If I had to pick one single "greatest" Harlem piano recording (I hate making "greatest" lists because there will inevitably be like 10 equal "greatest" of anything, and not just one), this would be it, for me. It has everything: Beauty, pathos, fire, joy, depth, a high level of musicianship, real musical originality, has a good deal of contrast (texture, rhythm, mood, dynamics) stands up to repeated listens, has suprises, and has real musical magic. We are so fortunate that this great artist recorded so much for us to hear today. Thank you for sharing.
I wonder what would have happened if these cylinders could have been ordered back then. Imagine the work needed to produce so many of these recordings, which would have been done immediately at the source!
He is absolute the best interpreter of impromptu... at this rarely fastest speed where notes of more than 1/64 are needed, pieces like this one here, its impossible to find a pianist to play so delightfull and clear and fullfilling... No other pianist has ever played this piece in such a reference level....not even Corcot...
This recording is crap - but every now and then the beautiful voices rise above the noise and I realize we’re listening to our however-many-times great grandparents or their contemporaries, people whose names many of us don’t know and who never knew about any of us, but there they are. It’s why I will keep coming back to listen again and again for the rest of my life.
This is a remarkable document. If it's anywhere close to sounding like the original performance, it provides valuable insight into how Debussy conceived of his music aurally. Thanks for posting this.
Finally, i found it, the track used on Ash-veil lane's final deltarune ARG video. it unsettled me so much brah... video-games and old timey songs dont mix well unless its like cuphead or smth, this, combined with the really messed up ground that looked like twisted veins and flesh leading to weird squares of such, the dialogue, the red storm on the background... Its such a great visual representation of trauma, it can hardly be understood, but its still horrifying to go through or to the very least witness such from someone else... freaking masterpiece. Kinda hope that when i become a game dev i can emulate the same feeling in whatever weird horror game i make. if i even manage to do that, that is.
Fantastic! With modern technology, I think the music could be recreated, capturing the pitches, tonality, timbre, volume, and nuances of the performance, free from noise and the limited recording equipment of the time. That would be fun to hear.
A noble and stylish performance! I recently heard this piece in a recital by a famous Hungarian pianist (Reluctantly, I will not mention his name to protect his false reputation!). I was shocked by the sheer thoughtlessness of the performance. I was extremely irritated by the vulgarity, but this performance was more than enough to ease my feelings.
