F RE E
5 1 0 2 Y A M L I R P A
WITH EVE RY ISSUE
40 PAGES OF SHEET MU SIC PLUS TUT ORIAL CD & ONLINE LE SSONS
No 83
Helping you become a better player
SUMMER LEARNING Your guide to 2015 COURSES & FESTIVALS
STEP-BY-STEP LESSONS
How to play more musically Learn Tchaikovsky’s evocative May Refine Ravel’sMenuet antique
KIRILL GERSTEIN
12 LEARN PIECES TO
BEGINNER TO ADVANCED
Classical passion with jazz roots MASTERCLASS
PLAY A SNAZZY
Ready… steady…
RAGTIME
PEDAL! LEARN THE SULTRY
‘CRY ME A RIVER’
“The Steinway is not only an instrument, it is a work of art of the first rank." Christoph Eschenbach
For information on Steinway & Sons pianos or to arrange a private appointment to visit our London showrooms, please call 0207 487 3391 or email
[email protected]
2• Pianist 82
WWW.STEINWAYHALL.CO.UK
Pianist 83
CONTENTS
April-May 2015 The next issue of Pianist goes on sale 30 May 2015
80
67
10
14 4 Editor’s Note 4 Reader Competition Win a sheet music book from Spartan Press 6 Readers’ Letters 8
News An unusual piano is unveiled in Budapest, Martha Argerich comes to London, Pianist ’s first Piano Showcase and farewell to Aldo Ciccolini
14 Kirill Gerstein is Russian virtuoso is as comfortable with jazz as he is with classical – and right now it’s the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto that’s on his radar, as he tells Jessica Duchen 18 How to Play Masterclass 1 Mark Tanner on how to play musically 20 How to Play Masterclass 2 Graham Fitch focuses in on the sustaining (right) pedal. First of a three-part series on pedalling Don’t miss Graha m’s online l essons!
Melanie on 22 How Wilm’sto ‘ToPlay begin1with’ from Spanswick his 24 Pieces for the Young (Scores page 32)
24 How to Play 2 Lucy Parham on Ravel’s Menuet antique (Scores page 56) 26 How to Play 3 Janet Newman on Tchaikovsky’s ‘May’ from e Seasons (Scores page 49)
27 Composing Competition ere’s still time to enter our unique competition – send us your best arrangement by 4 May 27 The Scores A pullout section of 40 pages of sheet music for all levels 45 Beginner Keyboard Class Hans-Günter Heumann’s Lesson No 11: Two-part writing in the right hand 67
SUMMER COURSES & FESTIVALS 2015 Your 10-page guide to the best of summer courses and festivals in the UK and around the world. All with detailed listings, including websites and phone numbers, to help you connect with the perfect course or festival Courses Featuring in-depth looks at the famed Dartington International Summer School in Devon and the friendly Summer School for Pianists in the West Midlands A look the Music at an Festivals Paxton festival whichattakes place in idyllic Scottish Borders setting, plus an interview with Grafenegg Festival’s Artistic Director Rudolf Buchbinder
78 Nick van Bloss He’s successfully tackled the Goldbergs, so now he’s moved on to the Diabellis – and he has some useful practising tips too!
Cover photo: © Marco Borggreve. Images this page: © Marco Borggreve (Gerstein); Zengafons Ltd (Bogányi grand) Notice: Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyrighted material in this magazine, however, should copyrighted material inadvertently have been used, copyright acknowledgement will be made in a later issue of the magazine.
8 80 Cry Me A River When you’ve read about the story of this famous song, you’ll be dying to play it yourself (the Score appears on page 42) 82 How history shaped the piano From the Treaty of Versailles and Karl Marx, to the transistor and Nixon, we look at five more important historical events that contributed to the creation of the modern piano (second of two articles ) 85 Subscribe today for just £4.50 an issue by Direct Debit and receive an Encore book from ABRSM 86 CD Reviews It’s a tough call between Grigory Sokolov’s monumental live recital and Christian Blackshaw’s exquisite Mozart, but the Russian giant takes the garland as this issue’s Editor’s Choice 88 Sheet Music Review More Finger Fitness from Schott, Beethoven from Henle, Bach and Satie from Bärenreiter, Moszkowski’s Spanish Dances duet from Alfred and more 89 Classifieds
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter Make sure you keep in touch with our editorial team and receive exclusive extra articles and interviews. To register, visit:
www.pianistmagazine.com
Editor’s note
S
itting in the back row during our Piano Showcase at Schott Music in London this past January (see news story, page 10) and listening to some of our readers perform so well, I found myself thinking about what a ‘feel-good’ moment it was. We all need moments like that when we think, ‘Yes, this is what it’s all about – getting together, sharing the love of the piano, playing for others and feeling elated afterwards.’ I spoke with some of the participants after they’d played, and they all said, ‘bring on the next one!’ After all, learning the piano should be fun, as Tim Stein reminds a reader in this issue’s Letters page. Sometimes we forget that fact, especially when things aren’t going quite our way practice-wise or we’re feeling overwhelmed by the stresses of our everyday lives. you to try a summer course. It will If thisand hitsdeadlines a nerve with you, I’d encourage do wonders for your playing, but the best part is that you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people. I can guarantee that you’ll come away on a high. Turn to our 11-page guide on 2015 Courses & Festivals starting on page 67 – you will definitely find a course or workshop that’s perfect for you. If you’d prefer to take a back seat for now, you can always attend a music festival as part of the audience. There are some great settings, too, should you want to combine music with a summer holiday (imagine the hills of Tuscany or the valleys of Provence). As always, you’ll find fun and inspiration in our Scores section. The Hummel Allegro is gripping and gratifying, the Scarlatti Sonata elegantly heart-breaking, Tchaikovsky’s ‘May’ from The Seasons just gorgeous, and Grieg’sElfin Dance sheer mischievous delight. There’s one piece I’d like to home in on, though – a Pam Wedgwood arrangement for Faber Music of Cry Me A River . It’s such a great arrangement and perfect for the intermediate player. Before you get stuck in, you have to read Inge Kjemtrup’s article about the history of this famous song on page 80. I was absolutely hooked from beginning to end! Finally, here’s some excitingnews: We’ve decided to publish anextra issue this year: ‘Great Piano Composers of the Classical Era’. I don’t have much space here to talk about it, but you can turn to page 25 for more. Now’s the time to pre-order your copy! P.S. There’s still time to enter our Composing Competition. The deadline is 4 May. Turn to page 27 for details.
www.pianistmagazine.com PUBLISHER Warners Group Publications plc Director: Stephen Warner Publisher: Janet Davison EDITORIAL 6 Warrington Crescent, London, W9 1EL, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7266 0760 Fax: +44 (0)20 7286 0748 Editor: Erica Worth
[email protected] Deputy editor: Inge Kjemtrup
[email protected] Designer: Nathan Ward ADVERTISING Gareth Macfarlane, Advertising manager
[email protected] Lottie Day, Advertising executive
[email protected] Tel: +44 (0)845 226 0477 Fax: +44 (0)845 226 0377
READER SERVICES
UK & WORLD SUBSCRIPTIONS (EXCEPT USA & CANADA) Pianist Subscriptions Department Warners Group Publications plc West Street Bourne, PE10 9PH, UK Tel: +44 (0)1778 392483 Fax: +44 (0)1778 421706 Email:
[email protected] USA & CANADA SUBSCRIPTIONS You can subscribe online, via email,
ERICA WORTH, EDITOR
Make sure that you keep in touch with me – what I’ve been up to, which pianists I’ve spoken to, exclusive extra articles and interviews – by registering for our FREE e-newsletter. All you need to do is go to www.pianistmagazine.com
COMPETITION
Pianist
ENTER ONLINE AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM
WIN A COPY OF ‘GOOD TIMES PAST’ FROM SPARTAN PRESS Answer the question below correctly, and you could be one of three winners to receive a copy of ‘Good Times Past’ – a collection of nine short and contrasting piano pieces, in a light, yet essentially modern idiom. (The collection’s final piece, ‘Ragtime’, appears inside this issue’s Scores, page 30.) Which famous ragtime composer wrote ‘The Entertainer’? A: Jools Holland B: Jelly Roll Morton C: Scott Joplin
fax or by telephone: Website: www.expressmag.com Email:
[email protected] Toll-free number: +1 (877) 363 1310 Tel: +1 (514) 333 3334 Fax: +1 (514) 355 3332 DISTRIBUTION To find a shop near you that stocks Pianist, contact our distributor: Tel: +44 (0)1778 391150 Email:
[email protected] BACK ISSUES To purchase back issues, write to Pianist Back Issues Depar tment, Warners Group Publications plc West Street Bourne, PE10 9PH, UK Tel: +44 (0)1778 392483 Email:
[email protected] FOR ALL OTHER ENQUIRIES Contact Janet Davison, Publisher Warners Group Publications Fifth Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JD, UK Tel: +44 (0)113 200 2929 Fax: +44 (0)113 200 2928 Registered Address : Warners Group Publication s, West Street, Bourne,
ENTER ONLINE ATWWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM . Please send to Erica Worth, Editor, COMP PIA0114,Pianist, Postcard entries are also accepted 6 Warrington Crescent, London W9 1EL, UK. Competition closes 30 May 2015. Quote PIA0114 and remember to put your name, address and telephone number on the postcard as well as your answer. a g e v lo a E n i m a j n e B ©
Answer to the page 4 competition inPianist No 80: A: Switzerlandis where the Verbier Festival is located. Congratulations to the winner of the Lang Lang books: Mr John Bullock (Nottingham)
4• Pianist 64
Lincs, PE10 9PH. ©Warners Group Publications plc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission strictly prohibited. Every care is taken in compiling the magazine and no responsibility can be taken for any action arising from information given on the papers. All information, prices and telephone numbers are correct at the time of going to press. No responsibility can be taken for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or transparencies. Printed by Warners Group Publications plc. Pianist ISSN 4200395 is published bi-monthly (6 times a year / February, April, June, August, October, December) by Warners Group Publications c/o USACAN Media Corp. 123A Distribution Way, Building H-1, Suite 104, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 12901 U.S.A.. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Pianist, c/o Express Mag, P.O. BOX 2769, Plattsburgh, N.Y., U.S.A. 12901- 0239.
ISSN 1475 - 1348
Two of the world’s finest grands
...in one piano The true grand piano experience has never been more accessible than with our new Clavinova CLP 500-Series. Complex sample sets, painstakingly borrowed from Yamaha’s flagship CFX concert grand, plus a magnificent Bösendorfer Imperial, offer a unique choice of sound. And with Virtual Resonance Modeling, as well as string and damper resonance, the subtle nuances of a grand performance are at your fingertips. Meanwhile, realistic touch, synthetic ivory keytops and an escapement mechanism, make a CLP Clavinova feel just like its acoustic counterpart. Six new CLP models are available in a variety of finishes, so visit uk.yamaha.com to discover your new Clavinova**.
* Terms and conditions apply. Ask your dealer for details. 5• Pianist 77 ** Model shown is the CLP-585PE. Specifications vary across the range. Not all features mentioned are found on all models.
Readers’ Letters Get in touch WRITE TO:The Editor, Piani st, 6 Warrington Crescent, London, W9 1EL, UK OR EMAIL:
[email protected] STAR LETTERwins a surprise CD. Letters may be edited.
STAR LETTER
Bach (and Pianist) brought me back to the piano anks so much for Pianist, which has played an important role in my recent ‘career’ as a re-starter. I enjoyed the article about re-starters in the last issue. I am a typical re-starter. As a child, I studied the piano for eight years, with medium talent and a lot of enthusiasm. en I went to university, struggled for adequate employment, had a family – all the typical stuff, which led to less and less time for playing piano. en my dexterity was gone and my frustration increased because I know I played my pieces much better once, and now I know how Brendel, Pollini, Leonskaja and so on play these pieces. I contemplated giving it up, but my enthusiasm didn’t wane. Two years ago, I heard a nice piece on the radio that seemed not too difficult and that I could learn. e piece was Prelude No 5 of Bach’s ‘48’. I played enthusiastically and made (slow) progress. But I felt I didn’t know how to practise effectively. Last summer I came to England to attend a scientific congress. I was looking for some journals in a WH Smith shop to read on the train and that’s when I noticed Pianist No 79. e cover mentioned an article about Bach’s ‘48’. So I bought it. is was best decision I made in 2014! Inside I found Graham Fitch’s article masterclass about practising techniques, which was exactly what I needed now. His idea of practising bar by bar, but rhythmically and connecting it, seemed so easy that I was ashamed I hadn’t it found out by myself. But if it is so obvious, Graham Fitch wouldn’t have to explain it. Later at home I watched Fitch’s videos and now I am trying to apply his advice to my practising. I also like the magazine’s sheet music (with the CD) and the wonderful mix of famous and rather unknown but also beautiful pieces, and I became a subscriber. I can afford only half an hour every evening for practice. I have accepted that I can play only easier pieces than I once did, but there is still a lot I can play. I was always good at sight-reading, but now – for the first time – I am learning to play from memory, at the age of 62. As a pupil I thought I couldn’t do this. My 11-year-old granddaughter also plays piano and we always show each other what we have learned in the last weeks. anks again to Pianist magazine – it has been so helpful. Elisabeth Geiser, Salzburg, Austria
We are delighted that Pianist has helped you to find your way back to the piano and play better now you’re there. ank you for your inspiring letter, and a surprise CD is on its way to you.
The Satie detective agency e other night I had the radio on when ‘Book at Bedtime’ began at 10.45pm. As soon as I heard the music introducing the book, I realised I’d played the piece years ago, but I couldn’t remember it. I then spent two hours on the Internet trying to find either the name of the piece or a means of contacting BBC Radio 4, but without any luck. e next day I called two friends, and we agreed it sounded like Satie, but wasn’t in any of my Satie albums. Luckily, a friend of a friend who works at Bournemouth Public Library (which has an excellent music library) identified it as Satie’s Gnossienne No 5 – one of six that he composed. Several of us, including library staff, have now been so caught up in the search that we have planned to listen to the programme ‘together’ (being on the same wavelength both musically and radio-wise!), though probably not paying too much attention to the actual story. If any of your readers know of a telephone hotline for background music information, perhaps they could let us know. Meanwhile, might you think of placing these last two Gnossiennes in future issues? Rosemary Emmett, Dorset
Well done for persevering! It paid off in the end. And yes, we will place the lovely Gnossienne No 5 inside a future issue. If you have a smartphone, apps such as Shazam or Soundhound can ‘listen’ to the music and (sometimes) identify it.
Get me back on track!
suggestions as to how my confidence can be restored and my enthusiasm rekindled? I would love to get back to the standard I was years ago. Norman Crossley, Essex
Teacher Tim Stein, who writes our Q&A column, says : is is an all-too-common problem among adult pianists. To re-ignite their enthusiasm I always advise my students to spend some time away from the piano first, listening to lots of music and going to concerts. I also suggest compiling a list of the music they have always wanted to play. It doesn’t matter if you don’t learn everything on the list; just the act of compiling it helps to get the enthusiasm going. Another great way to rebuild the confidence is to sight-read duets together with a piano friend. You could also try joining a group of like-minded pianists in a club and get together to play things to one another. At the end of the day, it should all be about having fun!
Recording without a buzz I am trying to find a recording device for piano that doesn’t buzz. Can you recommend any? Ian Hunt, nr Montpellier, France
Alisdair Hogarth, who wrote the article on recording in issue 82, replies: It depends on what you want to use the recording for and therefore how good the quality needs to be. If it’s for your own use – to assess your own playing – you may find that the recorder on your smartphone is good enough; for example, the iPhone has a good sound recorder. If you want to purchase a really good, reasonably priced and simple-to-use recorder, then the Zoom H1 is very popular and extremely portable. If you want a more powerful recorder, the Zoom H4 and Zoom H5 are terrific. Happy recording!
Your magazine is a constant delight, full of wonderful content and interest. I read it from cover to cover almost as soon as it arrives. But sad to say, these days I am more of a passive observer than a participant. Having reached the dizzying heights of getting through all the Associated Board grades shortly after retirement in a relatively short period of time, I have shamefully allowed my skills to lapse over subsequent years.
Arranging guitar music for piano
ere doesn’t seem to be any significant reason for this, other than other interests getting in the way. I find that instead of sitting at the piano for the enjoyment it could bring, I keep putting it off, fearful of the mess it would all sound now that my technique has gone. On the odd occasions I do play, I tend to go over old pieces that I used to play well, instead of exploring new repertoire. I wonder whether this pattern is familiar to other readers? If so, can Pianist make any
own arrangements. is stimulated me to carry on playing and helped me to learn. And I really enjoyed practising. Your composing competition is a lovely idea and I will be submitting one of my arrangements. Mike Benson, Bedford
6• Pianist83
I was very interested to read Ruth Hughes’s letter (Pianist 82) about using piano music when playing the classical guitar. I have gone in the opposite direction from Ruth. I spent many years trying to learn the classical guitar but never mastered it. But I loved the repertoire, so when I started to learn the piano, I began arranging guitar music and practised using my
We look forward to receiving your entry to our competition, which closes on 4 May. Readers can turn to page 27 of this issue to find out how to enter.
LIFT THE LID ON THE NEW RANGE OF CASIO DIGITAL PIANOS FEATURING THE ALL NEW ‘CONCERT PLAY’† AND ‘HALL SIMULATOR’* KEY FEATURES:
• NEW ‘Concert Play’ Ensemble Library • Audio Record and Playback of External Sound Sources • NEW ‘Hall Simulator’ Function • AiR and Tri-Sensor Technology • New Open-Lid Function and 4-Level Simulator
S
Y
E
A
R
• 4-Level Stringand Damper Resonance plus Hammer Response • 3 Year Warranty
PECIAL
3
WA RRA
N
T
Y
3 YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL CELVIANO DIGITAL PIANOS
casio.co.uk/music
* AP-460 and PX-860 only † AP-460, AP-260, PX-860 and PX-760 only 7• Pianist 77
News
All the latest news from the world of the piano
WHAT NOT TO MISS: FROM THE WEST COAST TO THE SOUTHBANK April and May are the height of the concert season, with artists and audiences in top form and the summer festival season still a distant prospect (although our Festivals guide on page 73 has a preview). aking a sample of concerts from West (San Francisco) to East (London) turns up some exciting
i) y n á g o (B td L s n fo a g n e ;)Z á n e ž o K d n a e l tt a (R k c o R a il e h S
©
concerts and recitals for pianophiles. In San Francisco, the San Francisco Symphony hosts several pianists in April, including Igor Levit in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 9 ‘Jeunehomme’ (18-19 Apr) and Sa Chen in the potentially daunting Rachmaninov No 3 (23-24 Apr). On 19 April, Leeds winner Sunwook Kim joins the touring Seoul Philharmonic for Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. Moving further East to New York, there’sMurray Perahia in the April Fool’s slot at Carnegie Hall, with a varied programme of Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Franck and Chopin. Also at Carnegie, Richard Goode is in recital (24 April) and joins the Boston Symphony and its new music director, Andris Nelsons, in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 27. Tere’s also a recital fromEvgeny Kissin (16 May). In other New York news, it has just been announced that Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall will be renamed David Geffen Hall, following Geffen’s $100 million donation to the hall’s renovation. Leaping across the Atlantic to London, the Southbank International Piano Series continues with Stephen Hough (28 April playing Debussy plus all four Chopin ballades; he is touring extensively with this programme in the UK and the US this spring) and Yevgeny Sudbin (13 May, including his trademark Scriabin and arrangement of Saint-Saëns Danse macabre based on Liszt/Horowitz transcriptions). Over at the Wigmore Hall, Khatia Buniatishvili , whose new recital disc received five stars in last issue’s CD Reviews, plays Mussorgsky and Liszt on 1 April. Look also for Garrick Ohlsson in a talk and performance of Scriabin’s music (27 April) and this issue’s cover artist Kirill Gerstein in recital (14 May). Buniatishvili is one of the most glamorous pianists out there, but some even more glamorous stars are coming to Wigmore next season, as announced at the Hall’s recent 2015-16 season launch. At the top of the list is a recital from mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená with her husbandSimon Rattle at the piano (both pictured above). Rattle’s recent appointment as the next principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra means he’ll be spending more time in London. Tere’s also a much-anticipated recital with Martha Argerich and her former partnerStephen Kovacevich. Whether East or West, home is always the best, and we are sure that you will be seeking out the best and brightest of the piano world, wherever you are. For further information, go to sfsymphony.org, carnegiehall.org, southbankcentre .co.uk, stephenhough.com and wigmore-hall.o rg.uk
Est
A new wave of piano design makes a splash in Budapest It’s black, it’s sleek and it’s got a sinuous form that reminds one observer of the curvey building style favoured by famed architect Zaha Hadid. But it’s underneath the lid that the Bogányi grand piano – named for its inventor, Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi – really comes into its own. Central to the Bogányi grand’s internal innovations is an enhanced soundboard, which manages a greater resonance, one that can sustain a note for two minutes. Made of carbon fibre, the soundboard boasts an unusual rippled shape ‘which is sprung and detached from a traditional iron and wood piano frame’, according to the designer. Besides being more resistant to climate variation, the new soundboard also helps the Bogányi grand to keep its tuning for longer. Bogányi has been at work on building his eponymous piano for a decade, aided by an engineer, an industrial designer and a piano technician, and he’s spent an estimated 1million euros in the process. He launched the piano, which is approximately the length of a Steinway Model D but with two extra keys, in January in Budapest with members of the world’s press and interested piano experts looking on. om Service of the Guardian praised the instrument’s rich tone, noting ‘the action is incredibly light, recalling older models from the dawn of the piano, before manufacturers began to prioritise power to appeal to romantics such as Liszt.’ See this new piano for yourself at boganyi-piano .com
1910
7 - 8 chester court. albany st. london. nw1 4bu
020 7935 8682
www.marksonpianos.com
New from
Injushina
Happy 25th, SPARTAN PRESS If you’ve ever admired the typesetting in the Pianist Scores section, you are praising the work of Scottish music publisher Spartan Press, which typesets all the Scores. Tey’re a great team to work with and Pianist congratulates them on their 25 years in business. We talked to owner Mark Goddard, pictured kneeling surrounded by his team (and their dogs), about the ins and outs of his business.
on
Ondine
Mozart
Neglected Treasures
How and why did you start Spartan Press?
‘A gifted player of trem endous resourcefulnes s and imagin ation’
Spartan Press was srcinally created purely as a trade name for me as a composer. But it wasn’t long before other composers started sending in works that they wanted published, and 25 years ago we took the plunge to found a limited company, draw up contracts, open bank accounts and all the other paraphernalia of publishing, and my life’s not been mine since.
IRR
Why the name ‘Spartan’? Te ancient Spartans were a people that knew exactly what they were about. otally committed to the job, professional in every way and never ones to mess about with frills. It’s rumoured they often didn’t mess about wearing clothes either, but we don’t go quite that far! Your wife Pat is a musician too: is she involved in the business? Yes indeed – Pat is a director and equal share holder. I’m so lucky to have such stoic business support at every turn and a loving wife all in one! Did you feel that teaching the piano was a good apprenticeship for running an educational music publishing company? Our first ten years of married life were spent teaching music in Oxford, as well as accepting any freelance work we could muster. Little did we know then how useful the teaching experience would be in our future careers as publishers. How do you sell the books? Te old way to sell involved donning a suit and tie, grabbing some sample books, and driving 30,000 miles a year around the country, visiting music shops (about four a day). Now it’s more about the Internet. Do you sell piano duets too? We specialise in piano duets, partly because they are so much fun, but principally because they provide the otherwise rather lonely piano student with invaluable ensemble experience, which is critical to good musicianship. Why do you include CDs with the piano duet books? Te CDs give the pianist whose ‘duet partner has not turned up’ the ability to carry on playing along regardless!
2 0 5 2 1 E D O
‘I doubt that the CPE Bach concerto has ever received a finer performa nce…. A most joyful AVAILABLE release that calls out for another.’ Pianist, July 2013 ALSO
‘Of all the pianists seeking to m ake a case for music of this vintage on the modern instrument, I can’t think of one who succeeds more eloquently than Injushina.’ IRR, May 2013
Who designs the covers? Initially we went for ‘jokey’ covers with the wonderful cartoons of Barry Lee. Since moving to the Highlands of Scotland, and armed with a good camera, we are lucky to have ready-made scenic possibilities too. Why did you relocate the business to Scotland in 1999? Te thing about publishing is that you need more and more storage space as the years go by. We made a decision early on that we would resist at all costs the ‘sensible’ course of running Spartan from a faceless industrial estate. Instead, we chose a Victorian shooting estate, which has provided a superb location to raise three children too. A true quality-of-life decision.
ODE 1224-2
How many composers and arrangers are now on Spartan’s books? Over the years we’ve gently acquired other publishing concerns including European Music Archive (EMA), Phylloscopus Publications, Masterclass Music (MCM) and Jot=a=note. But as a distributor to the trade, Spartan Press is still of the small and friendly variety – long may it stay so. Erica Worth
‘Ragtime’ by Mark Goddard and published by Spartan, appears on page 30.
Distributed exclusively in the UK by Select Music and in North America by Naxos of America.
