Product Description
Romance Op. 20 by Luiz Levy
About Luiz Levy
Luiz Levy (18611907) was a Brazilian composer, pianist, and conductor who belonged to the Romantic era.
His music bridges European Romanticism (especially Chopin, Schumann, and Mendelssohn) with an emerging Brazilian sensibility.
Though he passed away relatively young, Levy left behind refined, elegant, and expressive works that deserve greater international recognition today.
About Romance Op. 20
The term "Romance" in 19th-century music usually refers to a piece that is lyrical, intimate, and expressive often telling a "story" without words.
In Romance Op. 20, Levy delivers a melodic gem full of poetic tenderness and emotional warmth.
Musical Characteristics
1. Melody
The main melody is singing, long-lined, and emotionally expressive.
It often feels like a voice speaking directly to the heart full of sincerity and dreaminess.
Levy uses gentle ornamentations (like grace notes and subtle rubato) that give the melody a spoken, almost improvised feel.
2. Harmony
The harmony is lush but clear, based firmly in tonal Romantic tradition.
Levy introduces chromatic inflections at moments of emotional intensity, enhancing the sense of longing or sweet melancholy.
There are modulations to closely related keys, offering a journey-like feeling, as if moving through different emotional landscapes.
3. Rhythm
The rhythm is fluid and expressive not rigid.
There is a natural rubato quality encouraged by the melodic shape, allowing the performer to breathe life into each phrase.
Occasional syncopations and delayed resolutions create gentle tension, making the piece even more expressive.
4. Texture
The texture is mostly homophonic (melody and accompaniment).
The left hand often provides a warm, flowing accompaniment, sometimes with broken chords or rolling arpeggios, creating a soft harmonic bed for the singing right-hand melody.
At times, the accompaniment becomes slightly more animated, but it always serves the vocal quality of the melody.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.