Lasts 13 minutes
Brahms Piano Concerto 1 second movement
Monthly Archives:
December 2010
Couperin – Bruit De Guerre
Very powerful isn’t it? From what’s mentioned on Amazon it appears that the pianist and/or those who collaborated in making the album added the drum. That was Alexandre Tharaud playing one of the pieces from the series called Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins by Francois Couperin.
Couperin’s Biography on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Couperin
I’ve just kept listening to more from the Tic-Toc-Choc. Great stuff. You can see why Bach liked Couperin so much. (*of course these pieces were originally written for harpsichord but performed here on piano) As I researched I found some ‘critics in the know’ who emphasize how wonderful Couperins’ keyboard compositions are and what a shame they haven’t been recorded and exposed as much as they deserve.
How about some more? (No more drums!) 3 selections from Tic Toc Choc lasting about 9 minutes. 1) Le Baricades Misterieuses 2) La Couperin 3) Le Dodo ou L’amour Au Berceau
Couperin medley
HUMMEL WAS: Taught by – and housed for 2 years at 8 years old – by Mozart! Received further instruction from Muzio Clementi. Haydn composed a sonata for him! He was then taught by Albrechtsberger, Haydn and Salieri. Beethoven became a fellow student and friend. (Beethoven’s arrival was said to have nearly destroyed Hummel’s self-confidence, though he recovered without much harm.) He became good friends with Schubert and Goethe and Schiller! He taught Carl Czerny who later taught Liszt. (Czerny had first studied with Beethoven, but upon hearing Hummel one evening, decided to give up Beethoven for Hummel.) Mendelssohn was also a student, and he had an influence on the early works of Chopin and Schumann.
And Yet! He somehow faded into relative obscurity compared to the above-mentioned composers, who went on to become celebrated and their music featured in the Classical repertoire. It seems like sometimes it’s just the ‘luck of the draw.’
Lovely stuff: Hummel’s Piano & Violin Concerto, Op. 17 – II. Andante con moto
II. Andante con moto
Apparently over the last several hundred years there have been very few changes made to ‘The Piano’ (after it’s transformation from the harpsichord) A recent and radical departure from the traditional piano has occurred right here in Australia by the piano makers Stuart and Sons. Basically the way the strings are wired has been changed, a fourth pedal added and a number of keys added. (from the traditional 88 to either 93 or 102!) The website for Stuart and Sons is below. I recommend the drop down menu ‘The Sound.’ From there check out Players Comments and Video Clips. Very intriguing! Is this the future of the piano?
http://www.stuartandsons.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=66
After the recent ‘strange’ postings. Here’s something ordinary and nice to listen to!
3 sonata movements for wind and piano by Saint-Saens
1) Clarinet sonata in E flat maj. Op 167 / first movement
2) Oboe sonata in D maj. Op 168Â / first movement
3) Bassoon sonata in G maj. Op 168 / 3rd movement
Saint – Saens medley
Wikipedia defines bagatelle as a short piece of music, typically for the piano, and usually of a light, mellow character. The name bagatelle literally means a “trifle”, as a reference to the innocent character of the piece.
Here’s Glenn Gould tickling the ivories and humming along! You can just barely hear him in the background humming while he plays. Some record companies took out the humming, but this recording of the bagatelles left it in. Gould’s habit of humming along with the music put him in his own league of ‘eccentric.’ There is something unsettling and distracting about it; yet at the same time charming, and maybe appropriate? Gould thought so! It’s not so hard to imagine the great composers themselves – vocalizing along as they played their compositions in private.
6 Bagatelles, Op- 126, No- 1 In G Major , Andante Con Moto Cantabile E Compiacevole
6 Bagatelles, Op- 126, No- 2 In G Minor , Allegro
7 Bagatelles, Op-33, No-1 In E-Flat Major , Andante Grazioso, Quasi Allegretto
Beethoven Outrageous Beethoven Piano
Outrageous Beethoven – I laughed out loud
Posted on December 4, 2010Today whilst researching aspects of Beethoven’s music I came upon a reference to the Eroica Variations. The author said something along the lines that they were rarely played because they were so strange, or weird, or something to that effect. Listening about 10 minutes in to the combined 15 variations I laughed out loud (at least twice) Delightfully ridiculous.
A mental picture emerged of a highly intelligent adolescent with medium range autism whose parents force him to practice the piano. This is his revenge. (*Stick with it. It only runs about 3 minutes. I’ll bet you laugh at least once)
Somewhere about in the middle of the collected Eroica Variations played by Jeno Jando
An excerpt from the Eroica Variations