3o 1985-2015
ONDINE www.ondine.net
n e n ti h e L a k k u J : o t o h P m o .c Z E M O G N IG S E D
News
All the latest news from the world of the piano Obituary: Aldo Ciccolini
Jaques Samuel Pianos celebrates 80 YEARS London piano retailer Jaques Samuel Pianos (or JS Pianos, as it’s often called) celebrates its 80th birthday in 2015. It all began in 1935 when Austrian piano tuner Jaques Samuel and his wife Erna moved to the UK and set up their first ‘shop’ in the front room of a house in Notting Hill. In 1965 Samuel returned to Austria due to health reasons, and sold the shop to Edward Mandel, who was then a manager at retailer Marks & Spencer. Fast-forward to today and JS Pianos is thriving at its vibrant Edgware Road location, overseen by Managing Director Terry Lewis. JS Pianos stocks a fine range of pianos, including Grotrian and Petrof. It is Europe’s biggest seller of Kawai pianos (and the first UK showroom to stock Kawai’s Shigeru range) and is the UK’s sole supplier of Faziolis – the chosen piano for the winner of the 2014 Arthur Rubinstein Competition, Antonii Baryshevskyi, in his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall this past March. is January, to celebrate its 80th birthday, JS Pianos invited artists, makers, dealers and friends to a lavish dinner, followed by speeches from Lewis and Sue Kegerreis, daughter of Edward Mandel and a major shareholder. Pictured above are some of the dinner attendees (left to right): Konrad Blumberg (Grotrian), Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová (Petrof), Luca Fazioli (Fazioli), Paolo Fazioli (Fazioli), Terry Lewis, Takuya Sekine (Kawai), Mayumi Gilmour (Kawai UK), Neil Sale (Kawai UK), David Uzik (Petrof).
e full story of Jaques Samuel Pianos will be told in the next issue of the magazine.
HAPPY WINNERS!
Aldo Ciccolini, the Italian-born pianist who was particularly known for his performances of French repertoire, died in February at the age of 89. Ciccolini became a French citizen and taught at the Paris Conservatoire for 30 years. Born in Naples, Ciccolini began studying at the Naples Conservatory at the age of nine. He made his debut in his native city at the age of 16. In 1948, he won the Santa Cecilia prize in Rome and the Long-ibaud Competition in Paris shortly thereafter. In Paris he studied with Marguerite Long, Alfred Cortot and Yves Nat, which cemented his feelings for French music. His studies with Busoni pupil Paolo Denza also gave him a strong connection to Busoni and Liszt. It’s difficult to imagine toda y, when Erik Satie’s (or pastiches thereof) graces every other TV advertisement, but there was a time when his music was little known, and Ciccolini was one of the first to record Satie – his discs are still among the best-selling Satie recordings. He left a legacy as a teacher as well, with Jean-Yves ibaudet, Artur Pizarro and Nicholas Angelich among his pupils.
PIANO SHOWCASE Pianist readers play their hearts out is January, the pianists who took part in the first Piano Showcase presented by Pianist and Schott Music were vivdly reminded that performing in front of an audience can be a thrilling, motivating and learning experience. ose 19 Pianist readers performed on a Steinway grand in front of a friendly audience at the Schott Music Recital Hall in London. e audience was treated to Chopin and Field nocturnes, a Grieg Lyric Piece, Elton John’s Your Song, Scriabin, Bach, Brahms, Monk and more. Claire Nunns, who played Field’s Nocturne in D minor, told me afterwards, ‘Joy is what I felt getting up from the piano having played my piece well. Relentless practice meant that I knew it thoroughly, every note and nuance, but I had been worried about the nonfamiliar piano – which turned out to be very good, and the audience – which turned out to be very friendly. is was a huge step for me and I’m so glad that I took it.’ Julie Cooper, who played Chopin’s Wiosna , told us that ‘I perform regularly in amateur groups, but found performing in the Piano Showcase challenging, in that I only knew a couple of people. I was encouraged by the feedback I got, Erica included! It had the right balance and I would attend again.’ Onwards to the next one, we think.
ere were thousands of entries to Pianist’s two recent ‘Win a Piano’ competitions, and Pianist is pleased to announce the two lucky winners. Chris Stead, who works for the Big Issue in London, won the Roland HPi-50 (issue 80’s competition) and Jane Ritchie, a full-time mother and carer from Aberdeen, won the Yamaha Clavinova CLP-535 (issue 81). ‘I can happily say that this is quite simply the best competition I have ever won and the piano is truly incredible,’ says Chris Stead. ‘I am so, so grateful to Pianist magazine. My piano is amazing – I can’t stop playing it!’ Jane Ritchie, who studied the piano up to ‘A’ level a nd took it up again recently, says she was thrilled with the
Markson Pianos TAKES TWO
Clavinova because she has two boys, aged seven and nine, who are on the autistic spectrum and for whom music is becoming important and necessary in their lives. ‘We are starting to teach them,’ Ritchie explains. ‘is is going to be amazing for them. It will be one of these things that will change their lives. Music helps their concentration. I am so excited – I just can’t stop smiling!’ Pianist is delighted these pianos have gone to good homes, and thanks Roland and Yamaha for supplying them.
e new Yamaha CFX has already made its public debut, appearing at a recital at the National Gallery, an event at the Guildhall and at the Music Education Expo Gala at the Barbican Exhibition Centre. Markson is exclusive piano hire suppliers to the Royal Albert Hall, Historic Royal Palaces and many West End theatres. As Simon Markson says, ‘it’s not just concert and event hire, however, it’s also domestic use including clubs and restaurants’. Markson (showroom, above) is also the main stockists in London for Bösendorfer and offers a range of new and second-hand pianos.
Erica Worth
London-based Markson Pianos has recently added a Yamaha CFX concert grand and a Bösendorfer 280 to its 35-strong piano hire fleet, which comprises mainly Yamahas, both acoustic and digital.
To find out more about Markson Pianos, go to www.marksonpianos.com 10. Pianist 83
11• Pianist 77
Twenty-seven of Grieg’s most perfect miniatures selected and lovingly recorded by that most mercurial of pianists Stephen Hough: the famous ‘Wedding Day at Troldhaugen’, ‘March of the Trolls’, and many others rather less well known. CDA68070
Grieg: Lyric Pieces
STEPHEN HOUGH piano
Eight Sonatas, two Rondos, a Gigue and a Fantasia— the unique MarcAndré Hamelin.
A pinnacle of the repertoire and a long-held ambition: Angela Hewitt’s performance of the Liszt Sonata is a revelation.
CDA68029
CDA68067
Mozart: Piano Sonatas
Liszt: Piano Sonata & Sonnets
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN piano
ANGELA HEWITT piano
A welcome new addition to Howard Shelley’s definitive Mendelssohn piano music cycle.
Piano Concertos from Spain—one popular, one newly resurrected. Intrigued?
CDA68098
CDA67918
Albéniz & Granados: Piano Concertos
MELANI MESTRE piano BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MARTYN BRABBINS conductor
Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music – 3
HOWARD SHELLEY piano
MP3 and lossless downloads of all our recordings are
OTHER LABELS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON OUR WEBSITE
available from Gimell
www.hyperion-records.co.uk
HYPERION RECORDS LTD, PO BOX 25, LONDON SE9 1AX ·
[email protected] · TEL +44 (0)20 8318 1234 12• Pianist82
The home of great PIANO RECORDINGS
13• Pianist 77
INTERVIEW
e v e r g g r o B o c r a M © s to o h p ll A
atching up with Kirill Gerstein for a coffee in central London, I am not surprised to learn that he and his young family have settled in Berlin – these days it’s the go-to European capital for the younger generation of the clever, the creative and the musical. e Russian-born Gerstein happens to be all three. at much is clear from some of the responses to his recent CD Imaginary Pictures , which offers a rare but inspired pairing of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with Schumann’s Carnaval . ‘Mr Gerstein gets down deep,’
C
in the States, he gorged on musical treats until he felt ‘ovefed’. ‘At that point, for philosophical and practical reasons, I had to make a choice because either jazz or classical could be more than a full-time involvement, while the other would be short-changed,’ he says. ‘At 16 or 17 years old, these decisions feel radical! So I stopped the jazz, other than as a hobby. More recently, though, I’ve reconnected with it.’ A further reconnection followed his time at the Manhattan School of Music, from which he graduated before he was 20: he rediscovered his Russian roots when he went to Madrid to study with Dmitri Bashkirov. ‘I left
events arriving out of the blue. One such was his first meeting with the cellist Steven Isserlis. ‘I was walking in a German forest when I got a call on my mobile from Schloss Elmau, asking if I’d go there to play with Steven Isserlis,’ he says. ‘I was a little surprised, but of course agreed. When we met there we had dinner together, which for some reason felt a bit strange; but then we rehearsed, everything was fine and the concert went well. We started working together quite often after that. It was only two years later, when we were playing at the BBC Proms Chamber Music series at the Victoria and Albert Museum, that I heard Steven being interviewed on the radio and
the New York Timesenthused, praising his ‘technical assurance, characteristic subtlety and a gift for instilling unease’. Tall and dark, and with a self-deprecating sense of humour and a warm, wise twinkle, Gerstein evidently has a strong passion for challenging expectations – something that often seems to lead him along extraordinary musical paths. For a start, he could easily have become a jazzer instead. Born in Voronezh, he is the son of a musician mother and a mathematician father: ‘My early education was more concentrated on music than on piano-playing specifically,’ he says. ‘I had a non-virtuosic childhood: before I was ten I didn’t spend hours playing scales or Chopin études upside down. My mother was my first teacher in solfège, harmony, theory and ear training – but I didn’t have terribly good piano teachers at first, so piano playing didn’t attract me particularly and it didn’t go very well either.’ Instead, he was encouraged to play by ear: ‘My parents had quite a few jazz recordings, so I heard that sound and was encouraged to imitate it – and that’s basically how I started.’ Musical taste in the household, moreover, kept different types of music wide open for him to explore. At ten he changed piano teachers and began to gravitate more strongly towards the instrument, making up for lost time. ‘But my jazz passion continued and for a while it looked like I could do either.’ At the age of 14 Gerstein took up a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, after attending its summer programme. e effect of moving to the US, he says, was like ‘a waterfall’. In Russia he had hungered for more access to jazz; but faced with what was virtually a national art form
Russia at a very good age – still young enough to learn the new language properly, still flexible enough to adapt without much diffi culty to the West, and at the same time old enough to remember everything,’ he reflects. ‘I speak Russian now as fluently as I did when I left; it’s very much my mother tongue. And in a weird way studying with Bashkirov was like falling into the atmosphere of the good old Moscow Conservatory.’ At that time, the Reina Sofia School of Music was situated in a complex of condominiums in the Madrid suburbs. ‘One of the houses in this complex was where Bashkirov lived and he taught down in the basement,’ Gerstein recounts. ‘It was a bit like a Moscow Conservatory class of long ago: all of us students had lessons with him and unlimited lessons with his assistant; we’d be invited to tea, we’d be invited to come and listen to a recording or watch a video all together; he might say, “OK we’ll have a lesson now and then we’ll go to lunch…”. It was a very continuous contact and influence; not at all that you come for your lessons for one or two hours and that’s it. We’d practise in the garage practice rooms whether it was cold or hot until midnight – which is time for dinner in Spain anyway! en sleep, then get up at 9 or 10am and it’d all start again. at was a very Russian approach.’
he was asked how we met. It turned out that he had been expecting a completely different person named Kirill!’ Perhaps it was fate: ‘It was through Steven that I met my teacher, and also my wife [Noam Gerstein-Szold],’ declares Gerstein. e teacher in question was the great Hungarian pedagogue Ferenc Rados, whose former students included András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis and Dezsö Ránki. Gerstein’s first encounter with Rados proved a baptism of fire. Taking part in the annual open chamber music sessions at the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, of which Isserlis is artistic director, Gerstein played sonatas with a violinist after dinner in front of the entire gathering – including Rados, who was there to coach and advise. Gerstein got more than he bargained for. ‘It was like a public execution that went on for two or three hours!’ he recalls. ‘Later Rados said himself that he really went ▲ bloodthirsty.
Out of the blue
Since launching into his career in earnest, Gerstein has occasionally found life-changing
KIRILL GERSTEIN
UP CLOSE If you could play only one piece in the entire repertoire from now on, what would it be? That would be a disaster! I think I’d stop playing altogether rather than only play one piece. If you could play only one composer from now on, which would it be? If I have to choose, it would have to be Bach. One pianist, dead or alive, you’d travel long and far to hear? Busoni. One concert hall you’d love to play in? The Musikverein in Vienna. Any technical struggles? Everything is difficult! And as I’m Russian, everything is difficult!
KIRILL GERSTEIN Two thesides coinof Classical or jazz – Kirill Gerstein could have gone either way. Tchaikovsky, Bach and new music are this Russian virtuoso’s focus today, but it could all change, as Jessica Duchen finds out
What would be your advice to amateur pianists about how to improve? Study Bach. If you weren’t a pianist, what would you be? I could be a travel agent by now – but maybe I’d be a writer. One person you’d love to play for? I’ve already used my Busoni card, so this time it’s Rachmaninov. These are the two pianistic figures I adore the most. One composer you’re not quite ready to tackle? I don’t yet feel a need to play Chopin. Also Mozart’s piano concertos; I would like to dedicate time to those some day. What other kind of music do you like to listen to? Obviously jazz, but I am also very interested in some electronic loop music and some hip-hop.
INTERVIEW KIRILL GERSTEIN ON…THE REAL TCHAIKOVSKY
FIRST CONCERTO
My latest recording is the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1, but as you’ve never heard it before. The Tchaikovsky Archive at Klin, the composer’s home outside Moscow, is starting to publish a new scholarly edition of his complete works and the first volume will be the piano concertos. They had access to the most complete field of works that has been attempted for the concerto in considering what is the composer ’s preference and what was added after his death by an editor. And it has been very clearly established that the version we know is from 1894 and was never authorised by Tchaikovsky. Before that, there were two versions, the first dating from 1875. Shortly after, he heard it in road-tested performances, some pianists made suggestions and he implemented minor changes, not in the musical material, but in pianistic layout. This second version dates from 1879. From then until 1893, the 1879 version is what he conducted. The archive has now established which copy was his conducting score in 1893 – and it’s a very different text. For instance, in the posthumous edited version there is a major cut in the third movement; and those banging opening chords are not at all by Tchaikovsky! The srcinal version is more compact in layout, it is marked f not ff, and each second and third chord is arpeggiated – which makes sense. The version everyone knows was some editor ’s tampering! I was given pre-publication access to this material and with James Gaffigan conducting the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester Berlin we have made the first recording of what’s been established as Tchaikovsky’s intended text: much more lyrical and rather Schumannesque. The director of the archive, the chief editor of the series, found that Tchaikovsky used to describe this piece as ‘my lyrical concerto’ – something you wouldn’t guess half the time, the way it is so often played! This war-horse concerto emerges as both much less of a horse and much less of a war.
Actually, it couldn’t have gone worse, so afterwards it had either not to continue, or could only get better! When I’d caught my breath, after a day or two, I thought: yes it was bruising, but this man can do things and operate with concepts that I have no idea about, so perhaps I should forget my ego and ask him for more. Which I did. I think he was a bit surprised.’ Later, Gerstein adds, ‘this became a very strong relationship with mutual warmth. I’ve never seen anybody for whom music is more of an open book, somebody who makes such interesting connections between related and distantly related points and comes to such interesting and srcinal conclusions. is is someone absolutely unusual and amazing.’ Taken by surprise
A further amazing turn of events landed on Gerstein in 2010 – once again as a complete surprise. He was presented with the Gilmore Award: a prize of $300,000 given every four years by the Gilmore Foundation in the US to a pianist selected in secret by a network of advisers. e stunned Gerstein had to consider how to put the money and the associated fuss to best use. ‘I was privileged to have the chance to think and experiment around who I want to be and how I NEW! Kirill
Gerstein’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 release, based on the composer’s own conducting score, was released this February (Myrios Classics MYR016). e disc also features Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 2. You can hear the slow movement from the Tchaikovsky on this issue’s cover CD, plus more (see full track listing details on CD cover).
want to define myself,’ he says. ‘I remember having a conversation with András Schiff, who pointed out that by a certain stage you’ll have played with this conductor or in that hall, but the real question is: then what? We agreed that eventually one is seeking pleasant musical experience in the highest sense – and that can happen anywhere, not only on the stage in Vienna. For a pianist it’s the communion with the audience, the instrument and oneself that matters. You can take that anywhere, as long as there is a decent piano.’ Eventually Gerstein decided to spend his prize money on commissioning new piano works, both in the classical idiom and in jazz. First came a piece from Oliver Knussen, a composer whose perfectly wrought pieces are produced with painstaking slowness; it arrived, Gerstein says, virtually one line at a time via email and fax. e polar opposite was a commission from the jazz musician Brad Mehldau: ‘First he said, “Yes, but you’ll have to wait about a year,”’ Gerstein recalls. ‘But after three weeks he called and said, “I should be doing other things, but I’m writing your piece.’” In the end, instead of the planned ten minutes, Mehldau composed a major 25-minute work simply because, Gerstein says, he didn’t want to stop. Among those he commissioned was the great Chick Corea [ Pianist ’s cover artist, issue 81]. e Gilmore Award seems to have brought Gerstein full circle: back to his jazz roots, this time perfectly integrated. e crucial question, maybe, is how the jazz side of Gerstein’s musical self affects his classical
e score is a symbolisation of the composer’s sound-thoughts.’ Gerstein’s resistance to rigid thinking has led him to some intriguing educational activities. At his alma mater, Berklee, he is involved in a rare joint course between the conservatory and Boston University that aims to bend the boundaries between classical and non-classical music, finding new ways to open young musicians’ minds to one another’s activities and spur them to interact more. ‘I’ve become more and more interested – much because of the influence of Rados – in looking at the opposite of uniform and the opposite of systemic,’ Gerstein says. ‘I’m exploring ideas of open quest, exploration, every-day consideration – e.g., what happened yesterday and does it still stand today? – versus a system of music education that often feels flat and in some ways limited. ere are exceptions, of course. But still, people ask why everything sounds the same and why everything sounds a bit removed and impersonal. We live in an age of uniformity – from phone operating systems to the food industry – and “unevenness” is something I’m busy with in my playing and in some ways in my teaching. Perhaps it’s the difference between the massproduced and the hand-made.’ Gerstein’s unique artistry is both a craft and an inspiration. You can hear him at the Wigmore Hall this spring in a programme involving the two composers he describes as ‘the Alpha and Omega’ of the piano – respectively Bach and Liszt, including the latter’s complete Transcendental Etudes. at may be a startling endeavour, but so
side. ‘It’smenot a “direct translation”, says, ‘but it gives a wonderful feeling that he anything is possible. It is great to have the ideas, concepts and ideals that I think are present in jazz: for instance, I think most people would agree that time should feel comfortable and “groovy” in classical music’s repertoire, but very often it doesn’t. Also I think that harmonic sensibility is sharpened through jazz; and above all, the feeling that music doesn’t stop with the written note.
too is his latest the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1recording, in a new scholarly edition that reveals the famous and oft-played piece to be a very different creation indeed from what we usually hear (see ‘Kirill Gerstein On…, above’). Watching his progress will be fascinating – and one suspects the only way is up. ■
16• Pianist83
Kirill Gerstein is in recital at the Wigmore Hall on 14 May. For details, go to www.kirillgerstein.com.
137 years of internationally respected music exams
New Piano syllabus Available now 2015–2017 Our Piano syllabus offers the choice and flexibility to allow candidates to play to their strengths, enabling them to gain recognition for their own unique skills as performers. ◗ Brand new repertoire lists featuring a wide range of styles and genres, as well as
new technical work ◗ New graded repertoire books featuring all new pieces and exercises, including previously
unpublished works submitted in response to a worldwide call for repertoire ◗ New scales and arpeggios books and a new book of teaching notes ◗ High quality recordings of repertoire and exercises available on CD ◗ Flexible exam structure offering unparalleled choice ◗ Uniquely diagnostic mark scheme providing detailed musical feedback
Teacher support At the heart of our activity in music education is teacher support. We hold events all over the world and offer free teaching resources, articles, forums and more through our online learning platform. Find out more at www.trinitycollege.co.uk/support
To find out more visit
www.trinitycollege.co.uk/music
/TrinityCollegeLondon 17• Pianist 77
@TrinityC_L
play
HOW TO
Te insider’s guide to
PLAYING MUSICALLY What’s the secret of playing musically? Let a composer’s style emerge with integrity, says pianist and teacher Mark Tanner, who demonstrates with an in-depth look at two of this issue’s scores hat exactly do we mean
zero impact on how loud or soft a harpsichord note sounds. Legato phrasing,
Mark Tanner is a pianist, composer, writer, ABRSM
by ‘playing musically’ and how can we incorporate this into our study of a piece? Given all the technical conundrums we face when tackling a new piece, it is forgivable that we may initially become preoccupied with simply getting the notes under our fingers. Ultimately, though, all this note learning needs to be put to musical purpose. While we may hold different opinions over choice of speeds, dynamics and so on, honouring the stylistic hallmarks of a piece – what we might think of as a composer’s ‘signature’ features – is surely non-negotiable. After all, too much liberty-taking may cause Mozart to sound more like Beethoven, and Bach closer to Stravinsky. Style and interpretation tend to go hand in hand in books such as Howard Ferguson’s seminal treatise Style and Interpretation: An Anthology of Keyboard Music (Oxford University Press), and yet it is important to notice which word comes first here: style, not interpretation. In other words, playing musically comes down to how effectively our ideas fit within the prevailing style, emphatically not the other way around. In this article I have chosen to home in on two pieces from this issue’s Scores in depth, with some tips on marrying your own musical ideas to the stylistic features embedded into each piece.
insofar as we understand it as pianists, is not achievable on a harpsichord. Te duration of a harpsichord note is much, much shorter than a piano note. Whereas terraced dynamics are achievable on two-manual harpsichords, the more sophisticated models can vary both in tone and dynamics by plucking two strings simultaneously (sometimes pitched an octave apart) instead of the more usual one string. Harpsichords have no sustain pedal, hence the luxurious accompanimental figures typical of much 19th- and 20th-century piano writing would sound quite preposterous on it. Indeed, so much of what pianists take for granted in terms of note-by-note dynamic shading and balancing – either within chords or between melody and accompaniment – stems from our habitual use of the sustain pedal. In common with most Scarlatti sonatas, expressive markings other than ornaments are nowhere to be found in this score. No tempo indication is given either – again, this is quite usual – and even the term ‘Aria’ must surely have meant something rather different to Scarlatti when writing a harpsichord sonata as opposed to an opera.
examiner and teacher. In 2015 his performing and academic work will take him to Australia, USA, South Africa and Caribbean. This August he will teach piano, composition and improvisation at the Chetham’s Summer School and presents his own popular piano summer school at Jackdaws. A dozen of his pieces feature on current exam syllabuses, including five on the new Trinity College piano syllabus. Spartan Press has published 50 books of his compositions, arrangements and transcriptions. Find out more at www.marktanner.info
1
Your first priority must be to honour the stylistic detail intrinsic to a work; only then weigh up options for a personal interpretation.
Scarlatti Sonata L423 [p44]
2
Take account of the instruments of the day when deciding upon an overall strategy in your performance, particularly in regards to pedalling, dynamics and articulation in Baroque repertoire.
3
Notice how composers express their intentions in different ways, even within the same era. Never assume that a lack of detail in a score is a tacit instruction to do nothing expressively.
4
Try not to be distracted when the composer fills the page with subtle markings. Go through the score methodically, pencil in hand, and mark in your ‘golden’ moments for ease of navigation.
5
Experiment with radically different tempos and dynamics to gain a clearer overview. For example, recalibrate the dynamic parameters of a quiet piece to encourage a full, committed sound throughout the range. Practise quiet pieces two notches louder than marked; practise loud pieces two notches quieter.
