Pianist No84 - June-July 2015

OF 40 WITHFR EV E ER TU S P Y E TO H IS A RI E SU AL E G E T CD E & M O S NL U IN S E I LE C

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No 84

Helping you become a better player

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Pianist 84

CONTENTS

June-July 2015 The next issue of Pianist goes on 31 July 2015

74

67

76 4 Editor’s Note 4 Reader Competition Win a Martha Argerich & Daniel Barneboim DVD 6 Readers’ Letters 8

News A plethora of pianists at this year’s BBC Proms, Argerich and Barenboim united, Steinway unveils the Spirio player piano, a farewell to Katin and more

14 Igor Levit He might love Bach and Beethoven, but he has a penchant for Rzewski too. Jessica Duchen meets the deep-thinking Russian pianist 18 How to Play Masterclass 1 Mark Tanner on tackling the black notes 20 How to Play Masterclass 2 Graham Fitch on Baroque and Classical pedalling. Second of a three-part series on pedalling

14 Newman on 26 How to Albumblatt Play 3 Janet a Wagner (Scores page 41)

27 Great Piano Composers of the Classical Era Pre-order your copy of this Pianist special issue 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 12: Polyrhythms 67 Jeremy Denk Inge Kjemtrup meets the concert pianist and writer to find out what makes this $625,000 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ winner so special 70 Music Theory Love it or loathe it, getting to grips with theory will help your playing no end. John Evans presents a strong case for theory

22 How to Play 1 Melanie Spanswick on a Minuet by Amy Beach (Scores page 30)

74 Leif Ove Andsnes He’s approaching the end of a four-year Beethoven journey, which culminates at this year’s BBC Proms. Erica Worth finds out how it began

24 How to Play 2 Lucy Parham on Mendelssohn’s Song without Words op 67 no 2 (Scores page 62)

76 In Praise of Digitals Gez Kahan looks at features that make digitals able to transcend the limits of an acoustic piano

Don’t miss Graha m’s online lessons!

9 82 Insuring your Instrument wondered how well protected yourEver beloved piano is? We look at the terms and conditions for both acoustic and digital, and what you need to know 84 Subscribe today for just £4.50 an issue by Direct Debit and receive an Improve your piano grade book worth £8.99 86 CD Reviews Louis Lortie’s waltzing Chopin and Donka Angatschewa’s concertos disc both receive five stars, but it’s Stephen Hough’s Grieg Lyric Pieces that wins Editor’s Choice 88 Sheet Music Review Praise for Bernstein from Boosey & Hawkes, Debussy from Bärenreiter, American piano duets from OUP, plus more reviews of music for all levels 89 Classifieds

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Cover photo: © Felix Broede. Images this page: © Michael Wilson (Denk); © Felix Broede (Levit); © Oezguer Albayrak (Andsnes); © Belinda Lawley (Argerich & Barenbom). 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.

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Editor’s note



his past month I’ve received several inspirational le tters fromPianist readers, and this issue’s star letter from Jennie Gardner was especially moving. Jennie writes about the passion and joy shefeels for the piano, even though she claims there si ‘nothing magical’ in her playing. hat made me think about what we mean when we say a pianist possesses a special ‘it’ quality. Te answer might be found inside this issue, in three in-depth interviews from three super-talented and yet totally different pianists. Firstly, there’s our cover artist Igor Levit. Te whole music world has been talking about him recently (and I’ve heard him live for myself – he’s out of this world). Read what he has to say about playing ‘badly’, about approaching Bach on the modern instrument, and about really listening to the sound you create. Ten there’s concert pianist and writer Jeremy Denk, who is interviewed on page 67. Jeremy recently won a $625,000 MacArthur ‘genius grant’. How did that happen, and what makes him so special? On page 74 you can read my interview with Leif Ove Andsnes, who has been immersed in a Beethoven journey for the past four years. We spotted the Norwegian pianist’s star quality way back in 2001, when he was on our first-ever Pianist cover. What would these mighty three pianists say about music theory? I reckon they’d all say it’s important. Tat’s what John Evans argues in his article on page 70 – embrace theory rather than fear it. He’s backed up by the likes of British pianist Joanna MacGregor who says this about theory, ‘I absolutely loved it… it was like a bit of joyful maths’. ake that as inspiration to get cracking on your Grade 5 theory! Our star letter writer Jennie Gardner tells us that she is glad that Pianist caters to all levels. Te Scores this issue, for example, contain lots of easier pieces by Purcell, Czerny, Bach and Amy Beach; an array of intermediate-level pieces including Wagner, Chopin and Satie; and finally, an advanced Mendelssohn Song without Words. We aim to cater to all tastes when it comes to the instrument too – acoustic and digital (see Gez Kahan’s article on the pluses of digital pianos on page 76). Jennie describes Pianist as ‘the perfect companion’, so maybe we do have a little star quality of our own. But our real goal is to make you shine at the piano.

P.S. We received do zens of entries to our ‘Compose an Arrangement’ Competition. Congratulations to all who ent ered. Now the judging begins! 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

ENTER ONLINE AT WWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM

WIN A COPY OF THE MARTHA ARGERICH & DANIEL BARENBOIM DUOS DVD Answer the question below correctly, and you could be one of three winners to receive a copy of the Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim concert from EuroArts. (See News stor y, page 9) The pianists Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim were both born in which country? A: Portugal B: Germany C: Argentina ENTER ONLINE ATWWW.PIANISTMAGAZINE.COM a g e v o l a E in m ja n e B ©

Postcard entries are also accepted . Please send to Erica Worth, Editor, COMP PIA0115,Pianist, 6 Warrington Crescent, London W9 1EL, UK. Competition closes 31 July. Quote PIA0115 and remember to put your name, address and telephone number on the postcard as well as your answer.

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Pianist

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

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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, 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 Publica tions, West Street, Bourne, 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 magazinedan 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 responsibili ty 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

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Readers’ Letters Get in touch WRITE TO:The Editor, Pianist, 6 Warrington Crescent, London, W9 1EL, UK OR EMAIL: [email protected] STAR LETTERwins a surprise CD. Letters may be edited.

STAR LETTER

The magic of playing the piano When I first started rea ding Pianist , I felt not only out of my depth but also a fraud. Surely, I said to myself, this is a magazine for serious pianists, professionals even, not for people who simply aspire to be better than they are. As someone whose family is not musical and who had never listened to anything but pop songs, I was not a prime candidate for learning the piano. It was my grandmother who suggested that I might like to have lessons, so, aged 14, I made my first tentative foray into the world of music. My piano teacher did not expect me – a late starter, with no musical background – to stick to it. It was a certain determination that helped me persevere and slowly work my way through the grades. I stopped playing when I took a gap year, and I only played sporadically at university, mainly because the pianos I had access to were so old and out of tune that only half of the notes worked, and the sound they made was truly awful. After university I took the piano up again. I was about to start studying for Grade 8 when I fell pregnant. Now my son is 18 months old, I have gone back to piano lessons. Deep down I cherish my dream of reaching Grade 8 and sometimes I even dare to think about the possibility of a diploma. I am not a particularly good player; there is certainly nothing magical about my playing – I don’t have that enviable ability to make people stop in their tracks or sit up straight and really listen. I struggle with the technical side and with the concept of musicality . Oftentimes I am too busy trying to find the right notes to worry about the subtleties of touch and phrasing, let alone suffi ciently control the pedal, and yet I try not to let this worry me. I play the piano because I enjoy it and want to have fun. I accept that I will never be an amazing player and instead focus on being the best that I personally can be. To sit at the piano and feel a piece of music work its way under your fingers and into the very heart of your body and mind is such a satisfying thing to do. e deep resonance of sound and colour with is methe allperfect day, ancompan extra ray sunshine, and cheering me of along. Your stays magazine ionofand readingshining it is likebrightly embarking on a voyage exploration, which broadens my knowledge and understanding and introduces me to new pieces. is new window on the world is so inspirational. Although I look at the advanced pieces and long for the day that I can play them, I no longer feel like a fraud, for I have realised that just like the piano, your magazine is for all players, whatever their level, the only prerequisite is a love of the piano and a desire to have fun! Jennie Gardner, Bath What an inspirational letter! W e are delighted that Pianist has been your companion on your musical journey and that you’ve kept on with your playing, even if your life has become busier. Your story is one that many of our readers will find familiar. A surprise CD is on its way to you.

Smiling over ‘Cry Me a River’

Ready for a new challenge!

When I picked up a copy of the current issue of Pianist [No 83], and saw the wording on the cover ‘Learn the sultry “Cry me a River”’, I was delighted. It is such a great song, and I’ve wanted to learn it for some time. I’ve never found the perfect arrangement for my level of playing, which is what you’d call interm ediate. e ones that I’ve come across have either looked too easy or too hard. But this suits me perfectly, and the harmonies are really ‘juicy’. It’s going to take me some time to perfect, but that’s the joy of it. I also appreciated the accompanying article by Inge Kjemtrup. I knew very little about the background to the piece. It was a real eyeopener, and it somehow makes me understand the music more. anks for both! David Benson, Wiltshire

Just over a year ago I su bscribed to Pianist , which I love. Like Elisabeth Geiser (Readers’ Letters, issue 83) I had been ‘dormant’ for some years. I started playing the piano at the ripe old age of 37 when my dear grandmother passed on and left me her beloved upright piano. I was determined to learn to play this piano, even though it was riddled with woodworm! I could not then afford another piano, so I treated this piano for six months before bringing it inside. Subsequently, I had lessons from a lovely teacher in a local town. Being a classical guitarist originally, I had great diffi culty at first reading the bass clef. However, I persevered and eventually got to Grade 6. en, it just all stopped: family, children, high-pressured job, etc. just all conspired to squeeze my time. 6• Pianist 84

Last year I decided to get back into the piano, so purchased a copy of your magazine. I very quickly took out a subscription: the variety of graded music, the articles, the reviews, the teaching help has really engaged me. (I too have learnt a great deal from Graham Fitch’s ideas on practising). At one point, I had a passion to get to Grade 8, but do not know whether I could spare the time (or have the energy) for all the scales, arpeggios, technical work as well as pieces. A friend mentioned the London College of Music Leisure Play exams, where you can just play four pieces: three from specified sources and one choice of your own. ere are no technical demands re: exercises/sca les etc. is appeals to me. I would like to push myself as far as I can go, but essentially I am now (at the ripe young age of 62) playing for pleasure. I would love to hear from anyone who can suggest ways for me to take my piano studies further. In the meantime, I shall continue to subscribe to your great magazine for all it gives me. Jerry Bettington, Leicestershire Jerry, you are doing wonder fully! Keep practising. Can readers suggest ways for Jerry to make further progress? to your us atwords the contact details and we’llWrite pass on of wisdom to above, him.

A mystery London piano maker I wonder if you at Pianist , your contributors or your readers may be able to help me find out more about my great-grandfather and great-great grandfather, who, I’ve discovered, were makers of pianos in London in the 19th century. My great-great grandfather was Robert Lovell, and the censuses of 1841 to 1891 describe him as a pianoforte maker. Advertisements in local newspapers confirm that he was a pianoforte manufacturer in Holloway Road, Islington, London during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. My grandfather, Richard Buckler, married Robert Lovell’s daughter and is also described in censuses as a pianoforte maker. It seems that he worked with Robert Lovell and there is a newspaper reference in 1879 to Lovell & Buckler, Pianoforte Manufacturers. I shall be delighted to receive any further information about these two men and their work. And I wonder if there are, or ever were, any ‘Robert Lovell’ or ‘Lovell and Buckler’ pianos in existence? Guy Buckler, Hertfordshire We consulted some experts, but are sorry to say that we have so far proved unsuccessful in finding anything about this maker. Can any of our readers help Mr Buckler? Please contact the Editor at [email protected].

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News

All the latest news from the world of the piano

Fantastique finalists at Paris amateur competition PIANISTS REIGN A T THE BBC PROMS Mozart, Prokofiev, Schiff ’s Goldbergs and more

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Tis year’s BBC Proms (17 July-12 Sep) is shaping up to be a gratifying one for pianophiles. Pianists are everywhere, playing repertoire from Mozart to Boulez, and managing to nudge aside the often-more heard violin from the top spot. Even the Last Night of the Proms (12 Sep) features a pianist: Benjamin Grosvenor (pictured above), playing Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. Tis year all of virtuosic Prokofiev piano concertos will be played in a one-evening marathon on 28 July, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. Daniil Trifonov plays Nos 1 and 3, while his teacher, Sergei Babayan, handles Nos 2 & 5, leaving Alexei Volodin to perform No 4, for the left hand. Prokofiev’s Fourth Concerto was commissioned by the one-armed Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, whose most famous commission, the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand, is also played this year, by Marc-André Hamelin (12 Aug), while Jean-Efflam Bavouzet plays the other Ravel, the Concerto in G (7 Aug). A Mozart threadanweaves through Proms, with many theJuly) best-known keyboard concertos making appearance. It the starts on opening nightof(17 with Lars Vogt in Concerto No 20 K466, and goes on with the Labèques (pictured above; they’ll play the Concerto for two pianos K365; 31 July), Francesco Piemontesi (No 26 K537; 2 Aug), Elisabeth Leonskaja (No 22 K482; 19 Aug),David Fray (No 24 K491; 24 Aug), Maria João Pires (No 23 K488; 28 Aug), and Igor Levit (No 27 K595; 2 Sep). Other pianistic pleasures includeAndrás Schiff in a late-night concert of the Goldbergs (22 Aug),Leif Ove Andsnes with his monumental Beethoven journey (see page 74 for details) andJeremy Denk in the rarely heard Cowell concerto (see page 67). Tis year’s Prommers will definitely be shouting ‘Heave-Ho!’ many more times than normal, as yet another piano makes its way on or off the Royal Albert Hall stage. For full information on this year’s BBC Proms, go to bbc.co.uk/proms

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Tey’re called amateurs, but the five so-called amateur pianists battling for first prize at this year’s Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano on 15 March at the Grand Amphitheatre of the University of Assas in Paris played at a nearly professional level. I have attended many of this competition’s finals as a member of the press jury, and this was the highest standard yet. Te most outstanding finalists were Michael Slavin, an ophthalmologist from the USA, Eric Rouach, an estate agent from Israel, and Samuel Bach, a doctoral student in mathematics from France. Slavin entranced with an intimate but intelligent Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin , Rouach brought the house down with a driven and convincing Liszt Sonata and Bach brought gorgeous singing tone and inner calm to Schubert’s Sonata D959. Choosing the winner s was not easy for those of us on the press jury nor could it have been for the main jury, which included Marc Laforet, Michel Dalberto, Reiko Nakaoki, Marc André and Bruno Rigutto. After a short deliberation, the jury SlavinTird and Bach first prize, Rouach givenawarded second prize. prizejoint was another tie,with going to the remaining two finalists: Oliver Korber, an investment banker from France, and Johannes Gaechter, a computer programmer from Germany. Rouach won the press jury prize, and he shared the audience prize with Bach. Te winners get to share the $3,000 prize, plus each will perform with an orchestra this autumn. About 100 contestants from over 29 countries entered this year’s competition, or rather an ‘anti-competition’, as the president Gérard Bekerman calls it. It was founded in 1989, and continues to be one of the most popular amateur piano competitions. Erica Worth

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TOGETHER AGAIN: Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim play duos A friendship forged as children in their native Argentina means that Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim have a lifetime of understanding, personal and musical, which is evidenced in a new DVD of them playing piano duo repertoire. Te touching DVD booklet describes when they both played at the home of a local music lover. ‘We were the two little wunderkinder,’ says Argerich. ‘My mother used to say, “Oh, why can’t you be like Daniel?” For his part, Barenboim recalls her playing of Chopin’s C sharp minor Etude from opus 10 as having ‘exactly the same fire and brilliance that she plays it with today.’ Te two talents went their separate ways to brilliant careers, but recently have performed duos together, which culminated in the new disc. Pianist Editor Erica Worth was at the Royal Festival Hall when the encore following Argerich’s performance of Beethoven’s First Concerto with Barenboim conducting wasclose Schubert’s duo, GrandofRondo in A D951. ‘Argerich Barenboim sat together in front the keyboard, creating musicand of the highest level,’ says Worth. ‘An intimate account – as if the audience didn’t exist. Tey worked the music together subtly, in tune with each other’s musical thoughts. Te hall was silent. We all knew this was history in the making.’ Te DVD features Mozart’s Sonata for wo Pianos in D K448, Schubert’s Variations on an Original Teme in A flat D 813 and the four-handed version of Stravinsky’sRite of Spring. Te recording was made during the Festage in Berlin in April 2014 and recorded at the Philharmonie Berlin. Deutsche Grammophon released a CD of the same concert last year. Martha Argerich/Daniel Barenboim Piano Duos from Euroarts: DVD 2059998 and Blu Ray 2059994 (CD: Deutsche Grammophon 0289 479 3922)

Obituary: Chandos Records founder Brian Couzens Brian Couzens, the founder of the noted independent record label Chandos, died in April at the age of 82. Couzens began as an arranger, music publisher and recording engineer, and started Chandos in 1979. Within a decade, the new label was praised by critics for its high audio standards and for its exploration of a wide repertoire, notably music by British composers. Chandos scooped up multiple awards, with Couzens himself receiving a Gramophone special achievement award in 2010. On Chandos’s 30th anniversary in 2009, Couzens reflected that he had ‘the opportunity to work with some wonderful artists, and my philosophy has always been to produce beautiful recordings that people wanted to hear.’

