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JUNE – JULY 2021

HELPING YOU BECOME A BETTER PLAYER

No 120

LISE

Masterclass

IMPROVE YOUR PLAYING IN JUST

DE LA SALLE

20 MINUTES

Dancing with the music

BEGINNER LESSON

GRAND OPENINGS

MASTER YOUR BROKEN CHORDS

Why piano showrooms are thriving

ON THE RECORD The value of recording your performance

CONTENT LUSIVE EXCGuidance for IN-DEPTH GUIDANCE

Mozart’s popular

PiECES TO

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LEARN

MUSIC

Allegro K3

PUT YOUR Instinct, or EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FEET hard work?UP!

3 WATERMAN

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Practising without DAME FANNY the pedal

HOURS of

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2• Pianist 103

Pianist 120

CONTENTS

June-July 2021 The next issue of Pianist goes on sale 23 July 2021

68 4

Editor’s Note

Reader Competition Three lucky readers to receive a copy of Lise de la Salle’s new album

Readers’ Letters A Zimerman encounter and ﬁngering choices

First Person Peter Quantrill talks to Russian pianist Anna Tsybuleva about life after her victory at Leeds

10 Lise de la Salle The dynamic French pianist talks about her soft spot for Russian music and her new dance-inspired solo album where rhythm is key 14 How to Play Masterclass 1 Recording your playing can do wonders for your own improvement, says Mark Tanner 16 How to Play Masterclass 2 Spreading shorter practice blocks throughout the day is much more eﬀective than one long session, says Graham Fitch

18 Winning Score Find out why we chose a slow-burning piece full of meditative intensity as the winning score of our 2021 Composing Competition 20 How to Play 1 Melanie Spanswick guides you through Hummel’s charming Romance from his Six Easy Pieces 21 How to Play 2 Handel’s Capriccio in G minor is an ideal piece for working on memorisation, says Nils Franke 22 How to Play 3 Learn the repeated-note episodes ﬁrst in Chopin’s Grande Valse Brillante in E ﬂat, advises Lucy Parham 24 Beginner Keyboard Class Lesson 47: Broken chords 26 The Scores A romantic gem from Cui, a feisty waltz from Beethoven, the graceful ValseBallet from Satie, the winning score from our own composing competition and more

72 67 Piano Teacher Help Desk Rhythm is arguably the most important element in music making, says Kathryn Page 68 Martha Argerich at 80 Jessica Duchen assembles ten personal choices that show Martha at her most magical 72 Let’s Dance! Music and dance go hand in hand, say our three inspiringly balletic interviewees 76 Makers John Evans speaks to retailers and manufacturers about the positive eﬀects of the pandemic 80 Album Reviews Five stars for Mahani Teave’s Rapa Nui Odyssey, charming Vladigerov from Vlaeva and Liszt from Grosvenor 81 Sheet Music Reviews A recital anthology from Trinity, Gershwin from Henle, and works by pianist Alexandre Tharaud 82 For the self-learner Mark Tanner on his new advice-led book

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Invitation to the dance Our interview with Lise de la Salle brings a smile to my face. Reading about her love of dance reminded me of my own ballet classes as a girl. I longed to be a dancer: I wanted to feel the rhythm flowing through my limbs and to be in control of my movements – and of course I loved the music. I remember dancing to Schumann’s Arabesque before I even knew it was Schumann’s Arabesque! I’m in good company with fellow dance enthusiasts inside this issue. Not only de la Salle – who feels so strongly that music and dance are connected that she’s about to release an album of dance-inspired works – but Angela Hewitt, who, once upon a time, could manage 32 fouettés in one go! (Look at the fantastic photo of the young Hewitt en pointe in Warwick Thompson’s article.) Hewitt, whose Bach performances always dance as well as sing, feels that appreciating movement in music can help in so many ways – from the concept that not all beats are equal to finding a better posture at the piano. Another insightful interviewee is the Royal Ballet’s pianist, Kate Shipway, who talks about how playing for dancers has helped her to explore different approaches to Bach. It is Bach, after all, who is the unequalled master of the Baroque dance suite. Many of us think of Martha Argerich as the lioness of Romantic repertoire, but her DG album of Bach is an inspiring example of how to make this music swing. It’s also one of the recordings chosen by Jessica Duchen in her feature celebrating the artistry, and the 80th birthday, of a pianist whose musical instincts retain the boldness and daring (and agility!) of youth. The Scores section features eight dance-inspired pieces, from Schumann’s mischievous yet restrained Sicilienne from his Album for the Young (it’s always baffled me why many choose to play this elegant, compound-meter dance so quickly) to Alkan’s glorious arrangement of a Bach Siciliano. There’s a feisty Capriccio by Handel (lots of swing and quick fingers needed for that) and, for those in search of a challenge, Chopin‘s Grande Valse Brillante in E flat – even if Chopin insisted that his mazurkas, polonaises and waltzes were not written as dance music. Happy practising. I hope you find the inner pulse in the music that you choose to play.

editor@pianistmagazine.com

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WIN LISE DE LA SALLE’S NEW ALBUM

Answer the question below correctly, and you could be one of three lucky winners to receive Lise de la Salle’s new recording, When Do We Dance?, on Naïve records. Deadline for entries: 23 July 2021

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What name did Chopin give his Waltz Op 18 No 1?

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A Grande Valse Elegante B Grande Valse Brillante C Grande Valse Noble

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The Futur e of the Pi a no 5• Pianist 101

LETTERS

Your chance to

HAVE YOUR SAY EMAIL: editor@pianistmagazine.com WRITE TO: The Editor, Pianist, Warners Group Publications, The Maltings, West St, Bourne, PE10 9PH. Letters may be edited. Star Letter wins a CD.

STAR LETTER CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH ZIMERMAN I very much enjoyed the Krystian Zimerman interview in Pianist 119. I was fortunate to hear him play at Snape Maltings in Suffolk several years ago. He was the consummate professional for the concert performance. In between pieces, he regaled us with tales of his beloved Mercedes, which had broken down on the way to England, and his eye-rolling mentions of certain conductors he had worked with. I was lucky enough to be sitting in the front row where I could see his hands and as the concert drew to a close, he performed one piece from sheet music. But he had not placed the sheets fully on the stand and as he played, they began to slip, before floating down to the floor of the stage and one sheet virtually into my lap! But Mr Zimerman did not panic, he simply turned to the audience with a big grin and said in a stage whisper, ‘big pause’, gathered the pages up and resumed the piece as if nothing had happened. Having been a Pianist reader since issue 1, I thoroughly enjoy reading inspirational articles like the one above, and trying out the pieces – though not, I fear, to the standard of Krystian Zimerman. Martyn Griggs, Thirsk, North Yorkshire What a wonderful story! A surprise CD is on its way to you.

Questionable fingering I have been studying the fingering of Streabbog’s Whirlwind inside issue 119 and wonder why 1-3-1-3 keeps appearing rather than, say, 1-2-3-4. I appreciate that 1-2-3 are the stronger fingers, but Chopin wrote his similar chromatic-scale étude for the top three fingers (3-4-5) whilst preventing 1-2 helping them by having them come in at every beat below the other fingers. In his Rhapsodie espagnole, Liszt even has scales with fingerings of 1-2-3-4-5, presumably for greater velocity and less change of position. I would think something similar is needed in Brahms’s Concerto No 2 in the semi-arpeggio figurations (first movement) and then later with the rapid scales in thirds in the last movement. Perhaps an item on such ‘unusual’ fingerings could be included? John Greenaway, Earley

VIRTUAL PIANO WORKSHOP with Dominic Ferris Session 1: Learn how to play Gershwin Tues 25 May 2021 LIVE on Zoom

7• Pianist 119 2• Pianist 103

FIRST PERSON

Life after

LEEDS The Yorkshire countryside played its own part in Anna Tsybuleva’s triumph at the 2015 competition. So did Brahms: her new recording of the Second Concerto realises a long-cherished dream, she tells Peter Quantrill

TAP TO WATCH Anna Tsybuleva play Brahms Sonata No 2

A journey around Brahms

The jury’s consensus over Tsybuleva was by no means shared by the critical fraternity, but she has, over the past six years, steadily put together a career and a repertoire to make the doubters eat their words, now capped by a recording of the Brahms Second which – to my ears – bears witness to a profound engagement with its many-sided nature. While still a postgraduate student at the Moscow Conservatoire, Tsybuleva wrote a dissertation on the concerto and visited the library in Hamburg to see the composer’s marked-up proof of the first edition. The eruptions of the first two movements draw from her a weight of tone and sovereign fantasy familiar from great Russian interpreters of years gone by: not just Richter and Gilels, but Grinberg and Davidovich. Her dancing, shaded articulation of the Scherzo’s Handelian central episode and the lightly worn but heartfelt affection of her rapport with the solo cellist in the Andante show Tsybuleva as a pianist of her time; acutely aware of Brahms’s own self-consciously asserted place in musical history as a scholar of, and successor to, Handel and CPE Bach as well as a visionary Romantic. At any rate, she established the warmest of relationships with her conductor for the Signum album, Ruth Reinhardt, for whom the recording also marks a notable debut. ‘It looks like a well-planned story now, but it wasn’t!’ says Tsybuleva. ‘After the competition, I really wanted another opportunity to play the Brahms. I wanted to rehearse more, to unite with the conductor and orchestra. And I had a wonderful three days in Berlin just before the pandemic in March last year with musicians [of the DSO Berlin] who know this music inside

8. Pianist 120

ashions change for competition repertoire as in every other walk of life. Beethoven’s Fourth, Schumann and Prokofiev’s Third were once the go-to concertos for aspiring gold medallists, fitting within the time-honoured half-hour template of mingled virtuosity and lyricism, with a brief shop-window to advertise slow phrasing and no danger of one’s efforts being drowned by the orchestra. By comparison, the 50-minute span of Brahms’s Second appears absurdly unsuited to setting out a young pianist’s stall, and yet two winners of major competitions in the last six years have made it their signature piece: Anna Tsybuleva in Leeds in 2015 and Alexandre Kantorow in Moscow in 2019. Talking recently to Kantorow (for the cover story of Pianist 118) and now to Tsybuleva, it becomes clear that the lure of performing the concerto was irresistible: both pianists have an enduring relationship with the piece stretching back much further than the expected year or two of preparation. Even so, Tsybuleva had never played the Brahms with an orchestra. So she decided to make the most of the opportunity, despite being given the standard single, hour-long rehearsal, barely enough to top and tail. ‘Some parts we couldn’t play at all,’ she tells me: ‘We just established the tempo and mood. But Sir Mark Elder was so open and helpful. At every moment I felt his kindness and support. And the night itself was such a pleasure, from first to last note. Jury members told me afterwards: “Anna, you were so free, so relaxed, that we forgot we were on a jury.”’ We’ll find out for ourselves in September if the next Leeds winner shows such self-possession.

out. I met Ruth for the ﬁrst time on the evening before the ﬁrst session. I started to play in the dark hall, she listened and responded – and we understood immediately that we didn’t even need to talk. There was a total match of ideas between us.’

her studies in Basel, a centre of early-music research and experimentation during the post-war era. ‘At one of my first lessons in Basel,’ she remembers, the professor asked us: “What is your favourite Mozart concerto?” And I was ready to give an answer before he said, “Not a piano Pandemic perspectives concerto”. And then I realised, I didn’t really know the other Now 30, mother of a baby daughter, Tsybuleva has a hard-won concertos. I had heard the Oboe and Bassoon Concertos, the perspective on the transitory nature of success and failure. She Sinfonia Concertante, but as a pianist I didn’t think about these came close to first prize in the 2012 Hamamatsu competition pieces as relevant to me. And of course I was wrong.’ Claudio – ‘the scariest competition in the world’ – but found herself Martínez Mehner was another professor who once told her: running on empty by the time of the final. ‘I was thinking ‘Anna, you sound too much like a pianist!’ At first, she says, ‘I about how tired I was and thought, well, I am a pianist! how I wanted to go home. But then I understood how Then I realised that deep his comment was, Schumann wouldn’t be because a piano should be able very happy to know that I to sound like anything.’ was playing his concerto Tsybuleva played a lot of with this mentality. That chamber music. ‘Playing with helped me to understand an oboist you learn a lot about what I’m here for.’ breathing, about how they Accordingly she took physically make a sound, how time to enjoy the Yorkshire it starts, and then you can start architecture and to think about how to do the countryside while in same on the piano. They don’t Leeds. ‘We had a free day do this in Moscow, and I’m before the third round. I sad about that.’ Now she looked at the piano, and passes on what she learnt to realised that I didn’t want young musicians as a judge at to play a single note. So I the annual Nutcracker went into the garden with Competition in Moscow. Tsybuleva’s victory concerto performance at The Leeds my score, a blanket and a ‘Once I heard a colleague ask: cup of Yorkshire tea, and “How can we judge a spent the day outside. I violinist?” And this is an came back in with pink important question. For me it cheeks and a new energy, isn’t a problem, because I and I understood that I just appreciate the common laws wanted to play. These underlying all music. There composers created this isn’t a fundamental difference beautiful art not to be in in musicianship between competitions. We need to instruments. We shouldn’t be give it to people, not to concentrating on technical fight within it, it is against challenges, because they are the nature of the music.’ just tools for expression, and if we’re hearing the technique too Like the rest of us, Tsybuleva found her diary wiped out by much, that tells us something in itself.’ the pandemic: she had prepared several new programmes for a Away from the coalface of making music, Tsybuleva is return to the stage after giving birth. ‘I decided not to panic developing a study project which will put flesh on the bones of but to see what I can do. I had this opportunity that otherwise the ideas she shared with me during an illuminating couple of I wouldn’t have had, to spend real time with my baby. I took a hours. Her contrasting episodes of study and competition have few online courses, and I carried on practising.’ She moves left her convinced of what many Pianist readers know for between a digital instrument in her Moscow flat (‘mostly I themselves, that (even when pursued professionally) music can practise with headphones’) and a baby grand at a place in the never be an industrial occupation. ‘I want to explore how to country. Her provisional plans include a summer tour of the practise with the aim of happiness rather than success. Many Third Sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms, then a Chopin recital young pianists think that success and a career can be a goal in tour, concerto appearances in Taiwan and her US debut. itself. But this is nothing. Today you can have a career, tomorrow you can be nowhere. What is real is your love for music.’ n

‘I want to explore how to practise with the aim of happiness rather than success’

How (not) to succeed

Meanwhile she is immersed in Debussy, planning a programme of the complete Préludes. She plays Rameau and CPE Bach, and feels under her ﬁngers how their music ﬂows downstream into Debussy and Brahms. This historical perspective was cultivated after graduating from Moscow, when she completed

Anna Tsybuleva’s new recording of Brahms’s Second Concerto and solo pieces is available on Signum from 28 May (SGCD674). Visit annatsybuleva.com for concert dates. The 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition takes place 8-18 September, with all rounds ﬁlmed by medici.tv and the concerto ﬁnals televised on BBC4.

9. Pianist 120

INTERVIEW

TAP TO WATCH Lise de la Salle performs Chopin Nocturne No 20

TAP TO WATCH Lise de la Salle plays Mozart Concerto No 16

m h t y h R

THE

LIFE

lle ench pianist Lise de la Sa Fr s, ar ye r he nd yo be Wise g l pianist for whom ﬁndin fu ht sig in d an g in ch ar se is a ic is paramount. Ahead of us m e th nd hi be lse pu e th inspired solo album, the release of her dancehen she talks to Jessica Duc

hen the pandemic struck, the French pianist Lise de la Salle was among thousands of classical musicians who found their diaries had emptied almost overnight. It’s a terrifying prospect for most, but de la Salle is not someone accustomed to sitting about doing nothing. She decided to volunteer for the Red Cross. Four days a week for three months, she says, she woke at 5.30am to travel across Paris in a virtually deserted Metro, working to connect the neediest and most desperate people with the organisation that could help them when all else had failed. The usual resources such as soup kitchens had closed: ‘These people were left with literally nothing. The Red Cross created emergency grocery bags that we were sending to them and my job was connecting the people who really needed it to the staff on the ground that were actually delivering. I was the go-between. It was extremely intense, because people were living in such distress, with emotional and physical emergencies, alone with nobody to help them. They really needed someone to talk to.’ Sometimes she would find she had worked for hours without a moment’s break, ‘because I am used to practising for many hours in a row – and emotionally everything hits you all at once.’ Musical life began to limp back in the summer: ‘I had about one engagement a month that survived, from July to December: I was in Germany, most of the Nordic countries and Spain.’ Her last date of 2020 was in Beirut, Lebanon, a month and a half after a gigantic explosion at the port left a substantial section of the city devastated. ‘That was the most emotionally strong concert in many years, also because I had been there before and loved it.’ She was thrilled ‘to come back after the explosion and to see people alive and warm and welcoming.’ Moreover, this was her first concert since the pandemic’s onset that admitted a live audience, rather than streaming only. ‘It was in a big church, with half capacity allowed, which meant 500 people. When you go for months with absolutely no contact with the audience, then suddenly, in those circumstances with such a high level of emotions around, to play for 500 people was totally surreal and wonderful.’

LISE de la Salle Up clos e

If you could play only one piece from now on, what would it be? The Schubert/Liszt ‘Serenade’. If you could play only the music of one composer from now on, who would it be? Mozart. One pianist you’d travel long and far to hear? Richter. One concert hall you’d like to play in? Berlin Philharmonie.

De la Salle, though only 33, has been a familiar and much-loved ﬁgure on the musical circuit for over 15 years. On the Zoom screen from her apartment near Paris, she comes across as intelligent, perceptive and in some ways wise beyond her years – as artists sometimes can be after starting stellar careers so young – and her English is excellent, partly thanks to three years she spent living in New York. She was born in Paris to parents more Russian than French in origin: ‘Three of my four grandparents were from Russian families who had escaped after the Revolution in 1917,’ she says. If she has escaped the perennial curse of French pianists – being pigeonholed into playing French repertoire – this may partly account for it. ‘I’ve always felt a big aﬃnity with Russian music,’ she says. ‘I like those extreme emotions and that kind of emotional gravity – sometimes I think that the more intensity I get, the better I feel, even if it’s not always a good thing!’ She has all the Rachmaninov concertos under her belt, though the one piece she has not tackled yet, but dreams of playing, is the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1, ‘a big monster that somehow I have never had the occasion to work on.’ She grew up in a ‘very arty’ environment. Her father’s side of the family were gallerists and art dealers, and her mother’s were

Any technical troubles? Fast and furious octaves are not my favourite things. What advice would you give to an amateur pianist about how to improve? Think about what you want from the emotions. Perfection is boring – and anyway it doesn’t exist! If you weren’t a pianist, what would you be? A cook. One person you’d love to play for? Mozart. A composer you’re not quite ready for? Ligeti! What other kind of music do you like listening to? Mostly jazz and rock’n’roll. ▲

Russian soul

11• Pianist 120

INTERVIEW musical. ‘My grandma was a piano teacher and my mum loves music and used to be a singer. We had a piano and when I was four years old I spontaneously was attracted by the instrument, so I started to play around with it. My mum decided to give me some lessons at the Conservatoire Rachmaninov.’ The Conservatoire Russe de Paris, to which Rachmaninov lent his name, was located in a historic mansion in central Paris. ‘Probably as we are Russian heritage, she found it cool,’ de la Salle quips. ‘I started there and immediately adored it. I don’t remember this, but the family legends goes that I told my piano teacher at my second lesson that I will be a concert pianist – it was all decided! And after that I never stopped, I never questioned it, I never wanted to do anything else.’ As time went by, the type of life she was approaching became clearer: the long hours of hard slog, the devotion to work rather than being a teenager and the incompatibility with normal schooling. ‘I was home-schooled from the age of ten,’ she says; she was able to go through the entire education system and take her Baccalaureate in this way.

