PianoAnd: Children’s voices

Robin. Source: Pixabay

Collaborating with children’s voices is something that requires listening and imagination. The first thought many pianists have is, “I can’t play too loud. I’ll cover them up!”

Unfortunately, the thinking process sometimes stops there.

Are there other options?

When the only goal is to stay out of the way, is that enough? How can we not be too loud and still be expressive?

In a recent performance with children’s choir, the program included “The Birds’ Lullaby” by Marilyn Broughton. I’ll refer to her beautiful composition in the following examples.

Example 1

Dynamics

The first step in finding expression, for me, is to find workable dynamics. My goals are to:

1. express the text;
2. support the singers; and
3. make the piano solos interesting while enhancing the entire piece.

Introduction

In the introduction, the indicated dynamics were helpful. Piano and mezzo-piano needed to be there, and the crescendo to a level above mp needed to be practiced. I looked through the piece to determine how far that could go. I wanted to reach the loudest dynamic level on the downbeat of bar 7, then diminuendo into the choir’s mp entrance (but not below).

Accompanying the singers

At the singers’ entrance, the pianist’s role changes. S/he must listen in a different way. How can s/he be supportive without getting in the way? Where does the pianist’s expression come from?

To be supportive of the singers, simply disappearing from the fabric of sound is not an option. The choir’s pitch and rhythm could lose their integrity.

Bass line

In this piece, the bass line can certainly match the singers’ sound. It does not need to be softer! Since the bass is in a different range from the voices, it will not be covering the voices.

Counter-melody

As for the right hand when the singers enter and beyond, the top line can be more prominent. When played with a focused sound, it will be heard as a counter-melody.

Example 2

Moving part

On the second page, the short piano interlude begins on the word “through,” with a crescendo into the next chorus entrance. With a little advance planning and practice, this moving line can be interesting. In fact, it propels the piece while the singers hold a long note. They also need to breathe! The pianist’s crescendo to mf encourages them to sing their next entrance at that dynamic level without even thinking.

In scores where dynamics are indicated only in the voice part(s) or the piano part, both singers and pianists can benefit by looking at the markings in the other parts. What if the dynamics apply to both? (Why wouldn’t they?)

Interludes

This piece has three verses, with the voice parts expertly arranged differently for each (i.e. canon at the measure, canon at 2 measures, and crossing voices). The two piano interludes are nearly identical. Our job is to make them interesting! I wanted to find a way for the interludes to sound different from each other while matching the singers’ volume at the end of their verse and meeting them at their new volume at the start of the next.

First

The first interlude worked well with a simple arc, soft to louder, then diminuendo into the second verse, which was softer than the first. The dynamic scheme I used was mp to mf, then dim. to p.

Second

Finding a compelling way to play the second interlude was a little harder. After trying two or three different ideas, I noticed that the third verse was marked with a louder dynamic. I wanted to crescendo into the singers’ entrance.

So I found a way to start the interlude piano, then play a dynamic arc (cresc. and dim.) earlier than in the first interlude. Following the diminuendo, I could then crescendo from piano to mezzo-forte. This time, I played from p to mp to p, then cresc. to mf.

Problem solved? Not entirely.

The right hand of the piano part was in the same range as the singers’ entrance. My right hand melody continued past the singers’ entrance. So I needed a way to crescendo without covering them up.

Voilà!

It took a little longer to realize that the right hand could diminuendo while the left hand, which had moving notes, could crescendo at the same time. It worked like a charm. The interlude was compelling, it supported the singers, and nothing interfered with the children’s voices.

If playing a simultaneous dim. and cresc. seems like a juggling act, it might help to think about it in a different way. Try thinking about your feet. When we walk, we transfer weight from one foot to the other. One foot has more weight on it than the other. They feel different.

Another instance would be like driving a stick shift. One foot depresses the accelerator while the other releases the clutch. Now get the same feeling in your hands that you have in your feet. Problem solved!