W
5
Before discussing the decisions we face as pianists with this exquisite miniature, let’s consider briefly the instrument Scarlatti would have used 300 years ago, the harpsichord. Te overall volume level, though considerably louder than one might imagine (especially from a full-sized harpsichord, which had over five octaves), would be no match for a modern upright, let alone a grand. Te harpsichord possesses a much lighter touch and shorter key travel than the piano. It produces a more ‘brittle’, ‘edgy’ sound due to the string(s) being plucked by a quill rather than struck by a hammer. Hence a pianist’s carefully honed touch control would have had
TOP TIPS PLAYING MUSICALLY
18• Pianist 83
Here comes the crunch question: should pianists aim to emulate a harpsichord when playing this Scarlatti piece? Views vary considerably, but you might ponder on the fact that ‘authenticity’ (a decidedly slippery notion indeed) is irretrievably compromised the moment we sit down to play Scarlatti on a piano. Hence, a pianist’s performance decisions will reflect his/her individual parameters of good taste at least as much as the specific qualities inherent in either instrument. Te least effective solution to the harpsichord versus piano debate is to do nothing, i.e. to add no expressive colour for fear of offending your audience/teacher/examiner/adjudicator. Having elected to play Scarlatti on a piano, a safe middle ground may be to use modest dynamic shape, economical dabs of pedal to add a little warmth, and focus on clarity of texture aided by nimble ornaments. Regardless of where your views lie, I’d recommend listening to a few harpsichordists playing Scarlatti – preferably mix of andhow slower sonatas – ifa only to faster discover they vary their effects. My personal preferences would be Andreas Staier, Christophe Rousset and Gustav Leonhardt. Contrast these approaches with pianists Christian Zacharias and Ivo Pogorelich – you’ll quickly discover what pleases you! Here are a few things you can do to
MASTERCLASS immediately bring your performance of this sonata to life idiomatically. Notice that the piece is written in 3/8, which invites a gently ‘dancing’ rhythmic lilt. I’d think in terms of a stately one-ina-bar feel, not unlike a minuet, say, dotted-crotchet = 50. Many of the left-hand chords could conceivably work nicely arpeggiated, i.e. as ‘broken’ chords, which is just the kind of thing harpsichordists do in order to ease the music’s sense of progression. e group of three fast notes with which the sonata opens (there are in fact a dozen recurrences of these) is a familiar 18th-century written-out ornament called
DebussyDanseuses [p54]
a ‘slide’. Attack the first of these more forcibly, and quickly come off the second and third notes in a single upwards gesture so that the wrist ends up two or three inches above the F. In terms of rhythmic emphasis, think how you would say the word ‘battery’, i.e. ‘bat-ter-y’. Make the most of the ‘sighs’ in this piece, which occur at bars 2, 4, 10 and thereafter, by slightly emphasising the second quaver and joining it smoothly to the third, ensuring you lift the wrist as you strike this note to make it sound both a little quieter and shorter (like a slower version of the slide). If you are planning to use moments of pedal in your performance, don’t apply it during the execution of these lovely little details. A harpsichordist or organist might hint at a sigh by emphasising the long/short articulation and fractionally overlapping the two notes. ough he’s writing in binary form – two distinct sections, each repeating – Scarlatti devotes two-thirds of this 24-bar sonata to the second section, which perhaps tells us something about the sense of development an ideal performance should target. Work out your dynamics with care, especially at the repeats, and mark in your decisions one under the other, for example f over p. Phrase lengths are symmetrical throughout, and this is something you can pencil in straight away. Bar 16 is arguably the sonata’s emotional high point, so you may want to employ a subtle crescendo to heighten this moment before immediately beginning your dynamic descent. is will eventually take you back to the level with which you started your performance, say, mf. Feel free to add occasional ornaments in places other than those printed in this
bars 16 and 29, are marked only f. e danger here is that the player may produce too chaste or frail a tone in a valiant attempt to restrain the overall dynamic of the performance. A solution, initially at least, is to crank up your overall dynamic range by two notches; in other words, promote the softest moments to mp and the loudest to fff. Importantly, at the same time you should keep all of Debussy’s markings in proportion with each other. is will ensure your melodies always sing freely and have shape, especially if you can resist using the una corda pedal for the time being. Don’t be foxed by the plentiful staccato markings – they’re just the composer’s way of reminding us not to become unduly saggy with the tempo. It is perhaps a little odd that a composer whose music is highly dependent on pedal appears so reluctant to include pedal markings in his scores. Again, this is not actually a contradiction in terms, merely a way of conferring responsibility to the performer to keep the harmonies agreeably intact and to pedal ‘with the ears’. Keep the wrists as supple as jelly and the fingers like rods of steel throughout. ough the melodies are frequently doubled at the octave, you will still have your work cut out to create the desired contrast between these and the spinetingling pp effect at bars 4 and 11. Once you’re fully on top of the notes, an enlightening experiment to try is to double or even triple the tempo in order to hear the phrases and overall architecture of the piece more clearly. Yes, it will sound quite absurd – comical, even – and yet you’ll learn a lot from doing this. Pianists routinely practise fast pieces slowly, but rarely do we try the opposite, when in fact there are just as many compelling reasons to do so.
edition. I found myself putting them in at the high F sharp in bar 10 and the E at bar 12. Above all, never allow your trills to outstay their welcome – reduce them to mordents if need be, with perhaps a more extended trill for the cadences at bars 7 and 23. e golden rule with ornaments is that they should draw attention to the overall musical line, not to themselves.
Danseuses de Delphes is the very first of Debussy’s Préludes. It depicts three dancers immortalised in stone that were discovered in Delphi, Greece. ere is certainly a mystical quality about the piece when it is played with suitable élan. e main issues in playing this piece, aside from its daringly sedate pacing, which must never be allowed to rush away nor grind to a halt, are undoubtedly dynamics and touch control. e composer is extremely specific about dynamic shades, the quietest marking being ppp. Notice however that the loudest moments, at
Finding the right flavour
In both the Debussy and the Scarlatti, prise out the natural stylistic flavour of the music before wading in with your own ideas, for example regarding rubato and touch control. For the Scarlatti, this does not mean pecking away at the notes in an attempt to make the piano sound like a harpsichord (although you might 19• Pianist 83
MAKE MINE MUSICAL Mark Tanner’s tips on playing 3 of this issue’s Scores as musically as possible
1
Grieg Elfin Dance[Scores page 35]: This mischievous little piece abounds in boisterous energy. Avoid getting too far away from the piano keys; even the bold shifts in register are best negotiated from no more than a couple of inches above, with really relaxed wrists in both hands. You might be surprised just how much volume control you can muster by executing a ‘pinching’ action with your fingers: pp to f is perfectly manageable. Don’t be tempted to play tooquickly overall, or to accelerate through the quaver-ridden sequence starting at bar 22. Keeping the pulse from racing away is not easy, and in the closing stages the clipping of rests becomes a potential hazard.
2
Hummel Study[Scores page 38]: This 26-barstudy, though outwardly pattern-based, contains much musical interest and needs an attentive ear for balance and phrase-shaping. Don’t be drawn in by the allure of those semiquavers, but spare a thought for the amiable left-hand crotchet line. Experiment with articulation. The triple time needs gently coaxing out – resist making your performance overly declamatory or dramatic; think more in terms of revealing the music’s innate elegance, symmetry of phrases and Classical charm.
3
Cry Me A River[Scores page 42]: Playing musically in this piece involves flexibility, thoughtful attention to pedallingand, above all, a tender treatment of the melody. Don’t underestimate the left hand’s moments of interest (e.g., bars 3 and 11), and think of the ‘slightly faster’ middle-eight section as a chance to build the intensity. Bars 25-26 turn out to be an especially important area, leading nicely back to the main tune. Take care to voice the jazzier chords effectively , bars 6-8. Bars 13-18 is a good place to zone in on early in your practising.
want to listen to Glenn Gould playing Bach to assess his more daring effects). Bear in mind that rubato was just as important in Scarlatti’s day as in Chopin’s, albeit calibrated differently, and that harpsichordists naturally wish to vary the aspects over which they have control, timing being chief among these. In the Debussy, don’t become mesmerised by the composer’s profligacy with dynamic markings – he is just pointing up landmarks and priorities in the music in case you did not spot them for yourself. What Debussy and Scarlatti could only hint at, despite their different approaches to notation, is the potential for character in their respective pieces, and this is where your interpretive judgements and ability to use the modern instrument’s flexibility will win through. As pianists we are often required to play pieces widely contrasted in style, all on one instrument and on the same occasion, for we cannot realistically sit at a harpsichord to play a Bach partita, then shift to a fortepiano for some Mozart and slide over to a Steinway for a work by Prokofiev. ough your own ideas of expression are always to be welcomed, the real challenge in playing musically is to encourage each composer’s style to emerge with integrity.■ In the next issue, Mark Tanner discusses how to meet the challenge of playing pieces that have many black notes.
play
HOW TO
From your foot to your ear ARTISTIC PEDALLING
There’s a world of beauty you can convey with your right foot alone, explains teacher and performer Graham Fitch, who looks at the sustaining pedal in the rst of three articles on pedalling he casual observer of piano playing focuses their attention on the pianist’s fingers and not on the feet –
yet fancy footwork is a vital ingredient of artistic piano playing, and one that is often neglected. In this article I will explore some of the less obvious facets of the right (sustaining) pedal, aiming to help you control and enhance your sound. Te right pedal has three main functions – joining sounds the fingers alone cannot join, adding resonance and dimension to the sound, and blending multiple layers of sound together into a unified texture. Unless you are after a certain dryness of sound, or have decided to omit the pedal altogether, the right foot will almost always be in contact with the sustaining pedal. A direct line of communication from this foot to your ear is an absolute necessity as you judge the right amount of resonance needed at any given moment.
Many players treat the right pedal like a swi tch – it ’s either on or off – but in fac t how far down we put the right pedal is crucial Te subtleties of the right pedal are extremely hard to pin down. Many players treat it like a switch – it’s either on or off – but how far down we put the pedal is crucial. I like the way iconic Juilliard teacher Rosina Lhévinne described the ten levels of pedal, from full resonance to the slightest halo of sound. I can show a student what I am doing on the keyboard to produce a particular sound, but when it comes to pedalling I often find myself asking them to look not at my right foot but rather to stand up and take a peek inside the workings of the instrument and watch the dampers as I play. Instead of a cut-and-dried ‘up’ then ‘down’ in the manner of marching soldiers, the dampers often seem to flicker, barely lifting away from the strings. Te pedal is neither up nor down, my foot (controlled directly by my ear) making incredibly fine adjustments to temper the resonance. Tis sort of pedalling is impossible to write in the score, there are just too many variables. Back in the 1980s I had a few lessons with Teodore Lettvin, who wrote ‘1/10,000 of a pedal’ in my score. Playing in this spirit added a fine mist of resonance, like water droplets sprayed from an atomizer – not enough to drench the sound, but enough to moisten it so it could reflect the light. Te listener would not really detect the presence of my right foot but would certainly notice its absence. o experience the effect, play a full
Sometimes the foot hovers around that area, moving a millimetre in both directions rather than changing in a more conventional way. Imagine a texture where you want clarity and yet resonance, such as sections of Chopin’s
Fantasie-Impromptu (below, bars 5-6). Dabs of pedal of varying length and depth give us the best of both worlds – resonance and clarity at the same time.
I would not even try marking such pedalling in the score, since it will change from piano to piano. Simply have your foot on the pedal and allow it to join in whenever it wants, always listening ferociously. ‘Pedalling cannot be written down. It varies from one instrument to another, from one room, or one hall, to another,’ wrote Claude Debussy. His Arabesque No 1 (below, bars 35-38) is another piece that calls for sensitive fractional pedalling. When I play this work, my foot hardly ever goes all the way down to the bottom. ry playing the rising patterns just before the middle section using a quarter pedal, changing at the p in bar 3 to about a half pedal. Instead of lifting the pedal abruptly on the downbeat of bar 4, lift it gradually. Sound will blend into silence, which produces a lovely effect:
chord with the pedal fully down and release your hands into the air. As you lift the foot, do so extremely slowly (see right). Listen acutely to the changes in resonance as the foot gets close to the top and the dampers start to graze the strings. Tis is the place in the pedal gradual release we want to bookmark. Go where you wouldn’t normally think to dare, for the shortest of dabs, and appreciate the highlights this brings to your sound – and go regularly to that place. 20• Pianist 83
MASTERCLASS
e pedal must be held throughout the entire first bar, because the bass e long, thick bass strings have extra-lar ge dampers, whereas the short high treble strings need none. If you look inside a grand piano, you will B flat supports everything above it, still resonating at the end of the bar. e dissonant effect of the neighbouring notes in the scale melts away because see the dampers getting smaller from bass to treble. e lower the note, of the presence of the supporting bass note held in the pedal. No matter the harder it is to damp. Try another experiment: play a low bass octave how well we pedal, if we play all the elements on one tonal level this passage rather strongly with the pedal down. Release your hand and quickly change will sound a mess. Under the firmly projected legato cantabile melody line, the pedal. If you do this quickly enough, the sound will not have had the chance to damp completely and the octave will still be ringing. Try this we need two tonal levels in the LH – a firm tenuto bass note and pianissimo for the throbbing harmony. in higher octaves and you won’t be as successful at retaining any of the sound. (In my video on the Pianist website, I show you how the dampers Now let’s look at the opening of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto: react on the strings.) = 66 Moderato How long we spend at the top of the pedal before putting it down again is critical. Too fast a pedal change is usually a flaw (responsible for all sorts of unwanted muddiness) but in some circumstances it can be the pianist’s best friend. Let’s suppose we have a texture where there is a bass note that needs to be sustained, and notes above it that might clash (such as changing poco a poco cresc. harmonies). e skilful player knows how to adjust the pedal so as to retain the bass note while clarifying the texture above it. e terms used to describe this type of pedalling are somewhat confusing – some refer to this as half pedalling, others half damping, but I often feel it as a quick vibration or fluttering of the foot. e last two bars of the Menuet from Ravel’sSonatine (below) can be done either with very quick pedal changes or a controlled fluttering of the pedal. e idea is to keep the bass and clear the harmonies. Remember the sound effect shouldn’t be completely sanitised anyway, and by the time the music has reached your audience, much of what might seem offensive to the player on the stage has been filtered out by the acoustic of the hall.
rit.
rall.
Surprising as this may seem, this famous opening can absolutely be played without changing the pedal at all; that is eight full bars without so much as a flicker of the right foot! Not everyone does it this way, but it is perfectly possible and this is the tradition that was passed down to me. ■
In the next issue, Graham explores the tricky subject of how to use the pedal in Baroque and Classical era music, investigates another form of damper control that relies more on the fingers than the foot, and also looks into half, flutter and e other side of the coin is a squeamishness about using full pedals when these are called for, because players pedal with their eye and not their ear. By partial pedalling. this I mean they see something on the page that seems to preclude pedal, a scale pattern perhaps or some dissonance or other. ey either leave out the WATCH GRAHAM ONLINE pedal or change it way too often – if only they would listen carefully to the result, they would discover that a long pedal is often just what is called for. But the sound has to be layered immaculately at the keyboard for this to work. Let’s look at this brief extract from a melody line (I won’t say what piece this is for the moment). Your first assumption will be that it doesn’t really need any pedal, certainly you would not think to hold the pedal down for the whole bar:
2
1
Now look at the bar complete with its LH, and you will notice a familiar three-layered texture – melody, bass note and a filling of harmony (it’s a short extract from Grieg’s Nocturne ): 2
1
2 1
Don’t miss Graham Fitch’s video lessons, which you’ll find on the Pianist website at www.pianistmagazine.com. He demonstrates everything that he discusses on these pages – and more. His current lessons are filmed at Steinway Hall, London, on a Model D concert grand. Graham is a pianist, teacher, writer and adjudicator. He gives masterclasses and workshops internationally and writes a popular piano blog, www.practisingthepiano.com. 21• Pianist 83
play
SS T MI IE N’LA DOM E NIC ’S W K SPANS N STHSI SO PI ECE LOE NP A GE 22
TRACK 3
HOW TO
Peter Nicolai von WILM (1834-1911)
FULL SCORE ON PAGE 32
Mod er a t o
2
fingers deepintothekeys andfo llowthephras ing.Trytoadhereto thes ugges ted fingerings too,as theywillhelpyouproduceanicelegato.Noticeallthe changes in dynamics .Thes econds ection,whichs tarts atbar9,s houldberepeated. Pedaltips:Thereares omes ugges tedmarkings onthes core.Onlys tartaddingthos e s mallmoments ofpedaloncethenotes ares ecure. Rea d Mel a n i eSp a n swi c k ’sst ep -b y-st ep l ess o n o n t h i sp i ec eo n p a g e22.
10 0-104 5
3
1
3 1
13121
5
2
4
1
3
4
4
5
1
2
1 1
3
4
= 3
1
2
3
5
B EGI NNER/ I NTERMEDI ATE
To be g in with, No 1 24 from Pieces forthe Youngop81
PeterNicolaivonWilmwas borninRiga,whichwas thenpartofRus s iabutis today thecapitalofLatvia.Wilms tudiedinLeipzig,returningtoRigatos tartacareeras a teacherandcompos erthatlatertookhimtoStPeters burgandWies baden.Hewrote manypieces forpiano,includingduos andworks forfourpianis ts . Playing tips: This tender piece s hould s ound s eamles s . The LH is the calm accompaniment,andtheRHthebeauti fulmelody.Makethemelodys ing–pres s the
3
4
3
1
4
1
4
2
1
1
1 2
5
3 2
1
5
14
1 5
4
5
1
5
1
1
3
2
5
1
cresc.
1 2
3
1 2
1
1
3
2
3
1 2
1
5
4
3
4
1
1
5 3
3
2
1
4
4
2
5
3
4321
PETER NICOLAI VON WILM
1
3
4
4
9
3
1
cresc.
1 4
1 5
2
1
3
1
1 4
1
1
5 5
32• P i
32
1 2
1 4
5
1
2
1
3
1
a ni s83t
cores ILM-FI AL.ind 32d
10/03/ 201 09:21 5
To begin with, No 1 from 24 Pieces for the Young If you want to expand your tonal palette and improve your rhythm, give this tuneful miniature a try. Teacher and author Melanie Spanswick has advice on what to look out for from the start Ability rating Info Key: C major empo: Moderato Style: Romantic
Beginner 3Legato
technique 3 Balance of sound 3 Tenuto technique
German composer Peter Nicolai von Wilm’s Little Piano Pieces or 24 Pieces for the Young opus 81 was published in 1889. ‘o begin with’, which is essentially a prelude, opens the cycle of 24 pieces. It is ideal for honing your legato technique and working on the balance of sound between the hands. Calm, serene and diatonic (C major), the romantic, tuneful yet simplistic melody, combined with short phrases and a rippling bass, is a joy to play. Tose who are keen to widen their tonal palette will appreciate the opportunities this little work offers. You could infer many speeds from the Moderato tempo marking. However, a metronome marking of crotchet equals 100, or possibly 104, feels about right and will bestow a sense of direction while capturing the flowing character effectively. Fingering will be crucial, particularly for the quaver movement in the left hand (LH), so it’s a good idea to write it all in your music. My su ggested fingerings are printed in the score.
to a a iz R e ic r b a F ©
Melanie Spanswick is a classical pianist, teacher, adjudicator, author and presenter. She regularly conducts workshops and masterclasses in Germany as well as for EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association). She adjudicates for the British and International Federation of Festivals and curates the Classical Conversations
Will improve your
Series, where she interviews eminent classicalpianists on camera. These interviews are published on YouTube. Her book, So You Want To Play The Piano? has been critically acclaimed. Find out more about Melanie at www.melaniespanswick.com and www.soyouwanttoplaythepiano.com
and then F and E, on beats 3 and 4, is heavier or richer in resonance than the constant Gs, which are all played offbeat with the thumb. In this type of passagework the thumb should ideally be substantially quieter and in the background. Once the rotational movement has been mastered and the wrist feels flexible, lighten the tone to reveal even, well-balanced quavers. Te LH rhythm must be even and consistent, so accurate counting is essential. You may prefer to use a metronome, but in any case subdividing beats (such as counting every semiquaver), will significantly help you in creating a perfectly placed quaver beat. Develop the habit of counting aloud if possible – if you count out loud, accurate rhythmic placing always seems to follow!
permit the second note to sound before completely coming off the first C. Tis is ‘overlapping technique’ and it is the best way to produce endless smooth, legato lines. eam this with a wide dynamic range as well for maximum effect.
Learning Tip Make sure the balance between the hands is always weighted towards the right hand (melody).
Balance the chords judiciously at the end of the development section. (Tis piece basically has an A-B-A form, with the development starting at bar 9.) Te RH chords in bars 15 and 16 can be projected successfully if the top notes ring out above the lower ones. o do this, practise the top parts alone (that is, the A and G in bar 15, and the C and B in bar 16), only adding the lower parts once you are happy with the gradation of sound and finger strength. Te RH fourth and fifth finger in bar 16 will need a very balanced hand position. Being the end of a phrase, and containing a slur, a drop-lift motion will work well too. Apply these ideas to the LH at bars 22-23.
An interesting feature of this piece is its use of the top part of the keyboard. With the exception of the final bar, the entire piece is centred round the treble clef, so good sound projection and balance are vital. Practising separate hands from the outset will prove fruitful. Begin by working at small sections (perhaps two bars at a time), until you have assimilated the fingering and securely placed the notes.
Te melodic material in the right hand (RH) is the primary musical line. It must appear in the foreground in the overall balance of sound. Although the notes might seem easy to play, creating a warm cantabile (a singing tone) with copious tonal variation takes some effort. You’ll need to employ the appropriate wrist and arm weight. In order to clarify where the most sound is needed, decide where each climax appears within every phrase, becoming either increasingly soft or loud and grading notes accordingly.
Te LH line requires careful practice due to the constant quaver movement,
Each RH note here calls for a deep tone – this isn’t the time to be skating
Make a small tenuto on the unexpected accidentals in the brief key changes. Tere’s an example of this in bar 12 (the C and the G ), and you will benefit by creating a small tenuto on those notes (tenuto means ‘hold’) – hence, linger on the notes a bit longer. Tis will add colour and create a yearning emotion.
with its Alberti bass feel. Ensure this musical line is light yet supportive to the melody. At no point must the wrist or arm feel tired. Start by practising with a heavy, full tone, working very slowly with a rotating, free wrist motion (this is crucial!), rolling the wrist from side to side or in a circular pattern. ry to ensure the tone on the lower notes, for example, in bar 1, the E and D on beats 1 and 2,
over the top of the keys! Work at using a free arm, a rotating, flexible wrist, as well as the fingertip, to delve deep into the key bed, thus producing a constantly warmer, meaty sound. Te rotating motion can also really help with legato playing: for example, in the RH, as the first note C is played in bar 1, allow a circular motion in the wrist to help move to the second note B, and then
Once legato and balance has been mastered, and all the notes are suitably ‘joined’, introduce a smattering of sustaining (or right) pedal. You’ll probably choose to do this just at cadential points or the ends of phrases. I have marked in suggestions on to the score. Pedal will add a rich vibrancy to this compelling little miniature. ■
22• Pianist 83
ii
il
i
Peregrine’s Pianos
Quality instruments for the professional pianist. Spacious rehearsal rooms for the working musician. Sale and hire options for the musical family. www.peregrines-pianos.com
Peregrine’s Pianos, 137A Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8TU Tel: 020 7242 9865
17• Pianist 77
play
HOW TO
RAVEL
Menuet antique When the left hand converses easily with the right, it can make a piece like Ravel’s Menuet antique come alive. Concert pianist and teacher Lucy Parham shows you how to start the dialogue Ability rating Info Key: F sharp minor empo: Majestueusement Style: Neo-classical
Advanced
Will improve your 3Voicing 3
Interplay between hands range
3Dynamic
practice’, as it is sometimes called). Te reason that you want to memorise this part is because you want to concentrate on your RH. Te RH has quite a tricky passage that needs to have an energy and drive through the crescendo to the climax at bar 8. Don’t forget too, this is a minuet and therefore needs to have a gentle lilting feeling about it. Never force the sound or the tempo.
Menuet antique was written in 1895 for Ravel’s friend, the pianist Ricardo Viñes. Such was its enduring popularity that over 30 years later Ravel orchestrated it. Tis was the first piece of Ravel I ever studied and I remember how much I loved it, especially the sense of pathos and whimsy that is prevalent in the central section. Te piece has an A-B-A structure, with a lyrical central section forming a perfect contrast to the more energetic outer sections. What is needed at the start is a crisp and steely touch and then, later on, a more legato, cantabile touch in the central section. At the start of the piece, there’s the dialogue between the hands. Tis is a prominent aspect of the piece and something you need to get to grips with right from the outset. Te right hand (RH) begins with a crisp, yet not hard, opening statement. ry to feel the resolutions of the opening two chords. Ravel writes ‘Majestueusement’ (majestically) as a direction but it is important you don’t confuse this with a brittle touch. It should always be a warm forte that you lean into, yet containing a sense of energy nonetheless. Notice the reply in the left hand (LH) and the ‘très marqué’ instruction. Tis is a canon and dialogue between the two hands so you need to highlight this entry with real definition. At bar 3, you must have a subito p and also a gentler sound quality as the melody becomes imploring with an ebb and flow. Look at the small crescendos in the RH for the second and third beats
important note. Always think of a conversation between the two hands. I would suggest learning the LH from bar 5 to bar 8 so well that you can play it without looking at it (or ‘blind
Lucy Parham is joined by BBC Radio 3’s Sarah Walker on 19 April for The Fantastical World of Robert Schumann at Kings Place, part of Parham’s Word/Play Coffee Concert series. Parham performs Rêverie with Simon Russell Beale at the Stratford Festival on 25 April and Odyssey of Lovewith Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman at the Middle Temple, London, on 5 May. Her latest CD, Odyssey of Love, with Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman, was recently released on the Deux-Elles label. For other dates and details, please visit lucyparham.com
©
Learning Tip Listen to the orchestrated version of the work and do a lot of hands separately practice to all the necessary voicing.
Tere is a trick for making bar 9 more manageable to play, especially for those with smaller hands. You can try taking the sf E quaver and following D semiquaver with the RH and keeping the rest of the passage in the RH (i.e. take the two-note chord of F and A crotchets alone with the LH).
Bar 26 to 29 is the first climax of this passage. Make sure that the top accented D in the RH really resonates like a bell. In the LH (bars 26-29) you need to almost ‘throw’ the final quaver of the bar (sf) onto the next dotted minim at the beginning of the following bar, as if in one hand movement. Tis bass C dotted minim in the LH represents a pedal note and is very important as a harmonic bass. Really sink into it and be especially harmonically aware here. Te expressive RH needs to be played with real care. As in the beginning, you want to play these with melodic quality rather than hitting them in any way or forcing the tone. Build up the tone bar by bar, in order to grade this climax.
At this point the LH (and the bass line) is leading the melody. It remains in that register, so imagine the timbre of sound you need here compared with bar 12 in the RH, where Ravel asks you to use the soft pedal (‘la sourdine’) to create a much more muted sound. Really try to highlight the slur in the RH, as a small decrescendo is also marked here. When the repeat of this
Te beautiful ensuing passage (starting at bar 30) needs to be totally magical. o achieve this, use a lighter touch in the RH and keep the emotional intensity of the slurs in the LH. Tese RH semiquavers in bars 3032 also serve the purpose of keeping the lilt of the piece, rhythmically speaking. Te dance spirit and sentiment must survive at all costs.
It is really worth listening to Ravel’s own orchestration of this section. You will notice the instruments he has used to get specific colours on specific chords. Tis can be used to help you colour your own playing.
