Lang Lang's Mozart - Masterclass: Comedy, Character, and Storytelling

Pianist Noriko Ogawa says Mozart is difficult to pull off as his music "shows off every part and potential of you as a musician, your potential as a musician, how to turn trills, how soft and loud, every little thing has to be decided by the performer, that's why all musicians say Mozart is the most difficult composer to play as a performer*"

 So let's take a successful creative concert pianist, such as Lang Lang, and examine

his approach to Mozart. We'll do this by observing Lang Lang in action in a piano masterclass which took place in New Jersey in c2009 and  discover his musical thinking.  I summarise Lang Lang's main points from his masterclass videos below with clarification and elaboration.




The 'sound' of Mozart Lang Lang agrees that Mozart's music  is hard to play, especially to get the 'sound' of Mozart. What Lang Lang means is that you must have the character of Mozart's music when you play. How do we get this character, according to Lang Lang, "Mozart always goes up" with his phrases (in other words, your fingers become lighter and uplifting towards the end of a phrase), getting softer as you rise up the keyboard. Put simply, the end of the phrase is lighter. An important element is to note the music's cheerful character within the context of this piece.

Musical Storytelling
Lang Lang really brings music to life, through imaginative musical storytelling, He encourages the participants to create a story to suit the musical passage, he explains to his amused audience: "I'm lost, where I am?" "I'm in New Jersey, No wait, I'm in New York" and so forth.  By using musical imagination, one can spot certain motifs in Mozart's music and align them to emotional colours, and Lang Lang uses an example of a 'hope motif'. There are also unexpected surprises in Mozart's music, recognise those instances and convey that feeling.

 

Mozart's a lightweight?  
Ornaments, highly prevalent in baroque and classical music, here Lang Lang reminds the young pianist,
to play ornaments lightly, not so heavily in the fingers. 

Sing a Song
As we all know, Mozart wrote some great Operas, and the singing voice, is probably paramount in his composition, so therefore Lang Lang, utters the words, sing.  

Split Personality - a Comical Genius
Sing in combination with the character contrasts of a particular passage which alternates between seriousness and light heartedness, encourages Lang Lang, further adding that Mozart is ' a little bit crazy, that's why he's a genius' but not only that, a 'funny guy.' Now, Lang Lang really shows he shares Mozart's comic jest (cheek) by giving some ideas for a particular passage: perhaps Mozart is Crying, maybe he's begging for Ice cream, Vanilla, no, chocolate, No [perhaps] I don't want this [ice cream anymore].  Lang Lang brings the participant's attention to the effect Mozart conveys by alternating in rapid succession between Major Minor, Major Minor modes, perhaps, in essence playing a game.

So to conclude, let's hear Lang Lang perform Mozart's Sonata in B flat Major, K.333, 3rd Movement. Certainly from Lang Lang's facial expressions, he's definitely 'in character' with Mozart.
*Noriko Ogawa quote from Saturday Classics, BBC Radio 3, 07 April 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01fhy0q/Saturday_Classics_Noriko_Ogawa/

Pianist Sam Liu on Chopin Mazurka in A minor op.17 no.4

A Piano Sage blog exclusive, we interview up and coming Canadian-Taiwanese pianist Sam Liu

Sam Liu, winner of the Il Circolo Piano Transcription  Prize

on what his inspiration and tips to play and practice Chopin's Mazurka in Am, Opus 17 #4. Sam has taken masterclasses with renown Bach expert Andrea Hewitt and Liszt expert Leslie  Howard, and was 1st prize winner of the Il Circolo Piano Trancscription competition.








First let's listen to Sam Liu performing the Chopin Mazurka in A minor opus 17 no.4
 in Canada on a Bechstein Grand



What attracted you to this particular Mazurka?
 I heard this Mazurka for the first time on Horowitz' Deutsche Grammophon's (DG label) recording, what I regard as a truly transcendental performance. The sound Horowitz created, was simply surreal.  I recall fondly many evenings in Canada driving home from piano teaching, listening to this beautiful piece over and over again..