In listening to pianists, my impression is that many people cresc. and dim. with both hands doing the same thing at the same time. However, playing fugues requires voicing separate parts, even when two or more parts are in the same hand. That requires using different amounts of weight on separate fingers. So why not apply this to other music? Why not use each hand differently when playing with hands together?

Postlude

The lullaby ended softly. The short postlude needed some shape, so I decided to begin mp, then diminuendo, with focused, high bell tones at the end.

Source: Pixabay. Public domain.

Followup

You may be wondering how I know that my ideas were effective. You are absolutely correct that a performer’s assessment of her/his own performance might be inaccurate.

And here’s my reason: Immediately after the concert, several audience members approached me to say how much they had enjoyed what they had heard!

Look for my next post:  “PianoAnd:  The lid. Full stick, 1/2 stick, or none at all?”

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I can’t play this! I’ll NEVER be able to play this!! NO ONE can play this!!!

Tags

piano reduction

These thoughts go through my head every time I open a difficult score for the first time. How about you?

Background

This is the slow section of Mozart’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra #5, first movement.  In other words, the “piano” part is an orchestral reduction.

The right hand, when played by the orchestra, is divided between two string parts. Pianists, though, are required to perform gymnastic feats in the reduction, playing both parts in the same hand.

This section of the concerto is serene, slow, and quiet.  To achieve a murmuring sound on the piano is difficult, especially due to the fingers passing over one another and because the normally resulting accents must be avoided.  (It is not possible to play all the notes in the right hand while keeping the hand quiet, playing only five keys ((one for each finger)), and not moving to a different range on the keyboard several times.  In other words, don’t try this at home!)

Facebook comments

When I posted the above pic on Facebook, the following discussion ensued:

First, on 5/1:

[Photo caption]
The most recent addition to my catalog of Finger Busters.

[Discussion]

DG:  Finger busters is right!

AE:  What she said!

HW:  Dang!

MDS:  Wowser.

CBW:  Oh my!  😦

Then, on 5/22:

[Photo caption]
Remember this? The “ack!” phase?
Aced it in today’s performance.
I feel a blog post coming on.

[Discussion]
CH:  Looks “Greek” to me Gretchen but I’m grateful there are artists like you that let those like me enjoy the music!

CBW:  OMG!!!

TP:  Makes my head ache just looking at all those notes!!!

GS:  Exactly. My 1st thought when opening a score is often, “I can’t play this… I’ll NEVER be able to play this… NO ONE can play this!”

And then I learn it.

TP:  Some people like a challenge and some are gluttons for punishment!GS:  And some find it necessary to freak out EVERY TIME. I don’t think child prodigies do that…

TP:  In my trade we call it it SIDS…self induced disaster, the process of psyching yourself out before you even know what you’re up against! lol

GS:  I b the expert!

SN:  So how did the tempo end up?

GS:  120 and 72. Felt reasonable, thank God…

GN:  A great feeling to have worked something out in practice and then play it in performance with no “hitches” . . . .nice work!

GS:  Thank you!

KC:  cool, still growing into the job, Gretchen, that is so great.

GS:  Oh, I have the same reaction every time I open music I haven’t played that looks difficult.

Reality check 

How long did it take to reach performance level with this piece?

Although my Facebook “bookend” posts were three weeks apart, I was busy when I first looked at the score.  There was no time to practice it right away.

After consulting my practice notes, I realized that I had learned the piece at performance tempo in 8 or 10 days.

Got perspective?

This is not an idle question.  I am genuinely curious.  This is an aspect of people’s careers that is rarely talked about, as far as I know.

I am well aware that many musicians learn music faster than I do.  One of the vocal coaching fellows at Tanglewood (there were 3 of us that summer) could learn even a newly composed score still in manuscript form and perform it in 3 days.  He had the enviable ability to skip the practice stage most of us need to get the music into his hands.  Currently head of the composition department at BU, he is a conductor, composer, wonderful pianist, and vocal coach.

