I need pianists to critique my Exam pieces... (YouTube videos)

[perfect_pitch]

Here is a run through of my recital pieces that I will be playing for my Licentiate of Music in September. I am performing on a Yamaha Concert Grand Piano in the Main Auditorium at WAAPA.

I need some feedback as to how I could improve my performance as I do not wish to fail this exam. I am asking any pianists out there for help - I don't care if it's negative as long as it's fair and you suggest some way to help/improve. Thank you for your feedback and support.

PLUS: If there is anyone who has experience with the AMEB examinations (especially at LMus Level) if you could give a me a little bit of feedback on what sort of things I need to know for the General Knowledge section of the exam. I would GREATLY, and TRULY appreciate it.

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Bach - Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in d minor, BWV 903 (Fantasia):

Bach - Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in d minor, BWV 903 (Fugue):

Chopin - Ballade No. 2 in F, Opus 38:

Brahms - Variations on a theme by Schumann, Opus 9 (Part 1):

Brahms - Variations on a theme by Schumann, Opus 9 (Part 2):

Ravel - Toccata from 'Le Tombeau de Couperin':

[tds]

*tds wonders if it was a good idea for perfect_pitch to do this*

but i will listen to them when i have time, pp. n in any case all the very best to you. warmest, tds

[kelly_kelly]

First of all, great job! I really liked your playing in general. I'm probably not qualified to critique you, but here are some things that I noticed.

Bach: I feel that the Fantasia could be less rushed and more improvisational in some places. It sounded sort of frantic to me. I think the fugue is great, though!

Chopin: This is probably just me, but I prefer the opening section (and other similar section) slower and more tender. I like the fury of fast sections, though.

I have to go now. If I can, I'll listen to the rest later.

[perfect_pitch]

I wasn't sure about the opening of the Chopin as it is Andantino... however I noticed that Claudio Arrau does play it slower than I did... so maybe I am rushing the slower sections. I just didn't want it to drag on...

[ramseytheii]

I don't know if it is the sound quality of the recording, but I think one way to improve the theme of the Brahms variations (which comes from Schumann's Buente Blaetter) is to isolate more the melody, and make the inner voices move along with a sort of ghostly reticence.  I don't get the impression of cantabile and bel canto which is so important for this haunting piece.  It sounds slightly heavy and too thick.

Starting the first variation, there has to be some distinction to let us know the theme is over and the piece is beginning.  I can see your idea, but it still sounds like the first variation is just another phrase of the theme.  They have to be distinguished in some way.  If you pay more attention to the cantabile quality of the top voice in the theme, perhaps the reversal of the roles (in the first variation the theme is in the tenor, the harmony in the soprano) will be enough to distinguish them.  I encourage you to think about this issue!

Second var. - good job!

Third var. - I liked it.  It is hard to play this variation without it sounding overly dragged, square, or heavy - handed, but I think you did it just fine.

Fourth var. - The texture has to be much better defined, by playing the repeated chords as soft as possible, but with a gentle attack on each note.  It is recommended here to not let the keys rise all the way up between repetitions of the chord.  They have to have a different kind of touch then the melody, and I think this can be better distinguished!

Fifth var. - Nice job!  Just keep practicing to ward off little sloppinesses.

Sixth var. - Again it could be the recording quality but I feel this variation is just a little noisy.  It's not the volume level but the overall way you blend the parts.  it has to be more transparent, and not so heavy on the sixteenth note triplets, especially in the middle of the variation.

Seventh var. - I suggest softer sound, and freer approach to the tempo, if only to better distinguish the dialogue.

Eighth var. - I don't think the second part of the canon is as well-phrased as the first.  This is a very difficult variation!

Ninth var - Nice!

Tenth var - I am getting more of the variety of sound here that I craved during the previous variations.  I can easily hear that you are employing different kinds of touch for the cantabile melody, the lontano horn harmony, and the deep, stable bass.  It sounds very good and I believe you need to take this approach to previous variations ( and the theme).  One can hear the cantabile here much better. 

By the way, bel canto in piano playing is dependent on observing exact lengths of notes.  In this variation, we can hear that you allow the notes of the melody to soar above the accompaniment, and it sounds like they have a natural life, and singing quality, which is lacking in the theme and previous variations.

Eleventh var. - I think this needs a more pronounced quality of a certain melancholy, or doldrums, it shouldn't move ahead, but rather the insistence of the pedal point and the strange flat sevenths should hold it back, and give it a sort of wistful or nostalgic quality.

Twelfth var. - I didn't really understand your approach to the rhythm of this piece.  I couldn't tell the meter or the phrasing well.  It sounds also slightly heavy.  I would go back and study this piece from a phrasing point of view, with an eye towards the larger units of the beat.  The coda wasn't bad.

Thirteenth var. - It needs a more ghostly quality, a more effervescent sound, less bell-like and more fog-like.  It reminds me of the octave-canon variation of the Handel variations.  It just has to be quiet, spooky, and mysterious.

