pyrrole cycloadditions 23
2.2.3 Cycloadditions of other heterocycles 25

vii
viii Contents

2.2.4 Hetero Diels-Alder cycloadditions 30

2.2.5 Diels-Alder cycloadditions of heterocycles as
dienophile components 33
2.3 Dipolar cycloadditions 37
2.4 [2 1 2]-Cycloadditions 40
2.5 Concluding Remarks 41
Abbreviations 41
References 41

3. Microwave-assisted synthesis of medicinally

privileged heterocycles
Debasish Bandyopadhyay and Bimal Krishna Banik
3.1 Introduction 49
3.2 Microwave irradiation: mechanism 54
3.3 Microwave-induced synthesis of heterocycles of
medicinal interests 57
3.3.1 Three-membered heterocycles with one heteroatom 57
3.3.2 Four-membered heterocycles with one heteroatom 58
3.3.3 Five-membered heterocycles 61
3.3.4 Six-membered heterocycles 87
3.3.5 Seven-membered heterocycles 95
3.4 Concluding remarks 100
Acknowledgments 100
Abbreviations 100
References 101

4. Application of microwave irradiation in the

synthesis of P-heterocycles
György Keglevich
4.1 Introduction 111
4.2 Functionalization of cyclic phosphinic acids 112
4.2.1 Direct esterification and amidation of cyclic
phosphinic acids 112
4.2.2 Interpretation and modeling the rate enhancing
effect of microwaves 118
4.2.3 Alkylating esterification of cyclic phosphinic acids 121
4.2.4 The propylphosphonic anhydride-promoted
esterification of cyclic phosphinic acids 122
4.2.5 Hydrolysis of cyclic phosphinates 124
4.3 Diels
Alder cycloadditions, fragmentation-related
phosphorylations, and inverse Wittig-type reactions 126
4.4 Phospha-Michael reactions 127
4.5 Kabachnik
Fields reactions 130
4.6 The deoxygenation of 2,5-dihydro-1H-phosphole 1-oxides 132
 Contents ix

4.7 Synthesis and reactions of new 7-phosphanorbornene

derivatives 133
4.8 Concluding remarks 135
Acknowledgments 135
References 135

5. Microwave-assisted multicomponent reactions

as a green synthetic approach to heterocycles:
special reference to Hantzsch, Biginelli, and
Groebke
Blackburn
Bienayme reactions
Felicia Phei Lin Lim and Anton V. Dolzhenko
5.1 Introduction 143
5.2 Hantzsch reaction 146
5.3 Biginelli reaction 149
5.4 Groebke
Blackburn
Bienayme reaction 156
5.5 Concluding remarks 163
References 163

6. Use of ball milling for the synthesis of biologically

active heterocycles
Nirmalya Mukherjee, Pintu Maity and Brindaban C. Ranu
6.1 Introduction 167
6.2 Synthesis of heterocycles 169
6.2.1 Nitrogen-containing heterocycles 169
6.2.2 Oxygen-containing heterocycles 176
6.2.3 Nitrogen
oxygen/sulfur-containing heterocycles 179
6.2.4 Boron-containing heterocycles 181
6.3 General green aspects of mechanochemical reaction 182
6.4 Concluding remarks 182
Acknowledgments 183
References 183

7. Recent advances in photocatalytic Minisci reaction:

an eco-friendly functionalization of biologically
relevant heteroarenes
Andrea Fiorati, Cristian Gambarotti, Lucio Melone, Nadia Pastori,
Carlo Punta, Giuseppina Raffaini and Ada Truscello
7.1 Introduction 189
7.2 Minisci reaction: a synthetic tool for bioactive molecules 190
7.2.1 Mechanistic insight 190
7.2.2 Applications in medicinal chemistry 191
7.3 Minisci reaction: the TiO2-mediated photocatalytic
approach 193
x Contents

7.3.1 TiO2-mediated photocatalytic Minisci reaction:

the synthetic implications 194
7.3.2 Adsorption on the most stable TiO2 anatase surface:
molecular dynamics study 196
7.4 Minisci reaction: recent advances in the photocatalytic
approach 199
7.4.1 N-Hydroxyphthalimide esters: versatile
radical precursors 199
7.4.2 Visible light
mediated Minisci reaction catalyzed
by Ir-photoredox catalyst 201
7.5 Concluding remarks 203
References 203

8. Recent advances for construction and late-stage

diversification of indole core via C
H bond
activation/functionalization
Arun Kumar Sinha and Rakesh Kumar
8.1 Introduction 207
8.2 Methods for the synthesis of indoles 208
8.3 C
H bond activation 209
8.4 C
H bond activation approaches for synthesis of
functionalized indole framework 210
8.4.1 Transition-metal mediated construction of indole
core via C
H bond activation 211
8.5 Late-stage diversification of indole system
(C
H activation of preformed indole framework) 223
8.5.1 C
H bond functionalization of indole at C4 position 224
8.5.2 C
H bond functionalization of indole at C5 position 230
8.6 C
H bond functionalization of indole at C6 position 233
8.6.1 C
H bond functionalization of indole at C7 position 237
8.7 Concluding remarks 242
References 243

9. Cycloaddition reactions in ionic liquids for the

synthesis of biologically relevant heterocycles
Beeraiah Baire, Ramesh Gardas and Soniya Gandhi
9.1 Introduction 249
9.1.1 Cycloaddition reactions and their
heteroatomic versions 250
9.1.2 Ionic liquids 251
9.2 The hetero-cycloaddition reactions in ionic liquids 252
9.2.1 [4 1 2]-Cycloaddition reactions 252
9.2.2 1,3-Dipolar [3 1 2]-cycloaddition reactions 260
9.2.3 The hetero-[2 1 1]-cycloaddition reactions
in ionic liquids 275
 Contents xi

9.2.4 [2 1 2]-Cycloaddition reactions 277

9.2.5 Ionic liquid as catalysts in hetero-cycloaddition
reactions 279
9.3 Concluding remarks 287
Acknowledgments 287
References 287