Lise de la Salle on… When Do We Dance? I’m a big dance fan. I’ve always adored classical ballet, ever since I was four years old. Then I discovered modern jazz and all kinds of different dances. Growing up, I realised that it is similar to music and they are always connected. The idea of rhythm is important to me: I work a lot on rhythm and pulse in my interpretations and also when I teach or give masterclasses. It’s always close to the emotional state in music, like your heartbeats, and it’s primary for dancing too – to have that kind of energy from the ground, from the pulse, from the rhythm. So I decided to take my chance with a programme based around dances. Then I realised that I’d need not one album for this, but ten! I wanted at first to go back to Lully and Rameau, but clearly I had to make a choice somehow. Therefore I decided to focus only on 100 years, and chose 1850 to 1950 because all the arts were going through a fascinating period of change then in form, rules and techniques. I picked a world travel idea: from America to Argentina, then crossing the ocean to Europe with Portugal, France, and east to Hungary and Russia. Contrast is a very fundamental notion for me: I find it amazingly captivating that in the same period we have Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales on one side with 6000km west Tea for Two played by Art Tatum and a few hundred kilometres east the Six Romanian Folk Dances by Bartók, which are another world. I’ve tried to mix very famous pieces with less wellknown ones. The Ravel had been on my mind for many years, as had the Art Tatum version of Tea for Two. The Tango by Stravinsky was interesting because the dance is supposedly from Argentina, but Stravinsky is Russian so this was a double journey. It’s interesting to see how a Russian composer such as Stravinsky perceives the tango; likewise Rachmaninov, again a Russian, with an Italian Polka. And the Ginastera Three Argentinian Dances are incredible pieces that I really wanted to incorporate. It’s been a fascinating exploration.

All work and very little play Her big break came when the founder of the Naïve Classique label, Hervé Boissière, who also founded Medici TV, decided to take a punt on her. ‘Naïve was a very young label at the time, only three years old – this was the early 2000s and perhaps it was a slightly crazy thing to create a new label then, but he did it and he decided to sign me up when I was 14. He’s that kind of guy, with big intuition and loving to take risks, which is also one of my mottos: if you don’t risk anything, nothing happens. So he did: it worked and then with the first CD came my first agent.’ At this point, one might like to think ‘the rest is history’, but it’s not quite so simple. Becoming a professional pianist before you’re even old enough to vote is a tall order. ‘The last two or three school years were very difficult, because I was starting to have a full concert schedule while also the Baccalaureate was approaching. That time between 16 and 18 was crazy and I’m glad it’s over. Everything went well in the end, but it really felt like I was only working, practising or travelling and my life was not fun.’ De la Salle steamed ahead thanks to, she says, some valuable advice from her mother. ‘My mum once explained to me, and it made sense: these were the years where all my life would be created and it would be worth it so that then I could arrange everything afterwards in the way I wanted. Of course, nothing is ever guaranteed, but at least I was doing all that was necessary to give myself the chance later on: not only playing the piano, but also having more time and more opportunities to see my friends and travel the world. Up until Covid happened I really had a dream life. I’m very thankful that I could do it this way.’ She stopped taking lessons when she was 18 and since then has forged her own path, choosing to find her guidance largely from the examples set by the great pianists of the past. ‘The most wonderful teachers are on the Internet – those video recordings on YouTube,’ she says. ‘I still learn a lot just by watching and listening, trying to comprehend and trying to copy. I often compare this to when you see students in museums sketching Leonardo da Vinci: it’s when you try to copy the old masters that you begin to find your own way and then you can build your individual approach. My technique was pretty solid already, I had made a couple of recordings, I had played with orchestras; what I needed was to grow and to mature. I think it’s like a good 12• Pianist 120

wine – being French I have to make that comparison!’ she jokes. ‘But it needs time. There is no magic recipe. I am firmly a believer in life being the best teacher.’

Music talks She has few good words, however, for a piano world that often appears to value recorded technical perfection ahead of emotional communication with the audience. ‘For me this is a nonsense, because when you hear Horowitz, Lipatti, Gilels, Richter, Kempff, all those guys who are my heroes, they do play wrong notes. I’m not saying that playing wrong notes is wonderful – it should of course be avoided as much as we can! But accuracy should not be the primary focus and goal. What’s important is what you say and how you sing with your instrument, what kind of message you give, what emotions you provide. If you’re only focused on playing all the correct notes, there is clearly not much energy or brains left to create that magic and emotion. I think it’s a little bit too sterile.’

‘Think about what you want from the emotions. Perfection is boring – and anyway it doesn’t exist!’ Staying motivated to keep making music is not easy when performances are being scheduled, cancelled, rescheduled and cancelled again, and when an industry that normally relies on planning two years or more in advance can’t see further than a few weeks into the future. De la Salle has found it valuable, though, to focus on making a new recording: a type of concept album, When Do We Dance? (the title taken from the Gershwin song) exploring classical composers’ responses to dance forms around the world between 1850 and 1950. She was able to go to Berlin, where the recording took place at the Teldex Studio, ‘a space I adored when I went there before to record with violinist Daniel Hope,’ she says. ‘It was just me, the engineer and the artistic director, so social distancing was not an issue.’ If the album kept her busy and smiling, it may well do likewise for its listeners (and it certainly brought this writer some cherishable good spirits). Besides, perhaps the effects of the pandemic are not all bad: ‘We need our lives back,’ says de la Salle, ‘but maybe we don’t need to return to those crazy schedules. I love to cook and though I’m no expert I’m very interested in healthy food and what’s good for you. I do a lot of sports, yoga, meditation, all of those things. Sometimes I felt life was a bit like empty calories, feeding ourselves with trash food – no matter what kind of food, it can be real or emotional – just to feel like there is no time to think and keep on rolling, rolling, rolling, but why and for what? I hope it’s going to be a good effect that people realise we need quality time to share things that are meaningful. What matters is not quantity, but quality.’ n Lise de la Salle’s When Do We Dance? album is released on 4 June on the Naïve label (Naïve V5468). De la Salle performs one of the tracks from the album – Saint-Saëns’s Etude en forme de Valse – on this issue’s covermount. 13• Pianist 120

HOW TO PLAY NOWHERE TO HIDE

RECORDING YOUR PERFORMANCE If you’re looking for more feedback on how you play, recording yourself at the piano is hugely beneficial – and with today’s technology, it’s easier than ever, says Mark Tanner

hat can we learn from recording ourselves practising and performing on the piano? This past year, beset with lockdowns and restrictions on face-to-face music making, may well have caused us to re-evaluate what we are doing. The ways we traditionally enjoy interacting – playing duets being a prime example – either had to be reinvented on the hoof or else abruptly curtailed altogether, forcing us to become more enterprising and resourceful. Coupled with this has inevitably been a near total dependence on internet-based solutions, whether this be for concerts, music clubs, webinars or one-to-one exchanges. Exam boards have detoured bravely down the recorded performance route also, partly to help keep a measure of buoyancy in an increasingly competitive market, but also to sustain motivation. Though few of us would claim that recorded or virtual ‘live’ exchanges make for an equally satisfying experience, many will have resolved to making the best of the situation by seeing just how well they can capture the subtleties of their playing on a recording. Independent learners may well have known this secret for quite some time. There are many advantages as well as challenges to doing this, indeed we should probably record ourselves more regularly, even once

the privations of this calamitous period are finally behind us. Self-awareness Recording ourselves – either on video or audio – instantly helps us to achieve a number of valuable things, and listening is undoubtedly high on the list. Whenever and whatever we play, we should aim to be the most attentive member of our audience, no matter whether we are playing to the cat or to a hall full of people. Without necessarily realising it, we often hear what we wish to hear, not what is actually coming out from under the piano lid. This could be due to an enormous amount of notes we’re struggling to cope with, or because

TOP TIPS

Ready, steady… record

Recording yourself gives a truer sense of your playing and encourages more focused listening. It aids concentrated practice as well as selfawareness.

Hone the optimum position for your recording device – then stick with it!

Keep an audio or video diary to timestamp progress when learning or memorising.

Be kind to yourself when listening or watching back. Keep a precise note of what you were aiming to capture.

Don’t try to eradicate all gremlins in one go – pinpoint short, specific goals.

14• Pianist 120

we’ve become transfixed by pages teeming with complex details. A recording places distance between what we hear ourselves playing and what we actually played; it’s a reality check par excellence! Though we may initially balk at what we hear, the tough love of a recording can often spur us to function in more realistic, beneficial ways. Keep a video/audio diary Making regular, brief recordings – literally two minutes or less – will often be of greater value than attempting a wholesale capture of a lengthy work, though there are times when recording runthroughs can be valuable also. Focusing on one or two specific aspects of what we are currently working to improve, such as keeping in time, pedalling clearly, gauging how smooth our melodic lines are sounding, or even whether we are playing the right notes (!) often becomes glaringly vivid when we play back our performance in the cold light of day. Do this with a healthy dollop of self-compassion – the objective is not to demoralise yourself but to bring to the surface aspects not as easily detected when in the throes of adrenaline-fuelled playing! With an audio recording we are getting an additional pair of ears, but we’re also able to accrue an invaluable diary of our progress that will aid self-evaluation. When gradually memorising a piece, for example, we get a chance to check what we’re doing against the score.

• Experiment with the optimum place to position your phone, tablet or other recording device. On a grand, try placing the device at (or slightly higher than) the height of the strings; I’ve recorded uprights relatively close to the back of the instrument, leaving space around the device itself to prevent strange reflections of sound. • Try recording with the lid fully open (or place a few books under the lid as a half-measure), and see what difference is made by aiming the device nearer the top or middle register of the instrument. • Opening a door into a larger adjoining room can actually flatter an overly dry acoustic surprisingly well. • Digital pianos may have an internal-record function or option to plug a USB cable directly out to an external recording device. • Date-stamp your recordings for future ease of assessing progress. • Make a point of delaying listening by at least a day or two after making the recording. This adds greatly to its value since you’ll be listening with greater discernment, freed from any tension or anxiety you may have felt when recording. • Jot down your thoughts about the recording immediately after making it, and again when playing it back. Mark down (or state out loud on the recording) the exact passage/objective, e.g. ‘LH semiquavers, bars 28-46’. • Make multiple recordings of the same passage(s), then keep the best version – remember, the goal is to improve, not to dampen your self-esteem. Video recording In a video recording, we of course have the invaluable extra dimension of visual referencing. As with audio recording, consider where best to place your device and aim to be consistent about this so that you’ll be comparing like with like. A good overall position is 90 degrees, or slightly less, off to the right at a distance of around

four to six feet, depending on the size of your piano and the room it’s in. Doing this can also reduce the clatter of ﬁngers on keys, creaking chairs and pedals squeezing etc. Ideally, it should also permit a view of the feet moving up and down on the pedals.

Playback state of mind Mark Tanner hits the record button for three of this issue’s scores

Handel Capriccio: This is a great piece to check your recording for a) not accelerating through the { rising sequences, b) not hunching { up the shoulders in trickier places, { e.g. where both hands are playing semiquavers (bar 11), and c) not { allowing the right elbow to wiggle around too much when negotiating the upward arpeggio-type figurations (bars 4, 6 etc).

Two words of warning: • Perhaps inevitably, the more forensically we review our recording, the more we’ll dislike it! Our imperfections quickly stack up, though knowing this should help when assessing the impact of slips and stumbles. Again, be realistic and kind to yourself – recording leaves nowhere to hide! • Be aware that homemade recordings often compress the dynamic range considerably. 15• Pianist 120

from around 1720 and is played Capriccio HWV 483 in G minor dates Li. Dynamic markings are with utter conviction by pianist Chenyin the performer free reign. scarce, just with the mf at the start, allowing from giving any pedal Ditto the pedalling: Nils Franke refrains to make decisions. indications – again allowing the performer guidance. Turn to Nils Franke’s lesson for further

Capriccio q = c. 96

b &b c

∑

f f f f f f f bf nf f nf f f f f f f f f f f f nf bf f f nf f

b &b

∑

f #f nF nf # f f f f f

F f ff b &b f f f f f 2

ffffff nf f #f

f f #f f f f f f f

bf f nf

f nf f f f f f f #f nf f f ≈f ff

? bb #f

f f#f nf f f f f

f #f b f bf f & b f #f n f 3

? bb f

∑

? bb

f f f f #f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f #f f f f f

? bb c

36• Pianist 120

07/05/2021 10:46

Satie Valse-Ballet: Sustaining a visibly and audibly easygoing waltz pace, and at the same time gaining { maximum value from the dynamic { contrasts that pepper the page, are { among the greater challenges in this piece. Try recording brief { snippets, RH separately, while using the LH to tap under the wrist from time to time (do this when you are actually recording!) to ensure you have a fully relaxed, supple wrist for Satie’s limpid quaver patterns. Now swap around, using the RH to check for a relaxed LH when practising its chordal accompaniment. Erik SATIE (1866-1925)

moments are the forte jumps at playing ‘over’ the bar line. The hardest bars out of context and practise bars 8, 16 and throughout. Take these notes are secure. A practising tip the jumps slowly, making sure that all one chord, move as quickly as for the jumps: As soon as you have played too far from the keys, as you’ll possible to the next (don’t lift the hands over the notes of the second lose valuable time), then place the fingers the notes. Use this practice chord for a split second before you depress a strong trademark of the technique for all the jumps; they are such brilliant. piece, so they need to sound dazzlingly the score. Pedal tips: See suggested pedalling on

h. = 5 6

b3 f f & b 4 f #f f f

b &b Œ

Œ FFF F™ °

ff f

FF F

Œ F™

F ? bb Œ FF F™ °

f fff ff

ff f

Œ F™

f f f 3

Œ FFF F™

ff f

FF F

Œ F™

FF ? bb Œ F F™

ff f

F FF FFF

FF F

Œ F™

cresc.

ff f

Œ F™

f f f f f f

f f f f

Œ fff F™

f f f f

∑

b &b Œ

ff f

sim.

b f f & b f #f f f

ff f

f ff

FF F

Œ F™

cresc.

Œ F™ °

f f f f f f

f f f f f f 2

f f f f

f f f 3

f f f f

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∑

f f f f

? bb 34

INTERMEDIATE

Valse-Ballet Op 62

TRACK 9

Gymnopédies that are at the top Think of Erik Satie, and it’s his accessible other more challenging yet of the piano-playing list. But there are Je te veux (featured inside issue accessible works, such as the sentimental and this graceful Valse-Ballet 84), the tricky Le Piccadilly (issue 106) style veers towards Classical which was composed in 1885. The writing style of Vexations (1893) rather than the more abstract forward-thinking and Sports et divertissements (1914). takes care of the three-beat Playing tips: Like most waltzes, the LH practising it slowly, on its own. rhythmic pulse. Secure the LH first by long sweeping phrases, always Then study the RH carefully: think in

? bb

For close-up recording, the device can simply be balanced at either end of the keyboard (less good for sound, but sometimes helpful as a visual aid), or if you’re more enterprising purchase an inexpensive tripod, gooseneck or other adjustable holder to avoid vibration/rumble. Investing in an external microphone can improve sound quality immensely, both for video and audio-only recording. If you’ve contemplated recording yourself for a performance grade exam (several boards now oﬀer this), diploma, festival or consultation lesson, the experience of recording yourself has countless fringe beneﬁts. Not least of these is that it increases one’s powers of discrimination when playing, but also helps when weighing up the merits of one version against those of another.

INTERMEDIATE

Capriccio HWV 483

Among the main things to look for are: • Hands or arms ﬂying around unnecessarily • Hunching of the shoulders (or nodding!) • Sitting too tight into the keyboard, or with the neck/head jutting forwards • Ungainly jerking of the wrists • ‘Porridge stirring’ with the elbows • Exaggerated body swaying

George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)

DON’T MISS NILS FRANKE’S

LESSON THIS PIECE

TRACK 7

that is usually fairly free in A capriccio (or caprice) is a piece of music The typical capriccio is one that form and of a lively/humorous character. nature. According to the French is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in ‘Capriccios are pieces of music, writer and scholar Antoine Furetière: imagination has better success poetry or painting wherein the force of energetic and driven than observation of the rules of art.’ Handel’s

F™ F™

44• Pianist 120

07/05/2021 10:50

Chopin Grande Valse Brillante Op 18: An area that will certainly be worth reviewing on your { recordings is the repeated notes, { which are best dispatched lightly { from close to the keys, and the { challenging grace note section in B flat minor from bar 133. This may benefit from being recorded at a variety of speeds, RH alone, to ensure maximum dance-like ease of mobility and zero tension (look for signs of this in a tightening of the neck, elbow and wrist, making the desired effect virtually unachievable!). Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)

DON’T MISS LUCY PARHAM’S

TRACK 12

of his works), however, his sister waltzes in his lifetime (he was critical decided to publish the waltzes Ludwika and publisher Julian Fontana 64 No 1 appeared inside issue 105. 9-13. The famous ‘Minute’ Waltz Op magazine. Parham also Read Lucy Parham’s lesson inside the performs the piece on this issue’s covermount.

b 3> &b b 4 F

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∑

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Vivo

ADVANCED

Grande Valse Brillante in E flat Op 18

LESSON THIS PIECE

when he was 14, and continued Chopin started writing waltzes in 1824, is his first published waltz – until the year of his death in 1849. This later. He also gave the title composed in 1833 and published a year waltzes in the Op 34 set Grande Valse Brillante to the next three Chopin only published eight published five years later. Surprisingly,

b fff

f ff f f > nf

2. . . . . f. f. f. f. f. ™™ ff. f f f f f

ff f Œ

Œ f bf ™™ F f ff

54• Pianist 120

07/05/2021 11:01

p54 CHOPIN-FINAL.indd 54

Recording yourself also allows for trying out diﬀerent speeds (and helps guard against hurrying/ slowing down), doing hands separate work, ﬁtting tricky rhythms against a metronome, experimenting with extremes of dynamics, projecting your melodies (try placing your device further away), checking for clear voice entries in fugues… and so much more! n More about Mark Tanner can be found at www.marktanner.info

HOW TO PLAY STRUCTURED LEARNING

THE 20-MINUTE PRACTICE SESSION There’s a lot you can achieve in the time it takes to down a coffee, says Graham Fitch: just think in small steps and remain 100 per cent focused

am often asked: How much time should I spend practising? Of course there’s no easy answer, but it’s the quality of the practice that counts far more than the number of hours we put in. If we want to develop as a pianist, or keep in good shape, there’s no escaping regular, routine practice. However, unless we are fully focused on what we want to achieve in a practice session, we may end up wasting time and getting bored or frustrated. In this article I explore a time management strategy that helps my students get the best results from their precious time: the 20-minute practice session. If your practice is feeling overwhelming or aimless, this approach is really going to help you. When we work towards a performance, it is best to plan ahead not only what we are going to practise on any given day, but also precisely how. Maybe it’s a run-through followed by spot practice of those areas of the piece that didn’t quite hold up, or maybe we’ve decided we’re going to break a piece down and finesse it by working slowly and carefully in small sections, practising each hand by itself before putting both hands back together. Without a focus we may well end up playing through things we can already manage rather than getting down to some serious practice requiring brain power (such as fixing weak spots, learning new notes or working on accuracy and finesse we can already play). The Pareto Principle (or the 80-20 rule) can help us here; we should very often focus our effort on the 20 per cent that makes a difference, instead of the 80 per cent that doesn’t add much. This might mean focusing on a specific technical problem that needs addressing, a passage in a piece that you have been skimming over, an area such as poor sight-reading skills, and so on, rather than practising what you can already do well. I can hear objections from those who just want to play ‘for pleasure’. It helps to think of practising as investing and playing through as spending. Any piece that we constantly play through is likely to deteriorate over time unless we intersperse our playthroughs with some quality maintenance practice to keep it in tip-top shape. If you find yourself doodling instead of attending to that Chopin Scherzo you’re supposed to be practising, schedule a 20-minute improvisation session at the end of your day as a reward – or begin with this as a warm-up. Concentration is of the essence Our attention span is the amount of time we can stay fully focused on a particular activity without becoming distracted;

this obviously varies from person to person and depends on how interested we are in what we are doing. 20 minutes is an average amount of time to stay fully focused on one thing, but experiment until you find what works for you. Say you practise for a couple of hours a day, you might break this down into several short, task-specific sessions, each with a clear aim. These sessions can be spread throughout the day or done backto-back with a short break in between each. Diarise them as commitments, leaving some flexibility if a particular session is going especially well and you feel you are on a roll. When we practise in timed blocks, we allow absolutely nothing to stop us except a fire alarm. Taking an intermediate piece as an example, suppose you always stumble over the section from bar 37 in Schumann’s ‘Knecht Ruprecht’ (Knight Rupert) from his Album for the Young. Rather than fumble your way through until you come out the other side, quarantine this spot and subject it to a variety of different practice techniques. This means starting your practice not from the beginning (which you can already play), but with a micro practice session devoted to this quarantine spot (and any others you have identified from the piece). Firstly, work on the RH, playing the top melody line without the accompanimental semiquavers until it feels free and expressive with the performance fingering. Next, practise the top RH line together with the LH, aiming for good balance between the hands. Thereafter, return to the RH alone, this time with all the notes, but at a very slow tempo playing the semiquavers (16th 5 3

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j f bf bf bff bf b f f f f f f f bf b f f f f

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16• Pianist 120

5 3

nff 2 4

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f f r ≈ ‰ f f 4

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TAP HERE TO WATCH GRAHAM’S ONLINE LESSONS notes) pp staccato against the upper melody, which needs to be projected more firmly (a solid mp, say). Another stage is to mime the semiquaver accompaniment, playing the top line. Once you have mastered each hand by itself, put it together firstly at the ‘speed of no mistakes’. Thereafter, move onto some chaining practice, beat by beat at a faster tempo (see my video demonstration for how this works). This stepladder approach to practising will need to be repeated in another two or three 20-minute practice sessions over the course of a few days, after which the quarantined spots can be assimilated into the rest of the piece. Micromanaging rhythm and memory You have been playing Debussy’s Clair de lune for some years on and off, but you are aware you’ve become a bit sloppy with rhythm in the opening section. A micro practice session where you count aloud as you play will show you instantly where your sense of pulse is wobbly. Perhaps some breaks in the top RH line have crept in over time; instead of making the connections over the barlines by hand, you’ve been releasing the notes and creating gaps, or covering it all over with indiscriminate pedalling. This can all be addressed in a micro practice session where you leave out the pedal, possibly playing around with better fingering that enables seamless legato connections in the hand. Andante très expressif 4 2

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bb 9 &b b b 8 ‰

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3 1

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4 1

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3 4

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Imagine you always doubt your memory at the closing chords of Rachmaninov’s C sharp minor Prelude. Rather than hope you have a good day when you next perform it, spend a micro practice session focused just on the last few bars.