News

All the latest news from the world of the piano A breath of fresh air – Steinway Spirio New high-tech player piano technology debuts

CD Review: 1 box, 32 pianists, 40 CDs DG’s gigantic new collection is an amazing treasure trove Deutsche Grammophon has always attracted the finest pianists, and many of them are represented with samples of their finest recordings in a remarkable new 40-CD collection, which can be purchased for little more than the price of four full-price CDs. I can’t cite a single disc in this box that doesn’t include some of the most important piano recording s from the past 65 years. Many collectors will already own some of the releases here – ground-breaking Schumann from Géza Anda, Ravel from Monique Haas and gritty Bartók from Andor Mozart by Clara Haskil and theFoldes. movingLikewise, Grieg Lyric Piecesplayed as played by Emil Gilels have never been out of the catalogue. e box presents 32 pianists born between 1895 and 1991, including no less than five Chopin Competition winners, though not the 1980 winner, Dang ai Son. Chopin’s Etudes in the steely Pollini performance and the Ballades wonderful realised by Zimerman are only two of the many Chopin recordings included. ree versions of Chopin’s Barcarolle (Argerich, Grimaud, Zimerman) make for fascinating comparison. Argerich’s debut album is still a marvel, and could Debussy reach any greater heights than in the hands of Michelangeli? Collectors will savour the rarities, too: the two Weber sonatas from Dino Ciani, four sparkling Haydn sonatas from Christoph Eschenbach and a colourful Debussy recital from Alexis Weissenberg. en there are some controversial recordings, such as Andrei Gavrilov’s Goldberg Variations and the Pogorelich ‘edge of your seat’ recital which includes Ravel’s Gaspard. e younger Asian stars, Lang Lang, Yundi and Yuja Wang, are also here with their finest recordings from the catalogue, as are the Russians – Richter, Berman, Trifonov and Horowitz. It’s a pity there are so few Chopin nocturnes (a few from Pires) and just half of Szidon’s Scriabin sonatas. It’s also too bad that short playing time of some CDs was not better filled. However, these are minor quibbles and should not stop anyone from grabbing this box while it is available. Marius Dawn

111 THE PIANO: Legendary Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, Limited Edition (DG 0028947943518; 40 CDs)

Steinway’s Spirio player piano technology made its debut at a glittery launch at London’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery in May. Spirio – or ‘Spirare’ in Latin – means ‘to breathe’, and this new product is a breath of fresh air for Steinway. Introducing Spirio, Steinway CEO Michael Sweeney (pictured at the launch) said that it was the first new product from the legendary maker in 70 years. Spirio boasts a high-resolution playback system that uses proprietary software that measures hammer velocity and proportional pedalling, making it possible to see the subtle playing of any number of Steinway artists on this high-tech player piano. At the launch, British pianist Simon Mulligan played a Chopin waltz and Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm’, which was then played by the Spirio on its own. A Spirio performance of another Gershwin piece (coordinated with a film of Gershwin performing) was also impressive. e Spirio system is controlled by an iPad app, and will be available in North American on Models B and M, and in Europe and Asia in Models B and O. For details, visit www.steinwayspirio.com. More about Spirio in a forthcoming issue of Pianist.

British pianist Peter Katin dies e distinguished British pianist Peter Katin, who found initial fame in the Romantic repertoire but forged his own path, died in March, age 84. Born into an unmusical family, Katin became a student of the noted pedagogue Harold Craxton. Katin made his Wigmore Hall debut age 17, enjoyed success at the Proms with the Rachmaninov ird Concerto in 1953, and was soon a regular on the stage. He also toured including the first tourconcert made by a British pianist, in internationally, 1958, of the Soviet Union. But Katin was not satisfied with his place in the musical firmament. As his former concert manager Lisa Peacock writes, Katin’s ‘real interest lay in the Classical and less flamboyant Romantic repertoire, and especially in the music of Chopin of which he was considered an outstanding interpreter.’ In 1978 he moved to Canada to teach, and, returning to the UK in 1984, found the musical landscape not to his liking. He nonetheless rebuilt his career and attracted a late-life following. Peacock says, ‘He made a large number of recordings, many of which are still obtainable, including complete cycles of Mozart’s piano sonatas, Grieg’s Lyric Pieces and Chopin’s Nocturnes, Ballades, Polonaises and Waltzes.’

Yamaha’s ‘b in the movies’ competition To celebrate the tenth year of its popular b series pianos, Yamaha Europe has announced its ‘b in the movies’ competition. If you play on one of the b series pianos (b1, b2 or b3,), all you need to do to enter is to upload a short video on the Yamaha Facebook page of yourself ‘enjoying and playing a b series piano,’ as Yamaha puts it. ‘e clip can be shot anywhere: in a music shop, in a school, at home or at one of a number of locations up and down the country where Yamaha will be installing pianos for the duration of the promotion.’ Simply upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo, and enter at www.facebook.com/ YamahaPianosEurope. e deadline for entries is 1 October, and you have to be a UK or European resident to enter. If your video is chosen, you’ll win £800 – and maybe even another £800 if your video receives the most public votes (get your friends and family to vote too). Plus, if you’re a Pianist reader, your entry will appear on the Pianist Facebook page – fame, if not fortune, guaranteed! .

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FOCUS

JAQUES SAMUEL PIANOS Supporng the music community for 80 years

London retailer Jaques Samuel Pianos is a sure stop for piano lovers – with pianos to buy, to rent, to practise on, a restoration service and much more. Now in its 80th year, and with Managing Director Terry Lewis at the helm, it continues to impress FESTIVALSJaques Samuel Pianos’

engagement with the community thrives through its three yearly piano festivals and once yearly Junior Festival. e Junior Festival is open to youngsters from the four main colleges with the opportunity to perform at Wigmore Hall on a beautiful Fazioli! With its many years of experience in the industry, the piano festivals – open to all ages, grades and levels – enable Jaques Samuel to provide a highly

experienced adjudica tor to offer helpful, positive feedback in a relaxed and friendly environment.

Top: Terry Lewis with Steinweg, Petrof, Fazioli & Kawai. Bottom, from

COMPETITION2015 sees the 20th

left to right: Daniil

year of Jaques Samuel’s Intercollegiate Piano Competition, which continues to go from strength to strength – with the Wigmore Hall final being webca st live around the world. Open to students from London’s four main music colleges, the competition prizes include

Trifonov on Fazioli with

12• Pianist 84

a recorded Wigmore Hall recital, a

colleagues from Grotrian-concert at the Fazioli Concert Hall in

Sacile, Italy, and a performance and interview on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’. EXAMSIn 2013 the company

was thrilled to become an exam and diploma centre for the ABRSM and Trinity. Suzuki teacher training also Nye presents the trophies takes place at the showroom and with at Wigmore Hall for the its competition heats and festivals held Junior Festival there too, it ensures a thriving centre for all piano-related activity. Terry Lewis; Angela

Hewitt on Fazioli; Royal College Professor Ruth

Jaques Samuel Pianos from past to present 1935 – Jaques Samuel moves from

that Jaques Samuel Pianos is delighted to provide to the piano tuners of the future. It is the only shop providing a concert technician course which takes five years to complete.

Austria to the UK with his wife Erna. He was a piano tuner and set up as such, but also sold a few pianos that he reconditioned. His first ‘shop’ was situated in their front room in a house in Notting Hill. Sadly Jaques’ health deteriorated and he returned to Austria in 1965. He and his wife were great friends with the stars of the day, Richard Strauss, Arthur Schnabel and Shura Cherkassky.

TRIPS As part of the company’s

1965 – The Shop is sold to Edward

commitment to the pianos it sells, Jaques Samuel provides a unique insight for teachers and tuners (or any interested parties!) into how and where

Mandel who was then a manager at Marks and Spencer. In the same year Jaques Samuel Pianos was appointed Bechstein House, moving to Edgware

the arethe made. Trips have in beeninstruments organised to Kawai Factory Japan, the Fazioli factory in Italy, the Grotrian-Steinweg factory in Germany and to Piano Fiks in Poland. e trips help to demonstrate just why the company chooses to work with these particular brands, not to mention simply being a lot of fun!

Road Mr Mandel away in in 1972. 1999 and his threepassed children, Steve, Mel and Sue remain the major shareholders.

Sightseeing on the Kawai factory visit to Japan

FAZIOLI AND ARTIST RELATEDJaques Samuel Pianos

continues to supply the world’s most talented young pianists with the piano of their choice, Fazioli, for their biggest UK performances. Names include Daniil Trifonov, Boris Giltburg, Federico Colli, Francesco Piemontesi, Antonii Baryshevskyi as well as 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year winner Martin James Bartlett. Established such asLouis Angela Hewitt, Herbiestars Hancock, Lortie and Nikolai Demidenko are also artists the company regularly provides with Fazioli. During last year’s Arthur Rubinstein Competition, the winner decided to switch from a Steinway to a Fazioli piano. His subsequent victory demonstrates yet another of the many significant occasions in recent years where the new generation of pianists have had the greatest success choosing to perform on Fazioli. e last two winners of the Rubinstein Competition requested Fazioli for their Wigmore prize recitals. ere is no such thing as a ‘Fazioli Artist’. Mr Fazioli insists it must be the pianist’s choice. To provide the artist with the finest instrument in the world continu es to be the Fazioli ethos, and as such, Jaques Samuel Pianos continue to provide the world’s finest piano from its London showroom. TUNERS All of the company’s tuners

are required to pass strict in-house tests in addition to any existing qualifications they may have. ose interested in pursuing concert platform work may do additional training courses at piano factories in Italy, Germany, Japan and the Czech Republic – an opportunity

Until 1998 the piano restoration

factory is located in the basement of the showroom. 1996 – Terry Lewis becomes

THE EDWARD MANDEL/ JAQUES SAMUEL PIANOS BURSARYcontinues to support

students of the RCM, RAM and Trinity, with the welcome new addition of e Purcell School and e Yehudi Menuhin School. ere will never be a time when talented young pianists, many perhaps coming to the UK and London for the first time, do not need the help and support of the musical community in achieving their dreams. Jaques Samuel Pianos aims to be part of that support, providing the yearly bursary to one new recipient from each college who shows a clear and promising talent but who is in particular need of financial assistance. It is the company’s aspiration to be one of the many vital components in making the success of tomorrow’s greatest concert pianists a reality. ■ 13• Pianist 84

Managing Director of Jaques Samuel Pianos (formerly piano buyer at Harrods). Work begins on a £0.5 million refurbishment of the showrooms. Practice rooms introduced and increased to 14 by 2015. Terry continues the compa ny’s association with the leading lights of the piano world – establishing lasting friendships with Daniil Trifonov, Louis Lortie, Nikolai Demidenko and Angela Hewitt. In 1996 Jaques Samuel Pianos is voted Music Retailer of the Year by the MIA (Music Industries Association). 2014 – was the company’s most successful year in its

history, with 200 Kawai pianos alone sold that year. There are in general 6,000 tunings per year, 1,000 short term hires, 600 domestic hires. 2015 (Jan)– 80 years anniversar y of Jaques Samuel

Pianos, celebrated at a Gala dinner event at the London showroom with all of Jaques Samuel’s nine full time staff hosting at various tables.

ADVERTISING FEATURE

INTERVIEW

G  T IGOR LEVIT

Anything but your stereotypical Russian virtuoso, Igor Levit loves Bach, Beethoven and Rzewski, and tells Jessica Duchen why playing ‘badly’ can sometimes be helpful his happens to be an extraordinary time for amazing pianists under 30. Yet even amid a peer group that includes the likes of Daniil Trifonov, Benjamin Grosvenor, Federico Colli and Boris Giltburg, Igor Levit seems a young man destined for greatness. Compact, well-dressed , ferociously intelligent, this young German-Russian musician is 28, but already has a recording contract with Sony Classical. He was also a BBC New Generation Artist for two years and he has been showered with international awards. His debuts at the world’s greatest concert halls are piling up in quantities matched only by the subsequent reinvitations. It’s an imposing start to a career – but with the last six Beethoven sonatas as his first CD release, followed by the six Bach Partitas, Levit has set his

T

work from that powerhouse of contemporary American pianism, Frederic Rzewski. Levit was born in Russia – in Nizhny-Novgorod, also Daniil Trifonov’s hometown – but the family moved to Hanover when he was eight. He regards Germany as his home country and German as his first language, identifying not so much with his Russian background as with his parents’ attitudes and heritage. ‘Both are Jewish and both came from educated, intelligent families,’ he says. ‘I grew up in a house that was full of books and conversation.’ His mother, a pianist herself, had studied with a pupil of Heinrich Neuhaus, and was young Igor’s first teacher. e literary influence of his family and the encouragement he received at school to take an interest in politics emerges in

playing that is full of a questioning, questing personality – an unconscious yet inevitable reflection, he suggests. ‘I base everything on the composer’s text. But it often happens that as I play, I’m very focused and then something comes into my mind that I experienced a month or a week before: something I read, something I ate, someone I met. Of course it changes the atmosphere and the aura of the music. It happens all the time.’ Anyone who expected Levit to fit the stereotype of the young Russian virtuoso just playing warhorse concertos has had to think twice. ‘People don’t expect that any more,’ he laughs. ‘I love “Rach 2”, I performed it twice and I don’t have to do it again.’ Romantic music is only periodically his cup of tea: ‘ere are certain pieces I feel close to, like Schumann’s Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No 1 and e Seasons, and Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage . But I’m not sure much between that and Busoni

own bar high fromno theless outset. You would expect from a young man who, while still a schoolboy, commissioned a

is reallyLevit’s “mine”.’ multidimensional approach is quickly evident in concert. He has an exceptionally beautiful sound, which ▲

14• Pianist 84

incorporates a remarkable control of silence. ‘I’m very much aware of timing,’ he explains. ‘When I press down the key and the sound appears, what happens when is it over, when is it on a certain level so that I can go on, this differs from concert to concert and from instrument to instrument. I can’t work on it at home for the piano at the Royal Festival Hall, for instance. It depends on what happens in the hall – not only the acoustic, but the audience, the atmosphere and how long a sound lasts.’ His tone is so special that I tr y to find out how he does it. ‘First of all, trust the instrument,’ he says. ‘For me personally it is about good balance, how I sit, and simply a matter of trust. I read somewhere that the human being is the only creature on earth that can deliberately relax. So if I’m relaxed and I can just put my hands on the table...’ He demonstrates. ‘at’s all. When I lift my arm, I’m focused enough to think “OK, the tone I’m going to produce is X…” and I just put it down. It doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s a good thing. Lifting up the shoulders and looking like Quasimodo is not helpful, at least not to me.’ He has a particular trick that he enjoys when practising. ‘When I’ve been working for a while and I’m happy with a result, I play again badly , as I did at the beginning, so that I can hear the difference.’ is was advice from one of his chief mentors, the Hanover-based

Rzewski, my name is Igor Levit, I am a student, I listened to e People United, I think it’s a great piece, would you write som ething for me?” To my amazement he wrote back to say that if I found someone to finance the commission, then yes, he would. So I found someone. And he wrote a piece for me – a cycle called Nanosonatas , which is now freely available on the Internet. I premiered it aged 16 in a full recital with music by [Wolfgang] Rihm and [Jörg] Widmann. ere were about 12 listeners, but I couldn’t care less.’ He credits Rzewski with changing his life. ‘At the moment I began to dive into his work and his life, I began to dive in to the entire avant-garde. I got to know the works of Stefan Wolpe, Morton Feldman, John Cage and Cornelius Cardew; I also got very much into Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and so on. It’s about the whole idea of how political music can and should be. It always was – in Beethoven’s time, for instance. is changed entirely my approach to my work, my repertoire knowledge and myself. It made me go along a very different path.’ is attitude has profoundly affected his daily thinking, he adds. ‘I read a book about Bob Dylan’s songLike A Rolling Stone by Greil Marcus. He writes that in the 1960s, when the Beatles came to America, and the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan were popular, people listened to music on the radio not as an abstract thing, but as part of their own

Hungarian organist, harpsichordist and conductor Lajos Rovatkay. ‘He always says, “Play badly,” I say “I can’t,” and he says, “Yes, you can!” I do it and he says, “It’s not bad enough, it’s not what you did at the beginning, do it again”.’

daily life. MusicEven was Beethoven influenced was by daily circumstances. influenced by his daily circumstances. I see more and more that I am influenced not only by politics, but by the people I meet, the songs I hear, the books I read. ‘If I play a piece by Cornelius Cardew it doesn’t mean I’m a Maoist like Cardew himself,’ he points out. ‘I even would say it’s not one of the greatest pieces on earth – but it’s an important piece of musical history and it needs to be played; people need to think about why this was performed. It is part of history and it becomes relevant. at’s part of the idea: music, no matter which kind, becomes relevant for the people.’

