Tabla de contenidos para 148 en Pianist

Early in January, I attended a once-in-a-lifetime concert at the Barbican celebrating the life of Alfred Brendel, who died in June last year. Many noted musicians were present, either as performers on stage, or as listeners in the audience. They were there to pay tribute to a musician whose influence will endure for generations to come, thanks not only to his recordings, but to the power of his thinking, and the care he took over coaching many younger pianists. Cover star Seong-Jin Cho has been a regular guest at the Barbican this season. The ‘Artist Portrait’ series has included his performances of concertos by Prokofiev and Donghoon Shin with the LSO, and the series culminates in mid-February with Chopin’s Second Concerto. As the winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition, Cho…

As part of my research for meeting Seong-Jin Cho, I learned that Korean names tend to have specific meanings. But I also found several variants (in translation, naturally) of his own moniker. One of my initial questions then, when we meet at Steinway’s London showroom in August 2025, is: what does your name actually mean? ‘Seong is treasure, and Jin is accomplished,’ he says with a modest smile, ‘so in English it would be Accomplished Treasure.’ How apt. I can’t think of a more suitable label for this thoughtful dreamer, whose technique is a thing of wonder, and whose variety of tone and texture are more wonderful still. I’m clearly far from the only one to feel this way: ‘He radiates luminosity…with a fresh individuality of spirit,’ said The Financial…

Here’s our first Warm-up Exercise of the issue, written by music educator and composer Hans-Günter Heumann. Try your best to keep in strict time, starting out very slowly at first so that errors don’t begin to creep in (use of the metronome will help). Keep the crotchets as even as possible and make sure that the semibreves are held down for the duration of the bar. Note: This exercise and the six that follow are perfect sight-reading exercises for the more advanced pianist. Hans-Günter Heumann’s publications can be found at www.schott-music.com.…

This fun piece appears as the seventh study within the Danish composer’s 25 Melodious Studies Op 108. It focuses on interchange between the hands, allowing the player to get used to releasing one hand (lifting it up), and then playing with the other. Practise slowly, making sure to lift the relevant hand for the rests. Imagine that the hands are passing from one to the other. A good way of practising the study is to use the ‘block chord’ technique: that is, play the pairs of quavers simultaneously as three-note crotchet chords. Hence, you’ll be playing four chords per bar.…

BEGINNER This minuet is the fifth movement of eight in a keyboard suite that dates from about 1705, when the young Bach was court organist in Arnstadt. Playing tips: Think of a stately dance in order to find the right tempo. The two hands often play in contrary motion, being independent of one another, so this is a good opportunity to develop your hand and finger independence. Try to keep the RH legato, and think in long phrases. Even if this piece seems simple, there is a lot to take in: dynamics (which include crescendos and diminuendos), slurs and staccatos. When listening to the track, you will notice that Chenyin Li adds a trill at the end. You might wish to try this, too, but only when the notes are…

BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE READ MELANIE SPANSWICK’S LESSON ON THIS PIECE Almost unheard of today, the German composer Arnoldo Sartorio was also a conductor and piano teacher. His piano works are actually rather pleasant; Pianist has published two in past issues (Nos 122 and 138). In her lesson on this brief piece (the origins of its unusual title being unknown), Melanie Spanswick offers up some further history about the composer. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-step lesson.…

INTERMEDIATE At the start of 1878, Tchaikovsky had just finished Eugene Onegin and his Fourth Symphony. He was looking to write something ‘lighter’, and proposed a collection of small piano pieces for children to his publisher (he knew how popular Schumann’s collection had been). It took him just three months to write the 24 pieces, and the set was a commercial success. Tchaikovsky had created a piano album that wasn’t too technically demanding and that included works varying in character and expression. Playing tips: This cheerful waltz should be light – with a rhythmic LH accompaniment (keep the hands close to the keys) and a playful RH melody. Rubato can be used here and there, especially on some of the RH tied notes (e.g. the B flat in bar 18).…

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED READ MATTHEW MILLS’ LESSON ON THIS PIECE Compared to his operas, Bizet wrote relatively little for the piano, but he did like to experiment with a variety of different genres. The Chants du Rhin (Songs of the Rhine) is a cycle of six ‘dreamy’ miniatures based on poems by Joseph Méry and composed in 1865. The songs are grouped around the central ‘La bohémienne’ (No 4 from the set), thereby emhasising the importance of the beautiful and free-spirited gypsy girl. Bizet would return to the gypsy theme a year later in his opera La jolie fille de Perth (The fair maid for Perth). Ten years after that, he returned to the theme again with his most famous of works, Carmen. Read Matthew Mills’ lesson inside this issue.…

