October 11, 2022 | Author: Anonymous | Category: N/A
LEARN TO PLAY
LET’S DO IT
I HAVE A DREAM
RUSTLE OF SPRING
COLE PORTER
ABBA MADE EASY
SINDING’S MAGICAL MINIATURE
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No 102
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Pianist 102
CONTENTS
June-July 2018 The next issue of Pianist goes on sale 27 July 2018
78 72 80 84 9
12 4 Editor Editor’s ’s Note 4 Reader Competition WIN a pair of tickets to the finals of the Leeds International Piano Competition 6 Readers’ Letters Why you should practise scales; when you should substitute fingers 8 News Bicentenary celebrations of Beethoven and Broadwood; the ‘Second’ Concerto of Grieg on CD; pianists at the Proms 10 First Person Mark Viner on 10 Oxford days and seeking the repertoire paths less travelled 11 Reader Competition Win a 11 weekend weeke nd at the the Oxford Oxford Piano Piano Festival Festival
20 How to Play 1 Melanie Spanswick 20 with a pair of simple studies by Ludvig Schytte (Scores page 28)
72 The Sound of Scandinavia 72 Scandinavia A whistlestop tour of the region’ region’s piano music with Andrew Mellor
22 How to Play 2 Enjoying the fresh 22 charms of a lovely Summer Song by by Agathe Agat he Backe Backerr Grønd Grøndahl ahl with with the help help of Annabel waite (Scores page 38)
76 Subscribe today for £4.50 per 76 issue by Direct Debit and receive two Easy Piano books Piano books worth £17 (UK only)
24 How to Play 3 Sinding’s immortal 24 Rustle of Spring : it’s easier than it looks, says Lucy Parham (Scores page 57)
78 ABBA Gold What’ 78 What’ss the secret to their success? Song-writing for the ages, says Warwick ompson
27 The Scores Head up north with 27 a Scandinavian-themed, 40-page pull-out section of sheet music for all levels – plus the winning score of our Composing Competition!
finds 80 Lyric 80 Lyric Pieces John Evans finds the place where life meets art at the end of a 66-work Grieg marathon
45 Beginner Keyboard 45 Keyboard Class Lesson No 29 with Hans-Günter Heumann: Exercises for handcrossing and more
12 Yeol Eum Son From finding the 12 right height for her piano stool to recording with Sir Neville Marriner: the low-down on a young virtuoso
67 Piano Teacher 67 Teacher Help Desk Making scale practice fun as well as fundamental with Kathryn Page
16 How to Play 16 Play Masterclass 1 Face up to your fear of hand-crossing:
68 Learning Jazz Piano with Dave Jones: Adding a bass line to
Mark Tanner urges you to be bold 18 How to Play 18 Play Masterclass 2 Your Y our fingerings are your choice, choice, says Graham Fitch: here are some first principles to guide you
classics by Bill Evans and Jerome Kern 70 Composing 70 Composing Competition e winners revealed, and the stories behind their pieces: what inspired them, and how did they do it?
84 Frankfurt Music Fair 2018 84 High-tech joins handmade at this major industry exhibition of what’s new in the world of keyboards 86 CD Reviews A 86 A definitive new ‘Hammerklavier’ from Murray Perahia, Perahia, and controversial Schubert from Marc-André Hamelin 88 Sheet Music Reviews Bártok 88 for beginners, Grieg for duets and Kapustin for wannabe jazz virtuosos, as well as solos for all occasions 90 Classifieds 90
Cover photo: © Marco Borggreve. Images, this page: © Marco Borggreve (Son); Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen by KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes (Grieg’s composing hut) Notice: Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyrighted material in this magazine, however, should copyrighted material inadvertently have been used, copyright acknowledgement will be made in a later issue of the magazine.
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Editor’s note
Pianist
Grieg’s Piano Concerto was the first concerto I learned. Grieg’s My teacher thought I was up or the challenge. It was within my technical grasp, so she said, and there was so much to all in love with: the first movement’s movement’s heart-melting second subject, the erocious (and not-as-difficult-as it-sounds) coda. I even perormed it with my school orchestra on an upright piano, would younever believe! Whybut I never studied more o Grieg’ Lyric Pieces, I’ll know, it’s been it’s wonderul to Grieg’s returns to them or this Scandinavian issue o Pianist . It has given me the opportunity to sight-read my way through all 66 o these nostalgic pieces, just as John Evans Evans did or his journey through through them on page 80. What is it that makes Scandinavian Scandinavian piano music unique? Is it a sense o landscape in music? Perhap Perhapss it’s the perceptions and eelings which composers have conveyed in sound as they gazed upon a Norwegian ford, or a small Swedish country ch church, urch, or the light over Skagen, the northernmost part o Denmark where countless painters have stood with their easels. It’s It’s these qualities, these visions and atmospheres, that I wanted the scores in this issue to communicate to you. Heard o Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Peterson-Berger, anyone? Going to Church on Church on page 40 has all the solemnity and calm beauty o the Swedish Lutheran tradition. Stepping outside, Agathe Backer Grøndahl’s Summer Song (p38) (p38) takes in the special quality o a clear blue sky and the pale Northern sun. Niels Gade captures the distinctive Danish light to perection in his Barcarolle on page 42. For the stiffest technical challenge, try tr y Christian Sinding’ Sinding’ss evergreen Rustle of Spring . Illuminating news: Lucy Parham says it’s it’s not as hard as those rustling leaves sound. Notwithstanding Stig Larsson, one o the biggest Scandinavian exports since Grieg must be ABBA; there’s a beginner-riendly arrangement o I Had A Dream in Dream in the Scores section. Te Swedish group created a distinctively Nordic pop sound which embraces styles as diverse as German chorale and Mexican norteño. How did they do it? Warwick Tompson has some answers, both serious and irreverent, on page 78. Most o these pieces require seamless legato playing and smooth scales. For both techniques good fingering is essential, and Graham Fitch is at hand in the first o a series o articles on fingering, while Kathryn Page encourages us to have un with our scales in her Piano eacher eacher Help Desk column. Skål to all.
TAP TO WATCH WATCH Watch Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes perform the
ERICA WORTH, EDITOR
ferocious rst-movement coda
of the Grieg Concerto!
C O M P E T I T I O N TAP HERE TO ENTER
TAP TO WATCH WATCH w ) s d e e L ( n o s n i k l i W n o m i S © ; ) h t r o W ( l h u B r e p s e J ©
And watch one of my heroins of the keyboard,Arthur Rubinstein, playing the Concerto:
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4• Pianist 102
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Readers’ Letters
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The importance of scales I am a primary school student who is currently working on persuasive writing, and I decided to write an assignment about why musicians should practise scales. is is what I wrote: Scales are an important part of playing an instrument, but some people do not practise them at all. Whether Whethe r it’s it’s because they the y think they are too easy, too difficult or just a boring waste of time doesn’t really matter; they just won’ won’t practise them. But what they don’ don’t realise is that practising with scales and practising without scales gives two very different outputs. outputs. So I want to convince you scale-haters why practising scales is an essential part of practice. ey are a part of music exams. Music exams are challenging in many ways – piece, sight-reading, aural, and of course sales. e examiner wants to hear you play as well as you possibly can, and if you don’t practise you won’t get a good mark. ey are great warm-ups. I am someone who never used to practise scales. I used to go straight into practising my pieces, and while this sounds fine, it does actually affect your playing. If you don’t don’t do some warm-ups before your pieces, you will find that you are not prepared enough, and your playing won’t won’t be as good as it should be. Scales will improve your dexterity, speed and finger independence. In many pieces of music there will be passages passage s that can’t can’t be played well without scale practice. Whether that’ that’ss a cadenza with very fast notes flying across the piano, or an Alberti bass with difficult and unusual fingerings, scales can help with almost any musical problem. As well as scales helping with difficult musical passages, they can appear in a piece themselves. ey might not be obvious at first, but as you progress you will notice that scales can be found in passages and sometimes even whole sections. Scales really are a good part of practice. Whether it’s for ten minutes or one hour, it will always be better than not practising them at all. So I challenge you to play scales for at least five minutes every time you practise. How will it improve your playing? Isaac Skey, West Sussex, UK A very persuasive case indeed! And it’s it’s echoed by Kathryn Page Page in her Piano Teacher Teacher Help Desk column on page 67. A surprise CD is on its way to you.
Finger In e Artsubstitution of Piano Fingering , Rami Bar-Niv gives several examples of finger substitution. One of these is in the first chord of Beethoven’s Sonata Op 31 No 2, ‘T ‘Tempest’. empest’. e first half-note (minim) chord in the bass clef is played by the RH; the top note of this chord, the A, has a finger substitution of 5-1. What is its purpose? I note also that the following notes are staccato. Davide Onofrio, San Francisco, USA Graham Fitch replies: Finger substitution is a technique whereby a held note is taken over by another finger, in order to achieve a finger legato. It is good practice to observe a finger legato wherever possible in a legato context, even if the pedal is down (do not be pedantic
not stipulated a legato connection the minim to the two crotchets thatfrom follow (there is no slur), a physical finger legato is not mandatory. In the end it is up to the individual performer. If you don’t do the substitution, try to feel through the phrase and avoid an obtrusive lift before the crotchets. crotchets.
Revisiting old repertoire Having embarked upon a journey of nationalities with my piano teacher, we are now into the Russian genre. I have recently covered some of the less complex preludes of Rachmaninov,, Shostakovich (fugues also!) and Rachmaninov even some Scriabin. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of over-exposure to these great works even though they may be achievable after much effort.
about this,from however). the Beethoven example, If this happens, and you become bogged changing a 5 toIna thumb helps connect down, I think I have found a solution! Dig out the minim A to the remainder of the opening your previous editions of Pianist (hopefully (hopefully figure, which is a single idea and an important you will not have thrown them out) and you component of the first subject material (see will find among them something in the past the LH at bar 21, etc.). Because Beethoven has that you will have forgotten. In my case, I sat 6• Pianist 102
down and enjoyed going over old ground with Scott Joplin’s wonderful Bethena, A Concert Waltz (Pianist (Pianist 88). 88). A breath of fresh air indeed. Most of us play for pleasure as we treasure the gift of piano-playing, but it’s it’s important to manage this successfully. Perhaps we may wonder about the direction in which we are going, and become concerned about our possible lack of progress. If this happens, take a break and play something different, easier and more lighthearted, and your confidence will return quickly. Chris Byrne, Dorset, UK
The benefits of exercise Following John Evans’ article in Pianist 94 Following 94 on technical exercises, I would like to know who are the leading pianists of today whose early training did not involve any technical te chnical exercises, keeping in mind that even scales and arpeggios are repetitive technical exercises. Maybe prodigies don’t don’t need exercises but even as great a prodigy as Liszt took a couple of years off from performing to work on his technique for 10 hours a day. Dorothy Taubman Taubman did not fix problems in small children who were beginning to learn, nor in older adult beginners like myself. She taught, and fixed, highly trained pianists with problems of technique, pianists who no longer need hours of technical exercises. One’s perspective is greatly influenced by one’s milieu. In my experience as an older beginner, having begun around age 64 after retirement, I find it very ver y difficult to play simple s imple technical tec hnical exercises as those offered by Hans-Günter Heumannsuch in his instructional articles; the dexterity and the recognition of patterns is just not there. I don’t believe that I can obtain those skills without technical exercises. ere is no blanket approach that fits everyone, especially when we are talking about playing piano where the range of skills from raw beginner to elite performer is so wide. John Fieler, Fieler, Conroe, Texas, Texas, USA
Where are all the Scores? Sometimes I need to revisit a piece from Pianist that I worked on a long time ago. Do you have an index of all the pieces featured in the magazine? It would be extremely helpful. Wendy W endy Berger, Berger, Portsmouth, UK A ‘Sheet Music’ Music’ link at the bottom of our home page, www.pianistmagazine.com, takes you to a printable document which lists all the scores published by Pianist Pianist since since the first issue. Readers who don’t use the website may contact the editor and she will be glad to send you a copy.
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7• Pianist 101
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News
All the latest news from the world of the piano
CECIL TAYLOR
Death of maverick jazz pianist
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PIANISTS AT THE BBC PROMS
One of the true originals in the world of jazz, Cecil aylor aylor has died aged age d 89. Born in the Queens Quee ns area of New York in 1929, he developed a prodigious technique at the piano through a classical training, first at the New York York School of Music and later at the New England Conservatory of Music. He studied modern compositional techniques in the music of Stravinsky and Elliott Carter, but he also saw the likes of Dave Brubeck and Telonious Monk at work in jazz clubs, and they too exercised a formative influence on his work. By 1958 he was recording sessions with John Coltrane, but it was when he struck out with his own Cecil aylor rio during the early 60s that the pianist pushed the boundaries of free jazz to their limits. Te groundbreaking Unit Structures album album captures this rigorously original spirit to the full. aylor continued
A strong line-up of new and established stars of the piano will bring concerto concerto classics from Mozart to Shostakovich to London London’’s Royal Albert Hall throughout the summer. Tis year’s year’s BBC Proms were launched on 19 April at the Imperial War Museum Museum to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. Te first pianist to appear in the new season will be the former BBC New Generation Artist Francesco Piemontesi, who made a strong impression in 2016 with the ‘Coronation ‘Coronation’’ Concerto of Mozart. He returns this year on the second night, 14 July, to play Mozart’s Mozart’s final concerto. On 15 July a Young Musician Musician Prom celebrates the 40th anniversary of the competition with appearances from Martin James Bartlett, Freddy Kempf and Lara Melda. Another former BBC Young Young Musician winner, winner, Benjamin Grosvenor makes two appearances, in Mozart (the C major Concerto K467, on 24 August) and Gershwin: he plays the original jazz-band version of Rhapsody in Blue at at a late-night Prom on 16 August with the National Youth Y outh Jazz Orchestra. Tere’s more late-night magic from Sir András Schiff on 29 August, August, when he continues his multi-season series of Bach recitals with Book 2 of the Well-Tempered Clavier . Notable debuts at the 2018 Proms include the French pianist Bertrand Chamayou, soloist in Mendelssohn’s sparkling First Piano Concerto Concer to on 20 July July,, and the multi-talented Uri Caine, who joins the Swedish Chamber Orchestra on 5 August August as both soloist and composer for Te Brandenburg Project: Bach’s Bach’s concertos are paired across two concerts with UK premieres of recent work by Caine, Olga Neuwirth and Mark-Anthony urnage, urnage, among others. oth ers. Completing the trilogy of major concertante works by Gershwin, Angela Hewitt joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo on 18 July for An for An American in Paris Paris , and Inon Barnatan (pictured above, centre) arrives with one of the festival’s notable visitors from abroad, the Minnesota Orchestra, with the Concerto in F on 6 August. Other classy guest pairings include
to play both solo chamber partnerships untiland wellininto his 80s, and in 2013 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize for his contribution to the ‘cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind.’
Khatiaves Buniatishvili andBaltimore the Estonian Festival(Bernstein Orchestra’s(in Grieg’s Concerto, 13 August), Jean-Y Jean-Yves Tibaudet(right) and the Symphony (Bernstein’s ‘Age Age of Anxiety’ Symphony on Bank Holiday Monday, 27 August) and, most notably, Yuja Wang (left), playing Prokofiev’s Tird Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker Philharmoniker,, who return for two nights (1-2 September) as part of their first foreign tour with their Principal Conductor Designate, Kirill Petrenko.
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8. Pianist 102
GRIEG’S ‘SECOND’ PIANO CONCERTO?
Fragmentary sequel to the A minor masterpiece receives a completion and first recording Edvard Grieg died suddenly on 4 September 1907. He had suffered for several years from a weak chest and associated illnesses and disorders, but nevertheless he was on the point of undertaking another tour of England where he was always well received: his own family were Scottish in origin and both his father and grandfather had acted as British consuls to the Norwegian government. On his death he left 150 bars of a projected piano concerto – his Second, as it would have been – and
BEETHOVEN AND BROAD BROADWOOD WOOD e world’s world’s oldest surviving firm of piano makers, John Broadwood & Sons, is marking the bicentenary of its gift to Beethoven of the piano that inspired his late piano sonatas. omas Broadwood met Beethoven in Vienna in 1817 and decided to give him a new piano, as the composer was too poor to purchase his own. e instrument left London in December 1817 and Beethoven wrote to the piano-maker of his keen anticipation: ‘I shall look upon it as an altar upon which I shall place the most beautiful offerings of my spirit to the divine Apollo… As soon as I receive your excellent instrument, I shall immediately send you the fruits of the first moments of inspiration I spend on it, as a souvenir for you from me.’ e instrument eventually arrived in Vienna in May 1818. Beethoven composed the Op 109-111 sonatas on the instrument, supported by the Broadwood technology that made the piano powerful enough to compensate for his deafness. Above the Broadwood label on the piano piano are the words ‘Hoc Instrumentum est omae Broadwood (Londrini) donum propter ingenium illustrissime Beethoven.’ (is instrument is a gift from omas Broadwood of London to the great Beethoven.) It is signed by Friedrich Kalbrenner, Ferdinand Ferdinand Ries, Johann Baptist Cramer, Cramer, Jacques-Godefroi Jacques-Godefroi Ferrari and Charles Knyvett. e piano
although effortssubstantial have previously been made to now: complete them, nothing has emerged. Until in April SOMM Recordings released the first recording of Grieg’s Grieg’s ‘Second Piano Concerto’ played by Mark Bebbington with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig. e completion has been undertaken by the producer, writer and musicologist Robert Matthew-W Matthew-Walker. Having been commissioned by Peters Edition in 1882, Grieg left a short score: following his scant instrumental indications, Matthew-Walker Matthew-Walker has orchestrated the complete sketches in the sequence in which they were left, to make a coherent single movement giving, for the first time, the clearest indication of what Grieg had in mind for a work left frustratingly incomplete. Having studied and recorded the resulting work, Bebbington remarks that ‘It is fascinating to see and hear what was in Grieg’s Grieg’s mind as he embarked on this
was later by display. Liszt, who gave it to the Hungarian Hungarian National Museum, Museum, where it will be owned on public To commemorate the anniversary anniversary,, the Broadwood company is sponsoring several events across Europe. UK concerts include a pair of recitals on 10 June in the New Recital Room of the Richard Burnett Heritage Collection in Tunbridge Wells. Wells. ere will also be a series of concerts in Mödling, near Vienna, which was Beethoven’ Beethoven’s summer residence and where the Broadwood was was delivered.
Second certainly opening idea of shares a Concerto; similar character to the the jaunty main Allegro theme main Allegro theme the A minor Concerto’ C oncerto’ss finale, but elsewhere e lsewhere there are simply tantalising glimpses of what might have been.’ Robert Matthew-Walker remarks that: ‘As Grieg’s Second Concerto is unperformable, it seemed to me that rather than let the music remain on the printed page, it should be perfectly possible to present his sketches in such a way that they can be heard in a manner as close to his sound-world as we can get. e sketches, when placed together in sequence, make a broadly coherent single movement, although it is very unlikely that Grieg intended other than a three-movement work. Nonetheless, in hearing those sketches, one after another, flowing as naturally as they do, the listener is at last able to hear just what was in Grieg’s mind at the time.’ e SOMM album (SOMM269) is completed by
LEEDS PIANO 2018: THE FINALISTS e shortlisted competitors for the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, all aged between 20 and 29 years old, have been chosen from among 68 young pianists who took part in the first-ever international first round, held during April in Berlin, Singapore and New York. York. Representing 16 nationalities, five of the 24 competitors are Chinese nationals, four are South Korean, two British and two Russian. Beginning on 6 September they will play their second-round recitals, competing for places in the semi-finals and ultimately the concerto finals, which will be held on 14 and 15 September at Leeds Town Town Hall. Among the competitors with an international profile already established are the Russian Samson Tsoy Tsoy (pictured above, centre), the Swiss Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula (right) (right) and the British-born alumnus of Chetham’ Chetham’s School in Manchester, Yuanfan Yang (left). An enhanced programme of activities during the competition in Leeds – with masterclasses, lectures from major figures in classical music, exhibitions, and a new
the more familiar (and complete) A minor Concerto of Grieg, and completemented by the less frequently encountered Piano Concerto of Frederick Delius, for whom Norway was a spiritual home and who counted Grieg as a close friend.
chamber music element in the semi-finals – aims to create a much enriched experience for both competitors and audiences. BBC Radio 3 will cover the semi-finals semi -finals and broadcast the finals live. BBC Four TV will cover the finals, while all rounds will be streamed worldwide worldwide for the first time by medici.tv. medici.tv. For more details see se e www.leedspiano.com. www.leedspiano.com.
Shortlist of 24 pianists to compete in September
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P I A N I S T AT W O R K
Viner The Alkan specialist and Oxford Piano Festival graduate talks to Erica Worth about finding his feet and standing his ground in a competitive world
ew pianists become synonymous with a single composer. Perhaps Gieseking with Debussy, say, or Rubinstein with Chopin. Fewer still would nail their colours to the mast of a composer still regarded with mingled ignorance and suspicion. But then Mark Viner has always been prepared to do things differently, differently, and he’s proud to be known as the advocate of our time for the music of Charles-V Charles-Valentin alentin Alkan (pictured below). Viner’ss love affair with the French Viner’ French composer began during his years at the Purcell School, where he encountered the pedagogue – and champion of virtuoso repertoire – Ronald Smith. ‘Every spring at the Purcell
F
‘I believe it was William Fong – the head of keyboard at the Purcell – who was contacted by Oxford. ey were offering places to piano students, and so I jumped at it. Of course, I was a little apprehensive at first, as I was a tender age. But there was a real atmosphere of warmth and, believe it or not, no sense of competitiveness or rivalry going on, which I think sets this institute apart. You get there, you have three classes to prepare, maybe a couple more if you’re lucky. You play three big pieces to three professors of your choice and select which works to play for the participants’ recital.’ e festival continues to nurture students with an intensive programme of masterclasses and recitals.