Horowitz performing Chopin's Mazurka Op.17 No.4 in Am in his home, from  "The Last Romantic" 1985


What characteristics of Chopin and the Mazurkas must you keep in mind when playing this piece?
A Mazurka is known for its "Mazurka pulse", or stressing on the second beat of the bar. Of course, this is just a rule-of-thumb, and the amount of rubato on the beat will have to be judged by the music and the taste of the performer.  In fact, the Mazurka pulse is featured throughout many of Chopin's oeuvres, and it is important to bear in mind that when a passage of Mazurka-like quality appears in any Chopin's music, e.g. theme A of the first ballad #1 in G Minor, the feeling of Mazurka pulse will have to be present, as the music suggests.  Understanding the mazurka pulse will help one to find the very essence of Chopinesque rubato.


What technical and musical challenges does this mazurka present and how do you overcome them? 

Challenge - Gracenotes As the Mazurka itself is not difficult to play, the only technical difficulty are the quick grace-notes which appears many times in different parts of the sections.  These grace notes have to be played with tremendous delicacy, with the aim that they should not at all feel difficult or even a struggle to play; or even noticed [they should not stand out too much].  To achieve this effect, one could break them into smaller sections to practice, make sure the tone and rhythm is even, and then join them together.

Mazurkas and Waltzes - Both of which Chopin wrote many, are in the same time signature 3/4 time,  can you tell us more about the differences and the requirements of the challenging (Mazurka) Pulse? In contrary, the musical difficulties are much more demanding than it looks on the page.  Waltzes in general should be play with equal rhythm between each beat of the bar, with an emphasis on the first beat.  It should be played rather flowingly, with a feeling of one beat per bar, as in contrary to the Mazurka where it swings on the second beat.  However, arguments have been made that the slow Chopin Waltzes should be generally treated as a Mazurka, with the famous recording of Cortot plays Waltz op 64 no.2 with the Mazurka pulse.  Nonethelss, the more general ones, such as op 18 and op 34 set, should be played as a normal Waltz character in my opinion.

On top of the finding and balancing the Mazurka pulse, there are several interpretative difficulties involved.  Firstly, the same phrases repeat many times, and section repeat at the end.  With all these repeats, it is crucial to play them a little bit different each time, as if you are on the journey and each time when you reached a same scene you evoke different emotion towards it.

How would you say the different rhythmic emphasis of the mazurka pulse adds to the character?
The Mazurka pulse has generally been known and studied by the learnt musicians ever since it's creation.  Just like when a trained musician during the Baroque period can immediately tell the tempo and character and recognize a French overture from the score alone, a learnt musician in the nineteenth century would automatically apply the Mazurka pulse to a Mazurka without questioning. It's part of the culture and understanding of music.  If the Mazurka pulse wasn't added to the Mazurka, then presumably it wouldn't be a Mazurka at all!  It would be just be a beatiful piece of music in 3/4.

Tip: Sustain and relate phrases
The ability to sustain a phrase is paramount for this mazurka.  If one only plays the phrase as it looks on the page, the whole Mazurka will be chopped into pieces and it will not make sense to anyone.  Playing through each phrase and making each phrase relate to each other is rather tricky and requires experience and understanding.

However, to get started to develop relating phrases to each other, a useful tip is anticipation.  After playing a phrase, a motive, or even a note, one should try to form the sound of the next note (anticipate) in the brain very vividly, from the pitch to the timbre of the sound and the dynamic of the sound.  It is just so often that people would play with "finger" [muscle memory] rather than engaging their musical mind via imagination.  A good exercise to engage the musical mind would be to play  the whole Mazurka on the piano with fingers touch the keyboard without making the sound, and imagine the sound in the brain as if it is been played.

Tip: Muscle Control
 In addition, it is very tempting to just play the Mazurka through, and enjoy the sound and melody rather shallowly.  However, to create an heart-touching sound, it not only demands a good piano, but great concentration of the mind and great muscle control, two elements I deem crucial.  As the Mazurka is so simple, it is in turn so exposed, that if the pianist's concentration falters, this will show immediately in the  playing. So, to develop muscle control, practice holding the group of the notes down i.e. the group of the grace-notes, then play each finger individually, play the notes of the finger that's holding and the adjacent notes, thus to create maximum independence of the fingers

How does this mazurka compare with his other mazurkas?
Chopin was still relative young at the time of composing the mazurka, both in terms of age and his musicality development.  Only a genius could create such beauty and simplicity as such a young age (Chopin composed this Mazurka around 1833, age 23).  Although this Mazurka does not have some of the sophistication he created in his later Mazurkas, such as opus 59 and opus 63, its pure melancholy and lyricism  is completely sublime.  The late mazurkas are much more sophisticated musically and demand a likewise more  artistic demands in interpretation and delivery.