PAUL CROSSLEY The Sad Smile: Mompou piano music CRD CRD3553 Most album-length selections of Mompou give the impression that the Catalan miniaturist barely evolved his style over his six decades of composition. By tracing an irregular chronology, and making careful selections from sprawling collections, Paul Crossley draws a vivid and personal sketch of Mompou setting out as a Debussyan tone-painter in the Scènes d’enfants (1915-18), already bringing a touch of jangling Iberian individuality to pictures of children at play. Seven of the better-known Cançons i danses, covering 1928-62, illuminate the popular image of Mompou as self-contained and -contented keyboard diarist. A single piece from the Pessebres of 1917 shows Mompou already reaching up and into himself, to find the almost timeless, self-communing intensity which finally culminates in the Musica callada…

Let’s start at the peak of the price list. In October last year, Steinway & Sons released the Ultra Black and Ultra White Limited Editions. Produced at the Steinway factory in Hamburg, just 52 instruments worldwide – 26 in each finish, split between 18 Model B and eight Model D concert grands – will be made. The Ultra Black model takes on a bold, all-black identity with its rim finished in Jet Black – a deep, saturated black celebrated in architecture and design for its dramatic depth. From the underside, stained black to match, to the black-stained soundboard and cast-iron plate in Liquid Black Yellow, the piano carries its monochrome look through every detail. Black PVD metal fittings extend the palette with a subtle sheen, while the engraved Steinway logo…

This short piece appears inside German composer Gurlitt’s The Young Pianist’s First Steps Op 82. The set comprises 100 elementary exercises (this is No 27). Note how the RH almost mimicks the LH (though not entirely!). Feel the depth of the key as you press each note down. Keep the hands in a good position, with the wrists slightly raised, and remember to lift the hands from the keys when you see the rests. The 8va marking above the RH at the start means that you should play an octave higher than written. The 8vb marking that you see towards the end (below the LH) means that you should play an octave lower than written. Hence, this is a great exercise for getting to know your way around the whole…

We’d all like to play error-free in the music that we learn. Here, music educator and composer Hans-Günter Heumann has chosen to focus on accuracy in both hands. The RH starts out on its own, then the LH, and then both hands together. It’s a similar pattern until bar 13, where the notes need to be played at the exactly the same time. This might sound easy, but it’s actually harder than one thinks. Try to keep the hands close to the keys, so that the fingers are ready to play the next notes; by doing so, there will be less of a chance of hitting the wrong notes. What does the 15mb mean at the end, you may ask? In music notation, this means you should play the indicated…

BEGINNER Composer’s playing tips: Chappelle Royale is an elegant little piece which could ostensibly be played on the organ in a charming French église. Harmonies are tonal with a nod to 20th century French music, marked by subtle chord changes over a static LH semibreve G accompanied by a well-articulated RH melody. In the key of G major, start by learning the chord patterns and position changes in both the LH and RH parts. Be sure to keep the semibreves held and tied over where marked so that you can create a smooth legato accompaniment. The note changes in the LH’s upper line should be considerably softer and lighter. Turning to the RH, the thematic material is dominated by three staccato crotchets followed by a series of quavers. For effective…

INTERMEDIATE Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples, but moved to Spain in 1728 – firstly living in Seville and aftwards, until his death, in Madrid. It was during these later years that an emancipation seems to have taken place in his compositional writing that permitted the extraordinary stylistic development of the harpsichord sonatas. Of Scarlatti’s 555 sonatas, about ten are for violin and continuo, three are specifically for organ, and the rest are for harpsichord. Playing tips: The tempo is Allegro, but an elegant one – hence, not too quick! The main motif is the triplet figure, so work on getting to grips with the rhythm. There’s lots of playful ‘question and answer’ dialogue within (e.g. between bars 17-22, where the first three bars seem to ask…

INTERMEDIATE Romantic composer Joseph Wihtol (also spelled Jāzeps Vītols) was the first true master of Latvian classical music. His pedagogical principles reflect those of his teachers and colleagues at the St Petersburg Conservatory – Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov and Lyadov. After graduating in 1886 he remained there as a teacher. In 1908 he was appointed Professor of Composition, a post he held until 1918. After that he returned to Latvia to become both Rector and Professor of Composition at the Latvian Conservatory in Riga. Playing tips: Keep the LH accompaniment calm, with a steady pulse. The RH melody-line sings sweetly over the top, so produce a good cantabile and shape the phrases. The LH appears more prominently from bar 17, with the rising quaver line becoming part of the melody. Then the…

