Charles Griffes - Three Fantasy Pieces Op. 6 III. Scherzo

[jlh]

I've been digitally recording some more cassette tapes I have of performances from my pre-university days, and I'm posting a few of the recordings here.  This one was recorded in St. Louis (I think in 1997), and I would have been playing for about 4 years at that time (16 yrs old).

There are a couple memory issues because this was my first performance of this piece in the studio class, but it's not really enough to spoil the mood.

As always, comments and criticism is most welcome, even though this is not something I plan on revisiting anytime soon.

Josh

[rachfan]

Hi jlh,

Griffes was a wonderful impressionist composer, who died, as I recall, around 35 or so.  His legacy of piano works is all of a very high quality, so it makes you wonder where his composing might have taken him had he lived a normal lifespan.

I have many of Giffes' piano scores here, as I still plan to get  to his music someday.  I don't have the Scherzo in my collection though, but loved listening to it, as it's such a great piece.

First, let me say I enjoyed both your interpretation and performance.  In fact, I liked it so much, I listened to it three or four times in a row.  It amazes me that you had advanced so far after just four years of study, and starting at age 12 (which would be considered a little late) at that!  The memory lapses you mentioned were inconsequential, as you maintained continuity such that they were not even noticeable.  At 16 you already had developed a surprising technique--you were very secure in the notes, played with fine touch, articulation and fluidity in the passagework, used the pedal to full advantage in this style of work, and controlled dynamics well too.  And most of all, your expressiveness added much to the performance.  You contrasted the shifting moods in the piece very well from those enigmatic meanderings to Griffes' great splashes of color.  Your playing was disciplined and yet relaxed.  Seems like you're a natural.  In short, I was quite impressed!

I guess you're 25 or so now, so some time has passed.  Are you still studying and working on any pieces at the moment?       

RachFan

[jlh]

Thanks for the glowing review!  I was actually 11 when I first had lessons (had a lot of exposure before that, but not lessons).  My birthday falls in the summer... so yeah I'm almost 25.

I am still playing.  In fact, I finished my BM-piano last year and am working on my MM-piano degree currently.  I didn't always progress as fast as in those first 4-5 years.  I had an AMAZING teacher for 2 years when this recording was made, but a year or so later, I developed quite a case of tendonitis in my wrists and had to stop playing for almost a year.  Add a skiing accident my senior year that caused me to cancel the university auditions that year and you've got someone who's had to relearn everything a few times now.  lol

Here's what I'm currently working on for my recital next semester:

Bach English Suite No. 2

Beethoven 32 Variations in C Minor

Liszt Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli

Scriabin Etudes:
Etude Op. 8, No. 2 in F-sharp minor
Etude Op. 8, No. 5 in E Major
Etude Op. 8, No. 12 in D-sharp minor

Rachmaninoff Etudes-Tableaux:
Etude-tableau Op. 33, No. 5 in E-flat minor
Etude-tableau Op. 33, No. 8 in C-sharp minor
Etude-tableau Op. 39, No. 1 in C minor
Etude-tableau Op. 39, No. 5 in E-flat minor

I'm also working on the Emporer Concerto for a competition next semester as well.

Also, check out my website on myspace (https://www.myspace.com/joshhillmann), where you'll find a few more audio clips (from a couple of last year's recitals)

[rachfan]

Hi, jlh

I'm glad to hear that you've stuck with piano, and that you're progressing academically as well.  You obviously have a lot of talent, capability and promise. 

You're also tackling some very challenging repertoire!   I'm glad to see you're doing so much Rachmaninoff.  I posted some of the Op. 32 Preludes here.  I've been meaning to move on to a few of the Etudes, but, because I have very little practice time now, it's very difficult.  You'll enjoy doing those Scriabin etudes as well.  I love Op. 8, No. 12.  Awhile back I was learning Scriabin's Op. 42, No. 6 in D flat.  It has a murderous left hand!  Despite a titanic struggle, the etude won.  I'll go back to it another time though.

I'll definitely check out the recordings on your website.  Best of luck for fall semester and for the upcoming competition as well.

David

[wzkit]

I'm not familiar with the music, but the playing certainly seems fantastic, both technically and musically. As rachfan already said, there's much fluidity in your playing, and your passagework is very secure, with a robust, firm tone.

This has certainly gotten me interested in Griffe's music

[jlh]

I'm not familiar with the music, but the playing certainly seems fantastic, both technically and musically. As rachfan already said, there's much fluidity in your playing, and your passagework is very secure, with a robust, firm tone.

This has certainly gotten me interested in Griffe's music

Hey thanks a lot!  I'm glad you're interested in Griffes now... it was certainly a good experience learning it and I'd recommend the piece to anyone!

There's hardly any good recordings of Griffes Scherzo out there, btw.  The one that's on on Naxos's online library (Michael Lewin) has a few blaring wrong notes (not that this recording posted here is perfect ).  When my teacher at the time gave me a recording of it (I don't remember who the soloist was), she said "listen to it to get an idea of the piece, but don't listen too hard, because it's not a great recording and you will play it much better."  Eventually I got it to the point where that statement would be true (I prepared this for a competition -- but didn't get to play it since it was in my final round rep and I didn't advance past the semi finals).