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Composer-Pianist Robert Cunningham

Composer-Pianist Robert Cunningham

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Author: Robert Cunningham

Counterpoint Sonata for Oboe and Piano 

A Fugue for Oboe and Piano

November 20, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

The finale of my Sonata for Oboe and Piano is a playful, energetic rondo in D minor, where the predominantly

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Adagio for Violin and Piano Life and Career of Robert Cunningham 

The Story of the Adagio

November 11, 2019November 11, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

March 21, 1985 was the tricentennial of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach.  On that day I completed my Adagio

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Life and Career of Robert Cunningham 

Piano Gallery of Atlanta

October 22, 2019October 22, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

In the fall of 1992, having recently completed my Piano Sonata No. 4, I played a series of three recitals,

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The Composer's Craft 

Advice to Young Composers

October 12, 2019October 12, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

In recent years I have received several inquiries from young composers or would-be composers, asking me: “How do you compose?”

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Foundations of Music Harmony 

Thoughts on Meter, Harmony, and Musical Perception

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

The Academic Papers section of my website includes a PDF scan of a paper that I delivered at the Music

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Counterpoint Nocturne for Woodwinds and Piano 

Nocturnal Conversation

September 12, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

One of the chief tools of an effective composer is contrapuntal imitation.  In my Nocturne for Woodwind Quartet, segments of

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Melody Nocturne for Woodwinds and Piano 

Melody as Organism

September 4, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

An effective melody is like a living organism.  It develops through stages, each stage growing organically out of earlier stages.

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Preludes The Performer's Craft 

On the Other Hand

August 19, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

Piano fingering is in my opinion very personal.  Pianists vary considerably in hand size, flexibility, and technical skills, and these

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Life and Career of Robert Cunningham 

On Scarlatti and Italy

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

Over a year ago, I posted here about my stay in Siena, Italy, in the summer of 1968.  That was

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Technology and Music 

Recording Dynamics

July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

Producing recordings of classical music, especially Romantic music, presents unique challenges.  Consider the audio profile of my Prelude No. 5 (both

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Life and Career of Robert Cunningham 

The Homecoming

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

This program is from a recital I gave at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC in October 1992.  The event was

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Sonatas 

Revising Piano Sonata No. 3

June 27, 2019June 27, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

The original version of my Piano Sonata No. 3, composed in 1987, was the last significant work for which I

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Schenkerian Analysis 

Heinrich Schenker’s Musical Grammar

June 20, 2019June 20, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

To say that music is a language is not just a metaphor.  Music has syntactical structures very akin to those

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Life and Career of Robert Cunningham 

Beethoven, Liszt, and Prokofieff

May 28, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

Below is the program for a concert I gave in Atlanta, GA on September 5, 1986.  It was, by design,

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Harmony Sonatas 

Harmonic Motion in Piano Sonata No. 4

May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 Robert Cunningham 0 Comments

In the archetypical classical sonata-allegro movement, the exposition moves from tonic to dominant (often via the mediant).  The development is

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Some of Robert Cunningham's scores are available in PDF format at ajlongspiano.com, under "Contemporary Classical Music":
 
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Recent Posts

  • A Fugue for Oboe and Piano
  • The Story of the Adagio
  • Piano Gallery of Atlanta
  • Advice to Young Composers
  • Thoughts on Meter, Harmony, and Musical Perception
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