School,’ remembers, ‘there was spring piano festival, and we’d we’dhe focus on a certain area of athe repertoire. e first year it was the Chopin Etudes Op 25 and the Alkan Etudes Op 35. We We had masterclasses on all of them by Ronald. ere was a concert, and we did them in relay, one étude after another. at was my first exposure to Alkan and would you believe I hated him at first! But then I changed. It was by listening to a lot of it that I found myself falling for him.’ Viner later became acquainted with the albums of Marc-André Hamelin (‘he was a huge influence on me. I bought them from Blackwell’s in Oxford when I was about 15 or 16 and I was gob-smacked’), and then Raymond Lewenthal.
‘I remember the first year I played Vallée d’Obermann
Ivory towers and keys
Viner was a late starter – at the age of 11 – but a quick learner. By the age of 15 he was already one of a group of gifted young students invited to attend the Oxford Piano Festival.
I’ve always been an oddball because I’ve played what I wanted to for Alexander Satz,’ says Viner. ‘is was an important piece to me at the time. It was a revelatory class – an eye-opening moment. I played for Niel Immelman (who later became a teacher), and I played Alkan for Martin Roscoe. e masterclasses at Oxford are all public, and you are encouraged to hear others. I went back for seven or eight years years after that, and I ended up having about 30 classes with all sorts of people. I think it’s quite rare to have taken part in so many of these types of masterclasses.’ Oxford days might sound like hard work and little play, but ‘we had time to enjoy the sunshine too, in such a glorious setting,’ adds Viner. ‘You’d discuss the music with people from all over the world who were visiting. We were a sort of a gang – three or four of us from the Purcell School
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EXCLUSIVE EXCL USIVE COMPETITION and others that we met at Oxford and got to know. We We were under drinking age, so we’d we’d hang out at ice cream parlours in the town centre till late at night. Our end-of-festival concerts were such brilliant fun, full of virtuoso stuff. I met some friends for life.’ Looking back now, did Viner’s days at Oxford shape him into the musician he is today? ‘Later down the line, you realize that some engagement has come about and it’s it’s all because of Oxford,’ he says. ‘But I’ve always been rather an oddball because I’ve played what I wanted to. I haven’t mucked in. It’s not just because bec ause I like different diff erent or diffi cult repertoire. It’s not about me at all; it’s about the composer. I don’t think what I have to say about the “Appassionata” Sonata or the Chopin Fourth Ballade is so special that I need to say it in public. ‘At Oxford,’ he continues, ‘I brought along quite unusual repertoire, and you got to see what was going on in the big wide world, in terms of what what visiting pianists were playing playing and what students were bringing. It gave you an idea of what people were playing. It was always the same, year year after year,, the same Beethoven sonatas and so on. And I became year firmer in my convictions, even if some accepted my repertoire choices with open arms, some with derision. But the people at Oxford have remained loyal and in touch with me. ey’ve ey’ve always looked looked out for me and they are always grateful when you keep in touch.’
WI W IN
The cult appeal of Alkan
Viner’s home record ishenow Dutch-based Piano Classics label.on Naturally has the recorded Alkan for them, the 12 Etudes Op O p 35 (‘some of them are a re damn difficult’), plus albums of alberg and opera fantasies by Liszt, with an album of Cécile Chaminade on the way. Viner’s own account of his debut on disc is characteristically self-effacing. ‘I wrote to Piano Classics and I gave them five proposals. ey rejected all of them… aside from alberg! I did that, it was a big success and then the barrier was dropped and they let me do Liszt, and then Alkan. No label will have you doing a Beethoven sonata cycle any more. It’s very rare. ey are not going to sell. With my repertoire there’s there’s cult appeal. I’ve just carried on doing what I’ve been doing, and it hasn’t stopped.’ As chairman of both the Alkan and Liszt societies societies in the UK, Viner is not short of work. ‘ey were founded in the pre-internet era and their relevance was much more important back then – they t hey were much more needed.
) r e n i V ( s o k a k a n n a i G s o r i m i d a l V ©
e Alkan Society has been going since the 70s and if I hadn’t stepped in, it would have folded.’ Viner’s current project for the society is the publication of the Second Concerto da Camera Op 10 No 2. Midway through arranging the orchestral part, Viner had a funny surprise: ‘I discovered Alkan’s Alkan’s own arrangement in the Bibliothèque National de France and figured that I’d best use that one!’ When this magazine hits the shelves, he will will have performed it twice in early May with players of the Manchester Camerata. Attendees at the Oxford Piano Piano Festival in 2018 will will hear Viner in the 20th-anniversary recital of alumni on 4 August. His repertoire choice is, as you’d expect, recherché: ‘I am playing Liszt’s Pastor Pastorale: ale: Appel aux Armes from from the three Illustrations du Prophète de Meyerbeer Meyerbeer.. e trouble with concerts like this is that you don’t want to jump right in with something like the Mephisto the Mephisto Waltz . e Pastorale has has a riotous conclusion and some beautiful tunes you’d never hear because Meyerbeer is never played. Liszt clearly saw such value in the music itself. It’s It’s very rarely about Liszt, contrary to what people think.’ ■ Mark Viner Viner appears at the Oxford Piano Festival on 4 August, oxfordphil.com/oxford-philharmonic/piano-festival-2018. For full details about his recordings recordings go to www.piano-classics.com
AN OVER VERNI NIGHT GHT ST STA AY IN OXFO XFORD RD WITH WIT H TI TICKE CKETS TS TO THR THREE EE OXFORD PIANO FESTIV FESTIVAL AL EVENTS EVE NTS Answer the question below correctly and you could be the lucky winner to receive... A pair of tickets to the Anniversary Recital (3pm, Sat 4 Aug, St Hilda’s College) A pair of tickets to Sir András Schiff’s Piano Recital (7pm, Sat 4 Aug, Sheldonian Theatre) A pair of tickets to Sir András Schiff’s masterclass masterclass (9.30am, 5 Aug, St Hilda’s College) Lunch after the Schiff masterclass masterclass (5 Aug, St Hilda’ Hilda’ss College) Bed and breakfast for two at the Cotswold Lodge Hotel (night of 4 August)
Which landmark anniversary is the Oxford Piano Festival celebrating in 2018? A: 10th
B: 20th
C: 25th
Deadline for entries: Monday 9 July Winner will be notified Monday 16 July
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INTERVIEW
Yeol Eum Son talks to Peter Quantrill about growing up in Korea, winning prizes in Moscow, studying in Germany, recording in London
OF n a phrase that has recently gained a certain notoriety, Yeol Yeol Eum Son is a citizen of the world. Having grown up in her native Korea, she moved at the age of 20 to Germany. Germany. Long resident in Berlin, she appears entirely unfazed by the demands of an international career, intercontinental flights and living out of a suitcase. ‘ere are so many more demanding things for me,’ she replies brightly. ‘Like making a phone call! Or meeting many friends at the same time. Travelling Travelling by myself is not so hard
I
Gershwin songs, Le tombeau de Couperin by Couperin by Ravel and three pieces from Stravinsky’s Stravinsky’s Petrushka . Little is foreign to her. If it’s it’s good, she’ll play it. Where did this open-mindedness to repertoire come from? Who put Schoenberg and Webern in front of her? ‘I did!’ comes the reply.. ‘I’m an audiophile – I love recordings! reply Not so many musicians are, but I always was. at’ss maybe my biggest at’ bigges t passion of all: recordings. Everything in my repertoire has come from recordings I heard.’ Lili Kraus is a
forIfme. learn repertoire thatbyway way.’ .’ SonI has been hardened experience, there is no sign of it in the laughter that punctuates her conversation. In two days’ time she will play the Fourth Piano Concerto of Beethoven as the climax of the Winter Music Festival in PyeongChang. For now she is sitting with me over a beer in a hotel bar in Seoul, remembering the pleasure – and honour – of working with Sir Neville Marriner, the world’s most recorded conductor, on what turned out to be his very last recording of all. e Concerto No 21 K467 forms the keystone of Son Son’’s new album, programmed with characteristic intelligence around the theme of Mozart in C.
favourite from the past,such inevitably taking in her Mozart recordings as the violin sonatas with Szymon Goldberg, her Brahms and Schumann too. Alexis Weissenberg Weissenberg is another, contrasting passion: ‘I love his Scarlatti, his Chopin Nocturnes, his Debussy, which is so full of extremes.’ Son admires playing that takes risks, and perhaps pianists who can do things that are, as yet, beyond her. She plays the technically ferocious, jazz-inflected sonatas of Nikolai Kapustin, and I wonder if it’s Weissenberg’ W eissenberg’ss jazz side that she responds to: after all, the Bulgarian-Fr Bulgarian-French ench pianist also produced his own work such as the Sonata in a State of Jazz . ‘I hate sounding like a classical musician imitating jazz,’ she replies. ‘I had to learn jazz separately. And those lessons changed
A thinking pianist
e v e r g g r o B o c r a M © s e g a m i r e h t o l l a ; ) n i a m ( k r a P g n o y h e a J ©
and playing, well, well, everywh everywhere… ere…
C major may have suited Mozart like one of his brocaded coats, but it also matches Yeol Eum’’s open and sunny disposition. Not that Eum she is any kind of musical naif – and at the age of 31, the Wunderkind years years are past her. Since 2010 she has contributed a weekly column to one of the Korean Sunday papers – all her own work, it should be added, not the kind of ghostwritten ‘celebrity ‘celebrity’’ hackjob scattered through the pages of UK newspapers. Son has written the booklet notes for her new Mozart album on Onyx Classics – her debut international release, you might say, following several Korean-market recordings – and anyone who buys it will soon make out that here is a thinking musician. It’s It’s an impression borne out by her recital programmes. One Los Angeles recital in May opened with C major Mozart and closed with a selection from Friedrich Gulda’ Gulda’s jazz suite Play Piano Play , taking in Arvo Pärt, Ravel and Rachmaninov along the way way.. For her next appearance in the UK, at the East Neuk Festival on 28 June, she has lined up four
my playing completely. Jazz is something you assume is the art of improvisation and spontaneity.. But it’s so determined. At least spontaneity as much as classical music.’ Prodigious beginnings
A short introduction may be in order. order. Son was born in 1986, the eldest child of parents who were not musically accomplished themselves but wanted a musical education for their three children. ‘In Korea we have a big singing tradition,’ she says, ‘both at school and as part of church culture. My parents are Christian, and my mother was a worship leader in the local church. She was a huge classical music lover. My dad, a bit less.’ Son began piano lessons at the tender age of three and a half: ‘I found it fun from the beginning. I loved learning new pieces. So I was really quick to learn.’
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so crazy about high-quality education in Korea. ey will do whatever it takes to make it happen.’ In her case that meant leaving her family and her home city of Wonju for a four-year course of undergraduate study – aged just 15 – at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul.
So much so that, by the age of eight, she was performing with an orchestra. Not a whizzkid concerto, or even one of the ‘easy’ ‘easy’ Mozart numbers – say the chamber-scaled K413-415, or K246 which she played at her last London concert in April – but K482 in E flat, one of the grandest of them all. ‘at was just at the suggestion of my teacher,’ says Son. ‘I hardly knew what the piece meant! And then I did K467 in Boston as part of a summer music camp established by the Chinese/Taiwanese Chinese/T aiwanese community there.’ From the age of 12 she took lessons with an eminent Korean pedagogue, Daejin Kim, and later with Yin Chengzong, the Chinese pianist who won a silver medal at the 1962 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition (when Ashkenazy and Ogdon shared gold) – and who also taught George Li, cover star of Pianist 97. 97. Is there such a thing as a Korean or Chinese piano school? ‘I don don’’t think so,’ s o,’ says Son. ‘It’ss very new ‘It’ ne w, the whole system of teaching and learning music here. It goes back only two or three generations. ere are musicians like Kyung Wha Chung who were successful in the 1960s, but that was in the US. is country had a few pioneers but I think I was in the first generation [of Korean musicians
What Son identifies as a ‘breaking point’ point’ in her career – perhaps the moment at which it became a career – took place when she moved from Seoul to Hannover Hannover,, for postgraduate study with Arie Vardi, Vardi, the Israeli pedagogue whom she still refers to as ‘my teacher’. ‘He’s ‘He’s one of the last generations gene rations of teachers who is a walking encyclopedia,’ she continues. ‘Now it seems like you don’t don’t need that, it’s it’s all online. For example, when I was studying Bach with him, he would approach it from several different aspects – Bach as a dance music composer, a religious composer, a composer for strings, or for the organ. And if we were focusing on him as a dance composer, composer, we would ask what kind of dance this is, what what kind of costumes or floors there would be.’ ere is a video on YouTube that makes for funny if uncomfortable viewing. A 20-something Yeol Yeol Eum sits at
with international toin come outuntil of a local an school, because Icareer] grew up Korea the age of 20. Whereas many of my friends went either to Europe or the US at the age of nine or ten.’ I wonder, as I often do with very young and gifted musicians, what kept her going through the hours of grinding practice. Was W as she more in love with the piano, or the music? ‘I almost feel sorry for the piano,’ replies Son, ‘because it’s just a tool for me. My affection was always for the music – 99% for the music, 1% for the piano!’ It is worth bearing in mind at this point a cultural difference. Son really means it when she
the keyboard. Leaning onVardi, it in, chatshow-host fashion is Vardi mugging to his local Israeli audience: ‘We ‘We just j ust can’ can’tt pronounce your name in Israel. So we call you “e Korean Girl!” How do you say it again?’ Yeol Eum obliges – YOREUM – smiles sweetly, and proceeds to play Sheep may safely graze with ▲ a
The big breaks
says, ‘People are
TAP TO WATCH WATCH An intervi interview ew with Yeol Eum Son
Yeol Eum Son
Up close If you could play only one composer? Chopin. One pianist (alive or dead) you’d travel long and far to hear? Alexis Weissenberg. Any technical areas you struggle with? My left-hand pinky, because it’s not strong enough! I always have to support it with my fourth finger. Do you have a single piece of advice for an amateur? Find a good teacher. Do you mark in fingerings? I used to do it a lot. Now I don’t do it at all. Because once you write it down, you fix your interpretation, it becomes very specific. Now I look at the scores I used in my conservatoire days and I see my old fingerings, and I can immediately see what I wanted to do musically. So it helps sometimes, but I want to be more free.
One work you’re not ready to tackle yet? T The he Goldberg Variations. Variations. I have played them on harpsichord, but on piano it would take a lot longer. Which non-classical musician would you choose to listen to? The Grateful Dead.
INTERVIEW
YEOL EUM SON ON… RECORDING MOZART WITH SIR NEVILLE MARRINER
I recorded the C major Concerto K467 with Sir Neville Marriner in 2016. I was working with him the year before on the E flat Concerto K482, which is so much more complicated: that really is a statement! And in K482 he had so much to say, so much guidance both in terms of specific places and in the whole image. But in K467, it felt like this was the air he breathed. Tere was nothing superficial or objective about what he did. He let himself flow in the music. W Wee didn’ didn’t actually talk so much at the time. Tere was no sense of him carrying over what he’d done with people such as Alfred Brendel or Imogen Cooper. It was just me and him and the orchestra. And he was so open-minded. After the first take of the second movement, we went back to the control room. I thought the tempo was just a little too slow, and I talked to him about that, and he entirely took on board what I had to say. And so I talked a little more. And in the next take he changed everything for me. He was so easy-going. Te challenge with the pulse of that second movement is that whenever the strings or woodwind sing or I sing, it has to be all in the same tempo, but each kind of instrument has a different decay: the sound of the piano simply dies after you touch it, compared to the winds. Te central the Andante is the core of Every the whole concerto, tosection be sureof – but so short and compact! time I play K467 in concert, I feel as though the second movement is over almost before it has begun.
LISTEN Tap the play buttons below to hear Yeol Eum Son play our bonus tracks
▲
MOZART FINALE from PIANO CONCERTO NO 21 IN C K467
limpid simplicity that would draw tears from a stone. Now she laughs at the recollection. It was under the guidance of Vardi Vardi that she reconsidered every aspect of her technique: ‘Even the simplest things like phrasing or pedalling or the left hand, or the height of the chair. I was sitting so high, and then suddenly I was sitting so low. It started with the quality of cantabile that that I was always seeking. One day I felt I was sitting too high to make a good legato.’ What happened when she went down
Her success in Moscow she describes as the fulfilment of a childhood dream. As for the rest, ‘the competition circuit wasn’t wasn’t such a bad thing, because I couldn couldn’t ’t care less about the winning part. I was doing it to get known. Te chaikovsky Competition was an exception.’ Has she now graduated from that particular merry-go-round? ‘I hope so! I think I’m busy enough now. now. When I was here in Korea, all I was told about was competition. Wee didn’ W didn’t learn about becoming musicians other than to be competition winners. It was
[Vardi] i] says that in his opinion, ‘My teacher [Vard the worst lesson is to tell the pupil, do the crescendo here, the diminuendo here. It’s It’s possible to read the notes in classical music without listeni listening ng or thinking thinking,, just do do what the the text says, and there can be music in this process. But I always wanted to know why I I am doing so and so. A good teacher provides provides those reasons. For some reason I can can’’t do that yet!’ For now, now, she has plenty to be getting on with: not least her role as Associate Director of the PyeongChang Winter Music Festival
a few inches? ‘I could do better mezzo forte , mezzo piano. piano. When I was sitting higher, I was playing at the extremes. Afterwards I felt much more comfortable making the middle dynamics – which is after all where most music is. Where Mozart is.’ It was with the Concerto K467 that Son won Best Chamber Concerto Performance and then the silver medal at the 2011 chaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, coming second to Daniil rifonov: there’ss no shame in that. Previous medals there’ included bronze at the 2005 Rubinstein Competition in el el Aviv and another anothe r silver at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition.
such an unnatural approach. I was one of the first of my generation to study here and win an international competition. Te most fun part for me was listening to the others. Tat also brought about a big change in my own playing; a process of growing my taste, even more than recordings.’
and its big summertime sister, the Great Mountains Music Festival & School. Te way she describes it, the festival holds aspirations to be a Korean Verbier, Verbier, with two venues in a small mountain town, daily concerts and an academy for young musicians with international teachers. And it’s it’s clear from You Youube ube that in this festival ambience, surrounded by friends and family,, her music-making is at its boldest and family most spontaneous. She is in imperious charge of three international colleagues for the Tird Piano Quartet of Brahms; then primo to the secondo of Da Sol Kim in Schubert’s F minor Fantasy. Playing the Goldberg Variations on harpsichord she thinks herself into a completely foreign expressive world: in no way is this ‘pianist’ ‘pianist’ss Bach’. Bach’. Watching Watching it brings to mind her remarks concerning her approach to K467: ‘It requires an extreme simplicity. simplicity. More and more I feel I’m in a constant search for simplicity in my music-making. It has to deliver all the possibilities of the piece, but it has to be simple in expression.’ n
YEOL EUM PLAYS MOZART
The covermount album features the finale of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21 in C K467 played by Yeol Eum Son with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner
Teaching and learning
On her blog (colorinmypiano.com), the Ohio-based piano teacher Joy Morin outlines some takeaways from a 2010 masterclass with Son. An open posture was one; another was ensuring that your fingers are ready for the next chord. No question that Son follows her own advice, watching her play Beethoven at the Winter Music Festival in PyeongChang, and then Mozart in London a few weeks later. Son herself is candid about the challenge of teaching: ‘I don’t like it so much! I don’t enjoy not making any sound myself. And I don’t don’t know how to convey what I want to convey for myself. It’s It’s so hard because music is so so much about what you cannot put into words.
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play HOW TO
Hand-crossing in practice MIND OVER MATTER Don’t be afraid of your inner Liberace, says
Mark Tanner: the
technique comes in handy
for a wide range ra nge of repertoire, and it’s it’s within the reach of all adventuro adventurous us pianists
W
ith ten fingers and two feet in play, we might suppose that comfort and convenience are achievable in virtually any repertoire pianists could wish to play.. After all, the conventional roles play – LH taking the bass and harmony notes while the RH gets the tune and twiddly bits – would seem an equitable division of labour. In reality, reality, however, compromise and flexibility are the pianist’s watchwords, and there are several reasons why pianists might cross their hands while playing.
It’ss by no means It’ the case t hat that hand-crossing is solely the province of the advanced player player.. One excellent early example is exercise No 21 in Part 3 of John Tompson’s Easiest Piano Course . wo pieces on the current rinity rinity College London syllabus spring to mind – Ghostly Conversations by by Paul Harris (Grade 1) and the Rondo by Diabelli (Grade 5). What these composers are seeking to cultivate is a sense of musical dialogue. Being open to the idea of crossing the hands opens possibilities for the intrepid pianist. Scarlatti sonatas are teeming with possibilities because he used harpsichords with two manuals, and pianists only have one! Follow the line
When one hand is occupied with a musical line or accompanimental passage – around the middle register of the piano, let’s say – and a new idea is introduced, in many cases it makes good sense to allocate the new material to the other hand. But sometimes the solution is not so clear-cut, or the decision may be left to the player. At this point, we need to think about both the specific context and our particular capabilities as pianists. For example, most right-handed players will prefer to play elaborate filigree passages with their strong hand and would not usually elect to play exposed melodies in the LH unless absolutely necessary. If the newly introduced music is quite repetitive and darts continually between two distinct registers, then hand-crossing comes into its own as a technique
Mark Tanner is a pianist, composer, writer and educator. For ABRSM he has undertaken 36 international tours to all 5 continents, examining examining grades and diplomas, also presenting. He has performed on cruise ships all over the world as well as in some of the UK’s leading venues. His book of 2016, The Mindful Pianist , is published by Faber, and his latest book, Mindfulness in Music , was released in April 2018 by Leaping Hare Press. He was on the judging panel for the 2018 BBC Young Musician keyboard category, and will be Composer in Residence at the forthcoming Chetham’s International Piano Summer School School..
both in order to sustain the musical line A good example is the first-movement and to point up details of articulation. second subject of Beethoven’s Beethoven’s
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Tere areinmany examples of this scenario Romantic repertoire, particularly where the texture broadens markedly and snippets of melody pop up all over the place. It’s worth noting that (cabaret artistes aside) hand-crossing has nothing to do with being flashy; nor has it anything to do with composers wanting to make life needlessly irksome for the player! Even though hand-crossing comes under the heading of technique, we shouldn’’t forget that the reason shouldn for doing it will always be musical . WHEN TO CROSS HANDS
Consider hand-crossing even when a composer hasn’t specifically suggested suggested it. One instance is where one hand stays in position while the other jumps about with a broadly repeating figure. Another would be a passage in which the bass and treble clefs continually alternate. Think about hand-crossing when you wish to share melody notes, to make an impossible stretch stretch more approachable approac hable or to keep the texture of a piece moving without awkward breaks. Practise scales and arpeggios in up/down hand-crossing shapes to help you conceptualise the technique. Revisit your repertoire to find tricky corners that would Revisit benefit from hand-crossing. In French repertoire and much Romantic music the implications for hand-crossing are practically everywhere we look. Don’t fight it, go with it. Rhapsody in Blue is is much harder to play if you stick to the conventio conventions ns of ‘Classica ‘Classical’ l’ fingering.
