Tabla de contenidos para 135 en Pianist

Thirty years ago – I’m talking pre-internet days – the idea of a musician ‘searching for an identity’ would have seemed alien. Pianists as different from each other as Argerich and Grimaud and Zimerman have been guided firstly by their teachers and then their own musical instincts, even if agents and promoters have played their part along the way. Since then, it seems to me, the world of the professional pianist has changed, and the pace of that change is only accelerating. Young musicians find ever bolder and more innovative ways to stand out from their contemporaries, ways that don’t always rely on their talents at the keyboard. Even those whose musical talents alone would guarantee their celebrity have gone in search of new audiences and new contexts for their…

I must confess to suffering a few nerves before my Zoom interview with Chloe Flower. As part of my research, I’d watched several of her colourful YouTube videos. She performs lush arrangements of pop, rap and hip-hop numbers (she calls her mash-up style ‘popsical’) and I noticed that she almost never smiles in them. One could even go as far as to say she looks pretty severe. Yikes. Would she snap my head off at an inept question? Reader, I trembled. And then she popped up on the screen from her high-rise apartment in New York, and was as chirpy and cheerful as a chipmunk. She was brimming with Los Angeles-style positivity, and laughed a lot. Phew. But what was the deal, I asked. Why so fierce in the vids?…

LESSONS FROM THE EXPERTS MELANIE SPANSWICK is a piano pedagogue, author, and composer. She has written over 25 books, including the best-selling course, Play It Again: PIANO (Schott Music). Melanie’s series, Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano (Schott Music) recently won the Presto Music Award for best ‘New Series Of The Year’. She teaches the piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at Eton College. DANIEL GRIMWOOD enjoys a solo and chamber career, with repertoire ranging from Elizabethan Virginal music to works of living composers, performing in such venues as Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall (London) and Gnessin Halls (Moscow). He was the first artist to record on the Edition Records Sounds label. As editor and writer, Grimwood is currently preparing editions of John…

ABILITY RATING LATE BEGINNER Key G major Tempo Allegretto Style Romantic Will improve your ✓ Cantabile ✓ Melodic shaping ✓ Rubato This charming little waltz was written by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana (1824-84). It comes from two volumes entitled Poklad Melodií (Treasury of Melodies). I like to call it a Waltz in G, as it reflects the character, and will hopefully encourage development of the waltz ‘lilt’. The tempo marking of a dotted minim equals 60 beats per minute allows the music to flow nicely without feeling rushed. Separate hand practice will help secure the LH’s accompaniment part. I suggest practising in chordal patterns: for example, in bars 1-3, play blocked-out chords – that is, playing all notes in the bar together, which will ensure swift assimilation of notes…

TRACK 3 BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE Czech composer Bedřich Smetana has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his 1866 opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast (‘My Fatherland’), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer’s native Bohemia. It contains the famous symphonic poem ‘Vltava’, also popularly known by its German name ‘Die Moldau’ (in English, ‘The Moldau’). Smetana also composed a significant amount of piano music, including two volumes of Treasury of Melodies, which date from 1849-50. This enchanting waltz-like piece is No 2 from the second volume. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-step lesson.…

INTERMEDIATE Elgar’s short piano compositions, including the two-movement Sonatina, provided the composer with a steady income. Playing tips: The semiquavers in bars 1-3, 37-40 and 75-80 need careful coordination and a sharp differentiation between legato and staccato where it occurs. Note the fingering for the semiquaver passages, because it determines a sequence of hand positions that is essential to the smooth playing of the semiquavers. The notion of dynamic contrasts is a key ingredient of the piece, because Elgar offsets the fchords in bars 17-18 with the p textures in bar 18. Pedal is not required. Note: The first movement appeared inside issue 134.…

INTERMEDIATE Mozart’s Piano Sonata No 18 in D major K576 was composed as part of a set of six sonatas for Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia in 1789. It is often nicknamed ‘The Hunt’ or ‘The Trumpet Sonata’, for the hornlike opening. It was the only one of the intended set of six, published posthumously in 1805, and is Mozart’s last sonata. The slow middle movement is in the dominant key of A major and includes many scale passages as well as counterpoint. Mozart uses harmonic exploration throughout the sonata such as suspensions and dissonances and there are some chromatic elements in this movement, as is common in many of Mozart’s later works. Diminished chords are used to help modulate frequently and a series of keys are cadenced into. Playing…