10. Advances in greener processes for triazole synthesis

via azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions
Prasun Choudhury and Basudeb Basu
10.1 Introduction 297
10.2 Methods of synthesis of triazoles using greener processes 299
10.2.1 Reactions promoted by solid
surface/heterogeneous catalysts 300
10.2.2 Reactions promoted by carbonaceous nanomaterials 304
10.2.3 Polymer supported reactions 308
10.2.4 “On-water” synthesis 310
10.2.5 Solvent-free synthesis 312
10.2.6 Ionic liquid mediated reactions 313
10.2.7 Microwave-assisted reactions 315
10.2.8 Photocatalytic reactions 321
10.2.9 Combinatorial approaches 322
10.2.10 Copper-free catalytic processes 327
10.2.11 Other catalytic processes 333
10.3 Concluding remarks 340
References 340

11. Employing arynes in transition-metal-free

synthesis of benzo-fused five and six-membered
heterocycles: an update
Tony Roy and Akkattu T. Biju
11.1 Introduction 355
11.2 Synthesis of five-membered heterocycles 356
11.2.1 Cycloaddition reactions 356
11.2.2 Heterocyclic construction initiated by insertion
reactions 363
11.2.3 Domino aryne routes for heterocycles synthesis 365
11.2.4 Molecular rearrangements 367
11.2.5 Multicomponent reactions 369
11.3 Synthesis of six-membered heterocycles 370
11.3.1 Cycloaddition reactions 370
11.3.2 Transition metal-catalyzed reactions 372
11.3.3 Insertion reactions 375
11.3.4 Multicomponent reactions 375
11.3.5 Molecular rearrangements 375
xii Contents

11.4 Selected examples for the synthesis of medium-sized

heterocycles 376
11.5 Concluding remarks 378
References 379

12. Multicomponent approach for the sustainable

synthesis of lawsone-based heterocycles
Ankita Chaudhary, Garima Khanna and J.M. Khurana
12.1 Introduction 383
12.2 Synthesis of lawsone-based heterocycles via
multicomponent approach 384
12.2.1 Chromenes 384
12.2.2 Phenazines 389
12.2.3 Xanthenes 394
12.2.4 Furans 397
12.2.5 Oxazines 398
12.2.6 Spiro-compounds 399
12.2.7 Quinolines 402
12.2.8 Acridines 407
12.2.9 Miscellaneous 407
12.3 Concluding remarks 411
References 411

13. Synthesis of biologically relevant heterocyclic

skeletons under solvent-free condition
Garima Tripathi, Abhijeet Kumar, Sanchayita Rajkhowa
and Vinod K. Tiwari
13.1 Introduction 421
13.2 Synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles 424
13.2.1 Solvent-free synthesis of
five-membered heterocycles 424
13.2.2 Synthesis of nitrogen containing six-membered
heterocycles 437
13.3 Synthesis of biologically relevant oxygen heterocycles 443
13.3.1 Synthesis of functionalized furans 443
13.3.2 Synthesis of benzopyrans and their derivatives 445
13.3.3 Synthesis of substituted chromones under
solvent-free condition 447
13.4 Syntheses of heterocycles with two different heteroatoms 449
13.4.1 Synthesis of benzoxazoles and benzothiazoles 449
13.4.2 Synthesis of benzothiazole 449
13.5 Synthesis of larger ring size heterocycles 450
13.6 Concluding remarks 451
Acknowledgment 451
References 452
 Contents xiii

14. Ultrasound-promoted metal-catalyzed synthesis of

heterocyclic compounds of medicinal interest
Marı́a A. Schiel, Gustavo F. Silbestri, Mónica B. Alvarez
and Claudia E. Domini
14.1 Introduction 461
14.1.1 Ultrasound 462
14.1.2 Cavitation 462
14.1.3 Instrumentation 466
14.1.4 Ultrasound in organic chemistry 466
14.2 Ultrasound-promoted metal-catalyzed synthesis of
heterocycles of medicinal interest 467
14.2.1 Pyrrole and furan derivatives 467
14.2.2 Pyrazole and imidazole derivatives 469
14.2.3 Pirazolone derivatives 471
14.2.4 Pyridine and pyrimidine derivatives 472
14.2.5 Benzodiazepines 474
14.2.6 Triazole derivatives 476
14.3 Concluding remarks 488
References 488

15. Ultrasonication under catalyst-free condition:

an advanced synthetic technique toward the green
synthesis of bioactive heterocycles
Rajiv Karmakar and Chhanda Mukhopadhyay
15.1 Introduction 497
15.2 Ultrasound wave-assisted catalyst-free multicomponent
synthesis of N-/O-heterocycles 498
15.2.1 Crisscross cycloaddition 498
15.2.2 Condensation reactions 500
15.2.3 Spiro compounds based on isatin moieties 510
15.2.4 Synthesis of 1,2,4-oxadiazoles 514
15.2.5 Synthesis of biscoumarins 516
15.2.6 Synthesis of pyridazines 516
15.2.7 Synthesis of dithiocarbamates 517
15.2.8 Synthesis of highly substituted pyrazoles 518
15.2.9 Synthesis of tetrahydropyrazolopyridines 519
15.2.10 Synthesis of substituted thiourea 522
15.2.11 Synthesis of 6H-1-benzopyrano[4,3-b]
quinolin-6-ones 522
15.2.12 Synthesis of ketene imines 523
15.2.13 Synthesis of rhodanines 524
15.2.14 Synthesis of 2,20 -(1,4-phenylene)bis[1-acetyl-1,
2-dihydro-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one] derivatives 525
15.2.15 Synthesis of N-(4-arylthiazol-2-yl)hydrazones 526
15.2.16 Synthesis of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines 527
xiv Contents

