schubert impromptu Gb accompaniment

[_tyro]

Does anyone have any advice about emphasis in the r.h. accompaniment and how to maintain continuity?   For starters, I'm not sure what the tempo marking means -- double alla breve -- /C/C is the best I can do in html.


After listening to about a zillion recordings, my impression is that the majority opinion leans toward 2 triplets/half note, but most occasionally go over into an even six/half.  (I sort of like the burbling sound of the latter.)  My intuition tells me that the unemphasized six feels more like 4/2, while the triplet pairs feel more like 8/4.  And that the central section ought to feel more like 8/4, while the rest normally should feel like 4/2.  And  it also  seems interesting to be able to vacillate between the two at transitions, and particularly, at the end.

 In the best performances, you barely hear the accompaniment, but you do hear  the emphasis.  Am I obsessing too much about this?

[thalberg]

You can never obsess too much.  The little details make the big difference.  It sounds like you're a very astute listener and you've come to some good conclusions. Now that you've uncovered what your options are, you can do what  you like and what makes sense to you.  And that will make your interpretation uniquely yours.  And of course, you don't have to play it the same way all the time. 

In that piece, I found the biggest challenge was  to get the line to sing for long periods--what an expansive melody!  I would even sing along to see if I could do certain things in a breath.  Also, inflection of the melody is so important for expression and variety.

Be patient with this piece--it requires lots of sound adjustment that can't be accomplished in a short time.

[_tyro]

Thanks for the encouragement.  One of the things that had (has?) me baffled is that I never seem to play it the same way twice.  It seems to take on a life of its own -- in a pleasant way -- and to keep asking for a different approach.  You're right about the sound adjustment: there seems to be a very subtle interaction between the singing of the melody and the resonance of the instrument. It is one of the most beautiful things I know. 

Guess I'll go off now and obsess about the dynamics for a while.