Fourteenth var. - The left hand has to be absolutely more quiet and more subtle.  All the voices sound the same!  Also the right hand sounds like it has to push against the left hand, which is easily solved by stroking the notes in the left hand rather than attacking them.

Fifteenth var. - The middle part is voiced better here, but there is another problem which has to do I think with independence of the hands.  Often times, in your attempt to make a full, singing sound, you rather give the melody notes a sort of accent, which is often replicated in the other hand!!  I wish I had my score here, to point out specific bars, but in short the phrasing is undermined by this tendency.  Watch for independence of the hands in this canonic movement.

Last var. - I personally feel it is too fast.  The left hand to me suggests distant church bells, which ring and fade in the ether, rather than having a forward motion.  I would practice this movement about 20 notches slower on the metronome, then find a ground where you feel more comfortable, but I urge you to find a slower, more meditative tempo.

I hope this helps.  I played this piece many years ago and have always loved it, though people say it is weaker than his other variation sets.  That may be true, but I  just don't care, because I enjoy it so much.

It may interest you to know that the scholar Charles Rosen published a fascinating essay about Brahms and the nature of his influences, and in the essay wrote a lot about this piece, and discovered that many of Brahms' variations were direct take-offs of specific pieces Schumann had wrote.  Rosen found so many correlations that he theorized that was the aesthetic of the piece, and that every variation possibly is based directly on a piece of Schumann, of which of course Brahms knew all.  I forget the title but can certainly post it when I get to my personal library.

Rosen didn't mention it, but I think the second canonic variation (in G-flat) is based on a movement from Schumann's Davidbuendslertaenze, second book, where a soaring melody in E-flat major is accompanied by a very similar middle voice.  In that piece, the bass line is also separate, though not a canonic imitation.  That would be Brahms' own touch (he often said if he wasn't inspired to compose, he could at least write canons).

Walter Ramsey

[perfect_pitch]

Wow - Walter... thanks for the incredibly accurate feedback... thats a huge help. Very detailed which is what I truly appreciate. I know I still do have a bit of work on this piece and I still have two months luckily enough which should help me feel more secure about the piece and the melody as well as the structure of the phrasing etc.

Plus I think you are right about the Davidbuendslertaenze, Opus 6 Scene 14 (I think it's scenes)... some parts seem to match a canonic figure at times...

And if you could find the title of Charles Rosen essay on the influences of Brahms - it would be greatly appreciated as I need to know that info before the exam for the general knowledge.

I'm still annoyed at my Ravel and trying to bring it up to pace is the biggest challenge I think... The last 2 pages are a KILLER... trying to get the semiquaver chords that jump all over the place.

[ramseytheii]

Wow - Walter... thanks for the incredibly accurate feedback... thats a huge help. Very detailed which is what I truly appreciate. I know I still do have a bit of work on this piece and I still have two months luckily enough which should help me feel more secure about the piece and the melody as well as the structure of the phrasing etc.

Plus I think you are right about the Davidbuendslertaenze, Opus 6 Scene 14 (I think it's scenes)... some parts seem to match a canonic figure at times...

And if you could find the title of Charles Rosen essay on the influences of Brahms - it would be greatly appreciated as I need to know that info before the exam for the general knowledge.

I'm still annoyed at my Ravel and trying to bring it up to pace is the biggest challenge I think... The last 2 pages are a KILLER... trying to get the semiquaver chords that jump all over the place.

I am glad my critiques helped.  I think you are off to a strong start and you have time to improve those things.

Rosen's essay is in his compliation book called, "Critical Entertainments."  There are 3 essays about Brahms, one of which has to do with Brahms' approach to the piano, which in Rosen's view was an approach that deliberately went against the Lisztian model, and employed awkwardness as an aesthetic.  I am sorry I don't have the book with me, but I found the titles of the essays and I believe his extensive comments on the Brahms-Schumann variations comes from "Brahms: Influence, Plagiarism, and Inspiration."

In any case, just buy the book, it is one of the best essay compilations out there.  All the topics he takes on are relevant and alive debates in the musical world, especially the issues in the "new musicology" which he really tears into.

I know Ravel's Toccata also, but haven't listened yet.  I will when I have a chance.  That piece is so relentlessly physical that I wonder how much can be gained by a video critique, but I'll try!

Walter Ramsey

[ramseytheii]

Obviously you have the ability to play the Ravel Toccata.  I think it is off to a good start and you can feel the form, but the realization is not there.  Some of it simply has to be lighter; take for instance after the suspenseful rest with the fermata over it, at about 3:55 in the video, the left hand starts in the lowest range with the rising octaves.  It just has to start quieter, so you can actually build up.  There are a lot of passages like that.