15.2.17 Synthesis of benzo[c]acridin-9H-one 528

15.2.18 Synthesis of benzofurans 528
15.2.19 Synthesis of dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles 529
15.2.20 Synthesis of pyrimidopyrans 531
15.2.21 Synthesis of 2-aminopyrano[3,2-b]pyrans 531
15.2.22 Synthesis of 2-amino-4,6-diphenylnicotinonitriles 531
15.2.23 Synthesis of pyrazoloquinazolinones 532
15.2.24 Synthesis of spiro[acenaphthylene-1,
30 -pyrrolizine/pyrrolo-thiazoline]-2-one derivatives 533
15.2.25 Synthesis of pseudopeptide containing rhodanine 534
15.2.26 Synthesis of functionalized 2-aminoselenopyridines 536
15.2.27 Synthesis of 3,4-dimethyl-2,4- dihydropyrazolo
[4,3-c][1,2]benzothiazine-5,5- dioxide 537
15.2.28 Synthesis of pyrrolidine Lobelia alkaloids analogs 537
15.2.29 Synthesis of N-acetyl-2-aryl-1, 2-dihydro-
(4H)-3,1-benzoxazin-4-ones 538
15.2.30 Synthesis of chiral 2-iminoselenazolines 538
15.2.31 Synthesis of 1-substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles 539
15.2.32 Synthesis of pyrazole and pyrimidine derivatives 541
15.2.33 Synthesis of substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives 542
15.2.34 Improved synthesis of pyrazole derivatives 542
15.2.35 Synthesis of dihydrothiophenes derivatives 543
15.2.36 Synthesis of benzothiazole derivatives 544
15.3 Concluding remarks 545
References 546

16. Self-catalytic techniques for the synthesis of

biologically relevant heterocyclic scaffolds at
room temperature: a recent update
Goutam Brahmachari
16.1 Introduction 563
16.2 Self-catalytic synthetic endeavors for biologically relevant
heterocyclic scaffolds without the aid of any catalysts 565
16.2.1 Synthesis of functionalized pyrido[2,3-d:6,5-d0 ]
dipyrimidine-4,6-diones 565
16.2.2 Synthesis of functionalized 1H-benzo[6,7]chromeno
[2,3-d]pyrimidines 565
16.2.3 Synthesis of functionalized pyrano[3,2-c]
chromen-5(4H)-ones 568
16.2.4 Synthesis of structurally diverse 4H-benzo[d][1,3]
thiazines and 3,4-dihydroquinazoline-2(1H)-thiones 569
16.2.5 Synthesis of substituted 2-iminothiazolidines 569
16.2.6 Synthesis of substituted tetrahydroquinolines 571
16.2.7 Synthesis of substituted 1,2,3-triazole-fused indoles
and pyrroles 572
 Contents xv

16.2.8 Synthesis of substituted isoxazolidine-cis-fused

phosphadihydrocoumarins 573
16.2.9 Synthesis of 5-substituted indole chromeno[2,3-b]
pyridines 573
16.2.10 Synthesis of substituted 2-amino-4H-pyran-3,
5-dicarbonitrile derivatives 574
16.2.11 Synthesis of substituted 5,6,11,11b-tetrahydro-1
H-indolizino[8,7-b]indol-1-one derivatives 574
16.2.12 Synthesis of diversely functionalized 4-hydroxy-
3-pyrazolylcoumarins 575
16.3 Concluding remarks 576
Acknowledgment 577
References 578

Index 589
List of contributors

Mónica B. Alvarez Departamento de Quı́mica, Instituto de Quı́mica del Sur

(INQUISUR), Sección Quı́mica Analı́tica, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahı́a
Blanca, Argentina
Beeraiah Baire Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
Chennai, India
Debasish Bandyopadhyay Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas Rio
Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, United States; School of Earth, Environmental, and
Marine Sciences (SEEMS), The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley,
Edinburg, TX, United States
Bimal Krishna Banik Community Health Systems of South Texas, Edinburg, TX,
United States; Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, College of
Sciences and Human Studies, Deanship of Research, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd
University, Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Basudeb Basu Department of Chemistry, North Bengal University, Darjeeling,
India; Department of Chemistry, Raiganj University, Raiganj, India
Akkattu T. Biju Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, India
Goutam Brahmachari Laboratory of Natural Products & Organic Synthesis,
Department of Chemistry, Visva-Bharati (A Central University), Santiniketan,
India
Ankita Chaudhary Department of Chemistry, Maitreyi College, Bapu Dham
Complex, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, India
Prasun Choudhury Department of Chemistry, North Bengal University, Darjeeling,
India
Anton V. Dolzhenko School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor,
Malaysia; School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health
Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
Claudia E. Domini Departamento de Quı́mica, Instituto de Quı́mica del Sur
(INQUISUR), Sección Quı́mica Analı́tica, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahı́a
Blanca, Argentina
Andrea Fiorati Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering
“G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Cristian Gambarotti Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical
Engineering “G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

xvii
xviii List of contributors

Soniya Gandhi Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,

Chennai, India
Ramesh Gardas Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
Chennai, India
Rajiv Karmakar Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India;
Department of Chemistry, Dum Dum Motijheel College, West Bengal State
University, Kolkata, India
György Keglevich Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
Garima Khanna Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
J.M. Khurana Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Abhijeet Kumar Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, Mahatma
Gandhi Central University, Motihari, India
Rakesh Kumar Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Central
University of Punjab, Bathinda, India
Felicia Phei Lin Lim School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor,
Malaysia
Pintu Maity School of Chemical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of
Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata, India
Davor Margetić Laboratory for Physical-Organic Chemistry, Division of Organic
Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruðer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Lucio Melone Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering
“G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Nirmalya Mukherjee School of Chemical Sciences, Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata, India
Chhanda Mukhopadhyay Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta,
Kolkata, India
Nadia Pastori Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering
“G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Carlo Punta Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering
“G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Giuseppina Raffaini Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical
Engineering “G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Sanchayita Rajkhowa Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University, Guwahati,
India
Brindaban C. Ranu School of Chemical Sciences, Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata, India
Tony Roy Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
India
 List of contributors xix