The People United

e d e o r B ix l e F © s o t o h p ll A

Strands both ancient and modern feed into Levit’s music-making, with Rovatkay representing the early music influence and, on the contemporary side, the extraordinary figure of Frederic Rzewski himself. Levit first came across Rzewski’s music by accident, exploring CDs in a music library as a schoolboy. ‘I found this CD on Hyperion by some guy I’d never heard of named Marc-André Hamelin, playing a piece by Rzewski called e People United Will Never Be Defeated. It was 61 minutes long and I thought I’d listen to maybe five minutes. Soon, though, I was sitting there with headphones in the library and I couldn’t stop listening. en I went to the librarian and asked if they could order this music. When it arrived, I looked at it and thought: forget it! It’s ridiculous. ‘But then I made an investigation. Hanover had a strong new music scene. I found out Frederic’s email address and I wrote to him, saying, “Dear Mr

Up Close

IGOR LEVIT

If you could play only one piece in the whole repertoire from now on, what would it be? Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata. If you could play only one composer from now on, which would it be? Beethoven. One pianist, dead or alive, you’d travel long and far to hear? András Schiff. One concert hall you love to play in? Wigmore Hall. Any technical struggles? Yes. I’m complicated – I love playing trills, but mostly I play them with very strange fingering: either 3-4 or 4-5, or 3-5. With 3-4 I have a damn good trill, but with 1-3 I don’t have a good trill, even though this is what most people do. What would be your advice to amateur pianist about how to improve? Love and work. But I love to work, so I advise everyone: work.

Forging ahead

Not every young pianist can make headway playing radical compositions alongside Bach and Beethoven, but Levit has the gumption to forge ahead in circumstances from which others might shy away. ‘It depends on where you play,’ he says, when I ask him how audiences respond to his contemporary repertoire. ‘Take a piece like e People United [which he now plays regularly]. It’s based on this great Chilean protest song, and quotes an Italian socialist song “Bandiera Rossa” and the Hanns ▲ Eisler agitprop “Solidarity” song with 15• Pianist 84

If you weren’t a pianist, what would you be? I would go into diplomacy or an NGO. One person you’d love to play for? I can’t name anyone… maybe I’ll call my mum. One composer you’re not quite ready to tackle? Chopin. I love him indescribably, but as long as there is someone like Rafal Blechacz around, I don’t need to perform him. I’d rather listen to Rafal. What other kind of music do you like to listen to? Folk, good hip-hop and good old-school rock. I love the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

INTERVIEW

Igor Levit on… Bach on the piano I always knew that Beethoven would be on my first recording and the Bach Partitas on the second. I’ve worked on these pieces for a very long time and I simply think, first of all, that they work on the modern piano; I don’t think that everything in Bach does. And besides, the collection of Partitas is one of those holy grails of the instrument. I make the most of the piano’s capabilities when playing Bach. I do use the pedal – it’s a beautiful thing that was invented! Again, I care about timing a lot, together with the meaning of espressivo, the length of one note compared to the others, speaking tone and singing tone, the declamatory idea. I hate constant staccato playing in Bach. When I hear it, I switch it off. Perhaps that tendency resulted from people trying to imitate a harpsichord, but that’s not how a harpsichord has to sound. This is what’s so great about Mahan Esfahani’s playing. Listening to him, you realise how stupid it is to say there’s no such thing as a singing tone on the harpsichord! Not all of Bach’s pieces work quite as well on the piano. I wouldn’t think the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue is a good piece for it. But the French Suites suit the piano, and The Art of Fugue too; I think that’s the only case where I’d say it’s more beautiful on the piano than the harpsichord. With the Goldberg Variations I see the problem with the piano, but I would still love to play it and I will be playing it soon. But it’s not unproblematic. I refused to learn the Goldbergs for a long time. Then I thought: you know what? Let’s give it a try. I could sit down now and perform them. But I will sit down and work on them instead.

words by Bertolt Brecht. In Berlin, East Berlin, people know what it is about. e reaction there was one of a kind. ‘But then I played it in the Musikverein in Vienna.’ at meant an

against it, but in general the reaction was positive. So it depends wha t you do as a performer to let people take part in the music.’ Levit’s momentum continues

the outgoing director of the Manchester International Festival, and the two of them found they had ‘an immediate spark,’ he recalls. ‘Once we were sitting at a bar in the middle of the night

altogether more staidforand traditional environment – and Levit the stakes were exceptiona lly high. ‘I replaced Maurizio Pollini at five and a half hours’ notice,’ he says. ‘e place was sold out and it was my debut there. Pollini was going to play Schumann and Chopin. I played Beethoven’s opus 110 and opus 111 and then e People United in the second half. It was the first time they’d ever heard this piece there. In it you have to whisper, stamp your foot and scream – on that stage. ‘I therefore gave a ten-minute speech beforehand. I took a microphone and told the audience about the history of the piece and about the McCarthy era, and I said that whether you like it or you don’t, that’s up to you – but the piece doesn’t care, because it has attitude . at’s why I think it’s one of the great pieces – it will force you to have an attitude. Some people were

through 2015, with a range of very

and I played at the bar piano in front

‘I base everything on the composer’s text. But it often happens that as I play, I’m very focused and then something comes into my mind I experienced a month or a week before: something I read, something I ate, someone I met, and it changes the aura of the music’

LISTEN • LEARN • PLAY

PIECES TO 11LEARN ON THIS ISSUE’S CD You can hear BEGINNER TO ADVANCED Explore an elegant

Chopin Polonaise 

EXCLUSIVE BONUS TR ACKS

Igor Levit plays Bach and Beethoven

I N -D E P T H LE SSON ON M E N D E LSSOHN ’S S ONG

WITHOU T

WOR DS OP 67 N O 2

SCORES BYSATIECZERNYPUR CEL LWAGNERBEACH HAYDNBACHSPINDLER and more performed by Chenyin L i P in i

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3/04/015

15:44

Igor Levit play the third movement from Beethoven’s Sonata No 30 op 109 and the Gigue from Bach’s Partita No 4 in D BWV 828 (see full track listing details on back of CD cover).

different highlights. He gives a Rzewski world premiere, Dreams , Part II, at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, in a programme also including his first performance of the Bach Goldberg Variations. He will play at the Wigmore Hall in L ondon on 20 July, a programme of Cardew and Rzewski culminating in e People United, and later in the year he starts his first Beethoven sonata cycle. An exciting project involving the Goldberg Variations will find him working in New York City’s Park Avenue Armory with the cutting-edge artist Marina Abramovic. ‘It’s about the audience – about what I do with the audience to bring them maybe another experience,’ he explains. Levit met Abramovic through Alex Poots, 16• Pianist 84

of everyone there: the last movement of the “Hammerklavier”, at 12.30am. is whole atmosphere transmuted into something incredible! en we spent two days speaking and painting and this idea came up…’ He won’t reveal further details, but it seems likely to make considerable waves. All in all, Igor Levit’s career is on a powerful trajectory. He is emerging more and more as a force to be reckoned with, and he is here to stay. All eyes – and ears – are on his next move. ■ Igor Levit appears at the Wigmore Hall on 11 June with soprano Christiane Iven and on 20 July in a solo recital of works by Cardew and Rzewski. For further details, go to www.wigmore-hall.org.u k and www.igorlevit.de.

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To find out more visit www.trinitycollege.co.uk/music

/TrinityCollegeLondon

17• Pianist 84

@TrinityC_L

play

HOW TO

Te world of

BLACK NOTES Playing pieces with lots of black notes is not the dark art that many pianists imagine. Pianist and teacher Mark Tanner shares several tricks to help overcome your fear of the black keys n the world of piano learning, and indeed piano playing in general, a strange assumption prevails, which is that the white keys are somehow easier to grapple with than the black keys. Te first scale many of us learn is C major, simply because it is the easiest to visualise, despite the fact that Chopin felt F sharp/G flat and C sharp/ D flat major to be the most logical scales to tackle first, because they are technically easier to play. I have heard countless cocktail pianists stick resolutely to white keys hour upon hour; it is almost as if too many black notes are bad for one’s health, or else too tricky to compute. Perhaps if C major had always been known as B sharp major things would have been different? aking our lead from Chopin’s, had it not been for the existence of black keys, piano playing as we know it would be literally impossible; thankfully, 36 of the

length of the gaps between F sharp, G sharp and A sharp. If you find yourself getting wedged in because your fingers are too wide, then I hope they are also quite long to compensate, meaning that you are still able to organise your normal hand position to minimise inand-out movements when negotiating passages at speed. ry this experiment: using your second, third and fourth fingers (in either hand or both simultaneously), align them with a group of three black notes – keep the fingers nicely curved so that the tips are placed no further than a quarter to a half an inch down each of the keys. Play up and down the three notes as quickly, lightly and evenly as you can. So, for example, in the right hand, going up and down as such: 2-3-4-3-2-3-4… and so on. Now slide your entire hand right forward (so that your fingernails are practically touching the wood) and aim to play the notes as before. You will

piano’ s 88 are black. this line ofkeys thought more,Just let’sto doexplore a spot of DIY. ake a couple of piano books and stand them on edge next to each other just in front of a dozen or so black keys around the middle of the keyboard. All you should be able to see is a long run of white notes. Now try to find a G. Unless you happen to fluke it correctly (or cheat, by working from the keyhole to isolate middle C and then counting up or down), navigation instantly becomes impossible. Now imagine another hypothetical scenario whereby the keys run consecutively: white, black, white, black etc, from the bass all the way to the top. Had the piano been configured this way, once again the absence of landmarks would immediately have rendered the keyboard unnavigable.

notice straight away that the keys areis significantly heavier to depress. Tis simply a function of the ‘law of leverages’ – the closer the distance between the depression of the key and the hammer’s strike-point, the greater the downward weight needed to achieve the same force. Chromatic scales are particularly revealing of ineffective black key playing. I see a lot of early learners adopting a stiff, straight thumb and third finger, compensating for this by seesawing the

I

Keyboard geography

Te glaringly obvious fact that the black notes are grouped in alternate threes and twos turns out to be an indispensable facet of the piano’s design, without which instantaneous discovery of any note cannot happen. Te physical gap between the black notes has been calculated to permit an average player’s fingers to slide in and out relatively easily. With a flat hand, try slipping your second and third fingers along the full

5

TOP TIPS

1 2 3 4 5

BLACK NOTE SUCCESS Think of the black keys as your best friends in piano playing – they are the landmarks and footholds that make all things possible. Consider your optimum strike position for black keys. Most people strike all keys too far down; this increases unevenness, makes notes harder to depress and generally slows things down. Chromatic runs need a still, supple wrist and curved fingers. When playing chords full of black notes, adapt a hand position similar to the white note equivalent, e.g. F sharp major = F major. Practise using black notes as locators to help you quickly access white notes at extremes of the keyboard. This will aid confidence of attack, accuracy and mobility. 18• Pianist 84

Mark Tanner is a pianist, composer, writer, ABRSM 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

entire wrist backwards and forwards like a demented donkey. Tis wastes energy and will likely produce a markedly uneven effect.for Techromatic optimumscales placement of the fingers is such that the curved, relaxed thumb is able to glide along the top of the white notes (just as it does when playing the scale of C major), while the third finger (equally relaxed and curved) ‘nibbles’ away at the rounded ends of the black notes. Now, just for fun, having honed your perfect hand/finger shape for a glycerine chromatic scale, move the whole hand forward as far as you can go, as I asked you to do in the previous exercise. ry playing a chromatic scale now – you’ll find the thumb has to move inordinately high to climb over the black key obstacle course, and (just as before) the notes will feel inordinately heavy. Te point is that we need to be mindful of our ideal hand shape when addressing the keys. Tis includes which part of the finger and indeed which part of the key itself, all the more so in cases where black notes crop up frequently in a particular piece or scale. How the hand looks and feels will be a firm indicator of how even, flowing and directed your playing will sound. If you have a slo-mo app on your smartphone, video yourself playing a few black key-oriented scales at different speeds – say, F sharp major, C sharp minor and a chromatic. Ten spend a bit of time reviewing both the visual and

MASTERCLASS audible effect. If you turn the volume down, can you still tell where any lumps and bumps are occurring? Learner golfers sometimes do this sort of thing to fine-tune their swing, but pianists often seem blissfully unaware of how ungainly their hand shapes are when playing. All of these little exercises are designed to illustrate that, for the most part, the optimum placement of fingertips – both for white and black keys – is as near to the edges as is comfortable. Since the keyboard is fixed, we have to be flexible in our approach to it if we are to ensure the best possible negotiation of both the white and black notes. Naturally, your own hand shape and size will govern precisely how you micro-manage the strike point for each key; furthermore, you will find that playing in various keys will predispose your hand to position itself differently.

this ‘simpler’ key make life any easier? No! For as soon as the first shift in hand position is executed, note location becomes decidedly more difficult than in the srcinal ‘pentatonic’ version. e same point is true of Schubert’s Impromptu D899 No 3 (also cast in the key of G flat major, but sometimes found ‘simplified’ in the key of G), for in both cases the success of the writing, and indeed the very playability of the music, is intrinsically bound up in the composer’s srcinal choice of key, which necessitates lots of black notes. Admittedly, my points regarding effective finger placement anticipate standard hands, so those with very small, large or unusually shaped fingers may have to reinvent the wheel to achieve an equivalent effect when playing. Location, location, location

In my article on fingering in Pianist No 74, I mentioned that the piano’s design generally anticipates placement of the longer fingers (i.e. 2, 3 and 4) on the shorter black notes, and conversely, the shorter fifth finger and thumb on the longer white notes. ough this makes obvious sense from the perspective of executing running passages, especially those laden with black notes, the playing of chords involving predominantly black keys is an entirely different matter. Play a four-note chord of F major

Have you ever encountered the need to quickly reach the extremes of the keyboard in order to play a note, octave or chord, but were unable to see what you were doing due to complexities occurring elsewhere? If so, you will find the following ‘black note location trick’ absolutely invaluable. For more proficient players this will likely be an instinctive process already, but there is no harm in spelling it out for those who have not discovered it for themselves. e white keys are far harder to hit at speed when approached from above. Why? Because a) the black notes are physically higher and are therefore

(1, 2, 3 and 5 on FACF), carethe to hold an orthodox handtaking position: back of the hand should be horizontal, with tips of fingers 1 and 5 near the edges of the F and C; fingers 2 and 3 may be as much as two inches further forward. Now, keeping the position fixed, simply move the entire hand up a semitone to find yourself addressing an F sharp major chord; it should feel just as comfortable. It’s only when you try this that you realise just why the black notes, short as they are, still need to be long enough to permit chord playing. In essence, everything that is true of playing fast music on white keys applies equally to playing on black keys – i.e. use the tips of fingers, positioned as close to the ends of the notes as is feasible, with curved fingers and minimal jerking of the wrist when changing hand position. Chopin’s ‘Black Key’ Etude op 10 no 5 is surely the best-known piano work requiring an unrelenting chain of black semiquaver triplets. e secret here is lightness of touch and not allowing your fingers to gradually wander down the keys! Incidentally, if you can already play the aforementioned Chopin Etude, spend a minute or two transposing the first few bars into the adjacent key of G major. Does playing the piece in

reached first as the b)isthe spacing between allhand whitefalls, notes identical, as well as being much closer together than any of the black notes, and c) there are more than twice as many of them! However, we can turn these factors to our advantage by using one or more black notes as locators to isolate the white note(s) we are targeting. To illustrate this, play an octave C in the right hand, adopting your normal hand shape, and spot where your second finger naturally comes to rest. At the middle of the keyboard my second finger sits comfortably on the F sharp. For octave Ds it rests happily on the G sharp and for octave Es the A sharp. For octave As my second, third and fourth fingers fall on D sharp, F sharp and G sharp respectively. ough you are of course not aiming to play these black notes, you are using them as reference guides to facilitate rapid discovery of other notes nearby. Gauge for yourself the black notes which guide you most naturally, and then try playing white note octaves from ever higher above the keyboard, as well as at increasingly faster speeds and from a variety of angles. Even if you only wish to play, say, a single high C with your right-hand little finger, it is often still advisable to form an octave shape first by the

Black key magic

19• Pianist 84

BLACK IS BACK Mark Tanner ’s advice for handling the black keys in 3 of this issue’s works Spindler Ivy Leaf op 123 no 6[Scores page 33]: The chromatic detail in the melody (e.g. bars 4-8) needs untangling before fluent progress can begin in this easygoing piece. This is best achieved with very curved fingers positioned tominimise wrist movement. An excellent application of your newly acquired ‘black note locator’ skill comes seven bars before the end, when both hands need to find octave Fs a few octaves apart. Musically speaking, you’ve plenty of time here, so practise using the Bflats (second finger in each hand) as locators. Employ the reverse tactic a few bars later when the octave B flats arrive: your second fingers will fall quite naturally on the Fs.

1

Wagner Albumblatt für Ernst Benedikt Kietz [Scores page 41]: The key of E, with its four sharps, gives you plenty ofanchor points. Indeed, if you play the RH notes starting with the second note of bar1 through to the first note of bar 3,you will find yourself tracing the scale’s descending form. Onceyou’ve got your head around theclever harmonic side-slips (e.g. bars 9-15) this beautiful song-like piece should come together quite comfortably – but take the espressivo marking at face value, since the triplet figures in theaccompaniment will keep things moving along even at a modest tempo.

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MendelssohnSong wi thout Wordsop 67 no 2[Scores page 61]: This piece depends heavily upon the di stinction between its staccato accompaniment and amiable legato melody, made doubly difficult by the fact that the RH has to manage alot of this on its own. Keep the thumb, second and third fingers (tasked with much of the accompaniment) close to theedges of the black notes, and tuck away the LH notes as lightly as you can.