ADVANCED READ THE LESSON & WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS PIECE ON THE PIANIST YOUTUBE CHANNEL Debussy’s Préludes comprise 24 pieces for piano divided into two books (12 préludes in each). Unlike Chopin’s Op 28 Préludes, or the preludes from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Debussy’s do not follow a strict pattern of tonal centers. Each book was written at an unusually fast pace for the composer. Book I was written within a matter of three months, between December 1909 to February 1910, and Book II written in 1911 and 1912. La Puerta del Vino is the third prélude from Book 2. Read Ann Martin-Davis’ in-depth lesson on La Puerta del Vino.…

ECHOES OF THE ORIENT & MY FOREST NOTEBOOK Angeline Bell Musica Ferrum These represent Angeline Bell’s fifth and sixth piano albums for Musica Ferrum. Like the first four, Rebecca Harrie’s front cover illustration is warm and inviting, and, apart from an isolated typo in one of the titles, the inner presentation is equally pristine. These two books are pitched at a slightly higher level of difficulty compared to her previous works, at Grade 4 to 7, and there are several pieces with five or six sharps/flats in their key signature. The style of Bell’s music will appeal particularly to those drawn towards popular/anime/film music, and much of the music lies comfortably under the hand. The performance notes detailing the inspiration for each piece are informative and help the performer to…

French music teacher and composer Félix le Couppey was notorious for his elementary exercises for the piano. These eight exercises below and opposite come from his volume of easy studies called L’ABC du Piano. Play the notes evenly, allowing for equal weight from one finger to the next. When practising slowly, lift the fingers a little more than usual, and then when increasing the speed, decrease that movement. You will notice that with the first study (No 38), Le Couppey suggests forte and then piano for the repeat. You can do this with all of the the exercises. Or, you can decide to do the reverse – whereby you play piano the first time and forte on the repeat. Aim for a good legato throughout. Also notice the 8va above…

This exercise by music educator and composer Hans-Günter Heumann features a two-page piece that will help you become accustomed to playing legato and staccato at the same time. It’s not as easy as it seems! Start out slowly, and try to absorb everything that’s on the page: legato, staccato, dynamics, rests, phrasing and so on. The RH should be played an octave higher than written (notice the 8va with the dotted line at the start). You can find an assortment of publications by Hans-Günter Heumann at www.schott-music.com.…

BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE This delightful Rondo appears in Mozart’s The London Sketchbook – a series of 43 untitled pieces and sketches written by the young composer between 1764 and 1765 while on tour in London with his family. Most pieces are extremely short, normally lasting from 40 seconds to a minute. The intended purpose of the book was not for musical exercise, as once thought, but rather for the young Mozart – who had just learned how to use pen and ink – to write down his own inspiration. Playing tips: Start out by practising in a very slow tempo (use of the metronone will help). Then build up gradually over time. The score lacks dynamics; experiment with them and see what works for you. However, you don’t need to be that…

INTERMEDIATE German Romantic composer and pianist Theodor Kirchner was praised by many of his contemporaries including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Liszt. However, due to a disordered life (including gambling and extravagant spending) he was unable to maintain a successful career. Nevertheless, he was a natural miniaturist and wrote over 1,000 piano pieces (mainly collected in cycles) of which many are only a minute or so in duration. He was especially influenced by Robert Schumann’s music, as this tender Andantino from his Op 55 set of 25 short pieces proves. Playing tips: A strong pulse is important from the outset (especially as there’s a rest on the first beat in the LH). Think in two-bar ‘question-and-answer’ phrases, and use your most luxurious singing tone. The piece comprises two sections: bars 1-16…

INTERMEDIATE Already at the age of 14 Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn) was directed by her father to her future role as wife and mother, and so her activities were limited to the domestic sphere. She composed over 450 works – more than 150 of them being for solo piano – and they were mostly performed in domestic concerts. Although lauded for her piano technique, Hensel rarely gave public performances outside her family circle. The six-movement Klavierbuch in E minor suite was written in 1827 – this grand, Baroque-style Largo is the fourth piece within the set. Playing tips: The tempo is slow, so try to keep the line moving. A legato touch is required, but the pedal will be able to help. In such places as bar 29, the middle-voice…

One-to-one tuition remains the backbone of piano teaching, but every so often it’s worth opening the door, literally and metaphorically, and letting others join in as listeners and participants. A student who regularly plays in lessons with others listening-in is far less likely to be fazed by exams, festivals or concerts. Through repeated exposure to playing in lessons in front of others, the studio emerges as a safe rehearsal space for pupils to develop real-world musical courage. We can extend this idea further to include sessions in which two or more pupils working on similar things share lessons – with parents and friends in the room, too, if appropriate/possible. From the teacher’s point of view, time efficiency is a real advantage in these scenarios. It is so satisfying when you…