Observe the contrast between p and ff in bars 34-36. Ten drop your tone right down at the end of bar 36, in order that you can make a huge crescendo to the climax at bar 38. Tese LH octaves are quite tricky, so it is important they remain flexible and
of bar 3 and 4 and try to create a small swell here. Again, nothing abrupt! Some LH-alone practice here will stand you in very good stead.
n i te s n r A n e v S
phrase occurs at bar 18, you could try to take it down to an even lower dynamic. Use steely fingertips within a free forearm here, even though you have the soft pedal on.
not too stagnant. For good LH octave practice here, try playing the fifth fingers alone, followed by the thumb alone. Also, try to keep your wrist very supple. In the RH really grip the chords. Note the beautiful interplay between the hands in the next few bars and really orchestrate this in order that the hands are having a conversation with each other. Drive right through
When the LH enters on the second beat of bar 3 (with a G ), try to show the syncopation. Really lean into this crotchet. Te following quaver (G ) needs to be less but it is still an 24• Pianist 83
TRACK 12
ISS ’T M ’S DONPARHAM LUCY SONE LOENSTHISGPEIEC PA 4 2
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
Menuet Ravelwasa20-year-oldstudentat theParisConservatoirewhenhewrote antique – ittypifiedthe ‘highlyaudacious music’(in the admiring words of fellow Menuetantique wasfirst studentAlfredCortot)ofthis‘somewhatdistantyoungman’. performedpubliclyin1898byRicardoViñesandwasRavel’ sfirstpublishedwork. Playingandpedaltips:Inordertomakethispiececometogether,wesuggestyouread throughthescorefirst,withouttouchingthe piano,inordertowork outwherethe high/lowpointsare.Thereshouldbeadecisivenesstothe openingsection.Keepin stricttimeandtryto soundClassical.Frombar9wesee adevelopmentwithsome
Majes tueus ement
beautifulmomentsinthetreble(e.g.bar18).There ’sanalmostshriekingqualityinthe trebleatbar26.Bar48seesamore tendersection,marked‘doux’(‘soft’).Everything needstobecalmer.Eventhoughitisnotmarked,startoutsoftly( piano).Bar54onwards isevenmoretenderand‘sweet’.Enjoythebeau tifulharmoniesatbar62onwards–there aresomelovelysuspensions.Infact,therearemanygorgeous momentsthroughout. Bar77seesthereturnofthe opening.Thereisagreatdealtotakeinthroughoutthis piece–hencethelessonfromLucyParham. Rea d L u c yP a rh a m ’sst ep -b y-st ep l esso n o n t h i sp i ec eo n p a g e24.
= 76
FULL SCORE ON PAGE 56 très marqué
4
7
1.
2.
56•
56
this passage to the ‘en élargissant’ (which means broaden) section where you need to broaden and slow down as well as crescendo, in order to give a sense of finality. is heavenly central section should provide a total contrast to the preceding section. For a start we are now in F sharp major rather than F sharp minor. is in itself gives a warmer colour to the expression of the music. Ravel marks ‘doux’ (gentle) here, and you can invoke this by changing your touch to a more legato and ‘into the bed of the key’ touch. Sense the duet going on here between the upper and lower parts. I would suggest playing these parts separately and omitting any middle lines, as that is a very good way to practise this dialogue. Notice the hairpin crescendo in bar 46 and make a small swell here being careful to grade downwards into bar 47 as perfectly as possible. In bar 54 you need to try and capture a feeling of mystery as if playing from afar. e sound quality you are trying to achieve here is almost veiled. Look at the marking of ‘avec la sourdine et sans aucune accentuation’ (with the soft pedal and without any accent). e melody here needs to retain a certain flexibility but really show the downward slur from C to G . e espressivo quality comes from within this slur. Meanwhile, the LH needs to ‘grip’ the chords here at bar 54
core RAs EL-FI AL.ind 56d
P ia nis83 t
10/03/201 09:27 5
making sure all the notes are sounding within the chord. To help yourself here, stay very close to the keyboard so that the notes sound smooth and not too detached. e LH needs to be more prominent in bar 56, where the pattern reverses and the RH plays the chords. Try to get a long line (no stopping the phrase!) from bar 64 to the climax at the end of bar 66. At bar 68 you will see ‘à peine alenti’ (hardly slow down at all). is is a very specific marking from Ravel. Follow this marking and resist the temptation to slow down in any major way. At bar 70 we arrive at the beautiful moment when the two main themes are intertwined. It requires real care and balance to make sure each voice can be heard properly. Practise this section hands separately as much as you can. You could also try singing the top line when you are playing the LH alone. We are trying to achieve the effect of layering the lines here (much harder to do than it sounds!). It is one of the most exquisite moments in the work so it repays all the effort. What follows is a repeat of the opening. Make sure you really broaden the final bar and use a warm, strong forte for the two final chords. Pedal right through the two F major chords for a positive, yet elegant finish. ■
A French music reader If you enjoy playing French piano music, why not delve into some of the great books out there? Here are just some that come recommended: French Pianism: A Historical Perspective Charles Timbrell, Amadeus Press (ISBN: 978-1574670455). An encyclopaedic survey of French keyboard style, music and performers. The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier Roy Howat, Yale University Press (ISBN: 978-0300145472). Filled with wisdom, new insights and revelatory research, this is an inspiring and readable survey. Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy Paul Roberts, Amadeus Press (ISBN:978-1574670684). In addition to providing invaluable information on virtually all of Debussy’s piano music, Roberts has practical advice on interpretation, relating everything to a broader cultural context. Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel Paul Roberts, Amadeus Press (ISBN: 978-1574672022). Roberts’ latest does for Ravel what he triumphantly did for Debussy. Invaluable biographical and historical insights to directly inspire and guide performers.
PIANIST
SPECIAL ISSUE
GREAT PIANO COMPOSERS OF THE CLASSICAL ERA Brought to you by
Pianist
magazine
ON SALE 26 JUNE 2015 from beginner to 5 advanced – includes first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’, a Clementi Sonatina and how-to-play lessons
Mozart’s Rondo in A minor
2 Mark Tanner on perfecting your Classic playing and Graham Fitch on improving techniques found masterclasses from the experts
in the Beethoven Sonatas
40 Our editor’s selection of the best Classical Scores from past issues of the magazine pages of sheet music plus cover CD
Top concert pianiststalk about the joys (and challenges) of playing the great Classical repertoire John Suchet, the renowned Classic FM radio presenter and Beethoven author, talks about his passion for the composer and his piano works Discover the Classical erawith articles on Mozart the Man, Beethoven’s ‘32’, Keyboards of the Classical Period, the best recordings and sheet music, and more Walk in the footsteps of the great Classical composers by reading our feature on European cities and festivals brimming with musical history
Cover price
£5.99
Special Subscriber price:
£4.50
DON’T MISS THIS ISSUE PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY! CALL 01778 392 483 OR VISIT http://pianistm.ag/gcomposers
Pianist 83 April-May 2015
Scores
O E TERS V I US AD CL T RE X E NIS PIA
ENTER THE PIANIST COMPOSING COMPETITION
The winning arrangement will be featured inside the Pianist Scores and on the covermount CD! In Pianist No 81 we featured an article on the art of arranging, and we included an array of arrangements inside the Scores section. Now it’s time for you to get creative with your very own arrangement. Make an arrangement of a piece you love and enter it in the Pianist Composing Competition. Your arrangement can be in any style you like – from Bach to Basie to Bacharach and more – and can be based on any music from any genre. Basically, anything goes! e winner will have their composition featured inside the Scores section in a future issue of Pianist and on the covermount CD, and will be interviewed for the magazine by editor Erica Worth. Your piece will be seen by thousands of readers around the world!
Contents 28
LICHNER On the playground op 64 no 2
30
MARK GODDARD Ragtime
32
PETER NICOLAI VON WILM To begin with op 81 no 1
34
GURLITT Little pastime from op 179
35
GRIEG Elfin Dance,
Lyric Piece op 12 no 4
38
HUMMEL Study in A minor
40
DVOŘÁK Minuet op 28 no 1
42
HAMILTON ARR. WEDGWOOD
Cry Me A River THE RULES Eligibility You can reside anywhere in the world and can be any age, nationality, and of any profession. However, you cannot derive your income from composing/arranging. Style and length of arrangement Your arrangement should be based on a piece that’s already established – whether it be classical, modern, jazz, blues, rock, folk, musicals, other. It can be in any style you like. It should be written for solo piano and for any level (easy, intermediate, advanced). The length should not exceed 64 bars. You are welcome to submit a sound file with your own interpretation, to accompany the entry, if you like, but it’s not imperative. Recordings cannot be returned.
Format of arrangement You can compose in any software program you wish (Sibelius, Finale etc), but make sure to convert it into a PDF file before sending it in. Or you can compose straight on to manuscript paper (please make sure it’s legible!). How to submit your entry You can submit your entry via either of these methods:
Deadline for entries Monday 4 May 2015. Winner will be notified by Wednesday 1 July 2015. One entry per person please.
44
45 Judges The entries will be judged by a panel of experts, including Pianist Editor E rica Worth, ABRSM Syllabus Director Nigel Scaife and Ronnie Scott’s house pianist James Pearson.
As a PDF by emailto
[email protected] As a PDF in the postto the address opposite As manuscript paper by email scan and send to
[email protected] As manuscript paper by post to the address opposite
TO ENTER BY POST Send your entry to: Erica Worth, Pianist Composing Competition , Pianist , 6 Warrington Crescent, London W9 1EL. Please include full contact details. (Please mark on the entry if you do not wish to receive information by post, telephone or email from Pianist.)
Note: Please also make sure to include a brief note about yourself, and don’t forget to provide your contact details.
Any queries, please contact
[email protected] or telephone the below number +44 (0)20 7266 0760.
WWW.PIANI STMAGAZINE.C OM For a full list of Scores from past issues, go towww.pianistmagazine.com Tel: +44 (0)1778 392 483 E:
[email protected]
SCARLATTI
Sonata in D minor L423 (K32)
49
KEYBOARD CLASS Two-part writing in the right hand TCHAIKOVSKY May from The Seasons op 37a
54
DEBUSSY Danseuses de Delphes, No 1 from Préludes Book I
56
RAVEL Menuet antique
Typesetting by Spartan Press Music Publishers Ltd
Quick guide to UK/North American note value terminology semibreve /whole note minim/half note crotchet/quarter note quaver/eighth note semiquaver /16th note demisemiquaver /32nd note
Heinrich LICHNER (1829-1898)
TRACK 1
BEGINNER
On the playground, No 2 from Little Leaves, Little Flowers op 64 Playing tips: This is a lovely, sprightly little piece that requires nimble and even fingerwork. We are sure that once you have mastered it, you will enjoy playing it. No pedal needed. Take a look at the technical tips within the score.
The little-known 19th-century German composer, pianist, organist and teacher Heinrich Lichner was born in Silesia. He wrote many works for the piano, and was especially noted for his sonatinas. Like many of his Romantic contemporaries he composed many works for children that are based on childhood games and stories.
Start off by practising very slowly, hands separately.
Al le g ro
Keep the RH wrist loose for the repeated notes.This will avoid tension.
Try to keep rhythmically in time. Using a metronome might help at first.
= 126
3
1
4
2
1
Key of C major (no sharps or flats).
1 3 5
Ensure that the three notes within the LH chords sound out, and that your fingers hit the keys at the same time.The notes should be of equal weight too.
1 2 5
5 4
Again, keep the RH wrist loose here, or it will tense up over the next seven bars.
In bars 10-11, don’t miss the crescendo and descrescendo markings.
9
5
3
4
1
2 5
4
3 5
The LH above has a new style.Try to make the notes more legato, with a slight emphasis on the first beat. As with the RH, the LH should build to a crescendo to the end of bar 10, then decrescendo again. 13
4
1
3
28• Pianist 83
Lower the dynamics at the end of bar 16.This is the beginning of a new phrase. 3
2
3
1
Heinrich LICHNER (1829-1898)
TRACK 1
BEGINNER
On the playground, No 2 from Little Leaves, Little Flowers op 64 Below is an identical return of the opening.Try to make it a little different this time – try slightly different dynamics or a different (perhaps bolder) spirit. 17
This is where the piece ends (on the repeat). 21
Fine
A new section appears here at bar 25. It is a variation on the opening theme. 25
5
1
4
1
5
4
1
1 3
5
1 2
3
The words ‘D.C. al Fine’ below mean to returnto the beginning and play through to the ‘Fine’ at bar 24.
Build up a crescendo in both hands. Notice that both the hands are now playing quaver staccato notes.Try to keep 100% in time, and keep the notes even. This should sound cheeky and joyous! 29
4
1
D. C. al Fine 3
5
29• Pianist 83
1 2
1 3
1 2
MARK GODDARD
TRACK 2
BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE
Ragtime Trio 19
22
4
5 1 4
25
1
2 1
32
4
2
3 1
2
4 1
3 1
2 1
5 1
4 1
4 1
3 1
5 2
4
2 1
3 1
4 2
4 2
3 1
4
28
3 1
2 1
2
3 1
2 1
1
3 1
2
3 1
4 2
3 1
5 3
4 1
5 3
31• Pianist 83
4 2
4 1
4
4 2
3
D. S. al Fine
ISS ’T M DONELANIEK’S
M
Peter Nicolai von WILM (1834-1911)
WIC
S SPAN NE SHSISO PIEC LE NT E
TRACK 3
O
Peter Nicolai von Wilm was born in Riga, which was then part of Russia but is today the capital of Latvia. Wilm studied in Leipzig, returning to Riga to sta rt a career as a teacher and composer that later took him to St Petersburg and Wiesbaden. He wrote many pieces for piano, including duos and works for four pianists. Playing tips : This tender piece should sound seamless. The LH is the calm accompaniment, and the RH thebeautiful melody. Make the melody sing – press the
Moderato
1
5
5
3
1
2
1
1
3
5
13121
4
1
4
2
1
5
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
5
4
2
1 4
5
5
5
4
1
1
1
3
2
3 1
3
4
4
3 4
4
5
1
2
3
fingers deep into the keys and follow the phrasing. Try to adhere to the suggested fingerings too, as they will help you produce a nice legato. Notice all the changes in dynamics. The second section, which starts at bar 9, should be repeated. Pedal tips: There are some suggested markings on the score. Only start adding those small moments of pedal once the notes aresecure. Read Melanie Spanswick’s step-by-step lesson on this piece on page22.
= 100-104 3
1
2
BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE
To begin with, No 1 from 24 Pieces for the Young op 81
PAG 22
3
5
2
1
cresc.
1 2
1
1
3
1
2
3
2
3
9
1
1
2
1 3
4
3
4
1
5
3
2
3
2
4
1
4
2 3
4
1
5
4
4
5
3
1
3
1
cresc.
1 4
1 5
2
1
3
1
1 4
1
1 5
32• Pianist 83
1 2
5
1 4
5
1
2
1
3
1
Peter Nicolai von WILM (1834-1911)
TRACK 3
BEGINNER/ INTERMEDIATE
To begin with, No 1 from 24 Pieces for the Young op 81 12 2
1
1
4
1
3 1
5
2 1
1
2
5 2
5
1
1
5 5
15
3
5
4
3
4 1
1
1
2
5
1
3
1
2
1
2
3
1
1
3
5
3
1
1
1
1 3
5
3
5
dim.
1
1 1 4
5
19
3
5
2
1
3
3
4
1
1
1
3
5
1
5
1
3
2
1
1
3
1
3
3
5
4
1
5
4
1
3 3
4 2
3
3
1
3
5
1.
1 5
4
dim.
5
22
1 3
cresc.
1
2
5
4
5
2. 1
2
3
1
3
4
1
1 5 1 2 5
4
5
1 3
1 3
33• Pianist 83
5
1
3
Cornelius GURLITT (1820-1901)
TRACK 4
BEGINNER
Little pastime from Children’s Garden op 179 Cornelius Gurlitt was bornin Schleswig-Holstein on theDanish-German border,and Notice that the rests are in different placesin the RH and LH – this will take time to made his career as a composer andteacher in both countriesand in Italy as well. This get used to and we suggest practising hands separately. The little hairpin crescendo piece comes from his volume of 24 pieces,Der Kindergarten(Children’s Garden). and descrescendo markings will add colour. No pedal required. Playing tips: This piece needs to sound nice and light, with a skipping quality to it. Take a look at the technical tips within the score. Try to find a nice calm Allegretto tempo. Not too slow, not too fast.
Imagine that the RH is elegantly skipping. Keep the wrist supple and lift the hand away from the keys for the quaverrest.
Al le gr et to 5
3
Even though there are no phrase markings, think in long phrases.The first phrase goes all the way through the first four bars and tails off at the end.
= 104 4
2
5 3
13
4 2
In the key of G major (just the one F sharp).
15 3
4
5
4
2
1
There should be a down/up movement with the LH quavers. And remember to take the hand off the keyboard for the quaverrest.
5
3
4
Bring out this little bit of melody in the LH above.
2
4 2 4 1
Lift both hands here!
3
Both hands to hit the notes simultaneously.
5
3
4
5
4
23 1
Round off the phrase with a slight decrescendo. Try to join the RH chords as much as you can.The suggested fingering will help. It should sound smoother than the opening. 3 1
2 1
2 1
Within the space of one bar you have to go from soft to loud. 2 1
5
3 1
2 1
5
cresc.
3
2
Start off softly, as you need to prepare for a cresc endo.
We are now back at the opening theme. 3
Come to an end smoothly, with a slight decrescendo. 3 2 4
4
3
5
34• Pianist 83
2 4
1 3
1 2
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
TRACK 5
INTERMEDIATE
Elfin Dance, No 4 from Lyric Pieces op 12 The 66 short piano pieces comprisi ng Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces to achieve – remember, you should build the speedup gradually over time. You will are spread out in ten volumes, with thelast one appearing in 1901. The Elfin Dance need agile RH fingers. And tryto voice the chords. The music should just die away in (Alfedans in Norwegian) is in the first volume, which was published in 1867. the end (don’t slow down though). Playing tips: As suggested by thetitle, this piece should sound light and mischievous. Pedal tips: Very little pedal is needed, asall the staccato andlightness must be heard. It’s marked ‘molto allegro’but it must never sound hurried.Find a speed that you want Just some pedal here and there where more legato is needed (e.g. bar 29).
Molto allegro e s empre staccato 5 2
5 2 1
3
2
1 1
1 3
6
2 1
1
3 1
5 2
2
1
1
1 3
2
1
11
1
2 4
5 2 1
3
2 1
1
1
2 4
16
1
3 1 1
2
5
2
2
1 5
4
35• Pianist 83
4
3
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
TRACK 5
INTERMEDIATE
Elfin Dance, No 4 from Lyric Pieces op 12 21
1
1
5
cresc. 2
3
4
5
2
1 5
4
26
1 2
31
3
1 2
5
2
4
1
3
1 4
4
1 5
5 2
2 5
2
1
5 2 1
3
1
1
1 3
36
2 1
1
3 1 1
2
1
5
2
2 4
41 1
5
1 5
4
2
3
5
2 4 36• Pianist 83
4
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
TRACK 6
INTERMEDIATE
Study in A minor from Pianoforte Method S157 In an interview inPianist No 48, pianist Howard Shelley observed that the pianist and progressions. Try to imagine that your fingertips aremade of steel, butno harsh sounds composer Johann Nepomak Hummel was ‘ahead of his time withhis lyrical writing and please! Practise very slowly, and keep in strict time – and build up the speed gradually. dramatic writing’. Even in something as potentially pedestrian as this etude, from aIt’s a great warm-up exercise. You will need a detached and even qualityto the notes. See three-volume piano tutorial published in 1838, those qualities shi ne through. the dynamics at bar 6 p() and also at bar 11. In fact, from bar 11 you should build upa Playing tips: This short work might be an etude, but it can sound so much more than nice crescendo through to bar 22. The ending tailsoff softly. Only slow down a fraction that. There’s a grand Bach-like quality to it, what with the wonderful harmonic in the last bar. No pedal needed.
Al le g ro 1
= 104 2
3
5245
5124
1
5
3
2
4
2
3
5
6 1
1
1
5
1 421
2
4
5
2
3
5
2
2
5 1
4
1
1
4
5
4
5
4
5 3 1
1
cresc.
1
4
5
5
3
4
9
5
1
1
2
2
1
2
5 1
5
5
3
5
4
2
1
4
38• Pianist 83
3
2
5
1
2
4
4
4
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
TRACK 7
Minuet op 28 no 1 4 2
13
16
1.
17
5 3
4 2
5 3
2.
4 1
3 1
3
20
23
41• Pianist 83
INTERMEDIATE
TRACK 8
HAMILTON arr. WEDGWOOD
INTERMEDIATE
Cry Me A River Though it is a languid song – especially as ung s by Julie London –Cry Me A Riverwas written in a hurry. Songwriter Arthur Hamilton was asked for three ‘blues songs’ for a radio series and later a film;Cry Me A Riverwas the only one of the three that wasn’t used. Hamilton, though, knew it was a winner, as the article on page 80 explains. Playing tips: We think this is a great arrangement of this class ic song, and it’s perfect for the intermediate player. The hands fit very well over the notes, and becaus e of the
Slowly, with a relaxed feeling
ample pedalling, we have offered very littlefingering. You can basically move thehands without worrying about keeping the fingering legato. Pedal tips: As you will notice, there aremainly two pedal changes per bar– sometimes one bar can have justone pedal and sometimes you need to change four timeswhen the harmonies change a lot (e.g. bar 6). Read Inge Kjemtrup’s article on ‘Cry Me A River’ on page 80.
= 76
p o c or i t .
at e mp o
1 2
5
4 3 1
9
sim.
13
42• Pianist 83
.d ver see tn R s e th g m eg iR l anr .A ar tLd ihs ci .T us SA M r U ,g eb ni aF hs f i o n blu o P ssi ec i ra rm e nyG ypb o d e rm a cu H do nda rp cn e.R I A o D C 5 l& 8 W ppe no ah d n C o L d)e ,d tL w nee iac r( re 3 m 915 A thr © o d N o l o e w p dge hap W /C re m Pa rn yb a de W A gn S a ,U rr ngi A h n. isl o lti ub P m a ec H ru ar G trh ny yA o b m r ics aH u d M na nad cIn sd o r C o & W re. elp iv pa R h A C e 1 M 01 ry 2 C ©
HAMILTON arr. WEDGWOOD Cry Me A River
TRACK 8
INTERMEDIATE
slightly faster
17
1
2
sim.
21
Tempo I
4 2 1
25 4
29
33
1.
2.
poco rit. 4
43• Pianist 83
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
TRACK 9
INTERMEDIATE
Sonata in D minor L423 (K32) The Naples-born composer and keyboard player Domenico Scarlatti is best known for That’s absolutely in keepingwith music of Scarlatti’s period. On the repeat (bars9-24), his 555 (at least) keyboard sonatas, most of which were not published in his lifeti me. she plays quieter too. This makes it even more moving. The piece is marked ‘Aria ’, so Playing tips: This is a very moving piece. We think it’s a real find! Itis extremely slow, remember to make it ‘sing’. but one always has to feel the pulse. You will notice when listening to th e CD that our Pedal tips: The pedal markings in this score are there just for help when you need pianist Chenyin Li adds ext ra ornaments. She also chooses to roll some of the LH chords. legato. Try not to over-pedal.
Ar ia
3232
5 1
2
1
2
1 2 3
1 2 5
1
2
1
2
1
3
1 2 4 5
3
5
32
7
1
3
1
4
2
1 2 3
ped. sim.
1
4
1
4
14 2
3 5
19
1 2
1
1
1
3
1 2
1
4
2
3232 1 2
1 1 3 5
1 3 5
44• Pianist 83
2
1 2 4
1
2 2
5
1
3
1
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN
AZE R TY
BEGINNERS zerty XXXX (XXXXX)
KEYBOARD CLASS
LESSON 11: RIGHT HAND TWO-PART WRITING
On these four pages,Pianist covers the most basic stages of learning the piano through a series of Keyboard Class lessons devised by Hans-Günter Heumann. Lesson No 11 takes a close look at two-part writing in the right hand (RH). You will find a lot of this in piano music – all the way through from Baroque to present day. On pages 47 and 48 there are two short pieces for you to try your hand at, in order to improve this skill.
Playing tips • In some pieces, the RH plays two parts, in different rhythms, at the same time. Both parts are written on the same stave. The melody (i.e., the upper part) has stems going upwards ( ) and the counter melody (i.e., the lower part) has stems going downwards ( ). • In the piece below,Come together, the RH first presents the melody alone (Part 1), playedforte ( f ). The accompaniment then follows in the LH, playedmezzoforte ( mf )(Part 2). • The LH and RH then coincide (Part 3), each playing at the same dynamic as before.This means that the melody stands out in relation to the accompaniment.
• In Part 5, the melody is added in the RH, with the stems going upwards. So now we have both the melody and an accompaniment in the RH and an additional accompaniment in the LH. Pay particular attention to the different dynamic levels of the three parts. It is not easy to make this differentiation and requires practice. It is also important to play the RH melody legato, in contrast to the lower part, which is detached. • Part 6 is like Part 5, but here the two parts are played alternately without any gaps. • Using the approach outlined above, and working slowly and carefully through the short piece below, you will progress steadily.
• In Part 4 the preparation for the two-part playing in the RH begins by introducing the lower RH part over the bass. As mentioned before, the lower part can be identified by the downward direction of the stems.
Come together
Come together continues overleaf...