My teacher at Aspen was practicing Hindemith slowly with the metronome when I arrived for my lesson one day.  She had never played the piece.  Four days later, she performed it flawlessly, much faster.  So I went home and learned how to practice slowly with the metronome, increasing the tempo in increments.

On the other hand, another teacher practiced Schubert’s “Die Schöne Müllerin” for an entire year before performing it.

What was Horowitz’s time requirement for mastering the repertoire he performed? Rubinstein?  Glenn Gould?  Myra Hess?  Clara Schumann?

A pianist who was interviewed on NPR, when discussing a recent CD release, let it be known that he had practiced one piece for 15 years before ever performing it!

So it seems that preparation time is highly variable.

First take

What do child prodigies say to themselves when first opening a score?  Have you heard anyone talk about that?

I suspect that my self-talk may stem from the fact that I was not a prodigy. While there was music in my family, many musicians I know listened to recordings and attended concerts from an early age.  Several had parents who were professional musicians.  They had mentors who connected them with effective teachers.  Good instruments were acquired early.  All of that makes a difference.  I’ve been playing “catch up.”

A childhood friend recently reminded me that, when I would be invited to go somewhere, my response would always be, “I can’t.  I have to practice.”

Following my senior recital in college, a few friends came back to the recital hall from the distant reception to ensure that I was planning to attend.  They were afraid I would go back to the practice room immediately.  (I’m slow about packing up after a performance.)

B.B. King said it very well:

“It seems like I always had to work harder than other people. Those nights when everybody else is asleep, and you sit in your room trying to play scales.”

 

And now I’d like to thank my audience, who listens attentively whenever I practice and never, ever complains.  And thanks also to everyone who commented on Facebook.

What do you say to yourself when you open a difficult score for the first time?  Do you have a panic response?  See it as a challenge? KNOW you’ll be fine even before you begin?  Do you have an idea about how long it will take you to learn a piece before you’ve even started?

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Singing what you play: how does that work?

Pete Seeger teaching William Boyce “Alleluia” round in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, 2011. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Do you sing your music as you practice?  I recommend it (see previous post).

For the past 2 or 3 days, I’ve been thinking about why this works so well.

When playing involves brain work only, one can become caught up in the exact length of each note, the weight given to each, the dynamic changes from one note to another.  That level of detail is crucial to interesting playing, of course, but isn’t that mind-boggling, doing all that thinking?

When I practice in that way, I find that I am physically removed from producing the sound.  I am not a participant in playing phrases. I notice that when I sing while playing, my body takes care of all that.

When the amount of breath sent through the body to produce the sound varies from pitch to pitch, the breath maintains the line.  The body (arms, hands, tips of fingers) produces music, not just mathematical changes. What if someone told you that to reach a certain goal involving myriad details, all you needed to do one thing?

This is the best explanation I can come up with at the moment.  I hope it is helpful.  Singing makes all the difference.  It coordinates separate, much smaller details, making them an organic whole.  And it’s so easy!

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Why singing is the best thing you can do

Leontyne Price. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Carl Van Vechten, 1880-1964, photographer. Public domain.

This afternoon, I practiced some music I hadn’t played in several weeks.  While reviewing notes, fingerings, and dynamics, I found myself thinking about the function of the passage I was working on at the moment.  Was it melody?  Accompaniment?  Beginning, middle, or end of a phrase?  And then I started altering the lengths of the notes to accommodate the direction of the line.

But that felt too removed from the sound. Then, by chance, I started singing the line. Everything changed immediately.

Why?

It was no longer necessary to intellectualize the length of each note (this one is shorter, this one is slightly longer, this one falls away from the previous sound, this one leads up to the next one).

Singing instantly makes the line legato, continuous, and infused with life.  Singing makes it human.  Pianos don’t do that.  Organs don’t either, really, unless the organist uses the volume pedal all the time.

So this is my recommentation for today, tomorrow, next week, next month…

Sing the line!  It changes everything.

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Extreme patience pays!