Who are your favourite interpreters of Chopin's mazurkas and why? Who are of particular inspirations to you and why? 
Although I am drifting away from Horowittz's unique performance now, I still regard his interpretation one of the best I have ever heard.  However, Paderewski's rendition of the piece evoke much more sincerity, and I believe it might be closer to what Chopin would have intended.

Paderewski performing the Mazurka in 1912



  I also particularly liked the recording of Richter, which is so heart-touching, if not heart-acheing, and Richter's very own way. Richter performing the Mazurka in 1950:


Sam, any further words of advice you'd like to give?
To conclude, this is a tremendously beautiful piece, yet extremely difficult to execute.  It is enjoyed much by amateurs, because it is technically not too difficult to get around to the notes to get started. But, to polish it to great height can take a life-time for a professional pianist including hours of practice and experimenting with expressive possibilities.  Well, this is what a great piece of music, because of which, has it's demands and challenges, we are very lucky that these pieces have survived for us to play today. I wish you the greatest luck and best wishes for your endeavors.

About Sam Liu: Sam has won various awards such as the first prize of "Il Circolo" Competition at Italian Cultural Centre, Piano Transcription Competition, and had given recitals throughout UK and Canada including Yamaha Artist Service Europe at Chappell, London. Sam has also participated in masterclasses given by pianists Angela Hewitt, Leslie Howard, Joseph Banowetz, and Anton Kuerti. Sam frequently collaborates with his duo partner violinist Mansoon Bow, and they have performed throughout UK and in Osaka, Japan, featuring the complete Schumann Violin Sonatas. Contact Sam Liu.


Further Reading

• Article: A World Of Expression In A Tiny Chopin Mazurka
• Article: Chopin and the unpredictable Mazurka 
• Mazurkas, Op. 17 (Chopin) [Wikipedia]
• Sheet Music [IMSLP]

How to play Rachmaninov's Prelude in G Minor: tutorials, tips, masterclasses Opus 23 No.5

Overview 
 The Opus 23 preludes were dedicated to Rachmaninov's first cousin,  Alexander Siloti, and musicologist James Frazier notes that they owe much of their style to the second piano concerto (especially in the luscious B section).  Ashkenazy on the preludes: they contain  “an unmistakable Russian intensity, strong lyrical melodies, and changes of character that range from sublime sweetness to passionate virtuosity.”
Thailand based British expatriate pianist Paul Barton adds, that you get all these attributes in one go with the G minor prelude. In Paul's Youtube tutorial he describes the G minor prelude as a Paradox like so much of Rachminov's music - it's about staying in control while letting go at the same time; the immense technical challenge of playing the notes vs. at time soaring, passionate music, seeming desperate to escape from them. Written in 1901,  this prelude is second in  popularity to the C Sharp minor (opus 3) Prelude but Paul is convinced that popularity of the G minor is increasing.  Paul has clearly read Angela Glover's work and quotes from legendary pianist Josef Hoffman - anyone who could write this (prelude) must be noble.  Paul describes the form of this prelude like a Classical Rondo with A-B-Transition-A form and  the character of the 'B' section as ephereal, poignant with a Spanish flavour and feels like an improvisation [Thiollier].


Paul Barton's tutorial and tips of how to practice and play the G Minor Prelude


Excerpt of Paul Barton's tips:

• First learn the notes. Try to resist playing at full speed to keep the musical ideas and enthusiasm fresh.
• Avoid any tension in your arms, shoulders and wrists
• Section A - Play Chords and Change Position [3:00] Play the first chord in any group which is repeated. Play it once so avoid repeating them first of all (rather than 3 times as indicated), in order to make the shape of the chords and to be able to change position, 
• It's a great piece to work and focus on,  you can work on chords in one section then appegios in another.
• Middle section or 'B Section' which creates a 'trio effect' - overemphasize in your practice the countermelody (so you can bring this out later) [10:30]
• There are no pedal markings indicated in the score (so you'll need to balance the clarity of the melody in relation to the staccato chords)
• In the B section, if you can't reach all the notes as Rachmaninov had extremely large hands, drop a note but retain those notes in the chord that retains the best colour.