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method I have just described, if only to take advantage of the F sharp locator a nanosecond prioryour to attack. Be aware that preferred locator notes will likely vary as you target different regions of the keyboard, because the wrist has to rotate in subtly different ways as you move away from the middle of the piano. Nevertheless, with mindful practice, the process of touch-referencing the black note(s) will become so reliable and automatic that you will grow immeasurably in confidence. Even when playing at high speed, this trick will help. Try it with eyes closed – you should eventually find that you can more boldly attack all kinds of weird chords, or indeed any isolated note, simply by growing in awareness of your favoured black note locators as they fleetingly come into contact with your other fingers. In more complex configurations I sometimes find that the contact made by the side of one or more fingers achieves a similar purpose. Make this a regular part of your everyday playing, and in extreme circumstances make a note in the score of your preferred locator for each individual event. e whole business of reading a score and playing confidently, obviating the constant need to look down at your hands, is steadily becoming a skill requirement for pianists, so invest time in this and it will repay you a thousand times over. ■

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HOW TO

Baroque and Classical

PEDALLING WITH STYLE Continuing his series on pedalling,Graham Fitch considers how to play Bach, Haydn and Mozart on a modern piano, and explains why intelligent fnger pedalling or ‘overholding’ will help you edalling, of all the aspects of piano performance, is very much at the discretion of the individual performer. How we pedal depends on the particular sound we intend, a nd on the instrument and performance space we are presented with. In my article on pedalling in Pianist No 83, I looked at how to adjust resonance by using fractional pedals, and how to hold on to bass notes while clearing dissonance from above by using half and flutter pedalling. Tis time I am going to discuss the thorny subject of pedalling in Baroque and Classical period music – specifically the music of Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Let’s begin with Bach. I don’t want to dwell on the age-old debate about the choice of instrument, but it is helpful to gain a little clarity here. It did not seem to matter too much to Bach which keyboard instrument he used for his clavier works, but we know he felt the clavichord was the best one to express his most refined thoughts. It is possible to taper phrases off, and to play with dynamics (albeit a relatively narrow range) on the clavichord – you can even create a vibrato (called ‘bebung’) by applying pressure up and down into the key. However, because the clavichord is essentially a private instrument (too soft to be audible to anyone except the player), the harpsichord won out when it came to performance. Don’t think for a moment that the harpsichord is not absolutely capable of expression; it’s just that the harpsichordist uses somewhat different means to achieve it. Our modern piano shares certain important expressive characteristics with the clavichord. Playing Bach on the piano without tapering phrases or using

Graham Fitch is a pianist, teacher, writer and adjudicator. He gives masterclasses and workshops on piano playing internationally, and is in high demand as a private teacher in London. A regular tutor at the Summer School for Pianists in Walsall, Graham is also a tutor for the Pi ano Teachers’ Course EPTA (UK). He writes a popular piano blog, www.practisingthepiano.com.

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dynamic shaping andBach’s tone colour is really dull and as dry dust – no wonder generations thought music sounded mechanical andassoulless! Some of my most moving and profound musical experiences have been hearing performances of Bach played on the piano – please don’t let anyone tell you we pianists are not allowed to play this music on the instruments of today.

Finger pedalling is ideally suited to the Alberti basses fou nd throughout the Classical repertoire Tere is no mechanism in either the harpsichord or the clavichord to sustain a note once the finger has been released. When Bach writes something that is not possible to connect, that means he didn’t want it to be connected, even if it might be possible on a modern piano. Te harpsichord has small dampers similar in function to those of the piano, but they are controlled completely by the fingers. If we want to create resonance on the harpsichord (and indeed early pianos), we need to discover the technique of finger pedalling, or overholding. I want to distinguish between finger pedalling as a specific touch, and the bad habit of neglecting to pick up the fingers when required by the notation. Beginner and elementary pianists are constantly being told (quite correctly so) by their teachers to release the keys very precisely by picking up their fingers. Holding fingers down beyond the written note values in the early stages is bad technique and produces unwanted blurs and smudges. However, at the advanced level an overlapping touch is indispensable and most certainly not erroneous. It all comes down to how we read a score. Let’s look at an example from François Couperin’s Les barricades mystérieuses from the Sixth Ordre (top of next column). As is typical of the French clavecinists, Couperin is fastidious in his notation, and that includes writing out the overholding in full:

Te German school did not feel the need to complicate the score with such matters, assuming the performer would use this technique where appropriate, according to personal taste. Apart from examples in counterpoint and style brisé where note lengths a re precisely notated, overholding is not generally indicated by the notation. Harpsichordists do it routinely, even in some scale patterns and notes under slurs. Because of the difference in resonance between the harpsichord and the piano, we pianists have to be rather more careful where and how much we overhold. Next, let’s consider an example from the opening of Bach’s Sixth Partita. In my opinion it would be a misreading to play this opening without adding resonan ce, either by finger or foot. If you decide to pedal, I would certainly not use a legato pedal to connect the two harmonies. Tis is a good general rule for Bach’s music – pedal for resonance and not for joins.

20• Pianist 84

MASTERCLASS

If you feel this resonance is too much, or you believe adding pedal to Bach is a no-go area, try overholding the notes that make up the chords with your fingers. In bar 1, I would hold the full E minor chord until just before the semiquaver (16th note) G, making a small articulation before the next harmony to punctuate the texture. In bar 2, I would be very careful not to overhold the passing note G in the RH of the spread chord, but I would hold all the harmonic tones. Let’s look at a popular prelude of Bach, the C minor from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (below). is prelude will sound impossibly dry unless it is played imaginatively. ere are so many ways to articulate and colour this music using touch, that we will probably find we don’t need the pedal at all. Experiment with slightly overholding some notes (to create harmony) and playing other notes less legato, but don’t play every bar the same or your performance will be predictable and boring. If you still want some pedal, add a very short and shallow dab on certain main beats.

Instead of playing the LH completely evenly, try putting a slight stress on the first note of each beat. You now achieve a texture where there is a hint of a bass line. If you want a bit more resonance (perhaps in the second half of this theme when it goes into the major), try overholding these first beats just slightly (below). You can mix and match these touches to bring out the rhythm, or the harmony and expressive possibilities in the theme. e choice is yours!

Mozart left no pedal directions in his piano music at all, but we know he was impressed with the knee levers he encountered on Johann Andreas Stein’s pianos in 1777. e knee lever was the precursor of the foot pedal, and before Stein’s invention the only way to control the dampers was with a hand stop (meaning the dampers remained on or off the strings until the player had his hands free to change it). e only pedal indications Haydn left were the ‘open pedal’ markings in the C major ‘London’ Sonata (Hob.XVI:50), which work well with a fractional pedal on our modern instrument. Put the pedal down a tiny bit and adjust it if the resonance gets too much but without actually changing it. Just because Haydn left us no other pedal markings does not mean we are not free to use it at our discretion elsewhere! Finger pedalling is ideally suited to the Alberti basses we find throughout the Classical repertoire. If we play them literally as they appear on the

Actually we are still able to use the sustaining pedal. You’ll notice from this example that I suggest trying a tiny dab of pedal on the third beat. It’s not absolutely necessary but it might help highlight the dissonance (the written-out appoggiatura E natural in the RH). Don’t even think of marking anything in the score though, because your pedalling will vary depending on the piano and the room. Simply have your foot in contact with the right pedal and add a short dab whenever you want to liquefy or warm up the sound. ese dabs of pedal add highlights to your sound. If your hand is not used to behaving in this way, try this preliminary exercise for Alberti patterns. Hold down the notes of the chord and lift each finger in turn only as far as is necessary to repeat the note. On a grand piano, you will only need to lift the key about halfway before sending it down again – thanks to the escapement mechanism we can actually tie a note to itself!

ere are other options for slower pieces, such as the slow movement of Mozart’s Sonata in F K332. You could simply hold onto the first note of each beat (as above) or you could create even more harmonic resonance by holding onto the other notes too (it looks unnecessarily clumsy when notated): Ad agi o

(dab of pedal?)

page chord patterns drymuch and clattery, butInstead pedalling them these wouldbroken blur the melody and can add sound way too resonance. of releasing the notes of the Alberti bass using a conventional legato touch, we might hold onto them and create a harmonic carpet for the RH. Now we will be able to play broken harmonies without dryness, and yet preserve all the articulation in the top line without any of the smudging that would happen if we used the sustaining pedal. It depends on the situation quite how we manage the overholding. In some places we hold onto just the bass note of the Alberti pattern, in other places we might want to hold onto more notes. Let’s explore the possibilities for finger pedal in the last movement of Haydn’s E minor Sonata Hob.XVI:34 (below). Molto vivace 2

1

(hold)

(hold)

(hold)

(hold)

ere are plenty of examples in Haydn and Mozart that require more resonance than the fingers alone can give . When exploring the possibilities try starting off with no pedal at all, discovering what you can achieve with the fingers. ereafter, feel free to use the pedal, remembering that what you decide may well change when you play on a different piano. ere are great pianists who play Bach without the sustaining pedal but most make careful and discreet use of it. If you use short and shallow dabs, you will add depth and dimension to your sound. is has to be done carefully – always let your ear be your guide. ■ In the next issue, Graham discusses the sostenuto and una corda pedals.

innocentemente

WATCH GRAHAM ONLINE

Don’t miss Graham Fitch’s video lessons, which you’ll find on the Pianist website at www.pianistmagazine.com. Graham 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. There’s nothing like watching the expert!

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21• Pianist 8

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HOW TO

MENDELSSOHN

Song without Words in F sharp minor op 67 no 2 This poignant miniature will benet from the clearest and lightest of staccato touches. Concert pianist and teacher Lucy Parham helps you nd the touch that will make your ngers dance Ability rating Info Key: F sharp minor empo: Allegro leggiero Style: Romantic

Advanced

Will improve your 3Leggiero 3

touch Finger strength in the left hand tone

3Singing

Mendelssohn’s piano works are some of the real gems of the Romantic repertoire. In my view, his piano works are too often overlooked in favour of works by his contempora ries Chopin, Liszt and Schumann. In his Songs without Words, Mendelssohn gave us several books of miniature masterpieces that have enchanted pianists for nearly 200 years. I have played many of these pieces but have always been drawn to this particularly poignant one, which is wistful and reflective in character. Te piece’s key (F sharp minor) is in itself a bit of a giveaway to its mood. F sharp minor is a key that is often used to create a sense of reflection and sadness. I have always been fascinated by the use of specific keys for pieces (take look at theminor Bach Prelude andI of Fuguea in F sharp from Book the Well-Tempered Clavier, or Chopin’s Nocturne in the same key, if you have a moment, and you will see what I mean) but that is for another article. Te real challenge that Mendelssohn presents us in this piece is to play staccato with great clarity and a light defining touch. It could almost be regarded as a study in that touch. You will notice just by glancing through the five pages of this piece, that this very specific technique – in the left hand (LH) particularly – is prevalent throughout the whole work. And all this must take place while projecting the melody against the accompaniment – as in the Song without Words.

n i te s n r A n e v S ©

Lucy Parham performs her composer portrait concert Beloved Clara on 1 June at Leighton House, London (with Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman), and at Bath Guildhall on 11 July and the Llandeilo Festival in Wales on 17 July (both with Joanna David and Henry Goodman). She performs Nocturne at the Cambridge International Festival on 26 July (with Patricia Hodge and Henry Goodman). Her latest CD, Odyssey of Love, with Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman, is on the Deux-Elles label. For other dates and details, please visit www.lucyparham.com

that is not already in the copy and that will enable you to remember it with greater ease. I’m a big believer in writing in a lot of your fingerings into the score – sometimes more than you might need – as when you return to a piece having not played it for a while it is really helpful to know exactly which fingering you were using in which passage. You will need a special touch for this piece. Tis is somewhat easier to demonstrate than write about but essentially we are looking to have a small plucking movement on each note. ry to imagine there is a little speck of dust on each key and you are trying to pluck it towards you with the fingertip, using the main joint of the finger. You could try this short exercise: play a scale, first legato and then trying to play each note towards you in a staccato way. Start slowly and increase the tempo as you get more confident with this technique. At no point should you be using your whole arm. It would not only be very difficult but completely exhausting! Tis is something from the knuckle and that fromcomes the finger, not from the forearm or shoulder. Once you have learnt the whole piece legato, you can begin to start refining it. Note the tempo indication (Allegro leggiero) and the 12/16 time signature. Mendelssohn uses 12/16 rather than a 6/8 marking, which implies that each of the 12 notes in the bar must have its own special weight – in effect, a slightly slower, more measured tempo than a 6/8 marking would imply. You must never feel as if

My top tip for learning this piece is to isolate the LH part and learn it firstly with perfect legato, always aiming to achieve a seamless touch. If you can play through entirely with legato, you can then begin to change the touch to match what is required. However (and this is very important), it is difficult to go straight into this touch if you are not 100 per cent certain of all the notes in a legato way first. Learn the LH slowly and meticulously, adding any fingering

you are hurrying while playing this piece. A word here, too, about pedalling: Pedal judiciously and observe the rests – most especially when you have three semiquaver rests in a row. You need to breathe in these passages.

Learning Tip Take the left hand alone and learn it firstly with perfect legato, always bearing in mind a seamless touch.

It will help to learn the semiquaver figures in chordal blocks. For instance, you begin with F sharp minor and go into B minor. Have this key structure in your mind as you are playing each group of semiquavers. In bar 1, make sure you observe the rests – do not hold this right hand (RH) B minor chord over the rest. Do the same in the following bars. Release it gently as you do not want it to sound aggressive and make sure the dynamic is piano . Note the crescendo in bar 2 and use it as an upbeat the intodiminuendo. bar 3, when Once you need to observe the melody arrives at bar 4 you need to try and balance the semiquavers against it perfectly. Always imagine you are accompanying yourself as the singer! Keep the flow and line of the melody here, always focusing on the melodic line as if it were being sung. At the beginning of bar 7, lean into the RH C . It is not a violent accent, however! When you reach the second half of bar 9, ensure the RH is very melodic; there is a small hairpin crescendo here that is very important. In bars 10-11 really grip the fifth finger on your LH and trace the bass line. Tis leads into the crescendo and first small climax at bar 13. Te tone from the sf at bar 14 (RH) needs to carry through two bars and I suggest changing your finger from a 4 to a 3 halfway through bar 15. When you reach bar 16 change back to a 4. At bar 18 you need some help from your LH, so make sure this is forte as well, especially in the chords at the end of bar 18 as well as throughout bar 19 and into bar 20. Be sure to observe the più forte marking in bar 24 . Following this marking will help you get over the

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Pianist 84 June-July 2 015

Scores Contents 28

29

PURCELL Air in D minor ZT 676 CZERNY The Fair

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AMY BEACH Minuet, No 1 from Children’s Album op 36

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32

BACH Prelude in C BWV 939

GREAT PIANO COMPOSERS OF THE CLASSICAL ERA

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FRITZ SPINDLER Ivy leafop 123 no 6

Pianist

special issue

36

38

MAYKAPAR Toccatinaop 8 no 1

41

WAGNER

ON SALE 26 JUNE 2015

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How-to-play lessons from beginner to advanced – includes the famous first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’, a Clementi Sonatina and Mozart’s Rondo in A minor

HAYDN Adagio in F Hob.XVII:9

Albumblatt für Ernst Benedikt Kietz 44

Masterclasses from the experts 2 Mark Tanner on perfecting your Classical playing and Graham Fitch on new approaches to the technical challenges of the Beethoven sonatas

CHOPIN Polonaise in G minor B.1

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KEYBOARD CLASS Polyrhythms

of sheet music plus cover CDOur editor’s selection of 40pages the best Classical Scores from past issues of the magazine

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SATIE Je te veux

Top concert pianiststalk about the joys (and challenges) of playing the great Classical repertoire

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MENDELSSOHN Song without Wordsin F sharp minor op 67 no 2

John Suchet, the Classic FM radio presenter and renowned 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

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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

Carl CZERNY (1791-1857)

TRACK 2

BEGINNER

The Fair Born in Vienna, Carl Czerny studied with Beethoven and Clementi, and became a thumb on G, the second finger on A and so on. The LH provides a very simple teacher himself, writing numerous small pieces such as this one for piano students. accompaniment of two-part chords. Playing tips: The RH remains in a five-finger position throughout – that is, with the Take a look at the technical tips within the score. Notice the short phrase markings (every three notes). The emphasis should be on the first note, then begin to raise the hand for the second two notes, with the third note being the lightest/softest. Then lift the hand completely before the next set of three notes.

Lightly 2

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Key of G major with the one F sharp.

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Play the LH two-part chords softly and evenly. They are the solid accompaniment.

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2 5

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Keep the LH fingers raised over the notes at all times.

Always keep the RH relaxed, especially when it comes to the repeated notes, such those as in bars 3, 9,10 and 11. 5

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Bar 5 sees a repeat of the beginning, but ending differentlyni bars 7-8.