Tags

Chord (music), flute, piano, student

Patience (George Michael album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my adult students broke so many long-term barriers last weekend!  This is the first time she has achieved consistency and sustained concentration.  What a lesson!

She started playing flute as an adult beginner, then added piano class about 2  years later.  When my piano class was discontinued, she tried progressing on her own at first, then started private lessons 6 months later.

So she has been plugging away for about 12 years now.  That is a huge commitment on her part.

Breakthrough #1

2 triads were marked to be played legato, but the top note of each was to be played with the thumb.  Instinct took over at last, and my student played the lowest 2 notes of each chord legato.  Definitely a first!

#2

Several right-hand notes happened to be below the staff.  My student, having started out playing flute, was not required to read below the staff for at least 2 years.  (The lowest note on the flute is middle C.)

Her usual way of finding notes below the staff is to say “one below C,” “two below C,” etc.  That works, but that was the only method available to her.

On Saturday, something wonderful happened.  She played an A below the staff right away, no calculation necessary.  Then, on the next system and 1/2 a page to the right, she played a G!  I was flabbergasted!  She just did it!

After she had finished playing the piece, I mentioned the feat she had just accomplished.  She shrugged it off because G is next to A.  I certainly didn’t expect that.  She has never thought notes below the staff could be easy.

#3

We were checking out the theme to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.  This was completely new to her.  She will be learning the Bastien arrangement over the next 2 weeks.

First, we looked at the triplets.  My goal was to remove the need to look closely at every note, since each triplet is part of a scale.

My student played each triplet, no problem.

Next, I asked her to add the next note (a quarter note) in order to eliminate a possible glitch in the flow of the music.  She did it!  She was able to look at the 1st note of each triplet, then move her eyes over to the quarter note.  She played each of the snippets perfectly the 1st time!  There was never a triplet, pause on the 3rd note, stop to figure out where the quarter note was, then play the quarter note.  (When a passage is learned that way, it is very hard to remove the glitch and find the line.)

After that, she played the entire melody.  I was so happy that no past fears crept in.

#4

In the theme from Sheherazade, the accompaniment in the left hand includes something that has been a problem in past lessons.  Two quarters in the top part descend to a half note, while the lower part has two half notes.  Everything is marked legato.  Holding a key down with part of the hand while changing pitches with another part of the same hand is not easy!  Again, she just did it.

And finally, a potential problem, nipped in the bud  🙂

When we looked at the left hand accompaniment in the Tchaikovsky, my student announced, “I’m not going to count the rests.”  So she “tried out” the left hand in that manner.

While she was playing, I thought about her comment.

“Trying it out” is a habit of hers that is hard to overcome.  It must feel safer to play so no one can really hear you.  It occurred to me that random chords allowed for random glitches, too.

After the 1st time through the chords, we talked about this.  When I suggested that counting could save later rhythmic problems, I demonstrated by playing 2 adjacent chords; randomly the 1st time, then rhythmically.

I think she bought it… we’ll see in 2 weeks.

And the credit goes to…

My wonderful, extremely patient, persevering student!  Congratulations!!!

What do you think?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

For more information about practicing:

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Johnny One Note*

Tags

acoustic piano, Bach, Church service, digital piano, Eighth note, fugue, piano, Prelude, Quarter note, Sunday

(Image credit: Flickr)

In choosing music for Sunday, I decided on two Bach Preludes and excerpts from a Fugue (keeping the postlude short).  The service had been scheduled to be outdoors, which meant I would be playing a digital piano.

All three works are pieces I have not played before.  So note-learning commenced immediately.

After reading through everything, I went back to look for clues about the construction and articulation of each piece.

In one Prelude, especially, a seemingly insignificant detail turned out to be crucial to most interpretive decisions throughout the piece.

There are two compositional elements that must be clearly differentiated:  

• quarter-note chords; and
• thematic material.

At first, I honored the length of the quarter notes.  That plan worked for 7 measures!  Time to find another plan.