Marı́a A. Schiel Departamento de Quı́mica, Instituto de Quı́mica del Sur

(INQUISUR), Sección Quı́mica Orgánica, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahı́a
Blanca, Argentina
Gustavo F. Silbestri Departamento de Quı́mica, Instituto de Quı́mica del Sur
(INQUISUR), Sección Quı́mica Orgánica, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahı́a
Blanca, Argentina
Arun Kumar Sinha Medicinal & Process Chemistry Division, CSIR-Central Drug
Research Institute, Lucknow, India
Vinod K. Tiwari Department of Chemistry, Institute of Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi, India
Garima Tripathi Department of Chemistry, T. N. B. College, TMBU, Bhagalpur,
India
Ada Truscello Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering
“G. Natta,” Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Editor

Born on April 14, 1969 in Barala, a village in the

district of Murshidabad (West Bengal, India),
Goutam Brahmachari had his early education from
his native place. He received his high school degree
in scientific studies in 1986 at Barala R. D. Sen High
School under the West Bengal Council of Higher
Secondary Education (WBCHSE). Then he moved to
Visva-Bharati (a Central University founded by
Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan, West Bengal,
India) to study chemistry at the undergraduate level.
After graduating from this University in 1990, he
then completed his masters in 1992 with a specialization in organic chemis-
try. Thereafter, receiving his Ph.D. in 1997 in chemistry from the same
University, he joined his alma mater the very next year and currently holds
the position of a full professor of chemistry since 2011. The research inter-
ests of Prof. Brahmachari’s group include green chemistry, organic synthesis,
and the medicinal chemistry of natural and natural product inspired syn-
thetic molecules. With more than 22 years of experience in both teaching
and research, he has produced over 200 scientific publications including
original research papers, review articles, books, and invited book chapters in
the field of natural products and green chemistry. He has already authored/
edited 25 books published by internationally reputed major publishing
houses, namely Elsevier Science (The Netherlands), Academic Press
(Oxford), Wiley-VCH (Germany), Alpha Science International (Oxford), De
Gruyter (Germany), World Scientific (Singapore), CRC Press (Taylor &
Francis Group, USA), Royal Society of Chemistry (Cambridge), and so on.
Prof. Brahmachari serves as a life member for the Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA),
Kolkata, and Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI), Bangalore. He has
also been serving as an associate editor for Current Green Chemistry, and as
an editorial board member for several other journals.
Prof. Brahmachari serves as the Series Editor of Elsevier Book Series
“Natural Product Drug Discovery.” He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Chemistry, a Who’s Who in the World Listee, and also a recipient of

xxi
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 FOOTNOTES:
[30] Geschichte des Klavierspiels und der Klavierlitteratur.
 CHAPTER V
PIANOFORTE MUSIC AT THE TIME OF
BEETHOVEN
The broadening of technical possibilities and its consequences—
Minor disciples of Mozart and Beethoven: J. N. Hummel; J. B.
Cramer; John Field; other contemporaries—The pioneers in new
forms: Weber and Schubert; technical characteristics of Weber’s
style; Weber’s sonatas, etc.; the Conzertstück; qualities of
Weber’s pianoforte music—Franz Schubert as pianoforte
composer; his sonatas; miscellaneous works; the impromptus; the
Moments musicaux—The Weber-Schubert era and the dawn of
the Romantic spirit.

Beethoven developed his own pianoforte technique to respond to his

own great need of self-expression. He not so much consulted the
qualities of the piano as demanded that it conform to his ideas.
These ideas were, in many cases, as grand as those which have
later called upon the full resources of the orchestra; and, therefore,
as we have said, he called upon the piano to do the full service of
the orchestra. As a result the instrument was taxed to its uttermost
limits; but within those limits lay many effects which were of no
service to Beethoven. Out of these effects a new race of musicians
was to build a new style of music. There grew up a technique, slave
to the instrument, which with well-nigh countless composers was an
end in itself. With most of these composers there was a dearth of
ideas, but they rendered a service to the art which must be
acknowledged.
 I
Among the most meritorious and the most influential of these
musicians was Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837). Hummel
attracted the attention of Mozart as a boy, and the latter took him as
a pupil into his house for two years. By the time he was eleven he
was winning fame as a virtuoso. The course of concert tours brought
him to London, where he settled for several years, to absorb what he
could from the greatly renowned Clementi. From then on he enjoyed
a brilliant fame, not only as a player, but as a composer as well. And
for what was his playing admired? For the remarkable clearness and
evenness of his touch, for one thing. So was the playing of Dussek,
of Cramer, of Field, of Moscheles, of Kalkbrenner, of Ferdinand
Hiller, of any number of others. Clearness and evenness of touch did
not distinguish one great player from another then, more than it does
now. Yet they are qualities endlessly bespoken by all biographers for
their favorite pianists.

Hummel seems to have had in addition a grace of style not so

common. This may well have become part of him through the
influence of Mozart. And a certain grace characterizes his
compositions. These comprise caprices, dances, rondos, sets of
variations, all manner of show pieces, brilliant and graceful in their
day, sonatas and concertos. These pieces were popular, they were
famous, they were in a way more influential in shaping the growth of
pianoforte technique than were the sonatas of Beethoven. As a
matter of fact, they present little in the way of brilliance but scales
and arpeggios. Yet even now they make the piano sound with a
captivating fluency.

One work may be signalized as marking a keen instinct for pianistic

effects, as really pointing to some such treatment of the keyboard as
Chopin, by reason of his immortal fancy, made unsurpassable,
perfect. This is the concerto in A minor. Here, as we should expect,
he indulged himself in weaving elaborate show-figures over an
orchestral groundwork of little or no musical value. But the show-
figures are often brilliantly effective. For example, after the piano has
played the second theme in the first movement, there follows a long
quasi-solo passage of mixed double and single notes, which, trivial
as it may be as music, gives what one might call a lot of jolly good
fun. Notice the wide spacing here and there, the frequent expeditions
into the highest registers, the marches from bottom to top and the
oily trickling back to middle again. Then in the development section
there is good fun too; and there is a coda which demands the wrist of
a virtuoso such as Chopin or Liszt, instantaneous skips of the arm,
runs for both hands in thirds, all remarkably fluent and all sprung
right from the nature if not the soul of the instrument.

