Friedrich Kalkbrenner - “Le Fou“ Scène dramatique, Op. 136

Translated from French the footnote in the beginning reads as: “A young pianist deceived in his first affections becomes mad. He expresses on his pianoforte the various sensations he experiences.“ “Kalkbrenner’s piece presents one of the most important composition forms in the Style Brillante epoch. His composition “Le Fou” (The Madman) was a hit in early 1800s (eighteen hundreds). The first association that a modern pianist receives with a piece called The Madman, is a dramatic picture of an artist or a hero, going insane, expressed in sound. In this case this piece does not much sense. The key word for understanding of this piece is the sub-title: Scene dramatique. This is not a description of somebody’s feelings but an operatic scene, with an entrance, long monumental introduction, the artist’s first aria, the actress’s aria, happening, duo, and a final triumphant chorus.“ Thomas Tellefsen writes: “... To demonstrate how annoyed Kalkbrenner is with Liszt, I tell following story: in this soiree Kalkbre