Now look at bar 8.  How can the quarter note “G” be held while continuing with the thematic upper part (B-flat and A-flat, etc.)?  Even if I were able to stretch from G to B-flat, the tone quality would suffer on the 16th notes. (My left hand is unable to play E-flat and G at the same time, too.)

Using pedal to sustain the “G” is out of the question.  The next two 16th notes would be blurred.

So I tried playing an 8th-note “G”!  And it worked.  But consistency in articulation is so important when voicing Bach’s music.  Establishing longer quarter notes over 7 bars and then playing a single 8th note instead just wouldn’t make it.  So I jumped from one quarter-note section to the next, checking them all out in the shorter version against the opposite hand.

Bach’s intentions are best expressed in the clarity between his compositional ideas.  I hear the piece as if orchestrated, with a group of instruments playing the quarters and strings (in their appropriate range) playing the thematic portions.

Seeing quarter notes notated in opposition to the eighths and sixteenths of the thematic portions makes the difference in parts visually clear.  I don’t see the notation as an error.  Imagine all the ink on the page if 8th notes and 8th-note rests were used instead.

This afternoon (Thursday), the plans for the outdoor service were changed. We will be having an indoor service, and I will be playing an acoustic piano.

Friday update:  I tried something new today with the quarter note in question.  If the moving part is played with an appropriate break to accommodate the ascending interval from D-flat to B-flat, it is possible to make the “G” sound a little longer.  I like the way that sounds, so now I’ve added a breath in the moving part.

Immediately after the breath, the piece continues in tempo.

This piece is still evolving for me.  I have decided to postpone playing it until I feel comfortable.

What do you think?  Please share your thoughts in the Comment Section below!

* When I was a staff accompanist at Smith College, one of the voice 
teachers often referred to Bach as "Johnny Rivers." 

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Sweet Clarity

Tags

choir rehearsal, Church service, Have Thin Own Way, Immortal Love, Lord, varied keyboard part

This GIF image is an animation created by taking 101 cross-sections of the 2-dimensional analog of a chaos game performed using a pentachron as the bounding figure. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

I think this is a cool image, which develops over a few seconds’ time.

Wait for it!

Something mysterious and wonderful is happening with my church choir.  This is my attempt to arrive at more detail about how we went from fog to focus with limited rehearsal time.

First occurrence

There were good reasons, surely, for people to be distracted.  Two singers arrived later than usual, changing the sound.  In addition, there were some rehearsal instructions that had not made it to their ears yet.

The anthem was Immortal Love, For Ever Full  by John Greenleaf Whittier and Philip R. Dietterich.  It had special meaning for one choir member who had known the composer.

The nitty-gritty

Individual choir members were saying “What do I sing?”  “We’re slowing down!” and “Something’s wrong!”  We were running short on rehearsal time, so someone had to get everybody to focus on the service that would begin in a few minutes.

“What do I sing?” resulted from the unison first verse changing to 3 parts in the second.  Two parts now appeared on the same treble staff.  If someone is a little pressed for time, especially, that can be cause for confusion.

“We’re slowing down!” turned out to be a breathing arrangement that hadn’t been learned yet.  During a verse written as a round, each of the 2 parts could have taken a breath with the comma in the text.  But then they would have been breathing at different times.  My thought was that we had too little time to go with that choice.

Alternate choice:  The women had 2 half notes, separated by a comma. Breathing between 2 half notes is not a problem.

The men had 4 quarter notes, also with a comma in the middle.  For everyone to breathe together, the men, with very little rehearsal time, needed more space to breathe.  (We had no time to rehearse cutting a quarter note short, breathing quickly, and continuing in tempo.)

The way it worked was for everyone to look up (at me), take a breath while watching me conduct the slight stretch in rhythm, sing the next measure, and listen to the piano.  I continued playing in tempo immediately after the breath.

 “Something’s wrong!”  Now we’re on page 3 of the anthem.  And yes, there’s a meter change and a faster tempo.  Although I was conducting with large motions, everyone was looking down at the music.