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{

#w w w w #w w

w nw w w nw w

w #w w w w #ww w

w nw w w nw w w w

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What sort of treatment might you give these chords? Several ideas come to mind: Play the chord progression omitting the bass C#s. Analyse the chords (with harmonic labels or in any other ways that are meaningful). Still without the basses, play each chord in different registers of the keyboard (an octave lower, as written, then an octave higher). This will certainly highlight any weakness in your perception of the chord shapes.

You might arpeggiate the chords slowly, listening to every note (upwards, downwards, outwards from the thumb notes, inwards from the fifth fingers, etc), and some special practice for precise measurement of the distances would further reinforce your practice (see my video demonstration). On a roll Once you get the hang of how task-specific practice blocks work, you will come up with plenty of ideas. In case you need a bit more inspiration, here are some further suggestions. • In your sonata, alternate the second subject as it appears in the exposition with the parallel material in the recapitulation (when the second subject is in the home key, and may contain slight differences). • Carefully go through the practice stages for your designated quarantined spots for two or three pieces (there is no need to practise anything else from these pieces). • Do some slow, deliberate practice on a passage that feels shaky, hands separately as well as together. • Improve your voicing skills by taking a phrase and tweaking the tonal balances. First emphasise the melody line, then the bass line, and then bring out any middle parts before finding the ideal sound. Apply this idea to sections of a fugue – one voice forte and the others pianissimo. Make sure to do this until each voice has had its turn in the limelight (half speed or even slower is fine). • Choose a section of your piece and play your LH, shadowing the RH above (and vice versa). • Practise deliberately without the pedal. This allows you to hear much more clearly, and shows up unevenness, lapses in legato, and much else. • Take a forte passage and practise it pianissimo. You will notice a significant improvement in the quality of your sound. • Do some bar-by-bar practice to check your memory. That’s one bar plus one note, repeating until you are happy and secure. Hold onto any tied notes that you might find over the bar line, then start from the note you stopped on and work on the next bar. Laborious? Yes, but incredibly thorough and worthwhile! When we are in the process of learning a new piece, working on memorisation, or solving problem areas, it is much more expedient to plan several shorter practice blocks spread out throughout the day going over the same material than to cram our work into one long session. The brain is like a sponge – but pour water onto an already saturated sponge and it will trickle away and be wasted. When we space our learning out in this way, we start to forget it during the gaps. This is actually a good thing, because our brain has to work a bit harder when we come back to what we were doing earlier, and it’s this retrieval that strengthens the memory. To be most effective, we repeat retrieval many times in spaced-out practice sessions so that our recall requires some cognitive effort. Then we can expect to see real results from our practice. n For more on quarantine spots, follow this link to Graham’s series of articles on the Online Academy (bit.ly/quarantinespots). For a broad overview of the art of practising, check out Graham’s video series on The Practice Tools (bit.ly/grahamlectureseries) and his ebook series (bit.ly/grahamebookseries).

17• Pianist 120

COMPETITION

OUT OF THIS WORLD Slow-burning intensity, mystical harmonies and a story with bubbles: a unique and winning combination for a new piano piece, according to Erica Worth and her fellow judges of this year’s Composing Competition Winner Patrick Dailly seated at his Kawai CA99 prize

he best things in life don’t come easy. That’s how we felt about the winner of this year’s Composing Competition. Written by piano teacher Patrick Dailly, Our Mortal World bristles with alternating time signatures, challenging harmonies, accidentals, changing tempi – and even bubble illustrations. Was it personal anxiety, freedom of time or lockdown restrictions that inspired so many Pianist readers to get down to work? Impossible to say, but when the deadline was up, we had received an astonishing 152 entries. They ran the gamut of types, levels and styles, from the simplest of tonal waltzes to polyrhythmic blues numbers and hair-raising glissando-ridden etudes. The judging process also required some adjustment. Unlike our usual meeting around a table with a piano to the side, five of us tuned into Zoom one December morning to play through, and chat through, the 20 shortlisted scores. Nigel Scaife was smitten from his first play-through of Our Mortal World. ‘For me, this piece is deeply reflective of the times we’ve lived through recently,’ he says. ‘It is full of questioning phrases and contrasting expressive gestures. I recommend listening to it a couple of times before you play it and let its introspective, meditative intensity get under your skin. The semiquaver-dotted quaver motif and the questioning phrase that returns in different guises bind the structure together to form a personal, creative and deeply felt expression.’ Melanie Spanswick took longer to warm to it. ‘If you look at the music of Our Mortal World, you may be forgiven for thinking that it’s rather curious,’ she explains. ‘The composer’s descriptive comments litter the score, and they come complete in their own cartoon-like “bubbles”, like performer directions. But on repeated listening, we’re transported to a new world. The dark, chromatic harmonies, and the sense of space built into the rests, contribute to its unsettling character. By the end of the piece, we find ourselves in a different state of mind – exactly as the composer intended.’ The more I listened, and played it for myself (Chenyin Li does the piece proud on the covermount), the deeper I travelled into the world of Dailly’s piece. I hear late Scriabin – the ravishing Vers la flamme in particular – in the melodic falling seconds and augmented-chord harmonies.

Blowing bubbles

As for the cartoon-like ‘bubbles’, who better to explain them than the composer? Storytelling is an intrinsic part of writing

music, as Dailly remarked to me: ‘Technique is important, but it doesn’t encompass things like meaning, narrative, having something to say or needing to communicate to other humans. If we restricted ourselves to Italian performance directions, we would know how to play a piece, but we would not know the meaning of what we were playing. Because playing the piano is technically demanding, we often never get beyond sorting out our technique. ‘Art demands more. It demands that we inhabit the secondary world of the piece, it requires us to shed the paraphernalia of here and now, and get inside another reality, if only for a short time. I included the bubbles in order to speed up the process of understanding the argument of the music. The player may hopefully appreciate the meaning of the music from ﬁrst sight.’ n Our Mortal World is printed inside the Scores section and performed by Chenyin Li on the Pianist album. The 2022 Composing Competition will be launched in the next issue. See last issue’s News for details of the runner-up and ﬁnalists.

PATRICK DAILLY ON HOW TO PLAY OUR MORTAL WORLD {

Our Mortal W orld q = c.6 9

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I suggest that you ‘get away from the { copy’ at the earliest opportunity, in exactly the same way that a stage director expects and demands that { actors inhabit the characters that they represent. Many players ﬁnd playing by memory alone very challenging, { and so where this isn’t possible, perhaps regarding the dots as an aide-memoire is a half-way step. But however it’s achieved, a good performance should seem to originate from within the player: they should make it their own piece, and should tell the story of the piece as if they are the author of it. Technically, you should strive to achieve a uniform, legato surface to the piece, and allow the music to evolve unhurriedly. Around the cadence points, like a great comedian, you should make your audience wait for the resolution.

18• Pianist 120

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THE SCORES Pianist 120 • Read the lessons • Play the scores

MELANIE SPANSWICK is a pianist, writer, teacher and composer. As an author, she is published by leading publishing houses, and has written a three-book piano course for those returning to piano playing; Play It Again: PIANO (Schott Music). Melanie teaches the piano at Junior Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Eton College. As a composer, her music is published in the renowned Edition Schott Composer Series. Read Melanie Spanswick’s lesson

NILS FRANKE is Dean of Higher Education at the University Centre Colchester, UK, having previously held posts at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and the University of Reading. He has recorded for Warner and Brilliant Classics. Nils specialises in historical performance pedagogy, with a particular focus on 19th-century pianist-composers. His editions are published by Wiener Urtext and Schott Music International. Read Nils Franke’s lesson

LUCY PARHAM is a concert pianist, writer, teacher and broadcaster. She has performed with all the major British orchestras and is a regular presenter and contributor on Radio 3 and 4. Her Composer Portraits series – featuring the lives of Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Schumann and more – has resulted in hundreds of performances with some of the UK’s finest actors. Lucy is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Read Lucy Parham’s lesson

CHENYIN LI is a celebrated concert pianist known for her fiery and intelligent performances of a wide variety of repertoire. Having won multiple international competitions, she has established herself as a versatile player who shines in both solo repertoire as well as concerto. Chenyin has performed in many prestigious venues across the UK, Europe and Asia and her extensive discography includes more than 50 albums for Pianist. Listen to Chenyin Li perform on this issue’s CD

SCORES

KEYBOARD CLASS Broken chords

HAYDN German Dance in C

DUVERNOY Elementary Study Op 176 No 8

HUMMEL Romance Op 52 No 4

CUI Open-hearted sincerity Op 20 No 1

SCHUMANN Sicilienne, No 11 from Album for the Young Op 68

BEETHOVEN Waltz WoO 84

HANDEL Capriccio HWV 483

DAILLY Our Mortal World

SATIE Valse-Ballet Op 62

PESSARD Andalouse Op 20 No 8

BACH arr. ALKAN Siciliano

CHOPIN Grande Valse Brillante in E flat Op 18

Typesetting by Spartan Press Music Publishers Ltd

LESSONS FROM THE EXPERTS

HOW TO PLAY ABILITY RATING LATE BEGINNER

HUMMEL ROMANCE FROM SIX EASY PIECES OP 52 Some smooth left hand playing coupled with a sonorous right hand melody line will bring this delightful Romance to life, says Melanie Spanswick Key G major Tempo Crotchet = 63 Style Early Romantic Will improve your ✓Cantabile playing ✓Ornaments ✓LH agility

This charming and expressive study features a beautiful RH melody. It is combined with a rolling chordal LH accompaniment – a texture synonymous with piano music of this period. Constructed of eightbar phrases, a crotchet equals 63 beats per minute is a steady tempo for this Romance, but it’s also one which will allow the tranquil character to gradually evolve.

fifth finger. Work at this leap by extending the jump by an octave; move to the D an octave lower than written while keeping the A as is. Now extend the jump in this manner while playing the whole chord. When returning to the written pitch, the movement will feel easier and more comfortable. Pay special attention to the LH’s fourth and fifth fingers. As a general rule, they play the bottom note of each three-note chordal pattern. These notes require a deeper touch – not only because they are the first-beat bass note in the chord, but because they are also often written as crotchets (e.g. bars 1-7). Thus they need to be held for the full duration of the beat, acting as a pedal note.

Let’s begin with the LH part. The accompaniment comprises calm triplet quavers made up of three-note chords; the easiest way to learn the hand positions and suggested ﬁngering is to ‘block out’ every crotchet beat. That is, try to play the notes of each crotchet beat together. For example, in bar 1, play the G, B and D together, then move to playing the F#, C and D together in bar 2. Go through the entire piece slowly using this practice tool. The LH part tends to leap around. So when practising as ‘blocking out’ chords, pay attention to the movement needed between them. Take the end of bar 7 to the ﬁrst beat of bar 8 as an example: As you can see, the notes of the last beat of bar 7 are A C# and G, followed by a D, F#, A, D in bar 8. In order to arrive at the second chord cleanly, and on time, it can help to practise the lowest notes of each chord alone – that means the A followed by the D, which are both played by the

Johann Nepomuk HUMMEL (1778-1837)

DON’T MISS MELANIE SPANSWICK’S

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE

Romance Op 52 No 4

LESSON THIS PIECE

TRACK 3

Still focusing on the LH, aim to practise two to three bars at a time. As mentioned above, give the first note of every beat a firmer touch – using your fingertip, holding it in place – while the second and third notes of the triplets are played with a softer and lighter touch. It will help if you keep your wrist relaxed when practising in this manner. The overall result should be a smooth, even and steady LH line.

pieces for the less advanced works on piano pedagogy, he also wrote is the fourth piece from his player, such as this sweet Romance which Six Very Easy Pieces Op 52. for step-by-step guidance. Turn to Melanie Spanswick’s lesson

a rival of Beethoven, and a friend A pupil of both Mozart and Clementi, Hummel was a piano prodigy of Goethe and Schiller, Johann Nepomuk of his era. Not surprisingly, his who became one of the leading virtuosos virtuosity, but, as the author of many pieces for piano often reflect this Romanze q = 63 Romanze q = 63

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28• Pianist 120

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SEE SCORES SECTION

The RH melody must always project. When playing long melody notes, such as those in bar 1, aim for the ﬁngertips to press into the key bed, using the weight of the arm via a slight circular wrist 20• Pianist 120

motion. This will help ‘cushion’ the sound and provide a richer sonority which will carry through until the next note is played. Shorter notes, like the semiquaver F# in bar 2, need a much lighter touch.

LEARNING TIP Dabs of sustaining pedal provide an attractive resonance at the ends of phrases.

Ornaments are sprinkled throughout. They should sound smooth within the melodic line, so I suggest taking them out of context and practising them on their own, extremely slowly. Check your fingerings before you start to practise each one. The ornaments are mostly written out, with the exception of the turn in bar 27. For this, try the following note pattern, using the suggested fingering: Start with the G (as written) followed by A, G, F#, G, then moving to the semiquaver A at the end of the beat. In the slow, practising stages, play each note of an ornament with a deep touch. Play to the bottom of the key, with a full tone – then, when you add speed, lighten the touch and imagine ‘skimming over’ the notes. The acciaccaturas will be effective if played slightly before the main note, as opposed to sounding ‘crushed’ on the beat. More about Melanie Spanswick at www.melaniespanswick.com.

HOW TO PLAY ABILITY RATING INTERMEDIATE

HANDEL

CAPRICCIO IN G MINOR HWV 483 Handel’s music is good for the ﬁngers, ears and mind, says Nils Franke – and this piece is no exception Key G minor Tempo Crotchet = 96 approx Style Baroque Will improve your ✓Coordination ✓Memorisation ✓Harmonic awareness

Playing Handel on the piano has never quite taken off in the same way it has with the keyboard works of Bach and Scarlatti. The reason for that might be that Handel’s keyboard writing occupies a position between his two famous contemporaries (all three were born in 1685). Handel’s writing for keyboard is certainly less openly virtuosic than Scarlatti’s and not as academically infused as Bach’s. But the real issue might be that some of his surviving individual keyboard works were written, at least partially, in musical shorthand: as chord progressions which require the performer to improvise on the basic structure provided. Luckily this doesn’t apply to this Capriccio. Though not called a ‘lesson’, its format represents other ‘lessons’ Handel wrote for keyboard: a concise musical structure in which one or two ideas are explored. There are three elements to focus on: training both hands in similar patterns, memorising music and understanding the value of chord progressions. Both hands get a good semiquaver workout. That’s one reason why I think this is such a great piece to study. Notice how the hands learn similar skills but use them at different times (aside from bar 12), which means there is opportunity to listen in detail for the way you are playing this piece, from articulation to overall evenness.

TRACK 7

George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)

DON’T MISS NILS FRANKE’S

INTERMEDIATE

Capriccio HWV 483

LESSON THIS PIECE ON

Capriccio q = c. 96

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36• Pianist 120

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SEE SCORES SECTION

The logical (if not sequential) way in which much of the piece is written makes it an ideal piece for working on memorisation. For example, take a look at bar 6. The ﬁrst three quavers of the LH are the same as semiquavers 2, 4 and 6 in the RH. Depending on how you learn, memorisation can be as much about using aural and digital (muscular) memory as explaining how something is constructed. For players looking for a logical narrative as the key to memorisation, this piece can be gold dust.

So what about the articulation? Playing harpsichord music on the piano attracts some strong views about the ‘right’ approach to touch and articulation. It comes down to the question of what you want to do and why. Those that believe the piano should pay homage to the plucked sound of the harpsichord will choose a non legato/staccato touch. Others believe that whatever instrument the piece was originally written for, it’s time to make the most of what the piano

I like to use the term ‘Harmonic superglue’. It’s hardly an official technical term, but I have always used it in my teaching as a descriptor for diminished seventh chords. The reason is simple: If any note in a diminished seventh chord (e.g. B-D-F-Ab, as in bar 3) can be treated as a leading note, one can use the same diminished seventh to move to four very different keys. So it’s ideal for modulating and thus perfect for improvising if you need to get to a key that seems a bit remote – hence the notion of harmonic superglue that binds things together. In this piece you can see that Handel, too, took full advantage of the flexibility associated with using diminished seventh chords. In the opening four bars the first is the tonic key, the fourth the subdominant (C minor) and the two bars in between are made up of two diminished sevenths.

Practise this piece using both legato and non legato.

21• Pianist 120

LEARNING TIP

has to offer. My preference is a bit of a compromise: non legato as a basic touch, but include the use of crescendo and decrescendo where musically appropriate. In terms of articulation, the first two beats of bar 5 offer an opportunity to slur the semiquavers in the RH in groups of two, to align with the quavers in the LH. Hold back on the use of embellishments. Given the piece’s sequential, study-like character, there isn’t much room for added ornamentation that could be naturally part of the musical texture. The only exception I would make is the final chord, which can benefit from some decoration. n Find out more about Nils Franke at www.nils-franke.com

HOW TO PLAY ABILITY RATING ADVANCED

CHOPIN GRANDE VALSE BRILLANTE IN E FLAT OP 18 There’s no time like the present to learn this showstopper of a waltz, says Lucy Parham – and what a great workout for repeated-note playing Key E flat major Tempo Vivo Style Romantic Will improve your ✓Repeated-note playing ✓Phrasing ✓Waltz style

Chopin’s Waltz No 1, the Grande Valse Brillante Op 18, is surely one of his most popular piano pieces. Alongside the much more concise ‘Minute’ Waltz Op 64 No 1, it is certainly one of his most famous waltzes. As an aside, if you wanted to choose a slower, more contrasting piece to go with it, I would recommend the Nocturne in E ﬂat Op 9. I think they make a perfect pair!

to travel fast (so don’t jump too high). You are essentially using the first note of each bar to propel you to the second and third notes. Grade the RH line in the first few bars. Ensure that you arrive at the diminished chord in bar 8 with a quality sf, nothing too violent. Follow the alto line in the RH from bars 10 to 12 and try to ensure that the last beat of each RH bar is staccato. Shorter pedals will help you; release the pedal on the third beat. Whilst talking about pedalling, I’d say that as a general rule it is better to have less pedal than more: clarity is everything. In the RH, from bars 17 to 20, trace the descending thumb line as well as the fourth and fifth fingers.

