The music opens and closes with an Andantino section that plays back at 72 quarter note beats to the minute while the section marked poco più mosso plays at 84 quarter note or crotchet beats to the minute. The longer middle section of the Canon is in ABA (ternary) form. Both appoggiaturas (leaning notes) and acciaccaturas (crushed notes) feature as ornaments in the score. There are also some additional ornaments and for those that require clarity on how they should be played refer to the video score on our YouTube channel. The performance practice with this movement the music editor would suggest is at times ambiguous and at best inconsistent. The music editor has avoided suggesting a rit at the end of the movement although in performance this is an option. The texture can be described as a melody played as a canon and creating two voices, combined with an accompaniment figuration very typical of much of the composer’s keyboard music and a bass line. The Studies in Canon Opus 45 date from 1845 and were composed when the composer was focused on developing contrapuntal discipline in his writing. Pianists can also explore the piano duet version of Georges Bizet and the two piano version by Claude Debussy whilst the piano trio arrangements of Kirchner provide additional repertoire and ensemble opportunities. There is opportunity to explore tempo rubato in a performance. In romantic music this refers to the give and take (speeding up and slowing down) within a phrase as far as tempo is concerned. Some use of the sustaining pedal is suggested but it has not been indicated in the sheet music score. The accompaniment downloads available enable players to enjoy an ensemble music experience playing the violin parts. Accompaniment 1 plays at 80|100|80 quarter (crotchet) note beats to the minute, Accompaniment 2 plays at 76|90|76 quarter (crotchet) note beats to the minute, Accompaniment 3 at 72|84|72 quarter (crotchet) note beats to the minute dotted quarter (crotchet) note beats to the minute, and Accompaniment 4 at 68|80|68 quarter (crotchet) note beats to the minute. The two bar count in features the sound of a woodblock. When performing printing two pages of music onto one side of A4 offers a very practical solution for players.
