Mozart Fantasy in Dm - Preparations?

[kwtam338]

Hi

I plan to learn the Mozart Fantasy in Dm but it is like two or three levels above my current skills. So I wonder if there are etudes or easier pieces that I should learn first to prepare for it.

Thanks in advance and Merry Xmas!!!

[kwtam338]

 

[mariocast]

What type of pieces are you playing now that are indicative of your current playing level?

If you tell me, then I can come up with a list of repertoire leading up to the D minor Fantasy.

I remember playing the Fantasy in 6th grade, and back then it was probably way beyond the level of pieces that I was playing currently.

However, I loved the piece so much that I was able to overcome most of the technical difficulties (Fast passagework and coordination issues in certain sections).

[rachellel]

I have completed all 8 AMEB grades and I will start preparing for A Mus Next year, I just started this piece a couple of days ago, i have learnt + memorised 2 pages, I would say the only hard thing about this piece is the fast scales. Give us a list of your current repetoire and we might be able to help you.

[kwtam338]

Hi Mariocast and Rachellel

Thanks very much for your response. I am a self-taught beginner and have a ridiculously small repertoire (pieces that I have memorised and can play pretty well):
* Mozart K545 1st and 2nd movements
* Beethoven Fur Elise (yes I know many people on this forum are ashamed to say that they play this piece ...)
* Bach little prelude BWV936

I have played all the pieces in Bach First Lessons Book I and the first half of Burgmuller Op 100. And I have finished Beyer (every single exercise) and about one-third of Czerny Op 599. Oh yes I have also finished John Thompson Book I and half of Book II. I am spending less time on technical exercises because I am eager to build my repertoire.

I love Mozart (again I know many people think Mozart is boring but I find him incredibly deep ...) I am in exactly the same situation as Mariocast was in when he learnt this piece. It is beyond my level but I love it. I am ready to keep practicing it for a long time.

OK. Hopefully, this is enough info for another response.

Happy New Year to all of you.

Best regards, Tam

[rachellel]

I think you should do technical exercises to improve your technique, i love doing technical exercises But its a shame there no scales in Amus + LMus i dont think.

[lagin]

Well, in the RCM piano syllabus in Canada, your already learned Mozart, if it's the famous one I think it is, is grade 8, and the one you want to learn is grade 9, so I'd say go for it, personally.  It's only a grade difference, and the only really tricky part which has already been mentioned is the scale runs.  And if you're just playing for fun, some rubato can make those scales runs a bit easier . 

EDIT:  Just to make sure I know what I'm talking about here, is this Mozart you want to learn the one that opens really slowly, and has two fast scales runs later on, and then the last part is really peppy and fast? 

[kwtam338]

Hi lagin

Thanks for the response.

EDIT: Just to make sure I know what I'm talking about here, is this Mozart you want to learn the one that opens really slowly, and has two fast scales runs later on, and then the last part is really peppy and fast?

Yes, I think you describe it very accurately.

Well, in the RCM piano syllabus in Canada, your already learned Mozart, if it's the famous one I think it is, is grade 8, and the one you want to learn is grade 9, so I'd say go for it, personally.?It's only a grade difference, and the only really tricky part which has already been mentioned is the scale runs.?And if you're just playing for fun, some rubato can make those scales runs a bit easier .?

I have been studying the score and listening to it and my initial feelings are:
1) the scale runs look bad on paper but are quite mild in practice - I tried it a few times yesterday, at a slow tempo. So, it seems to me it's a matter of putting in some practice time
2) some rhythm patterns seem tricky to me eg bar 12, 17, 22. I think those are the areas where I want some technical exercises as preparation
3) the whole piece consists of several distinct parts (I-andante, II-adagio III-presto, etc). I am not sure if they should be linked together musically. And if so, how? I guess the last thing the player wants is to give the listener the impression that he's playing a bit of this and a bit of that from various pieces. Am I right?

Best regards, Tam

[lagin]

Hey, do you have AIM?  I could send you another recording for you to listen to, then.  I'll have to check my score later about those bars you mentioned.  You could by all means learn them while working on some technical exercises, rather than doing one first, then the other.  My pieces and technique are always being developed hand in hand.  (Mainly due to the fact that I take exams that require both to always be in progress together.  Gotta love those arpeggios! ) 

  In my opinion, I don't think I would rush from one section to the next, but where there's a fermata, I'd definately use it to create suspense.  My teacher says, with these higher level pieces that timing between movements or sections of a work becomes a crucial part of the performance itself.  Once you start to get it under your fingers, you can experiment with different lengths of pauses between sections.  Maybe some sections you want to start with a bang, while others you want to really prep the audience first with a pause.  In my own opinion, I'd use pauses to give the effect of "sections,"  but still have them sort of mentally connected.  It's like Mozart is thinking about an event or a person and has mixed feelings about it.  It's all about the same mental process, but his emotional responses vary.  Or one of my favorites it to make up a story.  Like the opening is someone dreaming.  In this dream they find themselves in a ball room dancing (Adagio).  Then perhaps they see a pretty girl, and their heart starts racing, ect. ect.  So I would make the sections separate, but not wait so long between them that the story is broken.  I hope all this rambling makes sense! 

All in all, it's a beautiful piece, and one that one day when I have more time I hope to learn.  I was "suppost" to learn it last year, but only tinkered with it.  Silly me .  Now I don't have time right at the moment to learn it.

[kwtam338]

Hi again lagin

Hey, do you have AIM? I could send you another recording for you to listen to, then.

Very kind of you but I don't have any messenger on my PC. It's alright, I have Mitsuko Uchida's recording, which is good enough. But thanks anyway.

And I think your ideas on how to interpret the music are most interesting. What I'd probably like to do is to make the music sound like a mystery or fairy tale of some kind ...

I hope you will soon have time to learn this piece.

Best wishes.