Rachmaninov plays the G Minor prelude himself - notice how he gives equal emphasis to the thick chords in Section B (as opposed to bringing out the fifth finger top melody line)




Paul Barton's favourite performance of the G Minor Prelude is by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Further resources

• An Annotated Catalogue of the Major Piano Works of Sergei Rachmaninoff [Chapter 8 Preludes], Angela Glover, Florida State University 
• John Bell Young masterclass Part 1 of 2 (Youtube) filmed at the Univerisity of Florida, Tampa.
• Sheet Music (IMSLP)
• "Ten Preludes, Opus 23", Rachmaninov -  Earl Wilde CD Notes by James E Frazier, P 15, 2008 

How to play Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu C# Minor: analysis, tips, masterclasses Opus 66

Chopin's Fantasie (or Fantasy) Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor Opus 66 is one of the most popular pieces for grade 8 and above musicians to play. In order to play this piece effectively I have found the most suitable
masterclasses and tutorials from youtube and summarised them.

Firstly, Paul Barton gives the background, inspiration and form of  the Fantasie Impromptu, and inspiration from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Moschelles.


Paul Barton Tutorial summary

Introduction, analysis, origin and influence of the Fantasie Impromptu C#m  [0:00 to 6:12]

• The term Impromptu was first used by a musical publisher in 1817, so a Romantic period invention, and can be defined as freestyle. 
• Fantasie Impromptu is in ternary form - or A-B-A.
• Chopin didn't publish it in his lifetime
• The fantasie impromptu has a lot of similarity, therefore likely to be inspired from Moscheles' Impromptu in Eb [2:30] (similar in character and tempo, and form) and third movement of the Moonlight Sonata [3:00] (similar in key - C#m and form) with one of the same runs.

Paul Barton's Practical tips (excerpt) [6:12 to End]

• The right hand plays semiquavers against triplets in the left hand, if you have trouble fitting the notes together, Paul suggests accenting the notes that fall on the beats and the other notes will fall in place.
• Play all the notes legato, clearly and even as you can, which takes lots of slow practice and try not to overpedal.

Katsaris Masterclass
In 1992, French Pianist Katsaris, first Prize winner of the  International Cziffra Competition 1974,  gives a masterclass on the Fantasie Impromptu for Japan's NHK TV (part 1 of 4)


Katsaris Masterclass Summary Part 1: 

• Impromptu is defined as unexpected or improvised, the piece is an elaborated improvisation [and should be played as such.]
• The fast right hand melody is in two groupings of semiquavers (cut common time) so you could practice analytically and slowly the right hand melody dotted crotched (dotted 1/4 note) to build up speed.
• Mood of the piece: The piece should be played more feverish, trembling, like leaves and trees in the forest quivering and trembling. 4 notes in the right hand against 3 notes in the left hand.  Think of a whispering wind blowing. 
• Broken chords with accents: Play into the In this section, play the piano deeply (more weight) where the accented melody is especially when the thumbs play on the accent marks. Play them as chords to find the right balance with the thumb on the accent marks. Take time between the long phrases (this is demonstrated in part 2) by waiting a little bit at the end of each phrase. You can think of a bell sound effect for the accents. 

Katsaris Masterclass Part 2: 




Katsaris Masterclass Part 2 Summary: 

• Turn your hand into the direction of the accented notes, in effect adding more weight to the accented note. Practice the accented note repeating it four times. 
• Different colours in these phrases and this section - think that you are on a horse which runs in the wood, and your beautiful long hair is against the wind. So in effect a feeling of total freedom. [2:50] and at the end of this bridge, play pp pianisimo, to create a nice transition effect (perhaps a calming of the storm)

Katsaris Masterclass Part 3: 




Katsaris Masterclass Part 3 Summary: 

• When Chopin played the same piece two or more times, or a repeating section, he liked to play it in different ways. So you can try with pedal and without pedal, which creates a different colour.
• Or play a little bit slower
• Some of the colouristic emotions you encounter in this section are: lamentations - which becomes revulsion which becomes anger (end of the section), [hmm sounds a bit like the Yoda mantra!] add weight in the keyboard.
  Section B - Major Key [5:30] - Largo and Moderato Cantabile Section
• The new colour effect is a sunny spell as it's in a major key. It's a new sound world.
• Communicate the emotion but same time reserved, but it must always sing, each finger sings, think of the Bel Canto. Sing, even if it's not forte, sing.
• Listen to the sound, control the sound, use the ear to control the sound (right hand melody).
• Be aware of the tenor countermelody, [8:00] and also remember to make these sing.
• Think of a little secret, something you haven't told anyone, communicate this here.
• Bring out the following colours: Hope [9:30], delicacy and elegance.