A little development section, including repeated notes. Imagine your fingers lightly bouncing a ball here. 9 2

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Why not make these two bars below quieter than the previous two? (Our pianist does this on the CD.) 5

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The opening returns again. Don’t start out too soft because you need to taper off nicely towards the end, with a little descresce ndo. 13

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Tail off gently, and try not to slow down (just a little is fine). 2

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2 5

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Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)

TRACK 6

INTERMEDIATE

Adagio in F Hob.XVII:9 In 1786, when Haydn wrote this Adagio, he wasKapellmeister to the Esterházy family while aiming not to produce any bumps! The runs should sound seamless, but there and one of Europe’s best-known composers. He earned additional income selling the also needs to be a detached qua lity to them (listen to how wonderfully our CD’s pianist, rights to his music, with chamber music and piano works being especially popular. Chenyin Li, does this). Whenlistening to the CD,you will also notice how, at bar 7, This short standalone piece may be an arrangement of a work by another composer. the RH D acciatura is playedon the beat. Both Ds end up being of equal length (two Playing tips: Even though the tempo indication is ‘Adagio’, remember to feel the semiquavers). The same applies to the acciatura at the sta rt of bar 22. beat and keep the pulse moving. The RH melody needs a sweet singing tone, with the Pedal tips: There is no pedalling marked on the score, as it is almost too subtle to LH being the foundation. This is areally good exercise in playing at an adagio speed write down. You will need dabs here and there to ‘cushion’ the sound.

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Samuil MAYKAPAR (1867-1938)

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Samuil MAYKAPAR (1867-1938)

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WATCH CHENYI N LI PLAY THIS PIECE AT WWW.PIA NISTM AGAZINE .COM

Richard WAGNER (18 13-1883)

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Albumblatt für Ernst Benedikt Kietz WWV64 12

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Richard WAGNER (1813-1 883)

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Albumblatt für Ernst Benedikt Kietz WWV64 24

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HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN

AZE R TY

BEGINNERS zerty XXXX (XXXXX)

KEYBOARD CLASS LESSON 12: POLYRHYTHMS

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 12 talks about polyrhythms, which you will find a lot in piano writing – especially from the Romantic era onwards. On pages 47 and 48 we present Chopin’s Prélude op 28 no 4, which contains polyrhythms, and on page 48 a Finger Fitness exercise that should improve your skills in playing polyrhythms.

Polyrhythms Polyrhythmsare the simultaneous occurrence of different rhythms. Certain forms are known as ‘conflict’ rhythms, asasasasas for example, duplets against triplets, a common feature of much piano music.

Although the presentation of duplets against triplets – commonly known as ‘two against three’ – looks very complicated in notation (examples 1 and 2 below), the structure can be simplified (examples 3 and 4).

The rhythm and sound are identical here:

If you combine the rhythms and present them on one level, you

Rule: The second duplet note comes in between

obtain the following rhythm:

the second and third triplet notes.

Divided between the hands, it looks like this (always think of the rhythm and feel it as in examples 3 and 4):

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PLAGE

HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN

PLAGE

Prélude op 28 no 4

KEYBOARD CLASS

AZ ERTY XXXX (XXXXX)

Frédéric Chopin(1810–1849) This gorgeous piece, which has been featured insidePianist in the past, contains polyrhythms in bars 12 and 18. Make sure that you play the rhythm absolutely accurately.

zerty

A

du faux texte Bella terra et mari civiliaexternaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, vic torque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes , quibus tuto ignosci potuit, 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 aliquanto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros adsignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia externaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, victorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibustuto ignosci potuit, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia civium Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiteringenta. qu Ex quibus deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua sti pendis emeritis millia aliquanto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros ads ignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas , si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari vilia ci externaque tot.

stretto = push on, speed up, hurry

Double sharp:

smorz.= smorzando= restrained, dying away, gradually slowing down

A double sharp(semitone) sign indicates thatFor theexample, note should raised by two half tone steps. the be note G would become G double sharp. The turn: The turn is an ornament whereby the upper and lower neighbouring notes are played around the main note in a group of four.Take care with accidentals!

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HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN

KEYBOARD CLASS

AZE R TY XXXX (XXXXX)

zerty

The 24 Préludes opus 28 are a piano cycle composed by Chopin (see box below for biography) between 1836 and 1839. This work is related to Bach’sWell-Tempered Clavier in that it goes through all of the major and minor keys. The Fourth Prélude is one of his best known as well as one of his easiest pieces. It has a yearning melody, and due to the descending chromaticism and the key of E minor, has a resigned, depressive, hopeless mood. Chopin wanted to have this piece played at his funeral along with Mozart’s Requiem.

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) Country: Poland Period: Romantic

By the age of seven, Chopin had already composed two polonaises. By the age of eight, he was often performing in public, and was being hailed as a wunderkind. Chopin’s path to a career as a virtuoso began in earnest in Warsaw in 1827 and continued in Vienna in 1829. His fame established, from 1831, Chopin lived and worked as a pianist and teacher in Paris, where he became a part of the city’s high society. In Paris he also became acquainted with many other important musicians such as Liszt and Berlioz. Due to ill health, he spent the winter months of 1838-9 on the island of Majorca, accompanied by his lover, the writer George Sand. In 1848, Chopin travelled to give concerts in London and Scotland, and returned completely exhausted to Paris, where he died one year later. Chopin created a new virtuoso piano style, incorporating many ornaments, expressive melodies and a poetic sound. His compositions were primarily for the piano. Among his works are two piano concertos, three piano sonatas, and many préludes, waltzes, études (studies), nocturnes, mazurkas, polonaises, ballades and scherzos.

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PLAGE

HANS-GÜNTER HEUMANN

Finger Fitness ExerciseA PLAGE

KEYBOARD CLASS

Z ERTY XXXX (XXXXX)

Now try this exercise, which should improve your polyrhythm skills!

zerty

A

du faux texte Bella terra et mari civiliaexternaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, vic torque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes , quibus tuto ignosci potuit, 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 aliquanto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros adsignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas, si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari civilia externaque toto in orbe terrarum saepe gessi, victorque omnibus veniam petentibus civibus peperci. Externas gentes, quibustuto ignosci potuit, conservare quam excidere malui. Millia civium Romanorum sub sacramento meo fuerunt circiteringenta. qu Ex quibus deduxi in colonias aut remisi in municipia sua sti pendis emeritis millia aliquanto plura quam trecenta, et iis omnibus agros ads ignavi aut pecuniam pro praemiis militiae dedi. Naves cepi sescentas praeter eas , si quae minores quam triremes fuerunt.Bella terra et mari vilia ci externaque tot.

Hans-Günter Heumann continues his beginner series in the next issue. To find out more about Heumann, go to www.schott-music.com

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Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)

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Erik SATIE (1866-1925)

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Erik SATIE (1866-1925)

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5

PIANI

ST AT WORK

he Accidental Genius What do you do next after you receive a MacArthur ‘genius grant’, which gives you $625,000 over four years, no strings attached? If you’re American pianist Jeremy Denk, you go on tour, buy a barn, and continue playing and writing.Inge Kjemtrup meets him eremy Denk was on a Stairmaster at a gym in New York City when the MacArthur Foundation called to let him know he’d won one of their ‘genius grants’. ‘I don’t normally pick up my phone on the Stairmaster,’ he explains, almost apologetically . ‘I got this mysterious phone call on 312, which is the Chicago area [telephone] code. I don’t know why that number seemed important, but I picked it up, and it was the MacArthur Foundation. I ran back to my apartment, cut short the workout and had the con versation with the Foundation. After a prolonged dance around my apartment, I realised that was the most profitable trip to the gym I’d ever made. ’ Every year the MacArthur Foundation awards between 20 and 40 MacArthur Fellowships – popularly known as ‘MacArthur Genius Grants’ – to artists, musicians, activists, who must scientists, be based in the US and who must ‘show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work’. Like the Gilmore Award for pianists, there’s no application form or audition. Unlike the Gilmore, the winners com e from a cross-section of disciplines: a playwright, an organic physicist and a medieval historian are among Denk’s fellow grant winners in the Class of 2013. Past winners include concert pianist Stephen Hough, jazz pianist Cecil aylor and composer Bright Sheng. ‘It’s an incredible honour and it’s still overwhelming,’ says Denk of winning the grant. Before the whole genius thing, which seems to embarrass him slightly, Denk was perhaps best known to audiences as the musical partner of violinist Joshua Bell (with whom he recorded several albums) and for his blog, Tink Denk. But now Denk’s solo career is coming into focus. Last year he won the Avery Fisher Prize, appeared with orchestras all over, and began a stint as artistic partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For the Nonesuch label, he’s recorded a disc with Beethoven’s Sonata No 32 and Ligeti Etudes and another of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, about which much more later.

When we meet in early March at the bustlingBridge modern Park Westminster Hotel inPlaza London, the genius is feeling jetlagged from his transatlantic travel. Denk is due to rehearse today with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for a Cadogan Hall concert in four days’ time. It’s his first appearance with the Academy and he’s playing Bach, the Concertos Nos 2 and 4; a 13-city US tour is scheduled for later in the month.

‘Never play Bach without putting in fingerings. You cannot make it up on the spot. If you do and you somehow survive, that doesn’t mean it was good’ Despite the jetlag, Denk is thoughtful and frequently eloquent. Tere’s a self-awareness, an openness, and a willingness to reveal the inner thoughts of an artist; refreshing in an era when so many performers are reined in tightly by management or PRs, making for dull interviews. It’s not difficult to recognise the artist’s voice I first came to know 67• Pianist 84

through his blog. With its long musings on life and the musical workings-out of athe pianist, Tink Denk violated several social media rules, notably ‘keep it short.’ Te serious American magazines spotted his talent, and soon he was writing for the likes of the New Yorker, Te New Republic and the New York imes Book Review. Te hotel we’re sitting in isn’t far from the site of one of Denk’s competition triumphs, which he wrote about in a memorable article in the New Yorker. Te opening two paragraphs give you a sense of his style and his humour: ‘I was saved the first time from financial ruin by a stroke of luck – I entered a piano competition, in London, and won third prize. Years of grad-school indulgences (liquor, Chinese takeout, kitchen appliances) had left me with a Visa bill of fortyfive hundred dollars, and I was able to erase it in a flash. All that remained of my glorious prize, of all those months of practicing, was a photograph of Princess Diana handing me my award onstage at Royal Festival Hall, which I faxed to everyone I knew. At the time, my hair resembled hers. ‘Tis close shave made me wonder: How could I convert my high thoughts ▲ about Mozart into hard cash?’

INTERVIEW Denk tells me that he entered competitions like that one in part to make himself practise. His reason for starting a blog weren’t dissimilar. ‘Te writing began as an outlet. It was almost like a vacation from practising. In college I was always an avid reader, I was obsessed with books, and I had always secretly wanted to be more of a writer than I ended up being, so it was this release outside of myself. And very often it would happen that I would write something about a piece and in the process of clarifying my thinking about the piece, it would make me practise the piece.’ Tese days, with professional writing assignments rolling in (including a book due out at the end of the year), Denk’s blogging has taken a back seat. He seems to miss it: ‘What was great about the blog is that if I had something to say I just wrote it. Often when you get assignments, you’re not sure you have something to say and you just have to delve until you find it.’ Everyone asks him what he’s going to do with the money: $625,000 over five years with no strings attached. One thing he’s done is to buy a barn in the Hudson Valley in New York, ‘a little retreat for myself away from the city to practise and write. But now that I have it, it seems like it could be a great space to invite other people up to work on projects and also a great place to film or record things.’ Day night A few into years ago, I attended a concert

Denk gave at LSO St Luke’s, the church-turned-performance space in

He recently put some of his thoughts about Bach in an article for the New Republic . ‘Tat was something I was really interested in writing about, the nature of Bach; the way a sense of morality invades our notions about Bach in performance. All the “oughts” and “shoulds”.’ I observe thatupright it’s hard not to think of Bach as that figure wearing a wig above his doughy face, but Denk gives it a try. ‘Bach’s

‘Te problem w ith the Goldberg Variations i s it requires so much mainte nance and w atering – it’s like a plant, a very finicky plant. You think you know it and you go out on stage, and you realise in some ways that you don’t know it all’

n o lsi W le ah ci M © s to o hp l A

London. It was a summer evening, and through the church windows, I noticed huge leafy trees making shadows over the stage as Denk played the evocative Ligeti etudes. Ten as night fell, the trees vanished, and Denk entered the intimate world of Bach’s Goldbergs. Denk adores Bach. He’s recorded the Goldbergs on CD, along with an accompanying DVD, but admits the piece has its challenges. ‘Te problem is it requires so much maintenance and watering – it’s like a plant, a very finicky plant. You think you know it and you go out on stage, and you realise in some ways that you don’t know it all.’

music is very religious and devotional obviously, no question. But it’s also audacious and bizarre and virtuosic.’ What should a pianist think about when studying and playing Bach? ‘Look for the motor, the groove that makes it feel well oiled. Tings are always coasting to the next event; at the same time you have to be tuned to the constant variations, the change-ups that Bach puts in because he’s the great master of the unexpected change-up.’ He also advises that pianists should not forget ‘that Bach laughs, a great deal, at his own inventions. Tere’s always this sense when he does something audacious and rescues 68• Pianist 84

himself. You have this sense of his own glee at the invention that he put down on the page.’ Other things to look out for? ‘Te obvious things are articulation and putting in your fingerings. Never play Bach without putting in fingerings; you cannot make it up on the spot. If you do and you somehow survive, that doesn’t mean it was good.’ In a New Yorkeressay entitled ‘Every Good Boy Does Fine’ (the title of his forthcoming book as well), Denk talks about rediscovering a notebook containing comments, encouragement and criticism from a high school piano teacher. ‘It was wonderful to have that notebook. Often lessons pass into the past, they vanish. You remember more or less the gist of the advice.’ In the essay, Denk also wrote about another of his teachers, György Sebők at Indiana University. ‘Te motivation behind the New Yorkerpiece was really to write a love letter to Sebők and my years with him, and the way that a European sensibility basically landed on top of me.’ We spend some time discussing whether it’s possible to like a composer who has no sense of humour, a topic Denk has discussed in his writing more than once. ‘Te Romantic generation is less funny than the Classical generation. Mendelssohn scherzos can be quite witty, Chopin in the waltzes can be sparkling and effervescent, but it’s not exactly funny, is it? Schumann can be very funny, but he’s kind of the exception. Liszt in rhapsodies, in the virtuoso pieces, can be very funny. But when he gets bombastic, it all goes...’ He lets the thought float up into the air. Wit and effervescence, and, yes, humour, bubble up in Denk’s performance of Bach at Cadogan Hall, communicating to the audience his admiration for, and understanding of, the great composer. After that concert and our conversation, I find myself a little in awe of a man who’s not only an inspiring pianist and writer, but also a librettist. Te Classical Style: An opera of sorts, with music by Steve Stuckey, is based on Charles Rosen’s famous music textbook. Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven play leading roles. So do the tonic, dominant and subdominant (a love triangle, of course) and Rosen himself. Amazingly, Denk got permission from Rosen, who died in 2012 before the opera was fully fleshed out and before its debut last year at California’s Ojai Festival. With creative, unconventional and intriguing projects like this, it appears that the MacArthur Foundation demonstrated especially good sense in identifying this particular genius. n

At this year’s BBC Proms, Jeremy Denk plays Bartók, Scriabin and Beethoven in recital (24 Aug) and the rarely heard Henry Cowell Piano Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony (30 Aug). Denk’s recording of the Goldberg Variations is on Nonesuch; his book Every Boy Does Fine is out in the autumn.

PLUS FOR INSTRU MENTALISTS, PRE-INSTRUMENTAL KINDERG ARTEN WORKSHOP , SUNDAY 9TH AUGUST 2015

STEINWAY ARTIST

MARGARET FINGERHUT PLAYS THE ORIGINAL LSO ST LUKE’S STEINWAY at

ST GEORGE’S HEADSTONE, PINNER VIEW, HARROW HA1 4RJ www.stgeorgeheadstone.org.uk Saturday 13th J une 7 pm

Admission £ 10

Margaret, whose extensive discography has received worldwide critical acclaim, is regarded as one of the most distinguished and poetic pianists of her generation. Her latest release, a disc of piano encores, was Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM. ‘Songs, Stories and Interludes’, her attractive and wide-ranging programme for St George’s, features works by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Fauré and Gershwin.