I don't know how you approach the piece physically because I can't really tell, though it seems you're on the right track.  This piece basically has nothing to do with the fingers, and everything to do with playing with the arm.  It's one of those pieces that is not possible for people to play, if they play with principally a finger technique.  So the way to play quieter or louder, is by coming down with different weights or pressures.  Honestly I am out of my element talking about this.  People say that weight is an illusion and it is really about speed of attack, but when I play, I can play chordal pieces like this soft or loud, and I don't feel any difference with how fast I push down the key.  I doubt that people can even really control that.  But then again, in the words of F.M. Alexander we all have "debauched kinaesthesia."

To play softer I would recommend having the hand as close to the keys as possible, and just lightly pushing down with the arm, as the pianist Warren Jones says, "Trust your weight."  Make sure there is no wrist snapping, or finger lifting, or anything of the sort.  That's basically how you play this whole piece.

Another aspect is the melodic aspect which seems to me to be weak and slightly square.  I see in the comments on youtube that you practice with a metronome.  I recommend practicing only with a syncopated metronome, which means you let the clicks fall on the off-beats.  It's a much more musical way of practicing, and it allows you to easily grasp large stretches of music, rather than hearing beats as "blocks."

You can practice syncopated metronome with the sixteenth notes (for instance, set the metronome to, oh I don't know, 160, and let the clicks fall on every other sixteenth note), on the eighth notes, on the quarters, or on entire bars.  If I feel really ambitious, and the piece is phrased in this way, I practice syncopated metronome with the clicks falling on every other set of two bars.  SO for instance, if the piece has consistent four-bar phrases, I will play four bars in one click of the metronome.  In the case of Ravel Toccata, you could set the metronome slow, but have it click on the third bar, and the seventh bar.  This really helps to get a grasp of structure.

I never practice with the metronome on the beat.  If I use a metronome, I exclusively practice with syncopated metronome.  Ravel Toccata is perfect for this kind of practice, because the rhythm is so insistent, yet it has to be melodic and fanciful.

Hope that helps!

Walter Ramsey

PS This doesn't seem to apply to you, but some pianists have a huge amount of trouble starting a piece.  I guarantee that if these pianists practice syncopated metronome, they will never have problems beginning a piece again!

[perfect_pitch]

You are right in your last post ramsey... I'm still trying to correctly play with the arm and not with the fingers... which I something that I never got corrected on until about 3 years ago.

I am also trying to wipe out the bad habit of wrist snapping and sometimes I bend my wrist while playing a lot of the lower notes which is again something I need to correct. I do need to trust my weight... it's just been a pain playing for 10 years without anyone pointing out these things and then going to university to find out everything that you're doing is wrong.

3 years ago I had no voicing, very little accurate articulation, flat fingers and palm (e.g. Horowitz style playing - not that he seems to have any problems with it) so it's been hard trying to take on these pieces as well as fix all the little irregularities that I have.

[lostinidlewonder]

At the moment I have only time to respond to one of your pieces so here is some of my opinions.

Ravel - Toccata from 'Le Tombeau de Couperin':

Sorry i don't have the score with me at the moment so I will mention the times in your video.

The hall you are playing in echoes a lot, either that or its the recording. This really makes it important not to over do your legato ties. I found at times your melodic lines where playing over a strangled over sustained support.

0.04 - 0.12 : I feel this needs more bite in sound, you really need to over exaggerate the shortness of sound in the hall you are playing in. When you move in to the next, more legato touch 0.12-0.14 although it is nice and legato it does not stand out to what you where playing before. So make the beginning super sharp escaping all legato. This shortness of sound to legato contrast (and vice versa) needs to be over exaggerated and is a theme throughout this piece.

octaves played in 0:49 shouldn't be so connected.

The lightening of touch to 1:03 theme needs to be much more delicate, again overexaggerate the volume alteration here. 1:03 melody, the legato ties in the melody need to be more. Don't finish off the phrases of the melody too harshy.

The growth to the climax in 1:10 - 1:18 needs more. Start gentler and grow more.

1:19 and 1:21 bass notes need to draw out more.
1:23- 1:27, too legato, shorter in sound so that what comes after can contrast with it.

lowest bass at 1:30 should bite.

1:35-1:43 I thought was a good example of the contrast of short to legato.

1:48 I thought melody was a little too harsh, a more gentle and considerate touch throughout, don't make it sound like you are picking out the melody heavily, you did well to draw out the melodic line though. Same applies for the 2:24, don't make bang out the melody.

3:26-3:42 I usually hear this interpreted more legato and softer gradually growing and sharpening in sound quality. I felt this rise to the climax here at the end was not effective enough.

3:53 make the end of the phrase super sharp, don't let any notes linger. 3:54 should grow from nothing not start too loud. so that the climax at 3:59 is more appreciated. I thought the rise to this wasn't effective enough.

4:24-4:27 maybe an acceleration would be tasteful? Make moving into 4:27 more big, it is the final climactic point.

Overall you played accurately and looked in control. Because your tempo is slower you must be much more precise in your actions and more careful with your contrasts and rises towards climactic points throughout the piece. I enjoyed listening!


... wait a minute... didn't I just post on this somewhere before? ahha