‘Pathétique’ Sonata, where thein the accompaniment chugs along LH while the RH hops over and back again to fulfil its melodic role. Share and share alike
Te second scenario that calls for hand-crossing presents a stiffer challenge. Tis is where a single melodic line has to be shared between the hands so that it sounds as if one hand is playing it. Te LH regularly crosses over the RH in Brahms’s Rhapsody in G minor Op 79 No 2 in order to plug what might otherwise be conspicuous ‘holes’ in the tune. An even more intricate example is Liszt’s Un sospiro ( sospiro (Pianist Pianist 93), 93), where the swapping of hands occurs on practically every melodic note – even when when presented later in broken octaves. Liszt also calls for handcrossing near the end of his hymn-like Consolation in Consolation in D No 4, where the player has to rummage down into the murky depths of the keyboard with the RH to pluck out a bottom A , while the LH enjoys a richly declamatory slargando slargando melody melody three octaves higher. Often the need for hand-crossing is over almost before it’ it’ss begun, as a fleeting moment of lateral thinking on the composer’s behalf. Te witty middle section of Debussy’s Minstrels Debussy’s Minstrels is written that way to make the pianist’ss life easier. Sometimes the pianist’ rhythmic impact of crossing hands becomes an end in itself, such as Distant Bells by by Streabbog (Pianist (Pianist 95). 95). In this delightful miniature, the LH second finger continually crosses over
16• Pianist 102
MASTERCLASS
the RH by a couple of octaves and back again: more of a rhythmic punctuation than a melody, but a pleasing effect all the same. In Prokofiev’s sonatas and concertos the pianist’ss hands are regularly compelled pianist’ to leap over each other like a pair of dolphins. Tof echnical feats of this kind are all partTechnical the rough-and-tumble of performing this spectacular music. To search for shortcuts s hortcuts or safety nets is to miss the point: the technique and the musical-visual impact are inextricably linked.
Arpeggios
When could arpeggios possibly call for hand-crossing? In fact many jazz players use the technique as a way of getting around a round the keyboard effi ciently. ey have arpeggio-type patterns prepared in favourite keys, ready to pull out of bag. e cascades in the Debussy andwatery Ravel present further, classically oriented example of the same technique, whereby each hand plays broken triads or groups of fours in alternation. Grovlez puts it to use from the first bar of ‘Le Pastour’ in L’Almanach aux images .
The choice is yours
It is often the case that although no direct indication has been made to cross hands, there is no alternative. Take Liszt’s Consolation Consolation No No 3 in D , where the deep bass notes have to ring on for a bar or more at a time while a harp-like quaver accompanimental pattern flows ever onward. In this example I like to take as many of
Hand-crossing workouts
these bass notes in my RH as possible (trapping them in the pedal), leaving the LH free to focus on its rich harmonies. Pianists with smaller hands quickly become adept at hand-crossing because it shares the division of labour more equitably between the hands. Such moments require marking into the score; I like to sketch in upward and downward brackets to remind me to take a particular note or part of a chord in the other hand.
spanning A to E. e RH then picks up the remaining notes in the scale, from F to C. We then come back down in reverse. (You could also start with the the LH and alternate from there). there). Aim to play as smoothly as possible, shaping the scale with a small crescendo going up and diminuendo on the way down. Try Try it in different keys; coming down from the top of the piano and going back up again; using only three or four of the fingers for each hand-crossing gesture, and so on. e important thing to remember is that for the crossing hand to arrive at work on time it needs to leave home early. Give yourself as much room as you can for the crossing motion itself and experiment with how high you dare to go. If you play these ‘scales’ slowly enough you should have time to touch your nose with each hand as it crosses and still glide into position!
Clefs
e question of clefs almost inevitably arises when we are thinking about which hand should do what. Clefs are pretty arbitrary things when we stop to think about them. We may find ourselves playing extended passages thick with ledger lines, wondering why on Earth the other clef could not have been used instead. Here too, the reason is usually to do with revealing the grander musical line so that we may follow its progress more easily. Changes of clefs in one or both hands can be a real headache to keep track of when hand-crossing is taking place, particularly when it occurs every bar or so, which happens in Glazunov’ Glazunov’ss Waltz W altz from ree Miniatures Miniatures Op 42 No 3, from bar 57; I occasionally resort to rewriting a whole passage passage above or below the stave. is explains why some pianists prefer one edition over another when learning a piece by, say,, Rachmaninov or Debussy (both say of whom were fond of using three or even four staves simultaneously simultaneously,, often with implications for hand-crossing). hand-crossing).
For those unfamiliar with or intimidated by hand-crossing, here are a couple of simple exercises. e first is a reimagined scale of C major over two octaves. e RH plays five notes, from middle C to G, and the LH then crosses over, placing its hand in a second five-finger position
HANDS OVER EASY Tanner on Hand-crossing advice from Mark Tanner on three benchmark pieces
D
ebussy Minstrels This This quirky Prélude from Book 1 paints a beach scene in which passing minstrels appear from nowhere. The The music is delightfully unsettled (‘nervous and humorous’) and its ever-changing personality needs precise attention to detail. There There is a momentary bit of thumb-crossing at bars 45-48, where the left thumb reaches over the RH’s offbeat Ds (I use the 2nd finger for these) to slot in F# staccato. It’s best practised slowly and legato at first, with some LH separate work also, so that we hear the little tune spring out wittily from the texture. Pedal will spoil the desired percussive effect, so it’s all got to happen with crisp finger (and thumb!) work.
L
iszt Consolation No 4 Ten 4 Ten bars before the end, the melody passes from RH to LH. The The RH plays A in three progressively lower octaves, which makes the task of delivering the dense harmony and melody in the LH all the more challenging. I don’t hang around too long on the A notes; I reach over and play them with my right third finger, almost as if they were staccato, and let the pedal do the work of blending them into the rich texture.
B
rahms Rhapsody in G minor minor The mood of this rhapsody changes from initial radiance through a memorably dramatic ‘trombone’ octave motif to a broodingly dark narrative. It’s worth isolating the initial melody with the RH’s third finger at first; just the first 16 notes will do. Use the pedal to smooth over the cracks and get used to giving the phrase shape and direction. This also encourages us to listen intently and to move beyond the coordinational trickiness of hand-crossing. Avoid an overly hard-edged or ‘pecked’ attack here; think of it as a way to fulfil the composer’s intentions rather than as a percussiv percussive e feature that draws attention to itself. Turn to Keyboard Class on page 45 for two hand-crossing etudes by Hans-Gunter Heumann
The pianist’s pianis t’s hands leap over each other in Prokofiev’s sonatas like a pair of dolphins e second workout is a ‘Liberace style’ hand-crossing arpeggio. Put the pedal down and play LH – C -G -C and RH – F-B-D -G. Play these figurations in a rapid upward succession, LH, RH, LH, RH, right up to the top of the keyboard and back down again. e right thumb Fs can either start above each of the left thumb’s C s or you could take the
lower option each time. e RH may require rotary wrist motion to cover the ninth interval of F to G each time, but the pedal will cover any slight unavoidable awkwardness. Once you’ve you’ve mastered this little sequence, trap a thunderously loud C octave with the pedal at the bottom octave and then proceed exactly as before with the upward arpeggios: it’s it’s a spectacular effect. A good follow-up arpeggio (remember to change the pedal first!) can be practised in the LH. Again, trap a booming LH octave first, this time on C, then play an upwardly alternating E-G-A-C pattern, crossing over the two hands all the way to the top. Get this ‘jazz cadence’ down to a fine art as a single, sweeping continuous gesture and you’ll have them cheering in the aisles. ■
17• Pianist 102
play HOW TO
Fingering (part 1)
PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT In the rst of three articles ar ticles addressing a hot topic for
Pianist readers, readers,
Graham Fitch
outlines some basic principles
M
ost teachers of piano insist on a carefully organised fingering, arrived at through experimentation in the early stages of learning a work. Te best teachers do not have a one-size-fits-all approach and will adapt fingering to the particular student they are working with. Like our individual individual fingerprint, each hand is is unique. Each person has a differently sized and shaped hand and a different span capability, capability, as well as their own ways of perceiving the patterns in the music, ideas on tempo, articulation and other interpretative factors. All of these factors affect the choice of fingering. fingering. Once a fingering has been selected, s elected, consistent practising with that fingering brings about an automatic facility with the sequence of finger strokes. Tere is no need to think about which finger goes where, because when we we master a new motor skill, we go from active effort (thinking and concentrating) to automatic ability ability.. If we haven’t taken the trouble to organise a good fingering or we practise with different fingerings each time, we make life difficult for ourselves, especially if we are preparing a memorised performance. Practice makes permanent, so whatever we engrave on our motor cortex is going to stick. Tis is why it is very difficult to correct embedded errors later – and this includes sloppy fingering. In my student days I learned a particular Scriabin sonata using a library score. Quite why I did it this way I don’t remember (in fact, I was actively building up my music library at that stage), but I borrowed the score of the sonata from the college library and used it as my working copy. Figuring Figuring out a systematic fingering had always been important to me, so I added mine to the copy copy,, practised it in and performed the sonata from memory before returning the score. Some years later I decided I wanted to programme the work again, so I did what I should have done in the first place and I bought my own personal copy. Te trouble was that it came minus my fingering. I found that I had forgotten my original fingering and had to work it out from scratch. Tis struck me as rather a waste of time, and it became a problem when my old fingerings started to re-emerge re-emerge from my muscle memory memory a few days into practising new and different ones. Now I was stuck with two two fingerings fingerings – the old one that had worked perfectly well for me, and the new one that I ended up discarding. Te moral of the story: write your fingerings in the score: this will Write in more fingering save you lots of time! Write fingering than you think you might need. Tis might not be necessary when playing the piece through, but it is vital to know exactly which fingers you will be using when you are practising slowly, one hand by itself, or from a spot that is not the beginning of a phrase. Printed fngerings
Serious students will want to use an Urtext edition where one is available. Some Urtext scores come with no fingering, but others contain fingerings devised by an editor. Te fingerings might be excellent, but because this is one level of the score that is not Urtext they do not have to be obeyed. What about fingerings passed down from the composers themselves – are we duty-bound to stick to these? Absolutely not! Remember Remember that a composer’s composer’s hand was also unique, just like yours and mine. Tere Tere can be no standardised fingering, fingering, no matter whether it is from an editor, a teacher or even the composer. Te only fingering is the one that works for your hand. Fingering in any score is a suggestion only!
Pianist, teacher, writer and adjudicator Graham Fitch gives masterclasses and workshops on piano playing internationally. He is also in high demand as a private teacherr in London. Graham is a regular tutor teache at the Summer School for Pianists in Walsall and also a tutor for the Piano Teachers’ Course EPTA (UK). He writes a popular piano blog and has recently launched an online piano academy. www.practisingthepiano.com
Let’ss look at two editorial LH fingerings for a passage from Brahms’s Let’ Brahms’s Intermezzo in A minor minor Op 118 No 1 (bars 25-26) in the Urtext edition available from Henle. Te lower set of finger numbers is by Brahms himself (in italics) and the upper ‘2’ has been inserted by the editor, Hans-Martin Teopold. Which one should you choose? Not necessarily either (although there aren’t aren’t many other options in this case). And ant e t ene ram ent e
Œ
n n
b
#
? Œ
Œ
2
n n
2
2
4 5 1
#
2
1 4
Brahms’s fingering allows the elbow to remain slightly raised at the end of the group, whereas Teopold’s Teopold’s brings the elbow back into the body on the implied thumb on the last note of each bar; this makes the ensuing jump feel bigger. I prefer Brahms’s solution, but Teopold’s fingering is not wrong or bad. It comes down to personal preference. It is interesting to note that Teopold at first refused the commission from Henle Verlag, Verlag, ‘for fingerings are and remain something individual no matter what their quality’. He later relented and produced 226 fingered editions in total. Chopin left us a lot of fingering, and while we owe him the respect of trying it out we are certainly at liberty to change it if it doesn doesn’’t work for us or we prefer an alternative. I inherited Arthur Rubinstein Rubinstein’’s fingerings for Chopin’s Chopin’s music from one of my teachers, and sometimes they differ quite dramatically from the composer’s. In the C major Etude Op 10 No 1, Rubinstein managed to avoid the very awkward stretches by regrouping the notes, and thus making many of the most difficult stretches much more comfortable. Bars 32-33: Rubinstein:
5
2
1
3
5
2
1
3
5
2
1
3
5
2
1
2
(LH) (LH) 1
Chopin:
5
3
2
1
5
3
2
1
5
3
2
1
5
3
2
1
(LH)
“
f
f
?
f f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
b w
2
2
5
3
1
2
5
3
1
2
5
3
1
2
3
5
1
2
3
5
1
2
3
5
1
2
3
f
f
f
Legato
1
f
f
≈
f
f
f
f
f
f
f
“ f
f
f
f
cresc.
f
f
f
w
We aim for a physical legato We legato as much as possible. Te pedal can of course help with joins (and often needs to) but because touch tends to show through the pedal, we must guard against reliance on the pedal to cover over fingering gaps in legato legato melodic lines. Our audience will
18• Pianist 102
TAP HERE TO WATCH GRAHAM’S ONLINE LESSON
hear and feel them unless we do it very carefully. Another teacher gave me a fingering for the second theme in Ravel’s Sonatine that, while the substitutions are quite effortful at first, achieves wonderful control of tone and phrasing and is well worth persevering with. ere is nothing intrinsically wrong with moving the right thumb from the A to the G in the lower line, but in my fingering the thumb-to-2nd legato legato works works well. Un peu retenu très expressif 5
‰ -
?
5
4 3
- J
1
2
1
3 1
1
2 5
4
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2 4
3
2 4
- J
1
1
2
3 1
1
2 5
By the same token, we want to create fingerings that make phrasing and articulation clear, whether pedalled or not. For inspiration, let’s let’s look at Chopin’s Chopin’s fingerings at two places in the RH of the E Nocturne Op 9 No 2, where the gentle hand lifts occur within a pedal, and the fingering is designed to articulate the motif. Bar 4 5
f
f f f f
f
f
?
f
f
1
1
f™ f f
f f f
‰ ‰ J
f
f
f f
f f f
f f
f
Bar 6
> > > 3
?
n
3
2
3
2
2
4
J
4
cresc.
is is a possible fingering for the opening of Bach’s C minor Partita which has been designed to introduce a slight, stylish separation after the dotted notes. Don Don’’t overdo the lifts, and a nd keep close to the keys. Sinfonia Grave adagio 4 2
bbb
≈ n
3 1
3 1
4 2
? bbb
Œ
≈
4 2
4 2
3 1
4 2
3
J
n q Œ
Œ
3
4 2 1
n
? R
Æ
Æ
1
5
4
2
4
2
1
5
4
2
2
1
5
3
1
4
2
1
5
3
1
position after a position shift, or attempting to stretch the fingers from a fixed hand position. is is particularly debilitating when the thumb remains flexed. I am a great believer in the principle of a closed hand as the default; stretches should take place at the last moment, when the hand opens and then immediately closes again. is principle is based on the truth that a stretched-out hand is prone to tension, and that tension leads directly to lack of mobility. mobility. Even if we can somehow manage to play pla y this way, it is ineffi cient and aesthetic aes thetically ally incorrect, incorre ct, and beauty and richness of tone are unlikely to be present. Remember that the hand stretches naturally and freely from the thumb; stretches between the fingers are best avoided whenever possible. Lines that call for the thumb are a joy to play, since we can use our strongest finger to project our sound out with the greatest of ease, no matter the dynamic level. I recommend taking the two inside lines at the start of Schumann Schumann’’s F major Romance with the thumbs.
? ######
In fast passagework, mobility is paramount to ensure the arm is behind the fingers (thus avoiding a fixed or locked hand position). It is a good general principle to think of note patterns as arpeggiated groups – blocks of notes with as few thumb-unders as possible. is LH passage from the Liszt Sonata is best played with repeating cluster groups fingered 1234-1234, etc. e principle of using the same fingering in repeated motifs should override any lingering doubts about putting the thumb on black keys. is fingering pattern patte rn repeats sequentially, and interfering with it would lead to confusion, potential sluggishness and coordination issues. Besides, there is nothing uncomfortable about putting a thumb on a black key provided we slide inwards towards the back of the keyboard, rather twisting at the wrist (a tension-producing and injurious movement). We need to make this adjustment because the thumb is the shortest finger, to be accommodated on black keys that are higher up and further away! incalzando
2
4
Andan te
Mobility
j ‰ Æ .
&
4
# & ## ###
‰
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Many problems with tension stem from retaining a stretched-out hand
f f f
f
f
f
f f
the whole chord shape instead shift right in the last three semiquavers of each bar.but We need to usetoa the lateral wrist adjustment in order to align the arm behind the fingers that are playing, and then back again for the first three semiquavers of the next bar. e lower fingering closes the hand nicely and is my preference, because the fingering itself takes care of the alignment. If you are worried about the extra thumb movement back and forth from the D to the F, don’t don’t be! A mobile thumb is a loose thumb, and if we we are mobile we are free to move fast. Fixing the thumb onto the D seems intuitively correct and logical, but in practice it is very unskilful.
? bb
5
f
e principle of placing as many notes as possible under one hand position tends to work well only when we can call upon the arm to steer the hand (in other words, to keep us moving). A fingering that encourages mobility is often much better than a fingering that fixes the hand in one position. is excerpt from Haydn’s Haydn’s Fantasia in C Hob. XVII:4 is a case in point. For the upper fingering to work at the fast tempo and forte and forte dynamic without tension, we would not want to fix the hand over
n
j '
= 69
Jj
Jj
™™
™™
™
™
Consider taking important LH bass lines or the top notes of RH strong runs with the thumb, rather than risk tightening up or missing the note entirely with the 5th finger. It can often work very nicely. Pianists are often reluctant to use the 4th finger, but remember that there is nothing weak about the 4th finger when it is aligned with the arm, and it should absolutely not be avoided in chords or passagework. In my second article on fingering, I will show examples of this and look at special fingerings from the repertoire – as well as passing on tips on how to choose a fingering that is right for your hand and recommending some resources for fingering. ■ WATCH GRAHAM ONLINE Don’t miss Graham’s video lessons, which you’ll find at www.pianistmagazine.com. Graham demonstrates everything he discusses on these pages – and more. His lessons are filmed at Steinwa Steinway y Hall, London, on a Model D concert grand. There’s nothing like watching an expert.
3
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
non legato
19• Pianist 102
play
D O N’TMI S S MELANIE SPANSWICK’S
TRACK 1
Ludvig SCHYTTE (1848-1909)
LESSON
BEGINNER
Melodious StudyOp108 No 12
O NT HISPIECE PA GE 20
ThecareerofLudvigSchytteshouldbeaninspirationtoallmusicall ate-starters: Playingtips :Forstep-by-steptipsonthissimplestudy ,readMelanieSpanswick’s havingbeguntoreceivelessonsatthe ageof22,hestudiedwithhisfellowDane lesson.TheLHmelodyisthefocus:itshouldbeclearlyandsmoothlyprojected NielsGade,andthenFranzLiszt.HetaughtinViennaformostofhiscareer,and fromstarttoend,whiletheRHchords arelightandeven. thenBerlin.HisSchumannesquePianoConcertoisavailableon CDaspartof Pedaltips :Onlystarttousethepedal whenthenotesaresecure. Danacord’sseriesofDanishRomanticPianoConcertos. ReadMelanie Spanswick’sstep-by-st ep lessononpage 20.
HOW TO
Moderato
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FULL SCORE ON PAGE 28 & 29
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5 3 1
4 2 1
?# 5
ilbassocantabile
J
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1
2
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13
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P28 CS ORES Schytte 2-F 1INAL.indd 2
8
SCHYTTE Melodious Studies Op 108 Nos 12 & 16 Melanie Spanswick introduces a pair of studies to hone both your ngers and your ears Ability rating Beginner Info Will improve your Key: G major (No 12); C major (No 16) 3LH cantabile Key: empo: Moderato (12); Allegro (16) empo: 3 RH chordal control 3 Finger independence Style: Romantic Ludvig Schytte was a Danish composer, pianist and teacher. teacher. He penned numerous piano pieces (including a concerto) and his educational literature remains popular popular.. Tis pair of studies belongs to a set of 25 designed for elementary pianists. Study No 12 focuses on the LH. LH. Its charming melody requires an astute sense of phrasing. Crotchet equals 100 beats per minute will give the melody some air, but a quicker tempo will suit pianists who wish to inject some sparkle. Let’s start with the RH chords. Let’s cho rds. riads (three-note arpeggiated chords) anchor every bar. Each note of the triad should sound at the same moment, demanding careful balance, coordination and tonal control. aking aking the tonic triad in bar 1 as an example (G-B-D), play each note separately at first; 1-2-4 will balance the hand better than 1-2-5. Play the G with the thumb and experiment with the sound. How softly can you you play before the note fails to sound? Repeat the process with the B and D. You may prefer to balance two notes You together at first. Work first. Work on G and B first: depress both keys with the thumb and 2nd finger slowly. Te slower you play,, the softer the sound. You may play need to weight your hand towards the 2nd finger, as the thumb is generally stronger. Also practise this technique with the upper notes (B and D); the 4th finger will need extra weight too. Tis process will attune both hands and ears to a soft sonority. You sonority. You are training your hand to become aware of the weight required from the wrist and arm to balance each chord. Playing the top note of each triad with more weight will achieve better balance and a fuller h t r sonority o sonority.. Hold each triad until the last W a c moment; this will help you to create i r E
Œ
5
Pianist102 28• Pianist 102
Melanie Spanswick is a pianist, author and educator. She selected the repertoire for The Faber Music Piano Anthology , and is the author of Play It Again: PIANO (Schottt Music) for those returning to piano playing (Schot after a break. Melanie has given workshops in Germany, the USA and the Far East; she is a tutor at Jackdaws Music Education Trust and curator of the Classical Conversations series on YouTube, where she interviews pianists on camera. www.melaniespanswick.com
urn your attention to the LH. Note the two-bar phrases at the beginning of each line. Mark the most important note in each phrase; give a little colour
Te quaver movement at bar 5 and 6 benefits from thoughtful shaping. Te 4th fingers could receive slight tenuto markings (leaning into the
to the G at the start of bar 2 and taper off the D on the second beat. Shape the longer phrase (bars 5-8) and place the high point of the phrase in bar 7 on the D. Te concluding phrase (bars 13-16) builds to the D (bar 14) via a chromatic scale before dying away. away.
notes), and each note played by the
Learning Tip The sustaining pedal comes in handy for Study No 12, but keep it to an absolute minimum in No 16: let your fingers do the talking!