The adagio is, of course, flaccid worthlessness; but the final rondo
has no little musical charm, and, as far as treatment of the pianoforte
goes, is not at all unworthy of Liszt. The triplet rhythm is in itself
brilliantly maintained; there are series of fourths and sixths, triplet
figures very widely spaced, and again single and double notes mixed
in the same group, runs in thirds, chromatic thirds, double trills, a
profusion, in fact, of most of the virtuoso’s stock in trade, all
gracefully and brilliantly displayed.

It will be noticed that the best of it is sheer figure work, without

pianoforte accompaniment, or lightly supported by the orchestra.
And this may point to one of the marks of its mediocrity as a whole,
one of the reasons why it sounds, after all, laughably old-fashioned
in many measures. This is no other than the lack of variety, of skill,
and of taste in accompaniment figures. In one of the unquestionably
effective passages already referred to—the first solo passages for
the piano in the first movement, after the second theme—the right-
hand work is modern; but the left hand has only the vapid,
commonplace tum-tum scheme of single note and chord. Not only is
this formula repeated flatly, without attempt at variety, in blissful
ignorance of its unworthiness; even the very notes are repeated as
far as it is possible to go without changing the harmony.

Here the question may arise as to whether this monotonous device

is more contemptible than the Alberti bass. The answer is that the
Alberti bass is essentially a harmonic formula. Its use makes a
certain series of harmonies vibrate under a melody. Its outline need
not, should not, be clear-cut, its notes must not be played evenly and
unvaryingly. Here, over this tum-tum figure, we have no melody, but
a series of effects; and the tum-tum figure does not serve primarily to
furnish harmony, but to keep up a commonplace rhythm to which the
figures add no diversion. And, whereas the Alberti bass is a flexible
device, this is rigid. It can be lightly played, but, even if unobtrusive,
is necessarily commonplace.

But Hummel on the whole contributed considerably to the technique

that belongs specially to the pianoforte, and most of his contributions
have a grace that makes them pleasant even while his inspiration is
perhaps often lower than mediocre. He was by many regarded as
the equal of Beethoven, a delightful proof of the power of pleasant,
lively sound to intoxicate.

A contemporary of Hummel highly praised by Beethoven was J. B.

Cramer, son of a well-known German musical family. He was
another of Clementi’s pupils. He, too, had the clear and even touch;
but his compositions are less effective than Hummel’s, probably
because he had a more serious ideal of music. Both as a pianist and
as a composer he was famous in his day; now he has but little fame
left him except what still hangs over the Studies he wrote. In the
words of A. Marmontel,[31] we salute in him the eldest son of
Clementi, the direct representative, the authorized furtherer of his
school. He wrote, among other things, one hundred and five
sonatas. They are of the past; but the studies, particularly the first
sixteen, are still useful, not only in training the fingers, but in
inculcating some sense of good style into the brain of the student.

John Field is still another pupil of Clementi, the favorite pupil

according to well-founded tradition. He was born in Dublin in 1782
and died in Moscow in 1837. His addiction to good wines and
whiskey, and a consequent corpulence, broke down his health and
his art. But he was at one time one of the most beloved of pianists.
With him it was not only clearness and evenness of touch; there was
poetry, tenderness, and warmth as well. He was, of course, of the
sentimental school, the foremost of the professional pianists of that
day in power of expression. On a concert tour to Italy, undertaken
toward the end of his life and culminating in a long, miserable illness,
he met with little success; but elsewhere in Europe he exerted a
charm upon audiences which was almost hypnotic. His playing was
wholly unperturbed by signs of violent emotion, dreamy and indolent,
yet of most unusual sweetness and delicacy. He had enormous
success as a teacher, especially in Russia, where a great part of his
life was spent; and the mark he left upon the art of playing and of
composing for the pianoforte has never been wholly obliterated.

Most of his compositions have been neglected, or forgotten. They

include seven concertos, four sonatas, numerous rondos, sets of
variations, dances, and twenty or more little pieces to which he gave
the title of Nocturnes. These nocturnes are a new and a conspicuous
appearance in music. By them he is still remembered, by them a
fairly distinct style and form of pianoforte music were introduced.
They were indolently composed, negligently published, scattered
here and there over Europe; but they made an indelible impression
upon men and women of that day, especially upon those who had
heard him play them himself, and must be recognized as the
prototype of the countless ‘nocturnes,’ ‘songs without words,’
‘reveries,’ ‘eclogues,’ and ‘idylls’ which have since been written.

Just what distinguishes them from earlier works for the pianoforte it
is not easy to say exactly. The form, for one thing, seems new. They
are for the most part short, often not more than two pages long. They
consist of three sections, a long flowing melody, a contrasting
section which is for the most part melodious too, and a return to the
opening melody, commonly elaborated. There is in most of them a
little coda as well. Most short pieces of the day, and even of an
earlier time, were in the well-known forms of rondos or simple
dances, from which these are obviously quite distinct. But as far as
form goes they are not very different from the aria, except in that the
middle section generally maintains the accompaniment figures of the
first section and essentially the same mood as well, so that there is
little appreciable sense of demarcation. Other short pieces to which
one looks for a possible origin, such as those of Couperin and the
preludes of Bach, are far more articulate and far less lyrical. The
sonatas of D. Scarlatti and the Bagatelles of Beethoven are mostly
pieces in two sections, each repeated. The same is true of the
Moments musicals of Schubert. In the nocturnes of Field no distinct
feature of form is obtrusive. The intellectual element is wanting.
There is no attempt at crispness of outline, or antithesis or balance.
They seem to be an emanation of mood or sentiment, not a
presentation of them. Hence they represent a new type in music, one
which has little to do with emotions or ideas, with their arrangement
or development, but lets itself flow idly upon a mood.

