Improv on Offenbach Barcarolle (Tales of Hoffmann)

[ronde_des_sylphes]

A short improvisation on one of the most famous pieces of classical music. Hope you enjoy it! Audio only, I'm afraid.

[rachfan]

Hi ronde,

A very nice improvisation indeed on Offenbach, thereby forming your own paraphrase of this barcarolle.  Keeping the bass interesting is often a challenge in any improvisation.  You succeeded by introducing several varieties of figuration in the accompaniments which contributed importantly in my opinion.  The recorded sound seemed a little more distant than usual in your recordings, perhaps owing to  microphone placement.  (Really liked your ending too.)  I enjoyed listening!  Very good work!   

[pianovirus]

Amazing! I liked this very much, the build-up to the climax and the subsequent calming, the quiet end. Your arpeggios are obviously still well-trained from the Moses fantasy

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I'm glad both of you liked it! Rachfan, you're spot on about me creating my own paraphrase on it. I used to love the original piece when I was a child, and having recorded an improvisation on it I can now go away and do a little compositional tidying up on it to make it into a finished piece. This recording will make for an interesting reference once I've done that.

Amazing! I liked this very much, the build-up to the climax and the subsequent calming, the quiet end. Your arpeggios are obviously still well-trained from the Moses fantasy

Hehe, there is more than a hint of Thalberg in it I deliberately didn't want a crash-bang end like you find in many paraphrases; it would have been very contrary to the spirit of the music.

[rachfan]

Hi ronde,

I have to confess that I too have always loved doing paraphrases.  I can play well by ear (which when I was a young student was a huge distraction for me, and also a vexation to my teacher then ).  More recently I've used it as a wonderful time saver.  So if a piece or excerpt of one really captivates me, but I'm involved in preparing some repertoire and short of time, then I'll take a quick peek at the alluring score, play through a bit, and then work up a paraphrase that will entertain me for the time being.  For example, I created my own paraphrases of the Rachmaninoff songs "In the Silent Night" and "Floods of Spring", because I didn't have time to study Earl Wild's beautiful transcriptions.  It works like a charm!  I also have to believe, from my first foray into improvisation here, that there is a direct parallel between improvisations and paraphrases.  I tend to think that if you can do one form, then you can do the other. 

[pianovirus]

Rachfan, you're spot on about me creating my own paraphrase on it. I used to love the original piece when I was a child, and having recorded an improvisation on it I can now go away and do a little compositional tidying up on it to make it into a finished piece.

ronde, great that you'll be using this as a starting point for a paraphrase. With a few additional ideas (I have now doubt you'll have enough of them) you could even increase the length a bit more. It's a pity it's so short. For example, if there are any other nice (maybe even contrasting) themes from the opera (shame on me for not yet having listened to the whole thing), you could make the piece as a whole more interesting.

I also have to believe, from my first foray into improvisation here, that there is a direct parallel between improvisations and paraphrases.  I tend to think that if you can do one form, then you can do the other.

I think the ability to freely improvise is a great prerequisite for writing good paraphrases (and also good for most other genres). However, there is also a place in paraphrase writing for carefully crafted structure, for meta-commentary on the opera (or whatever kind of music) transcribed. Some of the best cases are really much more than reminiscences in that they elaborate and shed new, interesting light on the original.

Btw, I also wish there would be more paraphrases combining ideas, motives etc. from more than a single work (like e.g. Liszt's (incomplete) double fantasy on Figaro and Don Giovanni).

Ok, just some random thoughts.... Now, good luck ronde for the work ahead!!

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I'm not sure about expanding the piece. It was my original intention during the improvisation to keep, structurally at least, pretty much to the template of the original music whilst adding my own embellishments. I quite like the idea of a compositionally-tidied version of this piece (perhaps extended by a minute or so) as an encore.

I'm definitely a believer in using improvisation as a method for beginning the construction of paraphrases or generating pianistic variations on a theme, but I'm not sure it's such a great way of working if you want to construct a grand paraphrase a la Liszt Don Juan/Norma where you are adding your own compositional commentary on the material. To me that contains aspects of a process which is more intellectual than that of creating an improvisation, which I find largely intuitive.