Tis study trains a basso cantabile or or thumb (in bar 5, beats 2 and 4, singing style. style. o cultivate the required and bar 6, beats 2 and 3) could be considered the climactic point of rich timbre, make sure that your fingers are well connected to each key. the phrase, demanding more colour. Stay close to the keys, with the wrist and arm providing sufficient weight Te RH consists mainly of semiquavers. Tese semiquavers. Tese must be articulated for a warm sound, so that the melody may sing freely above the RH chords. with clarity and evenness. Te patterns train strength in the weaker 4th finger. Study No 16 is a zippy number. It number. It is Although the thumb frequently plays perfect for those who are trying to the first beat of the bar, it’s it’s the 4th develop finger independence. Te short finger which requires attention. Begin phrases use repeated note patterns, ideal by adding accents on every note you for strengthening the fingers, so long play with the 4th finger (in bars 1, 2, as hands and wrists are flexible and are 3, 5 & 6). Don’t strain or hammer at able to release tension, should it arise. the note: start slowly, and as you leave Te tempo suggestion is a conservative your thumb to play the next key with one; you may prefer a quicker pulse. the 4th finger, turn the wrist and hand to the right, away from your body. Let’ss begin with the LH. Notes and Let’ Finally,, a more general practice tip. Finally tip. chords (in bars 2, 4, 7, 8) must be articulated in a detached, staccato Playing with a deeper touch to begin when you style. It’s It’s vital to leave the keys quickly with will reap rewards when and efficiently, efficiently, but this should be done increase the tempo and play with a lighter tone. By this point, your fingers tastefully,, so that the accompaniment tastefully figures support the RH melody melody.. Te should feel stronger and be more able to achieve tonal and rhythmic control. technique required is finger staccato, using the top joint of each finger in a Count every semiquaver beat as you practise to ensure that the rhythm is flicking motion. Te two-note chords can be practised with the same method even and the pulse is strict. Watch out suggested for the triads in Study No 12. for the changing note-patterns in bars Practise landing on each two-note 4, 7 and 8, where the 4th fingers still chord with a swift movement, in good need a firm approach but they appear
08/05/2018 1 :545
©
an unbroken legato in the RH line.
time for the next beat. 20• Pianist 102
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in a different place in each group.
n
play
D O N’TMI S S ANNABEL T HWAIT E’S
LESSON
TRACK 6
AgatheBACKERGRØNDAHL(1847-1907)
HOW TO
2 1
5 4
RH
?# 5
FULL SCORE ON PAGE 38
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P 38S CORE SGrondahl- FINA L V2.i ndd
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83
Annabel Thwaite,
and the character of this thi s Romantic miniature will reveal itself Info Key: G major Key: empo: Andantino semplice empo: Style: Romantic
Will improve your 3Sense
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Agathe Backer Grøndahl was a pianist and composer in her native Norway. Having Norway. Having heard her play Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ and the A minor Concerto by her friend Edvard Grieg, George Bernard Shaw proclaimed her ‘one of the century’ century’ss greatest piano artistes’. Backer Grøndahl withdrew from a concert career in 1889, and dedicated her time to composition and teaching. Her practical knowledge of the keyboard was brought to bear on exquisite character-pieces such as an Op 45 set of Fantasiestykker (Fantasy (Fantasy Pieces, in the genre of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke ) from which this Sommervise (Summer Song ) is taken. Like No 2, Zephyr 2, Zephyr , it is a most appealing song without words, enlivened by textural intricacies. Andantino is
an ambiguous tempo marking. Should it be slightly faster marking. Should or slower than Andante than Andante ? Focus on the ‘semplice’’ (simple) qualification and ‘semplice go with the metronome marking of quaver equals 116. Tis should bring the rhythmic flow and gentle lilt that you’re looking for. Aim for qualities of simplicity and purity in your phrasing and bear the title in mind when seeking a mellifluous tone.
Let’s examine the structure more Let’s closely. At closely. At first first glan glance ce the the piece piece falls falls into a pair of sections: the first in G major and then the second (from bar 16) in A minor. minor. Te opening two-bar melody rises and falls through a dotted rhythmic motif: try playing it as an upward lift or a descending sigh. Te melody is developed during bars 3-8 and then reintroduced in different ways. It appears
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in LH (bar 9), and is restated in thethe minor halfway through the piece (bar 17). Sometimes the upbeat is embellished as a dominant 7th (on the last beat of bar 20), and the gentle apex of the motif is often decorated
Annabel Thwaite enjoys a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, and loves teaching students of all ages and abilities. She works for the Pro Corda International Chamber Music Academy and is an Associated Board examiner. She is also a qualified yoga teacher who specializes in yoga for musicians. www. annabelthwaite.com
Te light, fluttering chords of the Some technical demands need to be second theme also benefit from addressed. In order to project the addressed. additional resonance. And, resonance. And, most melody with clarity, we must ‘voice’ the soprano part with a suitable importantly,, careful pedal control importantly fingering that allows for a smooth and will lend legato to the lilting two-bar liquid projection. I have suggested that melody melody.. All the while, we must take care to avoid unstylistic clashing the LH takes the counter-melody in bar 1, thereby splitting the chords or dissonance within the harmony. For example, in bar 25, the A minor between the hands. Also take note harmony of the first two quavers of the articulation marks; the fourth should not be covered by the B minor quaver in the first bar takes up a new harmony of the third quaver. Use hand position (fingering is 4/2 in the the right pedal with a light foot and RH) so that the following notes may explore shades of half-pedalling rather fall more easily under the hand. than depressing the pedal in full. A brief word about arm weight and a flexible wrist. We’re wrist. We’re looking to lend Te piece is rich in tonal and coloristic possibilities. possibilities. Te loudest a gentle swing and subtle freedom to this Summer Song . Te wrist should be point comes at the end of bar 16 but the strongest dynamic is still mezzo forte. slightly elevated and arm-weight minimal so that the upbeat of each bar (the sixth quaver) is lightly and gently Learning Tip Tip registered. Arms and wrist should be Keeping the fingers as close to as free as possible in order not to the keys as possible gives you introduce obtrusive bumps in the more control over the legato line. melodic line: the aim is simplicity with minimal effort. Even the following rfz (rinforzando rinforzando,, A second second theme is intro introduce duced d in bar 8. 8. requiring a sudden increase in force, like an accent) in bar 19 lies within Te RH should flutter these textural this mf level. Elsewhere, you are chords, using a pp a pp dynamic dynamic to evoke seeking various hues of mezzo piano, a gentle breeze. Maintaining contact even pianississimo with the keyboard as much as possible pianissimo and even pianississimo (in the final two bars). Tis piece will help you to avoid unstylistic unstylistic attacks or accents, and this will also could even be played as an early give you more control over a smoothly example of musical Impressionism, using the fingers as brushes to paint phrased legato. shades of pianissimo of pianissimo.. ake time in your practice to explore the limits Pedal markings have been kept to a minimum. minimum. However However,, the harmonies of your instrument and acoustic in the way that a painter finds infinite require time and space to resonate. resonate. possibilities of pigmentation within In bar 8, for example, the LH arpeggiated figure is embedded within primary colours. the G major harmony. harmony. Rather than Indications such as dolce or dolce adding pedal instructions throughout, feelings. I suggest that you use your ears. In places cantando suggest a range of feelings. Perhaps the latter is even sweeter and such as bar 1, you may want to pedal more positive. Te sostenuto markings markings almost every chord in order to achieve over bars 15, 28 and 38 offer space a full legato phrase. phrase. However, avoid for hesitation, contemplation, even blurring the harmonies with over-use of the pedal. Remember that pedalling indulgence. Finally, Finally, the morendo in is a tool,for and it can with be particularly helpful pianists smaller hands. Te stretch of a tenth (in bar 12, 13 and beyond) is impossible for many pianists. Tey will look to spread these chords and catch the bottom note of
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bar 33 away’ suggests a feeling of calm and ‘dying away ’ as the intervals between the hands narrow. Observe the final semiquaver rest in bar 34; the texture diminishes to a single note, allowing this summer song to drift away on a
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SummerSong(Sommervise) Op45 No 3
O NT HISPIECE PA GE 22
Thispieceissosummeryandsoinnocentlymoving,sharingthefolk-like inspirationthatlendtheLyricPiecesofGriegtheirlastingappeal:Norwegian
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09/05/2018
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with spread chords, such as in bar 28.
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gentle breeze. breeze. n
23• Pianist 101
play HOW TO
SINDING Rustle of Spring Op 32 No 3 With a melody that’s that’s sure to haunt you, this Norwegian romantic tone-painting tone-painti ng responds to an urgent approach, says Lucy Parham Ability rating Advanced Info Key: D major Key: Expression: Agitato Expression: Date: Romantic
Will improve your 3Sustain
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Tis piece arouses happy memories. memories. When I was a young child I remember listening in wonder to an elderly gentleman, a friend of the family, playing Rustle of Spring in in his house. I thought it was the most beautiful and exciting piece I had ever heard. It may even have been one of the reasons that I began to take piano lessons! Te melody floated around my head and I longed to play it (though I never did). Rustle of Spring no longer enjoys its former popularity popularity.. Once upon a time Sinding’ss miniature could be found in Sinding’ the bench-seat of almost every domestic piano: so there’s all the more reason to revive its considerable charms. I often warn readers that a particular piece is more difficult than it looks: for once, the reverse is true! Playing Rustle of Spring is is sure to impress your friends and family, but it can remain our secret that it is deceptively easy if your technique is up to scratch. Te tonality is one reason Rustle of Spring is is easier to play than it looks. looks. Te key of D major lies beautifully under the hand and is perfect for the continuous arpeggiated figures in the RH. Te agitato agitato marking marking conveys a sense of urgency to be maintained throughout the piece. Editorial fingering suggestions have been added to the score. Let’s start with the LH melody. Let’s melody. Play it all the way through before doing anything else. You will readily grasp the structure of the piece, and
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indeed the beauty of your the melody; will probably stay in head forit days to come! It begins pianissimo begins pianissimo in B minor (the relative minor of D major) as if you can hear the
Lucy Parham performs Elegie – Rachmaninoff, A Heart in Exile with narrator Alex Jennings at the Holt Festival on 22nd July. The CD is recently released on the Deux-Elles label with Henry Goodman. Lucy will be discussing the life of Clara Schumann with presenter Danielle de Niese on a new BBC4 TV documentary about women composers. The transmission date is 22 June. On 4th June she is a member of the jur y for the Grand Final of the Royal Overseas League Competition at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Visit www.lucyparham.com www.lucyparham.com for further details
later in the piece, and a watchful observance of the piece’s dynamic scheme is crucial. In learning it, your main challenge is to keep the melody flowing at all times. Never let the rippling accompaniment obscure or obstruct Sinding’s beautiful theme. Keep one ear focused on the melody while ensuring that the accompaniment is mellifluously executed. Tink of it like a harp accompanying a singer. Now turn to the accompanying figures and play them in chords. Don’’t worry about the semiquaver Don motion yet; first find the right
Rustle of Spring is is sure to impress fr friends iends and a nd family, family, but it’s deceptively easy positions for your RH in every bar, and then you can begin to play the piece as written. Tis accompanying RH line requires a very delicate touch, known as perlé as perlé . Imagine you are scratching or plucking each note towards you, rather than simply depressing each key. A supple elbow will help to avoid tension: think of drawing small circles the tip offigures. your elbow in thesewith arpeggiated Te bass entry in bar 4 is harmonically important. Te important. Te first
one long sweep, and make sure that you are ready to play the C at the beginning of bar 11 exactly in time. Tis phrase is also repeated and should have more intensity second time round. Tere’s Tere’s a hairpin swell
Learning Tip Start out by playing the melody on its own, all the way through. You will appreciate both the melodic line and the overall structure.
(crescendo-diminuendo) through bars 13-16; this should rise and fall smoothly to convey the sense of rustling in the music. At bar 19 there’s there’s a C in the bass. bass. Tis is an unexpected note with melodic significance, so lean into it and observe Sinding’s accent. Te succession of hairpin crescendos through bars 17-25 requires you to drop back to piano to piano after after each one. ry to find a single point of climax (perhaps the LH G in bar 23) and direct your playing towards it. Bar 31 brings the first significant climax. Te octaves in the preceding climax. bars should help you build towards this point with a big orchestral forte orchestral forte tone. Bar 31 is also significant as the point at which the melody is transferred to the RH, and it becomes more sweeping and romantic in character through the course of the development section. While it’ it’ss important that the notes in the 5th
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rustle of the leaves in the forest but from afar. Tere are powerful climaxes
phrase is then repeated, leading to a C major scale in bar 10; take this in
finger of your RH should always register, remember that the inner parts
24• Pianist 102
D O N’TMI S S LUCY PAR HAM’S
TRACK12
ChristianSINDING(1856-1941 )
LESSON
ADVANCED
Rustle ofSpring(Frühlingsrauschen) Op32 No 3
O NT HISPIECE PA GE 24
WATCHCHENYINLIPLAYTHISATWWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM
Theresurvivesaphotowhichcapturesi nasingleimagethemusicalrenaissanceof ratherthanhisnativeNorwaythathefoundfameasacomposerof songsand Norway.Seatedroundasmallt ableatcards,oneeveninginthewinterof1887-8, symphoniesthat,farmorethaninthecaseofGrieg,betraythebalefulin fluence are(fromlefttoright)NinaandEdvardGrieg,JohanHalvorsen,Frederick ofWagnerupontheirchromaticlanguage.Sindingworkedonthefourth,last DeliusandChristianSindi ng.Thelocationisnolesssignificant:Lei pzig,where andmostanachronisticallyRomantic ofthem,subtitled‘WinterandSpring’, all of themhadbeenstudents(thoughnotinthesameera). Sinding hadgone untildementiaovertookhiminthelate1930s;weeksbeforehisdeath he thereasaviolinistbutquicklyrealis edhistalentslayelsewhere.Hisbest-known joinedtheNorwegianNaziparty,wh ichhardlyadvancedhispostwarreputation. workwaspublishedasFrühlingsrauschen Frühlingsrauschen in1896,andindeeditwasinGermany ReadLucyParham’sstep-by-step lessononpage24.
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of each chord must also be fully heard. beginning at bar 57. A basic wrist o achieve this clarity of inner-part rotation within this chromatic scale voicing, try practising the chords will help you here. without the thumb and then without the 5th finger. Keep the tone strong until bar 61. 61. With a diminuendo at this point, In bar 33 the LH has a descending the piece melts back into the chromatic scale. scale. Play right to the bottom of the key bed, dropping your wrist a little, and mark each of these descending notes to lend them melodic significance. Te fortissimo Te fortissimo at bar 39 should be even stronger than bar 31. Aim for the fz the fz in in bar 45 and maintain the dynamic level through the descending C major line in the LH. Te development section proper begins in bar 47 with a modulation into F minor. minor. Tis passage makes greater demands on your technique than the opening. You should also keep an eye on your pedalling so that it does not become overpowering; you will need to lift your right foot sometimes or filter the sonority a little by flutter pedalling. Grade the crescendo through bars 52-57; full finger-power and intensity should be applied to the chromatic scale
recapitulation of the principal melody at bar 65. What will you do differently this time round? Will you play with greater or lesser intensity? Tis is very much a personal choice as long as you continue to observe the dynamics and maintain a melodic flow. Te LH crotchet F at bar 79 should chime like a bell. bell. Ten release the LH from the keyboard and draw out the sound in one fluid movement. Maintain the direction of Sinding’s melody towards the final seven bars. Tis florid coda should have real energy and joie and joie de vivre . Drive towards the big D major chords in the last three bars with a natural accelerando. Draw these chords out of the piano with an upward movement movement and grand gestures: you have earned them after all those virtuosic semiquavers! Lift the pedal and hands together in a final flourish. n
75
Springing keyboard surprises Rustle of Spring was was an unavoidable choice for this Scandinavian issue of Pianist. However , it would be a shame if the ubiquity of Sinding’s tone-picture caused us to overlook other evocations of the season of new growth from countries where winters are so long and so cold that the spring is anticipated with an almost spiritual fervour: think of the pagan ritual immortalised by Stravinsky, Stravinsky, for example. For chaikovsky in Te Seasons , spring was a time not for sacrificing virgins but for enjoying lark-song (March), snowdrops (April) and longer nights (May). In two of the Lyric Pieces, Grieg also celebrates the sense of freedom that arrives with a time when life spent outdoors becomes a pleasant prospect once more: o Spring Op Op 43 No 6 and Spring Dance Op 38 No 5. However, his most poignant treatment of the theme is surely the second of his two Elegiac Melodies, Last Spring Op Op 34 No 2: a song, later transcribed for solo piano, in which a dying man sadly ponders that this spring will be his last. From farther south and east there is the five-movement Spring Suite Suite Op 22a by Josef Suk. Tese Romantic character pieces are infused with an ardent temperament reflected in the urgency of Awaiting of Awaiting (No (No 3) and Longing (No (No 5). Let’ss not forget the last of the Nordic countries: Iceland, Let’ where in 1955 the singer-songwriter Hallbjörg Bjarnadóttir composed Vorvísa (‘Spring (‘Spring Verse’). Verse’). Tis is a ripper of a jazz standard that has attracted countless transcriptions of lines flowing in joyful spate like newly defrosted rivers.
09/05/2018
01:06
25• Pianist 102
M A E R D A E V A H
All the ABBA sheet music and songbooks for piano available at musicroom.com
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26• Pianist 101
DON’T MISS MELANIE SPANSWICK’S
Ludvig SCHYTTE (1848-1909)
LESSON
TRACK 1
PAGE 20
The career of Ludvig Schytte should be an inspiration to all musical late-starters: late-sta rters: having begun to receive lessons at the age of 22, he studied with his fellow Dane Niels Gade, and then Franz Liszt. He taught in Vienna for most of his career, and then Berlin. His Schumannesque Piano Concerto is available on CD as part of Danacord’s series of Danish Romantic Piano Concertos.
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Playing tips : For step-by-step tips ti ps on this simple study, stu dy, read Melanie Spanswick’s Spanswick’s lesson. The LH melody is the focus: it should be clearly and smoothly projected from start to end, while the RH chords are light and even. Pedal tips : Only start to use the pedal when the notes are secure. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-st step-by-step ep lesson on page 20.
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28• Pianist 102
DON’T MISS MELANIE SPANSWICK’S
Ludvig SCHYTTE (1848-1909)
LESSON
TRACK 2
BEGINNER
Melodious Study Op 108 No 16
ON THIS PIECE
PAGE 20
Aside from the the Piano Concerto, Concerto, Schytte mostly wrote pedagogical studies and songs without words and tone-pictures for piano in a lighter, more popular vein. His brother Henrik was a cellist, and the author of Denmark’ Denmar k’ss first authoritative authorit ative dictionary of music, the Nordisk musiklexicon first musiklexicon first published in 1888.
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Playing tips : The aim of this study is to train swift and even articulation. Begin your practice slowly and build up speed to Allegro over time. Pedal tips : Just a dab of pedal is needed at the end. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-st step-by-step ep lesson on page 20.
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29• Pianist 102
ABB ABBA A’s I Have A Dream
TRACK 3
BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE
Words W ords & Music by Benny Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
Playing tips : This simple arrangement is enlivened by an Alberti bass-style accompaniment, accompanim ent, rather than static block chords. Feel free to play around with the accompaniment, accompanim ent, as long lon g as it doesn’t interfere with wit h the RH melody. Voice Voice the chords of the melody so that the top note rings out above the rest. Pedal tips : Use your ears to work out where the harmonies change. Read more about the enduring appeal appe al of Abba on page 78.
Released as a single in time for Christmas 1979 (with Take A Chance On Me for for a B-side, recorded live at a Wembley Stadium gig), I Have A Dream belongs to the group’s sixth album, Voulez-Vous . It was the last song to be recorded after a protracted, 14-month gestation, gestation, during the marital separation of lead singer Agnetha Fältskog from Ulvaeus; the hit number of of Voulez-Vous became became not the title song but the Mexican-Schlager-flavoured Mexican-Schlager-flavoured Chiquitita .
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Friedrich KUHLAU (1786-1832)
TRACK 4
INTERMEDIATE
Allegro from Sonatina Op 55 No 4
Born near Hannover, Kuhlau trained in Hamburg, but when the city was invaded by Napoleon’s troops in 1810 he fled to Copenhagen. There he made his career as a composer and piano teacher with commissions from the Royal Theatre and international tours as a pianist, which included an 1825 encounter with Beethoven in Vienna. Playing tips : This sweet (dolce (dolce ) F major Allegro should be played with elegance.
triplet accompaniment. The phrase markings encourage a legato touch, but our pianist has sometimes used a Classical-style, portato (detached) articulation in order to add variety in places (e.g. in bar 10). A tender touch is needed for the development section (beginning in bar 14), but keep the pulse. The main theme returns at bar 31, though it deviates from the original almost immediately in order to modulate back to the tonic for the ending.
