Andrew Schartmann
Andrew Schartmann holds graduate degrees in music theory from Yale and McGill University. He is the author of Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros Soundtrack (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Maestro Mario: How Nintendo Transformed Videogame Music into an Art (Thought Catalog, July 2013). At present he serves as the assistant editor of DSCH Journal.
In 2011, he was awarded the Schulich School of Music Teaching Award for his course on musical form in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Most recently, his pedagogical interests have led him to explore the ways in which digital technology can improve the teaching of music. His companion site for the textbook Analyzing Classical Form (Oxford University Press 2013) provides an innovative tool to enhance the learning experience.
One of Schartmann's current projects, Playing Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas: A Work in Progress, documents his thoughts (some analytical, some practical) on these seminal works. More on this and other projects can be found here.
At present, Schartmann is working toward his PhD in music theory at Yale University.
Articles by Andrew Schartmann
Argentinian-American pianist Mirian Conti in conversation
James Brawn's time traveller recital delights Andrew Schartmann. 'Each time a passage repeats ... Brawn shows us something new.'
Nick van Bloss plays Beethoven
The City of Tomorrow. '... funny, playful, and full of light.'
David Rubinstein plays Gustav Holst. '... impressive musicality ...'
James Brawn's continued Beethoven Odyssey, awaited. '... generating excitement with raw textures ...'
Haskell Small piano music. '... an artist at the summit of his creative powers ...'
Music by Daniel Lentz. 'Is the obvious pastiche element part of some profound artistic statement?'
Music for string quartet by James MacMillan. '... expressive, virtuosic, and replete with subtle hues.'
Music by John Pickard. '... a thrilling listening experience.'
Susan Merdinger plays Schumann. 'Her interpretation of "Reconnaissance" is especially beautiful.'
Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner's Janáček, Kurtág and Bartók. '... a delightful array of sensitive performances ...'
James Brawn plays Bach, Liszt, Musorgsky and Rachmaninov. 'The "Promenade" ... is like butter in Brawn's hands.'
Ian Hominick plays Clementi. 'At times, his playing is sensitive and exact.'
Volume 3 of James Brawn's Beethoven. '... his interpretive choices are exquisite.'
Beethoven and Romberg explored. '... stellar performance ...'
Music by Robert Hanson. '... blends the beautiful with the obnoxious.'
More Beethoven from James Brawn. '... a profound - almost spiritual - connection to the music ...'
Music for string quartet by Toshio Hosokawa. '... the Arditti ensemble produces the effect masterfully.'
Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano. '... a tapestry of infinite colors ...'
Andrew Schartmann listens to Evgeny Kissin
Nick van Bloss plays Chopin. '... unprecedented freshness ...'
An exquisite performance of Elgar's Violin Sonata. '... no amount of writing can do justice to the last three tracks on this disc.'
Mark Isaacs' Children's Songs impress Andrew Schartmann. '... listen closely to this charming creation.'
Shostakovich and Weinberg string quartets. '... virtuoso passages leap off the page with excitement ...'
Olivier Messiaen's 'Vingt Regards'. '... Evan Hirsch ... brings forth the very essence of Messiaen's vision.'
Choral music by Bob Chilcott
Modulation as a Rate of Change - On the Peasant-Bear Vignette from Stravinsky's Petrouchka
Zina Schiff plays Sibelius, Barber and Ben-Haim. '... Barber's Violin Concerto ... is easily the highlight of the disc.'
Andrew Schartmann in conversation with Canadian composer Alan Belkin
Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt from Viktor Bijelovic. '... beautiful voicing and highly sensitive phrasing.'
Markus Stenz conducts Richard Strauss. '... a resounding success ...'
Slatkin conducts Rachmaninov. '... Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra perform admirably.'
Ian Bostridge sings Benjamin Britten. '... Bostridge conveys the emotional content ... with unwavering conviction.'
James Brawn's Beethoven Odyssey. '... the movement bubbles over with excitement ...'
Contemporary music for strings. '... Burwasser sets himself apart from the others with music that exhibits a strong sense of form and proportion ...'
Music by Lera Auerbach. 'Her music is competently crafted and deeply affecting.'
Cameron Watson plays C P E Bach and Beethoven. '... nothing can save Watson from his erratic and ill-conceived interpretation of the music ...'
Pop Music and the Classical Idiom. Part IV: Waltzing with Super Mario
Mendelssohn from Laura Buruiana and Ferenc Vizi. 'Their playing is musical to the very core and their technique flawless.'
The Wihan Quartet plays Schubert. '... one of the most important interpreters ...'
Music by Anthony Piccolo. '... a well-rounded perspective on his musical style.'
Music by Chávez, Moncayo and Zyman. '... perhaps more important as a historical statement ...'
Beethoven's Op 18 String Quartets. '... the Allegri's light touch works.'
Pop Music and the Classical Idiom. Part III: Classical Music and its 8-bit Suit
Pop Music and the Classical Idiom. Part II: Creative Quotations
J S Bach from Don Freund. '... all the quirkiness of a Gould performance, but little of the talent.'
Pop Music and the Classical Idiom. Part I: Pachelbel Lives
The Anatomy of Music. Part VI: Small Ternary Form
The Anatomy of Music. Part V: Some Notes on Composition
The classical inheritance of Schubert's Symphonies. '... a fascinating perspective ...'
The Anatomy of Music. Part IV: Hybrid Themes
Sally Pinkas plays Fauré. '... fine interpretations of this underplayed repertoire.'
The Anatomy of Music. Part III: Analysis in Practice
The Anatomy of Music. Part II: The Period
The Anatomy of Music. Part I: The Sentence
The 'Physics' of Music. On Musical Momentum and its Compositional Implications
Two tales of the Rising Sun. On Depicting Nature in Music
On the Elusive Nature of the Nationalist Spirit in Music
Some thoughts on the performing artist's role in the 21st century
A Change of Face. 'Character Development' in Mozart's Symphony in G minor, K 183
Listening with New Ears. A Listening Strategy for Webern's String Trio
An Exercise in Self-Constraint. Non-conventional Harmony in Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano
From Pedantry to Masterwork. A Note on Chopin's Étude in C major, Op 10, No 1
Servant to no one. In the first of an occasional series, Andrew Schartmann examines Beethoven's Op 2 No 2 and the rise of the romantic artist