Katsaris Masterclass Part 4: 



Katsaris Masterclass Part 4 Summary: 
Section B - Major Key [5:30] - Largo and Moderato Cantabile Section (continued)

• Colouristic effects: Abandon yourself [1:15]  
• In the pp pianisimo sections think of a 'telling your secret' motif as mentioned earlier.
• Each note must sing with phrasing, think of the bel canto, or even a violin to make the piano sing and sound more than a mere percussion instrument [5:05 - comparison with Chopin Ballade #1 in G minor]

Finale - A Section [5:40]

• When restarting the finale A section, start PP pianisimo not very fast and without much pedal. So in effect you are carrying over the mood and pianisimo effect from section B.
• Think of the leaves trembling but in the night, not loud, very light. 
• Bars 116, 117 and 118 Accent on the little finger, the upper part (right hand)
• [7:42] Tortured and Suffering [bars 119-122]
• Bars 130-137 Melancholic remembrance - phrase melody,  pianisimo and singing which dies and becomes almost nothing.

Further Resources

• Alternative versions: Final version that the most performed version of the Fantasie Impromptu in C#m is the first draft, here Artur Rubinstein plays the final version which has differences

• Video tutorials from the Arioso7 blog
• Sheet Music  (IMSLP)
• Fundamentals of Piano Practice (Chuan C Chang) Fantasie Impromptu  Practice tips (page 61-63) 

Chopin Ballade No.1 in G Minor Tips, Resources, Tutorials, and Masterclasses (how to play) Opus 23

Overview

Score (Everynote.com)

Chopin's Ballade #1 in G Minor (op.23) is a LRSM (Licentiate Royal Schools of Music), LTCL (Licentiate Trinity College of Music) level piece which is the same graded virtuoso level as Liszt's La Campanella, or equivalent to the final year recital for a Bmus degree in a specialist music convervatoire. I've found a collection of masterclasses from the Internet as well as academic resources as well as broad resources on how to approach and analyse this particular Ballade.





Before the masterclases, let's first listen to the Ballade by the great Krystian Zimmerman, winner of the 1975 Chopin Competition



Josh Wright from Utah giving suggestions for the Coda of the Chopin Ballade #1


Josh's tips - (Coda section) Presto con fuoco (fast with fire)

• Don't just focus on the technique, focus on the artistry and the artistry will help the technique.
• Voice the top hand melody and stay light
• Feel the phrasing
• Don't play too fast but focus on producing the artistic resolutions, colours,  images you want to portray.
• Keep sensitivity at the core of your practice.

Oleg Stepanov Masterclass, who studied under Lev Vlassenko at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, won the Liszt International Competition in 1956 (Stepanov has dedicated a piano competition in his memory) gives a masterclass starting off with the Chopin Ballade #1

Masterclass with Oleg Stepanov

• Chopin Foundation: How to Play Chopin's Ballades by Professor Regina Smendzianka (Chopin Foundation, USA)
• Chopin and the G Minor Ballade by David Björling, Luleå University of Technology Abstract The purpose of this work is to make a general presentation of Chopin, the age in which he lived, his G minor Ballade and selected editions of the Ballade. I will also compare five recordings of the G minor Ballade, and make a presentation and a recording of my own interpretation of the G minor Ballade. This work discusses his life up to the time the Ballade was published, Chopin’s development as a composer, and the period in his life when the Ballade was composed. Background material on the history of the Ballade as a genre and its development is included to give the reader an enhanced contextual understanding. The issue as to whether Chopin had a literary model when composing the G minor Ballade and his relationship with the Polish writer Adam Mickiewicz is discussed. This work considers the issue of form in the G minor Ballade, Chopin’s personality, how Chopin played, his use ofthe term ‘tempo rubato’, and how he used improvisation and composition.
• Chopin Ballade #1 in G Minor Opus 23 Sheet music (IMSLP) -
• Wikipedia overview of the Chopin Ballades
• Descriptive analysis of the Chopin G Minor Ballade (La Folia Online Music Review)
• Brief Music Analysis of the Ballades (ourChopin.com)
• Full text of the translated text of Konrad Wallenrod, poetry by Adam Mickiewicz, which is said to have inspired the Ballades.(Gutenburg Project)
• Frederick Scott on the Chopin Ballade in G minor (Thetutorpages)

Tame those nerves! 9 Ways to Prepare for a Piano performance or exam

Virtuoso Horowitz, also suffered from nerves (pic: lastfm)

How can we prepare ourselves so that we won't be too nervous on the performance day? Performance is not only a mental game, it's a way of life. Therefore to succeed you need to be prepared mentally as well as physically (technically). Remember even the great pianists Glenn Gould and Horowitz got nervous too, and even shied away for years from performing four times according to the New York Times.