The rhythm should remain stable throughout, with the LH playing a calm
Pedal tips : Pedal not necessary, but feel free to add dabs here and there.
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5
4
39
J 2
4
1
2
1
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2
1
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4
3
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2
3
1
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34• Pianist 102
Cole PORTER (1885-1953)
TRACK 5
INTERMEDIATE
Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)
First staged in 1928, Paris quickly quickly became Porter’s first Broadway success. This was the musical’ musical’ss hit number, written for the chanteuse Irène Bordoni, who had scored scored a success in in 1922 1922 with with Gershwin Gershwin’s ’s song Do It Again. Again. The epitome of the flapper performer in 20s New York, Bordoni then made a signature tune out of Porter’s Let’s Misbehave . Playing tips : Lots of spicy chords in this arrangement make it perfect for the
The LH crotchet stomp begins in bar 5, with the RH melody ‘dancing’ over it. Bring out the syncopations and be precise about the crotchet rests (in bar 4 and so on): they will help you to make the piece spring as well as swing. Note the change of dynamic at bar 33, where you need to play quietly and lightly. Give it your all from bar 40 to the end, but fade out at bar 50 with a molto rallentando, rallentando, and let the RH quavers drift away at bar 51, over the bluesy B 9th chord.
intermediate-level pianist. In order to feel the swing, play the quavers ‘swung’ (dotted), rather in regular time (listen to the sountrack for guidance).
Pedal tips : The chord symbols above above the treble clef should help to determine when you need to change change the pedal.
Medium swing
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36• Pianist 102
34
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37• Pianist 102
DON’T MISS ANNABEL THWAITE’S
LESSON
TRACK 6
Agathe BACKER GRØNDA GRØNDAHL HL (1847-1 (1847-1907) 907) Agathe BACKER
PAGE 22
This piece is so summery and so innocently moving, sharing the folk-like inspiration that lend the Lyric Pieces of Grieg their lasting appeal: Norwegi Norwegian an
e =
Anda An dant ntin ino o se semp mpli lice ce RH
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composer Backer Grøndahl was also a noted exponent of Grieg’s Concerto and performed it with the composer conducting. Read the full lesson on page 22.
4 2
dolce
# & 15
5 4
2 1
INTERMEDIATE
Summer Song (Sommervise) Op 45 No 3
ON THIS PIECE
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39• Pianist 102
Wilhelm PETERSON-BE ON-BER RGER (1867-1 (1867-1942) 942) Wilhelm PETERS
TRACK 7
The church of the title may be found on the island of Frösö, west of Östersund on Sweden’s Sweden’s Lake Storsjön. The composer is buried in its churchyard. Playing tips : This evocative piece in ABA form opens with a chorale-like melody in the RH (make sure the top note can be heard). The B section Lento
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(starting at bar 17) has some tricky moments, such as bars 17-18, which should be practised slowly to master the rhythm. The melody returns at bar 33 in the ‘sweeter’ higher register (as in bar 9) with a fleeting one-bar return of the triplet pattern in bar 42, rounding it off with a heavenly conclusion.
dolce cantando
3 2 1
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18
INTERMEDIATE
Going to Church (Vid Frösö kyrka) Op 16 No 6
n
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40• Pianist 102
23
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41• Pianist 102
Niels GADE (1817-1890)
TRACK 8
Gade composed a collection of 10 Aquarelles Op Op 19 in 1852, following them up almost 30 years later with a second set, Op 57. They exemplify the Dane’s Dane’s Mendelssohnian Mendelssohni an writing for the piano, which prizes a light and graceful touch. Playing tips : There is a Schumannesque quality to the harmonies and textures of this tender Barcarolle. It should float along calmly, one downward-rippling arpeggio after another, overlapping overlapping like waves. Establish a fairly regular pulse,
Alle Al le gr gro o mo mode dera rato to
3
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2
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5
9
4
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1 2 3
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™
™
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5
™
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3
6
2
making sure that the melodic RH dotted crotchets stand out from the RH semiquavers. The biggest technical challenge is presented by the semiquaver octaves at bars 17, 19, 33 and 35. Keep the wrist relaxed when you practise the octaves slowly, leaning into the top note with a lighter thumb. When you bring the piece up to speed, try to play the octaves in a single hand movement. Pedal tips : See markings on the score.
= 47 5
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INTERMEDIATE
Barcarolle Op 19 No 5
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3
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5
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42• Pianist 102
13
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5
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5
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sim.
43• Pianist 102
29
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3
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44• Pianist 102
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN
A Z E R T Y
BEGIN N E R S zerty XXXX (XXXXX)
KEYBOARD
CLASS
LESSON 29: HAND-CROSSING AND ALTERNATING THE HANDS
On these pages, Pianist covers covers the most basic stages of learning the piano through a series of lessons by Hans-Günter Heumann. Lesson 29 features two exercise for hand-crossing (Mark Tanner has many more useful suggestions on page 18). There are two further exercises – for evenness and imitation between the hands – which should make good sight-reading exercises for more advanced pianists.
Cross Hand Etude No 1
A fun exercise for hand-crossing. Make sure that the ‘hand-crossing’ finger is ready, hovering over the key, before it strikes.
q = 120-144 L.H.
mf
2
2
2
2
2
9
2
2
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L.H.
2
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Hans-Günter Heumann
L.H.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
R.H.
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14
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© 2013 Schott Music Limited, London
2
2
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2
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45• Pianist 102
2
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN KEYBOARD CLASS
AHands Z E Evenness Study/Alternating
R T Y
Enjoy shaping these scale passages: think of one long phrase up to XXXX bar 8, and(XXXXX) then bar 9 to the end. Cultivate a smooth legato, with each finger going deep into the keys. Remember to lift the hand when you see a rest.
zerty
Hans-Günter Heumann
q = 144-168
2
R.H.
f
5
2 3 4
2 5 4 3
legato
2
2
5
5
5
L.H.
5
2
9
5 4
3 2
2 3 4 5
L.H.
13
R.H. R.H. 2
© 2013 Schott Music Limited, London
47• Pianist 102
_
_
_
_H
_ i
i
_
Hi
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN KEYBOARD CLASS
Imitation Study Here the LH copies the RH. Use the phrase markings to mould your playing and take notice of the cccasional staccato notes.
q = 108-120
Hans-Günter Heumann
1
mf 5
5
9
13
Hans-Günter Heumann continues his series for beginners in the next issue. To find out more about Heumann, visit www.schott-music.com
48• Pianist 102
_
_
_
_
_ i
i
_
i
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
TRACK 9
INTERMEDIATE
Arietta Op 12 No 1
Playing tips : The melody line of this ‘little aria aria’,’, the very first of the Lyric Pieces, begins with five with five repeated repeated quavers (bars 1, 3 etc): these should always move towards the first beat of the next bar. The subdued and seamless accompaniment accompan iment
is shared between both hands. Keep your thumbs light, and cultivate as smooth a cantabile tone as you can. See page 80 for an introduction introduct ion to the Lyric Pieces.
Poco andante e sostenuto
5
b b &b ? bbb
5
& bbb
n
? bbb
1
2
4
4
2
2
F
F
F
5
.
— 5 4
2 3
2
2 — 1
1 — 2
2
F
3 1
5 2
5
2
4
9
& bbb
5 3 2
4 1
3
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2
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n
4
2
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4
3
j
3
1
1
5
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3
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— 5
3 1
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5
n
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3
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2
19
b
2
1 4
14
3
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sim.
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3
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rit.
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49• Pianist 102
Daniel EDWARDS b1992
TRACK 10
INTERMEDIATE
Brompton Square Waltz TAP HERE TO WA WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS PIECE PIE CE
Composer’s playing tips : Despite the changes of tempo and time signature, this piece is a waltz, and requires a degree of momentum. Pay attention to voicing, making sure the melody can be heard above the accompaniment. accompaniment. The E7 ( 5 10) chord in bar 13 is quite a stretch, so break it if you need to. Likewise, for the black-keys glissando, use whatever technique works for you (I use the backs of my hands on the way up and the fronts on the way down).
Notes from the composer : This piece is inspired ins pired by EF Benson’ Bens on’s Mapp and Lucia novels, with the title taken from Benson’s (and Lucia’s) swanky London house. I have tried to capture the calm of England between the wars, while writing something that Lucia, a ‘gifted amateur’ pianist, would enjoy playing. I imagine her seated at the piano, dazzling her friends with arpeggios and roulades that sound much more difficult than they really are.
Straight 8s Moderato = 98
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50• Pianist 102
Slower
25
b Œ ?b ‰ j
j
™
= 84
LH
LH
≈
6
6
≈
≈
6
≈
28
b
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51• Pianist 102
&b 6
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freely
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RH LH RH
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RH LH
RH
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cresc.
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dim.
= 98
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dim.
f
Gliss. on black keys. Pitch of final note is approximate.
52• Pianist 102
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53• Pianist 102
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
TRACK 11
‘The world of harmony was ever the sphere of my dreams,’ wrote Grieg to his American biograph biographer. er. ‘I have have found that the murky depth depth in our [Norwegian] [Norwegian] folk-music has its basis in unrealized harmonic possibilities.’ Playing tips : The material of this final Lyric Piece is a ‘remembrance ‘remembrance’’ of the very first, the Ariet the Arietta ta printed printed on page 49, but it’s treated here as a waltz, with a gentle
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= 57
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one-two-three rhythm in the bass and a nostalgic melody in the treble. There one-two-three are breathtaking modulations from bar 24 to 25, and again from bar 48 to 49 and these moments can be indulged. The coda (from bar 71 onwards) drifts into the distance; the melody should sound as if carried away on a breeze. Pedal tips : Don’t over-pedal. There should be a short release before the next bar.
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54• Pianist 102
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56• Pianist 102
DON’T MISS LUCY PARHAM’S
TRACK 12
Christian SINDING (1856-1941)
LESSON
ADVANCED
Rustle of Spring (Frühlingsrauschen) Op 32 No 3
ON THIS PIECE
PAGE 24
WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE .COM
There survives a photo which captures in a single image the musical renaissance renais sance of Norway.. Seated round a small Norway smal l table at cards, one evening e vening in the winter of 1887-8, are (from left to right) Nina and Edvard Grieg, Johan Halvorsen, Frederick Delius and Christian Sinding. The location is no less significant: Leipzig, where
rather than his native Norway that he found fame as a composer of songs and symphonies that, far more than in the case of Grieg, betray the baleful influence of Wagner Wagner upon their chromatic language. Sinding worked on the fourth, last and most anachronistically Romantic of them, subtitled ‘Winter and Spring’,
all of them had been students (though not in the same era). Sinding had gone there as a violinist but quickly realised his talents lay elsewhere. His best-known work was publi published shed as Frühlingsrauschen Frühlingsrauschen in in 1896, and indeed it was in Germany
until dementia overtook him in the late 1930s; weeks before his death he joined the Norw Norwegian egian Naz Nazii party party,, which which hardl hardlyy advanc advanced ed his postwa postwarr reputat reputation. ion. Read Lucy Parham’s step-by-step step-by-s tep lesson on o n page 24.
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60• Pianist 102
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61• Pianist 102
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63• Pianist 102
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64• Pianist 102
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65• Pianist 102
THE EASY PIANO
N E W
SERIES Two BRAND NEW books of expertly arranged pieces Perfect for elementary pianists, with songs from: LA LA LAND L AND • HARRY POTTER POTTER • THE LORD OF THE RINGS • MOANA • STAR WARS WARS BUGSY MALONE • CA CATS TS • CHICAGO • GREASE GR EASE • HAMIL HAMILTON TON • MY FAIR LADY
Young players p layers who have spied the books in my “
studio are superkeen to play Hedwig’s Theme, Breaking Free and How Far I’ll Go (Moana) . "
Andrew Eales Pianodao.com
Available now from www.fabermusicstore.com 26• Pianist 101
FOR THE TEACHER
PIANO TEACHER HELP DESK
F o r t h e l o o v e o f s s c a l l e s
Songs and snakes are just two of the tricks that Kathryn Page uses to persuade her students that scales belong at the centre of every successful practice session
W
e all know that scales are of crucial importance for technical development and that diatonic music relies heavily on scales and scale patterns for melodic, harmonic and structural development. Yet Y et they remain unloved by too many. many. It is common for budding pianists to resent practising scales. In practice they are often viewed by young pianists in particular as an irritating distraction from what they really want to be practising, namely repertoire. Why? In truth it is easy to see how scales can become unwelcome. When they are presented in a list as requirements for a grade exam and seen as a series of mechanical obstacles designed to test skills of memory and co-ordination, the risk of creative disconnection is strong. Pianists can fall into the trap of concentrating on quantity and accuracy over quality and artistic involvement when attempting to prepare scales as part of a syllabus. If you prioritise accuracy,, generic fingering and control accuracy in your work, ifwhich you detach them from thescale repertoire they belong to, then boredom and resentment will never be far off. And this is dangerous: frustration, lack of enthusiasm and lack of confidence in playing scales can infect everything you do at the piano.
Kathryn Page has appeared in concert and on television as a soloist and in chamber music. She is a teacher, adjudicator and administrator for Chetham’s International Summer School and Festival for Pianists and the Manchester Manc hester International Concerto Competition for young pianists. She lives in Cheshire and has five children.
Build up velocity and co-ordination. apply in order for the key to sound at all? Can they create a variety of sounds Start slowly and inch your way up the by depressing the key to different levels? metronome. Music as sport will only ‘uncreative’ when it is approached Encourage Encour age them to let their fingers sink be ‘uncreative’ down and allow them the luxury of without enthusiasm, fire and energetic endeavour. Bring a spirit of optimistic ‘bedding’ the keys to the full level. Go to the wood of the keyboard. sparkle to the development of velocity in scale playing, and you will have a en try a tickle. How little pressure is needed for the keys to sound at all? vibrantly charged, positive outlook that will keep your students motivated Imagine different instruments. Can students create a rich string sonority? and focused – and it will serve to influence the rest of their practice too. Can they recreate the sound of a flute by gently playing a scale pianissi scale pianissimo mo two two Above all, don’ don’t relegate scales to a octaves above middle C? Try scales with box on their own. Integrate scale work the full support of their upper arm into the repertoire. If the student is behind every note. Try other scales with practising Beethoven’s C minor Sonata no arm weight whatsoever. Go back Op 10 No 1, don’t worry too much about the F major scale! Work on C to childhood and let students bring a menagerie of species into their practice session. How would an elephant walk through a D major scale? What about a mouse? Would a slimy snake enjoy lots of physical overlaps as it meanders dangerously over a G major scale? You You get the drift – don’t be too serious when it comes to having fun with scales.
Enjoy your scales
So how can teachers make scales creative and energised? e answer is to bring love and focus as you play them – and a sprinkling of humour would not go amiss. Love of scales begins and ends with love of sound production. Celebrate the potential
Sing your scales
I’m a strong believer in singing scales as you play. Make up words for your students to sing as they practise! You Y ou don’ don’t have to be too profound here. Anything will do provided it focuses the student’s mind and spirit
melodic, harmonic natural minor scales. Practice themand non-legato, staccato and legato, sing a few scale patterns derived from these scales, encourage students to listen to other C minor works of Beethoven (such as the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata and the Fifth Symphony) and find scale patterns in these additional works. Improvise in C minor. Play the scale in one hand and randomly play ‘alien ‘alien’’ chords above and below the scale with the other hand: in this kind of work there is never such a thing as a ‘wrong’ or ‘inappropriate’ chord. Encourage composing in C minor, using scale
h t r o W a c i r E ©
for creating gorgeous, inspirational sonorities at the keyboard. Take Take tactile
in an enthusiastically energised way. Try playing potentially awkward scales
patterns. Bringing a ‘theme’ to scales as a springboard for all your work at
pleasure in playing a C major scale an octave apart, two octaves duration at every dynamic level from triple pianissimo to triple fortissimo triple fortissimo.. e act of touching the keyboard, of allowing your fingers to sink deeply into each key, should be sensual. Experiment with touch. How little pressure does your student need to
such as G melodic minor while singing words to each note note such as ‘I can play this scale so neat-ly’ (so that each degree of the scale has its own word or syllable). Get out the metronome and enjoy a bit of cardiovascular pianism: Can they play a four-octave D major scale, hands an octave apart, with the metronome set at crotchet equals 120?
the piano and in music is a vibrantly positive way of moving forward – of developing technical, intellectual and artistic concerns in the most synergised manner. It is what the educator Paul Harris refers to as ‘simultaneous learning’ and will always make scale practising seem as creatively charged as possible. ■
67• Pianist 102
J A Z Z
W
e’re e’ re at the halfway point in this course of learning jazz piano, so now is a good time to take stock of what we’ve we’ve looked at so far. far. Lesson 3 gave you the tools to improvise over rootless chord voicings on the chord structure of Autumn of Autumn Leaves with Leaves with major and minor II-V-I progressions. e root notes are omitted in these voicings for a bassist to play instead; or we may drop in the occasional root note so that the harmony is more grounded. However,, rooted voicings (with bass notes) are an important facet However of the jazz pianist’s pianist’s technique. technique. Learning how to harmonise the melodies of standard tunes in jazz will help you put together a complete jazz interpretation of a ‘standard’ such as Autumn as Autumn Leaves or Jerome Kern’s All e ings You Are . At At the same time you’ll you’ll become familiar with with rooted voicings for several chords. Notated melodies for jazz standards – known as lead sheets – can be found in the widely available series of Real Books (see the letters page of Pianist 100). 100). However, the melodies are not always printed in keys that jazz musicians like to use (though some recent editions have rectified this problem). Autumn problem). Autumn Leaves is is printed in E minor in most of the Real Books, whereas it is usually played in G minor. Wee tend to play Autumn W play Autumn Leaves with with quite a punctuated harmony: each phrase of the melody is completed by a pair of chords. Example 1 Sample 1 Sample harmonisation of the first phrase of Autumn of Autumn Leaves :
& O O \\ D . . . % O O \\
.. ## .! .. ## .
Dave Jones is a pianist, composer, producer, teacher and writer. His work as a jazz pianist takes him to the US, India, France and Ireland, performing at festivals and giving workshops. He has taught students of all ages and up to Masters level, and co-devised and authored BA programmes in music, including a new module on improvisation. Several well-received recordings have led to commissions for TV and film, and some of his tracks have recently been used in The Big Bang Theory , Late Night with Seth Meyers and and Location, Location, Location. Location. Dave also writes for Jazz Journal . www.davejonesjazz.com
the melody note, and B ) with the root C beneath. What about the second second chord of the sequence, the F7? We needn’t move far from the voicing for Cm7, as the E from Cm7 is also the 7th for F7, so we keep that in place. e 7ths from Cm7 slide a semitone down to A (the 3rd for F7), and underneath we add the root note (F). e melody note (the high E ) is only marked as a minim, but you should hold it for a full four beats if you can, so that the harmony makes its full effect; it’ it’ss good to do this at the end of each phrase of Autumn of Autumn Leaves . Example 2 Sample 2 Sample harmonisation of the second phrase:
Cm
"
F
e melody opens with a pick-up phrase: the first note of the melody that we harmonise is the last note of the first phrase (the E ), which is the 3rd of the first chord of the sequence, C minor 7 (Cm7). As this melody note is quite high, it’s good to harmonise it with a well-spaced voicing of the Cm7 chord – but not directly directly underneath, so that we can achieve a call-and-response effect between the melody’s melody’s pick-up phrase and the chord punctuation. is voicing has a reasonable spread of mid-range and lower mid-range notes. Something similar to a ‘be-bop’ (1930s/40s jazz style) style s tyle of voicing chords works well here, where we effectively double both the 3rd and 7th of the chord (E , which is also
& O O \\ D . . . % O O \
.. ## .! . # ."
¨maj
E¨maj
e note to harmonise is the high D. is needs voicings of B major 7 (B maj7) and E major 7 (E maj7) that are similar in construction to those in Example 1. e B maj7 voicing uses the third (D) and doubles the 7th (A) with the root B underneath. e same method for the E maj7 chord that follows gives us a doubled 3rd (G) and 7th 7th (D) with the root E below.
68• Pianist 102
Example 3 Sample 3 Sample harmonisation of the third phrase:
& O O \\ D % O O \\
. . .
.. ## Q !. .. ## Q . "
Am7
D7
Harmonise the high note (C) with an A minor 7 chord (Am7), using the 3rd (middle C) and doubling the 7th (G), supported by the root note (A) below. For the D7 chord that follows we double the 3rd (F ) and add the 7th (middle C), with the root D below. Example 4 Sample 4 Sample harmonisation of the fourth phrase:
& O O \\ D % O O \\
. P. Q.
.# . ## . Gm7
.! . ."
e high B is harmonized with a G minor 7 chord (Gm7) by adding the 3rd (B ) and doubling the 7th (F). e difference here is that there isn’t a pair of different chords to play, because the Gm7 harmony lasts for two bars and completes the first eight bars of the chord sequence. Note how the melody in the first bar of Example 4 uses the top half of the melodic minor scale in G. e disadvantage of this method is that the voicings achieved for phrases three and four don’t reflect the flattened 5th of the A halfdiminished seventh chord (Am7 5) or the flattened 9th of the D7 9 which are the full chords for this part of the chord sequence, but instead they represent Am7 and D7. While it’s true that the root, 3rd and 7th are the most important notes in rooted jazz voicings, we lose the flavour of the minor ii-V-i ii-V-i if we omit the flattened 5th and flattened 9th on these chords. Example 5 Alternative 5 Alternative harmonisation of the third phrase:
& O O \\ D % O O \\
. . .