Vivo is the tempo marking, so it needs to be lively and bright. It’s worth mentioning that Chopin’s waltzes were not written to be danced to – something to be remembered when you choose your ﬁnal tempo. The piece opens with a trumpetstyle fanfare. We are called into the ballroom, the repeated Bb adding tension as it progresses. Begin forte, but not too loudly; you need room to crescendo in the following bars. Note the hemiola in bars 3 and 4. Here you’ll have to subdivide from three to two. Take the time to practise the LH alone. Not only in these opening bars, but throughout the whole piece. Your LH needs to have grip as well as poise and every note must sound, so I suggest you begin by learning the LH on its own.

TRACK 12

Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)

DON’T MISS LUCY PARHAM’S ON

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ADVANCED

Grande Valse Brillante in E flat Op 18

LESSON THIS PIECE

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54• Pianist 120

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SEE SCORES SECTION

When you arrive at the leggiermente (bar 21) you need a different, lighter touch. You will notice alternate bars require six staccato notes followed by six legato notes. It is important to differentiate between these two touches. For the staccatos, ‘scratch’ the notes without moving your hand. Just use your fingertips and pull each note towards you as if you are flicking a piece of dust off the key! It would of course have been much easier to play this on Chopin’s lighter piano than on today’s modern instrument. The following bar needs to be much more legato, so make sure you sink into the key bed and try to make it more espressivo. 22• Pianist 120

In bar 26 you can take some time to reach the top of the phrase. This top RH F must ring and resonate like a bell. Allow yourself a little breathing space before you begin the repeated notes again at bar 29.

LEARNING TIP The repeated-note episodes are the trickiest parts to this waltz. They occur several times so it is worth learning them first.

Notice the trill in bar 36. It has an accent on it. Give yourself time and ease into it as you have a bit of breathing space. I always ﬁnd it useful to think slowly at the beginning of a trill, especially when the piece is fast, otherwise it is all too easy to become stuck and jammed. Bar 69 brings a change of mood. Try to think of a more lyrical style and be a little less energetic than the previous section. Imagine two violins playing the RH part. Both are equally important in their duet. In order to achieve this duet style, I would recommend practising the RH in two parts. Play the lower part with your LH and the upper part with your RH, and try to balance them perfectly, paying attention to all the dynamics. Then return to playing as written and see if you can recreate what you achieved with two hands. The key has also

modulated and we are now in D flat major. This is a much warmer key, so try to match your tone accordingly. The hemiola returns in bar 84 (at the second time bar). Chopin is making us dart between twos and threes and consequently the rhythm needs to be very tight. You don’t need any pedal in these two bars (or very little) but you can return to normal pedalling in bar 87 when the melody returns. Take your time at bar 99. Chopin writes dolce – and combined with the following ritardando it gives you a real chance to ease back into the a tempo in bar 101. There’s a real opportunity to ‘play’ with the rhythm from bars 113 to 115. Have some flexibility here and tease the notes out of the piano. Follow the RH descending melodic line at the same time.

There is an improvisatory quality at bar 165. The dolce marking gives you scope to take a little bit more time and enjoy the melody before the Bb trumpet fanfare arrives at bar 183. This is bringing us to the return of the piece, but this time it is much more insistent because the first note of each bar is no longer a single note but an octave. Try to show this insistent octave with increasing strength. Feel the accumulation of passion and energy as the piece begins to drive towards the end. Make sure the LH is not stuck – it needs to bounce. Think over the bar line, always aiming to move on towards the next bar. Once you reach bar 239 you are on the home straight. These bars form a coda as the waltz now picks up tempo. Notice how two of the different themes are now

Con anima at bar 117 brings another change of spirit. Project your tone with boldness and strength. There are many different accents in this passage, so try to vary them. When you travel up the octave in bar 125, I would suggest a different dynamic. What about making it softer, as if an echo from afar? Fade away and tail off beautifully as you want to begin quietly in bar 133. This next passage is technically challenging with all its grace notes. I think it’s a good idea to learn it first without the grace notes. Once you have done that, slightly under tempo at this point, add them back again, but play them without separating them – that is, almost as if you are depressing both notes at the same time. Notice each hand position and how that position changes between each beat. Now return to the tempo and try to articulate each note separately. Notice the accents in bar 148 and take your time in this bar. You need a real swing from bar 149 onwards (when repeated) as this is the last time this episode is heard. 23• Pianist 120

combined: the ‘grace notes’ theme and the ‘repeated notes’ theme from earlier on in the work. They are vying for importance – but it is the main theme that finally triumphs in bar 259. The top of the phrase at bar 283 needs to be brilliant, strong and clear. Then you have a long accelerando to the end. Drive forward as much as you can whilst keeping up the tone until the smorzando in the final few bars. The end should be one huge flourish. Lift the pedal and whip your hands off the keys at the same time as you dazzle your audience with your brilliance! n Lucy Parham performs Chopin’s Grande Valse Brillante on this issue’s covermount. Further information at www.lucyparham.com.

H AN S - GÜNTER HEUMANN

BEGINNERS KEYBOARD CLASS LESSON 47: BROKEN CHORDS On these pages, Pianist covers the most basic stages of learning the piano through a series of lessons by Hans-Günter Heumann. This lesson features two elementary exercises for chord playing.

Simple broken chord exercise Here is a simple exercise to familiarise yourself with playing the notes of a chord. Place equal weight on all the notes within a bar, making sure to dig deep into the keys in order to create a singing tone. Follow the crescendo and ritartando towards the end.

h. = 76

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24• Pianist 120

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HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN KEYBOARD CLASS

Block chords & broken chords The LH plays block chords for the first eight bars while the RH plays broken chords. They switch roles from bar 9 onwards.

Hans-Günter Heumann

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Hans-Günter Heumann continues his series for beginners in the next issue. To find out more about Heumann, visit www.schott-music.com

25• Pianist 120 #17 25• Pianist



Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)

TRACK 1

BEGINNER

German Dance in C

Haydn wrote pleasant and undemanding pieces such as these throughout his career, both for the entertainment of his patrons and to generate income for himself and his publishers from the flourishing market for

domestically scaled music. Try to get across the differences in dynamics and articulations. Look closely at the technical tips within the score.

The key is C major - so no sharps or flats.We suggest counting the pulse silently before you begin. Of course, you need to practise slowly and hands separately in the beginning. Start off with a good resolute forte in both hands. Feel the 3/4 waltz.

3f &4 f F 5

{

Try to keep the RH quaver notes even in bar 3.

Think of ‘falling’ into the RH minims. They should have an extra emphasis.

q = 1 1 8

f f F

? 43 Œ

Œ f f F™

Notice the sudden staccato crotchets. Then lower the dynamic to piano (soft).

f f f f f f f. f. f f

Œ f f F™

Œ F™

f f

Œ f f F™

In the LH, keep the dotted minim bass note held for the full three beats. Beats 2 and 3 can be lighter.

& F

{

? Œ F™

& ™™

{

f f 5

? ™™ Œ

f f

Œ F™

f f

f f f f f f

Œ F™

F F™ 5

™™

p 1 ( 2)

F F™

1 ( 2)

F F™

The LH is tricky in bars 9-12. So practise it on its own, very slowly, keeping the bottom note tied.The fingerings will help. Notice the two choices of fingering for the LH E. Do whatever feels comfiest/easiest.

f f f f f f & 5

f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f

Create a crescendo to bar 16 and end with a flourish.

{

™™

Phrase these two bars of quavers.Then do the same again in bars 11 and 12.

F™ ? F

f f f f f f 1

F F

f f f f f f 5

F 2

26• Pianist 120

Lift the hands off the keys for the crotchet rests.

™™

Jean-Baptiste DUVERNOY (1801-1880)

TRACK 2

BEGINNER

Elementary Study Op 176 No 8

French Romantic composer Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy designed his 25 Elementary Studies Op 176 to improve finger dexterity and coordination.

But they are also full of charm – and a pleasure to learn and perform. Look closely at the technical tips within the score.

The key is F major (notice the B flat accidental).

In order to make the RH sing, press the notes deep into the key bed with care, making sure to create a lovely legato. Follow the phrase markings as well.

Cantabile q = 69–7 2

{

dolce

f ? b c ff p

3 5

{

bFF

This is the end of the first long statement.

f f f f f nf f f f ‰ f #f f #f f nf J The chromatic notes above F FF should ‘lead’ into the next bar. F Ó 4

ff f

Play the notes quietly and evenly in the LH.

The melody now returns.

ff f ff f

f f f f f f f f f F b & ?

f ffffff fff f nf f f f

fffff f f F f f &b c

ff f ff f

2 4

Lift the LH off the keys.

This is a repeat of the opening.

{

f ff ? b ff

ff f ff f F

{

bFF

f f

f f f f f f f f F f

ff f ff f

2 1

? b ff. ff. ff. ff. FF 1

Fine

ff. ff. >FF

f marcato

3 5

>F F

ff. ff. >FF

>F F

ff. ff. ff. ff. F F

ff. ff. >FF f.

ff. ff. >FF

1 5

3 1

2 1

ff. ff. >FF

3 1

2 1

ff f ff Œ

3 1

ff. ff. ff. ff. F F &b 4 2

In this new, march-like section, play with a firmer touch and remember to use a staccato (detached) articularion.

f f f ? ff f b

f f F

3 5

{

f ffffff fff f f nf f f f f f f f f f

f f f f f nf f f f F

27• Pianist 120

2 1

D.C. al Fine

ffff 1

Go back to the start and end at the ‘Fine’.

DON’T MISS MELANIE SPANSWICK’S

Johann Nepomuk HUMMEL (1778-1837)

ON THIS PIECE

Romance Op 52 No 4

LESSON

TRACK 3

A pupil of both Mozart and Clementi, a rival of Beethoven, and a friend of Goethe and Schiller, Johann Nepomuk Hummel was a piano prodigy who became one of the leading virtuosos of his era. Not surprisingly, his many pieces for piano often reflect this virtuosity, but, as the author of Romanze q = 63 Romanze q = 63

## 3 ff 3 & & 44

{

1 1

works on piano pedagogy, he also wrote pieces for the less advanced player, such as this sweet Romance which is the fourth piece from his Six Very Easy Pieces Op 52. Turn to Melanie Spanswick’s lesson for step-by-step guidance.

ff ™™™™

5 5

3 3

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE

2 2

ff f ff ff ff f f f

ff f RR f

4 4

1 1

5 5

4 3 f4jj 3 f

3 3

2 2

3 3

f f f f f f f f ff ff f ff ff f ff ff f f ff f f ff f f ff f ff ff f ff ff f f ff 3 ? # ff f ? # 443 f f f 3 3 3

4 4

con dolcezza con dolcezza

5 5

4 4

1 1

ff f f

## ff ™™ & &

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5 5

ŒŒ

2 2

5 5

3 3

ff f ##ff ff ff ff f 2 2

1 1

cresc. cresc. # f f f f f f f f ff # f ff ff f ## ff ff f ff ff f f f f f f f f ? # f f f f f f ff f f f ff f f f f ? # ff f f

7 7

2 2

5 5

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

#f f ff ™™ ## ff # f f f f & & ff f ff ff f # f f ? f f #f ? ## ff f 2 2

{

4 4

5 5

## ff ™™™™ & &

10 10

2 2

1 1

3 3

{

1 1

bb ff

4 3 4 3

3 3

2 2

ff ff

2 2

1 1

& &

4 4

5 5

p p

f f f ff ff f ff ff f ff ff f 5 5

2 2

ff ™™™™

2 2

5 5

4 4

1 1

2 2

3 3

5 5

ff f RR f

4 4

5 5

ff F ŒŒ F ff ff ff ff f f ff f f ff ° °

3 3

1 1

5 5

ff f RR f

4 4

1 1

## ff ff ff ff ff f bbff f ##ff f f & f f f f f ff f ff f ff f ff f ff f ff f ff ff f ff ff f & ff f

13 13

& &

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cresc. cresc.

5 5

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3 3

2 2

1 1

2 2

1 1

5 5

f bf ff ff bb ff ff f b f bb FF

ff 1 1

2 2

3 3

1 1

3 3

4 4

3 3

3 2 1 2 3 2 1 2

2 2

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ff ™™

4 4

3 3

## bbff ff bbff f ff f ff nf bbff ff f ff ff f f bbff ? f & f n f bbff f ff f ff f f ? & ff nf f bbff f b f ff n f f f f bf 3 3

5 5

4 4

1 1

4 4

2 2

1 1

5 5

28• Pianist 120

5 5

1 1

5 5

2 2

1 1

3 3

1 1

{

f bf nf bf f f bf 5

f f f n f f f ‰

# bf

3 2

fj

‰ f f f bf f

bfj

f n f f f f b f f bf f n f f f f b f f bf f n f f f f f f # f b f ?# nf nf 4

U F

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# bf

4 3

f #f f fj f f f

f b f f f f bf f # f FFF ?# f 5

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cresc.

f #f nf nf f f 2

1 4 5

f ™™

1 3

ff R

° 23

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# f

fj

ffffff

f™ f f

f 5

j f

f f f #f nf ?# f f f f f f f f f f f f f 1

{

T # f™ f f ( 4321 )

‰

f f nf 5

# & f

j f

f 2

f f f f f #f f f #f #f f f f f nf f f f

5 3

fff f #f f ‰ 5

f f f 1

‰ f f nf f f 4

4 5

3 1

3 5

4 5

5 3 1

4 2

‰ f f f f #f f ff ff f f bf f f ‰ ?# f f f f f f J 3

f f nf f f f f f f f f f f nf fF f f f ff f f f f f f f f f

f f nf f f

# & f nf f f f f f f f ?

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1 5

j #f

4 2

ff ff ff fj ‰ f

1 5

29• Pianist 120

j ‰ j ‰ j ‰ ff f f F pp fj ‰ ff ‰ ff ‰ FF f f f F fJ fJ F ° ° ° ° 1 5

Œ Œ

César CUI (1835-1918)

TRACK 4

Open-hearted sincerity Op 20 No 1

separating them: think of these motifs as being like sudden intakes of breath over which the RH melody sings its tune. That melody, too, takes up the two-note motif. Linger on some of the top RH notes, for extra poignancy, allowing for some rubato here and there. Adhering to the dynamics will help shape the phrases. The LH takes over the melody briefly at bar 8, so make sure that the listener can hear it. At bars 15-16 allow for a beautifully-judged long ritardando. Ditto at the ending. Pedal tips: See markings on the score.

Of French-Lithuanian descent, Cui was one of Russia’s ‘Mighty Handful’ of composers along with Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Balakirev. This restrained, yet pretty Romantic work, is the opening piece from Cui’s set of 12 Miniatures Op 20 which he composed in 1882. The title of this particular piece took a lot of research and investigating (it is commonly referred to as Expansion naïve, which makes little sense). Thankfully, a trusted Russian colleague came to the rescue. Playing tips: Notice the down/up motifs in the LH, with the quaver rests

Alleg ro h = 5 6

f f™ c & J

f f f J f f f™

{

p sempre semplice

j &c ‰ ‰ f f ° ø

{ {

f™ 5

j f f

‰

f™

‰ fj f

‰

j f f

‰

#f f J j f f

‰

j bf #f

‰ fj #f 3

j f f™ 1

f ‰

f f f

f #f n f f f f 1

j ‰ f f

‰ nf 1

j f f™

j f #f 4

30• Pianist 120

j f f

‰

j f f

‰ #fJ f

#f J

#f f ™ J 2

f f

j f & ‰ f

‰ j bf f

‰ j f f ø sim.

f f f J f f

& f™

#fj 4

{

‰ j f f ø

f™

#f f ™ J

fj f ™ Œ 4

‰ j f f ø

& ‰

‰ fj f ø

f bf f f f #F ‰ J

j & ‰ f f

F & Œ

BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE

j f f f nf #f

j f bf ™ 2

f f f f

‰ f J

f #f f f f f 2

. ‰ f. f ‰ Ó

{

nf f f J #f f

f™ 5

& ‰ fj ff

‰

rit.

f™ 5

‰

j ff #f

j f™ f nf f F Œ f f Œ Œ F™ f ‰ J F™ 5

f f nf J f #f 1

‰ ?f J

j f ff

a tempo

& F F

{

j bf ™ f ‰ 3

5 1

? ‰ f™ f f f f pp

{

‰

& ‰ fj f

‰ fj f

j #f f

‰

j? f

‰ fj f

f J

‰

j f #f 5

j #ff f f ™ Œ

j f nf f f f ‰ Ó

‰

j f f

‰

f f #f f

f™ 2

f ‰ fj f

‰ f f J 2

‰ fj f ™

j f f f f f 1

j f f f

‰

& f™

j f nf

f f™ J

f™

f f™ J Œ

f™

& ‰ fj f

{

f f f J nf #f

rit.

‰

j f f 1

5 4

j ff f

f nf f J f f 1

31• Pianist 120

U f f f f F 5

F Œ 2

U ‰ f f™ f ‰ fJ f u 2

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)

TRACK 5

Playing tips: Even if the marking suggests ‘mischievous’, tread carefully and don’t rush. One needs to feel the dance-like 6/8 lilt as well as hear every single RH note of the melody. There are many articulations and dynamics to absorb, so we suggest slow practice, hands separately at first. The middle section at bar 25 changes pulse and character. This is where you can be as mischievous as you wish! Pedal tips: See score.

The sicilienne (or sicilianisch) is a term commonly used to refer to the musical style/slow dance form which appeared in Baroque works by such composers as Bach and Vivaldi. The compound meter, the relatively slow tempo and simple structure are probably the defining features that Schumann had in mind. (For another sicilienne, turn to the Bach arr. Alkan Siciliano, featured in this issue just a few pages further along).

Schalkhaft ( mischievous) q. = 88–98

j f f. f. f.

6 f & 8 J #f 5

{

j ff ff ™™

° 5

j #f f f #f

& #f

j ff ff ™™

# ff

^ ff ™™

j ff ff ™™

ff °

j f f

j nf

ff ff J

cresc.

## ff

^ f™

j f f. f. f.

f J #f 5

1 3

2 4

j f f

6 &8 ‰

{

INTERMEDIATE

Sicilienne, No 11 from Album for the Young Op 68

f nfj 4

j ff

f #f f f

j f

^ f™

j f

f^ ™

2 4

f J 2

f f J

™™

3 5

Ped. sim.

f ™ ™ & J

{

? ™™ ‰

# ff

j f f. f. #f. 3

j ff ff ™™

j & f f f #f f

{

j ff ff ™™

# ff

cresc.

j f f f f f f f f j f f f J f 5

& f fj fj ‰ ‰

f f J 1

1 3

##ff

2 4

f J #f 5

ff ff ff f f f f J J 3 5

f J 5

32• Pianist 120

^ f #f f ™

j f f. f. #f. 3

2 3

^ ##ff ™™

j ff ff ™™

^ f™

™™ f 3

j f

4 1

U f f f f J

f #nffj 3 2

U ™™ f #fj f f f 2.

f^ ™

1 4

f J 5

‰

& #f

j f f. f. f.