1. Play for friends and family. Use every opportunity you can to play your pieces, see how you cope under pressure. You'll highlight any technical difficulties in your piece. If you can, record it and listen or watch back. Where did I hesitate? Were there any memory slips? What could make it sound better.
2. Record yourself on Video or Youtube you'd want to get your recording perfect, so this is also another excellent preparation technique. You can also observe your performance - your body language and posture (observe also how tense are your shoulders, arms and hands?) You can also ask piano enthusiasts from the youtube audience, your previous and current teachers,  to evaluate your performance.
3. On the day: Play through the pieces at least once, this will boost your confidence and reinforce the muscle memory.  
4. Relax - have a bath the night before, listen to some soothing music and calm the mind, ensure you don't schedule any other stressful event or task during the day or days preceding  the performance.
5. Practice, practice, practice intensively, but don't burn out. Knowing that you've done the 'donkey work' in advance will boost your confidence. You shouldn't then be too worried about making technical errors, because all the hard work has been done.
6. Get a good night's sleep. A good night's sleep the night before isn't enough, make sure you have consistent good sleep 3 days before.
7. Try out the piano and venue! If you are able to, get access to the venue beforehand, either before the performance starts to rehearse through your pieces. If it's a music festival and the competitors and ajudicators haven't arrived, why not try out the piano - as long as this is permitted just to see the touch response of the piano. This will enable you time to get used to the piano and feel more comfortable in the performing environment. 
8. Visualise success, great athletes do it, so should you. First of all, recall try a successful previous performance that went well, remember how you felt and what made it such a great performance. Apply those memories and imagine you will be giving your next best performance. In your visualisation, implant positive thoughts,  that you're in total control, relaxed and focused.  
9. When you perform, or are just about to - focus on the musical feeling and mood you wish to convey, just before you perform. Eliminate any doubts, focus on the positive, what you can do well and how you'll communicate with your audience.

Master Piano Technique: Pearly Sound - a lesson from Utah

Utah's Josh Wright has some great piano tutorials for advanced pianists on Youtube. For such a young pianist he is very aware of technique and getting a great sound. In this Youtube tutorial, Josh discusses Pearly sound. Josh's inspiration's for this Pearly Sound is the playing of pianist Murray Perahia.  I think this term is fairly common in North America, I don't hear this term used in the UK that often, only by my previous Canadian teacher postgraduate from the Royal Academy of Music.

 Josh defines Pearly Sound as a light, clear, beautiful, fleeting sound as opposed to a heavy and muddy sound. Josh demonstrates this concept with a Chopin nocturne, and illustrates the difference and technical approach to achieve Pearly Sound. Enjoy, practise and share!

Tips and Analysis of Mozart's PIano Concerto 23 in A Major (K488) with further help from Lang Lang

Mozart Bust srce: (fotopedia.com)

I was asked my teacher which Piano Concerto in entirety should I learn - one of the suggestions is Mozart's Piano Concerto 23 in A Major K488. Here are some of the resources I found.

Origin of  K488 Piano Concerto in A, Plus Accompanying Sketches by Dennis Pajot. This article analyses the original manuscripts and differences of sketches as well as absence of documented first performances.  Mozart often improvised his cadenzas, so Pajot identifies an unusual written cadenza in the first movement of the autograph copy. Music histoiran, Robert Levin, suggests that the concerto was written for Mozart's favourite pupil, Barbara Ployer.

First Movement analysis by James Greeson of the themes and harmonic (chord) progressions of the exposition, development and recapitulation sections of the sonata form within the concerto. To get a broad overview of this movement read the Asiyclassical blog.

