kind of tones/sound for every composer

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i would guess everyone has a concept of sound when playing a piece by a certain composer because we know that besides achieving the general style of the period, we have to bring out a certain tone color for the different composers, mainly based on how they wrote their piano music (but of course, the sound is still deeply rooted into the style).

i'd like us to discuss how we approach these sounds. i'll try to start this out with the following composers:

CHOPIN. I tend to sound bright with most of his works especially with single-note melodies making sure they ring, but i make sure that it still sounds light and clear like mozart. when i play chords like in the military polonaise, i bring out the top notes but i don't lose the intensity of the whole chord. with waltzes, i tend to bring out the top notes of the left hand chords a bit. basically, i make sure that when i try to resonate the sound with his music, the atmosphere is very important for me. everything should be light but i strike it big when necessary like in the bbm sonata, it has to storm out too. i use more dropping of the arm with his music. when playing single note melodies like in the famous Eb nocturne, i put down the damper pedal (same harmony) and sometimes not play too much legato, but rather drop those notes with my arm so as to produce a ringing sound.

SCHUMANN. this is what i consider my opposite concept of Chopin in terms of tones. with schumann, i tend to play with full thick tones. i bring out top notes with chords but not thin like i would with chopin. i imagine thick sound with his music. when i deal with his running passages, i make sure that every note is as clear as almost like bach's lines because i think he has more short phrases than long ones like Chopin's. big chords with schumann are always BIG for me, sometimes almost brahmsian.

BRAHMS. the approach is somewhat like schumann but more symphonic in sound! you can forget about top notes with big chords like in his 2nd concerto and really put the whle body weight into it! and the basses are important to really sound well because his writing seems to be written for someone with like his physique (naturally, hehe).

RACHMANINOFF. with this guy, i tend to be articulate with running passages: articulate-legatos, articulate-atmospheric (i know my description is quite ironic, but something like it). chords require almost sharp sounding top notes IMO, the way any russian piece would sound good with. horowitz is my favorite with rach's works. for a modern interpretation, it's ashkenazy. both pianists have very vibrant tones.

LISZT. hmmm, i can't exactly generalise coz he's quite versatile.. he can sound like chopin at times (but there's a big difference still). his decorative notes (u know, those sweeps) should sound really like you sweep it!:) but when chopin writes something like it, it seems that i still prefer to sing a little more with each note although trying to maintain a sweeping effect. in other words, i tend to think that chopin's fast sweeping effects have more value in terms of sound, than liszt's sweep effects which should really just sweep like there's no tomorrow! sometimes liszt's big chords may sound a little (just slightly) harsh if the need arises like in his etudes. actually, tones don't matter much with some of his really virtuosic works i've noticed, but it's more of how a pianist would "orchestrate" the piano with all his "effects", being able to create different colors to be able to bring out textures should be good enough.




ok, i don't if this is a clear topic or i don't know if this will spark up a discussion... i do hope so coz  i love talking about sounds on the piano with the different composers. let's try not to agree or disagree since everything should be subjective. instead, try to put in your own concept of sounds for composers. you can write on any composer you want.

ciao!

-crazy

[Waldszenen]

Mozart: manipulate your touch to produce a tone as though your piano was a period instrument; light and springy.

Brahms should nearly always be played with a thick, dense tone colour (depending on the piece, though) and through use of heavy pedalling.

Schubert should be played elegantly; even when you're going through a stormy FFF section, make it grand but not in the bang-bang-bang style of Liszt or Brahms or Rachmaninoff.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

mozart is what i find difficult to play. it's always like walking on egg shells.

and so is with chopin, i find his works difficult to find the right touch. it almost makes me think that it needs some kind of personality to be able to play good chopin, elegant, sophisticated.

[jas]

CHOPIN. I tend to sound bright with most of his works especially with single-note melodies making sure they ring, but i make sure that it still sounds light and clear like mozart. when i play chords like in the military polonaise, i bring out the top notes but i don't lose the intensity of the whole chord. with waltzes, i tend to bring out the top notes of the left hand chords a bit. basically, i make sure that when i try to resonate the sound with his music, the atmosphere is very important for me. everything should be light but i strike it big when necessary like in the bbm sonata, it has to storm out too. i use more dropping of the arm with his music. when playing single note melodies like in the famous Eb nocturne, i put down the damper pedal (same harmony) and sometimes not play too much legato, but rather drop those notes with my arm so as to produce a ringing sound.

I agree with this. I think a lot of people try to create a melancholy sort of sound with Chopin, but his music is so folk-influenced that it's not necessarily always the best approach. I love to hear Chopin's music played with a bit of life to it, it tells me that the person playing knows more about him than just the clichés. I don't really have a "method" of learning pieces - my way is pretty haphazard, it works best for me - but with Chopin I do spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to play the melodic line. His own playing is said to have been so nuanced and voice-influenced I think it's very important to get that right.

SCHUMANN. this is what i consider my opposite concept of Chopin in terms of tones. with schumann, i tend to play with full thick tones. i bring out top notes with chords but not thin like i would with chopin. i imagine thick sound with his music. when i deal with his running passages, i make sure that every note is as clear as almost like bach's lines because i think he has more short phrases than long ones like Chopin's. big chords with schumann are always BIG for me, sometimes almost brahmsian.

Again, agreed. Though I don't have much Schumann in my repertoire...

With Schubert I like to really bring out the chord changes. They're so individual, you can always identify him as the composer. I usually try to play him in a slightly "dark" manner. I think he was very sensitive to the moods music could induce/evoke. Winterreise is amazing.

Jas

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i haven't played much schubert. but i feel that it can be beethovenish in sound sometimes like the wanderer fantasie at times. but i guess he has more lyrical singing lines. beethoven's sonatas are like written for orchestra, unpianistic it may be, but sounds great for the instrument..