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Topic: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I  (Read 2389 times)

Offline m1469

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Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
on: September 27, 2012, 07:16:32 PM
Okay, this is actually serious and I'm posting this because I'm coming out of the closet, here.  This is what my imagination does to music, OK?  This is how I secretly feel about it all.  And I'd like to play it a THOUSAND different ways.  I don't know how to make things meet together.  Not yet anyway.
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline furtwaengler

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #1 on: September 28, 2012, 04:52:35 AM
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Or I think...
Don't let anyone know where you tie your goat.

Offline Derek

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #2 on: September 30, 2012, 11:10:09 PM
Comparing this to other performances of it that I just looked up on youtube (I haven't heard much mozart), I like your performance better. It's much less robotic. I find it incredibly challenging to play classical pieces well. So challenging in fact I've more or less given up on it. I find it quite incredible to have met individuals here on pianostreet who are good at both playing pieces and improvising---completely floors me. Gosh, I wish more players did this actually. Mozart might actually become fun to listen to.

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #3 on: October 01, 2012, 09:34:08 PM
Hi, Derek,

Thank you for your thoughts.  Yes, I am trying to observe this recording of my playing from afar, and from a different mental space than I usually think of in listening.  For me, there is something very true about playing it in this way, though I intellectually understand it is not considered normal.  It was a different frame of mind which I got into when I played it here, and as it turns out, there's no way for me to try to successfully replicate the literal playing; the only thing I can do is try to understand it in terms of elements and my personal point of reference at the time.  In other words, it was really fun for me, there is something about which makes me to want to play every piece I ever touch with a similar frame of mind, but I notice that there are actually some stylistic accuracies within it and that alerts me to something I want to give consideration to.  Of course, I'm trying to process it in a way that leads me somewhere positive and progressive :).
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #4 on: October 01, 2012, 10:56:28 PM
There are a couple of observations I can make so far.

1.  On my way into this frame of mind, I was cluing into my own listening, and felt that I knew I was truly listening when I could hear what was to come next, actually.

2.  I gave myself permission (which is tricky to do  :P) to do whatever under the sun I wanted to do, so long as I did it with a clear intention, and I believe it included the kind of listening I mentioned above.  I think this resulted in what feels like improvisation to me, but could be described as being in the moment, which I believe is what makes music into something "living."  

3.  Within that, though, upon listening back, I heard things that made me realize I didn't actually fully throw out suggestions from teachers, or stylistic ideas.  I mean, there are some things that are there that were there in this recording better than normal, like balance between hands, for one.  So, here is where my fascination really kicks in.  How could I have given myself permission to do whatever I want, yet I chose to do something which I am "supposed" to do?  It made me realize something ... "interpretation" is perhaps about "elements" ... and certain composers and styles have certain elements within their pieces which their own creative minds use.  But, they are doing it strictly as a creative force, similarly to me playing it with my imagination.  There were more realizations surrounding that as it relates to all things pianistic/musical.  

But, I start to see how I can take these elements myself, similarly to when I was little and separated out all the lincoln log bits to create something with, and use my imagination to create things with.

Another thing that struck me is that I have numerous scalar figurations which are generally pretty clean.  I've practiced this with a metronome, I practice scales everyday, I aim at clarity ... yet these were not my goals at the time.  I was simply having fun and expressing myself as I strictly wanted to.  Yet, some measure of cleanliness came out.  So I wonder, since I like cleanliness in my playing, how did I actually arrive there?  Was it because I was just playing around and not making a big deal of that, or was it precisely because I've made a big deal of that in other ways to the point that I could play around with it?  If I think in elements, and I think of a clean run as an element that I can choose to do something with, I can make some sense in there and start to have a whole different sense about music and music fundamentals in general.

In any event, what I think overall is that there is some corner here that I want to more fully turn.
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #5 on: October 02, 2012, 05:58:51 PM
Here is another thing that I observe.  I found myself, as I was listening back, still hearing things that I wanted to have be better and different.  For some reason this surprised me but I haven't been able to put my finger on why, exactly, until just now.  It surprised me because it came from a different part of myself than I usually listen.  It wasn't critical, as though there is just some standard that I want to live up to (although I still hear that hanging around), it was creative!  Yeah, that's it!  It was creative.  I was creatively critiquing my performance in terms of how I wanted it to sound from strictly a creative standpoint, and while listening I was actively creating new soundscapes that I would like to create in the future.  So there is already a different concept in me for this piece ... I will never play it the same way twice, for sure, and there is somebody in me who resists on so many levels to actually do so.  The minute I try, I fail.  

There is something deeper which I need to find in me for all music, where I am not just trying to reach what seems to be an outer standard, but which feels creative to me ... yet, I don't desire to be a slob, and the desire against slobbery is my own creative desire, I think.  hmmmm ...  I'm finding myself wanting to clean elements, make them better, make them more my own, so I can use them more to my liking.
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #6 on: October 02, 2012, 06:29:11 PM
Here is another thing ... I keep sitting down to practice this and then I realize something and it's very important that I put this here.  I don't fully understand yet where one element ends and where another begins.  I know that we don't want a patchy performance of "elements" but, I need to clarify in my mind what they are, exactly.  They will ultimately be linked by creativity, and I think this will end up giving one fluent idea, but they still must be bettered clarified in my head so I know what I am doing with what and perhaps even why (even if I can't put that last part fully into words - but maybe I should ultimately expect to be capable of putting it into words?  I don't know) ... and I think it's just that I need to understand in a way that specifically makes sense to me and my mind, though I am open to conventional ways of trying to understand them.  I just sometimes struggle with that and so I can't promise I will quickly process it.  hmmm ...

Perhaps more listening and drawing sometime soon? :)
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #7 on: October 02, 2012, 07:40:50 PM
Ah!  I think it's happening, I think I'm inching there.


*LISTENS DEEPLY*


*look into mine eyes ....*
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Offline m1469

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Re: Improvised Mozart, K330, Mov. I
Reply #8 on: October 02, 2012, 08:41:55 PM
haha ... I honestly don't mean to keep bumping my audio thread, but I can't keep myself from posting things here!

So:

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”

Mozart
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving"  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
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