45• Pianist 83
PLAGE
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN
Come togethercontinues
KEYBOARD CLASS
AZE R TY XXXX (XXXXX)
PLAGE
zerty
A
du faux texte Bella terra et mari civilia externaquetoto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, victorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibus tuto ignosci potuit, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia vium ci Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiter quingenta. Ex quib us deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua stipendisemeritis millia aliquanto plura quam trecenta, etiis omnibus agros adsignaviaut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia ex ternaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, ivctorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibus tuto ignosci potu it, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia civium Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiter quingenta. Ex quibus deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua stipendis emeritis millia aliqua nto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros adsignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si qu ae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia externaque tot.
Adagio =
slowly, unhurried
An
Adagio is a piece of music with a slow tempo.
46• Pianist 83
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN
Humming Song
KEYBOARD CLASS
AZE R TY XXXX (XXXXX)
No 3 from Album for the Young op 68 by Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
zerty
47• Pianist 83
PLAGE
HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN
The Little Pianist PLAGE
Op 823 no 43 by Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
KEYBOARD CLASS
AZE R TY XXXX (XXXXX)
zerty
A
du faux texte Bella terra et mari civilia externaquetoto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, victorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibus tuto ignosci potuit, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia vium ci Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiter quingenta. Ex quib us deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua stipendisemeritis millia aliquanto plura quam trecenta, etiis omnibus agros adsignaviaut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia ex ternaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, ivctorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibus tuto ignosci potu it, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia civium Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiter quingenta. Ex quibus deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua stipendis emeritis millia aliqua nto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros adsignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si qu ae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia externaque tot.
Hans-Günter Heumann continues his beginner series in the n ext issue. To find out more about Heumann, go to www.schott-music.com
48• Pianist 83
WATCH CH ENYIN LI P LAY THIS PIECE AT WWW.PIAN ISTMAGAZ INE. COM
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKO VSKY (18 40-1893)
TRACK 10
INTERMEDIATE
May from The Seasons op 37a 14 4
5
1 4
3
1
1 4
2 4
5
4
2
2
3
2
1
4
5
2
3
Al le g ro gi oc os o
18 3
2
1
5 2
2
3
1
2
5
4
1
2 5 5 2 1
4
21
5 2
4
5 3
2
4 2 3
3
1
2
4
3
1
2
5
25
2
1
5
5
5 - 4
5
5 2
3
3
2
28
2
4
5
5 - 4
3 2
4
5
1
2
50• Pianist 83
5
5
5
2
5
3
1
WATCH CH ENYIN LI PL AY THIS PIECE AT WWW.PIA NISTM AGAZINE. COM
Pyotr Ily ich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
TRACK 10
INTERMEDIATE
May from The Seasons op 37a 31
3 2
4
4
5
3
2
2
35
5
3
4
3
5
2
3
1
2
5
4 - 2
4
2 5
39
5
3
2
3
5
3
1
1
2
1
4 2 1 5
4 5 2 1
5
4 2
2
2
4
1
2
4
2
2
2
42
po c o r i tard. 5
4
5
4 2
4
1
po c o meno m os so 3
3 1
cresc.
2
46
3 2 1
4
3
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
5
2
5 4
3
2
dim.
51• Pianist 83
3
4 2
1
WATCH CH ENYIN LI P LAY THIS PIECE AT WWW.PIAN ISTMAGAZ INE. COM
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKO VSKY (18 40-1893)
TRACK 10
INTERMEDIATE
May from The Seasons op 37a 5 4
50
2
2
1
4 2
1
2
4
Tempo I
54
5
3
2
58
4
5
4 2
5 2
4
3
1
3
L.H.
1
5 3
62
5
4
4
5
4
3
4
3
2
3
3
1
2
2 4
5
R.H.
4
4
1
dim.
ritard.
65
4
3
3
4
2
3
1234
4
52• Pianist 83
2
2
2
1
3
WATCH CH ENYIN LI PL AY THIS PIECE AT WWW.PIA NISTM AGAZINE. COM
Pyotr Ily ich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
TRACK 10
INTERMEDIATE
May from The Seasons op 37a 68
An da nt in o 4
4
2 4
3 5
1 3
2 4
1 5
3
5 1
1 2
1 3
2 4
1 4
2
4 1
5 2
4
5 3
5 2
1
2
2 2 5
1 4
5
1 4
poco rit. 5
72
4
4
3
4
2
4
5 2
3
poco cresc.
2 4
5 5
4
3
1 3
2 4
2 4
1 3
1 5
2
3
76
2
2
4
1
4
3
1
2 5
2
1
2
3
2 5 4
80 4
5
1
3
1-2
3
espress.
1
1
2
4
4
5
84 3
2
3 21
1
2 4
3
5 2
23 4
4
2
5
1
4 5
53• Pianist 83
1 4
2
3
2
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
TRACK 11
INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED
Danseuses de Delphes, No 1 from Préludes Book I
‘Danseuses de Delphes’ (Dancing women of Delphi), which opens Debussy’s first an atmosphere. Voice the chords, always aiming to bring out the top line, and then volume of préludes, is said to have beeninspired by a bas-relief scupture in the Louvre make them ‘float’. With such a slow piece, it is importantto always try to feel the pulse of three Delphic dancers. Decide for yourself if this image is helpful and remember thatand not adhere to too much rubato. Debussy always had the title printed at the end of the score rather tha n at the top! Pedal tips: Debussy didn’t like to write pedalling into hisscores, so we haven’t added Playing tips: If you love Debussy, you will love playing thisece. pi It’s all about creating any. You will definitely need ampl e pedal here though to give it tha t dreamy, lush feeling.
Lent et grave
= 44
doux et soutenu
4 2
5
4
5
4 2
3
2 1
4
4 3
5
7 1
doux mais en dehors 5
4
5 4
10
54• Pianist 83
4
TRACK 12
ISSS ’T M M’ RHA DON Y PA LUC E PIEC S I TH ON PAGE
L ES
SON
Maurice RAVEL (1 875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
24
Ravel was a 20-year-old student at the Paris Conservatoire when he wrote Menuet beautiful moments in the treble (e.g. bar 18). There’s an almost shrieking qualityin the antique – it typified the ‘highly audacious music’ (in the admiring words of fellow treble at bar 26. Bar 48 sees a more tender section, marked ‘doux’ (‘soft’). Everything student Alfred Cortot) of this ‘somewhat distantyoung man’.Menuet antique was first needs to be calmer. Even though it is not marked, start out softly piano). ( Bar 54 onwards performed publicly in 1898 by Ricardo Viñes and was Ravel’s first published work. is even more tender and ‘sweet’. Enjoy the beautifulrmonies ha at bar 62 onwards – the re Playing and pedal tips: In order to make thispiece come together, we suggest you read are some lovely suspensions. In fact, there are many gorgeous moments throughout. through the score first, without touching the piano, in order to work out where theBar 77 sees the return of the opening. There is a great deal to take in throughout this high/low points are. There should be a decisiveness to the opening section. Keep in piece – hence the lesson from Lucy Parham. strict time and try to sound Classical. From bar 9 we see a development with some Read Lucy Parham’s step-by-step lesson onthis piece on page 24.
Majestueusement
= 76
très marqué
4
7
1.
2.
56• Pianist 83
TRACK 12
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
9
très décidé
12
avec la sourdine
16
avec la sourdine
19
57• Pianist 83
TRACK 12
Maurice RA VEL (1 875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
L.H.
22
25
28
31
58• Pianist 83
R.H.
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
TRACK 12
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
34
37
cresc.
très marqué
40
en élargissant 42
59• Pianist 83
Maurice RA VEL (1 875-1937)
TRACK 12
ADVANCED
Menuet antique doux
= 80
45
49
1.
2.
53
avec la sourdine et sans aucune accentuation
56
60• Pianist 83
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
TRACK 12
Menuet Antique doux (sans sourdine)
60
R.H.
64
à peine alenti 67
doux.
marqué
71
61• Pianist 83
ADVANCED
TRACK 12
Maurice RA VEL (1 875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique en ralentissant
-
-
-
75
très marqué
79
82
84
très décidé
62• Pianist 83
TRACK 12
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
87
avec la sourdine
90
94
avec la sourdine
97
63• Pianist 83
TRACK 12
Maurice RA VEL (1 875-1937) Menuet antique R.H. L.H.
100
103
106
109
64• Pianist 83
ADVANCED
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
TRACK 12
ADVANCED
Menuet antique
112
114
cresc.
très marqué
117
en élargissant -
120
65• Pianist 83
-
-
-
Teaching and Learning with Bärenreiter Piano Urtext Editions BACH BA 10848 Goldberg Variations,
with fingering BA 5191 Well-Tempered Clavier I BA 5192 Well-Tempered Clavier II
MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY BA 9069 S ongs without Words
MOZART BEETHOVEN BA 10851 Grande Sonate pathétique BA 10852 Appassionata Sonata
BA 9630 Piano Pieces op. 118 BA 9607 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel op. 24
DEBUSSY BA 8767 Children's Corner BA 8769 Suite bergamasque
Pictures at an Exhibition
SCHUBERT BA 9647 Moments Musicaux D 780 BA 9648 Impromptus D 899, D 935
SKRJABIN Complete Piano Sonatas BA 9616 – Sonatas I BA 9617 – Sonatas II
LISZT BA 9650 Sonata in B minor
Bärenreiter Urtext
MUSSORGSKY BA 9621
BRAHMS
You can download Mozart’s music. You can’t download his genius!
BA 4861 Piano Sonatas I BA 4862 Piano Sonatas II
Your next performance is worth it.
editions tex t piano For more Ur r Piano Music ask for ou /2015 and visit 2014 catalogue r.com w w w.ba
erenrei
te
Burnt Mill, Elizabeth Way, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2HX, UK ·
[email protected] · Phone (01279) 828930 · Fax (01279) 828931
Exploring Jazz Pianoby Tim Richards The only jazz piano method you’ll need!
•
A comprehensive and welcoming introduction to jazz piano in 2 volumes
•
Containing all styles from the 1940s to the present day and featuring well-known standards throughout
•
Assignments and improvisation tips will guide you towards becoming a procient jazz pianist
•
The included CDs features both demonstration and play-along tracks
17• Pianist 77
Available from all good music shops or online from www.schott-music.co.uk
SUMMER COURSES & WORKSHOPS 2015
SUMMER COURSES & WORKSHOPS 2015 From week-long piano workshops to one-day tasters, from courses just round the corner to courses up in the high mountains of Colorado or France, a world of possibilities is open to you this year UK
teacher-training programme leading to qualified Suzuki teacher status.
Artpeggios Summer Holiday Camps July & August Location:London Tel:020 7244 4570 www.artpeggios.com A fun and productive way for children to spend their holidays with programmes focused on band and ensemble playing. Activities: music (piano, drums, guitar, DJing, cello, singing, saxophone), drawing, drama. Learn how to play, interact with fellow musicians and make new friends. Half-day (3 hours) sessions.
Chetham’s International Festival and Summer School for Pianists 14-20 & 20-26 August Location:Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester Tel:01625 266899 www.pianosummerschool.com Courses for professionals, adult amateurs and young players of all abilities. Murray McLachlan, artistic director. Faculty includes Philip Fowke, Peter Donohoe, Paul BaduraSkoda, Leslie Howard, Nikki Iles, Mark Tanner and Niel Immelman.
Benslow Music Trust Various dates throughout 2015 Location:Hitchin, Herts Tel:01462 459446 www.benslowmusic.org Residential and short courses throughout the year for all levels. Piano courses include Intermediate Piano (2-22 April), e Art of Chopin (18-20 May), Advanced Piano (17-19 June), International Piano Summer School (27-31 July), e Romantic Keyboard (7-9 Sep), Ragtime Piano (13-15 Nov).
City Lit Various dates throughout 2015 Location:London Tel:020 7492 2630 www.citylit.ac.uk Ongoing courses for all grades, ages and abilities such as Jazz, Keyboard Harmony, Latin, Popular. Summer, weekends, weekdays and weeknights.
Students at Piano Week in Bangor, Wales
Cambridge Suzuki Young Musicians, Summer School
Encore Music Projects Second the courses this year: Berlioz - Life International Summer School and Music of an Underrated Genius 20 July-1 August (April); Film Music – An Unusual Location:Somerset Angle of Creativity (November). Tel:07886 355952 www.encoremusic.com Higham Hall College Piano Workshop Weekends Courses for students, children and young adults in the beautiful historic March to September CSSM at Sherborne Summer setting of Wells Cathedral School. Location:Lake District, Cumbria School of Music One-to-one lessons, masterclasses Tel:01768 776276 25 July-1 August and opportunities to perform. Piano www.highamhall.com Location:Sherborne, Dorset accompaniment classes are offered Various courses on an array of Tel:01286 673401 as well. Piano tutors include Olena subjects. ose with a musical www.cssm.org.uk Shvetsova, Vadim Gladkov and theme include Alexander Technique Ages 18 and over. For both Barbara Murray. Accommodation (March), Piano Workshop (March), professionals and amateurs wishing and food provided. Romantic Music and Literature to improve their playing in a (March), e Miracle of the Mozart Fantasia Music School supportive environment. Includes Piano Concerto (April), e Great Summer Courses for Young courses such as Masterclass for American Song Book (June) and Musicians more. Course fee includes meals and Accompanists (and Accompanists’ Repertoire), Alexander Technique Middle to end of August accommodation. and Play More Notes! Location:Chichester Hindhead Music Centre Tel:01243 586 068 Dartington International July & August www.fantasiamusicschool.co.uk Summer School For all levels – beginners to Grade 8 Location:Hindhead, Surrey 1-29 August – and for ages 6-18. Four one-week Tel:01428 604941 Location:Dartington, Devon courses for all instrumentalists, www.hindheadmusiccentre.co.uk
27-31 July Cambridge Location:
Tel: 01803 847080 www.dartington.org/summer-school
focusing on ensemble playing.
Tel:01223 264408
e well-established Dartington Summer School offers one month of courses for all types of musicians and genres. is year sees masterclasses from Joanna MacGregor and Steven Osborne, a talk by Alfred Brendel, and lots more. Read the feature on page 68.
Farncombe Estate Weekend Courses & Events roughout the year Location:Cotswolds Tel:0333 4568580 www.farncombecourses.co.uk Various courses on music and music appreciation. To highlight two of
Cadenza International Summer Music School 12-19 July Location:Purcell School, London Tel:0121 446 4836 www.cadenzasummerschool.org.uk For professionals, students (from age 11) and amateurs. Solo and chamber. Faculty includes Pascal Nemirovski, Fali Pavri, Julian Jacobson and John waites.
www.suzukipianocambridge.org.uk Introductory workshop on the Piano Suzuki Approach for piano teachers and students. is short course is led by Stephen Power, European Suzuki Association teacher-trainer, and can also act as the start of a longer-term
67• Pianist 83
Piano courses, especially adult amateurs, throughout thefor year, set in a Victorian country house with six acres of private gardens surrounded by hundreds of acres of National Trust land. Summer piano course Grade 7 plus (28 July-1 August) with workshops, masterclasses and more. Piano faculty: James Lisney and ▲ Simon Nicholls.
SUMMER COURSES
& WORKSHOPS 2015
Holiday Music at the Menuhin School 30 March-2 April; 27-30 August Location:Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey Tel:020 8947 5538 www.holidaymusiccourses.com All ages from 15 to 90. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary year, the Holiday Music at the Menuhin School offers residential courses for pianists (solo and ensemble) and other musicians, making music in any combination. Workshops in ensemble playing, creativity, improvisation, Alexander Technique
and jazz. Piano tutors: Muriel Levin, Danielle Salamon, Robyn Koh. Meals, accommodation, tuition and use of swimming pool included. Early booking reduction. International Musicians Seminar (IMS) Prussia Cove 30 March-20 April Location:Cornwall Tel:020 7921 0064 www.i-m-s.org.uk Chamber music classes and workshops for advanced pianists, ages 16-30. Faculty includes omas Adès, Ferenc Rados and Rita Wagner.
Jackdaws Music Education Trust Various dates throughout 2015 Location:Somerset Tel:01373 812383 www.jackdaws.org.uk All types of courses to cater to all levels and tastes. Courses include Women Composers, e Complete Pianist, e Pianist Within. Tutors include Elena Riu, Julian Jacobson, Mark Tanner, Philip Fowke, Graham Fitch and Margaret Fingerhut. Kenneth van Barthold Edinburgh Piano Workshop
10-30 August Location:Edinburgh Tel:01747 838318 www.kennethvanbarthold.com Workshop designed for advanced players and aspiring professionals. Masterclasses, lessons and performance opportunities. Two tutors for 12 pupils. Faculty: Kenneth van Barthold and Nicholas Pope.
A bucolic view at the Dartington Summer School in Devon
Dartington The famed summer school offers 24/7 musical inspiration for all kinds of players and listeners If you’ve ever felt that you would love to be fully immersed in music and nothing but for a week, why not head for the Dartington International Summer School in Devon this August? No matter if you’re an adult amateur or a young professional, a pianist or a fan of contemporary music, you’ll find something in the month-long summer course, which is divided into four week-long sessions, each with its own focus. While this may sound an overwhelming number of choices, it is in fact easy to get stuck in, especially as a recent re-design of the website has made it easier to plan your time at Dartington. Pianists often head straight for Week 3 with its piano strand featuring three lectures by Alfred Brendel, and masterclasses from the likes of Steven Osborne, Florian Mitrea and Dartington Summer School’s new Artistic Director, Joanna MacGregor, who presents a Mozart Piano Concerto class. You can take a daily piano workshop, of course, as well as sing in the post-breakfast ‘Big Choir’ and watch young singers and conductors at work. But you can also choose Week 1, with its early music focus; Week 2, with its opera emphasis, or the free-for-all that is Week 4 ‘a celebration of creativity in all its forms’. e School’s activities all take place in the lovely setting of Dartington
Lake District Summer Music International Summer Academy 3-14 August Location:Cumbria Tel:01539 742620 www.ldsm.org.uk Conservatoire students and young professionals (not for amateurs). Residential. Coaching with international artists and tutors. Piano faculty: Rena Kellaway, Emiko Tadenuma, Andrew Brownell. MusicFest Aberystwyth International Festival and Summer School 25 July-1 August Location:Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, West Wales Tel:01970 623232 www.abermusicfest.org Chamber music course for Grade 8 and above, age 13 and older. Bursaries available. Masterclasses, coaching by the artists in residence and concerts by tutors. Tom Poster, John Flinders, Guy Johnston and Simon Lane are among the pianists performing. Music Makers Various dates, July and August Locations:Fordingbridge,
Hall. variety of accommodation camping for the hardy types)Acan be booked, and bursaries(including are available as well. As Joanna MacGregor says of the place, ‘Dartington is a place of extraordinary beauty and creativity, and its ancient buildings and dreamlike gardens resonate and shimmer with generations of musicians and composers, artists and dancers, poets and writers.’
Salisbury and Wimbledon Tel:01425 654819 www.musicmakers.co.uk Five-day courses for ages 5-18; residential option for senior (ages 8-18) course.
For full details and to apply, go to www.dartington.org/summer-school and see listing with further information on page 67.
Nelly Ben-Or Piano Courses 21-26 July Location:London
68• Pianist83
Tel:01923 822268
www.pianocourseswithalexander technique.com Individual sessions at the piano and daily sessions in Alexander Technique. New ways of learning to memorise and develop physical freedom at the piano. Grade 8 plus, all ages. For performers, students and teachers. Teacher: Nelly Ben-Or. Oxenfoord International Summer School 25 July-2 August Location:Outskirts of Edinburgh Tel:07720 773910
www.oxenfoordinternational.co.uk If you want to master the art of accompanying, this is the course for you! Malcolm Martineau heads the team of tutors for the piano accompaniment classes. A rare opportunity for singers and accompanists to learn together at this all-Steinway summer school. Open to amateurs as well as professionals and students. Accommodation provided. Oxford Philomusica International Piano Festival and Summer Academy 2015 26 July-2 August Location:Oxford Tel:01865 987 222 www.oxfordphil.com Faculty includes Alfred Brendel, Barry Douglas, Byron Janis, Yocheved Kaplinsky, Leon McCawley. Grade 8 plus. Public masterclasses, concerts, lectures and pedagogy classes. Concerts by professional pianists also held during the Piano Festival. Penelope Roskell’s Advanced London Piano Courses 25-27 April; 10-12 October Location:London Tel:020 8802 6258 www.peneloperoskell.co.uk ree-day intensive courses that include technique, repertoire and yoga. Nine students maximum per course. Ideal for preparation for performances and exams. All courses by Penelope Roskell, international pianist and Professor of Piano, Trinity College of Music. e courses are open to all advanced pianists (amateur, student or
professional). Piano Duet Courses 27-29 March (Sedbergh); 10-12 July (Wells); 2-5 Nov (Benslow) Tel:01223 240418 www.piano-duet.co.uk Short courses, weekend and oneday courses; include repertoire performance, discussion, individual
SUMMER COURSES & WORKSHOPS 2015
SUMMER SCHOOL FOR PIANISTS
Carlo Grante teaching at Chetham’s Summer School
tuition, tutor recitals/concerts. Grade 5 plus and age 18 plus. Tutors are piano duettists Anne Applin and Geoffrey Pratley. Individuals willing to pair up at the time of the course are welcome. Piano Week 31 July-5 August Bangor University, north Wales Tel:07775 207066 www.pianoweek.com Recitals, masterclasses, talks and discussions by acclaimed pianists and tutors. All levels, beginner to advanced. One-to-one lessons and performance opportunities. Faculty: Samantha Ward, Vesselina Tchakarova, Maciej Raginia, Niel du Preez, Sachika Taniyama, Alexander Karpeyev, Warren Mailley-Smith and Yuki Negishi.
) st is n ia P r o f l o o h c S r e m m u S , 0 7 e g a (p r e
lk c i M e i n a h p e t S © ;) n o t g n ti r a D ( t n u o M e t a K ©
Ulverston International Music Festival Year round 2015 Location:Lake District Tel:07840 293448 www.ulverstonmusicfestival.co.uk Recital day with Anthony Hewitt (6 June), Piano and Strings Masterclass with the Primrose Piano Quartet (19, 20 Sep), Piano Masterclass with Martin Roscoe and Anthony Hewitt (21 Nov, 22 Nov). (See Festival listings for the June festival.)
XIX International Summer Music Course 14-26 July Location:Carmarthenshire, Wales Tel:01454 419504 www.lmfl.org.uk Intensive course for young musicians preparing for exams, auditions and competitions with some of the Sherborne Summer School of world’s leading tutors. Music 2-9 August; 9-16 August CANADA Location:Sherborne, Dorset Tel:01342 893963 www.sherbornemusicsummerschool. Calgary Piano Camp co.uk Location:Calgary, Alberta Age 18 plus; students and good Tel:+1 (403) 271-0418 amateurs. Two courses – piano www.calgaryartssummer.com and piano accompaniment. Solo Ages 10 to adult. Explore the and duets covered. Jazz course also many facets of piano playing in a available. Faculty: Andrew Ball for supportive, fun atmosphere that piano, and Nigel Hitchson for piano promotes a positive attitude towards accompaniment. Plus course on practising and performing. Students score learning/musicianship skills. are coached in prepared solo repertoire and new ensemble pieces. Summer School for Pianists Students attend classes in musical 16-22 August style, interpretation, memorisation, technique and performance anxiety. Location:University of Wolverhampton Tel: 0117 9852 726 www.pianosummerschool.co.uk
18 plus and Grade 5 plus. Mature students encouraged. Tutors: Karl Lutchmayer, James Lisney, Christine Stevenson, Laurette Bloomer, and Pianist Masterclass writer Graham Fitch. Lessons, masterclasses, student and faculty concerts. Read a feature about this school on page 70.
Wolverhampton University, Walsall Campus 16 August - 22 August 2015 TUTORS: James Lisney, Christine Stevenson, Karl Lutchmayer, Graham Fitch, Lauretta Bloomer An exciting week of masterclasses, tutor recitals, presentations and student concerts. The only United Kingdom piano summer school that is held at an All Steinway Institution. Ample practice facilities. Accommodation in single en-suite bedrooms on site. For further details contact: Gina Biggs: Tel : +44 (0)117 985 2726 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.pianosummerschool.co.uk
Chetham’s International Summer School & Festival for Pianists Artistic Director: Murray McLachlan Part One: 14–20 August 2015 Part Two: 20–26 August 2015
The Friendliest Piano Summer School in the World! Faculty includes: Dmitri Alexeev, Paul Badura-Skoda, Philippe Cassard, Peter Donohoe, Carlo Grante, Harry Harris, Nikki Iles, Eugen Indjic, Matthias Kirschnereit, Murray McLachlan,
Noriko Ogawa, Artur Pizarro, Vladimir Tropp, Nelita True
FRANCE LMFL Summer Course 4-17 August Location:Valbonne, Provence www.lmfl.org.uk Specialist course given by wellknown faculty for advanced students▲ (17+) or professionals. 69• Pianist 83
With daily concerts, lectures, improvisation, jazz, composition, intensive one-to-one coaching, duets, organ and harpsichord.
For further information call +44 (0)1625 266899 or email
[email protected] www.pianosummerschool.com
SUMMER COURSES & WORKSHOPS 2015
Lot Music 11-18 July; 18-25 July Location:Prayssac, Lot Valley www.pianolotmusic.com Intensive piano study in a beautiful setting. About nine pianists per course. First week tutor: Simon Nichols; second week tutor: James Lisney. Music at Albignac 1-9, 11-19, and 21-29 August Location:Tarn, Southwest France www.albignacmusic.com is summer school, formerly known as Music at Ambialet, offers two streams: amateur and advanced.