So… next, everyone watched me, I talked through what I was conducting (counting), then sang while conducting, then played the piano part while counting aloud.

Success!  

I especially like the way the anthem is voiced.  To make an impressive ending to the middle section, the composer asks the choir to crescendo on an ascending line.  Following their final phrase in the section, the piano continues outward, above and below the voice parts, continuing the crescendo.

The ending is equally effective.  In it, the singers are in the middle of their ranges, similar to the way hymns typically are written.  The piano part surrounds the voices, adding to the sonority without duplicating their parts.

I learned something from this piece.  The keyboard can be used to enhance the other parts, rather than always “helping” them.  Although I sometimes play parts and sometimes the accompaniment, this was a clear use of enhancement during an entire piece.

Second occurrence

Last Sunday, due to choir members’ other commitments, we found ourselves singing with 4 members.  I went into the rehearsal with concerns about volume and how many voice parts could be accomplished.

So we sang through the anthem, Have Thine Own Way, Lord by Pollard, Stebbins, and Scott.  So far, so good!   In this arrangement of the well-known hymn, the listener’s impression is of the serenity of a lullaby.  One of my first thoughts upon hearing 4 people singing the piece was that the arrangement was an excellent fit for our circumstances of the moment.

Verse 1 is for men’s voices.  When I asked our only bass of the day to sing out, he delivered.  A soprano then suggested that the alto, who has low notes, sing with him.  Even better!

It took a little cajoling to get everyone to hold their music up, look up, listen to each other (so the women could enter together with the men at the beginning of Verse 2), and send their sound to the back of the sanctuary. Someone picked a spot on the back wall, which helped everyone focus and feel confident.

I found myself not playing the voice parts.  No one needed that.  Instead, I found ways to enhance what the singers were doing.  So I was there, supporting them, adding to their sound, but not competing.

The piano part added to this wonderful hymn is perfectly fine, but I felt that we could benefit from less of it.  So I cut the introduction and the interlude to 4 bars each.  Also, in one verse where the accompaniment asked for a constant repeated chord in the bass, the right hand was duplicating the voice parts.  I omitted the right hand.  And then, rather than interfere with the singing, I used the bass chord to add rhythmic interest.  That was accomplished by playing harmonic rhythm (nuanced chords) between times.  I omitted the chord printed under the choir’s last note in a phrase, and played beginning with their first rest between phrases.  So the music continued, and the singers were heard.

Had the singers begun to sound insecure, I would have played whichever parts I wasn’t hearing.  But they didn’t need it!

Something I learned about rehearsing

I found myself listening to each person’s concerns, but didn’t go there.  With limited time, my focus had to be on why each person was expressing each concern.  Becoming more involved with each detail could have led to any number of tangents, but not necessarily to good results.

That day I kept my cool.  It worked!

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tags

Ebook, Goal-oriented Practice, learning music, learning process, music education, piano pedagogy, time saver

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by Gretchen Saathoff

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to all who contributed their expertise and support to make this possible:

to Sean, for assembling all the pieces into one PDF file;

to Charles, for his wonderful feedback and encouragement;

to Louise, Irene, Lauren, and Jane for their support;

to everyone who wrote terrific reviews (see links above);

and to my Facebook and Twitter friends for their ongoing presence.

I couldn’t have done this without you!

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Concert countdown on mostly unfamiliar music

Tags

Bach, Busoni, Gershwin, Katerina Stamatelos, Liszt

Katerina Stamatelos, "Little Girl III" ~ used by permission ~ click image for description

Purchase information available here.

It’s concert countdown time! 

The program below will remain the same for 2 performances in MA, on October 29th (Williamsburg) and November 6th (Amherst).  My November 9th concert in New York is part of a 1/2-hour lunchtime series, so the program will be shorter.

This program feels particularly demanding because I have included four musical styles unfamiliar to me.