. # Q !.. .. ## Q . "
Am7 ¨
D7 ¨9
harmonise the D melody note by adding the low B (the root) and doubling the 7th (A ) and the 3rd (D ). Do similar for bars 3 and 4. In bar 3 the chord is E 7, so underneath the melody note (G) we add the root (E ) plus the 7th (D ), and then double the 3rd (G). In bar 4 the chord is A maj7, so we harmonise the initial melody note (G) with the low root (A ) and double the 7th (G). You Y ou could also insert an additional chord halfway halfway through bar 3 to accompany the flow of the melody (Example (Example 7): 7):
& O O O O \\ ,, -- ### . % O O O O \\ ,, ,, Fm7
B¨m7
. . . . - P .. D E¨7
7
.. - . ,,
A¨maj7
e additional chord in bar 3 is A7 (think of D from the key signature as being replaced in name by C , its enharmonic equivalent), which slides smoothly into A maj7 in bar 4. is chromatic movement is an important ingredient in jazz harmonisations, as future lessons will outline in more detail. It’s worth noting a few things here about the harmonisation of these first four bars. Firstly, the piece is in the key of A major, and in that key the chords outlined here (apart from the passing chord of A7) are vi7, ii7, V7, and Imaj7 in generic terms. Also, these chords (again, apart from the passing chord of A7) are following the same ‘circ ‘circle le of fifths’ pattern that also occurs in the first four chords of Autumn of Autumn Leaves , albeit in a different key. e circle of fifths describes a harmonic progression of keys that moves around in perfect fifths, sometimes known as a circle of fourths in jazz: you can see how there is a clockwise movement of ascending fifths and an anticlockwise movement of ascending fourths. Wee can see how this works in the diagram (below). W C major is at the top of the circle, with no sharps or flats, Moving Moving C around the circle clockwise from F G Am C in intervals of a perfect fifth, Dm Em D we encounter every possible key Bb Bm Gm (whether comprised of flats or sharps), and return to C major F#m A Eb Cm at the top to complete the circle. e outer circle represents the C#m Fm E major keys, and the inner circle Ab Bbm G#m describes their relative minor keys: Ebm Db
Instead ofthe doubling theadd 3rdthe (the of flattened the Am7 5th), chordand (thehold melody note is already 3rd), we E C) (the it over for the D7 chord (where it’s the flattened 9th). All The Things You Are
Let’s apply what we’ve learnt to the opening of Jerome Kern’s enduring standard. is is a particularly clever tune, harmonically speaking, and it’ss more of a challenge to harmonise than it’ than Autumn Autumn Leaves , but here’s a starting point. Example 6 6 All All e ings You Are , sample opening:
& OO O O \\ ,, % \ ,
--- ### . .. . . . . - . . , , ,
B Cb at the top, relative minor of C# Gb C major is the A minor. F# In terms of movement between these keys, we can see outlined the bass notes for the chord progression of the first four bars of All e ings You Are , moving anticlockwise around the circle from F to reach B , E and A . Likewise the progression at the opening of Autumn Autum n Leaves Leaves is is described by the circle moving from C to F to B to E . In both cases the chord progression then moves away from the circle of fifths pattern, but movement around the circle of fifths like this, whether passing or more fundamental, is commonly encountered in many genres of music, from (for example) Mozart in classical music to Gary Moore in rock. ■
TAP HERE TO WATCH DAVE’S LESSON
O O O O \ ,,
Fm7
, B¨m7
, E¨7
, A¨maj7
e tune begins immediately immediately,, so it doesn’t lend itself to the technique of punctuated chords that we used for Autumn for Autumn Leaves . In order to harmonise the opening A we need a suitable voicing of an Fm7 chord. e melody note is the 3rd of the chord. is should stay at the top. To lend depth to the voicing, the root F is used at the bottom of the chord, and the space in between is filled with a doubled 7th (E ) and 3rd (A ). We continue continue the harmonisation with doubled 3rds and 7ths as we did in Autumn in Autumn Leaves . ere’s a B minor 7 (B m7) chord in bar 2: 69• Pianist 102
a winner and a runner-up. e winner is Daniel Edwards, for his catchy, rather nostalgic-sounding Brompton Square Waltz . is 64-bar piece encapsulates what we were looking for: originality, playability, clarity of structure, a strong melodic identity and a secure harmonic framework. It inspires us and, most of all, we enjoy returning to it, finding more pathos and variety in it (and getting the notes right too – this is around Grade 6-7 level). I ring Daniel with the happy news a day or two later. He has played music from an early age, and he’s he’s a British Army cellist cellist in in the Countess Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra. He came to the piano relatively late in life, and he says that he improvised for a long time before he found what he was looking for. ‘I found it relatively easy to compose,’ he tells me. ‘Actually, I find it easier to compose within specific constraints: solo piano, 64 bars
Something that impressed us all Waltz was about Brompton Square Waltz was the
Brompton Square
maximum and so on. e hard thing is to actually finish a piece – anyone can write an eight-bar melody but it’ss much harder to develop that into it’ something more substantial. is is why I entered the competition. ere comes a point where you have to say: “is is my best work” and press send on the email.’ Having found the right ingredients, how long did Edwards take to Waltz ? compose Brompton Square Waltz ‘It took me about two weeks in total,’ he replies. ‘I tend to improvise aimlessly for hours, and then suddenly write it all down in one go. I do fine-tune things, but I have to stop myself as this process can just go on forever,
clear early onsays that itstructure. would be‘Iindecided rondo form’, Edwards. ‘Once I had composed the main section it was pretty much all mapped out. en I experimented with contrasting sections until I found ones that worked – there were quite a few rejects. I was also determined to fit in a black-key glissando, so this was a matter of composing backwards to make it fit. e hardest thing was making the different sections fit together coherently, and doing it within 64 bars – I really would have liked 66 – but I made it work in the end.’ Reader, be warned… that glissando sure is challenging!
Daniel Edwards and above, Pianist
without really adding anything. Eventually, Eventually , I decide I have to stop, and then I’ll have it printed and bound in a print shop as a way of saying “It’s finished.”’ John Kember observes that ‘the simplicity of the catchy melody and the subtle harmonies made this entry work its way to the top of the pile almost immediately.’ Nigel Scaife is impressed by the middle section: ‘It’ss going to be a real challenge to ‘It’ play,, what with the fortissimo climactic play moment, the Rachmaninov-esque arpeggiated chords and then this
Inspiration is the key
e story behind the title of Brompton Square Waltz comes comes from the writer EF Benson, who lived in London’s Brompton Square, and who gave the address to Lucia in his much-loved series of Mapp and Lucia novels. What was the inspiration behind runner-up Andrea Neustaeter’ Neustaeter’ss calm and enveloping November Fire ? From her family farm in Canada, Neustaeter tells me that ‘November is a very dreary month in Canada, and that was when I was writing this piece. I was thinking about it and feeling
Winner: far left,
editor Erica Worth and Nigel Scaife get to grips with the score
fingers (it’s a less demanding piece than Brompton Square Waltz Waltz , around Grade 4-5 standard), while Scaife commends it for an improvisatory rhythmic freedom and wide dynamic range. You’ll Y ou’ll have to wait wait until Pianist 103 103 to see it – and play it – for yourself. Rather than two weeks, Neustaeter turned her composition around in two days: ‘I fine-tuned it very little because it just felt finished,’ she says. ‘e hardest thing is usually finding a name that fits what I’m expressing through the music. Perhaps that’s that’s because I don don’’t always define exactly what I’m trying to express at the outset of creating the music.’ Unlike Edwards, who tells us that the melody came first for him, Neustaeter says that ‘harmonies almost always come first for me and this piece was not an exception. I found once I had those bass harmonies in place, the melody was easy to fit on top of it.’ Both composers wrote into music software rather manuscriptpaper, (‘I love idea ofthan usingonmanuscript butthe there are just so many drawbacks. I couldn’t live without copy, paste and transpose’, says Edwards). e judges wanted to commend two other entrants: Leona Francombe for her flowing and lyrical Villa Amélie and John Cracknell for his inventive and elegantly penned oughts of Rachmaninov on Turville Heath. We’ W e’d d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered: if your name hasn’t been mentioned in dispatches, please don’t be discouraged. We were impressed by so many entries and you can always try again for the next competition. Take Take a leaf out of Andrea Neustaeter’ Neustaeter’s s book:me ‘Entering the competition reminds how important it is to follow through with dreams. I have found that the reward is most often in the journey itself.’ ■
e 2019 Composing Competition will be launched in the next issue.
Y PLA BROMP TON
interesting glissando to be played with the backs of the fingers, where the composer specifies a crescendo going up and a diminuendo going down. It is going to require subtle pedalling and good dynamic control. e ending is great too – it has a Bill Evans-style jazz indulgence to it.’ Matt Ash relishes ‘the range of interpretative possibilities. It’ss also very It’ ver y appealing when there are subtle chord or note changes – they come as a real surprise.’
like I don’t want to feel drab, regardless of the grey skies and melancholy start to the winter season. I want to feel alive and passionate, so in essence it’s an expression of the struggle to find life and fire in the midst of a season that is preparing for death and a nd winter.’ She got it spot on: we were all taken by the strong sense of atmosphere in November Fire . Both Ash and Kember point out how well it sits under the
WAL T Z SQUARE W is winning score ards’ prize- w wa niel Ed w Da prin t te en to to th the ed on page 50. Lis t te t album, ermoun t ve v o c r u o n o g n i record t i t a t orm t fo yiin Li per f ch Chen y tc wa t and wa on18 to bromp t /b m.ag / tm pianis t r e ii r
F er ’s N ov ember te ae t ta Andrea Neus t e h th t ed in te wiill be prin t w ue. s s i t t ne x
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HISTORY
m m o r f f s r e w o l F h t S t h e N N
There’s far more to piano music in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries than Grieg and Sinding, explains Andrew Mellor, but recurring themes of nature, light and everyda everydayy life make for many appealing discoveries
candinavian composers are hot news right now now,, just as we seem to love love Scandinavian Scandinavian TV and even their food (though rye bread takes some getting used to …). Even so, it’ss orchestral music and songs from it’ the Nordic countries that hog the limelight. True: True: some of the most refined and delicate piano music from the north is found in songs by the likes of Edvard Grieg, Ture Rangström and Jean Sibelius. But dig a little deeper, and we find a wealth
Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. At first, the designs were based on English models imported through the Swedish town of Malmö, but Scandinavian makers soon developed individual styles and sounds, experimenting with different mechanisms and actions. Scandinavia had its own Mozart in the form of Joseph Martin Kraus. Music by the German-born Swede can sound a lot like that by any composer than Mozart who was active in other than the late 1700s. But Kraus did show
(there’ss a decent recording on Naxos). (there’ Berwald’s piano-based output was pretty much confined to chamber works. But as Berwald was entering his final decade, over in Norway a composer was emerging who would have a huge influence on the piano literature across Northern Europe and beyond. Norway
Aged 15, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was dispatched to Leipzig to be schooled in piano and composition German-style.
of solo piano music, much of it not only fascinating and touching but straightforward to master. One reason for that relative technical ease was the increasing influence of folk music on classical composition, a trend that was accelerated by the nationalist movements sweeping across Europe in the latter half of the 19th century.. Piano makers also thrived in century Scandinavia during this period, with reputable brands emerging in
some distinctly Swedish characteristics, notably a propensity to shift to contrasting keys and volumes with excitable abruptness. at same trait would reveal itself in the music of Kraus’ss Swedish successor Franz Kraus’ Berwald and, later, those of the post-Romantic Dane Carl Nielsen (and beyond). If you want to investigate Kraus further, lend an ear to his distinctive and invigorating Sonata in E minor
But the Leipzig lessons left Grieg cold. In Copenhagen, the hub for Nordic composers in the 19th century, the 20-something Grieg met fellow Norwegian Rickard Nordraak, who introduced him to the many folk songs and national dances that he’ he’d d been collecting from the mountains and ords back home. at, together with the suggestion from Norwegian composer and violinist Ole Bull that he explore his
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own heritage, seems to have prompted Grieg’ss sudden awakening to his Grieg’ musical destiny: ‘to find expression for something that lay thousands of miles from Leipzig and its atmosphere’, by which he meant the striking but melancholia-tinged Norwegian scenery. Grieg would mostly write his own tunes, but more often than not he cast them in the atmospheric and harmonic mood of the folk music he had discovered – the mood of a small country ‘full of mystery and promise’ that showed little interest in rushing headlong into modernity modernity.. ere is a distilled, delicate feel to much of Grieg’s piano music that owes a goodWdeal to Day that folk and relatively easy music to play; in he adored. edding at tradition the age before television and radio, Troldhaugen has all the earthy lyricism there were few better ways to while and compositional directness that away long winter nights. Sinding’s Sinding’s made Grieg’s Grieg’s name, but it also tells us ran ge in diffi culty a thing or two about the folk tradition Five Pieces Op 24 range but the fourth is manageable for Grieg admired and, as such, about intermediate pianists. is movement, Norwegian identity: the importance in a gently lilting 6/8 time signature, of dance, the rustic, vernacular nature of the country’s art, and even the whiff has the air of a lullaby, but also a salon elegance and sheen the likes of which of trolls that we know from In e Grieg generally avoided. Hall of the Mountain King . In between Grieg and Sinding came For piano music that’s that’s a little easier Ole Olsen (1850-1927), a Norwegian but just as significant, turn to Grieg’s set of Norwegian Folk Melodies Op Op 66. who started out as a pianist and fell (like many of his compatriots) under e opening Kulok is is as delightful as the influence of Wagner during his any of them and a little easier to get your fingers around than Wedding Day . studies in Leipzig. Olsen hailed from ese pieces constitute relatively rare examples of Grieg using existing folk melodies and arranging them for the newly resonant pianos of the th e day, instruments with sustain pedals and bigger soundboards. In Kulok , the melodies are short and build up to create a distinct mood; combine a strong sense of rhythm with a degree of airborne freedom in your playing, and you’ll be getting close to the ‘fairy tales, history and nature’ that the composer intended to capture.
Hammerfest in the far north of Norway,, where the folk tradition Norway was more rooted in the music of the pan-Nordic Sami tribe, including their traditional ‘joiks’ or reindeerherding calls. Olsen’s feeling for phrase, his ear for a pithy melody and his Norwegian emphasis on textural clarity are among his most attractive and distinctive traits. His Barcarolle in the friendly key of D major has a delicious weave that betrays rigorous German training more than anything by Grieg or Sinding.
Opposite page: Photograph from Grieg Musikfest, Bergen, 1898. Grieg sits in the middle with wife Nina behind. Backer Grøndahl is left of Grieg, Sinding second from right. Above (left to right): Sinding, Backer Grøndahl and Grieg
Concerto (like Beethoven, she went deaf). George Bernard Shaw reckoned her one of the great pianists of the 19th century, but she was also a prolific composer. Backer Grøndahl left 400 pieces which start out in the nationalromantic vein of Grieg and Sinding. Later in her career, however, however, she proved remarkably prescient of the Impressionistic school of Claude Debussy and others. Her piano music ranges from the rhapsodic Concert Etudes Opus 11 to the more free-form (and Norwegian-sounding) Sketches Op 19. ose works require an advanced technique, but not so her charming Op 36 Fantasy Pieces. e third-movement Waltz has the odd alluring harmonic twist, but maintains that sense of fresh air for which Norwegian music of the period is rightly famed. Sweden
Where Norway’s Norway’s musical reputation travelled rapidly across Europe thanks to Grieg, Swedish music never enjoyed the same international success and to an extent – Abba notwithstanding – still hasn’t. hasn’t.
After Grieg
His influence was felt by just about every Norwegian composer of the following century. century. Like Grieg, his junior by 13 years, Christian Sinding Sinding (1856-1941) had studied in Leipzig but soon sought to evoke ideas of Norway in his national-Romantic music. Sinding’s publisher had registered the success of the Lyric Pieces, which went hand-in-hand with the trend for having a piano in the home. Bourgeois Norwegians wanted good
As well as all being Norwegian, those composers were all male – and though the Nordic countries were the first to allow women to vote and sit in parliament, it remained a tough time for women composers in 19th-century Scandin Scandinavia. avia. at makes the achievements of Agathe Backer Backer Grøndahl (1847-1907) all the more remarkable. Born in Holmestrand in 1850, Backer Grøndahl was a gifted pianist who became renowned for her interpretation of the ‘Emperor’
And the tendency towards modesty and self-criticism that th at muted Sweden Sweden’’s artistic reputation in the early years of the 20th century certainly found a home in Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927). Stenhammar’ss dislike for selfStenhammar’ promotion made him a nurturing figure to many 20th-century Swedish musicians. He studied piano in Berlin but was effectively self-taught as a composer, becoming known among ▲ pianophiles for his two imposing
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HISTORY concertos and four sonatas. His musical language, more than that of any of the composers mentioned already,, pointed towards the upheavals already of the 20th century century.. Sometimes his harmonies are terse and elusive like those of his Finnish colleague Jean Sibelius; often his textures have a more central-European churn than those of the Norwegians. His sonatas and concertos for piano are well worth hearing. But pianists of an intermediate level looking to sample his repertoire using their own fingers could do worse than start with his ree Small Piano Pieces. Pieces. e set opens with a gentle cradle song, before moving on to a more perky Allegro perky Allegro (shades of Kraus and Berwald’s Berwald’s abrupt shifts in key) and ends with a miniature Polska full full of zest. One lesser-known contemporary of Stenhammar was Wilhelm PetersonBerger (1867-1942). His training was more native, spread between
Peterson-Berger and Stenhammer (far right)
chiefly to Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Finland, not a Scandinavian country by definition, was something of a lone cultural wolf but shared many aspects of Scandinavia’s Scandinavia’s cultural DNA, not
‘he recognized Denmark as his native country,, whence he came to our country region.’ is was Dieterich Buxtehude, one of the greatest of all keyboard players, who inspired Bach himself.
Stockholm Dresden, his career asand a music criticand (likehe began Berlioz) for whom composition was a relatively unprofitable, private activity activity.. With the appearance in 1896 of the first book of Frösöblomster , however, his reputation turned a corner, and no wonder, for here here is a collection of piano tone-paintings of seemingly effortless melodic freshness and charm, many of them accessible to intermediatelevel pianists such as No 6, Going to Church and Church and No 4, Lawn Tennis – – a particular enthusiasm of the composer’s. ese ‘Flowers from Frösö’ (followed up by two further such collections in 1900 and 1914) evoke scenes of life on a small lake island, just south of the
least the Lutheranism. expressively sobering force that was Sibelius composed over 150 works for the piano, but his writing for the instrument has come in for criticism as unidiomatic and predominantly ‘miniature’ ‘mini ature’ in scale. Many fine pianists have begged to differ with this verdict, including Leif Ove Andsnes and Glenn Gould, who have both recorded a personal selection of works. Gould wrote that ‘in Sibelius’s piano music, everything works – everything sings’. e trio of Kyllikki Op Op 41 embodies a particularly Finnish brand of romanticism that was rather more brutal and even more melancholic than that of Grieg’s Norway. More
Whether he was born ina Germany, Germany , or Denmark, or indeed part of what is now Germany that belonged at the time to Denmark, remains a matter for historical debate. His first two posts as an organist, however, were in the Danish cities of Helsingborg and Elsinore, until he made a decisive move to Lübeck. Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) moved in the other direction, from northern Germany to Copenhagen, which had been a flourishing centre of musical activity since the early 17th century. Kuhlau personifies the ‘golden age’ of creativity that swept through Denmark in the early 1800s, composing iconic works of early
Arctic Circle, which Peterson-Berger Peterson-Berger knew well: he settled there in 1930 and is buried at the church on Frösö. Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960) wrote little piano music but a duet transcription of his orchestral Swedish Rhapsody No 1 was recorded by the redoubtable Goldstone & Clemmow Duo on a ‘Magical Places’ album issued by the Divine Art label. Unlike Alfvén, Hilding Rosenberg (1892-1985) was a pianist by training and a professional soloist in his early years. e late-Romantic idiom of his early works developed
often encountered is a slightly rambling set of Ten Ten Pieces Op 24, not written as a set but nevertheless containing some gems (No 6, Idyll , is a personal favourite). It took time for the innovative achievements of Sibelius to be recognized and then absorbed by his successors, but the ‘Finnish’ ‘Finnish’ quality of his music has never been in doubt. How does it translate into the notes? Many listeners sense the translucent and elusive Nordic light in Sibelius’s works, and his piano pieces can
Danish Romanticism such as incidental music for Elverhøj , a comedy which is now regarded as the first Danish national play play.. Kuhlau also brought Beethoven’s piano music to Scandinavia, and composed his own fascinating ‘tribute’ to Beethoven’s C major Concerto in the same key: you can compare the two works on a 2012 Orchid Classics album played by the Danish pianist Marianna Shirinyan. Among the solo piano music is a collection of sonatinas: good for working on technique, if not
into a personal voice comparable to the likes of Shostakovich or even Hindemith. Advanced pianists will surely find his Sonatin Sonatin and and Suite fascinating before graduating to a fearsome trio of sonatas. Finland
While Sweden was struggling to get her music heard around the turn of the last century, Finland Finland was emerging as the chief exporter of Nordic music thanks
certainly have that effect. Many Finnish composers after Sibelius took that idea further, not least his pupil Einojohani Rauvataara (1928-2016) in piano music such as a set of radiant Icons , Preludes , and the Piano Sonata No 2. Denmark
Here our journey through Nordic piano music arrives at what might be considered its beginning. According to an obituary written shortly after his death in 1707,
exactly inspired. After Kuhlau, the man who galvanized Danish musical life in the 19th century was Niels Gade (18171890). Gade didn’t just study in Leipzig, he ended up as chief conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and boss of the t he city’s city’s conservatoire (both founded by Felix Mendelssohn). Shirinyan made an album of Gade’s piano music in his bicentenary year of 2017. Much of it is fiendishly tricky (Gade was not a pianist himself) but
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advanced pianists will be able to get their fingers around the short and delightful Chanson danoise , which uses a well-known Danish folk tune.