In style they are wholly lyrical. The accompaniment is usually

monotonous and unvaried, but always flexible. Here, then, one looks
to find the Alberti bass; and here it presents itself most clearly in the
second stage of its development. The harmonic stream on which the
melody floats along is a series of chords broken into their constituent
parts so that they may be kept in a constant and gentle vibration.
But, whereas the Alberti bass in its first stage was a device applied
to the harpsichord and for that reason was always close within the
span of the hand, here in its second stage, now adapted to the
pianoforte, it has been expanded. The pedal can now be counted
upon to blend the relatively wide figures into one harmonic whole.
Therefore, instead of the original close grouping, we now find this
wider one:

This is no original invention of Field’s. Beethoven, in the sonata opus

90, wrote figures like this:
But this figure, as will be seen, is sustained by a powerful, quick-
changing harmony. The bass part has a rhythmical significance as
important as its harmonic. With Field the function of such figures is
purely harmonic, and in the appreciation of such wide spacing, and
in a gentle gracefulness in the arrangement of the notes, he stands
beyond all his early contemporaries and, of course, beyond his
predecessors. He is the first to give to his accompaniment the
flowing, undulating line which touches with nearly unfailing instinct
upon those notes that will give his harmony most richness.

A similar instinct for what sounds well on the piano marks the
ornamentation with which he adorned his melodies, or those figures
into which he allowed the melodies to dissolve. In this most clearly
he is the predecessor of Chopin. It is perhaps worthy of note that he
was accustomed to add such ornaments ex tempore when playing
before audiences. Only a few are written out in the published
editions of his works. We may have occasion to refer to this in
speaking later of Chopin.

As for the nature of the simple melodies themselves, they are sweet
and graceful, sometimes lovely. They are, of course, sentimental.
One may hesitate to call them mawkish, for a certain naïve
freshness and spontaneity despite a touch of something that is not
wholly healthy. It is easy to understand the charm they exerted upon
those who heard him play them. The complete lack of any
harshness, of any passion or poignancy, of any ecstasy, is
delightfully soothing. But beyond this gentle charm they have little to
reveal. Liszt’s preface to a German edition of a few of the nocturnes,
published in 1859, suggests the rose that died in aromatic pain. It is
more unhealthy than the nocturnes themselves, be it added in justice
to Field.
Other composers and virtuosi of the time of Beethoven need
scarcely more than mention. Gelinek (d. 1825) and Steibelt (d. 1823)
are remembered for their encounters with Beethoven. Ignaz
Moscheles (1794-1870) came into close touch with Beethoven, but,
like Cramer, is chiefly of note as a teacher. He was, however, more
than Cramer a virtuoso, and less than he of profound musical worth.
Chopin was fond of playing his duets. Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny
(1791-1857) is well-known for his Études. Another pupil of
Beethoven’s, Ferdinand Ries, was successful as a virtuoso; and a
pupil of Hummel’s, Ferdinand Hiller, became an intimate friend of
Chopin. The assiduousness with which most of these men cultivated
the possibilities of the pianoforte is equalled only by the
vacuousness of their compositions. But it is not what these men
produced that is significant; rather what they represent of the
tendencies of the time. Their music furnishes the background of
musical taste against which a better and more significant art, both of
playing and composing for the piano, built itself. Only Hummel and
Field are distinct in their musical gifts; the one in the matter of sheer
brilliant and graceful effectiveness, the other in the appreciation of
veiled and shadowy accompaniments and lyric sentiment. The best
of their accomplishments served to prepare the way for the true poet
and artist of the piano, Chopin. They, in a way, mined the metals with
which he was to work.
Pianoforte Classics. From top left to bottom right:
Czerny, Hummel, Moscheles, Field.
 II

Meanwhile two truly great musicians availed themselves of what was

being everywhere around them brought to light. These are Carl
Maria von Weber and Franz Peter Schubert. Both are perhaps most
closely associated with developments outside the sphere of the
pianoforte; the one with the growth of the national, romantic German
opera, the other with the first glorious burst of artistic song. Yet the
pianoforte works of both were destined to exert a powerful influence
upon the subsequent work of the great German composers of later
generations, upon Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms; and
besides these upon Franz Liszt as well.

Weber died in London, whither he had gone to superintend the first

performances of his opera Oberon, in 1826, about forty years of age.
Schubert died in Vienna in 1828, only thirty-one years old. Both were
much younger than Beethoven, but both were his contemporaries,
and both, moreover, owed much to his influence. The expanded form
and warm feeling of their sonatas show this unmistakably. On the
other hand, neither was truly at his best in this long form. The cast of
their genius led them to new paths, put them in sympathy with other
forms, affiliated them more with the new than with the old. Their
sonatas are a breaking down, a crumbling; measures and pages in
them, however, stand out amid the ruins like foundation stones for
the music to come. Their shorter pieces seem not at all related to the
classical music of the Viennese period, to have nothing in common
with the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Of the two, Weber is far more the virtuoso. There are many pages of
his music which are little more than effect. Furthermore, in his
combination of pianistic effect and genuine musical feeling, he
composed pieces which even today are in the repertory of most
pianists, and which this permanence of their worth has led historians
and critics to judge as the prototype of much of the pianoforte music
of the nineteenth century, chiefly of concert music. Yet in the
expansion of pianoforte technique Weber invented little. To him
belongs the credit of employing what was generally common
property in his day for the expression of fanciful and delightful ideas.

The list of his pianoforte works is not very long. It includes several
sets of variations, some dances, four big sonatas, two concertos,
and the still renowned Konzertstück in F minor, and several pieces in
brilliant style, of which the Polacca in E major, the Polonaise in E flat,
and the famous ‘Invitation to the Dance’ are the best known.

Let us look over the variations. In such a form composers have

usually shown the limits and the variety of their technique. The
resources which Weber can call upon to vary his theme are not very
numerous, not very original. His plan is almost invariably to
announce his theme simply and then dress it up in a number of
figures. The theme itself undergoes no metamorphosis, as we have
seen it do in the variations of Bach and of Beethoven. It is
unmistakable in all the variations. It is always clearly a groundwork
upon which garlands are hung, which is never for long concealed.

