A channel by an enthusiast of life! I share here musical experiences and thoughts, as well as my own interpretation of 'clavier' (and not only!) music from all times. 'Musica laetitiae comes, medicina dolorum' Live happily!!
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Beautiful - delightfully gentle and self absorbed......Can it be that you are able to be so brave with the slow tempo because you know the limits and sonority of your lovely instrument , as well as your intimations of the composer's intentions/feelings ?
It's probably because I don't know anything that the only chance I have is to listen to the instrument and the music to come up with some form of solution. With this approach these slow tempi somehow come naturally. I find that the feelings are embedded in the sounds, so by listening we may perceive them.. if we allow 'time' for the sound to speak we perceive even more...
Thank you :-) this week I have been looking at some Chopin.. hopefully, in the near future, I will find the time to prepare and share more of his music, which has always had a special meaning to me, since childhood.
Very nice rendition and perfect tempo. I wanted to ask how you determine tempo in these older pieces. Since no metronome markings are given and we typically just get some vague tempo indication (e.g., "andante"), if anything at all, how do you approach figuring out the tempo? I'm interested in the WBMP, but find it much more difficult to apply to "pre-metronome" music.
Thank you! I don't have a 'scientific' method. For suites with allemandes, courantes etc.. I use my own internal 'pulsometre' 🙃 Factors influencing it may be the 'Affekt' of the piece, the notation, its intricacy, and then the balance between the different movements of the suite. I have sort of found my own way of finding a tempo that works within the mode in which I operate, which resonates with the WBMP approach anyway. If I find more than one tempo solution for a piece I decide which one to use by trying it out enough times to convince myself of one result rather than another, in the context of that given moment (things could change months later but would always gravitate around the same area anyway). After a while one gets used to certain tempi for certain types of pieces. For pieces (or sonatas) with Allegro, Andante etc.. I use pretty much a similar approach. However, having found some difficulty with specific pieces in the past, I consulted Quantz's table of 'pulse speeds' with their 'translation' into metronome marks (in The Interpretation of Early Music by Donington). Often to find, anyway, that the solution I had 'found' was in the same region of tempo that Quantz had prescribed taking his pulse indications as a double beat. Funnily enough Donington comments that Quantz's tempi are 'problematic and unrealistic' (or something like that..), which shows an obvious single beat approach, and only that, in his mind. In summary, I do things mostly intuitively, with some reference when it is possible to have it. I have found that the more I play pieces of a certain type or style, the more easily I manage to find tempi for them. I guess that accumulating experience, even as little as the one I have, helps. We have to sort of open our own path if nobody else who is playing 'pre-metronome' music (and could be a 'reference') realises that WBMP is a fact and as a consequence the 'older' music also was considerably slower and more rhetorical than what we could define as 'mainstream standards' of today. It is somewhat difficult to explain in words all of this. I hope that some of it makes sense to you :-)
@@theclavierist Thank you very much for this detailed explanation. I think I'm more or less on the same page with you. As a starting point, if I have a tempo indication, like "andante", I typically set my metronome to that tempo and then halve it. But I find that I'm able to eventually arrive intuitively at a tempo that makes sense to me by feeling the piece, which may not comport with the metronome at all. Similar to you, I do return to piece later on to find that I should've played it a bit faster or a bit slower; but usually within the same range. I've been told many times that I play too slowly. It's fine. I do. But that's how I hear the music; and that's how I like to play it. Thanks for the reference to Quantz. I'll definitely look into that. Keep up the great work on your channel.
@@theclavierist one of the reasons why I keep coming back to your channel is the feeling you play with; I think the stereotype about classical musicians being overly pedantic/conservative is largely true, and it is the reason why people often find classical music boring. And to me, a rendition doesn't have to be quicker to be interesting; it just needs to be authentic. Anyway, keep playing "too slow", I guess. :)
@@its_eis thank you for this nice comment. I guess that my lack of formal musical education and my connections with folk music inevitably influence my interpretation of 'classical music'. I do try to be authentic to myself and I am glad you perceive that :-)
Mainstream wants loud and fast, both characteristics that conflict with the qualities of the clavichord, but I agree that it would be great to have more clavichord 'activity' going on!
At the ripe age of 34, I am finally starting to learn to play the piano (though I really prefer the harpsichord and the organ). I'm working on BWV 939 as my first piece, because it just SLAPS when played with feeling. Could you recommend any cool (non-bach) short pieces for an ambitious beginner?
Look at Purcell's music, both movements from the suites or other pieces. I have a playlist featuring lots of his music ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-icX5QX3-fYQ.html
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Not only "nice", but beautiful - according to my own taste, and so is your performance. By the way, I agree with your remark about the beginning ( in contrast to Handel's solo clavier works, I like very much his vocal ones). Bravo and thanks for uploading.
I just reached 1,000 subscribers, too. And like you, I tend to play the lesser known or unheard of composers and at tempi that are much slower than most. Not much Bach or Handel on my channel either. So, I can really relate to what you're saying in this video. Congratulations. You do excellent work. Your playing is wonderful. Keep it up. By the way, your Chopin is fabulous.
Congratulations! Loved your spinet videos. Keep up the variety - you show us the different sounds of each instrument and the music that highlights each instrument's unique qualities.👍 Also, I find the Bluthner piano sounds very mystical for Chopin's Nocturne. Very enjoyable - I'm surprised that it was so easily 'forgotten'! Perhaps it is because it is not a flashy Lisztian performance? The world needs to hear these contemplative works, especially in our current world's upheavals and values challenges.
Thanks Glenn! My Bluthner is a great piano even when out of tune, maybe it is thanks to that it sounded particularly mystical on that day :-) hopefully I will manage to make more spinet videos in the future.
I will look into doing more 'stuff' other than youtube.. it will be a task for the next.. few months, just need to create the time for it in this roller-coaster of life 🎢🤸♂️ thank you for the suggestion!
Well done. For a mostly harpischord channel 1000subs is impressive, especially without playing popular pop/rock tunes or getting views by 'Instagram' methods.
