The Circle of Fifths in Romantic Music

This video examines the various ways that composers have used the circle of fifths in keyboard music, both harmonically and melodically, across the history of Western art music. This is part 2, which covers music from the early to middle Romantic eras. You can find part 1 here:

The circle of fifths was often a used as a trope in the Baroque era—most pieces were expected to have them as a part of the harmonic development. Romantic composers eschewed this trend, preferring instead to utilize the circle of fifths in novel and sometimes unexpected ways.

Mendelssohn 3 Fantasies
0:00 Benjamin Firth

Schumann Abegg Variations (1830)
0:53 Kotaro Fukuma

Chopin Piano Concerto No.1
1:20 Krystian Zimerman

Mendelssohn Lieder ohne Worte Op.19
1:54 Marie-Catherine Girod

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1
2:17 Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Chopin Nocturnes Op.9
2:37 Artur Rubinstein

Chopin Etudes Op.10
3:02 Frederic Chiu
3:29 Daniel Saperton
3:43 Frederic Chiu
3:58 Jan Lisiecki
4:22 Nelson Freire

Schumann Toccata
4:37 Ivo Pogorelić
4:57 Georgii Cherkin
5:16 Emil Gilels

Chopin Mazurkas Op.17
5:51 Wanda Fialkowska

Mendelssohn Lieder ohne Worte Op.30
6:03 Frank de Laar

Chopin Etudes Op.25
6:20 Vladimir Ashkenazy

Chopin Polonaises Op.26
6:39 Vladimir Ashkenazy

Schumann Carnaval
7:03 Sigurd Slåttebrekk

Schumann Piano Sonata No.1
7:25 Francisco Piemontesi

Chopin Ballade No.1
7:59 Arthur Rubinstein

Schumann Piano Sonata No.3
8:25 Bernd Glemser
8:47 Jerome Rose

Schumann Davidsbündlertänze
9:18 Di Wu
9:29 Kempff

Schumann Fantasiestücke Op.12
9:57 Backhaus
10:22 Perahia

Schumann Kinderszenen
10:32 Novaes

Schumann Kreisleriana
10:49 Slåttebrekk
11:02 Endres
11:21 Horowitz
11:47 Horowitz
12:18 Egorov

Schumann Novelletten
12:43 Ciani

Rossini-Liszt William Tell Overture
13:00 Gekić

Schumann Fantasy
13:23 Arrau
13:49 Freire

Chopin Ballade No.2
14:14 Cortot

Schumann Arabeske
13:34 Arrau

Schumann Humoreske
14:49 Cho
15:07 Uhlig

Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien
15:41 Michelangeli

Chopin Preludes Op.28
16:03 Francois
16:28 Blechacz
16:39 Rosenthal

Schumann Romanzen Op.28
17:34 Claudio Arrau

Chopin Nocturnes Op.48
17:53 Magaloff

Chopin Fantasy
18:32 Kissin

Chopin Ballade No.4
18:54 Davidovich

Chopin Piano Sonata No.3
19:21 Pires

Schumann Piano Concerto Op.54
19:46 Istomin

Mendelssohn Lieder ohne Worte Op.102
20:14 Nagy

Chopin Barcarolle
20:44 Zayas

Alkan Grande Sonate
21:09 Maltempo
21:29 Maltempo

Schumann Waldszenen
21:53 Pires

Liszt Années de pèlerinage II
22:16 Pletnev

Liszt Piano Concerto No.1
22:46 Richter

Schumann Bunte Blätter
22:58 Egorov

Liszt Liebesträume
23:38 Bolet

Liszt Etudes S.139
24:21 Clidat
24:48 Ovchinnikov

Brahms Sonata No.1
25:38 Virsaladze
26:00 Hu

Liszt Bm Sonata
26:51 Ousset

Brahms Sonata No.3
27:10 Grimaud
27:27 Rösel

Alkan Études Op.39
28:03 Maltempo
28:25 Smith
28:38 Hamelin
28:58 Hamelin
29:11 Hamelin

Liszt Spanish Rhapsody
29:40 Hough

Brahms Concerto No.1
30:02 Sokolov
30:20 Katchen

Brahms Handel Variations
30:44 Gelber

Liszt Mephisto Waltz No.1
31:10 Blet

Franck Prélude, Fugue et Variation
31:28 Viardo

Brahms Paganini Variations Book I
32:14 Kissin
32:38 Anievas
33:01 Kissin

Brahms Paganini Variations Book II
33:31 Simon
34:01 Anievas

Saint-Saëns Concerto No.2
34:46 Sokolov

Grieg Piano Concerto Op.16
35:13 Andsnes

Liszt Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H
35:28 Cziffra

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1
36:00 Graffman
Martha Argerich 30:34

Saint-Saëns Études
36:19 Duchâble
36:32 Duchâble

Liszt Années de pèlerinage, troisième année
36:48 Watts

Brahms Klavierstücke Op.76
37:39 Alexeev
37:57 Vásáry
38:10 Alexeev

Brahms Concerto No.2
38:24 Gilels

Grieg Holberg Suite
38:46 Gerhard Oppitz
39:14 Steen-Nøkleberg
39:40 Oppitz

Albéniz Recuerdos de viaje
39:52 Herrero

Debussy Arabesques
40:24 Ciccolini

Brahms Op.116
40:34 Ólafsson
41:00 Lupu
41:20 Austbö

Rachmaninov Morceaux de fantasie
41:40 Scherbakov

Brahms Op.117
41:56 Lupu
42:18 Yudina

Brahms Op.118
42:45 Volodos
43:03 Lupu

Brahms Op.119
43:53 Serkin
44:29 Firkušný

My guide to Romanticism in music:
https://sites.google.com/view/romanticismguide/home

My guide to the great classical pianists:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a4BOfls4ybZ5qucw220wu0LzKnphkDJEf9jank6-eYQ/edit?usp=sharing

Classical music iceberg chart:
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx3lpahKGNatX-vv0L9iByc8LUh-jA-gQC

music, UCNBWNhQqAPuMd9Km-j7-Kmw, Caleb Hu

source