Bach Prelude and Fugue

For 2 or 3 weeks, I had planned to open the program with the Bach/Busoni.  Having only played the piece twice, though, finding the sound I want is difficult right at the beginning.

So I will begin with the Prelude and Fugue, which I have performed a few times.  There are many ways to play Bach, so I am practicing with that in mind.  This time will be different.

Bach/Busoni Chorale Prelude

This is such a beautiful piece, I hope I can convey everything I’d like to audiences.

There are 3 distinct sounds required to play this well:  the melody, the bass, and the inner part.  Listeners need to be able to hear the way each line moves.

Does this seem more difficult than a fugue because it’s Busoni?  Perhaps I’m wishing for organ manuals, pedals, and registration changes.  With piano, you have to achieve different sounds with your hands, alternating hands for the middle part.

Another part of what’s in my head about Busoni:  Mischa Dichter played the first Fall concert at my school when I was a 19-year-old transfer student.  He took the stage and began with Bach/Busoni!  I no longer remember which piece he played, but the feeling of being blown away remains.

Mendelssohn Songs Without Words

For this program, I will be replacing the Funeral March (Op. 62, No. 3) with Op. 62, No. 1, which I feel is more appropriate for these audiences.

Details about the songs on this program can be found in 2 previous blog posts:  Emily’s Movie:  Music for Piano and The Ones That Got Away.

Liszt

Hard to believe, but this is the first Liszt solo piano music I’ve played!  The challenge for me is getting the rubato to sound natural, and not like Chopin or Brahms.  And the piano dynamics are intended to be heard by the audience, so practicing too softly is a waste of time.

I chose “Nuages Gris,” which has been cited for the modernity of its sound, specifically to lead to the next work.

Katerina Stamatelos VARIATIONS and INVOCATION upon a “Kyrie Eleison” and an “Anathema,” Op. 4

Katerina and I “met” on Twitter!  Both she and her work sounded interesting, so I visited her web site to read her bio and listen to some of her compositions.  Once there, I discovered that she is also a pianist, a painter, a poet, and a fashion designer!

I feel a connection with her through the University of Iowa, where she earned two of her degrees.  I grew up 75 miles from Iowa City, attended music camp there 4 times beginning in 7th grade, and studied piano and organ there in high school.

After looking at this piece several times, then putting it away, these concerts came along.  I’m so happy to be programming Katerina’s beautiful piece!

Here the challenge is learning the composer’s style with no previous knowledge.  Beyond that, some of the tempi are fast.  The fastest marking is quarter note = 168.

When learning chordal passages in traditional music, I “block” the hand positions and practice getting to each spot early.  With triads and inversions, that becomes standard procedure.

Now I’m practicing chord clusters the same way!  Noticing the similarities between clusters helps.  In one passage, the 2 middle notes stay the same.  The 1st chord is higher on the keyboard than the 2nd.  Using the same fingering for the middle of each is working.  If I keep my hand in that shape, then head for the middle of the 2nd chord (with the center of my hand), finding the 2nd chord quickly is no problem.  (I lead with the thumb or 5th finger most of the time.)

In this piece, the Kyrie has variations.  In addition, the Anathema has its own variations.  As you can imagine, the possibilities for alternating sections are many.

The Anathema is fast, and faster with each of its new sections.  These alternate with, or are interspersed with, the Kyrie theme.

The performer has to be alert and ready to go.  No matter whether the practicing is at tempo or slower, I practice the transitions every time.  If you arrive at the beginning of a section late, insecurity immediately gets in the way.  I’m practicing for success.  Switching from slow to fast, and also not waiting after “making it” to the end of a fast section, are crucial to the flow of the music.

Gershwin

Think Gershwin’s music is a no-brainer?  It’s not.  I don’t play his music every day.

Although I know the style and have listened to much of his music, his writing is chromatic.  And the detailed notation, such as short rests within a melody along with a bass line that appears to be pedaled through, requires close attention.

People love hearing Gershwin, so I thought this would be a good ending for the program.

How do you choose programs?