“like someone telling a story on the piano …a gem of a piano recital” Pianist magazine, Sept 2014 Margaret performs on the srcinal LSO St Luke’s Model D Steinway, which has been played on by such artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin and Mitsuko Uchida

i

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Orna g n i s o p t EDUCATION

n a n i m o d

n o i c t i a d p o o l n e c m y s

n o i s r inve

i n o t

d a i r t

s l a v r e t in tritone minor

: Y R O E H T MUVSE ICIT! HATE IT! LO

Music theory causes anxiety in many pianists, and yet getting to grips with it will help your playing immeasurably.John Evans tells you why you should relax and give theory a try

ew would deny Mozart knew his music theory. When, as a boy, he heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere being sung at the Sistine Chapel in Rome, he was so moved by it that, perhaps not realising what archaic rules he was breaking, he wrote it down by ear and would play it at the drop of a hat, even to the Pope when he asked him to. An everyday story of a boy genius you might say, except that centuries before, the Vatican had forbidden Miserere to be performed beyond the Sistine Chapel, threatening anyone

F

who did with ex-communication. Pope Clement XIV must have approved of Mozart’s arrangement because rather than expelling the young genius, he showered him with praise. No one’s quite sure why the Vatican had once been so touchy about Miserere. Some say it was because the piece contained jealously guarded ornamentation that was never written down but passed from generation to generation; others say it features a musical interval in the bass that was once regarded as being so ugly it was known as the diabolus in musica (the Devil in music). Today we call that interval an augmented fourth, or a 70• Pianist 84

tritone (an interval that spans three whole tones). As you can proba bly tell from its nickname, the tritone was a much loathed and feared musical device. ere really are stories of people being ex-communicated for using it. For these reasons, it’s unlikely Allegri used it in his srcinal Miserere; composers of his time didn’t, as a rule. However, it certainly found its way into later versions and performances of the work. None of this evidently bothered young Mozart or, it seems, the Pope, but Miserere and the rules once surrounding it serve as a reminder to anyone preparing for their ABRSM

or Trinity College London theory examination that once upon a time, music theory mattered – very much. Music theory – in essence, the practices and principles underpinning music – is as old as music itself. At first, people probably just liked the music they heard, but it can’t have been long before someone decided to understand why certa in things sounded better than others in music, so that other musicians could repeat the trick. One such person was Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741), an Austrian composer and teacher. He travelled extensively in Europe throughout the Baroque period, soaking up musical influences and traditions. Along the way he became a master of counterpoint, that complex relationship between instrumental parts and voices that characterises so much classical music. He published his knowledge in the form of a book called Gradus ad Parnassum (1725). It was in two parts; part one dealt with the mathematical relationships between musical tones and part two, with, among many things, counterpoint, fugue and sacred music. Like most theory books it might have sat gathering dust on a shelf somewhere but for the fact that Bach had a copy of it as, also, did Mozart. Haydn claimed to have learned all he knew about counterpoint from it and suggested his pupil, a young chap called Beethoven, studied it as well. Fux wasn’t the only musical theorist and of course. ere was also teacher, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809). Like Fux, he was Austrian and an authority on counterpoint who taught and influenced some of the major composers and performers of the Classical period – big names such as Hummel and Moscheles, and also Beethoven, when he became disenchanted with Haydn’s teaching. e point is, even the great composers had to learn their theory, and rulebooks such as Gradus ad Parnassum were required reading. In a recent article for the Telegraph explaining what makes a great composer, music critic Ivan Hewitt wrote: ‘A great composer must be a good one. at means having a proper technique.’ Which means knowing your theory. A bitter pill?

e problem is, however, that for many of today’s aspiring musicians who simply want to play an instrument, knowing their music theory is like taking medicine. You know it’s good for you, but that doesn’t make it any better. What makes it worse is that, as far as the ABRSM is concerned, its Grade 5 Music eory examination is compulsory if you want to take its practical Grades 6 to 8. Strangely, or

depending on your point of view, happily, the theory tests are not compulsory at all other grades. Explaining one exam board’s thinking, Nigel Scaife, Syllabus Director at the ABRSM, says: ‘ Grade 5 Music eory encompasses essential aspects of musical learning that prepare candidates for solid, sustainable success in practical exams at Grades 6, 7 and 8, as well as laying lifelong foundations for their future as musicians.’

I sing I don’t really need to know what the music means and I just learn by listening to my teacher. I have the exam next Saturday and don’t even know where to start.’ Fortunately, to help students prepare for their theory tests, the ABRSM and Trinity College London publish music theory guides and workbooks, as well as a range of past exam papers. In addition, to help students with the composition element of the theory

For musicians who simply want to play an instrument, knowing music theory is like taking medicine. You know it’s good for you, but that doesn’t make it any better On this last point – that a knowledge of music theory helps lay the foundations of a successful musical life – Scaife continues: ‘An understanding of how written symbols relate to the elements of music, and having the skills to interpret and translate them into sounds, empowers us to communicate and experience music in a meaningful way. Learning music theory helps you unlock the inner workings of music, and definitely makes you a better musician.’

test, the ABRSM offers the interactive Melody Writer on its website. is simple but effective composing tool allows candidates to notate music and add markings. It can also check their work and offer guidance on improving it and then, when they’re satisfied, allow them to send it to their teacher or friends for feedback. All very useful – and essential – but it’s no substitute for making the study of theory part of your piano learning from day one, says one experienced

To support argument, Scaife says that,the likeABRSM’s any language, music can be learned without being able to read or write it, but that to know it really well, you must study its grammar; in other words, its theory. Having done so, he says, students will be able to understand the conventions surrounding different styles of music, be able to share a common language with other musicians, and understand how music works. ‘e term “theory” is often used as the opposite to “practice” but in the sense that it applies to music, theory is in fact a very practical subject closely linked to performance and composition,’ he says. ‘Without knowledge of notation it is impossible for classical musicians to access their repertoire with ease or to rehearse together.’ Unfortunately, it’s an argument that seems to be falling on deaf ears. At online forum thestudentroom.co.uk, Grade 5 theory candidates appeal for help and advice: ‘I’m doing mine tomorrow and I literally started doing practice papers a few hours ago.’ Another writes: ‘I haven’t started practice papers. You’re way ahead of me!’ However, the most alarming message of all is this: ‘I’m taking my Grade 5 in order to go to the higher grades but as

piano teacher. Angela Cope has been teaching the piano in Guildford, Surrey, for over 20 years and has guided a lot of students through their practical and theory exams, at all grades. Many of them have come to her having done no theory before and are stunned when they realise that to progress beyond the ABRSM’s Grade 5 practical exam, they must pass Grade 5 Music eory. ‘Music theory can be a huge hurdle to pass for someone who has little or no knowledge of it,’ she says. ‘Revising and cramming is all very well but really, you need to have studied it from Grade 1. Ideally, students should request separate theory lessons to accompany their practical ones.’ Like the exam boards, Cope is clear about the value of learning the subject. ‘Far from being a useless academic exercise, music theory has real practical value. You gain a real understanding of time and key signatures that can aid your sight-reading. If you want to compose, it teaches you how to craft your melodies and arrange them for different instruments, which may not use the treble and bass clefs pianists are familiar with. If you want to arrange music for voices, it introduces you to four-part harmony.’

71• Pianist 84

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EDUCATION She concludes: ‘Understanding music theory helps you to become a more rounded and confident musician.’ Grade 5 theory: a step up

Although the music theory tests administered by the two main examining bodies may differ in detail, generally speaking Grade 1 contains no alarming terms or devices beyond what you’ll already have experienced in your practical lessons; among them some simple time signatures, and dynamic and articulation marks. Grade 2 introduces ledger lines and triplets, and some simple transposition while by Grade 4 you’re working with the alto clef, enharmonics and writing for SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), plus understanding more complex chord inversions.

MacGregor continues: ‘I would encourage all pianists, of any age, to take up a pencil, rubber and a piece of manuscript paper, and cover it in chords, harmonisations, cadences, tunes and ornaments. It’s a perfectly natural part of being a musician; the ability to think laterally, to create you own chorale, to harmonise a figured bass – to really enjoy writing music . ese exercises are not at all archaic; it’s what jazz musicians do, and it’s really creative. ‘Understanding music theory definitely changes the way you play. Suddenly you have a partnership with the score.’ At MacGregor’s age, her fellow pianist Jonathan Plowright was less enthusiastic about music theory, but has long since come around to it.

‘I took Grade 5 theory when I was nine. I absolutely loved it. At that age, it was like a bit of joyful maths. The only thing I couldn’t get into my brain were the Italian terms, as I’d yet to visit a foreign country’ Concert pianist Joanna MacGregor However, it’s with Grade 5 – in the

‘I hated Grade 5 Music eory but

case of the compulsory gateway to ABRSM, Grade 8 –the that the real fun begins, and where many students come unstuck if they haven’t learned any theory before. If they can crack it, by the time they arrive at Grade 8, they’ll be truly skilled and brimming with musical confidence. Summarising what its Grade 5 Music eory syllabus teaches students, the ABRSM’s guidance notes say: ‘A knowledge of notation, including signs and terminology. An understanding of fundamental musical elements such as intervals, keys, scales and chords. Skill in constructing balanced rhythmic patterns and completing melodies. An ability to apply theoretical knowled ge and understanding to score analysis.’ at last phrase ought to be enough to drain the blood from many a starry-eyed pianist who has been contemplating a life of joyful music making. But not for the concert pianist and all-round top musician, Joanna MacGregor: ‘I took Grade 5 theory when I was nine. I absolutely loved it. At that age, it was like a bit of joyful maths. e only thing I couldn’t get into my brain were the Italian terms, as I’d yet to visit a foreign country. It was like speaking Vulcan – I needed Mr Spock to translate.

have sincehas realised a knowledge of theory been that essential in helping me develop as a pianist and musician. At its simplest it ca n be like maths. For example, the beginning of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 contains demisemiquavers. You need to be sure you’re playing exactly the right number, but some pianists don’t bother and add extra beats without realising. You have to learn to subdivide the bars and identify the pulse – that’s music theory. ‘eory also teaches you chord progressions and cadences, which can be very useful in helping you play instinctively. If you know how chords and keys relate to one another, you can second-guess the composer’s next move or the direction the music will take. Knowing that the French Impressionist composers wrote in whole tones, as well as what the term means, can help your understanding of the music so that it becomes clearer.’ Plowright says that some of his students who lack a knowledge of music theory can be misled by

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bass notes into thinking the music has wandered into another key when in fact, they’re playing an inverted chord in the home key. ‘e problem is, they see a bass note and automatically think it’s the root, because they don’t know how to analyse chords and they don’t understand the relationship between chords and keys,’ he says. Music theory also helps in understanding a composer’s unique language. For example, the opening piece in Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses is a gentle work containing accents over notes rather than giving ‘marcato’ as a specific musical instruction. ‘Despite the gentle nature of the piece, some pianists make the mistake of interpreting the accent marks as meaning Mendelssohn wants them to “jab” the note, but in fact it was his way of saying “marcato” or “lean”,’ says Plowright. ‘at’s a totally different approach and sound. Music theory teaches you to know these things, and to respect them.’ e same goes for ornaments, says Plowright, except that knowledge of them can, in turn, give the pianist a degree of freedom. ‘I understand ornaments and the conventions surrounding them but there will be occasions when I take liberties with them, but only because I feel the music demands it, and because I know the constraints I’m working within.’ Who’d havereason thought: has found a good forPlowright knowing your appoggiatura from your acciaccatura. Perhaps theory isn’t so bad after all. ■

MUSIC THEORY: THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN?

What are your experiences of music theory? Do you think it’s a necessity? Would you like to learn more through a regular music theory column inside Pianist? We want to hear from you! Email [email protected] or send a letter to Erica Worth, Editor, Pianist, 6 Warrington Crescent, London, W9 1EL. Best response gets a copy of e AB Guide to Music eory!

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The Joy of Piano A conference on creative approaches to piano teaching

Presentaons by Paul Harris | Christopher Norton Ben Andrew | Simon Dearsley Masterclass by Joanne MacGregor OBE

This unique event is ideal for pianists and piano teachers who would like to enhance both their teaching and playing skills, and discover new and excing ways to inspire and movate their students. This is an excellent opportunity to meet fellow piano teachers as well as observe presentaons and masterclasses by some of the foremost leaders in performance and music educaon. This year, we have a parcularly excing line up of special guests that include the renowned concert pianist and Head of Piano at the Royal Academy, Joanna MacGregor OBE, the world’s leading authority on pedagogy, and most published author on Music Teaching, composer Paul Harris and Christopher Norton composer of the leading ‘Microjazz’ series which has transformed learning for generaons of piano students. There will also be presentaons given by Ben Andrew, Head of Keyboard at Stowe and Simon Dearsley, Director of Music and former faculty member of The Juilliard School of Music, New York City. The conference will take place 73 Pianist 84 in the new state-of-the-art Chung Music School at Stowe School, Buckingham.

Tickets Saturday 13 June£25.00 2015(including lunch) To book your place visit 9.45am - 4pm www.stowearts.co.uk or Stowe School •

call 0845 680 1926

ARTIST NOTEBOOK

A journey into BEETHOVEN’S WORLD

Leif Ove Andsnes has focused on Beethoven for the past four years, taking a journey that ends at this year’s BBC Proms. He tells Erica Worth about his adventures and how it all started – in a lift in São Paulo our Beethoven

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journey, taken youwhich to 55has cities in 22 countries, is nearing its end. Has it been worth it? Yes, it really has. As a pianist one moves between so many composers, so it was wonderful to have decided that for four years it would be mostly about Beethoven. I have only played the Beethoven concertos for four years, and in chamber music and solo repertoire, Beethoven has also taken up most of my attention. What made you decide to embark on such a big undertaking? For some time I had been contemplating how I might channel my vision of this supremely great composer when, about seven years ago, things crystallised in, of all places, a hotel lift in São Paulo! e lift’s background music was a continuous loop of Beethoven’s first two piano concertos and every time I used the lift I found myself arriving at a different point in the music. At first I thought this might become rather irritating, yet the opposite proved true, as I was struck time and again by the sheer srcinality and exuberance of Beethoven’s invention. ere and then I decided the time was right to commit myself to an extensive

exploration of the concertos and Choral

e Choral Fantasy was composed as

Fantasy , and came up with the idea of undertaking a four-year ‘journey’ with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO).

the piece for a specific event, the hugefinal Akademie-concert Beethoven organised in 1808. e concert had so many first performances – the fifth and sixth symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the concert aria ‘Ah perfido!’, three movements from the C Major Mass and so on. Beethoven needed a piece that could bring all forces together at the end of the concert. e form of theChoral Fantasy is therefore unusual: it begins with a fantasie for solo piano, then variations for piano and orchestra, and finally a celebratory coda with the choir joining in. Some of it works as pure entertainment music, while other parts are bold and beautiful, and there is a wonderful feeling of Beethoven’s brotherhood-vision at the end. It might not be as profound as the concertos, but I love the piece, for its diversity of emotion and characters.

e finale is the BBC Proms residency this summer. How does that feel? Well, we have been doing several residencies this season, playing all five Beethoven concertos. Playing them last autumn in the glorious acoustic of the Musikverein in Vienna, his city, was unforgettable. But the Proms is unique, and the fact that it will be the last destination in our Beethoven journey, will definitely make it very emotional. What’s it like to perform at the Royal Albert Hall? It is quite paradoxical. At first in rehearsal, you think the music will get completely lost in this vast space. en, with the audience, the sound changes, becomes much clearer, and the atmosphere and the intensely listening audience make it all possible. e moments I remember the best at the Proms have actually been some quiet and intimate music. ere is a glow to the sound that can be very touching. You are playing the rarely heard Choral Fantasy too. How does it fit with the five concertos? 74• Pianist 84

You have been conducting as well as playing. How has that been? It is a challenge to conduct and play these concertos because the orchestra has to be so strong and the soloist is a very singular entity. We’re not talking as much about the dialogue and chamber music feeling of a Mozart concerto. But when it works, it’s just so wonderful to be a part of that flow, or a part of the storytelling all the time. You can’t get away from the

have reduced my schedule from 110 concerts a year to 70, so I can be at home more than half the year. e emphasis in my life is on both my family and music – one enriches the other. What was it like having twins in the middle of your Beethoven journey? My Beethoven journey changed quite radically because of our twins’ early arrival (they were born 12 weeks early.) I had to cancel a tour with the MCO and delay our second recording.

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fact that when you play with a conductor, there is a little bit of an on and off button. I’m avoiding that by also leading the orchestra, and that’s wonderful. But there are challenges. e first three concertos and even the Choral Fantasy did not pose any insurmountable problems, but the revelation came with the ‘Emperor’ Concerto, about which I was initially apprehensive: there are so many notes to play. How would I fit in any conducting around that? at was when working with the remarkable musicians of the MCO really came into its own, because I could put my complete trust in their ability to pick up on the slightest musical or physical gesture. All my concerns about playing

would have more comfortable lives, but they really love to play together, and you feel it. Every member is so engaged. ey have a flexibility of sound and of phrasing. I have learned so much from this orchestra. I find that when I get to work with the MCO, there are so many places in the music where I think, ‘Oh yes, that’s what I wanted to hear. at’s what I had been dreaming about.’

together about away ‘vertical precision’ – simply –melted as we achieved an amazing symbiosis: a collective sense of knowing and feeling exactly what was required at any given moment. Even the notoriously tricky tempo transition in this concerto between the dreamy slow movement and exultant finale actually became easier to negotiate without a conductor. As a natural result of having lived so intensely with this music over such a long period, I now find that I give fewer conducting gestures, because an immense trust has developed between myself and the musicians, allowing for more vitality and spontaneity.

but wasn’t untilhis much laterexpressive that I fullyitappreciated colossal range. Since then his music has formed an increasingly important part of my life. He speaks with an unvarnished directness and sincerity, free of theatrical rhetoric and sensuality, that goes straight from the head to the heart.

