Humoresque (or Humoreske) is a genre of
Romantic music
Romantic music is a stylistic movement in Western Classical music associated with the period of the 19th century commonly referred to as the Romantic era (or Romantic period). It is closely related to the broader concept of Romanticism—the ...
characterized by pieces with fanciful humor in the sense of mood rather than wit.
History
The name refers to the German term ''Humoreske'', which was given from the 1800s (decade) onward to humorous tales.
[R. Grimm. "Begriff und Gattung Humoreske". ''Jahrbuch der Jean Paul Gesellschaft'', 1968.] Many humoresques can be compared to a
gigue in their dance-like qualities, and many were used as dance music from the 1700s onwards.
Notable examples
Notable examples of the humoresque style are:
*
Schumann's ''
Humoreske'' in
B-flat major (
Op. 20, 1839)
*
Noel Rawsthorne
Christopher Noel Rawsthorne (24 December 1929 – 28 January 2019) was a British liturgical and concert organist and composer of music for his own instrument, as well as choral music.
Biography
Rawsthorne was born in Birkenhead. At the age of e ...
's
Hornpipe Humoresque (for organ, based on the Sailor's Hornpipe and including parts of "
Rule Britannia" and the
Widor Toccata)
*
Dvořák's
set of eight ''Humoresques'' (Op. 101, 1894), of which No. 7 in
G-flat major is well known.
*
Rachmaninoff's
Humoresque
Humoresque (or Humoreske) is a genre of Romantic music characterized by pieces with fanciful humor in the sense of mood rather than wit.
History
The name refers to the German term ''Humoreske'', which was given from the 1800s (decade) onward to h ...
in
G Major
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor.
The G major scale is:
Notable compositi ...
(Op. 20, 1893, revised in 1940)
See also
*
Capriccio
References
Music genres
Classical music styles
{{music-genre-stub
Musical forms