Schumann Symphonic Etudes

[minnielala2]

Is anyone working on this? Does anyone have any tips for technique with this monumental piece? I am trying to learn it but it is twice as hard for me because I have small hands.

[Waldszenen]

I'm learning them and they're an absolute b!tch to master - most of the variations are painstakingly hard.

The only real general advice I can give is to practise everything slowly and keep repeating bars over and over again - if you have any specific problems, let me know and I'll take a look.

[kempff1234]

It took me 11 months to master the whole damn thing

as waldszenen said, just practice AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE and repeat every bar even teh simple ones, and do not leave anything for later. if there is some bar which is uber hard, keep practicing it slowly and gradually build up speed until you master it then move on.

Good luck, keep us informed about your progress.

[minnielala2]

I'm mostly frustrated with Variation III (Vivace), specifically the right hand staccato 16th notes. And it's one of my favorite variations! I'm using the 1-4-1-4-4-1-4-1 fingering, but is the 1-4-1-4-5-1-4-1 fingering any better? It's hard to hit all the notes and still play fast, soft, and musically.

[kempff1234]

From experience I can tell you that it is alot more accurate to use 1-4-1-4-4-1-4-1 than using your 5th finger. However in my edition (1902 Universal) there is also teh second one (1-4-1-5-5-1-4-1) and this belongs to my great grand dad who attended private masterclasses with Cortot in Paris conservatory. This edition has many corrections by cortot (in my great grandad's hand writing though). He suggests 1-4-1-4-4-1-4-1. I use that as well, which works just fine. Only advice I can give: Take teh first bar and play it hand separate 100 times. After 100 times, increase speed and do it until you can do it at normal tempo with all the dynamics. Then add teh other hand to it. This is actually one of the variations which I spent a whole month on.

Good luck

[minnielala2]

was your great grand-dad Wilhelm Kempff, by any chance?

[dnephi]

It took me 11 months to master the whole *** thing

as waldszenen said, just practice AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE and repeat every bar even teh simple ones, and do not leave anything for later. if there is some bar which is uber hard, keep practicing it slowly and gradually build up speed until you master it then move on.

Good luck, keep us informed about your progress.

Use a metronome and keep all your tone and volume consistent and don't be satisfied with note that's out of place.  Then put in a line, etc. and do not allow yourself to be satisfied with anything less than perfection.  Eventually, increment the metronome as long as you are comfortable and absolutely positive that you can control yourself.  If you're performing them live, the adrenaline will kick your speed up a few notches and allow you to be truly furious. 

Good luck.  That's how all the hard pieces go .

[Waldszenen]

was your great grand-dad Wilhelm Kempff, by any chance?

Buahaha that's not something I'd be proud of - he played Schumann like a blind old man. -_-

[kempff1234]

was your great grand-dad Wilhelm Kempff, by any chance?

How I wish......

Nope, my great grand dad was just some lucky guy who was good at piano and got to have masterclasses for like 6 months with Cortot.

[minnielala2]

While we're on the topic, which pianist do you feel gave/gives the best renditions of the Symphonic Etudes?

[kempff1234]

Richter, I believe.

However my favs are Cortot, kempff, Rubinstein and Richter.

[pianowolfi]

How I wish......

Nope, my great grand dad was just some lucky guy who was good at piano and got to have masterclasses for like 6 months with Cortot.

Oh wow! How was his name? Because I have had an uncle who studied with Cortot. His name was Werner Henkel. The chance that they have met is little but who knows..

[minnielala2]

What's your take on Alexander Kobrin's version?

to listen, go to
https://www.dfw.com/multimedia/dfw/news/archive/cliburn/cliburn.html

click enter, then "listen to every note of each performance," then click on "semifinals" for Kobrin's name.

He is the pianist who introduced me to the beauty of this piece.