How did your relationship with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra begin? I had played one tour with the MCO about 10 years ago, with Alan Gilbert conducting the Mozart ‘Jeunehomme’ Concerto. Years went by and I was looking for a partner for these Beethoven concertos, and the MCO really wanted to do the cycle. e MCO consists of members from 22 countries. ey have an administration in Berlin, but they don’t have a formal home. It has always been a touring orchestra. Members have to be extremely committed (and they are) to that existence. Maybe they would be better paid in other orchestras and

What does Beethoven’s music mean to you? Beethoven’s music has an indomitable presence – it is impossible to ignore. Yet, for me, it was not love at first sight. As a student I felt drawn to its energy and the revolutionary nature of his writing,

Has becoming a father affected your relationship to music? It is difficult to say. But for sure I am even more emotional about music – I cry and laugh more easily, and I feel even more lucky to have such a meaningful profession and passion. It is difficult to put my finger on exactly what has changed after becoming a father, but I do feel freer on stage. Maybe it’s the overwhelming responsibility at home, which gives me the feeling that, okay, if a concert doesn’t go that well, it’s not the end of the world. ere are other more important things. at doesn’t mean that a concert is not important, but now I find myself taking more time with certain things and being more emotional. I think the music goes deeper in me than it did before. On the cover of Pianist No 37, the strap line was ‘Inside the perfect world of the laid-back Norwegian star’. Does this sum you up? No, doesn’t feel like muchthat more complex thanme. anyLife wayisit can be summoned up in a headline, and I don’t think of myself as laid back. But it is a nice headline! ■

Which recordings of Beethoven’s music have inspired you? Many. Schnabel, Richter, Michelangeli, Fleisher and others. And maybe the greatest Beethoven recording is Rachmaninov’s version of the C minor Variations. What a shame that he wasn’t able to record some of the sonatas. Since being on the cover of Pianist No 37 in 2007, you have a wife and three children. Does this make you have a different view on music and life? For sure I have a different view on life. Life feels more vulnerable, because there are some human beings I love so much, and can’t see myself being without. Travelling is more difficult, also because I want to be there as my children grow up. On the other hand, the travelling life has been part of me since I was around 18, and that is the life I know. I am trying to find a balance between home and touring. From a practical point of view I 75• Pianist 84

Leif Ove Andsnes’s Beethoven journey at the BBC P roms

23 July: Concertos Nos 1 & 4 24 July: Concerto No 3 & Choral Fantasy 26 July: Concertos Nos 2 & 5 ‘Emperor’ Full details at www.bbc.co.uk/proms e Leif Ove Andsnes recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 2 and 4 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra won the BBC Music Magazine 2015 Recording of the Year (Sony Classical 88883705482). e box set of the complete concertos, plus Choral Fantasy is out now (Sony Classical 88843058872, 3 CDs).

MAKERS

In praise of

DIGITALS ow many computers do you own? My guess is that you own

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more you think.than Do you have mobile phone? An up-to-date V? A microwave? A newish washing machine? A modern car? If you do, they will all have a computer inside, dedicated to a few main functions in most cases (you don’t really need a colour-fast cotton program for your car), but a computer nonetheless. And if you have a digital piano, there’s one more for the list.

This page, clockwise from top left: Kawai’s CA17 model showing its Ivory Touch and volume control; Roland’s Hpi-50e; Casio’s Celviano; Korg’s LP380 in the orange-andblack colour scheme Opposite: Yamaha’s Clavinova CVP 609

Why a digital piano? Well, why not? Gez Kahan looks at features that make digitals capable of transcending the limits of an acoustic piano

Like the examples I’ve just cited, digital pianos tend not to be sold as computers, although they boast the kind of add-ons (apps, USB connectivity and so on) that

Tese are fringe benefits, however. Te two questions everyone who buys a digital piano asks are ‘Does it sound like a real piano?’ and ‘Does it feel like

are routinely highlighted in With marketing of mobile phones and Vs. digital pianos, practically every sales pitch goes little beyond stressing how close this instrument is to ‘the real thing’. Tat’s reasonable, since it’s fair to say that for many people, a digital piano is not a first choice. It’s an alternative where certain circumstances – space constraints, noise restrictions or budget, for example – mean a traditional piano won’t do. Most digital pianos are sold as a way round those obstacles. Tey’re generally smaller, quieter (especially with headphones) and cheaper. Digitals are more compact and relatively portable, and they need no tuning and little maintenance, albeit that the more complicated actions on some digitals (and hybrids, which combine old and new technology) will presumably need regulating from time to time. We can also take as read that digitals might suit some modern living rooms better than a traditional upright. And while you can get some wacky finishes on ‘art pianos’ from the big-name traditional brands, you’ll pay a premium. With digitals, though, colour variations and streamlining to suit modern décor are often standard. Korg, for example, offers two-tone leatherette coverings (black with orange, silver or cream) on some models.

the real thing?’ And thatdosimply invites more questions: ‘What you think the real thing sounds and feels like? Which brand, which model, which size? New hammers or old? Grand or upright? Light action or heavy?’ Tis is where we start to find things a digital does that a ‘normal’ piano can’t. Even the earliest models, 30-odd years ago, usually offered the choice between a mellow voice for classical repertoire and a brighter one for jazz and rock, while most also had buttons for other sounds such as harpsichord, electric piano and vibraphone. Te technology (see ‘Tinking inside the box’, page 80) has come on in leaps and bounds since then, so that those with house brands – i.e. Kawai and Yamaha (which also owns Bösendorfer) – can even specify which flagship grand the voice was derived from, while others use suggestive words and phrases (they might name a voice ‘American concert grand’ or similar) to give a clue without infringing proprietary rights. Tat principle can also apply to the reverb simulation, which adds room or hall characteristics to the sound. Options on some Casio models include accurate re-creations of the acoustics from Notre Dame Cathedral and the Berliner Philharmoniker concert hall.

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TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR TWO PIANISTS As computing power and memory have become ever cheaper, not only have the standard ‘concert grand’ voices become more realistic, but the palette of sounds available has grown to include options such as uprights and honky-tonks. You can even delve into piano history: Roland includes fortepiano voices on some models for a more authentic performance of the Classical-era repertoire, while all major brands incorporate a choice of historical tuning temperaments on their higher-priced instruments (and some also include an Arabic scale). How about touch? Early digitals

Sound horizons

had a ‘springy’ action, akin a synthesizer than a realmore piano, butto things have moved on, with various

more. Many of fiddling the otherwith makers allow in-depth somealso parameters, though such options

All the features I’ve just described above will be pre-set, and selected for the most part by pressing a button, just as they are on your washing machine. But what if they don’t quite suit you? Tis is where some digitals allow the user an element of control that only a trained technician can achieve on a traditional piano. Kawai’s high-end models have a feature called Virtual echnician that allows users to adjust the voicing for individual keys, undertake their own tuning, set their own temperaments, adjust the touch and a good deal

As computing power and memory have become ever cheaper, not only have the standard ‘concert grand’ voices become more realistic, but the palette of sounds available has grown forms of ‘weighted hammer action’ available on the better digitals, and several gradations of touch available as pre-sets. What these settings are called varies according to brand but they could be characterised as running from ‘light’ (which may well suit fortepianists, as well as being useful for young fingers), via ‘medium/normal’ to ‘heavy’. If you also want authenticity for organ music (most digital pianos having a selection of pipe/church and jazz/rock organ voices), you’ll probably want these to disable touch sensitivity by default.

won’t be used by most purchasers. For those with an interest in experimental music, however, the ability to configure a keyboard to play microtones or to adjust the tone and touch to give a ‘prepared piano’ effect may appeal. Tis gives a flavour of just how far you can go with customising a digital piano. Te average player, though, simply wants a few real-world benefits to help learning or enhance the playing experience. One commonplace feature for practically every digital, is transposition. Need ▲ to play along with a trumpet but

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MAKERS only have the B-flatinstrument’s part? Press a few buttons,et voilà – your digital plays a tone lower. Another is the option of playing more than one voice at a time. You could, assuming your digital has a comprehensive set of alternative sounds, layer harpsichord with Baroque strings or use the keyboard split function to play, for example, pizzicato double bass with your left hand and jazz piano with your right. ough purists may frown, these things are fun to play with. But the principles can be used within traditional learning too. Via a combination of the technology used to transpose and to split the keyboard, many digitals can be turned from a single seven-octave span into a pair of identical three-and-a-half octave instruments so that teacher and pupil can play along together. Education is fertile ground for digital technology. Traditionalists will applaud the inclusion of Czerny, Hanon, Burgmüller and the like in the ‘Lesson’ features on certain Yamaha and Kawai digitals, but there are less austere options too. Most models from most brands will include a library of pieces to play along with, with the option for learners to slow the tempo and to practise hands separately. Some, such as Casio’s Privia and Celviano ranges, come with music books for learners (and, for more advanced players, recordings of famous classical pieces, complete with full symphony orchestra, to play along with). Roland’s HP-i50e even dispenses with the need for a book, with a large LCD screen in (you don’ oneto of those on abuilt normal piano, dot get you?) display digital sheet music or educational games and exercises. Any teacher will tell you that it’s important to get pupils to listen properly to what they play, and that few do. Builtin recorders on digital pianos can solve that problem, and some (where the pupil is playing to programmed music) even have assessment features. ey might not be able to correct a student’s fingering or demonstrate the use of arm-weight (yet), but they can help prevent wrong notes and shaky timing. Clap hands for apps

Perhaps the best news is that you’re not even restricted to what’s built into your digital piano. As long as it has a USB port (and practically all of them do these days) you can connect with the wonderful world of apps (see ‘Apps and add-ons’, right) and pick your own add-on features. So where does this leave the ‘real piano’? Yamaha and Kawai, who straddle both camps, are among those to make models that combine digital and traditional technology, and thereby allow the traditional piano to benefit from the new features. (Even Steinway is venturing into this territory with its new Spirio ▲ player piano; see News this issue).

Clockwise, from top: Korg’s Module app; Roland’s iPhone Air Performer; Kawai’s Virtual Technician; Yamaha’s NoteStar; Piano Notes Pro app

Apps and add-ons e app – short for ‘application software’ – started off as a fairly inexpensive way to add functions to mobile phones and similar devices, but has now mushroomed into the common way to add features to any computer, including digital pianos. Several manufacturers have proprietary apps integrate pianos eitherthat wirelessly orwith via atheir USBdigital connection. Kawai has an app to control its Virtual Technician settings from an iPad’s larger touchscreen surface for those who find the keyboard’s LCD display a tad limiting. Roland has the Piano Partner learning app for iPad and the Air Performer playalong app for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Similarly, Yamaha’s NoteStar app for iPad provides tracks to play along to, with pedaloperated page turning. Korg’s Module app, providing a range of keyboard sounds to be accessed from any MIDI-equipped keyboard , is geared more to the musician on the go (though learners, especially those studying music and composition at school, will find it useful in conjunction with the company’s music production app). ere are also plenty of third-party apps. Casio freelance demonstrator Chris Stanbury, who is also a piano teacher, recommends Piano Notes Pro as a notation teaching app and Piano Maestro as a collection of interactive exercises and pieces (both available for iPad). With developers constantly releasing new apps (for Android devices as well as iPads and the like), the examples above only scratch the surface of available add-ons . Check manufacturers’ websites and the relevant app stores for more details. 78• Pianist 84

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MAKERS

Built-in recorders might not be able to correct a studen t’s fingering or demonstrate the use of arm-weight (yet), but they can help prevent wrong notes and shaky timing

Thinking inside the box Te basis for sound production on a digital piano is sampling: making a recording of an instrument using a microphone and converting it to digital information to be embedded on a chip. Tink of it as an audio snapshot. During playback (i.e. when a key is pressed) the process is reversed, and the digital information is converted back to analog (computer folk use the US spelling) and output through speakers or headphones. Te realism of that snapshot will depend not just on the quality of the srcinal recording, but how accurately it is converted to digital audio (audio boffins talk about sampling rates and bit-depth). Tat accuracy has to be maintained at every processing stage up to playback – at which point the quality of the speakers or headphones also comes into play. Such is the range of sounds available from a piano, however, that a single sample, no matter how high the fidelity, can’t fit the bill. Early attempts (when data storage was at a premium) would take a series ofterm samples across the keyboard andtheuse a calculation (the technical is ‘interpolation’) to fill in gaps. But even a single sample of every key isn’t enough. Te beauty of a piano lies in its dynamic range, and those dynamics affect tone as well as volume. Played pianissimo a piano has a soft tone; played fortissimo it verges on the strident. Tere are tonal variations from bass to treble too, and the resonance changes (through sympathetic vibration) depending on which combination of keys are pressed, and on whether the damper, sostenuto or una corde pedals are in use. Plus, the topmost strings don’t even have any dampers. Makers of digital pianos therefore have to take multiple high resolution samples to capture those differences. Te best have several samples per key, running from quiet to loud, and clever processing techniques and algorithms to analyse how the player has hit the keys (and which keys) and to produce the appropriate sounds. However, it’s beyond the capabilities of current technology to handle every single potential sample from ppp to fff on every key, so those algorithms also have to be able to make minute smooth adjustments to account the tonal and volume nuances in between the sample points. Te manufacturers also look at other elements that contribute to the sound of a piano, taking samples of subtleties such as hammers falling back to rest after striking the strings, keys being released and damper noise and devising increasingly complex algorithms to incorporate those into the mix. Cramming that much into a digital piano requires chips with plenty of data storage (for all those samples) and hefty processors (for the algorithms). Te progress of digital pianos from vague approximation to ever more convincing replication is therefore inextricably bound up with the exponential growth in computer memory and processing power and its falling cost in real terms.

Left: Kawai’s ATX2 control box; above: Casio’s USB port

The transducer inside Yamaha’s TransAcoustic

Tere are two principal methods for combining digital and acoustic. Te most common is to add digital technology (complete with headphone/ speaker output) to a standard acoustic piano, either at the point of manufacture in the case of Yamaha’s Silent options or Kawai’s Anytime range, or as a postpurchase modification (see Pianist No 77 for an in-depth article on this). But recently manufacturers have also been exploring the potential for using the acoustic properties of a traditional piano in tandem with digital technology. Yamaha in particular has been working on a refinement that allows the digital element to interface with the real piano’s soundboard via its ransAcoustic (A) system. Te company unveiled several new A models at the Musikmesse trade show in April. Tis offers multiple 80• Pianist 84

options: it can be an ordinary piano, a digital piano played on a real piano’s keyboard and action (either through headphones, as a silent, or in the full resonant glory of an acoustic piano’s cabinet) or a meld of both. But do these new crossovers really tell us about the future of the ‘traditional’ piano? I’ll stick my neck out, safe in the knowledge that I’ll be long gone before anyone can prove me wrong. It was the late 19th century before Cristofori’s early 18th-century invention, the pianoforte, reached its first peak of perfection. No one listening to his srcinal instruments could possibly have envisaged the sound and touch of a modern concert grand. It’s my guess that it will take much less than 150 years for digital technology to become a standard element in what we currently call the ‘acoustic’ piano. n

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MAKERS

Policy statement How well protected is your piano? If it gets damaged, will your insurer pay for parts and labour? And what if it’s an older piano? Gez Kahan reads the terms and conditions iano removers rarely make the six o’clock television news, but I know of one firm that did. A momentary oversight, that’s what it was, and a Bösendorfer ended up upended in a stream, to the evident mirth of the V crew who covered the story, if not of the piano’s owner. Te removal company was highly embarrassed but also fully insured – and a good job too, because many insurance policies for individuals’ pianos don’t cover transportation. What, though if the unthinkable happens within your home? Is your insurance up to snuff, and what does it cover? Are digital pianos treated the same way as traditional acoustics? And what about faults in manufacture that aren’t initially obvious? Let’s deal with that last issue, faults in manufacture, first. You have statutory rights, of course, but they don’t go on forever and certainly not as long as

P

you’d expect a offer pianodifferent to last. warranties, Different manufacturers and the conditions may differ depending on whether it’s a digital or acoustic. For digitals, the longest period covered appears to be Roland UK’s ten-year warran ty on its HP, HPi and LX ranges (other Roland models coming with a three-year warranty). Tere are conditions, of course. It’s non-transferable, the piano must have been bought new and from an authorised Roland outlet, the purchase must be registered (receipt required) within a year of purchase and the instrument used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Tat’s all fair enough. Accidental (or deliberate)

Both Korg and Casio offer a five-year warranty for cust omers who register th eir purchases with them (with the exception of Casio’s entry-level model, for which it’s two years). Kawai has recently upgraded its UK parts and labour warranty on digitals to three years; previously parts had been

Different manufacturers offer different warranties, and the conditions mayordiffer depending on whether it’s a digital acoustic t is n ia P

r o f u a e t s i o B u n a

M

damage, including that resulting from excessive humidity or such delicacies as ‘body salts and acids of perspiration’ are out too. So if your house is damp or you’re sweaty, invest in a dehumidifier.