Second Movement - Adagio
Again, Asiyclassical analyses the second movement highlighting points that Adagio not only means slow but 'at ease', and watch out for the controlled disonance, in this movement where Mozart takes you from tension  to release, from 'unstability' to 'stability', an effect which Asiyclassical claims creates movement and emotion. 

Third Movement: Lang Lang's Masterclass - Articulate!
Lang Lang's masterclass on the  3rd movement of the concerto - and how to articulate and get into the character of Mozart! It features a young and talented Anna Larsen who is a beneficiary of Lang Lang's music foundation.

Index Part 2 (above)
00:00 - 01:40 Articulation
01:50 - 04:40 Character
04:50 - End    minor character; climax and swing

Overview of tips on Mozart's style and Piano Concerto's third movement from Lang Lang

• When switching from minor and major don't forget the colour change - Lang Lang describes as clouds (minor) and sunshine (major) .  
• Don't play too fast that you can't articulate the notes
• Feel the swing in some of the passages
• Know where the climax(es) are

Index Part 3

How to play Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca "Turkish March" - Piano Performance and Technique

Mozart is great for technique my previous teachers have told me. Why? Because getting good articulation in your playing requires a consistent touch and solid technique. Some of the scale runs are particularly challenging to keep the evenness whilst remaining minimal hand tension and to have a pearly lightness but yet voiced.  The last movement from the A Major K331 Piano Sonata is commonly known as Rondo alla Turca or "Turkish March". I've started relearning this piece. I played it for competitions when I was 13. I'm going to reflect on what I've learned in my lessons from this piece and share it with you! First let's look at it's influences. 

Ottoman Female musicians ( wikipedia)

Turkish Influence:  This movement is inspired by the Turkish Janissary Bands, which upon further research in Wikipedia reveal that these are Ottomon Empire Military Bands - hence the use of the term 'March'. Listen to some of the Janissary music below to get you into the flavour of the turkish inspiration.


 So we can definitely add the military character to the March section of the Rondo - the B section. This movement is so contrasting to the calm theme and variations of the first movement. In the 18th and early 19th Centuries, Turkish music was en vogue in Vienna, so much so that the fortepianos had an additional pedal which activated a drum and cymbal to give the rhythmic Turkish drumming effect. The Finchcock's keyboard museum in Kent, UK has such a piano - a Johann Fritz fortepiano dating from c1815.

Now let's hear a Swedish pianist perform this great Austrian Composer's piece with Turkish influence (how cosmopolitan!). This is one of my favourite Youtube recordings of Rondo Alla Turca performed by pianist Lars Roos, performed in Sweden. Lars also features the piece amongst his miniatures in his CD recording.


General tips for playing the Rondo Alla Turca

• Rondo form - the piece is a rondo, which means 'round' so therefore has a structure, a normal Rondo is ABACA (each letter represents a section), but in this case it's ABCBAB and so, you come round once again to ' section A' twice. If you know the structure you won't leave out a repeating section when you don't need to! I'm reminded of some Scott Joplin pieces with their repeated sections, where we must creatively think of colour changes to not make the repeats boring or played exactly the same way! 
• C Section Scale runs - to avoid rushing, use your left hand as a guide to set the tempo, let the left hand lead the right hand. 
• Articulation - watch out for the left hand articulation in the beginning, depending on edition (I'm using the Associated Board Royal Schools of Music) the second bar is slurred and the 3-4 bars aren't! 
• Focused sound - don't loose the bridge in your hand (collapsing). One of my previous teachers likened the action of a precision machine - such as a typewriter imprinting notes into the keyboard with precision, accuracy and equal spacing. 
• Play in to the key - one of my first mistakes, I was trying to be light so much that I wasn't producing a full bodied tone,  you can have a strong articulated tone yet relaxed! So play into the keybed while maintaining as relaxed hands and arms as you can.
• Harmonic progression - in the C section, there are some harmonic changes, or colour changes, F#m and C#m chords - bring out these colours. Be aware of them at least - do they have a more slightly darker contrast before the next A major scale run comes up?
• Tempo - it is marked Allegretto, so check these on your metronome. A lot of people will play the piece Allegretto Vivace (which is faster) 

Whatever you do, don't play like a robot, like the TEOTRONICO 010 

Further Resources Here are some excellent further resources that go into more detail on the Rondo Alla Turca.

