Sorabji - In The Hothouse (first page)

[pianistimo]

yes.  in the hothouse.  since i didn't play it perfectly - it can't be considered that i have made a recording of his.

[rachfan]

Hi pianisstimo,

I don't know this music, but the first page sounds very appealing.  Very nice playing!  I congratulate you too for playing some contemporary music. 

A short editorial on modern music, if you'll kindly indulge me:

I think the most contemporary piece I play is from around 1930 ha-ha!  Yes, it's true.  The problem is that so much modern music just plain turns me totally off, i.e., serial, atonal, polytonal, prepared piano, strumming piano strings, etc.  What abominations!  I see nothing of redeaming or enduring value in that stuff.  It seems that soon after WWI, the world became very dark, idealism was lost, and there was a revolt against musical aesthetics, that is, the composing and appreciation of beauty of sound.  If a piece offers no discernable beauty, it interests me not at all.  I feel no passion for it, and investing time in preparing such "music" would be an unthinkable waste of time. 

The other issue is that over the past 50 years, the musical community has moved slower than a snail's pace (and there is more than sufficient perspective now) to determine what in modern piano music is timeless and universal versus what is...  trash.  It's odd that during the Classical, Romantic and Impressionistic periods or soon thereafter, those judgments were made so relatively efficiently.  I empathize with Earl Wild--he has looked high and wide for beauty in contemporary music, but can rarely find it.  And, preparing contemporary pieces takes inordinate amounts of time and effort, and memorization is often difficult to impossible because of the inherent erratic, random nature of the music.  Then, as he points out, when the piece is played in recital, it draws a mild response from the audience which is equally puzzled by the "content".  Pretty discouraging really.  I mean, who could be bothered? 

Perhaps I'll look at  Corigliano's Adagio from the Gazebo Dances,  Danielpour's The Enchanged Garden, and Del Tredeci's Fantasy Pieces and Sililoquy with high hopes that I'll be captivated, where those people are reputedly at least tonal composers with hints of Neo-Romanticm, according to the repertoire guides.  After having been there and done that though, I'll soon return to the Romantics, Impressionists and Neo-Romantics where I always find volumes of music that I truly love.  You know, being a well-rounded pianist is a good thing--and certainly essential for students in training and participating in competiions.  But after paying one's dues, the fact remains that life is way too short and the piano repertoire is nearly endless, so  serious pianists should be free to focus or even specialize in music that they really love to play and avoid that which holds no attaction for them.

Thanks for tolerating my uncommon view of contemporary music!  Again, I enjoyed your playing of the opening of the Sorabji piece.  Perhaps you'll be posting the entire piece at some point?

[pianistimo]

dear rachfan,

i must heartily agree with you - and yet - i was under the impression sorabji didn't appreciate pianists and tried to make everything ultra-difficult as a sort of spite.  but, you know what - at least the first page was manageable - and some of the chords i really like.  the rhythms you have to memorize, i think - but, not impossible.  some of the chords are hard to play right away.  pattern recognition is a high skill for sorabji - imo- over being able to hear the absolute chords in one's head.  not impossible to memorize.  although, i highly doubt i will memorize the entire score on purpose.  but, having had to play it over and over to get the right rhythms - perhaps the memory part isn't so hard either!  it's very middle eastern sounding at times - to my ears.  not unpleasant and certainly more 'sweeping' than brash - which i lik e(so far).

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings

I really enjoy this! Tell me do you consult the rhythms without an aid of a recording, because looking at the score they seem very complicated. If so, then cudos.

[Nightscape]

Hey, you've already made some good progress on this.

A few notes.
The beginning doesn't need to be so fast, esp ms 2.  You can especially take time in the 4th bar with the fermatas.  It helps if you are playing in a resonant space on a big concert grand (although it can be hard to be in those circumstances).  Are you rolling some of the chords because your hands are too small?  At the bottom of the page, in the second bar, you can make that chord a lot easier to play by playing the bottom 5 notes with the left hand, and the top four with the right hand.  The next chord in the left hand (An open E major chord) can have the top G# taken by the right hand so you don't have to roll it also.

Some of the polyrhythms might seem impossible in this piece at first (look at the next page on the third system) however they can all be dealt with systematically.  I just learn both hands separately first, memorized even, and then slowly putting the two together, at first just 'fitting in' the notes approximately where they need to go.  After you become comfortable with it (after a number of repetitions) it will come so naturally that you will be amazed you ever had difficulty with it to begin with.

[pianistimo]

thanks for more tips, nightscape.  i'll slow it down (it would make it easier).

and, no - i haven't listened to any recording of it (for the record) - so i'm winging it completely.  i suppose that i might get alistair to respond when i finally play it the way it is supposed to be.  and, without rolling the chords when i can play them together.  i found out several chords that i can play without rolling.  my hand span is comfortably a 9th.

btw, i've found out never to make a judgement about a composer before attempting playing his/her works.  not that i seriously thought he was possessed - but i think if he was - it was just in terms of composition and not personally.  not sure if that makes sense.  i get the feeling he wanted to play the 'devil' when it comes to making pianists sure of themselves.  it's kind of funny actually - and i'm sort of enjoying the humor in it all.  although, there is another side that takes his work quite seriously as a unique form only to himself.  not quite modal, not quite tonal - blend two or three scales - sometimes crossing over.  it's like he just said - i'll do anything and everything - but, typically one thing at a time for a while.  until it gets more complicated in the middle? 

these dotted eighths are a conundrum to count - and i finally gave up being perfectionistic and just gave them a little 'a' after the beat and considered it done rhythmically.  just slowing them slightly.

what i find terribly odd is that he used a whole rest for the first four beats (lh)- but adds these dots to the eighths in the rh.  can you explain that, nightscape?