& f f

j ff ff ™™

{

j #f f f #f

& #f

{

j ff ff ™™

j f f. f. f.

f J #f 5

j ff ff ™™

^ f™

j nf

^ ff ™™

j ff

1 3

2 4

j f f

cresc.

j ff ff ™™

# ff

2 4

j j f f nf f #f f f 2

ff ff J

f J 2

f f J

^ j ™ f f j f^ ™ f

Fine

‰

2 4

‰

2 4

3 5

> > > > 2 f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f. f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f. &4

q = 1 00

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ff ? 42 f

1 2

ff f

ff f f #ff

1 3 5

1 2

& f

{

ff ? f

>f >f f f fff f f f ff #ff f. f f #ff nff #ff ff f f 5

3 5

3 2

2 4

{

ff ? f 1 3 5

1 2

ff f

ff f f #ff 1 3

1 2

1 3 5

° 1

f fff

>f >f f f fff f f f ff ##ff f. f f #ff ff #ff ff f f 5

3 2

3 5

2 4

sim.

> > ffffff ffffff . f f & f

ff fff

° 29

1 2

ff f

1 3

fff

ff f

fff f #ff

ff 1 2

D.C. al Fine senza repetizione

> > ffffff ffffff . U f f f 4

fff 1 3 5

33• Pianist 120

1 2

ff f

1 3

fff

ff f

fff f #ff

ff 1 2

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

TRACK 6

INTERMEDIATE

Waltz WoO 84

marking) and make sure that you follow the phrasing and dynamics. The Trio section starts off quietly (listen to Chenyin Li’s performance; she creates a beautifully-muted, distant mood). Make sure that the minim LH As are held to the end of each bar. From bar 33, even if not marked, create a crescendo, using the sforzandos to help you. Pedal tips: Pedal is not needed for the waltz section (just short dabs here and there), but use it liberally for the Trio.

Composed in 1824, this is one of the precious few waltzes that Beethoven wrote. Like the Ecossaise WoO 86 (featured inside Pianist 100), it was published by Mueller in Vienna and is characteristic of the waltz dance style. The pastorale-like Trio section offers up a nice contrast. Playing tips: The LH pulse needs to remain steady and even if there should be a slight emphasis on the first beat, the three crotchets should be lightly played, with bounce. Aim for a sweet RH melody (see the dolce

f f f f f f f f f f f f F f f f b 3 f &b b 4 f f h. = 66 2

{

p dolce

? b 43 f bb

ff ff

f 5

1 2

1. f f nf f f f f bf f f f f f f f f Œ Œ b f f f &b b

™™ f Œ Œ

f f f f f

™™ f f f

{

?b bb f

b & b b ™™

{

f f #f f 4

f f f

f f #f f

f f f f f

f ff

f f f 2

f f nf f 4

f f f 2

cresc.

f ? b ™™ b b nf f 5

dim.

? b f ff ff bb 3

1 3

f f nf b &b b

{

f f f f f 4

1 3

f ffffff ffffff F f f f ff

f f f f f nf ff 5

1 2

F™ p

f bf 1

p dolce

34• Pianist 120

fF ™ff ff

f f nf f f f f bf f f f f f f f b f f f f Œ Œ &b b

Fine ™™ f Œ bbbb

ff ? bb fF b ™

™™ ff

{

f fF ™ f

fF ™

ff ff ff

bbbb

Trio

“” b f & b bb f

™™ FF

3 1

{

f ø

F F

f ø

5 1

f f

f f f

f ø

4 1

f fF f ø sim.

p dolce

? bb Œ bb

™™

f 2

fF 1

<“> bb F &b b F

{

? bb b b f

b jf & b bb ™™ f

1 3

{

f “” j f f

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f f

2 4

j f

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3 fj

f 5

“”j

f f f

4 3

fj

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1 j f

? bb b b f

? bb b ™™ b f

<“> 38 b b fj f b & b

3 fj

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f f f

2 1

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f f

f 35• Pianist 120

f f f

™™

bbb

Da Capo

bbb

DON’T MISS NILS FRANKE’S

George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)

ON THIS PIECE

Capriccio HWV 483

LESSON

TRACK 7

INTERMEDIATE

Capriccio HWV 483 in G minor dates from around 1720 and is played with utter conviction by pianist Chenyin Li. Dynamic markings are scarce, just with the mf at the start, allowing the performer free reign. Ditto the pedalling: Nils Franke refrains from giving any pedal indications – again allowing the performer to make decisions. Turn to Nils Franke’s lesson for further guidance.

A capriccio (or caprice) is a piece of music that is usually fairly free in form and of a lively/humorous character. The typical capriccio is one that is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in nature. According to the French writer and scholar Antoine Furetière: ‘Capriccios are pieces of music, poetry or painting wherein the force of imagination has better success than observation of the rules of art.’ Handel’s energetic and driven

Capriccio q = c. 96

b &b c

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? bc b

b &b

{

∑

f f f f f f f bf f f f n f b f f nf f nf f f f f f f f f f nf f 3

∑

ffF b f &b f f f f f 2

{

f f #f f nF f nf # f f 3

ffff f f nf f #f 1

? b #f b 3

bf f nf 1

f f #f nf f f f f

f #f F b f b & b f #f nf f f

{

∑

?b f b

f f f #f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f #f f

?b b

f ≈ f nf f f f f f f #f nf f f f f f f #f f f f f f f f f f Œ 3

36• Pianist 120

b &b

{

? bb

b &b

{

ffF f ffff f f

f #f F f f #f f f f 3

ffff ffff #f 1

bf nf f n f nf f f f

? bb nf

bf f nf 1

f f #f f f f f f

f f f f f f f bf f nf f #f nf ff f

f f f nf f f f f f f f f f f f f bf nf f #f nf ff f 5

1 1

nf f f f f f f b f n f b f f bf f f f f f f f f f nf f f f f n f nf f f f f bf nf f n f b f b f f ?b J ‰ f nf f nf b f f nf b &b

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f f b f f f bf nf f f fbf f f b f f nf nf nf f f f f bf f f f & b bf f f f f f

{

? bb f

f bf

Ÿ f

23 23

37• Pianist 120

b ffF f b & f ff f f

bf nf f nf f f f f 1

{

? bb f

f f bf f ffff nf

f bf

F f f nf f f f f f

f nf F b b f & b f nf bf f f

{

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bf f bf 1

≈f

f f n f f f f f f bf ™

b f f f bf nf f nf f f nf f f bf f f J

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f f #f f f f f f nf 38• Pianist 120

bf f nf

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f f f f f f #f nf #f f bf f f f f f f f b f f f b ≈ f f & fff f f #f f f

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b & b nf

f f bf f nf f f f f f n f b f b f f f f nf f f f f f f f f nf f f

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bf f f f f f f f f f bf f f

f b &b f f f f f

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f bf f f f bf f nf f #f f f f f f f f f f #f f

≈

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bf f #f nf f f f f bf f nf #f 3

f f f f f f f f f f f #f w w w f f f 3

L.H.

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w w

39• Pianist 120

w w

Patrick DAILLY (b.1949)

TRACK 8

INTERMEDIATE

Our Mortal World

We are delighted to present Patrick Dailly’s Our Mortal World, the winning score of our 2021 Composing Competition. Dailly explains the

story behind the bubbles, and more, in the accompanying 2021 Composing Competition article inside this issue.

Our Mortal W orld

q = c.69

3 &4

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brief

U ∑

-. U œ œœ œ œ œ J ‰ Œ f brief . n œ 3 œnœ œ œ œ J ‰ U Œ 3

j‰ ˙˙ œœj ˙˙ œ œ™ œ œ œ™ mf ‰ Œ Ó > > ˙™ ˙™ ˙™ ˙™ °

j n>œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ ™ j ˙™ œœœ œ œ ‰ &‰ #œ œ œ ™ œ & ˙ œ > > > mf j j Œ̇ ‰ Œ̇ œ œ™ œ œ œ ™ œj œ ‰ œœ ‰ ˙ œœ ‰ Œ ? Œ ˙ ∑ ∑ Œ J J ˙™ ˙™ œ ˙™ ˙™ œJ

{

cantabile

‰ ?œ

#œ

& Œ œœ™ œ™ # œJ œ n˙ pp > - > ? Œ œ #œ ™ œ nœ bœ ™ œ œ b ˙™ œ™ ˙

{

j nœ œ

> bœ œ ™ bœ œ ™

.j nœ œ ˙ ‰ œ œ œ ˙ œJ . . mf poco marcato n œ œ j Œ œ nœ œ‰ Œ Œ œJ ## ˙˙ ™™ .

40• Pianist 120

> œ bœ œ ™ œ œ bœ œ ™ œ

n œ nœœ Œ œ ## ˙˙ ™™

> > . œ. œ œ œ œ b œ œ ™ œœ œ œ ™ œ œ œ bœ œ ™ œ œ ™ œ ‰ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ & J J

{

n œ nœœ ? Œ œ #˙ # ˙ ™™

{

& ˙™

{

n œ nœœ Œ œ #˙ ™ # ˙™

b >œ œ ™b œ >œ œ ™ # -˙ ™ b œ œ ™b œ œ œ ™ # ˙ ™

? Œ ## ˙˙ ™™

cresc. poco a poco

˙™

n œ nœœ œ

œ b œ b œ œ œ. œ œ b œ œ bœ bœ œ ‰ œ œ œ bœ J

n œ nœœ Œ œ #˙ ™ # ˙™

œ b >œ œ ™b œ œ b œ œ ™b œ

n œ nœœ Œ œ #˙ ™ # ˙™

˙™ ˙™

Œ Œ ‰ œnœ bœ œ œ bœ - > ff - > mp œ Œ œœ œ œ™ Œ œœ œ œ™ Œ Œ ‰ œ œ bœ œ bœ ˙™ ˙™ ˙™ ˙™ > >

j œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ 44 œ œ œ œ œ bœ mf œœ > œ > œ > œ œ œ bœ œ ™ 44 Œ œ bœ œ ™ Œ œ bœ œ ™ Œ ˙˙™™ ˙˙™™ ˙˙™™ œ™

3 4

œj ‰ 3 œœ nœœ œœ 4 > > > 3

4 œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ #œ œ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ œ 4 J f ff > > > b œ b œ b œ ? 43 bŒ˙ ™ nœ bœ œ ™ bŒ˙ ™ nœ bœ œ ™ 44 bŒ˙ ™ nœ bœ œ ™ Œ b ˙™ b ˙™ b ˙™ n œœ b œœ n# œœ > > > >> > 3 bœ ™ &4

{

41• Pianist 120

3 4 3 4

#œ ™ 3 #œ ™ &4

{

? 43 Œ &bbœœœ > ? 43 Ó n ˙˙ ™ ™ -

2 3 &4 ∑ 4

{

? 42 ∑ 43

nœ œ œ #œ ™ œ ™ nœ œ œ #œ œ J J œœj œ œ™ œ ‰ Œ &bbœœ œ™ J > > Ó bœ œ™ ˙ ™ ˙™ -

œ œ

œœj œ ‰ J > bœ œ™

, Slower U 3 nœ ‰ bœ œbœ œ bœ ? 44 Œ nœ̇ œ bœ œ nœ pp mp b œ 4Œ ‰ bœ œbœ œ nœ 4 # œ œ ™ nœj # œ n˙ 3

Tempo

j ‰ # œ & #œ p > ? 43 Œ nœœ n>œ œ™ Œ œœ œ œ™ Œ n˙ ˙™ ˙™ n ˙ ™™ ˙™ ˙™

œ #œ ™ œ #œ ™

˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

œ Œ &bbœœ > Ó ˙˙ ™ ™ -

rit. , bœ œ ˙ Œ œ œ#œ ˙

j œ # œ œ # œ œ # œ œ ™™ œ #œ ™™ # œ œœ œ œ œ #œ œœ >œ œ™ Œ œœ >œ œ™ ˙™ ˙™

en dehors

∑

j ‰ # œ & #œ ? Œ œœ œ œ™ Œ ˙™ ˙™ > ˙™ ˙™

3 Ó œ ##œœ œ ™ œœ 44 #˙ 4 œ œ™ #˙ œœ œ œ™ 4 Œ œœ œ œ™ Œ 3 4 ˙ 4 > > # œ œœ ## œœ ˙ ™™ #œ

{

∑

3 42• Pianist 120

2 4 2 4 2 4

#œ 3 œ™nœ 4

j j 43 # œ œ™ nœ œ™ œ n œ bw

? 43 n<#>˙˙ ™™

œ œ œ œ œ œ J œœj œ™ œ ‰ J > bœ œ™

œ #œ ˙ œ# œ ˙ > Œ œœ œ œ™ ˙™ ˙™

j Œ ‰##œœ œœ œ œ Œ œœ nœ œ™ ˙™ > ˙™

4 4 4 4

4œ & 4 œ ##œœ

˙ ˙

? 44 Œ ˙™ ˙™

œœ

{

j 3 4 ‰ #œ #œ

3 œ œ™ Œ 4Œ ˙™ > # œ œœ ## œœ ˙™ #œ

œ ##œœ œ œœ

œ œ

œ™ œ™ nœ œ™ >

& #œ ™™ #œ

{

? Œ ˙™ ˙™

j #œ œ #œ œ œœ

j & ‰ #œ œ ##œœ #œ œ œœ ? Œ ˙˙ ™ ™

{

œ œ

œ œ™ >

œ ™™ œœ œ œ œ™ >

œ #œ œ #œ Œ ˙™ ˙™

˙ ˙

∑

dim poco a poco al ﬁne

œœ

œ œ™ >

6 &4

{

œœ

œ œ™ >

4 #˙ 5 ∑ Œ Œ 4 4 #˙ pp poco a poco dim œ œ 4 Œ 5 Œ œœ nœ œ™ ˙ œ œ™ œ 4 4 ˙˙ ™ w œ # œ nœ #œ > > ™ ## œœ œ # œ w ## œœ n œ # œ 3

Œ ˙™ ˙™

∑

Œ œœ nœ œ™ ˙™ ? 46 Œ œœ nœ œ™ ˙™ w œœ # œ n œ # œ w ™ > > w # œn œ# œ w ™ 3 43• Pianist 120

6 4 6 4

Erik SATIE (1866-1925)

TRACK 9

INTERMEDIATE

Valse-Ballet Op 62

playing ‘over’ the bar line. The hardest moments are the forte jumps at bars 8, 16 and throughout. Take these bars out of context and practise the jumps slowly, making sure that all notes are secure. A practising tip for the jumps: As soon as you have played one chord, move as quickly as possible to the next (don’t lift the hands too far from the keys, as you’ll lose valuable time), then place the fingers over the notes of the second chord for a split second before you depress the notes. Use this practice technique for all the jumps; they are such a strong trademark of the piece, so they need to sound dazzlingly brilliant. Pedal tips: See suggested pedalling on the score.

Think of Erik Satie, and it’s his accessible Gymnopédies that are at the top of the piano-playing list. But there are other more challenging yet accessible works, such as the sentimental Je te veux (featured inside issue 84), the tricky Le Piccadilly (issue 106) and this graceful Valse-Ballet which was composed in 1885. The writing style veers towards Classical rather than the more abstract forward-thinking style of Vexations (1893) and Sports et divertissements (1914). Playing tips: Like most waltzes, the LH takes care of the three-beat rhythmic pulse. Secure the LH first by practising it slowly, on its own. Then study the RH carefully: think in long sweeping phrases, always

h. = 5 6

b3 & b 4 f #f f f f f

{

? bb 43

b &b Œ

{

? bb Œ F™ °

∑

f f f f

f f f f f f

{

b &b Œ

{

?b Œ b F™

Œ FFF F™ °

cresc.

Œ F™

ff f

f ff

f fff ff

° f ff

f f f f f f F FF

Œ F™

Œ fff F™

sim.

∑

f f f f FF F

f f f f 2

Œ fff F™

F FF

f f

f f f f

f ff

b & b f #f f f f f ?b b

f f f f

Œ F™

FF F

Œ ff F™ f

f ff

f f f f f f 2

Œ F™

F FF

cresc.

44• Pianist 120

f f f f

Œ FFF F™

ff f

Œ F™

f f f f f f Œ F™

f f f 3

F FF

F FF FFF f

F™ F™

f f f #f f f b &b

{

?b b

Œ fff F™

∑

b &b Œ

{

?b Œ b F™

FF F

Œ F™

∑

b &b Œ

{

f f f f

Œ F™

cresc.

F FF

{

f f

?b b f f

nf nf

f f

45• Pianist 120

ff f

f ff ff f

f ff

Œ fff F™ F™ f f f

ff f

Œ F™

f f f f f f Œ F™

ff f

FF F

f f f f

Œ F™

Œ FFF F™

f f f f f f

? bb Œ FFF F™

b &b

Œ F™

f ff

f f f

f f f f f f

FF F

Œ fff F™

f f f f

Œ FFF F™

f f f f f f

f f f #f f f b &b

{

f ff

f f f f

? bb

f f f f

F FF

‰™

f f

‰™

F FF FFF

F™ F™ r f f fff fff ff ff R

b f b & Œ

{

f f f f FF

? bb F ™

b f b & Œ

{

f Œ

{

b f b & Œ

{

? b F™ b

#F ™

f f n fF f f f F Œ

f f fF f f Œ F

F™

1 3

f f f f f f #FF Œ

F™

f f f f f f FF ™™ F™

f f f f FF

f f f f f f FF Œ

f 5

cresc.

? b F™ b

1 2

f f f f nf f f FF FF Œ

b f f f f & b fŒ n fFF

b f &b Œ

fF F

F™

? b F™ b

f Œ

Œ F™

fF F

F™

f f f f nf f f FF FF Œ #F ™

f f f f f 1

F FF FF F f

F FF

F™ F™

f f n fF f f f F Œ

f f fF f f Œ F

F™

f f f f f f FF Œ

f f f f f f #FF Œ

F™

46• Pianist 120

b f f f f &b f f n FF Œ

{

F™

allargamente

b &b Œ

{

f ff

# ff f

?b Œ b F ™ #f #f F™ °

1 2 3

b & b f #f f f f f

{

?b b

{

f f

ff f

Œ F™ F™ ø

1 2 4

f ff

f f f f

f f f f f f

FF F

Œ F™

b & b f #f f f f f

{

f f f f

Œ fff F™

FF F

?b b

f ff

∑

cresc.

f f f f

Œ fff F™

ff f 47• Pianist 120

f ff

b ff f

bf bf

a tempo

∑

?b Œ b F™

U f fff ff u

f f f f

ff f

f ff ff f

Œ F™ f ff

FF F

f f f f

Œ FFF F™

f f f

f f f f f f Œ F™

1 2 4

Œ FFF F™

U F™ F™

F FF

Œ F™ Œ

Œ F™ F™ ø

b &b Œ

f f f f f

cresc.

? b bF ™ b

f f f f f f FF ™™

U F FF FF F u

Œ fff F™ F™ f f f

ff f

Œ F™

b &b Œ

{

? bb Œ F™

f f f f

f f f f f f

FF F

Œ F™

cresc.

f f f #f f f b &b

{

? bb

∑

b &b Œ

{

?b Œ b F™

{

f ff

Œ F™

cresc.

f f f f

f f f f f f

FF F

Œ F™

cresc.

FF F

F™ F™ f f f

ff f

f ff

f ff ff f

Œ F™

f ff

F FF

f f f f

Œ FFF F™

Œ fff F™ F™ f f f

ff f

Œ F™

f f f f f f Œ F™

48• Pianist 120

f f f f f f Œ F™

ff f

f f f f

FF F

F FF FF F

F FF

Œ FFF F™

F FF

Œ fff F™

∑

?b Œ b F™

FF F

b &b Œ

f f f f

f f f f f f

f f f #f f f b &b

{

Œ F™

f f f f

?b b

F FF

Œ ff F™ f

f f f f f f

Œ f

F™ F™

F FF FF F

Émile PESSARD (1843-1917)

TRACK 10

French Romantic composer Émile Pessard studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where he later became professor of Harmony. He wrote some bonbons for the piano, such as this expressive character piece which comes from his 25 Pièces pour piano, but his major compositional focus was on comic opera. ‘Andalouse’ means an Andalusian dance (a similar example is the ‘Allemande’ dance form (as in ‘German’ dance). Playing tips: Try to work on a solid LH first, practising it alone until the notes are secure. The LH forms the clipped, rhythmic foundation.