covered for three years, but labour only for the first year. When it comes to t raditional (acoustic, that is) pianos, Kawai tops the league, with a ten-year parts and labour warranty 82• Pianist 84

on its entire range. As with digitals, there’s a duty of care on the customer. ‘Te buyer has a responsibility to ensure that their instrument is kept and used in a stable environment, avoiding big fluctuations in temperature and humidity which can adversely affect regulation and tuning stability, as well as the condition of the soundboard,’ says Kawai’s sales manager, Neil Sale. ‘Most dealers encourage regular tuning and a check over of regulation and voicing after the instrument’s initial 12 months of settling. On our flagship Shigeru Kawai grand pianos we send a Master Piano Artisan from our own factory once the customer has owned and used the instrument for 12 months so that those settling-in checks and adjustments can be carried out to the very highest standards.’ Steinway’s Boston and Essex pianos also carry a ten-year warranty (plus the option to trade in at full purchase price for a new Steinway grand within that time). For most

others, including Steinway’s new and rebuilt models, a five-year warranty is the norm. The fne print Warranties cover purchasers for defects in manufacture and materials, but as they don’t cover accidental damage, they’re no substitute for insurance. Tere are a number of options. Te first and perhaps most obvious option is to see whether your household and contents insurance policy offers adequate cover, bearing in mind that large-value items often need to be listed separately. Also check the fine print, though. It may have a clause that allows loss adjusters (known as claims adjusters in the USA) to discount the insured value to its second-hand market value and to account for wear and tear, meaning you could be seriously out of pocket if you need to replace a piano that’s been

you’re a fully paid-up member of the Musicians’ Union) Hencilla Canworth. A two-minute web trawl will throw up several more. Tey will all tend to offer the same basic cover, but premiums and policy excesses will vary. For acoustic pianos, Allianz says, accidental damage, fire and theft will normally be the basic cover. Since they aren’t portable, cover will be for premises only (so make sure you or your removal company have adequate additional insurance before you move house). New for old cover is available, so you can insure for the replacement value, although for any item valued at over £10,000 the company will require documentation to prove ownership and value. If it’s not a new piano, particularly if it’s second hand, you’ll need to get a valuation. Although pianos tend not to appreciate in the way that Cremonese violins might, if yours is

irretrievably fire or flood. ‘Make suredamaged to get a by quote from the insurance company that stipulates “Price as new”,’ advise s erry Lewis of Jaques Samuel Pianos, London. ‘A lot of insurance companies otherwise cough up a figure that’s nowhere near the cost the piano was when you bought it.’ Tat’s a point echoed by David Widdicombe, technical service s manager for Steinway & Sons UK. ‘Our general advice is to insure a piano for the cost of replacement with new, and update the policy on an annual basis. Te price of a fullyrebuilt Steinway purchased from our showroom is typically between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the cost of new, so we recommend insuring for at least 70 per cent of the new list price. Tis figure is also likely to cover the cost of rebuilding the piano in the event of major damage, but it is important to avoid the risk of being under-insured in the event that the piano cannot be repaired.’ If you’re in any doubt, go to one of the insurance firms with specialist musical equipment divisions. A partial list of UK firms would include names such as Allianz, Lark Insurance, Musicguard, Robertson aylor and (if

aprovenance limited edition ans interesting (Johnor Lehas nnon’ piano sold at auction for over £1m), it could rise in value and you should have it revalued every two to three years. For digitals, things are different. Because they’re more portable, a premises-only policy probably won’t be appropriate. And because the technology moves so fast, you can’t always insure on a true replacement basis, so you’d tend to go rather for replacement specification. Whichever insurer you go with, you’ll need to confirm that the policy matches your exact needs. Ask as many questions as you need to, and ask to see the full document – read it thoroughly, taking expert advice if need be – before signing on the dotted line. Over-insurance is money wasted, since t he premiums you’ll pay will reflect the infla ted value you put in, but the pay-out would only be for the cost of replacement or repair. Equally, don’t scr imp on premiums by under-insuring – any insurance premium, however low, is wasted money unless you have to make a claim. But if you should drop a Bösendorfer into a stream, it’s nice to know you’re covered with something besides embarrassment. n

91• Pianist 84

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REVIEW

CD

Marius Dawn is enchanted by Stephen Hough’s miniature Grieg, Louis Lortie’s whirlwind Chopin and Donka Angatschewa’s enjoyable concertos Pianist star ratings: ★★★★★Essential – go get it! ★★★★Really great ★★★A fine release Buy these CDs from thePianist website. Visit http://pianistm.ag/cdreviews

★★Average ★Fair

DONKA ANGATSCHE WA

Editor’s

CHOICE STEPHEN HOUGH Grieg: Lyric Pieces, including Arietta, Notturno, To spring, Wedding day at Troldhaugen HyperionCDA68070 ★★★★★

VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY

Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto; Rota: Concerto soirée; Piazzolla: Cuatro estaciones porteñas

Vers la flamme. Scriabin études, préludes, poèmes, morceaux, etc Decca

Ars Produktion ARS 38 168

478 8155

★★★★★

★★

Is there a pianist out there who does not own at least some of the 66 short pieces that comprise the Grieg Lyric Pieces? ese pieces lie comfortably within the technical abilities of a pianist of an intermediate standard and are charming. However, to play the notes as written is one thing, but to bring the music alive is another – and that is the territory of the professional pianist. ese Norwegian mini-dramas need a singing piano tone, clear phrasing and a steady forward pulse to hold the compositions together. To elevate Grieg’s tiny masterpieces, we need a craftsman like Stephen Hough. Some of Hough’s first recordings were of miniatures and were always polished to perfection. Hough is not only a miniaturist, of course, and his concerto recordings have won many well-deserved awards. However, being able to bring a short two-minute piano piece to life is a rare gift. A good example on this new disc is the ‘Wedding day at Troldhaugen’, a little showpiece that Hough turns into a concentrated musical poem, beaming with pianistic colouring and rhythm zest. ‘To spring’ simply cannot be played with more elegance, while the final ‘Remembrances’, harking back to the opening ‘Arietta’, is the ultimate in tenderness. It’s refreshing that

e three composers featured on this disc were all associated with film music, though they also wrote for the concert hall. Rota’sConcerto soirée is regrettably rarely heard in concert, while Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto should stay outside the concert hall in favour of the real Rachmaninov it so blatantly copied. Piazzolla is mainly remembered for his tangos, however his ‘Four Seasons’ Concerto is a real crowd pleaser. Donka Angatschewa pulls out all the stops, showing she’s the right pianist for these works. e enthusiastic Vogtland Philharmonie with Stefan Fraas supports her brilliantly. With the multichannel

2015 marks 100 years since Scriabin’s death, which is no doubt why Decca lured Ashkenazy into the studio to record over 40 short piano works by Scriabin, including Vers la flamme, plus a short prelude by Scriabin’s son Yulian. Sadly, inspiration is lacking and the music sounds as dead as the composers. A lack of wonder and dreaminess in the early pieces and plodding in the more complex last poèmes is bewildering, when one knows what a fine Scriabin player Ashkenazy once was. e faster etudes from opus 8 (nos 7 and 10) are played with stunning virtuosity, but that’s not enough to save this recital from

Hough has delight selectedusawith Yamaha CFX for recital this recording. we hope Hough will another Grieg on his nextDare recording?

recording, this is of thethe most concerto surprise year.enjoyable

being disappointment that not even a fine arecording can rescue.

K A R I MS A I D

N I C K VA N B LO S S

LO U I S LO RT I E

L E ON M CC AW L E Y

Chopin Vol 4: W altzes & Nocturnes (selection) Chandos CHAN 10852

Rachmaninov: The Complete Preludes Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0143

Beethoven: Diabelli Variations; Sonata in F min op 57 ‘Appassionata’ Nimbus Alliance NI 6276

Echoes from an Empire. Works by Berg, Bartók, Enescu, Janᡠcek, Schoenberg, Webern Opus Arte OA CD9029 D

★★★★★

★★★★

★★★★

★★★★

In his fourth volume of what will likely be Chopin’s complete works for piano, Louis Lortie lets his hair down, giving us a whirlwind of waltzes, from the very early ones attributed to Chopin to the last great waltzes, staples of any Chopin recital. Lortie is like Gene Kelly on the dance floor, favouring fast tempos and crystalline, lightweight fingerwork. As with the previous volumes, a few nocturnes are mixed in with the waltzes. It is Chopin of the modern age, helped by the brightsounding Fazioli and a masterly, high-class recording. Some might lack the warmth of a Rubinstein, however many will admire this highlevel Chopin playing.

It’s hard to give someone five stars for a disc of Rachmaninov preludes when there are recordings by the likes of Richter and Gilels. Pianistically and musically, McCawley sails through far ahead of many of his contemporaries. I won’t compare the living to the dead, but even among modern recordings by Shelley, Osborne and Ashkenazy, McCawley is among the top recommendations. He thunders through the stormy opus 23 no 2 and creates real pianissimo intensity in the lesser-known opus 32 Preludes that Russian pianists reserve for themselves. is is classic, unsentimental, and in the best sense of the word, straightforward, Rachmaninov that listeners will want in their collections.

e young Jordanian pianist Karim Said is associated with Barenboim’s West Eastern Divan orchestra. With this intelligently programmed CD, however, he shows he can stand on his own. All composers featured here broke away from tonality, with Schoenberg being the most radical; his ree Piano Pieces opus 11, which concludes the disc, closes a chapter in history Said convincingly lays open here. e opening Berg Sonata opus 1 leads effortlessly into Bartók’s ree Rondos and S choenberg’s work. I have heard the Berg with more élan and the Enescu Suite No 2 with fewer rough edges, but these are minor complaints in a performance that few pianists today can challenge.

On the back of Nick van Bloss’s previous Goldberg Variations CD, a critic praised his ‘fluidity of line and unforced lyricism’, a description that also matches this new Diabelli CD. ere are no extremes in tempos; each of the 33 variations lead naturally into the next. Van Bloss seems at ease with the technical hurdles in the faster variations, and his love of putting a shine on the notes in the slower variations never holds back the tempo. His choice of the ‘Appassionata’ as a generous filler is a surprise, however his intelligent booklet notes explain the thematic similarity between the works. If we get a rather restrained account of this popular sonata, it wins us over with repeated listening.

86• Pianist 84

W E N NIX A M Oad my first tryoaftfee ever. od À CH me c just h edgwo É F nd I’d e most welco a Pam W A s p l L E C morning in theisAcafé served th

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FREEDOM WALK This piece was inspired by a wonderful trip to South Africa and many years of listening to ‘Graceland’ (Paul Simon). Pam Wedgwood

•

•

•

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© 2015

er Music Ltd. by Fab

© 2015 by Faber Music Ltd.

to find out more and to buy go to:

www.fabermusicstore.com

87• Pianist 84

Newest addition to Pam Wedgwood’s After Hours series for solo piano. Inspired by the places and people Pam has met on her travels. Evocative pieces for the advanced player (Grades 6-8). Providing the perfect antidote to stress.

A RANGE OF THE BOOKS REVIEWED AVAILABLE AT THE PIANIST DIGITAL STORE http://pianistm.ag/digitalshop

REVIEW

SHEET MUSIC

Michael McMillan looks at likeable Debussy Préludes, Bernstein’sAnniversaries, Kreisler’s famous melodies for duets, two very different duet volumes and more LEONARD BERNSTEIN

PIANO MOMENTS: CLASSICAL

IN THE GROOVE AND MORE Mike Cornick Universal Edition ISBN: 978-3-70247286-3

Bärenreiter ISMN: 979-0-00653275-9 (BA 8765)

Complete Anniversaries for Piano Boosey & Hawkes ISBN: 978-1-48039358-5

In 2011, Boosey & Hawkes published is

album

contains

a

none srcinally written for piano solo. Instead, Christoph Ullrich and Andreas Skipis have done an excellent job of arranging some of these composers’ most famous works – e.g. Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 and Schubert’s Ave Maria – for solo piano at around Grade 5-7 and at no longer than four pages per piece. e arrangements all lie well under the hand and sound about as convincing as they can be at this level. If you’d like to explore music outside the piano’s repertoire, this is a great place to begin and if you’d like more of the same, try the other volumes in the series ( Baroque and Romantic ) or Boosey & Hawkes’s

for those interested in this repertoire. ALFRED DUET SERIES

Solo Piano Collection .

Mike Springer, Joyce Grill, Bernadine Johnson Alfred ISBN: 978-1-4706-15642 (Village Folk Dance); -1563-5 (High Five); -1565-9 (Saturday)

Here are three new pieces in Alfred’s Duet Series. ey are all six pages long (three pages per part), and the primo/secondo parts are of equal difficulty. Village Folk Dance(Grade 2) is a jolly piece in A minor, marked to be played at 208 crotchet beats per minute – the fastest setting on a standard metronome – which will surely appeal to young speedsters. High Five (Grade 3) is an effective piece notable for its ‘high-five’, ‘slow wave’ and ‘furious wave’ instructions for both performers, and features some overlapping parts for additional interest. Sleigh bell sounds are played throughout much of the energetic Saturday Sleigh Ride (Grade 4-5) which calls for some octaves in the lower part. Repetitive patterns make all these fun pieces easy to grasp and learn.

PIANO DUETS: AMERICAN COMPOSERS Compiled and edited by Michael Aston OUP ISBN: 978-0-19339171-0

popular piece on the ABRSM’s 200910 Grade 5 syllabus. It was srcinally published by Universal Edition as one of 20 Piano Studies in 2004, and now reappears as the title piece in this volume alongside 13 new pieces by Mike Cornick. e pieces are all one or two pages long, and range in diffi culty from Grade 3 to 5. As with all Cornick’s compositions, the music fits comfortably under a player’s hands, is well-thought out from a pedagogical perspective, and is no harder than it needs to be. ‘In the Groove’ is the most memorable piece in the book, but all the music in the collection is both melodically and rhythmically appealing and it would not surprise me in the least if examining boards pick out a piece or two for their syllabuses this time

I like everything about this edition. I like Bärenreiter’s larger-than-normal paper size that allows the music to be clearly spaced out. I like the clarity of the musical text, and the fact that it reflects the latest research. I like not having a page turn in the twopage préludes or needing to turn two pages in the four-page preludes (unlike some other editions). I like the glossary of the French terms. I like the 15-pages’ worth of detailed preface, introductory notes and fingering studies at the front, and the critical commentary at the back. I like the editorial fingering and suggestions for distribution of the hands (if you prefer no fingering, go for the Durand edition edited by Roy Howat). I like the quality of the binding. Heck, I even like the colour of the book. It might be a little

around. MARK GODDARD

costlier than some, but it’s worth it. FRITZ KREISLER

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is is the fifth compilation of piano duets that Michael Aston has edited for OUP. e other volumes are Baroque Composers, Classical Composers, Romantic Composers and TwentiethCentury British Composers. All are notable for Aston’s diverse selection of repertoire and the quality of arrangements. His latest collection, focusing on American composers, is no different. Among the eight pieces in this book you’ll find Grade 5 to 8 arrangements of Gershwin’s cheery Promenade (Walking the Dog), Joplin’s Bethena Waltz, Copland’s Walk to the Bunkhouse (a piece that will test counting skills) and a slightly simplified version of Gottschalk’s Ojos criollos. Brief introductions to each piece at the front of the book round out an attractive addition to the duet catalogue.

Préludes Book 1 Bärenreiter BA 10818 (ISMN 9790-006-52919-3)

In the Groove was an immensely

good

Leonard Bernstein – Music for Piano selection of music by Haydn (three (reviewed in Pianist No 64) with pieces), Mozart (13), Beethoven Anniversaries, Sonata, Touches, and (seven), and Schubert (seven), but four previously unpublished pieces. ey have now made available the complete set of Anniversaries – 28 pieces in total – for a few pounds less, in a separate volume less than half the size of its parent album, with stapled (instead of glued) binding. e Anniversaries are short, personal works written for family and friends, and are divided into four sets composed at different times in Bernstein’s life. ey are about Grade 6 to 8, and dedicatees include people close to the composer such as Helen Coates (one of his piano teachers), Aaron Copland, and his sister. is is the only edition with the complete Anniversaries under one cover, and as such is self-recommending

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Grad es 2 — 5

Good Times Past; Birthday Presents; Beowulf Spartan Press ISMN: 979-0-57998300-2 (Good Times); -304-0 (Birthday); -302-6 (Beowulf)

Mark Goddard (b.1960) is the founder of Spartan Press and has over 150 publications to his name. A number of his pieces appear on the ABRSM’s new brass syllabus, and although he has edited numerous collections of piano music for Spartan Press, these three books are his first volumes of srcinal music for the instrument, written for the occasion of Spartan’s 25th birthday. Good Times Past contains nine one or two-page pieces (Grades 2-5), which take their starting point from flute duets that Goddard wrote in 1982. e nine pieces that constitute Birthday Presents , and the five that make up Beowulf are a bit harder, and although I didn’t find the music especially memorable, it is well written for this level and deserves investigation.

88 • •Pian ist 84 Pianist 83 88

Liebesfreud; Liebeslied; Schön Rosmarin Schott ISMN: 979-0-00112200-9

Fritz Kreisler, the famous Viennese virtuoso violinist, composed these three pieces for violin and piano. He later arranged them for solo piano, but the first two pieces – Liebesfreud (Love’s joy) and Liebeslied (Love’s sorrow) – are better known to pianists through Rachmaninov’s transcriptions. is publication presents the three pieces for the first time as duets, in arrangements by Fritz Emonts. If it’s further elaboration upon Kreisler’s music that you want (like Rachmaninov’s transcriptions), you’ll be disappointed, as these arrangements follow the srcinals very closely; the secondo part is essentially the same as Kreisler’s piano accompaniment, while the primo part takes the violin melody mainly in octaves, but with the occasional added harmony. If that’s what you want, though, this is for you!

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66• Pianist 84