Of the nature of these figures and garlands little need be said. Opus
6 is a set of variations on a theme from the opera ‘Castor and
Pollux,’ written by his friend and teacher, the famous Abbé Vogler.
The first five variations are hardly in advance of the work of Handel.
The sixth, however, presents an interesting use of broken octaves
and is very difficult. The seventh presents the theme in octaves in
the bass, and the eighth is the theme unmistakable, in the form of a
mazurka.

Opus 7 is a set of seven variations on a theme in C major. The fourth

of these presents some difficulties in wide chords for the left hand.
Weber’s fingers were very long and slender and broad stretches
were easy for him. The fifth is built up of sweeping figures that mount
from the low registers to the high in brilliant effect. This sort of
climbing crescendo is to be found again and again in Weber’s work.
It is undoubtedly effective, but points to no intensive development of
pianoforte technique. The sixth variation presents the theme in form
of a chorale, a presentation which may still delight those who ever,
conversely, find something marvellous in the rendering of ‘Nearer,
My God, to Thee’ in rag-time. The seventh is a Polacca, very brilliant
and full of thirds and arpeggios in contrary motion.

Seven variations on a popular Romanza were published as opus 28.

The fifth has some interesting passages of broken sixths which are
modern enough in sound, but which can be found in other music of
the time. Then there is a Funeral March, in which upper and lower
registers of the instrument are contrasted in a series of imaginary
orchestral effects. The seventh demands a light, active wrist. It is a
series of rapid double notes, sometimes for both hands, in an
excellent ‘étude’ manner, of which Weber had already made use in
the delightful Caprice, opus 12. In such work we have perhaps the
model for most studies in the special technique of the wrist, perhaps
also of the fifth number of Schumann’s ‘Symphonic Variations.’

There is, in addition, a set of variations on a Bohemian melody, opus

55, equally ordinary. A set published as opus 40 is perhaps the most
pretentious and likewise the most varied. Here we have in the first
variation some open, flowing counterpoint in which the theme is
pretty well disguised; in the second some effective whirring figures
for the left hand; in the third some brilliant broken octaves and
double notes. The fourth is in the style of a fugue, pianissimo. The
fifth furnishes sharp contrast. The eighth is very brilliant and the last
is in Spanish style, which seems to depend upon a lavish use of
triplet turns.

What one can hardly fail to observe is the great similarity in all his
passage work. Two styles of runs he uses in nearly all his pieces.
One is as follows:
The other is what one might call an over-reaching figure, in this
manner:

Sometimes, as well as over-reaching the chordal harmony at the top,

he anticipates it by a chromatic step at the beginning, thus:

With such and similar figures, with scant variety, page after page of
his music is filled. His passage work seldom makes demands upon
more than the simplest harmonies. Long runs are generally clearly
founded on the simple scale. In rhythms he shows little subtlety.

This general stock in trade of pianoforte technique has become

hopelessly old-fashioned. Thus the once blindingly brilliant Polacca
in E major, the grand polonaise, the rondo, and such pieces, now
sound almost laughable. In the Polacca one hears the thumping tum-
tum figures, this time heavy chords monotonously repeated, that we
have spoken of in the concerto of Hummel. However, the brief
section in B major must give us pause. There the genius Weber
speaks, the composer of Der Freischütz, the man who prepared the
orchestra for Mendelssohn and Wagner. The long crescendo leading
back to the main theme foreshadows Schumann.

In the sonatas there is a great deal of very good music. The quality
of the ideas in them is often golden. Moreover, there are many
passages of startlingly good writing for the pianoforte. The first, in C
major, was published in 1812, as opus 42. The first theme is
announced mezza voce, after two preliminary measures of highly
dramatic character. The theme itself has something of the quality of
a folk-song, a touch of the martial, as well, a theme that at once
endears itself to the hearer as the melodies of Der Freischütz
endeared themselves to all Germany. But, then, note the over-
reaching figure which now appears in the transitional section, and
later, clamped to a definite harmonic sequence, does for the second
theme in G major. One cannot but enjoy it, yet Hummel is not more
mediocre. The theme and variations which constitute the slow
movement are not conspicuous; but the syncopations in the minuet,
the perverse avoidance of the measure accent, cast a shadow
forward upon Schumann and Brahms. The effect of the hushed
triplets in the trio is orchestral. The famous rondo, in perpetual
motion, scarcely calls for comment.

The second sonata, in A-flat major, must become precious to one

who troubles, in these days, to study it. The quality of the themes in
the first movement is rare and beautiful. The mysterious tremolo
which alone accompanies the announcement of the first theme,
points to that imagination in Weber which later developed the
orchestra so richly. There is something orchestral about the whole
work, not only about this sonata either. But his orchestral treatment
of the piano is as different from Beethoven’s as the scoring of his
overtures is different from that of Beethoven’s symphonies. There is
a sensuous element in the beauty of sounds which is lacking in
Beethoven; a quality which stirs the imagination to picture strange
lands and countries, dim, mysterious forests, strange moods of
moonlight. It is romantic music, it is picture music. The passage work
at the end of the first section, which really serves in place of a
second theme, is superb. It is in the main nothing but a series of
arpeggios, sometimes with anticipatory notes in his conventional and
elsewhere often tiresome manner, sometimes over-reaching; but the
full chords in the left hand, a sort of rich strumming, gives it all a
buoyancy, an essor, which can hardly be paralleled. The return to
the first theme at the end of the development is again orchestral. So
is the whole treatment of the andante and variations; orchestral in
the sense that it suggests instruments of various tone-colors, or
rather that it almost brings the colors out of the piano itself. The
minuet is wonderfully gay, suggesting Schumann again. The sonata
may be taken as a whole as the best of Weber’s works for the piano.