Tip: For extra security, try to ‘feel’ the leaps, rather than constantly looking down at the keyboard. The RH should sing and be meticulously phrased (follow all the phrase markings). Crescendos and decrescendos are plentiful, and if followed, they will help create a seductive dance-like feel. Take bars 30 and 31 out of context, practising the RH slowly, making sure that the demisemiquaver figurations fit within the beat; these lyrical seven-note runs need to sound effortless. Pedal tips: See markings on the score for guidance.

fffff f ≈ff ‰™ R

Délicatement q = 92

### c &

{

∑

. ? ### c j ‰ fff f f °

### f ≈ #f f &

{

? ###

ff. f

j ‰ f f

ff. f

f ### ≈ f f f &

{

? ###

ff. f

f J ‰

f. f. # j ‰ ffff f f

ff. j f ‰ f ‰ j‰ f J f f ° °

ff. f

f ≈ f f f #f f

ff. j f‰ f ‰ J f °

ff. j‰ f f f

ff. f

ff. j f‰ f ‰ J f

ff. f J

j f f

‰

j f f

f. ff ‰ fj ‰ J f

f. j ‰ ff f f

‰

ff. f

ff. f J

‰

f ≈ f fj f f f f f. ≈ f f f

f fff f≈fff 2

fff.

ff. ‰ f J

j f ‰ f

f. j ‰ ff f f 3

{

? ### j f f

‰

ff. f

ff. f J

‰

j f f

fff.

49• Pianist 120

‰

j f f

‰

ff. ‰ j f f ‰ J f

. #fff

j f f

f ≈ f f f f #f f

f f f f f®f f f f f f f ≈ f f F f f f f # # f &# ff. f

f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f ≈ f f f f #f f f f 2

INTERMEDIATE

Andalouse Op 20 No 8

f ‰ J ff. ff f f

ff J ‰

Più moto

f f f f ### ™ f ≈ ™ &

{

? ### ™™ j f f ### &

{

‰

f≈fff

f. ? ### j ‰ ff f f

ff. f

ff. nf

ff. f

j f f

### &

f ≈ f f f

{

? ###

j f f

‰

j #ff. fff. f‰ f f

‰

rit.

f f #f f #f 3

ff. f

>ff ff. f ‰ f J J

a tempo

ff. j f‰ f ‰ J f

>f ff J

ff. f

‰

ff. f‰ J

? ###

j f f

‰ f

f≈fff ff. j ‰ f f f

‰

f ≈ f fj f f f f ff. f

ff. f‰ J

j f ‰ f

f f f®f f f f f f f f f f f f ≈ f f f f #f f f f

### f ≈ f f f &

{

>ff ff J

f ≈ f f #f f f F

‰

ff. f ‰ J

fj

ff. f

f f f f J ‰ f

f ≈ f fj f # f f f f ≈ f f n f

fff.

ff. f J

‰

j f f

‰

ff. f

fff.

‰

fff. J

f f ≈ f f f f f f f J ‰ 1

j f f

‰

fff.

‰

ff. f

j f f

‰

f J ‰

f. f. f. #ff ff ff ‰ fj J f

‰

f #f f f 2

fff. #f>ff n ‰ f J J

‰

nf f f f f f f f rit. f f f f f f f f f f f #f J ‰ f f 5

f ≈ f f f ### &

{

? ###

j f f

‰

ff. f

. nfff

ff. f ‰ fj J f

‰

j f f

50• Pianist 120

‰

ff f J

‰

j f f

‰

5 1

f #ff J

‰

a tempo

### F F &

{

fff.

ff. ‰ nfj ‰ f J f

{

. ? ### j ‰ fff f f ### f ™ f & f

{

? ###

ff. f

ff. j f ‰ f ‰ J f

f. f. # j ‰ ff ff f f

j ‰ f f

ff. ‰ j f f ‰ j‰ J f f f dolce

f. f. j ‰ #ff ff f f 5

f. ff ‰ fj ‰ J f

a tempo

{

fff.

ff. f f ‰ nfff J J

f. f. #ff ff

ff. f

j ‰ f f

f. ff ‰ fj ‰ J f

‰ f f f

ff. f

ff. j f ‰ f ‰ J f

f #f f f #f #f f f f f 2

ff. j f ‰ f ‰ J f

ff. f

‰

f. f. # j ‰ ff ff f f

nf f f f f f F ™ f ff. f

f f f f

ritard.

ff. f

f. ff ‰ fj ‰ J f

fff f f f f f f

(slide)

f f #f f fffff

5 3

fj

‰ f f f f™ f f

f f f f f f f

. ? ### j ‰ fff f f

ff. j‰ f f f

™™

### F ™ &

F F

### f ™ f & f

ff n f f ™™

. ? ### j ‰ fff f f

Più lento 2.

f. ff ‰ fj ‰ J f

ffff ff f

ff. j ‰ f f f

ff. f

ff. f f ‰ fff J J

‰

una corda

perdendo e ritard. molto

### w &

{

? ### j ‰ f f

ff. f

fff.

ff. ‰ j f f ‰ J f

w ff. j ‰ f f f 51• Pianist 120

fff.

f™ f

ff. ‰ j f f ‰ J f

U F Ó F pp U FF j ‰ Œ f f °

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) arr. Charles-Valentin ALKAN (1813-1888)

TRACK 11

INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED

Siciliano WATCH CHENYIN LI PLAY THIS AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM Wilhelm Kempff’s arrangement, too, which is equally stunning.) Playing tips: The melody should shine out above the accompaniment. Notice that the middle-line accompaniment is often distributed by the hands. One should not be able to hear this! Note that the bass-note crotchets need extra stress. Pedal tips: Listen to how Chenyin seems to ‘pluck’ the notes. Hence, light dabs of pedal are best (see markings).

The siciliana/siciliano style of music first appeared in the Baroque period. With lilting rhythms and often written in a minor key, it takes a slow 6/8 or 12/8 time signature. Loosely associated with Sicily, the siciliana evokes a pastoral mood, and is often characterised by dotted rhythms. You can find all of that here, in this heartbreaking Alkan arrangement of the Siciliano from Bach’s Flute Sonata BWV 1031. (We suggest sounding out

Siciliano q. = 30

F™

dolce e sost.

b 6 f™ &b 8

{

ff f

f f

f #f f f f f f f f f f ff f f f ? b 68 f ‰ ‰ ‰ b ° ° ° 3 f b f™ ™ f f f b f f ffff ff f f Œ f & f f f f f f ≈ f f #f f Œ™ f #f nf f f f f f f ? b #f ‰ f ‰ ‰ f ‰ f b f sim. ° p

4 5

f ff f f f f f ‰ ° f ff f f f f f f

4 5

5 2

{ 6

5 2

4 1

‰ f f f f ff f f f f b f f f f f f f f f f f nf ff ff f f b f f f f & f f f f f n ff ?b nf f ‰ f ‰ f ‰ f b J 4 2

∏∏∏∏∏∏

{

5 3

4 2

3 2

r ≈ ‰ ‰ Œ™ f™ f f f b f f f f b f f ffff & ≈ ff 2

{

b &b

{

b &b

‰

2 5

?b b

f #f f ff ‰

f f f

f f f f

ff ff ‰ f f J

ffff ff Œ™ 4

f f f

F™

f f ff f f ff f f ‰ ff ‰ ff f f f f ff f f f f ‰ ‰ 3 1

3 2

3 1

5 2

f f f™ f f f f f f f fff f f f ff ff f f ≈ ff ? ff f f fff f f f ‰ f f f ‰ ff ‰ f ‰ f 4 2

52• Pianist 120

j ff ff f 5 3

f f fff f nf f f f 1

‰ #f

f ‰ 2

f 1

5 2

4 1

5 1

5 3

4 2

5 1

4 1

j f

f f ff ™f f nff nff f f ™ f nff ff f nf f f f f b f ff ff fff #f & b f #ff ff f f f

{

f ?b f b

f J

‰ f

fj ‰

f f nf#f f nf f f # ff f ‰ 1

f f™ J

nf #f f f f f

j f f nf #f f f f #f f nf f f f #f f nf f f f #f f nf f f f f f f nf nf ∑ ™ ‰ Œ j nf#f f nf f f #f f f f f f f f?b f ‰ f f ‰ nf #f f ‰ ‰ b f b & b #f

1 3

{

b &b f f ‰ ‰ f nf ? b ff b

{

∑ f™ f f f ‰ Œ™ f f f f f f f f fJ bf #f f #f f bf f f f f p pp f f #f f bf f f f f #f ‰ ‰ ‰ f f 2

f f ™ ff f f f f f f

b &b F ™

{

f f f f f ff f f f f f f f # f n f f f f f ?b #f f ‰ ‰ b ‰ 2 1

b f & b #ff #f f f f #f fj f #f f f ? bb f ‰ f

{

? bb

2 1

4 2

f™ b f & b ff ™ f f f f f ™ ff

f ff

f f #f f ‰

3 1

j f f #ff #f f f f #f fj ff f #f f f ‰ f ‰ f 2

4 2

j ff #f J f

f 1

f f f

f ‰

f f 1

f f™ f

3 1

nf bf f f ‰ f 3 1

4 2

‰ 5 3

5 3

j f bf f f #ff nff ff ff nff f n f f ff 4 2

3 1

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DON’T MISS LUCY PARHAM’S

Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)

ON THIS PIECE

Grande Valse Brillante in E flat Op 18

LESSON

TRACK 12

waltzes in his lifetime (he was critical of his works), however, his sister Ludwika and publisher Julian Fontana decided to publish the waltzes 9-13. The famous ‘Minute’ Waltz Op 64 No 1 appeared inside issue 105. Read Lucy Parham’s lesson inside the magazine. Parham also performs the piece on this issue’s covermount.

Chopin started writing waltzes in 1824, when he was 14, and continued until the year of his death in 1849. This is his first published waltz – composed in 1833 and published a year later. He also gave the title Grande Valse Brillante to the next three waltzes in the Op 34 set published five years later. Surprisingly, Chopin only published eight

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PIANO TEACHER HELP DESK

n o ti a s li a it v e R ic m th y h R A good sense of rhythm is vital from day one, says Kathryn Page, who comes up with some strategies that will allow your pupils to pulsate with panache

s a breed, we pianists tend to be pitch-obsessed. We probably stress over dropped notes when we play – more than anything else – and this is a great shame, because nine times out of ten the odd pitch fluff here and there matters far less than inaccurate rhythm. As teachers we owe it to our pupils to tell them the truth: listeners are far less concerned about wrong notes than an inconsistent pulse, a lack of rhythmic control or a sense of rhythmic instability. We must do all we can to stop pupils from tackling new repertoire as though they are decoding a mysterious message. Notes on the page in isolation matter for very little. It is an excellent ploy to start lessons on new material completely away from the instrument. Try a clapping, dancing, and conducting session on a piece. Piano-free rhythmic sessions can be useful for familiar repertoire too. It is never too late for a rhythmic MOT on pieces that have been studied for many months. Once the notes are assimilated, the temptation to simply play through without ever checking the text may prove too strong, leading to tiny inaccuracies that can increase with time if not checked. But of course, it is best to instil pulse priorities from the first lesson and avoid any danger of rhythmic corruption or neglect. It is extremely beneficial to insist in the early stages that students do their sight-reading exercises with the metronome on. If they can play an exercise at crotchet equals 80, try it also at quaver equals 160, and minim equals 40. The speed may

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, as well as the Manchester International Concerto Competition for young pianists. She lives in Cheshire and has five children.

be the same, but the pupil needs to feel and hold the subtle differences in energy that unquestionably are evident between these three metronomic perspectives. Rhythmic vibrancy can and should be encouraged in technical work too. So many mechanical problems of facility and coordination can be solved when the pupil feels a sense of order and space in what is being attempted. Scales and arpeggios unquestionably benefit from the metronome ticking for every single note, then for every other note and finally for every group of four notes. This can also be applied to Czerny and Hanon, where the ticks can synchronise firstly with semiquavers, then quavers, crotchets and finally minims. Tummy talk

With repertoire, rhythmic conviction comes from an inner sense of pulse. Students can develop this by practising literally bouncing on the stool! Get them to move their tummies in time to the waltz rhythm they may be playing, or to stamp their feet on the strong beats in their polkas and marches. Long ﬂowing lines can be captured with inner authority via lots of circular upper-body movements mirroring four broad crotchet beats in each bar. Get 67• Pianist 120

them to hold their feet ﬁrmly on the ground whilst their torsos move round the piano stool as though imitating the movement of hands going around a clock face. If they can do this in both clockwise and anti-clockwise movements as they play, they will be supporting their intellectual rhythmic awareness with physical strength. Other physical movements that can help in practice are moving from side to side along the piano, feeling that you are moving up and down in time to the music, and moving your entire body forwards then backwards as a means of emphasising moves towards and away from the peaks in phrases. Ultimately, it is excellent to get students to sublimate their physical gestures so that they can feel the musical intentions without necessarily showing everything in a literal way – rhythmic control will be all the stronger for a sense of inner composure and understatement. This will not happen overnight, of course: rhythmic mastery takes a musical lifetime to develop and is extremely challenging... but it is vital to start oﬀ in lesson one with an insistence from you the teacher that rhythm is, arguably, the most important element in music making. Keep this as the top priority for pupils at every level. n

LEGENDS

TAP TO WATCH Argerich plays Prokoﬁev Concerto No 3

TOP TEN WAYS TO EXPLORE

MARTHA ARGERICH

f asked to name the greatest pianist alive today, few pianophiles, I suspect, would hesitate to choose Martha Argerich. Her playing seems to contain a type of magic ﬁre: a mesmerising intensity of focus, edge-of-seat excitement and a striking, almost childlike sense of wonder. Her panther-like attack is light and powerful, the rhythmic sense high-sprung and unshakeable, while the spacious, clear textures she creates and the depth of her sonority are second to none. Perhaps above all, though she is 80 this June, she still plays with the enchantedsounding freshness you might associate with a 21-year-old in love. Her sound is hers alone and has been consistent throughout her career, almost as if it is part of her DNA. Born in Buenos Aires in 1941, Argerich started out as a child prodigy; her family moved to Vienna when she was in her teens so that she might study with Friedrich Gulda. She won the International Chopin Competition in 1965 (the bottom photo on this page is taken after the victory), but this was the culmination of a long struggle. Prior to that, she had stopped giving concerts for a couple of years, battling performance anxiety, self-criticism and more. She has often cancelled concerts at short notice and many years ago she gave up solo recitals, preferring to share a stage with close musical friends in chamber music, concertos and piano duos – most of the time, anyway. Argerich’s discography is gigantic; add to that a conglomeration of rare live performances on YouTube and it’s a mind-boggling prospect. I’ve assembled ten personal choices to help get you started.

TAP TO WATCH

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Argerich plays Bach Partita No 2

As the irrepressible pianist approaches her 80th birthday (how can that be possible?), Jessica Duchen turns to her record collection and ﬁres up YouTube to show us what makes Martha so special

Chopin B minor Sonata in Lockdown

During lockdown last summer, Argerich took to the stage of the empty Laeiszhalle in Hamburg for a live-streamed concert with violinist Renaud Capuçon. Between violin sonatas by Beethoven and Franck, though, she performs the Chopin B minor Sonata for the ﬁrst time in, reputedly, 25 years. The spontaneity of her rubato, the free-ﬂying expression, the luminous tone and the imperious, triumphant virtuosity make Chopin’s largest solo masterpiece sound as fresh as if we were hearing its world premiere. The quizzical gaze the pianist turns upon her silent surroundings at the end is also unforgettable. bit.ly/chopinsonata

formidable duo (see them pictured overleaf, bottom left). Kovacevich shares something of Argerich’s cut-to-the-chase musical attitude, even if their styles are extremely diﬀerent. Listen to this 1977 recording of the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, full of smouldering mystery, with percussionists Will Goudswaard and Michael De Roo. bit.ly/bartoksonata

Argerich and Barenboim have known each other since their childhoods in Buenos Aires. Their first collaboration in a decade and a half was this astounding two-piano recital at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2014. Mozart’s life-affirming Sonata for Two Pianos is followed by intimate Schubert, the Variations in A flat for duet. But it’s The Rite of Spring that proves the revelation: Barenboim’s uncanny ability to evoke quasi-orchestral timbres at the piano blends ideally with Argerich’s rhythmic vitality in Stravinsky’s ground-breaking masterpiece. This version for two pianos having once been performed by the composer and Claude Debussy. Deutsche Grammophon 4793922

OK, this is cheating, since it’s not one performance, but ten: works by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokoﬁev, Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Liszt, tracing the lengthy musical partnership of Argerich and the conductor Claudio Abbado – almost as much of a legend as she is – from 1967 up to 2013. Argerich brings to this range of repertoire the full panoply of musical insights: wit, sparkle, drive and an elemental storminess permeate her playing. Abbado’s attentive, minutely detailed conducting complements her to perfection, whether in the rhetorical grandeur of Liszt or the delicate phrasing of Mozart. The photo on the front is worth framing, too (as is the main picture for this article, opposite). Deutsche Grammophon 4794155

Martha Argerich & Stephen Kovacevich: Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion

If Argerich has a musical soulmate, it is probably Stephen Kovacevich. The two pianists were life-partners for a while (Stéphanie, the ﬁlmmaker, is their daughter), but though they went their separate ways in the 1970s, they still make a 69• Pianist 120

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Martha Argerich & Claudio Abbado: The Complete Concerto Recordings

Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim: Piano Duos

Pianophiles have many good reasons to be grateful to YouTube. This hidden gem is the solo half of a concert that Argerich gave at Carnegie Hall in 2000 to benefit the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, where she had recently been successfully treated for melanoma. After well-trodden repertoire including the Bach Partita No 2 and Chopin’s Barcarolle and C sharp minor Scherzo, she offers a hair-raising account of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No 7 in which hearing would be believing, were it not simply unbelievable. Stand by for the roar of the crowd at the end. bit.ly/carnegiehall2000

Bloody Daughter

Stéphanie Argerich’s 2012 documentary about her mother, Bloody Daughter, offers a powerful personal insight into the great musician’s life and work, including footage that goes back to when the filmmaker, then aged eleven, first turned a new Betamax video camera towards her mum. It explores the challenges and legacy of being a ‘wunderkind’, conflicting loyalties to art and to family, the fraught yet loving relationships within the latter and the sheer mystery that attends her musicianship. In an interview for Pianist when the film came out, Stéphanie commented: ‘My mother is still a mystery after the film… I really think she is a mystery to herself.’ (She is pictured centre, and overleaf top left, with her mother.) bit.ly/bloodydaughter

Live at Carnegie Hall, 2000

LEGENDS

Martha Argerich & Nelson Freire: Rachmaninov Suite No 2

Film of the 24-year-old Argerich at the competition in Warsaw in 1965 captures the indomitable glory in her musicianship which propelled her to the first prize. The Chopin C sharp minor Scherzo from her second-round performance is operatically spacious and dramatic, resonant as a cathedral organ in the chorale episodes. Her E minor Piano Concerto in the final is heavily cut in the initial tutti, but we’re there for the raw poetic heights of her playing. You can’t help feeling a bit sorry for the other contestants. Concerto: bit.ly/chopinconcerto1965 Scherzo: bit.ly/chopinscherzo1965

No Argerich collection would be complete without a good dose of Rachmaninov. This two-piano recital in Tokyo in 2003 brings her together with another of her friends, the Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire, who proves a heaven-sent duo partner in the fairy-tale gorgeousness of the composer’s Suite No 2. Both pianists seem cool as the proverbial cucumber, delivering scintillating fingerwork in the waltz, and breathing as one in the ebb and flow of the ‘big tune’ rubatos. If it’s possible for this duo to be more than the sum of such extraordinary parts, they’ve managed it. bit.ly/rachmaninovsuite2

Debussy Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra

Martha Argerich plays Bach

Debussy’s early Fantaisie dates from 1889 and is the nearest thing he wrote to a piano concerto. Though not his greatest piece, it’s appealing, Art Nouveau stuff, the piano interweaving with the subtle orchestration like the twining décor in an Alphonse Mucha painting. Argerich, recording the work for the first time, brings this challenging score her characteristically brilliant touch, split-second timing and supersensitive collegiality. It proves, as if that were necessary, that Argerich, Barenboim and Debussy himself can still surprise us even now. (Argerich and Barenboim are pictured bottom right.) Deutsche Grammophon 4837537 (New)

Argerich’s playing is like silver dip for Bach, whose contrapuntal writing emerges with shining clarity and unquenchable rhythmic spring. There’s a glitter, glamour and sheer attitude here that makes the music shine like new, while coalescing around a shrewd understanding of structure and style. Her classic Bach album includes the C minor Partita No 2, the C minor Toccata and the English Suite No 2 in A minor. Look out, too, for filmed performances including a stunning rendition of the same Partita at the 2008 Verbier Festival. Deutsche Grammophon 4798230 bit.ly/verbier2008 n

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Triumph at the International Chopin Competition

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PERFORMANCE

Let’s face the music...