How do you learn new music?

Do you play Gershwin?  Why or why not?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

Learning a new piece? New program? Back in school? Looking for teaching ideas? Read “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer!”

Goal-oriented Practice

August 2011 review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

When You Buy a Piano

How to Maintain Your Piano

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How to make difficult passages foolproof

Tags

arts, Music, performance, Rake's Progress

Igor Stravinsky and Nadia Boulanger ~ Image via Wikipedia

John Reed was a notable singer of Gilbert & Sullivan patter songs and the “principal comedian” (Margalit Fox, The New York Times, 2/27/10) of London’s D’Oyly Carte Opera Company for 20 years.

“It’s funny how the brain works,” he told The Associated Press in 1988. “I can be standing there singing the Nightmare Song from ‘Iolanthe’ looking out at a woman in the audience wearing a hat and thinking, ‘My God, that hat is so big the man behind her can’t see.’ And the words keep coming with no problem.”

The New York Times, February 27, 2010
Follow the links for a very funny obituary and a patter song recording.  You can read the words and try it yourself!

Mr. Reed spoke about something that happens frequently when we are faced with particularly challenging music:  we need to make difficult passages foolproof.

As part of a voice recital, I will be playing the piano reductions of 2 arias from Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress:  “Quietly, night” and “I go, I go to him.” 

Both recitatives that precede the arias are on the program, of course, but they are nothing in comparison with what is required to play the arias!

So, having practiced for hours/days/weeks already, I am writing most of this post with 2-1/2 weeks to go before the concert.  (Is it bad luck to write about this before the performance?)

Quietly, night

There are way too many notes in this piano reduction to be played by one person.  There is a horn solo shared between the pianist’s hands, along with a bass line (in octaves) and a right-hand part for the rest of the string section.

I began by playing everything except the horn solo.  Then, realizing that the solo could not be added satisfactorily to what I was already playing, I went back to the orchestral recording.

Next, I learned the horn solo by itself, writing in fingerings.  After that, it was time to decide what could be played around that.

That turned out to be a much better approach.  The result had enough of the non-solo parts to be convincing, and the solo sounded prominently.

I found that obliterating (not merely crossing out) the notes I didn’t play in pencil provided me with a clear road map.  No second-guessing.  The notes I wanted were right there, and the others were not visible.

I go, I go to him

This aria is very difficult.  To get it down, I looked at the way it was written.

Anyone can play a 5-note descending scale fast.  What needed the most attention was the rest of the right hand part from the 2nd page on.

Repeated notes became easier once the fingering was written in.  After that, rather than practicing the entire right hand over and over, I took out the repeated notes and practiced them.

Concentrating on one group after the other, with a beat separating them, made it possible to get the repeated notes on autopilot after a few days.  It was also good practice to jump from place to place with my eyes.

Rehearsal at the venue

The singer and I rehearsed in the recital space for the first time 2 days before the recital.

In this case, the acoustics were on my side.  We agreed on a description of “wallowing” rather than “reverberant.”  Because the sound took on a life of its own, we slowed everything down, including the slow pieces.

Concert day

I wish I could say it was a grand finale.  But I woke up that morning with a crick in my back!  I have played concerts with a bad cold, a fever, a broken leg (left leg, in a program with no sostenuto pedal), and an arm just out of a sling for a few days.  This was the first back issue I had encountered.

A hot shower and lots of Excedrin brought things to a tolerable level, but I couldn’t ignore the pain completely.  My hour-long warmup at home did not go well.  That happens on the day of a performance fairly often.  This time, though, I left for the concert without knowing how my back would affect my playing.

Fortunately, adrenaline helped, as did breathing with the singer.  The concert went well!

Have you encountered music that needed to be made foolproof?  How did it turn out?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

Learning a new piece? New program? Back in school? Looking for teaching ideas? Then this is the perfect time to read “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer!”

Goal-oriented Practice

August 2011 review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

When You Buy a Piano

How to Maintain Your Piano

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