1. Analysis Bar by Bay of Rondo Alla Turca (Musicteachers.co.uk)
2. Fundamentals of Piano Practice website 
3. Introduction to the Sonata K331 and the Turkish influence (Musicteachers.co.uk)

7 Tips to play Stephen Foster's Camptown Races [ABRSM grade 1 piano]

Those of you who have seen The King's Speech, will in no doubt recognise the Stephen Foster's American folk song Camptown Races, which the King sings in order to overcome his speech impediment.

Photo: Camptown Races [Credit: jimmywayne (Flickr)]

My 5 year old daughter is learning the piece, which is on the Associated Board Royal Schools of Music [ABRSM] Grade 1 piano repertoire list.






So I include tips of best practice to help you with this piece:


1) This is a folk song afteral, so Get a feel for the character with this Johnny Cash video:


2) Understand the piece - read it's background and lyrics on Wikipedia.
3) Pentatonic scale - the key is Gb - let's immediately reduce the complexity by knowing that all notes in this piece will fall on black notes.
4) Rhythm - this is the most complex aspect of the song. Break the piece into quavers (4 in a bar)  instead of counting in crotchets.
5) Coordination: Make sure you know each hand separately in the correct rhythm
before joining the two hands together.
6) Staccato - make it Bouncy: have a bouncy sound for the staccato elements - make sure you have light relaxed wrists and curved fingers on the black notes (no flat fingers)
7) Marcato section - in the bass clef. This needs to be a different and strong character, I get my daughter to play it imagining singing "I'm the Big Bad Wolf" to this particular phrase.

Here's Alan Chan (no relation) on Youtube performing the piece. My observations and improvements of his performance below.
I think Alan plays the piece fairly well with a good tempo, to improve - perhaps more lighter touch, more dynamic contrast, and the rhythm needs to be tighter at the end.

Here's an excellent and faultless  performance of the piece by PianoPalace on Youtube: .


Good luck, it's a tricky piece!

Tips to play Chopin's Nocturne in C Minor Opus 48 #1

Following my blog on the 13th January 2011:  Lost and Found Chopin Nocturne Youtube Tutorials - Cm C#m. I want to offer further insight into the Chopin Nocturne in C Minor, Opus 48 #1.

A postgraduate at the Royal College of Music studying his Masters in Music in piano performance who has performed the Chopin Sonatas has indicated to me that this nocturne is one of the most difficult Chopin pieces he's seen, "monstrously difficult". The level of this piece is LTCL - or licentiate of the Trinity College of Music performance level. This equates to the final year of an undergraduate performance at a music conservatoire. Wikipedia has a wonderful overview of the Nocturne in C Minor, Opus 48 (numbers 1 and 2), and a great introduction to the structure of the piece. And from the article we learn that the piece is in ternary form, A-B-A. 

1. A Lento 
2. B Piu Lento - (Chorale)
3. A Doppio movimiento

This is a piece with great technical difficulty that it's beneficial to observe a pianist performing it on Youtube. Firstly you can observe on Youtube Jane perform the piece very slowly to observe her finger and hand movements.

Here's Valentina Lisitia performing the piece on Youtube. Time indices: A: (0:00 - 2:09) B: (2:10 - 4:12) A:(4:13 to End)

A - Lento Opening Tips 

• Understand the harmonic structure by playing the chords by themselves
• Connect using the pedal the semiquaver bass progressions to the quaver (pedal once more)
• Grace notes and ornaments - play these melodically (not strict time as in the classical style) and alter the expression everytime. 

B Piu - Lento Chorale 

• Use the soft pedal 
• The top line must be heard and played legato
• left hand spread chords - experiment but here are some ideas -  (i.e.) G-D-B- you can either break up the chord into two positions (fingers: 5, break hand then both 2nd and 1st finger). C-G-E-G (fingers: 5-2-1-2)
• Connect the top note of the right hand to achieve a legato effect.

Valentina Igoshina performing the Nocturne in C Minor Opus 48 #1.



A Doppio movimiento
I found this section by far the most difficult section of the nocturne.

• You must have in mind the first A section and how clear the melody was. 
• You are trying to recreate this clarity with the added complexity of chords in the right hand. To achieve this, play deep into the key with the chords whilst keeping the hand supple to keep the accompanying chords softer, keep the top 5th finger strong so that the melody line can be heard above.
• Watch out for the quick sudden crescendos that occur in one bar, make sure you play this as if you're singing it, not like a sudden massive increase of volume.