might want to explore Nielsen Nielsen’s ’s Humoresque-Bagatelles (from (from a composer who had the best sense of humour of any) or the mighty
Gade’ss(1865-1931). Gade’ most famous As pupil was Nielsen soon as Carl the 19-year-old Nielsen enrolled at Gade’s Royal Danish Conservatoire in 1884, he began beg an to ruffl r uffle feathers. feat hers. To Gade, this outspoken, spiky-haired creature looked like an outsider. And that’s what Nielsen was: the son of a house-painter from the island of Funen whose humble roots were not forgotten during his gradual ascension to celebrity status. at tension – between the urbane and the abrupt, the well behaved and the reckless – shapes Nielsen’s Nielsen’s voice. Gade dismissed Nielsen’s graduation piece, his Op 1 Suite for Strings, as ‘too messy’. When you set teacher and pupil side by side, Nielsen’s Nielsen’s piano
eme andcreativity Variations. Musical exploded in Denmark after Nielsen. Another key figure is Rued Langgaard (1893-1952), a contemporary of Nielsen’s whose super-charged, imaginative works range from the firmly Romantic to the outlandishly experimental. In his piano cycle Insectarium of 1917, Langgaard became the first composer to instruct pianists to knock on the frame of the instrument and to pluck its strings with their fingers. ese days Denmark has almost as many active and internationally respected composers as Finland. ere is copious invention in the piano music of Per Nørgård (b1932),
music certainly sounds less aristocratic perhaps the most esteemed of Danish composers today. His colleague Hans and more down-to-earth. Like Grieg, Nielsen wrote tunes that emulated the Abrahamsen (b1952) is one of few composers since Maurice Ravel to shape and feel of folk songs. at have written a piano concerto for made his music ‘feel’ Danish, and its (2015). distant horizons echo the flat landscape the left hand: Left, Alone (2015). One composer who might be labelled of Demark in direct contrast to the ‘accessible’ but who still adheres to mountains of Grieg’s Norway. a strict compositional philosophy Nielsen wanted everyone, whatever is Bo Gunge (b1964), whose piano his or her background, to be able to enjoy his music and indeed perform it. works include a delightful Sonatine, ere is no better example of that than a set of 12 Studies and the more the composer’s two sets of Piano Music recent For Piano. for Young Young and Old which, which, like Bach’s Well W ell over a century after the age
Above (clockwise from top left): Kuhlau, Langgaard, Gade and Nielsen
to Nørgård have a tendency to alight upon one idea and drill deep into it). But the music of the north is also international and thrilling as well as being locally distinctive. For the most important verdict of all, try it for yourself. ■
Scores From Scandinavia inside this issue DENMARK Gade Barcarolle – Aquarellen Aquarellen Op Op 19 No 5, p42 Kuhlau Allegro – – Sonatina Op 55 No 4, p32 Schytte Melodious Study No 12, p28
Well-Tempered Clavier , travel through of national Romanticism, does all the sharp and flat keys. at means, Scandinavian piano music remain as distinctive as it was in the time of obviously, that there are a number of pieces in straightforward keys and some Grieg? Does it share anything with in more tricky ones. At the former end the food and TV from the north that we consume with such enthusiasm? of the scale, the linked pieces in G Allegro scherzoso You ou could certainly say that the major from Book 1 – Y and Grazioso – are not only entertaining, region’s piano music was and remains ‘locally sourced’ (much of it still makes they offer the perfect introduction to use of indigenous folk tunes), well Nielsen’s sound-world: little abrupt prepared (Nordic music is known for changes of key in the first, and its strong sense of organisation) and rhythmic insistence like a rustic dance in the second. More ambitious players uncomplicated (composers from Grieg
Schytte Melodious Study No 16, p29 NORWAY NORWAY Grieg Arietta – – Lyric Piece Op 12 No 1, p49 7, p54 Grieg Remembrances – Lyric Piece Op 71 No 7, Grøndahl Summer Song – Fantasistykk Fantasistykker er Op Op 45 No 3, p38, with a lesson on page 22 Sinding Rustle of Spring, p57 p57,, with a lesson lesso n on page 24
SWEDEN Peterson-Berger Going to Church – Frösöblomster Op 16 No 6, p40
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LEGENDS
Aimez-V Aimez-Vouz ouz
What musical celebration of Scandinavia would be complete without the t he Swedish super-group? Let your hair down, says Warwick Thompson, and enjoy the craft of songs that tha t were made to last
here are several ways of denoting the eras in which we live. Tere’ Tere’s BC and AD for Christians, AM for Jews, and AH for Muslims. But now all world experts agree (I jest not) that these terms should be superseded by the much more powerful acronyms AN and AC. Tey stand for: ‘ABBA Naff’ and ‘ABBA Cool’. Can a greater historical sea-change exist than between the dark ages when ABBA was a subject of derision, and the glorious epoch we now inhabit in which they are acknowledged as creators of the greatest pop songs ever written?
minds as cold as ice’? Who can forget ear-bludgeoning rhymes such as ‘In the tourist jam, round the Notre Dame’? Remember the determined – even pathological? – aversion to anything resembling a natural fibre in their costumes; those kaleidoscope-lens music videos; their hair . How we laughed; how we imagined that we knew better. More fool us. ABBA disbanded in 1982, but somehow those pesky melodies had lodged in our ears. It was a guilty pleasure, we told ourselves: naff, but fun too. A few years later came the mega-popular tribute bands, such as Björn Again, and they started playing to packed-out venues. ABBA was
Suddenly it was more than simply OK to admit an affection for ABBA. Te era of ‘ironic’ appreciation was over,, and the belief that ABBA had over produced the best pop ever was now the new truth. But what was it in their output that the hand of time had now revealed? What had elevated ABBA above other great groups such as the Bee Gees or the Beach Boys?
popular,, we had to admit, but once popular Tose of us unlucky enough to upon a time so were shoulder-pads, remember the bad old days of AN during the 70s may recall cackling over mullets and VHS. But the rehabilitation continued. In 1992 ABBA’’s wonky English. ‘Chiquitita, ABBA Erasure issued their fabulously campy you and I know / How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they’re EP Abba-esque, with cover versions of Voulez-Vous . leaving…’ Leaving what , one wondered? four songs including Voulez-Vous Muriel’s Wedding Wedding and Te Adventures of ABBA lyrics were no guide guide to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert made grammar, at any rate. their own cinematic tributes. Ten there was the overworked So much for AN. Te era of AC reliance on heaped-up idioms and officially began in 1999 with that mixed metaphors. ‘We’ ‘We’re still striving irresistible jukebox juggernaut of for the sky / No taste for humble pie.’ theatrical feelgood, Mamma Mia! ‘Te gods may roll the dice / Teir 78• Pianist 102
Slipping through my fingers
Analysis of ABBA songs is, to an extent, missing the point. If one could reproduce their winning formula, we’d all be doing it. But in penance for all that misplaced sniggering of the AN years, I’ll have a go. What strikes medon’t first do is that melodies so often whatthe you’d expect. Take Happy New Year : the sinuous tune of the chorus shifts under your feet like a loose rug, yet still feels incontrovertibly right . In One Of Us , there is nothing conventional about the unexpected melodic plunge on the last word in the phrase ‘feeling stupid, feeling small ’:’: and the chorus concludes on a surprising dominant 7th which is only resolved in the final iteration. Even in I Had A Dream, which approaches the simplicity of a folk song, the melody falls on the word ‘angels’ by an augmented fourth, which is a notoriously tricky interval to sing, yet it doesn’t seem eccentric e ccentric or odd here.
did Sinéad O’Connor in her touching rendition of Chiquitita . But for every success there are a hundred fails, such as the oh-so-hilarious New Zealand rock album Abbasalutely , or the appalling orchestral inflations of the RPO or the LSO ‘play ‘playing ing ABBA’.
Early days: the group’s first album (left), including the hitsingle title song which launched their career. Recorded just
On and on and on
e word-setting also challenges Key to Björn and Benny’s originality is their readiness to draw from different convention. In the phrase ‘And when you get the chance’ (Dancing Queen), and even unlikely musical genres, such as oom-pah German Schlager (I Had the single syllable ‘chance’ is set to a A Dream), church chorale (Lay All three-note melisma in the most Your Love ), ), rock (On And On And unlikely way. way. Purcell and Britten used On), tango (Head Over Heels ), the same trick to great effect. ), balladry In their rhythms too, Benny (beard) (ank You For e Music ), ), Scottish Arrival ), ), disco (Dancing Queen), and Björn (no beard) kept their invention invention folk ( Arrival fresh with unexpected angles and corners. prog-rock (e Visitors ) and so on. Who has hasn n’t found found the themse mselve lvess misc miscoun ountin ting g But they were never slavish imitators. the beat during the syncopations which In each case, they took what they Money,, Money, Money, wanted from the trop tropes es of each genre genre lead into the chorus of Money Money or and turned turned them into something fresh. or in the lead-in to the verse e critic Ivan Hewett suggests that of Angel Eyes ? And yet, once you’ve this deracination has contributed to committed them to memory, they’re ABBA’’s longevity. ABBA longevity. He wrote that ‘as ‘as impossible to dislodge. Another factor in what made ABBA time passes, the songs’ profusion of sound like ABBA is the sheer beauty vague floating “cultural signifiers” becomes more and more advantageous. of the textures. e group loved the ‘wall of sound’ principle pioneered by It allows every generation to find its Phil Spector, Spector, and their studio engineer own emotional life mirrored in them.’ e sparkly, sparkly, upbeat side of ABBA Michael Tretow created a doublecomes readily to mind, but to ignore tracked studio sound to ensure that the band sounded both polished and huge. their melancholy side is to underestimate them. As the band headed And the orchestr orchestrations ations are adorable. adorable. Don’t the flutes and drums in Fernando into the 80s, many of their songs immediately conjure a military campfire became darker in tone and employed increasingly complex lyrics of surprising under a starry Mexican night sky? depth. Both couples in the group Doesn’t Doesn ’t the repetitive falling synth riff (Benny/Frida and Björn/Agnetha) in the introduction to e Day Before
over five years later at the end of 1977, their fifth album (right) was launched in conjunction with Abba: The Movie
is quoted as saying that the catchiness of the melodies, the simplicity of the lyrics (which nurture our atavistic desire for singalong participation) and the regularity of the verse/chorus structure (satisfying our need for order), encourage the production of dopamine – a natural ‘happy-juice’ – in the brain. And even when hearing hearing the sadder songs, he suggests that the ‘comfort hormone of prolactin is produced.’ So perhaps the days of naffness are well and truly over. over. As keepers of the flame, Benny and Bjorn have astutely curated the group’s heritage with musicals and museums. ere is even (praise be!) the prospect of a longawaited revival. Having resisted siren calls to reform for the past 35 years, the group has recorded two new songs. No commercial release date has yet been announced but one of them, I Still Have Faith In You, will be performed by avatars (OK, OK: Abbatars) in December on a TV special to be broadcast jointly by the BBC and NBC. ‘It was wonderful,’ says the group’s manager Görel Hanser, who was present at the sessions in 2017. ‘It was like no time had passed at all. It was like in the olden days. ey were happy,, it was easy happy e asy and warm-hearted. ere was magic in the music, in the studio and in the song. It has ABBA’s melancholy,, and their sound – but it’s melancholy a modern ABBA song.’ Maybe those olden days aren’t aren’t quite over. I still can’t resist giggling with disbelief at this line in Our Last
You Came create create a world of humdrum banality,, ready to be overturned by banality love? en there’s the blending of the husky sound of Frida (brunette) and the lighter timbre of Agnetha (blonde), both of whose voices blossom under the microphone. Such memorable perfection makes it all the trickier to adapt or arrange the songs for other media. It’s It’s why there are very few successful cover versions of ABBA songs, and the ones which work best retain much of the original ABBA sound. Erasure got it right, as
Summer : And now you re working in a bank / e family man, the football fan / And your name is Harry…’ – which begs the question of what Harry’ss name had been previously: Harry’ Anni-Frid? e e mind boggles… It boggles more, however, at the ingenuity of the melody, the touching sentiment of the lyrics and the gorgeously produced sound. ank goodness we live in AC. ■
split up in 1981, and you can hear an encroaching sadness and resignation in many songs from the time. One Of Us , Happy New Year , Our Last Summer and Like An Angel Passing rough My Room are all tinged with a Nordic strain of melancholy. An oeuvre which consisted only of happy, toe-tapping, teeth’n’smiles showstoppers would hardly have stood the test of time. ere may even be a scientific answer to the success of ABBA’s music. In an article in e New York Times , cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin
Turn to page 30 for the score of I Have A Dream.
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REPERTOIRE
LISTEN Tap the play buttons below to hear Chenyin Li play our bonus tracks tracks
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GRIEG WATCHMAN’ GRIEG W ATCHMAN’S S SONG OP 12 NO 3
GRIEG FAIRY DANCE OP 12 GRIEG FAIRY NO 4
GRIEG L ONELY WANDERER GRIEG L OP 43 NO 2
GRIEG MELODIE GRIEG MELODIE OP 47 NO 3
GRIEG WEDDING GRIEG WEDDI NG DAY A AT T TROLDHAUGEN TROLDHA UGEN OP 65 NO 6
Look no further than the Lyric Pieces to discover the inner ‘composing hut’ of Edvard Grieg. John Evans explores their history with the help of pianist Alessandro Deljavan
W
ritten between 1866 and 1901, the ten volumes of Lyric Pieces are windows on the world of Edvard Grieg. Grieg. Tese 66 miniatures – most around two or three minutes long – continue to attract some
Te sound of the wax-master 78s may be scratchy, their pitch frustratingly inconstant, but you can still appreciate his remarkable, Leipzig-trained technique and musicianship. Grieg plays Wedding Day at Troldhaugen at Troldhaugen at a fair lick but never loses control. His performance of
imperative behind their composition. Te 10 sets were published by Edition Peters and were enormously successful, to the extent exte nt that the firm firm’’s director Max Abraham would invite Grieg to
The best way to approach
of the piano world s biggest names. If they haven’t haven’t recorded them, you can be sure they play them as encores. Emil Gilels’s Gilels’s 1974 album of favourites on DG is probably the best known but there are other selections performed by W Walter alter Gieseking, Stephen Hough and Leif Ove Andsnes. For the full set there’s Eva Knardahl, Peter Katin and, most recently, Alessandro Deljavan. Grieg himself played some Lyric Pieces for the gramophone in May 1903 and then made some piano-roll records in 1905, two years before his death.
Butterfly (Op (Op 43 No 1) swoops and flutters. To Spring Sp ring (Op (Op 43 No 6) shows great control and balance between the hands. If I sound like a piano teacher, it’ it’ss only because that’s that’s the employment Grieg sought as a young man about to be married. He composed his first set of Lyric Pieces, Opus 12, largely for that purpose. Given that Grieg wrote Lyric Pieces throughout his career, separating the man from the music is a formidable task – and why would you try? However, there was a strong commercial
the Lyric Pieces is to connect all the pieces of one opus to each other raise the Peters Edition flag each time the composer delivered a new one. Grieg sent Abraham a letter with the tenth set, notifying him that this would be the final volume. Abraham promptly wrote back pleading with the composer to change his mind.
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Grieg insisted the collection was complete and, to emphasise the point, signed it off with Remembrances (Op 71 No 7), a waltz based on the very first piece, Arietta piece, Arietta (Op12 (Op12 No 1). The sound and soul of Norway Opus 12 was published in 1867, the
year Grieg married his first cousin, Nina. He had recently graduated in piano and composition from the Leipzig Conservatoire, a cradle of German Romanticism as exemplified by Robert Schumann, whose piano miniatures were a source of inspiration to the young Grieg. Further studies in Copenhagen and Oslo refined his compositional skills and sensitivity to folk music with the help of composers such as Niels Gade and Rikard Nordraak. Another significant figure for Grieg was Otto WinterHjelm, who grasped how folk music could be developed along more
s e m o H r e s o p m o C d n a s
Grieg’s composing hut at Troldhaugen Troldhaugen
(left); the musically ambitious lines. Te organist and composer Ludvig Lindeman composer at the encouraged Grieg to discover folk piano with his music in the Norwegian countryside wife Nina, circa and among its people. 1890 (above); Herein lie the seeds of the Lyric the Peters Edition scope. From this point onwards, new Pieces: the signature sound of cover of the Op 68 Schumann, the influence of folk music sets of Lyric Pieces would appear every Pieces; overleaf, two or three years, until the tenth and the drawing room and the composer’s composer’s own harmonic language, which can already be final set of 1901. at Troldhaugen discerned in the Opus 12 pieces with One of a kind their shifts from major to minor, For this story, I sight-read all 66 pieces abrupt changes in harmony and over a weekend. I concluded from the drone-like open fifths. experience that the cherry-picking Shortly after the publication of approach of a pianist such as Gilels has Opus 12, Grieg visited Liszt in Rome. Te encounter fired his imagination. done a disservice to the Lyric Pieces. A belief has arisen that only a few In later years he would meet chaikovsky and visit Bayreuth at pieces are worthy of attention. Play through them for yourself, however, least twice, first to see the premiere of W Wagner’ agner’ss Ring cycle, cycle, and then to hear or listen to a complete recording by a pianist such as Alessandro Deljavan, Parsifal . Tis annual migration was a pattern for many Scandinavian artists and it becomes clear how the Lyric Pieces have become the victim of a who would spend half the year working locally before heading for the ‘Best of’ approach that takes pieces out of context so that all sense of great European capitals of culture. Tanks not least to the success of Opus 12, Grieg became known as ‘the Chopin of the North’. North’. Tere followed the Piano Concerto in Watch Chenyin Li performing Grieg Lyric A minor and incidental music to
TAP TO WATCH WATCH
progression or contrast is lost. aken in isolation, some of them may seem short of ideas, rambling or just plain discordant (say, (say, the Valse Impromptu Op Impromptu Op 47 No 1). Heard in context with their companions, however,, they become unique, however inventive, beautiful and memorable. ‘Te best way to approach the Lyric Pieces is to connect all the pieces of one opus to each other,’ says Deljavan, whose recording was released earlier this year by the OnClassical label. ‘Te Notturno Notturno [Op [Op 54 No 2] is a very special piece to me. Placed between two “troll” pieces, I view it as a “lyric pause”. And it’s it’s very special how the Op 54 set ends with the mysterious sounds of Bell Ringing , starting pianissimo as pianissimo as if from a distance.’ Deljavan also cautions against seeing some pieces as little more than exercises. Melody ‘Melody [Op [Op 38 No 3] or Gade [Op [Op 57 No 2] may sound like exercises, but I believe that each one has a particular meaning. In any case, while some might seem a little superficial in a set of six, seven or eight pieces, it’s always good to have moments with less focus.’ His point is proved by his recording. Illusion Op 57 No 3 may seem flat in isolation, but it makes complete sense
m u e s u M t r A E D O K y b n g e u a h d l o r T m u e s u M g e i r G d r a v d E © : s e g a m i l l A
Ibsen’s Peer Gynt . By the middle of the 1870s it was clear he had found not only his own musical voice but Norway’s, too. Inevitably,, work on the Lyric Pieces Inevitably was put on hold. It would be 16 years before the second set, Opus 38, was published in 1883 – and what a change in Grieg’s composing st style yle this music represents. Te influences and experiences of the previous years can be heard in his more sophisticated harmonies and rhythms, increased use of chromaticism and greater pianistic
Piece Lonely Wanderer Wanderer op 43 no 2
after hearing Gade . As Deljavan observes, certain pieces can be elusive on first acquaintance despite their descriptive titles. ‘It’s very important to give each piece an image. Spend all the time you need to find the correct image. In my case, once I had found the “right” image, I could connect with the music.’ Musical diaries
Deljavan believes that, taken in sum, the Lyric Pieces tell the story of Grieg. ▲ Trough them we may hear the 81• Pianist 102
REPERTOIRE composer develop from an impetuous 24-year-old into a reflective man of his late 50s, endowed by age with not only experience but a measure of melancholy.. ‘During this time he lost melancholy his only child, a young daughter [Alexandra died in 1869, aged one], met Liszt firstperiod, time and studied with him for for the a short and discovered Wagner’s music. All this while living a normal life with his wife, especially when he stopped travelling and bought Troldhaugen.’ Troldhaugen.’ In 1885 Grieg moved to his new home on the shore of Lake Nordås, a few miles from Bergen. His composing hut still stands in the grounds. Today, the property falls under the care of Kode, the Norwegian organisation that manages Norway’s art museums and composer homes. Monica Jangaard is its curator. curator. Like Deljavan, she believes the Lyric Pieces are a musical diary. ‘ey shine a light on his background, starting from his early years in Christiania (now Oslo) where he settled in 1866. And they are influenced by events in his life. Take Opus 43, published in 1886. Grieg, now married, had just moved into Troldhaugen, Troldhaugen, his first permanent home. e music is reflective: Butterfly , In My Native Country , To Spring Sp ring … ey speak about home, nature, his love of country.’ Grieg loved mountains, especially hiking in the Jotunheimen region of his home country. ‘He was there in the summer of 1891,’ says Jangaard, ‘meeting the locals and hearing their stories. Opus 54, containing Shepherd Boy , March of the Dwarfs and and Bell Ringing , could have been inspired by these experiences.’
He turned this perceptual confusion (or ambiguity) to creative advantage by using shifting tonalities as the fancy took him, such as in the Valse Impromptu Op Impromptu Op 47 No 1. Minor keys have long been associated with sadness, longing and regret. ese are sentiments Grieg returns to time and again in the Lyric Pieces: for example, Elegie Op Op 38 No 6, Lonely Wanderer Op Op 43 No 2 and Melancholy and Melancholy Op 47 No 5. ese more reflective pieces may tell us something about Grieg’s Grieg’s innermost feelings, but only up to a certain point. ‘Many people used to say that Mozart’ss best compositions were Mozart’ written in minor keys,’ keys,’ says Deljavan. ‘I think that in the Lyric Pieces, Grieg was more more comfortable comfortable with talking Emotional reticence about himself in this way way.. ‘You can hear his emotions – some Grieg confessed that he found it hard to tell if particular Norwegian folksongs very deep, some more floating, some even rough, but most of them heavenly. were cast in major or minor keys.