Intense eight-day programme of masterclasses, private tuition, concerts and lectures in a magnificent rural setting. Faculty: Harold Gray, Paul Roberts (Director), Martin Sturfalt and Charles Owen. Summer Piano School at La Balie July & August Location:South West France www.labalie.com For intermediate to advanced pianists. Takes part in beautiful stone farm buildings with wonderful accommodation. ree one-week piano courses: Piano Foundation (3-10 July), Advanced Piano Master Classes I (10-17 July) and Advanced Piano Master Classes II (1-8 August). Class numbers limited to ten.
GERMANY Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival & Masterclasses 11 July-30 August Location:Lübeck Tel:+49 451 389 570 www.shmf.de Masterclasses take place at the Musikhochschule Lübeck, with each course ending with concerts given by the participants. For advanced students and young professionals. Elisabeth Leonskaja gives the piano masterclasses this year, 3-8 August.
ITALY Music Holiday Italy March through to October Location: Appenine mountains www.musicholidayitaly.com
Fourteen one-week courses throughout the year. Run by teacher and performer Gil Jetley. Masterclasses and performance opportunities. Maximum eight per course, for intermediate/advanced amateurs (around Grade 8 – but no fixed standard).
Summer School for Pianists This friendly one-week-long summer school offers lessons, masterclasses, wide-ranging talks – and Steinways for all e Summer School for Pianists in the West Midlands has become a much talked-about course. It is known for combining an atmosphere of friendliness and non-competitiveness with musical expertise from some excellent pianist/teachers. e one-week course (16-22 Aug) is on the Walsall campus of the University of Wolverhampton, and is centred on the Performance Hub, a state-of-the-art building. All the facilities, including the canteen and living accommodations, are not more than 100 metres away from each other. When I spea k to James Lisney, one of its directors, he tells me proudly that ‘it’s an all-Steinway course. Participants can’t believe they’re playing on new Steinway Bs and Cs. It’s also all about friendliness. And I’ve found that there are so many people A class at the Summer School for Pianists turning to music in the middle part of their lives. ey want to do it at quite a high level too. ey learned when they were young. ey’re returners.’ If you want to take part, you’ll need to be Grade 5 (intermediate standard) or above. Participants range in age from 18 to 88, and teachers and performers are known to come along as well. I ask Lisney what participants will need to prepare in advance. ‘ree pieces that can be dealt with in a workshop setting and that will be beneficial for all within the masterclass,’ Lisney replies. ‘e pieces should be a maximum of seven or eight minutes each, but they can of course be shorter.’ At this summ er school, there are 18 hours of masterclasses, with each participant allotted three half-hour slots during the week (12 students approximately in each class). All are welcome to visit other classes to observe. ere are 60 participants (plus observers) and five tutors – James Lisney, Christine Stevenson, Karl Lutchmayer, Lauretta Bloomer and Graham Fitch, Pianist Masterclass writer. All the tu tors give recitals, which is surely an inspiration. And what about that question that participants always ask: will they have to perform? ‘It’s not imperative,’ explains Lisney. ‘ere are two forms of recitals: informal concerts organised by the students themselves, which take part in a studio. e more formal end-ofweek recitals take part in the Black Box eatre, on a stunning brand-new Steinway C.’ ere’s a wealth of talks and performances throughout the week, some given by course tutors. is year’s Piano Matters tutor talks include A Passion for Liszt (Christine Stevenson), Perspectives on Piano Now (Carl Lutchmayer), A User’s Guide to Ornamentation (Graham Fitch) and e Metronome – friend or foe? (James Lisney). I am definitely interested in the verdict on that last one! Other new elements include ‘Aperitif’ (brief pre-concert talks that will provide ‘tasting notes’ for the tutor recitals), Words and Music (this time featuring a late-evening performance of Tennyson’s melodrama Enoch Arden, with solo piano music by Richard Strauss) and Piano Now (an evening’s event/discussion exploring 21st-century piano music for two to eight hands). Another highlight comes from guest lecturer Ruth Waterman, a dance expert and the niece of Leeds Piano Competition founder Dame Fanny, who will give a presentation on the subject of Baroque Dance, covering the dances styles found in Bach suites. ere will also be classes for piano accompaniment with Lauretta Bloomer and baritone Brian White, and for piano duet. Erica Worth
e Summer School for Pianists runs from 16 to 22 August. Full informatio n, including booking details, is available online at www.pianosummerschool.co.uk. See listing on page 69 Aspen Music Festival and School 2 July-23 August Jersey International Festival ArtsAhimsa Music Festival at Location:Colorado for Amateur Pianists Belvoir Terrace Tel:+1 (970) 925-3254 24-31 May 23-30 August www.aspenmusicfestival.com Location:Jersey Academy of Music Location:Lenox, Massachusetts Masterclasses, workshops, private www.normandypianocourses.com www.artsahimsa.org instruction, and performance
JERSEY
USA
Residential courseaged for serious amateur pianists, 18 plus. Introduction to Alfred Cortot method; raising level of playing and gaining freedom at the piano. ere are ample practice facilities at this school with one piano per person. Performance possibilities. Masterclasses are given this year by Idil Biret.
www.belvoirterrace.com Located at a beautiful 19th-century estate in a leafy area, ArtsAhimsa promotes non-violence throughout the arts. Chamber music classes for pianists and string players. For adults with a good playing level. Audition required. Performance opportunities. Faculty includes Paul Epstein, Rui Shi, So Hee Kwon, Donna Gill.
70• Pianist83
opportunities for advanced students and young musicians. Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium 11-19 July Location:Princeton University, New Jersey Tel:+1 (877) 343-3434 ▲ www.golandskyinstitute.org
71• Pianist 77
SUMMER COURSES
& WORKSHOPS2014
TRANSACOUSTIC The new Yamaha U1 Transacoustic In stock now! Please call us for a VIP appointment to listen and to experience this amazing new concept in pianos. We also stock a wide range of new and expertly restored pianos, both grands and uprights from the finest piano makers. Alexander Kobrin teaching at the IKIF in Ne w York City (see listing this page)
Week-long immersion in the Taubman Approach to piano playing. Lectures, masterclasses, technique clinics and private lessons. International Keyboard Institute and Festival 18 July-2 August Location:Hunter College, New York City, New York Tel:+1 (212) 665 2446 www.ikif.org Ages 14-30; intermediate to professional (audition required). Scholarships available. Two weeks of concerts, masterclasses and lectures. Faculty this year includes David Dubal, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Alessio Bax, Nina Lelchuk, Stuart Isacoff, Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Mayer.
Yamaha Hybrid Piano Specialists for the South East of England
International Music Camp Piano Program roughout the year Location:Near Dunseith, North Dakota Tel:+1 (701) 838-8472 (Sep-May); +1 (701) 263-4211 (June-July) www.internationalmusiccamp.com Ages 11 to adult, with at least two years’ piano experience. Daily classes in technique, literature, keyboard harmony, theory and more. Jazz piano and organ as well.
Kinhaven Adult Piano Workshop 2-7 June Location:Kinhaven, Vermont Tel:+1 (973) 378-5854 www.kinhaven.org Study four-hand and solo repertoire workshop in a non-competitive, supportive environment. Also Alexander Technique. Rocky Ridge Music Center End of May to end August Location:Estes Park, Colorado Tel:+1 (970) 586-4031 www.rockyridge.org Two adult piano seminars (30 May3 June; 3-7 June) in the inspiring setting of the Rocky Mountains. Faculty includes SoYoung Lee, Lori Sims, Lei Weng, Sergio Gallo.
WEBSITES Hot Courses www.hotcourses.com Searchable databases of UK courses available throughout the year. Music Workshop Guide www.acmp.net/workshops Searchable database of chamber music courses around the world.
VERVE HOUSE, LONDON ROAD A30, SUNNINGDALE, SL5 0DJ SALESHANDELPIANOS.CO.UK
TEL 01344 873645 WWW.HANDELPIANOS.CO.UK
Fou Ts’ong and pupil at Oxford Philomusica 72• Pianist83
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/HANDELPIANOSLTD
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015 From the small but exquisite to the thrillingly huge and star-studded, this year’s spring and summer festival offerings are more exciting, colourful and varied than ever – don’t miss out UK Aberystwyth MusicFest International Festival 25 July-1 August Location:Aberystwyth, Wales Tel:01970 62 32 32
www.abermusicfest.org e spectacular coastline of Cardigan Bay in West Wales provides a dramatic backdrop for this fusion of music festival and summer school. Full programme details in late April. Aldeburgh Festival 12-28 June Location:Suffolk Tel:01728 6871100 www.aldeburgh.co.uk e festival founded by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears serves up two weeks of recitals, concerts, masterclasses and events at Snape Maltings Concert Hall and other venues on the Suffolk coast. Artistic Director Pierre-Laurent Aimard makes several appearances, joining in Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of the Time and tributes to Pierre Boulez in his 90th year. Bath International Music Festival 15-26 May Location:Bath Tel:01225 463362 www.bathmusicfest.org.uk e Bath Festival presents joyous innovation across multiple artistic disciplines. is year Steven Osborne gives two recitals, including one devoted to Messiaen’sVingt regards. Bath Mozartfest 13-21 November Location:Bath Tel:01225 463362 www.bathmozartfest.org.uk A popular festival set in venues in the beautiful and historic city. BBC Proms 17 July-12 September Location:London Tel:0845 401 5040 www.bbc.co.uk/proms is extraordinary festival, based at the Royal Albert Hall, features the best national and international concert artists. Full programme details announced in April.
Brighton Festival 2-24 May Location:Brighton Tel:01273 709 709 www.brightonfestival.org Stephen Hough makes his way to the annual festival of arts and music in
Full details about the programme on the website in early spring. Cheltenham Music Festival 30 June-11 July Location:Cheltenham Tel:0844 880 8094
City of London Festival 22 June-10 July Location:London Tel:0845 120 7502 www.colf.org Churches and historic buildings in the City of London are the setting
the seaside city; he’s playing Debussy and all four Chopin Ballades.
www.cheltenhamfestivals.com is well-established festival features Marc-André Hamelin in a recital including UK premieres of two of his own works. Other keyboard highlights include Gabriela Montero Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord), and recent Pianist cover artist Boris Giltburg in chamber music.
for this popular festival, which this year takes Singapore as its theme. Melvyn Tan and the T’ang Quartet play chamber music in Merchant Taylor’s Hall, Judy Carmichael serve up an evening of swing music while jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro performs in the Sky Garden, at the ▲ top of London’s ‘Walkie Talkie.’
Cambridge Summer Music Festival 17 July-13 August Location:Cambridge Tel:01223 894161 www.cambridgesummermusic.com
Music at Paxton Summer music in an idyllic and cosy Scottish Borders setting A stately home, excellent mu sic making and stunning surroundings – just three reasons why the small Music at Paxton festival has developed a big reputation in its ten years. e festival is centred on Paxton House, a mid-18th-century Palladian stately home on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders region. is region has its own cachet as a place of pilgrimage for fans of Sir Walter Scott, the author of Ivanhoe and e Lady of the Lake . e Romantic era poet, author and playwright was enchanted by the Scottish Borders area, and brought its beauty and legend to life in many of his writings. Had Sir Walter Scott visited Paxton House, he would no doubt have been as captivated as modern visitors are. ‘It’s an idyllic setting,’ says Marianne Butler, a long-time festival attendee and volunteer who recently joined the festival’s board. Built for Patrick Home in 1758-66 by architect John Adams (brother of the more famous Robert), Paxton House was later extended in the Regency era by architect Robert Reid to include a library and a picture gallery, the largest private gallery in Great Britain at the time of its completion. e concerts of this ten-day festival are held in the Picture Gallery, an oval room with 140 seats and a small stage with a Steinway piano. e Gallery boasts good acoustics, a fortunate element ‘considering it wasn’t built as a hall,’ says Butler. ‘e room is wonderful in its srcinal Regency decoration and it’s full of pictures from National Galleries of Scotland.’ Indeed, it seems that musical splendour must vie with visual splendour at this festival, but the high-calibre performers and diverse programming are up to the challenge. Butler has fond recollections of performances in past years by violinist Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and pianist Alasdair Beatson. Highlights of this year’s Music at Paxton festival include cellist Natalie Clein and pianist Håvard Gimse, pianist Steven Osborne and his clarinettist wife Jean Johnson, and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor (in a solo recital). When Butler tells me about the appealing-sounding dinners that one can book before a concert, I’m suddenly reminded of the formal dress code at Glyndebourne. She assures me that dinner suits or kilts are not required at Paxton. You can even take your meal outside, and, as the festival is in July, you may well be lucky with the weather. ‘Wesays are Butler. on the dry side of Scotland and we have some lovely evenings. e whole atmosphere is really lovely,’ When not attending the evening concerts, festival visitors can visit the many stately homes and open countryside nearby. ey can even add Sir Walter Scott to their itineraries – his home, Abbotsford, has been recently restored and is just 15 miles away from Paxton House. Inge Kjemtrup
Music at Paxton is from 17-26 July. Full concert details will be available online in mid-April at the festival’s website, www.musicatpaxton.co.uk. See listing on page 74. 73• Pianist 83
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015
Music at Paxton 18-27 July Location:Paxton, Scottish Borders Tel:07752 570389 www.musicatpaxton.co.uk e genial surroundings of at Paxton House, a historic estate on the Scottish borders, provide a gorgeous setting for this intimate but engaging festival. See feature on page 73. Newbury Spring Festival 9-23 May Location:Newbury, Berks Tel:0845 5218 218 www.newburyspringfestival.org.uk
Britten Studio, one of the venues at the Alde burgh Festival
East Neuk Festival 27 June-5 July Location:East Neuk Tel:0131 473 2000 www.eastneukfestival.com A festival that really knows how to take advantage of beautiful surroundings, East Neuk features Ashley Wass playing chamber music and jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock. Edinburgh International Festival 7-31 August Location:Edinburgh Tel:0131 473 2000 www.eif.co.uk e distinguished Edinburgh International Festival’s offerings this year include recitals from Lang Lang, Angela Hewitt, Mitsuko Uchida and a Beethoven sonata cycle from Rudolf Buchbinder. English Music Festival 22-25 May Location:Dorchester-on-ames www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk Set against splendid backdrops such as Dorchester Abbey and Radley College, the festival highlights English music by the likes of Delius, Butterworth, Stanford and Britten, plus Lionel Sainsbury plays his own piano compositions. Finchcocks Museum Year-round Location:Goudhurst, Kent Tel:01580 211702 www.finchcocks.co.uk e Finchcocks Musical Museum boasts a remarkable collection of
Concerts and masterclasses from a diverse group of pianists including Ashley Wass, Clare Hammond, Gordon Fergus-ompson and Zoe Rahman. King’s Lynn Festival 12-25 July Location:King’s Lynn Tel:01553 764864 www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk Classical, chorale and chamber music. Freddy Kempf plays with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in the final evening concert of this festival, which celebrates its 65th season. Lake District Summer Music International Festival 1-14 August Location:Lake District Tel:01539 742 621 www.ldsm.org.uk Cumbria’s stunning Lake District is the backdrop for this festival featuring young stars of tomorrow. Details online in the spring. Manchester International Festival 2-19 July Location:Manchester Tel:0844 871 76543 www.mif.co.uk e city-wide festival looks for the exciting and innovative in a multidisciplinary way. Exhibit A: Neck of the Woods with Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon and pianist Hélène Grimaud creating a portrait of the wolf using visual art, music and theatre.
Midsummer Music 19-21 June Location:Latimer, Bucks Tel:01494 783643 www.midsummermusic.org.uk Pianist Paul Lewis and his cellist Hebden Bridge Piano Festival wife, Bjørg Lewis, are joint artistic 12-25 July directors of this small but potent Location:Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire chamber music festival based at St www.hebdenbridgepianofestival.com Mary Magdalene in Latimer.
www.promsatstjudes.org.uk With free lunchtime concerts and a range of other events, this is one of London’s liveliest summer festivals. Ribble Valley International Piano Week 15-18 July Location:Ribble Valley, Lancs Tel:01229 861325 www.rvipw.org.uk Lancashire’s always-intriguing piano festival includes a line-up of top keyboard talent such as Alexandra Dariescu, Paul Lewis and jazz star Gwilym Simcock.
is year’s festival features a recital from Mikhail Kazakevich, one of the judges of the Sheepdrove Piano Competition for young pianists that takes place during the festival. Other pianists include Peter Donohoe and Harry the Piano.
Ryedale Festival 17 July-2 August Location:Ryedale, North Yorkshire Tel:01751 475777 www.ryedalefestival.com Well-loved regional festival that attracts international artists. Full Norfolk and Norwich Festival details available online in April. 8-24 May Location:Norfolk Spitalfields Festival Tel:01603 766 400 2-16 June www.nnfestival.org.uk Location:London Pianists, classical and jazz, take Tel:020 7377 1362 pride of place, among them Ingolf www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk Wunder, Francesco Piemontesi and ‘Quirky’ is the byword for this a special concert from South African festival, both in repertoire and piano legend Abdullah Ibrahim venues. ere’s a strong period celebrating his 80th year. performance stress this year. Oxford Philomusica Festival and Summer Academy 26 July-3 August Location:Oxford Tel:01865 987 222 www.oxfordphil.com/piano e university town is the setting for a powerhouse piano festival featuring masterclasses and performances by top pianists, this year including Barry Douglas, András Schiff, Menahem Pressler and Ivo Pogorelich. Proms at St Jude’s 20-28 June Location:London Tel:020 3322 8123
Swaledale Festival 23 May-6 June Location:Yorkshire Dales Tel:01748 880019 www.swaledale-festival.org.uk is year’s festival features Michael Brough in selected Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux and the world premiere of his own 25 preludes. Thaxted Festival 19 June-12 July Location:axted, East Anglia Tel:01371 831 421 www.thaxtedfestival.org.uk Composer Gustav Holst organised the first festival, centred on the East
over keyboards you canmany hear them100 in action at theand museum’s concert series. Don’t miss a late May bank holiday ‘Weekend of English Musical Humour’.
A crowd gathers at the Oxford Philomusica Festival
74• Pianist83
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015
A lovely day at the Newbury Spring Festival
Anglian town of axted and its 600-year-old church. Full season details online in the spring. The Two Mo ors Fes tival 15-24 October Location:Devon Tel:01643 831006 www.thetwomoorsfestival.com ere’s always much to like in the concerts as well as the convivial atmosphere at this Devon festival, which started in 2001. Full programme details in June. Ulverston International Festival 12-20 June Location:Lake District Tel:01229 587140 www.ulverstonmusicfestival.co.uk Hike around the lovely Lake District when you aren’t attending concerts by festival founder and pianist Anthony Hewitt and friends.
AUSTRIA Grafenegg 14 August-6 September Location:Grafenegg Castle Tel:+43 (0)2735 5500 www.grafenegg.com e magical setting for this festival is Grafenegg castle, and this year the Berlin Philharmonic is an honoured guest. See feature on page 76.
FRANCE En Blanc et Noir 25-29 July Location:Lagrasse Tel:+33 4 6843 1240 www.enblancetnoir.com e medieval village of Lagrasse, voted one of the most beautiful villages in France, hosts this new piano festival. ere’s a focus on Scriabin and the French premiere of Holst’s recently discovered arrangement for four hands of his own Planets Suite. Ivan Illic, Bobby Mitchell and Guillaume Sigier are among the youthful performers. Orpheus & Bacchus Piano Festival 13-19 June Location:Near Bordeaux Tel:+49 (0)30 2759 4175 www.orpheusandbacchus.com Enjoy a residential holiday at the piano-focused offshoot of this festival, which launches its first season with a bang with Stephen Kovacevich, Frederico Colli, Danny Driver and other top pianists.
Roque D’Antheron 24 July-23 August Location:Aix en Provence Tel:+33 (0)4 42 50 51 15 www.festival-piano.com One of world’s powerhouse piano festivals. If you’re looking for a place Schubertiade Schwarzenberg to gain encyclopaedic knowledge Hohenems of today’s pianists, Roque and the 1-31 May; 16-19 July; 11Klavier Festival Ruhr are your best 13 September; 1-6 October bets. Full programme available
(Hohenems); 20-28 June; 22-30 August (Schwarzenberg) Location:Schwarzenberg, Hohenems Tel:+43 (0)5576 72091 www.schubertiade.at One festival in two towns draws top pianists such as Igor Levit, David Fray, Ingolf Wunder and Lars Vogt in recitals and chamber music.
online in late spring.
GERMANY Klavier Festival Ruhr 17 April-4 July Location:Cities in the Ruhr Valley Tel:+49 (0)1806 500 806 ▲ www.klavierfestival.de 75• Pianist 83
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015
Grafenegg Festival Rudolf Buchbinder, Artistic Director of this nine-year-old Austrian festival located on the grounds of a castle , talks to Eric a Worth What’s special about Grafe negg? First of all, there is something so magical and fascinating about the location that inspires new ideas and encourages one to explore new paths. With our unique open-air ‘Wolkenturm’ stage, we can offer music on the highest level in the extraordinary setting of the Grafenegg castle grounds. Grafenegg is now one of the world’s most important orchestra festivals: besides our great Festival Orchestra, the Tonkünstler
Rivalled only by Roque D’Antheron in size, this huge festival presents piano recitals and concerts in cities throughout Germany’s industrial heartland. Just a random handful of this year’s performers to whet your appetite: Lang Lang, Arcadi Volodos, Grigory Sokolov, Alice Sara Ott and Martha Argerich joined by cellist Misha Maisky. Mozart@Augsburg 28 August-18 September Location:Augsburg Tel:+49 (0)821 777 3410 www.mozartaugsburg.com
Orchestra, we welcome the best orchestras, conductors and soloists. All of them not only appreciate the excellent acoustic but also this wonderful location, the exchange with other musicians and the special atmosphere between audiences and artists.
Set in the charming Bavarian city of Augsburg, this festival boasts some creative programming; festival director Sebastian Knauer joins actor Katja Riemann in a Gershwin recital.
What can a music-loving visitor expect? For the ninth year running, we will once again offer an attractive and diverse program, ranging from family concerts to matinees, ‘preludes’ and topclass evening concerts. is will include the Vienna Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Andris Nelsons, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle, Matthias Pintscher as our composer in residence – as well as internationally renowned soloists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alisa Weilerstein and Julia Fischer.
Rarities of Piano Music 21-29 August Location:Husum Tel:+49 (0)4841 89 73 130 www.piano-festival-husum.de Truly the festival for the piano cognoscenti – the likes of Joseph Moog, Jorge Luis Prats and Luiza Borac bring magic to rare and (often unjustly) neglected piano repertoire. Book early, it’s very popular!
Tell us about the concert venues. Our different concert stages are all within the castle grounds. e main concert venue is the famous ‘Wolkenturm’, built in 2007 in the style of a futuristic amphitheatre. e Auditorium is used for matinees and evening concerts in case of bad weather. e Courtyard is a venue for prelude concerts by chamber music ensembles and the Old Riding School is where our pre-concert talks take place. You’ll also notice orchestra players and soloists warming up before a concert in the shadow of trees on the castle grounds. You are a performer as well as Artistic Director. Actually, when the festival was founded in 2007 I decided not to perform. But I’ve been asked so many times by colleagues and the audience that I’m now doing both [Buchbinder plays the Schumann Concerto on 20 Aug and the Brahms First Concerto on 23 Aug.] What activities can visitors take part in beyond the concerts of the festival? A visit of the festival ca n be easily combined with a trip to the idyllic countryside around the Grafenegg castle. e Wachau region, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the most beautiful river valleys
opportunity to stay in the region around Grafenegg as well. ere are a number of hotels to choose from, ranging from cosy guest houses to luxury hotels. Tell us about the final concert on 6 September. For the very first time we welcome the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle. ey will offer an ‘imaginary orchestral journey’ from Haydn’s music, put together by Sir Simon. It will be a complete Berlin Philharmonic day on 6 September, including a morning performance by the Scharoun Ensemble, which was founded over 30 years ago by members of the orchestra, and the wind section will perform in the Prélude concert in the afternoon before the whole orchestra closes the festival with the evening concert. You’ll be playing all of the Beethoven sonatas at the Edinburgh Festival this August. I’m very much looking forward to performing the cycle. Beethoven has always played an important role for me. I’ve played a lot of concerts and recorded the sonatas twice. e more I’ve engaged myself with the music, Beethoven as a person and the different editions, the freer I become and I continue to discover something new. How will you manage to divide your time between Edinburgh and Grafenegg? I’ve organised it in a way that one doesn’t collide with the other, so I can focus on both equally. I’m very much looking forward to Edinburgh and Grafenegg! And over these pas t nine years has the Festival grown to be what you expected? In retrospect, nobody could have predicted the success of Grafenegg and today the vision we had seems very
in offers a wide range of important works of Europe art and and cultural activities. is wine-growing region offers culinary specialities and great opportunities for excursions like walking or cycling trips along the famous Danube Cycle Path or a boat trip.
brave to me. are Grafenegg very happyhas and proudand thatambitious within only a fewWe years become an internationally renowned festival location and is now Austria’s hotspot for many of the world’s leading orchestras, conductors and soloists.
How easy is it to get to Grafenegg? It is fairly close to Vienna and we have bus shuttles to every concert from Vienna. Of course it’s a nice
For full details about this year’s Grafenegg Festival, which runs from 14 August-6 September, go to the festival’s website www.grafenegg.com and see the listing page 75. 76• Pianist83
Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival 7 July-30 August Location:Schleswig-Holstein Tel:+49 (0)431 23 70 70 www.shmf.de Now in its 30th year, this festival varies location. Treats this year include recitals by Pollini and Trifonov, plus a Tchaikovskyfocus with performances of all the piano concertos, the symphonies and more.