AND DANCE! Angela Hewitt goes break-dancing. A ballet teacher demands a waltz in quadruple time. A pianist can hear music without sound. Welcome to the world of piano-and-dance, a world where boundaries only exist to be ignored. Warwick Thompson puts his best pointe-shoe forward, and ﬁnds out more

TAP TO WATCH Angela Hewitt plays the Courante from Bach French Suite No 2

A young Angela Hewitt en pointe

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ance music for the keyboard has always inhabited something of a no-man’s land between the concert hall and dancefloor. Were Bach’s Suites actually written to be danced? Did Chopin really imagine the hoi-polloi of Poland hopping to his Mazurkas? Were Beethoven’s Country Dances actually footed by real country dancers? The answer is both sort of no, and sort of yes. In this article I’ll be looking at the fascinating history of ten-fingered terpsichorean tunes, and speaking to three remarkable women who have particularly powerful insights into the ever-shifting relationship between the piano and dance: first to the superstar pianist Angela Hewitt, who trained assiduously as a ballet dancer for 20 years, and then to Kate Shipway and Julia Richter, who are world-class company pianists for the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet respectively. First, the history. It’s curious to note that dance music for the keyboard was slow to take off. There are no dances among the very earliest printed pieces of 1512; instead they are all based on plainchant melodies. But as the 16th century progressed, an increasing number of dances began to be written for the keyboard. This is where the ambiguities begin, however. We have no evidence that these early printed dances were actually danced. On the other hand, we have no evidence that they weren’t either. The jury is out. The New Grove Dictionary notes that in the pieces included in two volumes of dance music from Italy from 1588 and 1592, ‘the embellishments can make such pieces sufficiently interesting to be played and heard for their own sake, and not merely as an accompaniment for dancing.’

naïve presents

Royal Ballet’s Kate Shipway

French foot forward The 17th century saw two hugely important developments. First, the most culturally important monarch of the age, Louis XIV, was dance-crazy; and second, dances began to be grouped together in keyboard suites. The importance of Louis XIV’s passion for dance cannot be overstated. Because of him, dance pervaded every aspect of French court life, from details of etiquette to grand celebrations. And so powerful was the inﬂuence of Versailles in the rest of the world, that French-trained dancing masters became the musthave additions to any European court with pretensions to civilization. Dance was in. As for the suite (or ordre in French) this stemmed from a natural habit of grouping dances into slow-quick pairings, presumably so that dancers could catch their breath from time to time. In the 16th century a slow passamezzo was usually followed by a quick saltarello, or stately pavane by a lively galliard. Johann Froberger (1616-1667) was the ﬁrst composer to expand the idea, and to group keyboard dances into larger sets, or suites: and the standard pattern of four dances which later came to dominate the form (allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue) is pretty much derived from his works. He also linked dances both by key and thematic material, so that played together they sound rather like a set of variations. The word suite, meaning ‘things that follow’ or ‘things of the same type’ (as in ‘suite of rooms’, or ‘suite of furniture’), gives the clue to the content. All these paths, lead us of course, to the sublime suites of Bach. The musicologist Wilfrid Mellers hints at their broad impact. ‘For Bach, “true dance” was in tune with philosophy, mathematics, and theology… a “well regulated” dance promoted virtue, whereas a dance misused was potentially immoral,’ he writes. I guess that means Bach wasn’t twerking his booty like a Baroque Cardi B to those sarabandes and gigues, then. In England, Handel was putting his own inimitable stamp on the suite (not all of his suites include dances), and in France, Couperin and Rameau were forging their own paths too.

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Pirouettes and polonaises As the 18th century progressed into the 19th, it was the sonata which came to dominate the repertoire. Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert still wrote dances, but they were not invested with the same philosophical ingenuity as Bach’s. And there are reams and reams of forgettable pieces. Jane Austen’s music books contain

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LISE DE LA SALLE

WHEN DO WE DANCE? GERSHWIN, TATUM, BOLCOM, WALLER, PIAZZOLLA, GINASTERA, FALLA, RAVEL, SAINT-SAËNS, DEBUSSY, BARTÓK, STRAVINSKY, SCRIABIN, RACHMANINOF

follow lise de la salle on social media

PERFORMANCE

Julia Richter plays for the dancers at English National Ballet

plenty of simple dances – used for actual dancing, as her letters show – but they are generally of little musical interest, and the composers have mostly fallen by the musical wayside. (Not Frantisek Kotzwara, however. Check out his biography, and prepare for your eyes to pop.) The 19th century saw the meteoric rise of the piano virtuoso, leading to a final rupture between domestic music and concert music. The greatest of the virtuosi to concentrate on dances was of course Chopin, who gave the world its most memorable polonaises and mazurkas. He occasionally accompanied dancers in his early years, but by the time of his Op 7 Mazurkas,

‘I see the way dancers use space as a visual representation of music. It’s very freeing, and has certainly opened up my eyes to different ways of playing Bach’ Kate Shipway declared that these works were not intended for dancing. The world disagreed. His sister wrote to him in Paris that one of his mazurkas had been played at a ball in Poland. Was this a profanation? ‘My dear, tell me whether you wrote it in the spirit of a dance; perhaps we have understood you incorrectly.’ It’s interesting to note how many 20th-century ballets employ the music of Chopin. After Chopin, piano dance music rarely reached such heights. Brahms’s waltzes, for example, are sweet, but sound like a nostalgic tribute to Schubert. And in the 20th century, with the rise of the gramophone, domestic dancing could be catered for

without much need for easy tangos or rumbas on the piano. Deca-digit dance declined. Dancing pianists and pianists for dancers But that’s not quite the end of the story. From the very beginning, dance rhythms pervaded other works which were not specifically allemandes or gigues. And they continued to do so. ‘For Bach, his music corresponded to the pulse we find inside us, and to the pulse of life,’ says Angela Hewitt, who seriously studied ballet and Highland Dance (she was once Quebec Junior Champion) into her twenties. ‘In fact all Baroque music is based on dance rhythms. And Beethoven dances a lot, and of course Chopin. Ravel is very much based on dance music. And I joke that one day I’d like to play the Tchaikovsky Concerto as a dancer, as if I were accompanying Nureyev!’ In what ways has dance training influenced her playing, I wonder? ‘The main thing you learn is that not all beats are equal. There are always those that go into the floor and those that rise up. And also having a sense of gesture. Baroque music is based on gesture. The upbeats resemble the preparation for your first step. They have life in them.’ Further than that, she also describes certain physical advantages. ‘Dance training helps with finding your centre; with breathing correctly; with having a good posture at the piano, and it can give you confidence to present yourself on stage and communicate with your audience.’ In order to find out what special skills – if any – are needed to accompany dancers, and whether those skills are transferrable to other music, I also speak to Kate Shipway of the Royal Ballet, and Julia Richter of English National Ballet. Both of them stress that the ability to be conducted – an ability not all pianists have – is paramount, and also that the medium is utterly collaborative. It’s vital as well, when providing music for classes (the choice is often at the pianist’s discretion, or can be improvised), to know what type of step requires what type of music. Shipway goes on to talk about tempi, and how different they

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can be depending on the dancer’s height, ability to leap, and so on. ‘When I practise a piece for a ballet, I sometimes wonder how I would play it if it was just for myself: the ﬁnished point is always “how should I play this for the choreography?” You lose something, but gain something too.’

Divisions in pulse Richter describes another development. ‘I now have a visual way of looking at music, seeing it as movement in space,’ she says. ‘And I see the way dancers use space as a visual representation of music. It’s very freeing, and has certainly opened up my eyes to different ways of playing Bach.’ Shipway believes she can now tell what a score might be like, just from watching choreography. ‘The way Kenneth MacMillan choreographed Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2 is so good, you can tell the music just from watching the steps,’ she says. (She also confesses that she wouldn’t play the slow movement as slow as he choreographed it in a concert performance – highlighting another difference between ‘pure’ music and ‘stage’ music.) Both women also make the point that dancers count differently to musicians. ‘They count by the danced pulse, and it might be different from the bar pulse,’ says Richter. ‘I might see two bars of 6/4, but they might hear a single phrase of four pulses.’ Shipway tells me that early on in her career, a ballet teacher once requested a waltz with four beats introduction. ‘After some confusion, I learned she meant four bars introduction: one pulse per bar. They speak a different language of rhythm, and you have to understand it.’ Richter tells me of another surprising aspect to the work. ‘You might be involved in what you’re doing as a musician, but you have to keep stop-starting for the dancers. Losing that emotion, that moment – you have to learn how to deal with that.’ I ask Angela Hewitt if she has ever played as a dance accompanist, and I am surprised to learn that she has. ‘I was asked to play for some urban break dancers at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, who wanted to improvise to Bach, Messiaen, and Ravel,’ she says. ‘I thought it would be terrible, but the whole experience was wonderful, and left us all with great joy. Now I hope to work more with all kinds of dancers in the future.’ More than any other medium, it seems, dance seems happiest at breaking down boundaries. And long may it continue. n

PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOES for eight of this issue’s Scores Haydn German Dance in C Schumann Sicilienne Op 68 No 11 Beethoven Waltz WoO 84 Handel Capriccio HWV 483 Satie Valse-Ballet Op 62 Pessard Andalouse Op 20 No 8 Bach arr. Alkan Siciliano Chopin Grande Valse Brillante Op 18

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MAKERS

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT If ever there was a time to rekindle one’s relationship with the piano, it’s now, says John Evans, who, despite lockdown restrictions, is astonished at the way pianos – whether digital or grand – are flying off the showroom floors

ast November, a leading piano retailer that opened its first store in South Wales 35 years ago, opened its first London store in, of all places, the Chelsea Design Quarter, one of the capital’s trendiest and most expensive districts. Located in a magnificent Art Deco building, Coach House Pianos’ new showroom boasts 5,000 square feet of floor space on which to display top-name new and used pianos, a studio where customers can personalise their instrument and even a recital space called Bösendorfer Hall. Meanwhile, in association with Bechstein, the established London piano retailer Jaques Samuel Pianos is looking forward to the opening of the piano maker’s new store in Manchester this August (see image above). In 2023 the same manufacturer will open a London showroom on Wigmore Street, featuring a 100-seat concert hall. What’s happening? Has nobody told these businesses that for the past year, the world has been suffering a pandemic that has seen Britain placed in lockdown and, on the high street, only essential shops allowed to trade? Inevitably, these showrooms will have committed to their new premises before the coronavirus crisis struck. Even so, they appear not to have diluted their ambitious plans. Pandemic or no pandemic, for anyone who loves pianos and playing them, the arrival of these magnificent showrooms has to be good news, if only for the optimism they represent. Is it misguided? I spoke to piano retailers and manufacturers, and almost all of them claim to have enjoyed good business during the past 12 months and the three lockdowns the UK has had to endure. More promisingly, some anticipate pent-up demand. Customers fortunate enough to have remained in work and who would like to devote more time to trying a range

of pianos before they buy are likely to enter the market as lockdown eases and the roll out of the Covid vaccine continues. Passions reignited It’s not hard to imagine why pianos and playing them should have enjoyed a buoyant 2020. As I reported in a feature on music and mental health [issue 116], playing the piano is a mindful activity. ‘Because it requires our attention, it helps to take our minds off the thoughts and feelings that clog our brains,’ Dave Smithson, operations director of Anxiety UK, a mental health charity, told this magazine. If ever we needed the benefits of a mindful activity, it was in 2020 and early 2021. Barred from seeing friends and relatives and from travelling outside our locality, many of us had time on our hands and the space to think how we might fill it. Lots of people went back to books, sales of which hit an eight-year high in 2020. More encouragingly, many others turned to music. ‘A lot of people embraced the idea of doing something new in lockdown,’ says Anthony Short, executive director of the Music Industries Association (MIA). ‘There is strong evidence that many people took up an instrument.’ A key part of that evidence was the rise in sales of sheet music, a sure sign that people were spending more time playing and practising musical instruments. ‘Lockdown saw customer demand for sheet music explode,’ says Chris O’Reilly, CEO of Presto Music. ‘This was down to the fact that people had the time to take up what may have been a longed-for hobby.’ Elsewhere, at Gear4Music, a major online music store, sales were up 80 per cent between April and June 2020 compared with the same period the previous year. As a result, the company’s revenue soared spectacularly by 68 per cent to £37.3

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million, while its share price rose 25 per cent. Among the company’s biggest sellers were digital pianos.

Today, Lewis is looking forward to the opening in August of his company’s new Bechstein store. ‘The north of England has lost a lot of piano shops and we sell many pianos to customers in that region, as well as to Scotland, so I’m very optimistic.’ Likewise, Sam Rusling of Coach House Pianos is looking forward to the opening of his company’s new Chelsea showroom. ‘We have so many pianists, schools, piano tuners and piano teachers all desperate to visit the new showroom. We are really looking forward to opening our doors to them.’ [The showroom opened its doors mid-April.] Rusling says his company managed to sell pianos during lockdown, many of them to first-timers. ‘There is no doubt that everyone had more time and many people were thinking about turning life-long dreams and ambitions into reality.’ Online shopping Rather than offering a ‘try before you buy’ service, Coach House produced high-quality videos of its acoustic pianos that enabled

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New ways of selling How did retailers of acoustic pianos fare? Who better to ask than Craig Terry, managing director of Steinway & Sons UK (the London showroom is pictured opposite). ‘Business was fine mainly because we have a well-established website and online offering,’ he says. ‘We were able to make virtual appointments with customers and if they saw a piano they liked, they were able to put a deposit down and have it delivered.’ Crucially, many of those customers were what Terry calls ‘non-pianists’; people who love the piano but who aren’t necessarily very proficient at it and are happy it is played by someone who is. Reassured by Steinway’s quality and consistency of manufacture they will buy without first trying the instrument. Not so, for ‘real pianists’, as Terry explains. ‘Understandably, these people like to try the pianos first and the earliest they could do that was 12 April when shops were permitted to open. We took many bookings and enquiries for this date and beyond.’ Elsewhere, dealers found that ‘try before you buy’ schemes were an effective solution. ‘We offered a service where customers could pay a small charge to have the piano of their choice delivered to their home,’ says Terry Lewis, managing director of Jaques Samuel Pianos. ‘We would wait an hour or so while they played it and decided whether to buy it. I’m pleased to say that not one piano was returned. In December, when we were permitted to open the shop, we took lots of sales enquiries on acoustic pianos. Across the year, sales didn’t rise on the previous 12 months but we turned a profit.’ A major contributor to that profit was the 39 new upright Bechsteins the company sold. ‘We did especially well with them. Most were bought by people who were upgrading their piano. Customers love Bechstein’s consistency between instruments so that often, a video was all that was required to reassure them that the piano was perfect.’

MAKERS customers to get a remote taste of the instrument they were interested in. Now Rusling is looking forward to a bright new 2021. ‘Covid has been devastating for many people but it appears to have been positive for music, with so many more people inspired to take up learning an instrument.’ Like Rusling, Chris Lovell of Handel Pianos, a retailer based in Sunningdale, Berkshire, also noticed the emergence of ﬁrst-time pianists. ‘In the early months of the pandemic most of the enquiries we received were from beginners but as we moved into summer, they came from more advanced pianists looking to upgrade, as well as from pianists wanting to return to the instrument.’ Lovell, too, oﬀered customers a ‘try before you buy’ taster scheme. ‘We sent them a short video of several instruments in their price range so they could see and hear them. Once they had made their choice, we delivered the new or used piano to their home and left it there for one week for them to play. It cost them nothing, so it was a commercial risk for us, but I’m

TIM DEARING, RETURNING PIANIST Last year, in the midst of lockdown, Tim Dearing, a 36-year-old computer games designer, decided to return to his first love: the piano ‘Like everyone, I had a lot of time on my hands and craved a hobby I could focus on and pursue indoors. When I was a boy, my grandad taught me to play the piano using a book called The Complete Keyboard Player. It was full of wellknown songs pared back to their basics and which got progressively more complex as you went through the series. Last year, I decided to buy myself a copy and a piano to play them on.’ Tim found a perfectly playable Challen upright piano online, and bought it. Including delivery, it cost him just £120. He lives on the top floor of a flat but luckily, no one lives below. ‘I’ve had no complaints from neighbours – at least not yet,’ he says. ‘I’m working my way through the book, playing pieces I like. My goal is to have the family over next Christmas and play the piano and have everyone singing. Most importantly, it’s brought me and grandad even closer together. He calls almost every day now to hear how I’m getting on!’

pleased to say that none of the pianos we sent out came back. Should a customer wish to change their piano for another one in the shop, we will give them what they paid for it.’ The ‘try before you buy’ schemes were clearly effective, but those retailers with an established online presence appear to have been better prepared to regain some of the business their traditional stores lost. ‘Our online business was very, very strong in 2020,’ says Simon Pollard, managing director of Millers Music, based in Cambridge. ‘Between April and June our online sales of mainly digital pianos were up 2,000 per cent, albeit from a very low base. The biggest sellers were those costing less than £1,500. A lot of people who bought them were returning to the instrument. More expensive digital pianos appeal to more advanced pianists who like to try the instrument first.’ Regarding acoustic pianos, Pollard says that few people were prepared to buy an upright or grand piano online, preferring instead to wait until the store was open, when they could try the instruments. However, supplying the pianos was occasionally difficult. ‘Enquiries were relatively strong when we were open but apart from Bechstein, which continued to produce pianos for much of the year, some other manufacturers halted production and so we experienced some product shortages.’ No place like home Mark Rolfe, managing director of Yamaha Music UK, admits his company sold out of both digital and acoustic instruments during 2020 but all the same, was very happy with his firm’s sales performance. ‘Had there had been unlimited availability, we suspect that digital pianos would have been a stronger seller earlier in lockdown. Demand for our acoustic pianos grew the longer lockdown continued. This could be explained by consumers realising that the situation was going to continue longer than they originally anticipated, so deciding to invest their spare money in an acoustic piano.’ Rolfe suspects many customers were new to the piano since demand for entry-level instruments was ‘extremely high’. Returners, on the other hand, were more willing to invest in a higher-grade instrument. ‘We cannot be sure but maybe the ratio was 70/30 – new to returner.’ Tom Haydney, marketing manager at Kawai UK, saw a similar split in customers. ‘We have seen many people return to the piano and reignite their passion for music. Many of them have been young people looking to take up the piano, inspired by their favourite artists and bands sharing performances from their own homes. It is widely known that playing and listening to music has so many benefits, including increased happiness levels and improved cognitive ability, so we are always pleased to see a growing interest in learning the piano.’ Kawai’s best sellers included its AnyTime and Aures hybrid instruments, playable through headphones. He is looking forward to a busy 2021. ‘There is still a lot of demand and I’m sure customers are looking forward to trying instruments for themselves once our dealers can re-open their stores.’ New or returning, Simon Pollard of Millers Music is optimistic about the future for acoustic piano sales in particular. ‘We see people move from digital to acoustic instruments all the time and that won’t change. Many people were inspired to play the piano in lockdown and among those who bought their first digital piano, many will one day want their first acoustic instrument. There are now more pianos in peoples’ homes than before lockdown and that’s a good thing.’ n

