Indholdsfortegnelse for 146 i Pianist

We all have our own challenges to face when playing the piano. For me, it’s the elusive quality of finesse. It’s not an easy concept to define. After all the hours of practising and run-throughs, it’s the feeling of confidence and command in performance that I yearn for in my playing. If finesse is hard to embody, it’s no easy matter to teach. I attended a masterclass at the Bravo! Vail festival in Colorado in July, and I saw how appreciably Anne-Marie McDermott raised the playing level of two young pianists who were already gifted. Her coaching convinced me that the coaching of finesse is at least possible (given the right teacher!). Turn to page 6 for my report from what is now one of the major US performing arts…

BEGINNER German composer, conductor and piano teacher Louis Köhler is known today for his many educational piano works and exercises for the beginner pianist. He also composed three operas and a ballet, and wrote books on music theory. Playing tips: Start our by practising very slowly, hands separately, making sure that errors don’t creep in during the initial learning process. When listening to the soundtrack, you will notice that Chenyin Li uses a detached articulation in the RH. We suggest experimenting with the articulation, as there’s no right or wrong; some may prefer a more legato touch, others more detached. At bars 5 and 11, the repeated notes should definitely be played staccato. The melody opens out a bit in the second section at bar 9 (see the stronger mf…

INTERMEDIATE Polish-born pianist, composer and teacher Henryk Pachulski spent most of his life in Russia. His Piano Sonata No 1 was dedicated to Arensky, with whom he studied at the Moscow Conservatoire, and his Piano Sonata No 2 to Rachmaninov. His tender Prelude in C minor Op 8 No 1 appeared inside Pianist 85, and it’s well worth sounding out. Playing tips: The RH takes care of the pretty melody throughout, with the LH playing the calm accompaniment. The frequently changing dynamics will help shape the melody, as will the well-judged ritardandos (always remember to return to the regular tempo when indicated). Pedal tips: See suggestions. At the start, lift the pedal on the third beat.…

INTERMEDIATE Liszt’s transcriptions – he wrote some 350 adaptations of operas, symphonies and lieder – display his skill of ‘orchestrating’ for the piano. Whether he saw the transcription as an exercise, a challenge, or a way of assimilating a piece of music, the resulting pieces are always richly conceived with the lines forming a tightly-woven harmonic tapestry. Playing tips: Firstly, look at each line of music separately, examining how it evolves, determining when it takes the lead and when it needs to be brought out. Remember, too, that Mozart’s original was a piece of church music written for choir, so its lyricism and spirituality must be maintained. This heavenly piece requires good voicing coupled with a shimmering tone – all to be captured within a very hushed dynamic. Pedal tips:…

INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED Beethoven’s Sonata No 3 in C major, the Op 2 No 3, was written in 1795 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. It was published simultaneously with his first two sonatas in 1796 – all three of them containing four movements. The Op 2 No 3 is both the weightiest and longest of them, presenting many technical challenges for the pianist, including difficult trills, awkward hand movements, and forearm rotation. It is also one of Beethoven’s longest piano sonatas from his early period. The second Adagio movement is breathtaking in terms of emotional intensity. Playing tips: Practise hands separately at the start, always making sure to work on the lyrical ‘storytelling’ of the music, but always maintaining a steady pulse. There’s little doubt that the E minor passages create…

‘Would you like to go and play the new public piano at St Pancras and write about it?’ asked Erica, the editor of Pianist. ‘Did Liberace like diamonds?’ I replied. ‘I love the idea of public pianos. So democratic. So civilized. I’m on my way this minute!’ The last sentence was a teeny exaggeration (something I’m – ahem – occasionally prone to). Like Hamlet, I delayed. After all, I had to decide what to play. I’ve never actually tried out a public piano before, so I had a quick look online to see what other repertoire people had chosen. When the Kawai K-500 upright piano arrived at St Pancras in July this year, replacing a Yamaha given by Elton John (more about that later), Classic FM brought young musicians Lara…

PEACEFUL PIANO SOLOS: MUSICALS Hal Leonard This is the eighth volume in Hal Leonard’s Peaceful Piano series, and as the de-capitalised title page indicates, its healthy quantity of 30 pieces are sourced from musicals. The pieces appear in alphabetical order according to the title of the music, and the arrangements are around Grade 5 to 7. The arrangements are faithful to the original works, so don’t expect unexpected harmonic twists or creative interludes from an arranger wanting to put their own stamp on the music. No fingering or pedalling suggestions have been added, and no background information is provided for the piece, but the quantity and range of these sympathetic arrangements will surely appeal to all lovers of musical theatre. THE WILLIS STUDENT RECITAL COLLECTION The Willis Music Company The…

BEGINNER Composer’s playing tips: Tubular Chimes was inspired, as might be expected, by bells. I love the sound of bells pealing out from a traditional church. However, tubular bells are musical instruments consisting of long metal tubes of varying lengths. They are known as ‘chimes’ and are struck by a hammer, often with the addition of a sustaining foot pedal allowing extended ringing. In the key of C major, the notes can be easily learned by using the ‘blocking out’ technique: To block out, simply play all the notes in every beat or bar at once, as one chord. This should help you to learn the note-patterns and fingerings swiftly. The accompanying off-beat, or syncopated, single note needs to be precisely placed to capture the ‘chime’ (I would set the…

