A Bit About the Beethoven

I thought I'd write a quick bit about the Beethoven that I posted last week, especially as I'm already close to putting up my next bit (Chopin! Chopin! Chopin! I looooove Chopin! I have a music crush on him). So before I get all giddy over you-know-who* I should tell you a bit about one of the most famous composers of all time.

Beethoven. Ah, even his name is grand. Big name, big chords, big sound and big orchestras. His music is considered to be the most crucial in the bridging between the Classical and Romantic eras, I tend to think of him more as late Classical however. So everyone knows about his crazy hair and how he went deaf but remarkably continued to compose and perform, and that when he died apparently there was a loud clap of thunder. So I won't dwell on the stuff we all already know.

Beethoven wrote this sonata when he was 27 years old (in 1798). This is the third movement, all three movements together takes about 20 minutes to perform (which must be tiring to say the least). He didn't give it the nickname "Pathetique", it was the publisher who did, but as is common with these things, the trendy easy to remember name has stuck.
This was written right before his first and second symphonies, something he valued highly in composition. I think you can pick up on that, there is a certain grandeur, especially in this Rondo: Allegro movement, and I like to think it hints at what he was heading towards. Interestingly, Beethoven's hearing difficulties began around the time of the composition of this sonata.

I think one of the saddest losses in musical history is the destruction of Beethoven's conversation books (264 out of 400 books according to Wikipedia). His conversation books were where people would write down what they were saying to him, and he would sometimes write down the response (or I guess answer verbally). Apparently they give a lot of insight to his working process. They must be amazing to read. Unfortunately Beethoven's biographer Anton Schindler wrote false entries in them after Beethoven's death, and then eventually destroyed a bunch.
So sad.


*I am not referring to Voldemort.

Beethoven - Sonata Pathetique 3rd Movt

Finally! The Beethoven is up!

There is still a lot of work to do on this one, but unfortunately I just don't have the time anymore.
So don't tell me that my tempo's off or my pianissimo isn't very 'issimo', I know *sigh*.

And as promised, this includes slips and trips - you'll see them. Again, it's the time factor.
I probably shouldn't point all the flaws out before you've seen the piece, but meh.

Scriabin - Prelude No. 4 Opus 11

I played this piece in a competition once, and I remember feeling like I had totally nailed it. My teacher and mum were in the audience. My teacher gave me a big thumbs up on my way back to my seat but when I got to my mum and she said "don't worry honey, I don't think anyone noticed the big mistakes, the big pauses". Before I could explain to her that that is they way the piece is meant to be played, the next performance started. And so she almost fell of her chair when I came in first! However that really showed me an important thing about performance and that is as the audience doesn't follow you with their own copy of the music (like the adjudicator did) you need to tell them what's going on, it's all about the body language. And I guess on that day my body language read "nervous" so mum thought they were mistakes and not grand pauses. If I had been more confident then there probably wouldn't have been any confusion.

So. Scriabin. A Russian composer, inspired by Chopin (makes sense - I adore them both), and influenced Prokofiev and Stravinsky, although apparently he thought their music was crap.

Scriabin's compositions are very lyrical, this piece has quite a strong expressive melody line, and are also known for being atonal (without a key, or lacking a tonal centre) - which is why this piece lends itself to a slightly "off centre" unbalanced uneasy feeling.

And I must say, I love Scriabin. This piece thrilled me to the core when I first got to know it, and it still does. It's short, but says so much. If you don't really like the heavy expressive stuff than this probably isn't for you.

Any literature fans might appreciate a Tolstoy quote, who described Scriabin's works as "a sincere expression of genius".
I quite agree.

ps. see that thing I'm doing my wrists? I shouldn't be doing that. Tsk tsk.

Rubato

Rubato is a term which directs the pace of music. Rubato indicates freedom of rhythm and expressiveness, bending the music to play it how you feel, its playing by your intuition, your instinct.

I love this word. Finding a piece stamped with 'rubato' is like finding out you get to eat all the chocolate.

Excuse.

Too hungry to practice. Too lazy to eat.

Boo Hoo

The finger that I broke a couple of months ago is playing up and is starting to really smart when I play.

Woe is me.

This also leads to one of the grossest things ever - massaging my knuckle. YUCK.

Bringing Beethoven Back.

Woo! I just came off the piano - 40 mins on the Beethoven piece (which isn't that hard to do considering it's so big) - and I'm all pumped up :D

I'd forgotten how exhilarating Beethoven is! Although, that piece should come with a warning, I totally crumpled my left ring finger - OUCH! Heheheh that never would've happened once upon a time, a good reminder not to get too far ahead of myself just yet.

So I've a feeling the clip of the Beethoven piece (when I eventually get around to it) will be pretty full of trip ups and slips, especially as it's so long - more chance for errors. But that's ok, and I think with Beethoven you can get away with it a bit better cos its all crashing and thumping and whatnot (well the way I play it it is -hahahahahah maybe I should take note!!)