Dear Kathryn, in 2024 I promise to…. 1. Make every lesson I teach feel special. The once-a-week appointment for pupils should never feel like a visit to the dentist! Lessons should energise and inspire daily practising. 2. Always see the glass as half full rather than half empty. If a tutor is negative, a pupil will follow suit. 3. Always write lesson plans. Structure is always positive – even if the schedule is abandoned during sessions. 4. Always review lessons. Progress and attainment must be recorded and monitored. 5. Encourage and encourage again. Ban the word ‘No’ from all your lessons and I guarantee your pupils will respond more effectively. 6. Support all my students with practice tips in every lesson. All the pedagogy in the world is limited if…

TRINITY COLLEGE LONDON PIANO EXAMS EXTENDED EDITIONS Initial to Grade 1-8 Trinity College With every iteration of their piano syllabuses, examining boards look for marginal gains to cement their customer base and attract further custom. Trinity’s previous exam syllabuses have nominally covered a three-year period (the previous set of books was for 2021-2023) so it’s interesting to note this new set of books is marked ‘from 2023’, suggesting longer-term validity. The overall presentation has had a facelift, both on the inside and outside. The cover artwork and title layout is easier on the eye, whilst the final two grades benefit from smyth sewn binding. On the inside, the musical text is crisper and the fingering font size is in better proportion to the noteheads – a perfect example of a…

Stellar article from Schmitz Thank you for sharing the wisdom of Elie Robert Schmitz in issue 134 (‘Ahead of its Time’). There is so much to learn from this article, and I have had some of the experiences mentioned in the article. During my first and only real piano lessons (at age 50) I was assigned a page in a lesson book and then critiqued at the next visit. I found myself wanting to ‘understand how to play’ before I was told what I was doing wrong. So I didn’t stay with that instructor very long at all. Bill Olding, North Carolina, USA ... But not an easy read For an experienced classical pianist perhaps the words of Elie Robert Schmitz may be nodded through and agreed with, largely. However,…

We’ll likely have come across various references to using arm weight in piano playing. Matters quickly become confusing – physiological and anatomical jargon easily gets in the way of a clear message. In essence, the objective is to use our bodies in a balanced, relaxed manner, harnessing power when it is needed without exerting force in tension-inducing ways or working against ourselves. The simile of a ‘hanging’ bridge, suspended robustly at both ends but remaining ultra-flexible in-between, can help us to conceptualise the arm from fingertip to upper body. At the instant keys are struck, especially from a greater height, the briefest of tension moments inevitably arises (somewhat like shock-absorbers on a vehicle going over a speed bump), but should just as quickly dissipate, instantly restoring the sensation of a…

ABILITY RATING INTERMEDIATE Adolph Henselt was born in 1814 in the tranquil town of Schwabach, a few miles south of Nuremberg. Shortly after his family moved to Munich in 1817 he took up the violin, but in 1823 began piano studies under Eduard Lasser, a tenor at the Hoftheater München, who’s own teacher, the illustrious Josepha von Fladt, would become his teacher. In 1831 King Ludwig awarded Henselt a scholarship to study with Hummel in Weimar. We can surmise from German writer Ida Marie Lipsius’s Studienköpfe that the young student found the brilliant yet ageing Hummel a little stifling, but Mozart’s illustrious pupil had sufficient confidence in the young Henselt to present him at Court in a concert performing Hummel’s own A flat Concerto. In 1833 Henselt moved to Vienna…

BEGINNER German Romantic composer Heinrich Wohlfahrt received his education in Weimar and upon the completion of his studies became a tutor and cantor. He became celebrated as an educator, publishing a large number of small educational works including Kinder Klavierschule, Der erste Klavierunterricht, der Klavierfreund and more. His sons Franz and Robert became popular piano teachers in Leipzig and also published instructive elementary works for piano. Look at the technical tips within the score. The key is A minor; note the G sharp which appears throughout. The key of A minor is poignant, full of longing, so try to reflect that in your interpretation. Notice how the dynamics are quiet throughout. This is a good exercise, therefore, for soft playing. Shape the RH four-note groups, always moving towards the dotted…

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE Norwegian amateur composer Erik Johannessen was a runner-up in the 2023 Pianist Composing Competition. We found his piece full of sweet, whimsical qualities and thought many a reader would benefit and gain great enjoyment from learning it. Johannessen tells us that he wrote it as a melody for his wife Merete on her birthday, as she loves to dance. As for the piece itself, he tells us that he mostly plays it as written, but makes small pauses at the end of some of the phrases in order to add to the overall charm. Even if not marked on the score, the composer also advises that the LH second minim can sometimes be played as two repeated crotchets rather than the one minim (this is certainly not imperative,…

TRACK 7 INTERMEDIATE A note about the track: Henselt wasn’t the only composer to notate introductory improvisations at the start of compositions – and you will hear a brief improvisation here before the piece commences. So while Daniel Grimwood was preparing the Etudes for recording (Repos d’amour being one of them), the idea occurred to him to add a ‘Préambule’ to each piece. Read Daniel Grimwood’s in-depth lesson.…

INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED The Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV 906 was likely composed during Bach’s tenure in Leipzig (1723-1750). The work survives in two autograph scores – one with the Fantasia alone, and the other, believed to have been penned around 1738 in which the Fugue is incomplete. The piece is notable for being one of Bach’s latest compositions in the prelude and fugue format. Playing tips: This fantasie-styled work cannot be viewed with super strict counting, as the ornaments at the end of each bar act as expressive outpourings as well as a transition into the next wave of descending arpeggios. Think about Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, for example, where generous liberty needs to be given to the runs and the space in-between the…

IGOR LEVIT Fantasia: Works by Bach, Berg, Busoni, Liszt Sony Classical 19658811642 (2CDs) Strap yourselves in: it’s time for Levit’s annual release, as ever a project of high intellectual as much as musical ambition, self-evidently years in the preparation. Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia falls on the ear in cascades, the mechanics of the instrument transcended – as Brendel achieved from time to time – to become the poet’s voice. The voice of the following Fugue begins bravely in a whisper, and the Sonata of Liszt is then plotted on a much larger scale with the same irrefutable logic. Levit presents the B minor as a stylistic sequel to the ‘Hammerklavier’ – and as a literal prequel to the Op 1 Sonata of Berg, which is phrased in aching, subsiding arches as…

Trills appear in music from all style periods, usually indicated by the tr symbol above the note. For those of you who have been tuning in to my masterclasses for a while, you may note that I wrote another article on trills inside issue 75. Here, though, I take it from a different angle. There are several issues with trills that we need to consider: -Do we start on the main note, or the upper note? -Should the trill be short or long, loud or soft, measured or free? -How do we make sense of the bewildering array of signs and symbols used to indicate ornaments? -How do we play them without stiffening up? Ornament symbols Fortunately for us, many composers have left specific instructions for the realisation of the…

ABILITY RATING INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED Schumann’s Forest Scenes (Waldszenen) are a wonderful example of what we might call ‘high Romanticism’, not in the sense of romantic love but in the sense of an intense identification with the natural world. After the glories of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, Romantic art rebelliously dwells on our connection, our oneness, with nature. Elements of the natural world take on human meaning and emotional significance, commenting on and reflecting the individual’s experience: a nightingale serenades the beloved, flowers are ‘lonely’ or companionable, the stars want to console a broken heart. In number 7, The Prophet Bird (Vogel als Prophet), Schumann devotes his attention to the swooping, fluttering and trilling of a single bird in the forest. In some ways the bird is carefree, its warbling…

BEGINNER Notes from the composer: Christmas Rock is a bluesy style piece based on the 12-bar blues pattern, which is an important and popular chord progression in contemporary music. This pattern is based on three basic triads, which are all seventh chords of I, IV and V. The 12 bars are generally built around the following pattern: four bars featuring chord I, followed by two bars featuring chord IV, then two more bars of the tonic chord (chord I), and two further bars of chord V, finishing with two bars of chord I. The pattern has been slightly altered here, as bars 11 and 12 feature chord V and then chord IV before returning to the tonic. The melodic material is also based around these chord patterns. As is usual…

INTERMEDIATE Liszt’s Christmas Tree Suite (Weihnachtsbaum in German and Arbre de Noël in French) is a set of 12 pieces composed between 1873-76, with revisions in 1881. The Suite exists in versions for solo piano and piano four-hands. Christmas Tree does not demand great virtuosity, having often been described as a distant relation of Schumann’s Kinderszenen and Debussy’s Children’s Corner. It occupies an unusual place in Liszt’s output, and it may be for these reasons that it has received relatively little attention from performers. That said, its beauty is apparent, and we have published some of the movements in past issues. Playing tips: Formerly (in German, Ehemals) is the tenth piece from the set and because of its name requires a sense of longing and reflection, thus evoking a sense…

INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED CLICK HERE TO WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS PIECE Playing tips from the composer/arranger: This is a contemporary romantic arrangement, with jazz-inspired harmonies, of a well-loved British carol, words by Christina Rossetti set to the tune ‘Cranham’ by Gustav Holst (1874-1934). Bars 25-41 are the trickiest: the carol melody is in canon in two keys! Aim to play the arpeggiated LH chords speedily and smoothly so as not to disturb the flow of the music. The passage is written on three staves to avoid unnecessary ledger lines. Bars 43-49, make the most of the molto accelerando and molto allargando so the melody makes a grand entrance at bar 50. Bar 80 to the end, play this as freely as you wish. Pedal tips: See markings throughout.…