The last two sonatas, published in 1816 and 1822, contain very
beautiful passages. The final rondo of the former, in D major, is
astonishingly modern. The wide spacing of the figure work which
constitutes the main theme, its sharp accents, the broad sweep of its
plunges and soarings, the happy waltz swing of the second episode,
the irresistible charm with which two melodies are combined, above
all, the unflagging vigor of the whole movement, these must give joy
to all pianists and all listeners. The minuet of the last sonata must
have been well known to Brahms.

The four sonatas are all very long works. They all consist of four
movements, all but the last in the conventional order of allegro,
andante, minuet, and rondo. In the last the minuet follows the
opening allegro. It might well have been called a scherzo. The
breadth of plan suggests Beethoven. There have not been lacking
critics who judged the sonatas greater than those of Beethoven. No
one today would be likely to make such a misjudgment. They lack
the splendid compactness, the logical balance of the sonatas of
Beethoven. The treatment of the triplex form is rambling and loose.
There is hardly a suggestion of organic unity in the group. But there
is splendid music in them, a fine healthy vigor, an infusion of
spontaneous, genuine folk-spirit. And what they possess that is
almost unique in pianoforte music is a sort of narrative quality,
difficult if not impossible to analyze. They suggest romantic tales of
chivalry, of love and adventure. To say they are dramatic implies an
organic life which they have not. They are perhaps histrionic. They
suggest the illusions of the stage. Yet there is withal a free, out-of-
doors spirit in them, something wholly objective and healthy. They
are not the outpourings of perfervid emotions. They are not the
lyrical outburst of a mood. They are like brilliant tapestries, like
ancient chronicles and cycles of romantic legends.

For at least two of his most famous works in another field we have
been furnished tales. To be sure, there is not much to be said of the
popular ‘Invitation to the Dance.’ The introduction and the end alone
are program music; but they put the waltz into a frame which adds
much to its charm. Here is a romanticist at work, a teller of stories in
music. No composer for the pianoforte has had just his skill. The old
narrative stories of Kuhnau, Bach’s lively little Capriccio, Beethoven’s
sonata opus 81, afford no prototype. Neither do the little pieces of
Couperin. What Weber gives us is something different. It is not a
picture, not a representation, it is somehow the thing itself.

As for the waltz, it is too well known to need comment. The technical
art of which it makes use is surprisingly small. A few runs, a few
skips, a few variations in the steady waltz-accompaniment, these are
all. But the work has always been and always will be captivating,
from the charming, delicate conversational interchange between the
gallant and his selected partner, which forms the introduction, to the
same polite dialogue which tells us we have come to the end.
The Konzertstück in F minor is a much bigger work. We quote from
Grove’s Dictionary the translation of the story which it tells: ‘The
Châtelaine sits all alone on her balcony, gazing far away into the
distance. Her knight has gone to the Holy Land. Years have passed
by, battles have been fought. Is he still alive—will she see him
again? Her excited imagination calls up a vision of her husband lying
wounded and forsaken on the battlefield. Can she not fly to him and
die by his side? She falls back unconscious. But Hark! what notes
are those in the distance? Over there in the forest, something
flashes in the sunlight; nearer and nearer, Knights and Squires with
the cross of the Crusaders, banners waving, acclamations of the
people, and there—it is he! She sinks into his arms. Love is
triumphant. Happiness without end. The very woods and waves sing
the song of love. A thousand voices proclaim his victory.’

Probably the music which Weber wrote to this story of olden days
has had as great a measure of popular admiration and acclaim as
any piece that has ever been written for the pianoforte. Much of it is
beautiful. The opening measures for the orchestra are equal to any
of the pages from Der Freischütz or from Euryanthe; the solo
passages for the pianoforte which follow have a fine breadth; the
march theme, which, pianissimo, announces the return of the
Crusaders is effective, rather in the manner of Meyerbeer, a fellow-
student with Weber at the feet of the Abbé Vogler. On the other
hand, much of the display work given to the pianoforte is hopelessly
old-fashioned. We have the Weber staples again, the tum-tum bass,
the close-rolling arpeggios repeated endlessly, the busy little figure
before mentioned, which here, as in the famous Rondo in C,
scampers from low to high. The final motives, which represent
universal joy, are trivial, banal. Even the glissando octaves have now
only the shine of tinsel, and much is sadly tarnished. But on the
whole there is a fresh spirit in the work, an enjoyment, frank and
manly, in the brilliancy of the pianoforte; an abandonment to the
story, that still may carry a listener along.

Weber’s pianoforte works have astonishing individuality in spite of

the commonplaceness of the stuff which he often brings in, either to
fill them up or to add brilliancy. There is an effusion in most of them
of manly vigor that never becomes weakened into sentimentality,
and there is a great deal of romance in the chivalric strain. His
harmonies are simple, though often richly scored, and he is a master
of the art of suggestion by silence. His melodies have the stamp of
the Teutonic folk-song. Though some years of his youth and
manhood were spent in Prague and in Vienna, he assimilated
practically nothing of the Slavic characteristics which can be found in
the music of Haydn and Schubert, even in that of Brahms. He made
use of the entire keyboard in relatively huge dynamic effects, and he
had, as we have said, an almost unique power to bring forth
suggestions of orchestral coloring.

His compositions are not architectural as Beethoven’s are. They

suggest great canvases, full of color and movement. Thus the
pianoforte sonatas seem to manifest the same quality of imagination
which was able to make of the overtures to his operas brilliantly
colored fantasies, after which Mendelssohn and Wagner shaped
their art. And it is worthy of note that the same stereotyped figure
work which plays such a part in his keyboard music is abundantly
evident in these overtures. The figures out of which the allegro
sections of the overture to Oberon are made are just such figures as
one will find in the pianoforte sonatas, variations and concertos.

No subsequent composer down to the present day has procured

from the pianoforte the special kind of mysterious, colorful effects
which Weber was able to procure therefrom; but both Schumann and
Brahms are clearly indebted to him for more general and more
technical procedures. In connection with this it may be mentioned
that by comparison with Chopin, the perfect, the pianoforte music of
both Schumann and Brahms often appears orchestral. And it may be
added that Chopin was not especially familiar with Weber’s work.

III