78• Pianist 120

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REVIEW

ALBUM reviews

Reviews by Colin Anderson, Peter Quantrill, Warwick Thompson and Erica Worth

BERTRAND CHAMAYOU

BENJAMIN GROSVENOR

PIANIST NADA

Strauss: Burleske, Ein Heldenleben Santa Cecilia Orchestra/Antonio Pappano Warner Classics 0190295028459 HHH Richard Strauss exposes limitations in orchestral and recording technique like few other composers, and the almost-20year-old Parco della Musica in Rome remains an uncomfortably dry and ill-focused recording venue for large projects. The Burleske is credited as a studio performance, unlike the live (and thrilling) Heldenleben, though sundry noises off from the first minute onwards distract from some spoton orchestral detailing (a well-tuned set of timpani is at least balanced as the pianist’s rightful sparring partner). Bertrand Chamayou is a scintillating soloist in the tradition of Thibaudet (Decca) and Hamelin (Hyperion), though less playful, more overtly Brahmsian approaches (Gould on Sony and Trifonov, most controversially, on BRKlassik) have their place. Provided your taste in 21-year-old Strauss runs to bubbly sekt rather than a light Austrian red you’ll enjoy Chamayou’s throwaway legerdemain in an unclassifiable jeu d’esprit, though the sound remains a problem. PQ

Liszt: Sonata in B minor, Berceuse, Tre sonetti di Petrarca, Réminiscences de Norma, Ave Maria S558/12 Decca 485 1450 HHH Benjamin Grosvenor’s reading of Liszt’s B minor Piano Sonata is an uneven affair – arrestingly dark, even sinister, at the outset – yet, despite some beguilingly quiet playing along the way, the positive aspects of his interpretation are outweighed by some show-off speeds and a tendency to pulverise fortissimos. In short, Grosvenor’s view of this great piece, at the time of recording (as recently as October last year), doesn’t, as yet, add up. Nor does he probe the music enough: what we get straddles the poetic to the aggressive without much in between. The remainder of this explicitly recorded 84-minute release is far more successful: whether the intimate Berceuse, the sacred Petrarch sonnets, and finally Liszt’s reworking of Bellini’s Norma or his arrangement of Schubert’s Ave Maria. Each show the pianist’s deeper approach, the listener sucked in to this absorbing music: the Norma fantasy is dramatic and the Schubert balm to the soul. CA

Brahms: Variations on a theme by Paganini, Klavierstücke Op 118, Fantasien Op 116, Sonata No 3 in F minor and more MEII Enterprises 6 82131 86689 4 (3CD) HHHH In this fifth and final instalment of Pianist Nada’s traversal of the complete Brahms solo piano music, we find ourselves presented with a varied programme spanning the virtuoso Paganini Variations, the engaging Op 116 and 118 sets of piano pieces and the less frequently heard Chorale Preludes for Organ Op 122 – arranged by the pianist and dispersed cleverly throughout the three-CD album. Pianist Nada offers up Baroque grandeur and elegance in the chorales, with an understanding of the instrument for which they were written. The Opus 116 gems are given all the loving care that they need (from the tender No 4 Intermezzo to the turbulent No 7 Capriccio), as are the Op 118 set. And what a treat to hear the feisty No 4 from the Five studies after JS Bach, played with determination and a flowing forward drive. Despite a somewhat muffled recorded sound, there is much here to discover and surprise. EW

MAHANI TEAVE

JAMES WILLSHIRE

NADEJDA VLAEVA

Rapa Nui Odyssey: Works by Bach, Chopin, Handel, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Scriabin Rubicon RCD1066 (2CD) HHHHH Picture the scene. Rapa Nui (Easter Island), population about 8,000, remotest place on earth. Holidaying American film producer attends recital. Local music teacher, on battered old upright. Gobs are smacked. She’s sensational! He invites her to Seattle to make a proper recording – and the result justifies every last ounce of faith. How’s that for a backstory? Turns out Mahani Teave (born 1983) had given up a promising international career, to move to her father’s homeland to teach schoolchildren. Their gain is the rest of the world’s loss. In Late Romantic blockbusters (Chopin Barcarolle, Liszt Vallée d’Obermann, Scriabin Prelude and Nocturne for Left Hand, et al) Teave has an idiosyncratic and free-spirited poeticism which is beguiling and captivating: it’s as if she really doesn’t care whether you like her or not – she’s just going to do her own wild and passionate thing. She sounds less invested in Bach, but the rest is awesome. WT

Coles & Holst: Solo works including Coles Sonata in C minor and Holst Egdon Heath Delphian DCD34209 HHH Scottish composer Cecil Coles (born 1888, died 1918 in WWI) did not make an indelible mark on musical history – but his trace becomes a little more vivid with this pleasing disc by James Willshire. Coles started out in what you might call ‘the international style of Mendelssohn’ and ended up in ‘the international style of Brahms’ with some forays into Englishy folk-tunes and frivolous salon pieces along the way. It’s pleasant stuff, and much of it sounds tempting enough for good amateurs to have a bash. But whether Coles would have become a true great had his life not been cut so cruelly short – and despite Willshire’s excellent advocacy – is not clear. The recital also includes lesser-known works by Coles’s friend and mentor Gustav Holst. We see Holst in folksy mode, in spiky mode, and in bitonal-cum-atonal mode. Again, it’s impressively played, but none of it warms me to Holst’s forays into keyboard repertoire. WT

Pancho Vladigerov: 6 Exotic Preludes Op 17; 10 Impressions Op 9 Hyperion CDA68327 HHHH Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978) was a Bulgarian Rachmaninov – or Szymanowski, as Francis Pott’s first-class booklet essay suggests – in full command of a Lisztian performing and composing technique which wasn’t quite yet anachronistic in these two opulently registered cycles of tone-pictures from the 1920s. Pott nails the ‘picturesque escapism’ of Vladigerov’s three-stave writing while pressing the case for its weightless and surprisingly cosmopolitan intricacies as persuasively as Nadejda Vlaeva’s native advocacy. The ‘exotic’ nature of the Preludes extends to little more than hand-me-down Spanishry and hints of modal middle-Eastern harmonies; the slightly sparer, more allusive style of the Impressions should beguile anyone wondering ‘What next?’ after late Debussy and Scriabin. Rich fare in one sitting; utterly charming in small helpings, thanks largely, I fancy, to Vlaeva’s dexterity and less-is-more sensitivity in music already soaked in rum and tears. PQ

80• Pianist 120

REVIEW

SHEET MUSIC REVIEWS Reviews by Michael MacMillan A RECITAL ANTHOLOGY Edited by Steven Osborne Trinity College Press ISBN: 978-085736-995-6 There are numerous anthologies of piano music that cater to students working their way through the graded system. Once you move beyond Grade 8, however, anthologies specifically targeted at diploma-level students are notable for their absence with the exception of Wiener Urtext’s volume titled From Bach to Schoenberg. Trinity’s new anthology is therefore most welcome, bringing together a diverse selection of 21 pieces, all by different composers, from Trinity’s associate-level diploma (ATCL) syllabus list; only one of the pieces – Bach’s Toccata in E minor – also appears in the Wiener Urtext anthology. The repertoire is presented chronologically, beginning with Bach, Handel, and Haydn, and ending with Sculthorpe, Kapustin, and Wilkinson. The musical text is clearly and attractively printed, and editorial input comes from the celebrated Scottish pianist, Steven Osborne. A generous amount of performance notes are supplied at the front of the volume. An anthology weighing in at 240 pages comes with an understandable premium, but the quality of the whole product more than makes up for the cost. More please!

CHOPIN Barcarolle Op 60 Bärenreiter ISMN: 979-0-006-56610-5 Bärenreiter only recently started publishing Chopin’s piano works (their catalogue contains only the Préludes, a collection of easy pieces, and the B minor Sonata – due to be published at the end of the year), and each publication so far has been prepared by a different editor. Chopin’s Barcarolle was completed towards the end of his life, in 1846, and appeared almost simultaneously in English, French, and German editions. Bärenreiter’s edition of the Barcarolle, by Wendelin Bitzan, is principally based upon the French first edition, since this is the one Chopin supervised most closely and also used in his teaching. The inclusion of a fold-out page helps to make the page-turns comfortable, pedalling indications have been harvested from the sources, and additional editorial fingerings have been added to those specified by the composer (Chopin’s printed

in italic to clearly differentiate between the two). A detailed critical commentary, taking up almost as many pages as the music itself, and introductory notes complete this scholarly edition.

NIKKI ILES & FRIENDS BOOKS 1 & 2 Various composers ABRSM ISBN: 978-1-78601381-1 (Bk 1); -382-8 (Bk 2) Nikki Iles’s books of jazz piano music (published by OUP) have been wellreceived, and she has joined forces with ABRSM to produce two books containing solo music written by herself, her husband Pete Churchill, and several of her friends. Book 1 contains 16 pieces at Grade 4-6 level, whilst Book 2 includes 13 pieces from Grades 6 to 8. The majority of the works are original compositions, but both books also include five arrangements of well-known pieces, the best of which include Abide with Me and Shenandoah (both in Book 2). Of the original pieces, I particularly enjoyed the pieces by Tim Garland (Groove Bait and Eco Warrior), and I suspect there are a few others that will appear on the ABRSM exam syllabuses in the coming years. A CD featuring recordings by Iles of all the pieces enhances the appeal of the overall package.

GERSHWIN Concerto in F (Two pianos) Henle ISMN: 979-0-2018-0859-8 Written just a year after Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin’s Concerto in F was provisionally called the ‘New York Concerto’, having been commissioned by the New York Symphonic Society. The only edition authorised by Gershwin during his lifetime was a twopiano version of the work (the orchestral edition was authorised after his death). In that version, the soloist’s writing also incorporates some of the orchestral part, whilst the second piano part is limited to the orchestration. In Henle’s edition, the piano reduction is based on a new edition of the orchestra score by Breitkopf & Härtel, and has been arranged in such a way that all the orchestration is taken by the second piano. Printed with Henle’s typically clear 81• Pianist 120

and inviting presentation, editorial fingering suggestions are also included.

CORPUS VOLUBILIS Alexandre Tharaud Editions Lemoine ISMN: 979-0-2309-9592-4 The unusual title of this book, Corpus Volubilis (twisting body), an accompanying image of what appears to be a headless woman dancing, and Alexandre Tharaud’s profile as a well-known concert pianist immediately arouse curiosity. The music was apparently written over the past several years and also during the recent spells of lockdown. Whether by accident or design, there is no index, but 20 pieces are included; ten of these are just a page long, and the other half are two pages. Most pieces have been inspired by dances, and the composer has taken inspiration from all over the globe – from places such as Japan, Bali, and Guyana. They range in technical difficulty from Grade 5 to 8 plus, with multiple repetition of small fragments in various pieces, but a keen sense of musicality would be needed to help a listener look beyond the dissonance and appreciate the engaging and imaginative soundscapes.

FROM MY BOOK OF MELODIES Alma Deutscher Schirmer ISBN: 978-1-70513-098-8 This book contains all the pieces from an album (of the same title) Alma Deutscher released in 2019. Still only 17, her precocious gifts as a melody-maker are chronicled here, with each piece containing one of the melodies that she wrote down from each year of her life, from ages four to 14. Difficulty is around Grade 6 to 8. In this column I have occasionally bemoaned the shortage of melodies that leave a lasting impression, so how wonderful it is to discover a beautiful piece such as I Think of You, a work based on a poem by Goethe. It appears here in two versions – one in G flat major, and one in G major (for those averse to six flats) – rather like the dual versions of Schubert’s G flat major Impromptu (originally printed in G major by his publishers to make it easier for the player). There is more than a passing resemblance with the old master in other respects, in the style of some of the writing and a similar instinctive knack for refreshing harmonic changes. A composer to watch!

E D U C AT I O N

THE INDEPENDENT LEARNER For the adult starter pianist, the decision to go it alone can be somewhat daunting. Mark Tanner comes to the rescue with a new book aimed at the self-learner

eaders of Pianist know that learning to play the piano calls for a good deal of enthusiasm and perseverance. Since well before the restrictions of Covid struck, a raft of different possibilities have been available to the enterprising adult learner. From an ever-expanding range of online videos and one-off CPD events, as well as more structured courses, a number of options could appeal equally well to independent learners, as well as teachers and their pupils. Instructional books, some now very well-established, offer further scope for those with a can-do approach who prefer to weigh up for themselves the pace, order or priorities of what they are learning. For many learners, a sense of community undoubtedly spurs them forward. Piano clubs and summer schools offer welcome camaraderie and support for those who learn best by sharing and interacting. That said, we all learn in subtly different ways, and through the twists and turns of our lives we may well decide to alter course. It greatly pleases me that the returning pianist is steadily on the rise – we’re living longer and finding more time to indulge our passion. Melanie Spanswick’s Play It Again series, published by Schott, specifically sets out to help the returning pianist via well-known repertoire and practice tips. I’ve always been determined to help people play to the very best of their ability, whether via the conventional one-to-one lesson model or through my writing and other activities. But the degree to which feedback ‘in the moment’ is needed/ desired again will vary for each of us, especially perhaps if we’ve come to value self-improvement primarily through books, videos and audio. The quality of the end product surely isn’t the be-all and end-all. For the non-professional, the sheer pleasure one can gain from playing and improving at the piano, regardless of level, should in my view be the key driver and motivator. Pages of promise

Comprising a hearty 200 pages, my new book – The Piano in Black and White – brings together ideas and strategies for helping adults to learn enjoyably, regardless of whether they happen to be nearer the start of their journey or a little further along (the level is aimed at beginner to early grades), and

irrespective of whether or not they’ve elected to supplement their development with input from a teacher. Using language and approaches not dissimilar to my many articles for Pianist, my aim is to offer advice, tips and ideas to help smooth out the learning during the first year or two, and hence to help encourage a sustained, musically satisfying experience. There are a dozen new arrangements of classics, such as the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata and The Entertainer, with hundreds of colour images and lessons focusing on specific aspects of the music. My ‘ten by five’ practice method encourages concentrated five-minute power bursts – perhaps ten of these per day if time permits. In each adult-orientated lesson you’re set achievable goals that click satisfyingly into place like the pieces of a jigsaw, allowing you to develop your confidence and ability at a momentum that suits you. ‘Finger pilates’ exercises punctuate the many musical and technical activities that are carefully positioned throughout the book to help with flexibility, keeping tension and fatigue at bay, increasing strength, mobility, power and general authority around the keyboard. I start from the premise that adults are not outsized children – our experience of the world, and of learning more generally, means we may well seek out more sophisticated or tangential ways and approaches – and yet consolidation and musicianship remain absolutely key to improvement. I decided, right from my first sketches for the book, not to teach theory. There are so many available ways to learn to read and make sense of notation, and I wanted the book to focus as much as possible on the tactility and practicalities of actually playing the piano. For example, keyboard geography, intervals, scales and arpeggios are taught primarily by feel and sound, rather than by relying on theoretical explanations readily found elsewhere. There are 17 downloadable audio tracks to help you learn the pieces, and also some improvisation tracks/ activities. The first half dozen pieces use fingering charts to ease the learning process. These require the two hands to keep to a single position to encourage independence of fingers and equalise division of labour, minimise note errors and maximise the musical value of what is being played. n The Piano in Black and White is published by Faber Music. Visit www.fabermusic.com.

82. Pianist 120

83• Pianist 117

FIND YOUR PERFECT PIANO AT yamaha.com/pianos

81• Pianist 116

Hans-Günter HEUMANN

BONUS TRACK

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Modern Waltz give them ample sound. The RH carries the melody – notice the very long Modernand Waltz phrase marking in the first half of the waltz. Think of the melody asHeumann one long line Hans-Günter

Hans-Günter Heumann, who wrote this waltz and the minuet on the previous page for Pianist, advises that in performance, the minuet should precede the waltz. h. = tips: 60 With the LH, you will need to keep the bass note down Playing and pedal for the duration of 3the bar. So you will really want to sink into those bass notes,

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74a Heumann.indd 74

˙ ˙ œ Œ˙ # 1˙ ˙™ Œ˙ # 1˙ œœ ˙™ ø3Œ # 11˙ Œ #˙ ø3˙™ ˙™ ø33 1. ø1.4 ˙4 ™ 1.Œ ™ ˙ -̇1 1.4 Œ4 -̇1 Œ˙ ™ Œ -œ ˙Œ ™ Œ1 œ Œ˙™ Œ˙™ -̇-̇1 Œ Œ -œ ˙™ Œ Œ œ ˙™

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that goes right to the end of bar 8. Bar 9 onwards is made up of shorter phrases.

Modern Waltz œModern ˙ ™ Waltz ˙

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17/05/2021 10:19

Vladimir REBIKOV (1866-1920)

BONUS TRACK

INTERMEDIATE

Valse miniature, No 10 from Mood sketches op 10

try to bring out a deep, rich piano tone. The LH starts off as accompaniment, but notice how it takes over the melody at bar 10, sounding even more soulful in this lower register. Bar 17 sees a sunnier. more free-spirited section, with the RH meandering around the higher notes of the keyboard, while the opening returns at bar 26. Pedal tips: All markings are on the score.

Early works by this Russian composer and concert pianist were in the Romantic style of Tchaikovsky, but he opened up to influences from the rest of the world, as his later works showed. This piece is the final work in a collection dating from around 1900. Playing tips: This is a gorgeous little Romantic miniature. It should have a wistful, somewhat sad quality about it. The RH carries the souful melody. To reflect this,

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17/05/2021 10:26

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17/05/2021 10:26

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)

BONUS TRACK

‘I don’t know,’ wrote Brahms to the dedicatee of Op 39, Eduard Hanslick, ‘I was thinking of Vienna, of the pretty girls with whom you play four-hands, of you yourself, the lover of all that, the good friend and what-not.’ Not exactly a glowing tribute! Playing tips: What an exciting piece this is! Like the Op 39 No 10 waltz on the

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previous page, it requires a solid double-thirds technique in the RH. The LH needs to be rhythmically precise, with a ricochet quality; imagine bouncing a small, hard ball very quickly! The middle section (bars 13-24) should sound sweeter (dolce) and smoother (legato). Pedal tips: Use the right pedal and follow the changes of harmony.

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17/05/2021 10:35

Franz LISZT (1811-1886)

BONUS TRACK

Liszt wrote his four Valses oubliées between 1881 to 1885, late in his life when he was beginning to feel the effects of old age. So is this waltz just an exercise in nostaglia for a departed youth? The mood shifts and the slightly sinister waltz melody hint at something darker, something like the twisted Viennese waltz of Ravel’s La valse. Playing tips: You will need fleet fingers (not to mention good octave and repeated note techniques!) for this piece. It has to sound light, speedy, but also dreamy – with just the right amount of rubato here and there. It’s not dissimilar to Liszt’s famous Mephisto Waltz in places. The first page is the introduction to

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the waltz, which starts good and proper at bar 17. In general, it’s the RH that has the hard work: the RH repeated notes are challenging (bar 49, ‘Scherzando’) and the RH octaves at bar 89 need to sound passionate – so dig into the keys and don’t make them sound brittle. At bar 107, the introduction appears once more, before the waltz returns at bar 115 – this time with different harmonies. The quavers that pass between the hands at bars 140-155 need to sound seamless and as light as possible. Suddenly everything needs to sound dreamy from bar 157 to the end. Pedal tips: Pedalling is marked on the score. Make sure not to over-pedal, though – it always needs to sound light and dance-like.

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17/05/2021 10:44

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