Debussy - La fille aux cheveux de lin

Another Debussy piece, and the first one I ever learnt. It also has some great examples of the Debussy parallel chords - particularly at 1.20.

(Also, apologies for the cameo of my pet dog)

Debussy Trivia

Ok, so its pretty obvious that you can enjoy music spontaneously, without any background information. However I think if you can find out a bit about the story behind a piece of music or a composer it can change the perspective entirely. This is even more so for the musician, a greater understanding of the composer can shed new light on how a piece should be interpreted and performed.

With this in mind I'll be doing the odd brain spew to provide some information or trivia about the composers and pieces which I post on here.

So first up, Debussy.
Let's see, a French composer, born 1862 and died 1918, which puts him mostly in the Romantic Period of European music, although he begrudgingly was considered one of the most prominent composers of Impressionistic music. To put it briefly, this mainly means that his music was less regimented and theory-defined then his predecessors', and instead was about atmosphere and tended to be more fluid and melodic. Apparently Debussy himself said that he was trying to do something different, and there is still a distinct difference in his compositions to those from earlier decades.

True to this, the suite of pieces that Clair de lune is from (Suite bergamasque) was started in 1890, but Debussy did not finish the composition until 1905 when it is said that he made significant revisions, claiming that he detested his earlier style.

Another notable distinction of Debussy's work is his use of parallel chord progressions, which you can see at around 1.10 in the clip.

Finally, I'll leave with you some gossip about his personal life. Wikipedia describes it as "turbulent" and I remember being told when I was younger that Debussy was somewhat of a womaniser, conducting affair after affair, with little regard for his or his partner's marriage statuses. He once dumped his live-in girlfriend because, to put it shortly, she was dumb, and he later dated a student's mother (a wife of a Parisian banker) who shot herself in the chest when he tried to end the affair, surviving but living the rest of her life with the bullet lodged in her vertebrae. The two ended up eloping and she gave birth to his only child.

So next time you lend your ear to a bit of Debussy magic, perhaps keep some of the above in mind, it might change the experience for you.

Debussy - Clair de lune

So, here is my first video post.
Firstly I'd like to apologise for the quality of the video, the connection was terrible overnight, so I had to compress it a fair bit to get it on here. I might ammend this at a later stage.

Secondly, I look so funny when I play! Bobble head, double chin, flapping elbows! Very amusing. Brings back memories of my old teacher reprimanding me before a performance.

Nonetheless, I finally have something up, errors and all! More to follow soon, promise.

Practice Makes.....

Just finally got around to looking at some practice recordings that I made on the weekend (ie I play and record, and then look back over and critique......so it's like teaching myself...-it's a bit hard to pick up on certain things while you're playing ) and I think they're much more impressive with the sound off.

Promising.

Razzle Dazzle

Right, so there are no clips up yet, and that's mostly because I had underestimated (or forgotten) how picky I am when it comes to performance. (Which is also probably why I'm so rubbish at public speaking/end up crying afterwards).

And I guess the thing that has me being really pedantic is that when you record something any errors are there FOREVER. But with an unrecorded performance like a recital, people might just go "oh did she stuff that bit up? I think so, but I can't tell now because I'm distracted by the rest of the beautiful music so I will never know because I am so dazzled...".

Yeah?

I guess that's what performance is all about.

Strip Piano

It's easy to tell that I'm playing so much again as the floor around the piano is littered with various items of clothing.

I tend to rip stuff off as I play - it's not until you have your hands on the keys that you realise what you're wearing is really uncomfortable to practice in!

So now I have to remember when I'm getting dressed in the morning that my cardigan/shoes/shirt/scarf/bra are on the floor by the piano..

Why I Need An iPad

Awkward! I'm trying to play piano with my laptop on my lap........ (I'm playing off of some pdf sheet music)


.....I think I should give in and print, but the printer's so far away......

Going Back to the Very Beginning

Ahhhh.
So, I think first up will be an attempt to make some decent recordings of the pieces listed under 'Current Repertoire'. (And by "decent" I refer to my skill level, and not the recording).

These will be posted up with a little bit of history about the piece, where it came from, what it means, what was happening with the composer at the time etc. And if I'm lucky I might even be able to remember a bit about the forms and styles of the pieces too.

I think its very likely the first piece will be a Debussy....or even the Scriabin (although watch out that one's pretty brief.....).

Need to practice more though! I was (gently) kicked off the piano tonight due to prime time tv.
That's ok though, we'll see how everyone feels when I bang out some scales at 6am....

Back to the Ivory

Hello!

I'm returning to the black and white keys and rekindling my love affair with the piano.

I've been hiding in retirement for the last five years due to a hand/arm injury which led me to pursue other career plans.

I'm not hoping for anything extravagant, or to even completely return to the standard I once held. But fingers crossed I'll be whipping my old repertoire in no time!

I'll keep track of my progress on here, including audio clips and videos (hopefully), and might share some technical advice.

Feel free to comment and criticise. All feedback is welcome!