INTERMEDIATE Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major was dedicated to the French pianist Marguerite Long, who gave it its premiere at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, in January 1932, with Ravel conducting. The second movement is notable for its single, exceptionally long, and emotionally complex solo piano melody that initially creates a hypnotic, almost improvisational feel. Ravel famously stated he ‘worked over it bar by bar’ to craft this ‘flowing phrase’, which is accompanied by a subtle 6/8 pulse in the LH. As 2025 is the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth, we felt readers should enjoy learning – and perfecting – this beautiful intro to the concerto. Playing tips: It’s slow! And this means you will really need to create a strong sense of phrasing so that there’s always a sense…

INTERMEDIATE Gabriel Dupont entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 15, and studied with Massenet and Widor. However, he didn’t live a long life, succumbing tuberculosis, which is perhaps one reason why he never received the fame of his contemporaries Ravel, Debussy and Fauré. Even in his short life, though, he managed to create his own style and musical personality. In his two piano suites – Les heures dolentes and La maison dans les dunes – his style might represent that of the Belle Époque, fitting somewhere between Romanticism and Impressionism with strong connections to Symbolism. Playing tips: Firstly, it’s important to understand the title of the piece, Claire d’étoiles, meaning ‘Starry night’ or ‘Starlight’. A sense of stillness should prevail throughout (see the ‘doux et calme’ marking). We…

Finesse in piano playing is all about control, refinement, taste and awareness. Finesse thrives when students really listen to themselves as they play. Finesse is also about being in control technically, allowing sufficient time in practise and performance for polish, care, and shape. It is about allowing the requisite musical space for the music you play to truly glow and shine with poise. Technically it is about finding the way to make even the most challenging mechanical maneuver emerge repeatedly with effortless elegance in execution. In short, finesse is about self-listening allied with control in every aspect of music-making at the piano. It is so much more than being literal and following the markings on the score or playing with no wrong notes. In terms of sound production, it implies…

BEGINNER There has been somewhat of a revival of the music of French late-Romantic composer Mel Bonis (née Mélanie) in recent years – and quite rightly so! She wrote more than 300 pieces, including such magical piano works as Phoebé Op 30 and Mélisande Op 109 – both works having appeared in past issues of Pianist and performed by Chenyin Li on Pianist’s YouTube channel. The little beggar (Le petit mendiant, in French) is from the easier-level 20-piece set, Album for the Young (Album pour les tout-petits). Playing tips: It’s easy to see what each hand needs to do. The LH takes care of the accompaniment; makes sure that the notes of the chords last the length of dotted minims. The RH notes should be beautifully shaped (see the phrase…

INTERMEDIATE Russian Romantic composer and pianist Leokadiya Kashperova studied under Anton Rubinstein at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. Later, as a pedagogue herself, she taught piano to the young Igor Stravinsky. First published in 1910, the Deux roses (Two roses) appear within a set of six pieces in four movements called ‘Au sein de la nature’ (rough translation: ‘within nature’). The Deux roses are the two pieces in the first movement. The heartbreaking No 1, also of an intermediate level, appeared inside Pianist issue 131, and it’s real gem. Playing tips: Start out by practising slowly, hands separately; there’s a lot going on in each hand. The LH has to navigate wide stretches as well as two-part writing. The RH carries the lyrical descending/ascending melody, which should be beautifully shaped with…

INTERMEDIATE READ MATTHEW MILLS’ LESSON ON THIS PIECE This much loved Moment Musical No 3 is one of a collection of six pieces (Moments Musicaux in plural). Written to satisfy the Viennese public’s increasing interest in light, easy-going shorter pieces (‘Albumblätter’), the Moments Musicaux acheive this within a relatively compact form. Published in 1823, No 3 is a concise dance-like Allegro moderato in double time. In F minor, it has an elegant bounce-like theme, set against a staccato LH. The piece must be played cleanly, and with the utmost finesse, with the RH remaining clear and to the fore. Read Matthew Mills’ lesson on the Moment Musical, in which he also offers up his favourite interpretations from past and present pianists.…

For many critics and fans alike, Alfred Brendel was the ‘thinking man’s pianist’. A truly iconic figure, the man with inquisitive eyes and a secret smile peered out from the covers of CD-box sets by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. His recordings were always convincing – whether he was playing solo or alongside such artists as Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Matthias Goerne. He remained an active presence in the cultural sphere – speaking on stage, giving masterclasses or sitting unassumingly in the audience well after his last public performance in 2008. Much has been said about Brendel’s vast discography (three Beethoven sonata cycles among over 100 albums), his virtuosic pen (from which flowed probing musical analysis and nonsensical poems), and his wealth of interests spanning Baroque architecture…

DUO FOURTE Liszt: Symphonic Poems Genuin GEN25916 ★★★★★ The German-Japanese piano duo FourTe (the name combines the English word ‘four’ and the Japanese word for ‘hand’) was founded by Eva-Maria Weinreich and Tomohito Nakaishi in 2014. Since then, the pair have won several international competitions, including in Ischia and Padua, and on this recording – their first physical album, after a previous streaming-only recital – you can hear why. In these two tone-poems by Liszt, they are unafraid to produce odd, even eerie sounds: the open-pedal rumbling at the beginning of the ‘Mountain’ Symphony (‘Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne’) couldn’t be more like an approaching Alpine thunderstorm, and the pianissimo tremolandos found in Tasso: lamento e trionfo are positively angelic. The climaxes are fabulously huge, too. The pianists have…