Playlists!

Now, we have some exciting cross-fertilisation between this Humoresque and one from a few weeks ago on the value of sight-reading!

(If you didn’t see that edition, it was published on 16th April, and you can find it under the Humoresque tab on my website).

Here is the connection between Radu Lupu and the skill of sight-reading:

When beginning a piece of music he had not played before, Lupu would always start by reading the music away from the piano. Doing this enabled him to hear the music in his head, not only to understand obvious aspects such as the melody and the harmonies, but also to know what tone he wanted to produce and exactly how he wanted the music to sound when he played it.

Here is a quote from Radu Lupu on this subject: If you have any concept of sound, you hear it in your inner ear. All you have to work for is to match that sound on the instrument. The whole balance, the line, the tone, is controlled by the head.

This idea that the music is “controlled by the head” is an important one. Students often complain that their fingers don’t do what they should, or that a passage went better “at home” than it does in the lesson. Try to remember that, as Radu Lupu points out, it’s all in the mind. How the music comes out when you play, whether “at home” or in your lesson, depends entirely on what’s happening in your head.

So, clear your mind of distractions, focus on hearing the music in your head, and it will come out in your playing. Don’t believe me? Give it a try!

Two people recognised that Radu Lupu was the pianist in the photo —

Congratulations to David and Patrick who sent in the right answer!

Patrick and David were invited to contribute playlists for you all to listen to. We’ve included to links to performances which Patrick or David recommend, and we all hope you will enjoy this selection of wonderful classical piano music.

David’s Playlist:

1. Beethoven, Sonata for Piano No. 23 in F Minor Op. 57: ‘Appassionata’
   
   Third Movement: Allegro ma non troppo
   
   Performed by: Emil Gilels
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/6zHnYxEM3bjqIyRT08DIK5?si=d2b8c87294b74f3b
   
   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven is perhaps the most famous and revered composer of the classical period. The “Appassionata” piano sonata was composed during 1804-05, and was first published in 1807. It is one of the greatest and most challenging piano sonatas (technically and musically), perhaps because it was in 1803 that Beethoven first recognised that his hearing loss was irreversible. This performance of the third movement lasts approximately eight minutes.
   
   
   
2. Chopin, Barcarolle in F sharp Major Op. 60
   
   Performed by: Krystian Zimerman 
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/2a1MAlv18ofLD4P8xcnc3u?si=851a325d11b3457a
   
   Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and pianist, who wrote mainly for solo piano. A barcarolle is a “boat song”, with a rocking movement and a gentle mood. This piece was composed in 1845-46 and is wistfully romantic. This performance lasts nine minutes.
   
   
   
3. Liszt, Transcendental Etudes, S. 139: No. 11, Harmonies du soir
   
   Performed by: Yunchan Lim 
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/52XLT1ogXL91FWrz7itRgA?si=17fe613f03904a5f 
   
   Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. His music was highly romantic and technically brilliant. Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes were re-workings of studies he’d written earlier, but with extreme technical difficulties added in! There are twelve in the set, and this is Number 11 in the key of D flat major. This is a live performance, recorded in Fort Worth in 2022. It lasts nine minutes.
   
   
4. Rachmaninoff, Prelude in G Major Op. 32: No. 5 
   
   Performed by: Vladimir Ashkenazy 
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/6AFGBibgjLbqCS9QVjEdH2?si=70e57aa6ff4c48e8 
   
   Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. Many of his compositions feature the piano, or are written for solo piano. This set of thirteen preludes was first published in 1910. It completed a set of 24 preludes, one in each of the 24 major and minor keys. This performance lasts just over three minutes.
   
   
5. Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83
   
   Third Movement: Precipitato
   
   Performed by: Maurizio Pollini 
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/4P4kxfwvosv5ih9v1PP4ui?si=8a574c4963bd4eef 
   
   Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a Russian composer and pianist, who worked in Europe as well as in Russia. He composed ten piano sonatas, and Numbers 6, 7 and 8 were composed during the Second World War. As you’ll hear from this recording, these works reflect the turbulent times of the war years. This performance of the third movement lasts just over three minutes.
   
   
6. Mompou, Canción y Danza No. 7 
   
   Performed by: Stephen Hough
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/7FTwFIjdm9Lg6H1Krdge72?si=1d58b0166ccb4a17
   
   Federico Mompou (1893-1987) was a Spanish composer and pianist. He wrote fifteen Canción y Danza (Songs and Dances). Most of the them were written for piano, but Number 13 is for guitar and Number 15 for organ. Mostly, they are based on existing Catalan folk tunes. This performance lasts just over two minutes.
   

Patrick’s Playlist:

1. Rawsthorne, Piano Concerto No. 2
   
   Fourth movement: Allegro
   
   Performed by: Geoffrey Tozer
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/7F4SRk4OudNTXyQBtKVpLL
   
   Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) was a British composer. His second piano concerto was written in 1951, and was specially commissioned for the Festival of Britain. Although reception of the work was very positive, with predictions of it achieving “wide popularity”, sadly that never came about. This performance of the fourth movement lasts six and a half minutes.
   
   
2. Debussy, La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
   
   Performed by: Lang Lang
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGSZPRk6aXA
   
   Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a French impressionist composer, and this is the eighth piece in his first book of Préludes, written 1909-10. The title means “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”. It’s in the key of G flat major and has a simplicity of style not previously employed by Debussy. This performance lasts just under three minutes.
   
   
3. Pierné, Piano Concerto in C minor Op.12
   
   Second Movement: Scherzando
   
   Performed by: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/0bI5HGtIugDuuAcI43bsME
   
   Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. He wrote several operas, choral and symphonic music. The piano concerto was composed in 1886, and Patrick loves the second movement for its “energy and fun”! This performance lasts five and a half minutes.
   
   
4. Stravinsky, Piano Sonata (1924)
   
   First Movement: Crotchet=112
   
   Performed by: Anatoly Sheludyakov
   
   https://open.spotify.com/track/2tH1QeaZeZecXgcYJA2JUM
   
   Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was a Russian composer and conductor. He wrote his piano sonata in F sharp minor in 1903, and another in 1924, which is the one chosen by Patrick. The 1924 piano sonata appears to be in no particular key, but to have elements of the neoclassical and serial styles of music, meaning it doesn’t conform to the classical key structures. Stravinsky also did not title the first and third movements with the usual tempo direction, but chose a metronome speed instead. Both first and last movements are to be played at 112 to the crotchet. The middle movement is marked “Adagietto” (meaning fairly slow). The first movement, which Patrick has chosen, uses complex 3s-against-2s polyrhythms. This performance lasts just over three minutes.

A big thank you to both David and Patrick for compiling these playlists, in which twentieth century music features heavily!

We all hope you click on the links and enjoy the music. Even if you don’t like every piece you hear, it’s always good to explore new ideas and to broaden your mind with new sensory experiences.

I highly recommend just listening. I’ve given approximate durations of each performance so you can decide when and how to listen to each track. Do get back to me with your responses to these tracks – which did you most enjoy? Which did you dislike? Would you listen to any of them again? I’d love to hear from you in response to David’s and Patrick’s playlists!

This Week’s Question!

Alan Rawsthorne’s Piano Concerto No. 2 has its fourth movement marked “Allegro”. What are the markings for the other three movements? Send me your answer by Sunday 18^th May, and you may be invited to contribute to the next Humoresque!

Humoresque = a whimsical or fanciful piece of music. Be whimsical, be fanciful, but play in time!