IRELAND Dublin International Piano Festival & Summer Academy 25 July-2 August Location:Ireland Tel:+353 1 5555000 www.pianofestival.ie e third year of this academy and festival, founded by pianists Archie Chen and Rhona Gouldson, sees 16 young stars tutored by the pros, who also give recitals. Full programme
details online in the spring. New Ross Piano Festival TBC September Location:Ireland Tel:+353 (0)51 421766 www.newrosspianofestival.com With Finghin Collins as its artistic director, this is a short but potent festival of pianism.
MUSIC FESTIVALS2015
ITALY Spoleto Festival 26 June-12 July Location:Spoleto, Italy Tel:+39 0743 77 64 44 www.festivaldispoleto.com Founded by composer Gian Carlo Menotti, this ‘Festival of Two Worlds’ continues in Spoleto, near Rome, and Charleston, South Carolina in the USA. Full details online in the spring.
Lofoten Festival 6-12 July Location:Lofoten Tel:+ 47 (0)9139 4673 www.lofotenfestival.com is festival alternates years between being a piano and a chamber music festival. is year, chamber music comes to the forefront, but with the likes of András Schiff among the players, it’s worth the trip.
SWITZERLAND Angela Hewitt at her Trasimeno Music Festival inItaly
Trasimeno Music Festival
Lucerne Festival
4-10 July
21-29 March (Easter Festival); 14 August-13 September (Summer); 21-29 November (Piano Festival) Location:Lucerne Tel:+41 (0)41 226 44 80 www.lucernefestival.ch e three seasonal festivals attract top international stars to play in the Jean Nouvel-designed concert hall on Lake Lucerne. Humour is the theme of the summer festival this year.
Location:Near Lake Trasimeno
www.trasimenomusicfestival.com In her Italian hill town festival, Angela Hewitt gives a recital featuring Bach and Beethoven and another with an all-Spanish theme, and is joined by friends in Poulenc’s Babar and Stravinsky’se Soldier’s Tale .
NORWAY
Menuhin Gstaad Festival Bergen International Festival 16 July-5 September 27 May-10 June Location:Gstaad Location:Bergen Tel:+41 (0)33 748 83 38 Tel:+ 47 (0)55 21 61 50 www.menuhinfestivalgstaad.ch www.fib.no Menuhin’s vision endures with this At this year’s festival, the Bergen festival, this year including artistPhilharmonic Orchestra celebrates in-residence Jean-Yves ibaudet in its 250th year. Star turns from Ravel’s Concerto in G. Igudesmann and Joo, Ronald Project Martha Argerich Brautigam in the Grieg Concerto and Leif Ove Andnes almost Lugano everywhere. 10-29 June Location:Lugano International Music Festival Tel:+41 (0)58 866 82 40 Stavanger www.luganofestival.ch TBC August Martha Argerich takes the helm in a Location:Stavanger festival featuring some of her friends Tel:+47 (0)913 98 640 such as Nicholas Angelich, Lars Vogt www.icmf.no and Gabriela Montero. Top chamber music festival founded Verbier Festival by clarinettist Martin Fröst and pianist Christian Ihle Hadlandt. 17 July-2 August Location:Verbier Details available in May.
) m su u (H n e z n e r o L s a m o h T © ;) g g e n e f a r G ( n e d i a H r e d n a x e l A ©
Tel:+41 (0)848 771 882
Artistic directors Mitsuko Uchida and Richard Goode maintain the Marlboro mystique. Programmes are not set until a week before each concert, but there are always discoveries in the mix of established stars and up-and-coming youngsters.
TURKEY
Miami International Piano Festival Year-round Location:Miami, Florida Tel:+1 (305) 935-5115 www.miamipianofest.com is year-long festival prides itself in spotting keyboard stars of the future.
www.verbierfestival.com Highlights at this Swiss mountain festival include Schiff in Bartók’s ird Concerto, and recitals from Grigory Sokolov and Khatia Buniatishvili.
Istanbul Music Festival 31 May-29 June Location:Istanbul Tel:+90 212 334 07 00 www.iksv.org/en Launched in 1973, the Istanbul Music Festival features Turkish musicians alongside musicians from around the globe – this year including Angela Hewitt and Lars Vogt. is year’s festival theme is ‘Cultural Landscapes’.
USA Aspen Music Festival 2 July-23 August Location:Aspen, Colorado Tel:+1 (970) 925-9042 www.aspenmusicfestival.com You’ll have a Colorado Mountains high at this venerable and prestigious festival; pianists include Ingrid Fliter, Yuja Wang and Vladimir Feltsman. International Keyboard Institute and Festival 18 July-2 August Location:New York City Tel:+1 (212) 772 4448 www.ikif.org Piano-intensive concerts, recitals, lectures and masterclasses in this
annual event organised by American pianist Jerome Rose. Marc-André Hamelin and Alessio Bax are among the performers.
Luiz Borac takes a bow at the Husum Festival in German y
Marlboro Music Festival 18 July-16 August Location:Marlboro, Vermont Tel:+1 (215) 569-4690 www.marlboromusic.org 77• Pianist 83
Music@Menlo 17 July-8 August Location:Menlo Park, California Tel:+1 (650) 330-2030 www.musicatmenlo.org Well-chosen programming, interesting lectures and dynamic performers explain this Bay Area festival’s huge success. Spoleto Festival USA 22 May-7 June Location:Charleston, SC Tel:+1 (843) 579-3100 www.spoletousa.org Founded by composer Gian Carlo Menotti, this ‘Festival of Two Worlds’ continues in Charleston, South Carolina and Spoleto, Italy. e wide-ranging opera and concert festival includes Conor Hanick in Ives’s Piano Sonata No 2. Tanglewood Festival 28 June-30 August Location:Lenox, Massachusetts Tel:+1 (888) 266-1200 www.bso.org
Top keyboard names fromSymphony around the world join the Boston at their Tanglewood summer home, marking its 75th year this season. Look for Leon Fleisher in a duo recital with his wife Katherine Jacobson, Paul Lewis in recital and in Schumann Piano Concerto, and Garrick Ohlsson in Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto.
PIAN IST AT WORK heck of a journey ahead, it’s difficult and elusive in that the variations are so contrasting (and often so short) that you have to be very on the ball and able to impart Beethoven’s ‘message’ intensely and often very quickly, yet always aware that the big message is from the cumulative effect of each variation. Diabelli has that in common with the Goldbergs, and at times you feel like an athlete, pacing yourself, and trying to keep the focus and intensity for the long journey. Heaven help you if you suddenly ‘relax’ and allow your energy or focus to flag!
Learning the score first away from the piano really helps memory – it gives a security that can never be achieved by the drilling of fingers alone
THEME WITH
VARIATIONS After successfully tackling the Goldberg Variations, Nick van Bloss has taken on the Diabelli Variations for his brand-new disc. Is this is the start of a trend? Why did you decide to record the Diabelli Variations? Te Diabelli Variations has always been one of those works spoken about in hallowed tones, alongside Bach’s Goldberg Variations – it’s one of those pieces that everyone knows is a monumental, almost sacred work. But, much as I adore Bach’s Goldbergs, I’d never felt drawn to the Diabellis. I once heard a well-known pianist play it, and I admit I actually dozed off, so dull and uninspiring was the performance. I think that left me with the impression that the work was somehow as dull as the performance, so I never really imagined I’d ever play it. Big mistake! It was only when I picked up the score and started looking at it (not playing it) that I thought ‘hang on, this looks fabulous!’ And so it is. It’s totally different from the Goldbergs, but it’s equally inventive and crafted with that same level of genius. It is like a blueprint of all of Beethoven’s styles and emotions and, at the same time, is an incredibly warm and fresh work. Having previously recorded the Goldbergs, it was then a completely natural progression for me to put the Diabellis on CD, too. And why pair the Diabelli Variations with the ‘Appassionata’ Sonata?
g r u lb h A ise s u S ©
How did you go about learning these two gigantic pieces? In both cases I primarily learned them from the score first, without touching the piano. For me, learning without the score is the only and best way to fully ‘feel’ and understand what I’m eventually going to hear and play. Remember, the fingers alone don’t play the piano – it’s the brain that sends the commands and fires the various memories. Te fingers are merely servants of the brain. So, once the score is pretty much memorised, only then do I go to the piano and see if what I’ve heard and imagined in my head actually works in real time. Often it doesn’t! So that’s where more work starts: the cleaning of any technically hard parts, the reinforcing of memory, adjusting dynamics and, above all, making the music ‘live’ in a real sense of a giving performance. Plus, with variations, there’s always that little thought in the back of the head that says, I wonder what the next variation is. I mean, in both Goldberg and Diabelli, there are so many! How do you go about memorising? Again, lea rning the score first away from the piano really helps memory – it gives a security that can never be achieved by the drilling of fingers alone. I live with the works, hear them in my head, walk to the tempos, feel my fingers playing even when not near a piano. Te works then become a part of me and, hopefully, stay a part of me. Do you have any technical issues in your playing? One of my biggest issues, something I fret about obsessively, is that I have really small hands. I can only comfortably stretch an octave. So, in big chord playing, for example, I have to work to make sure that I’m not tensing, and also watch for accuracy. Leaps sometimes worry me – again, with small hands, I have further to leap. So I often resort to a trusty blindfold, and play literally in the dark for several hours. It’s often amazing that when I finally take the blindfold off, the leap problems all seem to vanish. But, thankfully, I never really suffer angst about technical things. I might have small hands, but I have incredibly strong and flexible fingers, so I don’t have to sit ‘drilling’ the fingers and making them play accurately – luckily, they just do it. I’m also aware that we should never over-focus on one tiny detail – pianists often do this to the detriment of the work as a whole. Tis applies to anything from a Bach minuet to a massive sonata by Beethoven. What’s your practising regime like? I never sit and practise for 12 hours! Four is the maximum, and that can be punishing enough. Any more than that and you get to the point of diminishing returns. Te key is being organised and not just playing or enjoying what you’re hearing. I like to start with the beginnings and endings of pieces or movements. Let’s face it, audiences always remember those!
I’d always wanted to record theover-emotional ‘Appassionata’.performances I absolutely hate many heavy, lumbering, agonisingly of it.the I see it as a powerful, yet bubbling and forward-moving work. Tere’s no time to sit and labour over every single phrase; it’s got to move. Te title ‘Appassionata’ (not a title given by Beethoven) hasn’t helped this – people feel they have to inject passion and agony. It’s actually a fresh and creamy work that just needs to be played honestly.
Ten I fill irrespective in the outerofsandwich, it were. again, this applies toto any piece, the length.asMy ethos And, is ‘keep it simple’ –work make it sound effortless, and always remember that audiences want to enjoy the work. Making pieces appeal and giving as a performer are the most important aims in all of my work. n
Nick van Bloss spoke to Erica Worth.
What’s it like to perform the Diabellis live? Scary! Apart from the sheer length of it, and the fact you know there’s a
Nick van Bloss’s new CD, Beethoven Diabelli Variations, is out now. It also features Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ Sonata. Nimbus Records NI6276. 78• Pianist83
Summer Piano Courses in South West France
with JAMES LISNEY
La Balie
Three, one week piano courses in July and August A combination of morning master classes, evening recitals, superb accommodation, gourmet food and time to explore in the sunshine of the Lot-et-Garonne Open to pianists of all levels
79• Pianist 77
POPULAR PIANO
Cry Me A River This song about a jilted lover poised for revenge has fascinated singers ever since sultry vocalist Julie London recorded it in 1955. Inge Kjemtrup traces the source of ‘Cry Me A River’
PLAY CRY ME A RIVER
TURN TO PAGE 42
S
ome time after big band’s rule of popular music ended but before rock ‘n’ roll ascended the throne, songs by male crooners and their female counterparts – Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Jo Stafford, Bing Crosby and Peggy Lee, to name just a handful – topped the charts. Half a century on, we may think that rock ‘n’ roll’s triumph is complete, but many of the tunes sung by the suave vocalists of the 1950s and ’60s have endured. Indeed, performers like Lady Gaga, who recently made an entire album with Tony Bennett, have come to appreciate the appeal of these songs and the way they tap into the deepest human emotions. One of the most durable songs of the crooner era is ‘Cry Me A River’,
Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1926, Hamilton was the son of two vaudeville performers. His father, Jack Stern, was a songwriter who had sometimes worked for Irving Berlin. Hamilton started writing songs in his teen years, by which time the family had moved to southern California. In high school, he went to the senior prom with Julie London, the singer who would make ‘Cry Me A River’ famous. ‘I didn’t know it at the time but she was going to be my “luck”,’ Hamilton told an interviewer years afterwards. His lucky star was born Gayle Peck in Santa Rosa, California, and, like Hamilton, she moved with her family to Hollywood in her teens. She was already singing in public by then (first under her given name), but her first real foray into show business, age 18, was in films. In her first major film,
which appears this issue’s Scores (courtesybyofvery Faber Music)singers and onand the CD. ‘Cry Me AinRiver’ has been interpreted different yet it retains its power and emotional pull. Julie London (pictured), Barbra Streisand, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Aerosmith, Joe Cocker, Britain’s Got Talentstar Susan Boyle and modern-day crooner Michel Bublé are just some of the singers who have made it their own. Yet had not it been for the perseverance of its composer and lyricist, Arthur Hamilton, in making sure it was recorded, ‘Cry Me A River’ might well have ended up a s a bit of Hollywood trivia, given its complicated srcins as a song initially written for a film and subsequently dropped.
Nabonga or eHer Jungle Woman, her co-star was a attracted gorilla (ora rather a man in a gorilla suit!). stunning blonde good looks following, and she was even a pin-up girl in World War II. But Julie London put her career to one side in 1947 when she married actor Jack Webb, best known as the hard-bitten cop on the Dragnet TV show. In 1953, Webb was producing a 1920s-themed radio show called Pete Kelly’s Blues. London got in touch with her old high school beau to ask him if he had any ‘blues songs’ to offer. ‘Of course I didn’t have anything, but I immediately sat down and wrote three of them, took them to him and he liked them all,’ said Hamilton. One of the songs was ‘Cry Me A River’.
80• Pianist83
Te radio project became a film featuring some of the best singers of the age, including Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald, the latter who was scheduled to sing ‘Cry Me A River’ in the film. But then there was a snag: the studio (or possibly Jack Webb; sources differ on this point) didn’t like the lyrics. More specifically, the studio objected to Hamilton’s use of the word ‘plebeian’ in the ‘bridge’ section of the song (bars 19-26 in the Pianist score): ‘Remember, remember, all that you said/old me love was too plebeian/old me you were through with me and.’ Tey insisted that Hamilton re-write it. He refused. ‘Te song was thrown out of the picture because I wouldn’t change the lyric,’ Hamilton recalled later. ‘I thought it was pretty clever, the manner in which I used the word plebeian. In fact it was probably one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I left it the way I wrote it!’ Hamilton had confidence in his song, but for a while it seemed like he was the only one. He offered ‘Cry Me A River’ to other singers, including Peggy King on Columbia Records, whose A&R boss, Mitch Miller, also disliked ‘plebeian’. (It’s claimed that Miller said, ‘No song with the word “plebeian” in it will ever be released on the Columbia Records label.’) While Hamilton was shoppin g his song arou nd, Julie London, having gone through a painful divorce from Webb, was finding herself at a low ebb in her self-confidence. Ten a performer and producer (and later London’s second husband) named Bobby roup coaxed her back into the studio to record for Liberty Records. Te song that roup chose? ‘Cry Me A River’. Te song was a major hit for London in 1955, and its fame was further assured when she appeared in the 1956 film Te Girl Can’t Help It, singing it in a dream sequence. She included it on her first album Julie is Her Name. London was voted Billboard ’s most popular female vocalist in 1955-57, enjoyed a vocal career that saw her record 31 further albums, and later became a film and television actress, most memorably as Nurse Dixie McCall in the American television series Emergency!
Recent piano releases The finest pianists playing great composers
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Stravinsky: Works for Piano & Orchestra CHSA 5147
Imogen Cooper Robert & Clara Schumann CHAN 10841
The river of no return
What is it about this song that makes it so compelling? Te catalogue of 20th-century popular song is bursting with songs about yearning for love, looking for love, love lost, love betrayed and love achieved, but there are few examples of the revenge song, which can be summed up thusly: you did me wrong, and now I want revenge. Te protagonist of ‘Cry Me A River’ is addressing a faithless lover. Te lover now feels lonely and sorry, and wants to take her back, but she’s having none of it. ‘Come on and cry me a river,’ she taunts him, because, after all, ‘I cried a river over you.’ In 2010, Hamilton told a Wall Street Journal interviewer that the title of the song was entirely srcinal: ‘I had never heard the phrase. I just liked the combination of words... Instead of “Eat your heart out” or “I’ll get even with you”, it sounded like a good, smart retort to somebody who had hurt your feelings or broken your heart.’ In her version of ‘Cry Me A River’, Julie London sings the song simply yet effectively, with only a guitar (Barney Kessel) and a bass player to accompany her. In a 1957 interview in Life magazine, she talked about the quality of her voice and its emotional power: ‘It is only a thimbleful of a voice and I have to use it close to a microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice and it automatically sounds intimate.’ Having listened to several of the hundreds of recordings of this song, I’ve observed that some singers, London among them, stress the passive/aggressive nature of the song – you don’t really believe they’re out for revenge. Others are more assertive. Listen to Barbra Streisand’s version on her first album – Streisand is contemptuous of her former lover, spitting out ‘you say you’re sorry’, making it very clear that the river he needs cry would have to equal the volume of the Amazon for her to even think about taking him back. Ten there’s Canadian singer Michael Bublé’s take-no-prisoners 2009 version. He sounds as if he’s marshalling an entire army to drive his ex to the river of tears (Bublé has said that he’s attracted to the ‘darkness’ of the song). Other singers haveKrall tapped song’s srcins, among them pianist/singer Diana andinto thethe rock bandblues Aerosmith. Te raw-voiced Joe Cocker deconstructs the song and makes it into a cry of bleeding agony – Hamilton admitted it took him some time to appreciate Cocker’s version, but he’s philosophical about how the song has been his calling card and has taken on a life of its own. As Hamilton told the author Michael Whorf, ‘It’s marvellous when you get a tune that moves outside of you. It’s like a child that grows up; it’s doing well, but it doesn’t want to write home anymore. Tat’s how I feel about “Cry Me A River”.’ n 81• Pianist 83
APRIL 2015
Louis Lortie Chopin: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 4 CHAN 10852
MAY 2015
Barry Douglas Brahms: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 4 CHAN 10857
STAY IN THE KNOW
New releases Reviews Special offers Artist features •
•
•
www.chandos.net www.theclassicalshop.net (24-bit studio masters, lossless, MP3)
MAKERS
10 EVENTS
that shaped the
modern piano
Part 2
Continuing his survey of events that brought the modern piano into being, Gez Kahan looks at Das Kapital, the Versailles Treaty, the transistor, the opening of Japan and Nixon’s China trip
L
ast issue I looked at five political and economic factors that influenced the piano’s early development. I began with the Seven Years’ War, which hastened the spread of piano-building expertise and led to the predominance of the English action and the Industrial Revolution, which not only introduced mass manufacture but new metallurgical techniques that gave the piano its iron frame. I looked at democratic movements inspired by works such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’sSocial Contract that ushered in revolutions, such that of 1848, and allowed the new world to prosper while the old was riven by conflict. is in turn created the perfect conditions for Steinway to gain its foothold in the luxury market and then, with the help of the railways, to cement its place as the paradigm of the modern concert grand.
at was the trigger movement for the opening of Japan and wholesale changes in its political and economic system. Despite often-violent resistance, from the old guard, within 15 years the country began its transformation from a closed feudal society to an industrial trading nation, and by the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese products – including Yamaha pianos – were beginning to win international awards. e process was rapid but not instantaneous, and it took time for internal prosperity to filter into its changing society. But after World War II, despite having been on the losing side, Japan was in pole position to become an economic and manufacturing powerhouse, and its pianos (particularly Yamaha) would dominate, not only on home turf but in the domestic markets of the UK and the United States.
2
1867: Das Kapital It’s one of the great ironies that to promote its name in its home 1853: Perry’s expedition tomarket of the United States (let alone Japan overseas), Steinway had to import In terms of its effect on the performing talent, in the form of Anton modern market for pianos, possibly Rubinstein and Ignaz Jan Paderewski, the most significant event of 1853 both from the Russian empire. e US, wasn’t the establishment of three big at the time, was better at producing top-end makers – Bechstein, Blüthner pianos than pianists. For Russia (think and Steinway – but the apparently also of Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Richter unrelated arrival of the Perry Expedition and Arthur Rubinstein), the reverse was in Japanese waters. For more than 200 the case. Sadly, it still is. years, Japan had been operating as a Could that have been different? ‘closed country’ to prevent the spread of Perhaps – had Russia gradually moved imported ideologies such as Christianity. from a feudal to an industrial economy International trade was (with minor in the same way as Western Europe exceptions) prohibited, overseas visitors ended up doing. Russia didn’t, partly were banned and foreign travel by the because of inept and often intransigent Japanese was forbidden. rule by the Romanovs, and largely
1
e Americans andfailed others previously tried and to had re-open diplomatic relations with Japan. is time, they combined diplomacy with the threat of force. A top naval officer, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, was sent with a letter to the Japanese emperor from the US president proposing peace and friendship, backed up by warships in case the offer was refused. 82• Pianist83
because whengradual changeabout did happen, there was nothing it. e widespread revolutions of 1848 didn’t affect Russia, or possibly its rulers wouldn’t have adopted such a laissez-faire attitude to Karl Marx’s 1867 work, Das Kapital. Marx (and his co-author, Engels) had already managed to ruffle feathers in the West with e Communist Manifesto, written but unpublished at the time of
Opposite page: US Commodore Matthew Perry and a postage stamp immortalising his epochmaking trip to Japan Left: Karl Marx, author of Das Kapital Below: Economist John Maynard Keynes (right in photo) who foresaw the devastating effects the Treaty of Versailles (pictured) would cause
the 1848 uprisings. Tose uprisings were quickly quashed by monarchist rulers almost everywhere (though they did usher in the Second French Republic), and during the course of re-establishing their authority many of the countries involved kicked out undesirables, such as Marx, and banned subversive literature. Marx went to London (which had avoided revolution and hadn’t therefore blacklisted him) to work on his definitive economic and political philosophy. Tis was a theoretical treatise so dry that Imperial Russia didn’t object to its translation into Russian, arguing that Das Kapital was a purely academic work which furthermore had no relevance to a non-capitalist country. Tat turned out to be what the youth of today would call a ‘massive fail’. Te role of Marxism in ensuring the non-emergence of a Russianmanufactured premier piano brand hardly qualifies as a defining moment in the development of the modern piano,
can comfort themselves with reflecting that Marxism failed to extinguish the spark of creativity among Eastern Bloc pianists and composers. (And, as a final irony, the BBC has adopted that most Communist-sounding work – Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights – as the theme to what is possibly its most unashamedly capitalist V programme, Te Apprentice.)
of course. More is how, once Europe had beenrelevant effectively partitioned after World War I, premier brands such as Blüthner and Petrov struggled for nearly a half a century to continue making top-quality pianos under a doctrine that frowned on effete Western luxury. Ironically, the Communist regime also failed to produce the perfect utilitarian upright. At least music-lovers
conflict a cataclysmic enough hadn’t event –been the victors made certain of a return match by overplaying their hand in the peace negotiations that followed. Ask any historian to enumerate the causes of World War II and you’ll get a mention of the reaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I. Tis treaty imposed such strict conditions and reparations on Germany
3
1914-1919: World War I and the Treaty of Versailles It is estimated that in the decade before World War I, there had been more than 130 firms making pianos in the UK, and many more than that in Germany. Te United States, too, had hundreds of home-produced brands with annual sales of new instruments topping 300,000 units. Tat, it turns out, was to be the high-water mark for piano manufacture in those places. War hit hard, but – as if the 1914-18
83• Pianist 83
that several commentators (notably the economist John Maynard Keynes, especially in his 1919 book Te Economic Consequences of the Peace) felt it made another war practically inevitable. Among other things the treaty, signed in 1919, ensured that Germany, already bankrupt to all intents and purposes, was kept in penury. Te resultant discontent made a fertile breeding ground for extreme nationalism, and 20 years later – following a long period of ultimately futile diplomatic manoeuvring and posturing – the world was at war again. Te effect on the piano trade was immediate. From 1939 to 1945 virtually no pianos were made, as factories throughout the world were diverted into munitions work. Many makers, already weakened by the Great Depression, a ten-year global slump that preceded the war, never recovered. After 1945, with the victorious allies electing not to repeat the mistakes of 1919 but concentrating instead on aiding recovery, companies lucky enough to be in what became West Germany were able to prosper. Tose behind the Iron Curtain found things harder. Even those with strengthening economies, however, found that the glory days of Western piano manufacture were over. Not so in the East. One crucial consequence of the war in the Pacific was to hasten Japan’s move to western economic and manufacturing methods, aided by international investment and an enlightened domestic economic policy. Japan, with low wages relative to the quality of its output, had a competitive edge that increasingly (except possibly in the luxury market) put European and American brands on the back foot, particularly as it became an early adopter of new ▲ technological aids to manufacture.
