Should we play the piano strictly in time?

 

Liszt 'Au bord d'une source' played by Eugen d'Albert

Should we play the piano strictly in time? Not according to contemporaries of Beethoven and Liszt. This is what von Bulow writes. He was a concert pianist celebrated in USA and Europe; married to Liszt' s daughter, was considered one of the leading piano pupils of Liszt.

"The time (tempo) should not be a tyrannically restraining or driving mill-hammer, but should be to the musical composition what pulsation is to human life. There is no slow  tempo in which places do not occur requiring a more rapid movement, in order to avoid the feeling of dragging, just as there is no presto that does not, on the contrary, demand in many places a quiet delivery, in order not to take away, through over-haste, the means of expression. Both however, the accelerando as well as the ritardando, must never give the impression of being pushed, jerked or forced: it must always only be employed by the periods and phrases". [from Bulow's influential edition of  Beethoven Piano Sonata Op 110, movement 1.]

On a slightly different tack, William Blake writes: "Improvement makes strait roads; but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius".  (Proverb of Hell).  

Why has so much piano playing become boring lately? Because students are trained to pass their exams and win competitions, which is different from playing the piano in order to express what the composer wants to express.  In order to pass an exam you can play correctly: in order to express deep emotions, you have to abandon yourself, to some extent, to the emotion, which results in slight distortions of pulse - playing 'between the notes'. 

Please enjoy listening to the fluid, flexible, outpouring of watery notes performed by another pupil of Liszt, d'Albert who shows us how to play the piano. If you as the listener are not breathing more deeply by the end of the performance, please ring your doctor!

 

 

Vasily Safonoff

I love researching piano music at London's British Library!
There is a really good atmosphere among the researchers of all ages, plus the cafe does the most enormous pear and chocolate muffins!
I was curious to learn more about the Russian pedagogue Safonoff - I remember one of my teachers Yonty Solomon mentioning him. Here's a helpful quote from a 1915 book of his.


 "A chord must never be be prepared in a stiff position, for then the sound becomes hard and wooden. The chord must, so to speak, be hidden in the closed hand, which opens, in falling from above for the necessary position, just at the moment of striking the keyboard. This means that the chord must be ready in the thought of the player before the hand opens. This was the secret of the incomparable beauty of sound in the chords of Anton Rubinstein whose playing the author of this book had the good fortune to watch closely for many years."






p 27 Vasily Safonoff
New Formula for the Piano Teacher and Piano Student
pub Chester , London 1915

Latest news August 2012

Recent news August 2012. I am glad to report that I have now passed my LGSMD diploma in piano performance, and so am now a Licentiate of Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I performed Bach Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, Ravel Sonatine, Debussy Prelude 'La Terrasse des Audiences au Clair de Lune', and Chopin 4th Ballade in F minor.

I am now preparing my next piano performance Diploma, FRSM  which I shall take in the winter of 2012, and I shall perform two late Beethoven Sonatas Op 109 and Op 110.

July 2012

Congratulations to Maya Garside for performing Liszt concert etude 'Un Sospiro' in Prague! Congratulations to Tanya Evans for gaining Grade 7 with Merit! Congratulations to Alla Garside for gaining Grade 6 Distinction! Congratulations to Louisa Van Aeken for gaining Grade 4 with Merit! Well done everybody, keep practising!

Recent pupil results

Congratulations to Maya Garside for performing Liszt concert etude 'Un Sospiro' in Prague! Congratulations to Tanya Evans for gaining Grade 7 with Merit! Congratulations to Alla Garside for gaining Grade 6 Distinction! Congratulations to Louisa Van Aeken for gaining Grade 4 with Merit! Well done everybody, keep practising!

wonderful performance

Have been a fan of Hungarian pianist Deszo Ranki for a long time. Just came across this supremely musical performance of Mozart with the ECO... enjoy!

Recent repertoire discoveries

One of the great things about playing and teaching piano is the enormous repertoire that is out there just waiting to be discovered. Several centuries of music, with every piece and every composer telling a story.

Take the Russian composer Alabiev, for example. Born into a wealthy family in Siberia in 1787, he fought as an officer in the Napoleonic wars.  Aged 38 he was arrested on the charge of murdering a man he had gambled with. Though the evidence was not conclusive he was imprisoned for 6 years, during which time he composed this song "Solovey' (Nightingale).

The song eventually became so famous that it entered mainstream Russian consciousness as a folk song. (somewhat the reverse of the Bartok effect where folk music entered the classical repertoire).

Here's a wonderful performance of Liszt's transcription of Alabiev's "The Nightingale" performed by Ignaz Friedman

And here's a Glinka variation on Alabiev's  Nightingale performed by a 12-year old wunderkind from Russia, Syuzanna Rudanovskaya who demonstrates for us how to play the piano.

Alabiev's  "Nightingale" makes a fabulous addition to the bird repertoire within piano music, along with Janacek: The Barn Owl has not Flown Away; Balakirev's The Lark; Schumann The Prophet Bird, etc etc.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Alla Garside for winning the 1st prize, Emily Crow Championship Cup at St Swithuns School, Winchester, in May 2012! Alla performed Kabalevsky (Cavalryman) and Bonsor (Dreamy) from her Grade 6 repertoire.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to my three pupils who took piano grade exams this term, Mike Huang (Grade 8 Distinction); Emmy Huang (Grade 6 Distinction), and Natalya Evans (Grade 4 Distinction).

I was very proud that each pupil received 22 marks out of possible 22 for at least one of their piano pieces! Mike and Emmy have both been invited to play at a High Achievers Recital.
Well done and take a huge pat on the back all of you!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all my pupils who did very well at Southampton Music Festival, March 2012. In particular congratulations to Abhinav Tiwari for winning the Fairclough Challenge Cup (Grade 8 recital class); Mike Huang in the same class came in second place.  Emmy Huang won the Lady Cooper Challenge Cup (Grade 6-7 recital class); Tatiana Evans and Anton Taraban came second in their classes.
I myself won the Vivien Evans cup for adult open piano recital, performing Bach-Siloti Organ Prelude in G Minor, Bella's Lullaby which I composed in 2010, and Kapustin Concert Etude no. 1.

Queen of the tutu

Well I am surprised just how many tutus there are out there on the piano stage.

First up was Aimi Kobayashi, a wonderfully musical prodigy from Japan. Such a natural, heart-warming, sunny talent.

But now battle has been joined by Abigail Sin, who shows staggering concentration and supple virtuosity in Dutilleux's taxing Sonata. She definitely deserves more listeners.

The Jury is out on the battle for Queen of the Tutu: Miss Sin - more uploads please!

Nikolai Kapustin

I have been listening widely to this amazing Russian composer. Jazz influenced, he studied with Russian pedagogue Alexander Goldenweiser, and videos of Kapustin performing show that he amazing fluency and a biting rhythm. Over 100 opus numbers to his credit, hats off to him... Would love to know more about him, and how he survived all these years as a composer before being 'discovered' only recently.

His Concert Etude which I have been learning recently is tricky, but yields to practice.
There seems to be an inverse law, that pieces which sound difficult really do become easier the more you practice (Liszt, Kapustin), but pieces which sound easy (such as some Mozart and Bach) seem to become harder and harder!

Congratulations!

To my pupil Alla Garside, congratulations on winning a music scholarship at King Edward VI school! Keep up the good work!