Saying that, I can imagine a point in almost all of them that he is reluctant to cross. It is as if, ultimately, Grieg was wary of expressing his deepest feelings.’ Jangaard notes the variety of technical challenges posed by Grieg, as well as the range of their musical styles and moods. ‘Each set seems to be written to cater for all levels of technical ability,’ ability,’ she says. ‘Possibly it’ss deliberate. And they’re it’ they’re all so different that they appeal to so many musical personalities.’ ‘I feel connected to them all,’ says Deljavan, ‘but for different reasons I would mention a favourite pair. Canon Op Canon Op 38 No 8 is not often played but very poetic. e other is To Spring Spr ing . It reminds us how special spring is, when it comes.’ By the time he wrote the final set, Grieg was in poor health, a legacy of the tuberculosis and pleurisy that destroyed his left lung and attacked his spine in his early 20s. ‘He talks about suffering from bronchitis and not being able to reach the pedal,’ says Jangaard. He would live for another six years.
Just as the music of the Lyric Lyric Pieces encloses ‘the inner Grieg’, so do some of his titles. Gone , from the final set, could hardly be more appropriate – except that the one that follows it is more appropriate still: Remembrances . As the piece plays out, it affords an opportunity to reflect on the 65 pieces and 35 years that passed before it. No wonder Grieg felt that he had done his bit for Max Abraham. ■
) h t r o W ( a g e v o l a E n i m a j n e B ©
Chenyin Li plays seven Lyric Pieces on the covermount album. 82• Pianist 102
MAKERS
pril is an important month in the pianomanufacturing calendar. Each year around this
A
German
time the Musikmesse What’s What’ s the glamorous buzz at Frankfurt’ Frankfurt’s Musikmesse? takes place in the vast conference halls Pianist found found grands,s down-to-earth of Frankfurt. For the last 30 years, the digitals, multi-temperament uprights and even four-day fair has been the foremost annual meeting place for the music a piano designed like a bee-hive industry,, welcoming not only many industry instrument manufacturers but also sheet music, music production and marketing. With 1800 exhibitors from 56 countries on show this year, it still attracts an impressively international array of companies. All the major publishers are here, including Schott, Faber, Alfred Publishing and Music Sales. In the piano salon area, however, the general perception is that fair has shrunk, both in terms of scale and significance. Whether or not Musikmesse continues to thrive at a time of Europe-wide upheaval remains to be seen, but here’s a taste of what we found as we strolled along the (often rather quiet) walkways. To Bösendorfer first, and three new models are making debuts. e design of the 185VC Vienna Concert is an enhanced development of the Concert Grand 280VC. More eyecatching is Bösendorfer’ Bösendorfer’ss Dragonfly: lift the lid, and you find a scene of animal and plant life depicted in fine to digital instruments thanks to inlay work, using several different sound engines that use the piano woods. e design inspiration comes soundboard itself, not conventional from the Baroque gardens of the speakers, as the amplification system. Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna in the In similar fashion the acoustic Silent days of Empress Maria eresa. e also delivers digital sound, but via Dragonfly truly is a limited edition: headphones (perfect for late-night just 18 polished-black model 200 practice). e upgrades (available in grands have been produced. both grand and upright models in Also on display in Frankfurt Frankfurt is both cases) address matters of Bösendorfer’ss new Disklavier range. Bösendorfer’ flexibility and sound: a new model of With technology borrowed from lightweight transducer has minimum Yamaha’’s Disklavier Enspire, there are Yamaha contact to the soundboard in search four models in the range (185VC, of a treble sound with greater clarity. 200, 214VC and 280VC). Each has New digital ‘voices’ have over a thousand recordings in a digital been added such as the library.. With the piano set library se t to playback Bösendorfer Imperial grand. mode, there is a choice of Rachmaninov Yamaha’s Yamaha’s Smart Smart Pianist app
playing his own works, Oscar Peterson and many more great pianists of past and present. Including you, in theory: pianists can also record and play back their own music.
(see Pianist 99) 99) facilitates further interplay such as metronome control and the ability to
Yamaha has upgraded the Silent TransAcoustic and the popular piano ranges in time for the Messe. Pianist has has followed the development of Yamaha’s Silent over the years, most recently inside issue 77, followed in short order by a feature on the TransAcoustic (Pianist 79). 79). Models in the TransAcoustic TransAcoustic range turn at the touch of a button from acoustic
displaydevice. a score on your smart Transducers are all the rage on the Musikmesse stand of the ever-inventive Bavarian piano house Steingraeber. e company’s Transducer Grand Piano has been fitted with transducers which allow for several different tuning temperaments, including 84• Pianist 102
honeypot quarter tone and non-Western non-Western modes: as well as a curio in itself, it’s an attractive option for experimental composers, improvisers and arrangers. Two and a half years in the making, the five models in the range have been developed in collaboration with composer Robert HP Platz and the sounds of Pianoteq. If you thought a piano with varying temperaments was something to shout about, Steingraeber offers a choice of actions – – three of them, in fact – for upright models: as well as the normal Classic action there’s a PS (Profi Studio) action with enhanced vibration and quick repetition through the addition of Renner and Yamaha components and an aluminium bar. In the SFM (Steingraeber Ferro Magnet) action, magnets placed inside the action are attracted to each other, again in order to enhance response and repetition. Over at the Kawai stand there are preview models of two forthcoming hybrid acoustic pianos. Due for release in the autumn, the ATX3 will replace the current ATX2 silent acoustic pianos, combining Kawai’ Kawai’ss acoustic models with cutting-edge technology
from the company’ company’ss latest digital range. e slide-out control panel on the ATX2 has been replaced by a touch-screen user interface, set into the bass-end cheek-block. When the acoustic piano is silenced for playing with headphones, the ATX3 uses the same SK-EX Rendering technology as that found in the recently released Novus NV10 digital hybrid and Concert Artist digital pianos. Also from Kawai is the new Aures range, developed in partnership with Onkyo, a high-end hi-fi manufacturer. A soundboard speaker system enables players to enjoy digital piano sound without headphones, and to play audio from an external source. What did Casio bring to Frankfurt? e Celviano range of digital pianos has been extended to include AP-470 models. ese are fitted with two preset grand-piano tones: one designed for classical repertoire, the other for jazz. String Resonance (which adjusts the resonance for each individual key) and Hammer Response technology (which optimizes the attack of the notes to match the characteristics of different types of piano tones) have been enhanced from previous models. e gig-players among you may be attracted by Casio’s Casio’s prospective range of CT-X keyboards. e three models in the range feature a new AiX Sound Source technology and offer 100 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) effects. With large-magnet bass
reflex speakers and a 15W+15W amplifier (maximum output, CT CT- X5000 model – the CT-X300 CT-X300 gets just 6W+6W), the CT-X CT-X range boasts a mod look with a splash of red on the speakers. Our visit to the Musikmesse ends with a flourish. Blüthner has always set the bar high when it comes to piano design (think of the PH grand, conceived with the help of the cult Danish designer Poul Hennigsen) and the Lucid Hive Xtravaganza is no exception. It’s It’s made to order in sizes ranging from 5’1” to 9’2”, comes in white, black and blue and an array of finishes for frame-colour and accessories. With its wooden inner rim (‘fashioned as a bionic structure of a bee-hive’, according to Blüthner), medical-grade plexi-glass outer rim and lid, and cast aluminium legs and lyre, the appearance of the Hive was inspired by Zaha Hadid’ Hadid’s superyacht design and (naturally) it doesn’t come cheap. But if this is the kind of piano you’re re after, the price tag of circa £135,000 is probably just a drop in the ocean. ■
Clockwise from top far left, the Lucid Hive Xtravaganza from Blüthner; Casio’s CT-X keyboard; the new optional actions on Steingraeber’s uprights; and the spectacular inlay of Bösendorfer’s Dragonfly piano
INVESTIGATE FURTHER Blüthner UK www.bluthner.co.uk USA www. www.bluthnerpiano.com bluthnerpiano.com Bösendorfer UK www.boesendorfer.com USA www. www.yamaha.com/boesendor yamaha.com/boesendorferusa ferusa Casio UK www.casio.co.uk
WORLDWIDE www.casio.com
Kawai UK www.kawai.co.uk USA www.kawiaus.com Steingraeber UK www.m www.marksonpianos.com arksonpianos.com (London); www.hurstwoodfarmpianos.co.uk EUROPE www.steingraeber.de Yamaha UK www.uk.yamaha.com USA www. www.usa.yamaha.com usa.yamaha.com
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REVIEW
CD reviews Beethoven for the ages, thoroughly modern Monk and Mompou, and Schubert with a twist, reviewed by Dave Jones, Warwick Thompson and Erica Worth Pianist star Pianist star ratings: ratings: ★★★★★ ★★★★★Essential – go get it! it!
JULIEN BROCAL
★★★★Really ★★★★
great ★★★ ★★★A fine release release ★★ ★★Disappointing Disappointing ★Poor
Reflections: Solo works by Mompou and Ravel Rubicon RCD 1008
EDITOR’S CHOICE MURRAY PERAHIA
★★★★★
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 106 ‘Hammerklavier’; Op 27 No 2 ‘Moonlight’ ‘Moonlight’ Deutsche Grammophon 479 8353
Mompou’s short pieces may sound effortless and intoxicating, intoxicatin g, but in the wrong hands they can swim uncontrollably around the piano: a strong sense of rhythm and good tonal balance is required to bring them off. Arcady Volodos counts among a very select group who have done so on record, bringing control control to the music but still allowing room for an elusive, Chopinesque rubato. He is now joined by Julien Brocal, whose precise attack and luscious tone does Mompou proud – as it does the tender Sonatine and and atmospheric Miroirs of of Ravel. To the Modéré of Sonatine Brocal brings an admirable clarity, fluency, rhythmic precision and Classical restraint. For an arresting sample of his dreamy way with Mompou, try tr y the calm ca lm opening of ‘El lago’ from Paisajes , shimmering with the reflections of light on water, and you’ll hear what I mean. EW
JOHN BEASLEY
Monk’estra Vol. 2: including Evidence, including Evidence, I Mean Me an You, Dear Ruby Ru by and more Mack Avenue MAC 1125 ★★★★★
Tunes originally composed by elonious Monk supply the original material for an impressive big-band release from jazz pianist and conductor John Beasley, Beasley, perhaps
★★★★★
e ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata was written in the years 1817-1818, at the tail-end of a period of great depression for Beethoven. Taking delivery of a new ‘hammerklavier’ from the English maker Broadwood kick-started the composer into gear. is new model of piano – with more notes, a broader sound and more pedal to sustain the sounds – inspired the most groundbreaki groundbreaking ng of all his sonatas. From the sonorous fortiss sonorous fortissimo imo opening-statement opening-statement chords, Perahia Perahia takes us on a momentous journey. Unlike Schnabel he fights shy of Beethoven’s precipitous metronome marking for the first movement, but his Allegro his Allegro still still rings true to a work that the composer predicted pianists would still be struggling with 50 years on. His thorough analysis of the score has produced a searching account of the slow movement, one of the longest written until that point in any genre. With a beautifully melancholic singing line and an understanding of the whole structure, Perahia presents the finest modern-day recording. e hectic, modern-sounding fugue is set out at record speed and with an unfaltering technique; the fugue entries are always clearly defined. Written six years earlier, the ‘Moonlight’ ‘ Moonlight’ Sonata Sonat a is no less l ess innovative innova tive in its way, as Perahia makes clear, not least in his magical handling of the first movement’s gentle three-note accompaniment. Again, he opts for a very ver y rapid finale, with a compelling sense of direction. Perahia’s ‘Hammerklavier’ may attract the headlines, but the real star here is the ‘Moonlight’, for a combination of intellect with fantasy that opens a poetic window on the Romantic Age to come. EW
NELSON GOERNER
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN
★★★★★
★★★★
Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 NHK SO/Tadaaki Otaka Alpha 398
Argentinian pianist Nelson Goerner is firmly associated with the music of Chopin – around half of his recordings are devoted to the composer – and listening to the
Schubert: Sonata in B flat D960; 4 Impromptus D935 Hyperion CDA68213
What’s this? Someone What’s dares tamper with the immortal Schubert? Heavens to Betsy! In the first of the Impromptus D935, Marc-André Hamelin – having
even surpassing Monk surpassing Monkestra estra Vol. 1. e arrangements are all by Beasley himself, apart from I Mean You ou in in a version by Brian Swartz. e album starts as it means to go on, in an appealingly unconventional big-band way at
creamy, dreamy phrasing of his Brahms B flat creamy, Concerto, it’s easy to hear he ar why. He brings an improvisatory, improvisatory, breathless hush to the Andante and and exquisite, birdlike trills to accompany the cello solo. ere’s real muscle
decided that the piece lacks a suitable coda – has written his own. To To the extent that you regard his approach as iconoclasm or ingenuity will probably determine how much you you enjoy his performance – and indeed the album as a
times, withanDontae s rap onCarter’s Brake’s Sake , and inspiredWinslow’ use of Regina violin on Crepuscule With Nellie . Beasley drops the baton for a fine solo introduction to Dear Ruby sung sung by Dianne Reeves, but like Vol. 1 this album has a strong funky tinge, mixed with swing sections that really swing hard. hard. As much as anyone could possibly know know, if he were alive now now,, surely Monk would have enjoyed this album. DJ
and heft to the movements, extremes are avoided andouter everything is keptbut within a satisfying Brahmsian balance. ere is a complementary restraint from Tadaaki Tadaaki Otaka and the NHK Symphony Symphony,, who play with a captivating shimmer and lightness. e recording was made live in Japan in 2009 (some tiny fluffs are in evidence) and Goerner has only recently approved it for release. Lucky for us that he did. WT
whol whole. e. I coda quiteetolike quit like it, but it, bbeen ut I woul would d have have prefe preferred the new have acknowledged inrred the documentation (‘with added coda by…’), as it seems a bit sneaky not to mention it. Hamelin brings both his renowned technical command (does he have steel springs in place of wrists?), a gorgeous poetic temperament and a crisply unsentimental approach in matters of tempi to the other Impromptus and the B flat Sonata. WT
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PIANO HOLIDA HO LIDAY Y
South of France 22nd - 28th July 2018 Pianists, why not combine a holiday and improve your piano playing? At Saint Laurent, we will provide a fun-filled week of music-making and learning in a unique venue nestling in the stunning Pyrenean countryside, in the South of France.
F C G H’ P S S M 30 J - F 3 A 2018 R: £490 N-R: £385 25% 27
Graham Fitch, a much sought-after teacher and regular contributor to Pianist magazine, will tutor 10 people on 3 prepare prepared d classical pieces. Participants Participants should be from intermediate to advanced level. The performance space boasts a Kawaii RX2 grand.
R C S S • • •
Accommodation is at Saint Laurent and nearby Le Bernet, where you can also enjoy a swim, fabulous views and play the Pleyel grand piano. Digital Practice pianos will be available.
You will enjoy local cuisine and wine, plus the possibility of swimming, walking and local outings.
www.benslowmusic.org 01462 459446 •
[email protected]
Penny +33 6 02 10 37 13 http://tiny.cc/9zfory
Benslow Music, Benslow Lane, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 9RB A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England no no 408404. Reg Charity no 313663
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87• Pianist 102
REVIEW
Sheet music Solo Bach, duet Grieg and taxing Kapustin reviewed by Michael MacMillan, plus Bartók Bartók and movie classics for early learners BARTÓK The First Term Term At The Piano Pia no
Boosey & Hawkes
ISBN: 978-1-4950-9125-4
ese 18 pieces are taken from a piano method jointly written by Bártok and a fellow Hungarian composer and educator, Sandor Reschofsky. Beginning with an elementary, 10-bar piece, the music increases in difficulty to around ar ound Grade 3. Presentati Pres entation on is thorough; the 11 pages of music are enhanced by biographies, lesson plans and historical and pedagogical commentary commentary.. ere is online access to short video lessons made by the editor, e ditor, Immanuela Gruenberg. e music-only EMB edition is cheaper, but the add-ons make this new edition from Boosey & Hawkes an attractive option.
MOVIE MUSIC FAVOURITES Mike Cornick
SOLO EXTREME BOOKS 1-3 Melody Bober
Alfred Music ISBN: 978-1-4706-3865-8 (1); -3866-5 (2); -3867-2 (3)
Cover images of a windsurfer, snowboarder and mountain biker underline the ‘Xtreme’ nature of nine ‘X-traordinary and Challenging Piano Pieces’ in each volume. Progressing from pre-Grade 1 to around Grade 3, the music is extreme in the sense that it offers plenty of opportunities to cross hands, use pedal, explore the full range of the keyboard and even make use of a call bell. e music is spaciously printed – four bars to a line throughout – and even the easiest pieces with single-line melodies sound fun to play. Texture and flavour are brought to several pieces in the first two books by an optional duet accompaniment.
Universal Edition
GRIEG
ISBN: 978-3-7024-7506-2
Norwegian Dances Op 35
Mike Cornick is a seasoned veteran of duet arrangements, having published six volumes for Schott. e eight pieces here have appeared in films, although young learners are unlikely to have watched them since they date from the 1940s to the early 2000s. e composers are all classical: Satie (two pieces), JS Bach, Johann Strauss, Strauss, Mozart, Ponchielli, Ponchielli, Rota Ch cultyequal ran ges ranges from Gradeand 2 toChopin. 4,opin. with Diffi generally distribution of lines, and the music lies well under the hands. Useful recordings of both ‘play ‘play-along’ -along’ and complete performance tracks are included on a complementary CD. At just under £20, however,, the package is surprisingly expensive. however
BARBARA ARENS Piano Exotico, A Scottish Collection
Breitkopf & Härtel ISBN: 979-0-004-18531-5
Henle
ISMN: 979-0-2018-1283-0 (HN1283)
Grieg based his four Norwegian Dances on folk melodies collected by the organist and composer Ludvig Lindeman. He apparently thought highly of these duets, often performing them with his wife Nina, and he later arranged them for piano solo (also published by Henle: HN1282). new edition is based on the first one, is published by CF Peters in 1881. e music is printed in landscape orientation – as is Peters Edition’’s current version – with parts on Edition opposing pages, and includes editorial fingering and suggested hand distributions. Page-turns are sympathetically placed, and the engraving is typically clear. Look to Schott’ss edition if you prefer your duets Schott’ in portrait format, but otherwise buy without reservation.
a section of acrobatic right-hand figuration. Pianists with smaller hands may struggle with the predominance of ninth chords in the LH. e 18-page Variations Op 41 take their theme from the famous bassoon solo which opens Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring , richly elaborated in a medium-swing tempo with Count Basie-like chordal punctuations over a walking bass. A minor-key Larghetto Larghetto variation evokes Kapustin Kapustin’’s Russian heritage before a brief cadenza leads into a final, finger-twisting Presto Presto.. It’s exhilarating stuff, but: you have been warned!
JS BACH Suites, Partitas, Sonatas transcribed for harpsichord by Gustav Leonhardt
Bärenreiter
ISMN: 979-0-006-56260-2
e Baroque-music scholar and pioneer Gustav Leonhardt (1928-2012) was best known as a much-recorded harpsichordist and Bach interpreter. Between 1968 and 1978 he made these transcriptions of three Cello Suites, the solo Violin Partitas and two of the sonatas as well as sonatas originally written for flute and for lute. e arrangements – unfailingly elegant and keyboard-friendly – were originally conceived for harpsichord, harpsichord, but they work well enough on the piano. In preparing this edition, Leonhardt’s Leonhardt’s pupil Siebe Henstra hasmodern made cosmetic to conform with editorialalterations practices. e volume is costly, but you won’t find these arrangements anywhere else.
THE PROFESSION PROFESSIONAL AL PIANIST: CLASSICAL SOLOS Edited by Alfred Mendoza
Alfred Music
ISBN: 978-1-4706-2030-1
Pianists are often asked to provide music for an occasion: this book is a good place to start.
KAPUSTIN
(Exotico); Spartan Press ISMN: 979-0-57998-357-6 (Scottish Collection)
Sunrise Op
26, Variations Op 41
Schott
e 28 brief pieces in Piano Exotico take Exotico take their theme from the worldwide travels of their
ISMN: 979-0-001-16274-6
(ED22656) (Sunrise); composer, thestyle widely published -16272-62 (ED22658) (b1960). e of her writingBarbara (pitchedArens here around Grades 3-5) is both imaginative and e syncopated, jazz-inflected pedagogically conceived. Any readers with a scores of Nikolai Kapustin ought to come similar level of ability and an interest in Scottish with an advisory label, warning of the danger music will find much to enjoy in A in A Scottish of discombobulation: they make serious Collection.. e 15 pieces are divided between Collection demands, and these two pieces fall into versions of tunes such as e Bonnie Banks diploma-level territory. territory. e seven pages o’ Loch Lomond , and original works inspired of Sunrise open open with a sauntering, bluesy by Arens’s Arens’s trips to Scotland. Recommended. melody,, which is decorated midway by melody
e 40 pieces are themed around their suitability for use at weddings, funerals, receptions and similar events; the pianist should blend into the background on such occasions, so lengthy and attention-grabbing works have been avoided. Approximate performance times (with and without repeats) of each piece are given, helping one plan to a specific timeframe, and editorial fingering and pedalling suggestions are included; difficulty ranges ran ges from Grade Gra de 3 to Grade 8+. 8+ . It is disappointing to find no contemporary pieces within the selection, which ranges from Bach to Rachmaninov, but the book serves its purpose well enough. ■
88• Pianist 102
Watch our online piano lesson les sons s Visit the Pianist website, where you’ll find over 100 lessons: • Tim Stein teaches the beginner basics of playing • Graham Fitch coaches you through more demanding technical challenges • Martin James Bartlett explores Schumann’s Kinderszenen
• Emmanuel Despax introduces some of Chopin’s Préludes • Graham Fitch on the benefits of learning on a digital piano
The best selection of pianos in the South East: upright and grand; new and restored;
acoustic and digital. • Daves Jones teaches you to play Jazz
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89• Pianist 101
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Learn and master the piano in Mayfair and the City of London Learn and master the piano at the most sought-after piano Academy for adults the London Piano Institute. Make tremendous progress, get rid of your frustration and nally become the pianist you have always wanted to be! Reduce work-related stress, learn how to
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Advertise your business here!
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New LCM Piano Piano syllab yllabus us London College of Music’s 2018-2020 Piano syllabus gives more choice to learners than ever before. With exam options to suit every individual and a wide selection of performable repertoire at each grade, LCM is committed to enabling everyone to learn and play the music they enjoy.
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11• Pianist 101