MAKERS
4
1947: The point-contact transistor It is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of the point-contact transistor in shaping the modern world. It wasn’t the first component to allow electric control of mechanical devices, but earlier technologies had been less efficient, less reliable and prohibitively costly. Suddenly, with John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley’s 1947 invention, the entire electronics industry, and computing in particular, became economically viable. Te transistor, and the technological developments that followed it, changed the world dramatically, even before the emergence of digital technology. Craft industries, such as piano building, could suddenly take advantage of computercontrolled manufacture. While handassembly and hand-finishing are still essential elements in piano manufacture (especially in high-end models), several parts of the process – from woodworking and drilling to ‘bedding in’, using a mechanized system to play each key in a rapid sequence to ensure even preparation of hammer felts – could now be automated. Tat revolutionised the industry, especially in the midmarket, helping to keep costs down and standardising output quality. As the technology shifted from analogue electronics to digital, even more applications became possible, and not only on the production line. Schimmel, for instance, uses digital analysis of waveforms in designing its soundboards. It also gave rise to a new instrument: the digital piano. Tis has already found a niche as a low-maintenance, portable and volume-controllable alternative to the traditional upright, and not only at entry level – plenty of teachers and performers use them for note-learning, late-night practice and (connected to a computer) for composing and arranging. And it’s
Above: American president
still in relative infancy. Sacrilegious though it may sound, one day perhaps the digital piano could replace the traditional upright in the same way Below: Transistor pioneers,as the domestic piano supplanted the harpsichord. from left to right, John Bardeen, William Shockley Speculation aside, digital technology has brought fundamental changes to the and Walter Brattain way we learn about, buy and maintain pianos. Every manufacturer and retailer (and piano-related magazine) has a website. Every technician and tuner has email. Tere’s a financial angle, too. In real terms, pianos are more affordable than ever. Tat’s the result of the globalisation of manufacture, facilitated in large part by information technology – but getting there also required a shift in attitude on the part of the west.
1972: Nixon goes to China Te US president Richard Nixon called his visit to China in February 1972 ‘the week that changed the world’. Although its main objectives were political – partly to gain leverage in negotiations with Soviet Russia and partly to move to a resolution of the Vietnam War, or at least America’s involvement in it – the most obvious long-term effects have been economic. It’s no exaggeration to say that it changed the world of piano manufacture. It took time and more diplomatic missions before China’s mass manufacturing and trading relationships were established, but Nixon’s talks with Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai were the initial steps in what became a headlong rush. Tere are few manufacturers,
to compete. Meanwhile, musical instrument trade fairs are swamped with cheap Chinese pianos of dubious quality, ready to be badged with whatever fauxGerman brand name their purchaser can come up with. But that’s not an exclusively Chinese problem – there have always been cheap pianos, better for buying and selling than playing music, there have always been dealers whose prime interest is in turning a quick buck, and there have always been customers who fail to distinguish between cost and value. Equally, it’s not all bad. Reputable Chinese factories with proper quality control systems can (and do) turn out some very good instruments. Tey may not yet represent competition for the luxury brands – neither did Japanese pianos in their early days – but they’re improving all the time, and the bestknown Chinese marque, Pearl River, is coming up on its 60th anniversary. One thing Chinese manufacture has done is to make pianos (and everything else that is made there) more affordable to UK and US customers – and it’s opened the Chinese domestic market to imported luxury goods, including pianos. Tat phase might have peaked, however. China’s success is already causing wages and therefore prices to rise, and brand owners are already looking for the next low-cost manufacturing centre. On a sombre note, every one of these five milestone events made it harder for the old European and American manufacturers to compete in a world
even at the topundertaken end, who haven’t at the minimum feasibility studies to assess the viability of Chinese manufacture, and many famous names have subbed out some of their lower-end output to Chinese factories. Not all the outcome has been good. Much of the US and Western Europe’s manufacturing base (and not only for pianos) has disappeared, unable
where the piano was already past its is mass market heyday. Te consequence that many brands and associated trades have disappeared, many factories have closed and many skilled craftsman and technicians have lost their jobs. One can’t get too sentimental, however – this article would be about harpsichords made in Saxony had it not been for political and economic change. n
Richard Nixon, whose 1972 China trip altered China’s destiny and the world’s
5
84• Pianist83
REVOLUTION
The Silent
Studio
Stage
Serious about Study Practising anytime, night or day, without disturbing others or being disturbed gives Silent Piano owners a huge advantage. And Yamaha’s patented Quick Escape Mechanism lets you play with the same touch and feel in both acoustic and silent modes. The totally convincing illusion of sitting at a concert grand in a recital hall is created through headphones by t he binaurally sampled Yamaha CFX piano. And a further 18 great instrument sounds are included too. There’s MIDI of course for expansion and connectivity and, in silent mode customizable sensitivity, resonance, brilliance and sustain depth. Find out more at uk.yamaha.com/silentpiano
92• Pianist73 82
Home
REVIEW
CD
Marius Dawn is thunderstruck by Sokolov’s recital CD, transfixed by Blackshaw’s Mozart and intrigued by Clare Hammond’s offbeat etude disc Pianist star ratings: ★★★★★Essential – go get it! ★★★★Really great ★★★A fine release Buy these CDs from thePianist website.Visit http://pianistmag/cdreviews
Editor’s
JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET CHRISTIAN BLACKSHAW
CHOICE GRIGORY SOKOLOV The Salzburg Recital: Chopin Préludes; Two Mozart Sonatas; plus encores Deutsche Grammophon 479 4342 (2 discs) ★★★★★
e Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov has been hailed as the greatest living pianists. Yet he gives fewer performances per year than most other top pianists, and he’s a rare visitor to some of the world’s biggest concert halls – he has not performed in the UK since 2007. Years ago he stopped playing concertos in public, blaming lack of rehearsal time and intractable conductors. His first recordings appeared on the Russian state label Melodiya and later on a small French label, Opus 111 – they came from live concerts because of his steadfast aversion to entering recording studios. But Sokolov is far from a recluse. He is easy-going, approachable and loves giving encores (his encores can match the length of his main programme). is 2-CD set, his first with DG, comes from a 2008 Salzburg recital. So how does he fare? e word ‘divinely’ sums it up best. Most surprising is his dynamic range, which runs from a tender whisper to a thundering fortissimo, albeit never hard or banging, and always with a glorious singing tone. His Mozart looks towards Beethoven and his Chopin to Brahms. It is full of taste – srcinal without ever being idiosyncratic, and always totally musically convincing. e many encores encompass everything from a euphoric Scriabin to a Bach best described by the German word ‘innigkeit’. Sokolov’s is truly an art of piano playing no other living pianist could ever imitate.
CLARE HAMMOND
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN
Etude: Etudes by Lyapunov, Unsuk Chin, Szymanowski and Kapustin
★★Average ★Fair
BIS Records
Mozart Piano Sonatas K282, K283, K330, K332, K333, K545, K570, K576 plus smaller works
BIS-2004
Hyperion
Stravinsky works for piano and orchestra São Paolo SO/
Mozart Piano Sonatas Vol 2: K281, K282, K283, K330, K333
Yan Pascal Tortelier Chandos
Wigmore Hall Live
CHSA 5147
WHLive0069/2 (2 discs)
★★★★
★★★★★
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Chandos have been exploring the concertante works from early Haydn up to Prokofiev, and they’ve now arrived at Stravinsky. e three works for piano and orchestra on this disc are not exactly crowd-pleasers. e eccentric Movement not something one wants to hear often and the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments is best heard once. e 17-minute long Capriccio is the closest to a piano concerto, yet the piano is never given a chance to show off. Tortelier is a fine partner to Bavouzet, and they cut through the rhythmic challenges like a knife through butter. ere are many other versions in the market, but this should be a secure first choice.
It is too easy to say that Christian Blackshaw offers everything one could wish for in Mozart, but I do marvel at the way he plays this repertoire in this live recital release. Nothing escapes his fingers, and you can only nod and agree with his phrasings, tempos and dynamic gradations. e C major K330 Sonata, so hard to get flowing, is like a dance on velvet feathers, while the great B flat major K333 is a monument not only to fine interpretation but also to the pianistic control a performer can achieve in concert. Every bar of the E flat major K282’s opening is chiselled perfectly; the last movement is a whirlwind of sparkling stars. Wonderful! Blackshaw’s first Mozart CD is equally impressive.
CLAIRE-MARIE LE GUAY
PAUL L EWIS
Bach. Italian Concerto BWV 971, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue BWV 903, Partita No 1 and more
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Schumann: Fantasie in C
Harmonia Mundi
Mirare
CDA68029 (2 discs)
MIR 264
HMC 902096
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
Clare Hammond’s inventiveselection of etudes on this new disc includes no Chopin or Liszt, the composers of undoubtedly the most srcinal piano etudes. Hammond, however, shows us that other composers had something interesting to say, even though not quite on the Chopin or Liszt level. e three Lyapunov etudes, surely inspired by Liszt,
If, like Marc-André Hamelin, you have the ability to play Alberti basses to perfection and you can make a run up and down the keyboard as smooth as silk, you can concentrate on bringing the music out in Mozart. Hamelin plays, what is to my ears, the technically most brilliant and perfect Mozart committed to disc. Musically too he doesn’t make a single mistake
Claire-Marie Le Guay serves up a clever selection of Bach for solo piano – or, for solo harpsichord, as srcinally intended. Le Guay doesn’t imitate the crispness of the early instrument, but uses the full potential of a modern concert grand. is approach perfectly suits the opening ‘Italian’ Concerto and the closing Chromatic Fantasy. e First Partita has never
It is a pleasant surprise to hear Paul Lewis tackle the granite Mussorgsky. Lewis thunders through the last pages with muscular force and gives the chicken-inspired moment a run for its money. I liked his fearless approach – it is like a young gazelle outrunning its competitors. e Mussorgsky is oddly coupled with Schumann’s Fantasie, a harder piece to bring off.
receive a barnstorming performance, and lead, surprisingly, into six etudes by Unsuk Chin. Here the technical challenges also face the listener, as they do in the 12 harmonically tricky Szymanowski etudes. e last five jazzy etudes by Kapustin come as a relief and are presented with tonguein-cheek elegance. Sound is clear and transparent, just as the performance.
and tinker with the touches Mozart stylehe bydoesn’t sneaking in Romantic or overly dramatic dynamics. Rarely have I heard the Mozart sonatas played with such élan and forward drive. Yet while it is piano playing on an Olympian level, it misses the earthy side of this genius composer, that naughty young pool player from Salzburg who chased the girls.
lacked for brilliant but Le Guay need not fearperformers, her performance will be overlooked. Just listen to her energetic opening and tonal control in the slower sections. Less impressive is the late Capriccio, where a more light-handed approach was needed. A small quibble in an otherwise totally satisfactory Bach recital that is captured in perfect sound.
Lewis makes the Schumann wild range first of emotions of the movement completely enthralling, however, I missed the expression of the longing and inwardness that is such a part of Schumann’s music. e rhythmic second movement is a little aloof for my taste, but Lewis brings his beautiful singing tone to the tender last movement.
86• Pianist 83
PIANOFORTE
When you need printed music, just visit the Hound ...
TUNERS’ ASSOCIATION
... and see for yourself why so many customers from around the world return to ...
www.sheetmusichound.com
an established leader in print music one-stop
Do you: Need a piano tuner? Need advice about purchasing a piano? Want to join the Association? Want to become a piano tuner?
shopping
over 400,000 competitively priced scores listed online
used by music librarians across the world
Visit www.pianotuner.org.uk or contact the Secretary on 0845 602 8796 The Association provides the music profession and general public with a first class professional service in which they trust.
Email:
[email protected] - Tel/Fax:+44(0)845 1760 +44(0)1667838 455701 Sheet Music Hound Limited – Drumdelnies, Delnies, IV125 NT
87• Pianist 83
i
i
REVIEW
SHEET MUSIC
New editions of Beethoven and Bach, Moszkowski’s Spanish Dances duets, Satie’s surprising Morceaux and more in Michael McMillan’s round-up this issue FINGER FITNESS 3
PODGORNOV’S ROMANTIC THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIANO ALBUM VOL 3 RAVEL
Hans-Günter Heumann Schott ISMN: 979-0-22013460-9
Nicolai Podgornov Universal Edition ISBN: 978-3-70247188-0
In Pianist No 75 I looked at the first two books of Finger Fitness, which supplemented the excellent series of method books that Hans-Günter Heumann brought out in 2012 (reviewed in issue 69; [Heumann writes Pianist’s current Keyboard Class]). Since then, a third level has been added to the series, including this volume of exercises, Finger Fitness 3. e book contains 44 pieces in total, comprising finger exercises, such as those by Hanon and Berens, and studies by composers such as Gurlitt, Burgmüller and Czerny. Most of these are one or two pages long, and difficulty is appropriate for those working towards or having just taken their Grade 3. In keeping with all the other volumes in the Classical Piano Method series, the material is well thought out and clearly presented. One of the best of its kind.
Ten of the 13 pieces in this book are srcinal works by Nicolai Podgornov, a Russian composer born in 1950. e remaining three pieces include Podgornov’s arrangements of ‘In Dreams’ from the film Lord of the Rings, ‘Over the Rainbow’ from e Wizard of Oz and a rather saccharine piece by Cornelia Sigmund, about whom no information is provided. In some of his other published work (such as his Graded Pieces for Piano, and e Seasons), Podgornov has shown admirable craft in writing music that is appropriate for learners, so it is puzzling to find some rather unwieldy writing here. e book may be marked as ‘middle-grade’, but I suspect students around that level will find the left-hand accompaniments tough to master, and there isn’t enough inspiration in the music to compensate for this drawback.
BEETHOVEN
J S BACH
Sonata in F minor op 57 ‘Appassionata’ Bärenreiter ISMN: 979-0-00652816-5
Bärenreiter’s catalogue currently includes just two piano sonatas by Beethoven. eir edition of the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata op 13 was published in 2012, and is now joined by this edition of the ‘Appassionata’, also prepared by Jonathan Del Mar. e book begins with six pages of informative introductory notes by Misha Donat that outline the work’s genesis and performance practice. e music is then presented with Bärenreiter’s characteristic clarity, with
e most beautiful Ravel, according
no indications. book, but who has Fourfingering picturesorofpedalling Beethoven’s messy aforementioned fingerings by Ragna Schirmer, autographs are included, extensive stresses that her fingerings and hand sources are cited and the book is positionings are suggestions only and completed with a detailed critical that each player should find their own commentary. If you’re searching for way. e only thing this volume lacks the most scholarly edition and need no is a discussion on the realisation of editorial fingering suggestions, look no ornaments (of which there are plenty), further. What’s more, it’s available for and – for those that are interested in less than the price of a typical novel. one – a critical commentary.
Sonata No 14 ‘Moonlight’; Sonata No 21 ‘Waldstein’ Henle ISMN: 979-0-20181062-1; -0946-5 (HN1062; HN946)
notes or commentaries are printed – all that we know is that the music has been edited by Bartłomiej Kominek, a Polish pianist. Someone looking for an introduction to Ravel’s works may find the variety of works appealing, but such a person would surely benefit from editorial guidance on matters of fingering and pedalling (none are given). If you’re looking for a solo version of the Boléro around Grade 7, this is worth investigating, but more attractive editions of the other works are available.
Over the last few years, Henle hasbeen publishing Beethoven’s individual piano sonatas in a new edition by Norbert Gertsch and Murray Perahia. e older Henle editions of these pieces, prepared by Bertha Antonia Wallner and Conrad Hansen, are still available for the same price (ISMN: 979-0-2018-0049-3/HN49 [op 27 no 2]; -0057-8/HN57[op 53]). e layout of the music in the two editions is exactly the same, with page turns in identical places. e most obvious change is the fingering, with at least a dozen differences on the first page of the ‘Waldstein’ alone. Bar numbers are no longer circled, giving the page a sleeker look, and there are minute differences such as stems pointing the other way. e new editions are further improved by a short preface, critical commentary, and personal thoughts on the works by Perahia.
MOSZKOWSKI
SATIE
to this collection, comprises Pavane pour une infante défunte, Menuet antique, Prelude in A minor (1913), ‘La vallée des cloches’ from Miroirs, Menuet from Le tombeau de Couperin, an 11-page piano solo arrangement of Boléro, and the entire Valses nobles et sentimentales. No introductory
Spanish Dances op 12 Alfred ISBN:978-0-73909947-6
Goldberg Variations Bärenreiter ISMN: 979-0-00654317-5
Bärenreiter’s monumental NewBach Edition, comprising 104 volumes, was completed in 2007. About halfway through the project, in 1977, the Goldberg Variations, edited by Christoph Wolff, was published. Readers who prefer their music without editorial fingering can still buy that version (ISMN: 979-0-00646617-7/BA 5162). ose who want some fingering help, however, should look to this new publication, which has the same musical text as the
BEETHOVEN
Ravel PWM Edition ISMN: 979-0-27400525-2
Morceaux en forme de Poire (duet) Bärenreiter ISMN: 979-0-00654118-8
e five pieces that make up Moszkowski’s Spanish Dances are some of the most popular works in the piano duet literature, so it’s amazing to think that Moszkowski was just 17 years old when he wrote them. ey sound more difficult than they are (Grade 5-7) and the young composer’s understanding of how to write for the instrument was already evident in how effectively the music lies under the hands. is edition is based on one by Carl Simon, the
When Satie jokingly wrote to Debussy in 1903 that he was working on a piece that ‘is superior to everything that has been written’, he was referring to this set of piano duets which includes three numbered Morceaux (I, II and III), with two short pieces on each side – a total of seven pieces. ere are harmonic surprises and sudden dynamic changes that bemuse and delight in equal measure, and the whole work takes about 14 minutes
srcinal publisher, has thepages primo and secondo partsand on facing (as do all the other editions I have seen). Editorial fingering is provided. If you prefer your duet books in horizontal format, look to the Peters edition, but this Alfred edition is warmly recommended due to its clear musical text and helpful fingering suggestions for students.
to play. is most desirable contains a detailed history edition of the work, notes on performance practice, and a glossary of the French terms used in the music. e music itself is presented without fingering in score format, i.e. with the parts placed in vertical alignment, rather than on facing pages, allowing swift reference to your playing partner’s part.
ist 83 88 • •Pian Pianist 83 88
WHERE C AN I FIND... RETAILERS Markson Pianos
T
WORCESTERSHIRE
YORKSHIRE
Shackleford Pianos
7 – 8 Chester Court, Albany Street
Cheltenham Piano Centre
Stephen Brandon Pianos
Tony Bowden, Bethany Music
Athey Street
LONDON NW1 4BU
52 Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham
23B Whitby Av enue, York, North
Learn music theory by post.
Macclesfield
Tel : 020 7935 8682
Gloucestershire, GL52 2HP
Yorkshire, YO311EU
Grades 1 to 6. Beginners,
Cheshire
Web: www.marksonpianos.com
01242517635
01904 430270 / 01904430270
improvers and returnees, all
SK116QU
Our family run business established in www.cheltenham-piano-centre.co.uk
[email protected] welcome. Reasonable charges.
0800 0329919
1910 is focussed on customer needs. Bluthner, Yamaha, Bechstein,Kemble, www.stephenbrandonpianos.co.uk
[email protected]
Offering a huge selection of new,
The UK’s Premiere Piano Centre-
secondhand, acoustic and digital pianosundertaken in our workshops
pianos for over 30 years. We stock a
Over 150 pianos in 4000sq feet of
with quality at the right price.
large selection of new, second hand
showrooms and workshops Specialists in - Piano sales |
Our services include Sales, Long and Vale Pianos Short Term Hire, Restoration, Tuning, Piano Specialists with over 100
and restored upright and grand pianos .Our showroom is open every SaturdaySponsor research in effective piano
Restoration | French polishing |
Transport and Storage.
pianos on display. Family business.
10.30am to 5.00pm. An appointment ispractice: Help millions of c hildren
Workshops and showrooms.
advisable on weekdays.
CHESHIRE
“The Name to Note”
Servicing | Piano transport | Event hire
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
NORTH WEST
Cheltenham Piano Centre
Forsyth
52 Winchcombe Street,
126 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2GR
Cheltenham
0161 834 3281
Gloucestershire, GL52 2HP 01242517635
01242 250794
01242 250794
Dale Forty Restorations and repairs
NATIONWIDE
We have been selling high quality
01295 277 989.
Practice research
practicing piano daily to NOT
Visit www.valepianos.co.uk
WASTE THEIR TIME.
01386 860419
Write
[email protected]
Yorkshire Pianos
Anvil Works, Harrogate Road, Beamsley, BD23 6HZ 01756 711712
FOR SALE
www.Yorkshirepianos.com
Steinway Model Sbaby grand
[email protected]
One of the country’s largest selection
piano c1971 in a mahogany finish,
www.forsyths.co.uk
of quality pianos. Appointed agents for London N12 £31,000. Please
SURREY BORDERS
telephone Bradley for further
www.cheltenham-piano-centre.co.uk With over 150 years of experience
all major brands. New, used, upright,
Bluthner, Yamaha, Bechstein,Kemble, Forsyth offers the complete piano
grand, acoustic, digital. “The piano shopinformation 07961 199 640
Dale Forty Restorations and repairs
service.
Handel Pianos
undertaken in our workshops
Unrivalled selection of quality new
Verve House, London Road (A30),
and used pianos agents for
Sunningdale, Berkshire, SL5 0DJ
Bösendorfer, Bechstein, Kawai,
01344 8736 45
Cheltenham Piano Centre
Kemble, May-Berlin, Schimmel,
[email protected]
52 Winchcombe Street,
Vogel & Yamaha
www.handelpianos.co.uk
Pianists Together
finish, re-tuned Oct. 2014 to
Cheltenham
Rebuilt & Pre-owned by Bechstein,
Complete range of new and restored
Weekly workshop near
concert pitch.
Gloucestershire,
Bluthner, Fazioli, Ibach & Steinway
upright and grand pianos, for the
Brentwood/Chelm sford: duets,
Contact 01799 522 858 to view
beginner through to the professional.
accompaniment, musicianship,
(Saffron Walden, Essex). Price
Appointed Bosendorfer and Kemble
solo performance, kindred spirits
£3,250.
01242 250794
agents. As new, restored pianos
and friendly a tmosphere! Free
www.cheltenham-piano-centre.co.uk Cheltenham Piano Centre
from Bluthner & Bechstein
taster session. Individual tuition
HEREFORD
GL52 2HP 01242517635
OXON
in the Yorkshire Dales National Park” Knight Upright Piano
TUITION
Rebuilt 2004 by 1066 Pianos, Cambridge (certificate of work
ESSEX
available). Lacquer gloss cabinet
Bluthner, Yamaha, Bechstein, Kemble,52 Winchcombe Street,
also offered. w ww.cagmus.org.uk/
Dale Forty Restorations and repairs
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,
piano.html 07801 258261
undertaken in our workshops
GL52 2HP
LONDON
01242517635 01242 250794 www.cheltenham-piano-centre.co.uk
Peregrine’s Pianos
Bluthner, Yamaha, Bechstein,
137A Grays Inn Road . London
Kemble, Dale Forty
WC1X 8TU
Restorations and repairs undertaken
Tel: 020 7242 9865
in our workshops
E:
[email protected] W: www.peregrines-pianos.com
PIANO WORKSHOP
Est. 1982
SURREY
We are here to sell and hire out fine, modern upright and grand pianos,
Piano Warehouse
and to provide a unique working
111-113 Ewell Road, Surbiton,
environment for the music profession. Surrey, KT6 6AL
NW LONDON Piano Warehouse
0208 399 4110 www.piano-warehouse.co.uk Specialists in sales and rentals.
291-295 Willesden Lane London
Piano Workshop of Reigate
NW2 5HY
Sales-Rental-Restoration
0207 267 7671
Practice and teaching rooms for hire
www.piano-warehouse.co.uk
ABRSM exam centre
Specialists in sales and rentals
www.pianoworkshop.co.uk
W Hoffmann T177 Bright Walnut
Restoration specialists - pianos purchase
ww w.pianowo rks hop.co.uk
d. Over 90 pianos on display.
Tel: 01737 242174
46b Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey RH2 9EL
CLASSIFIEDS . .
Piano specialists for over four generations
We have over 70 pianos on offer from
: |
Bosendorfer| Bluthner Bechstein| Kemble Yamaha| Kawai
-
With many other new and quality pre loved pianos. With delivery arranged countrywide
:
www.handelpianos.co.uk Tel: 01344 Email: sales@hande lpianos.co. Verve House |873645 London Road | Sunningdale | Berkshire | SL5 uk 0DJ
For Sale: Schimmel Upright Piano122KE 1990, black ebony polish, 1 owner, domestic use, very good condition, last tuned in February 2015, last regulated in 2010, located in Bath, UK. Buyer to collect (professional insured remover only please).58cm deep, 122cm high, 150cm wide. Private sale.
£5,950 ono.
[email protected]
H
i
i
THE UK’S CENTRAL PIANO AUCTION HOUSE
APRIL 9TH 2015 AUCTION
Be part of our piano auction in Manchester this April and take home that piano you have been promising yourself. Instruments for beginners to professionals all at excellent prices.Prices from £400.00 up to £40,000 VIEWING TIMES Tuesday 7th April 15:00 20:00h Wednesday 8th April 12:00 20:00h Thursday 9th 09:00 - 11:45h auction opens at 12:00 noon The Engine Room Peoples History Museum Complex Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3ER
Three examples of lots in the April auction: STEINWAY A beautiful 1968 Model B in an ebonised case raised on square tapered legs together with a button down concert stool and cover.
Est. £14,000 – 18,000 YAMAHA A 1986 Model C3 grand piano in a mahogany polyester case raised on square tapered legs.
Est. £3,000 – £5,000 ZENDER
A C.1972 modern upright piano in a shadowed walnut polyester case
Est. £400 - 700
For a free catalogue for this auction or a valuation of your piano for future sales please call (+44) 0161 977 0075 or visit www.britanniapianoauctions.com
Don’t miss out on buying your dream piano at the right price...
91• Pianist 83