Robert Schumann - Noveletten, Op.21 No.1, F Major - Lorenzo

[emill]

Enzo started on this popular Schumann piece together with some other Chopin and Beethoven pieces around 3 weeks ago and he seems to prefer playing this in a "slower" and more deliberate way. Definitely work in progress and let us see what will be its "final" form in the weeks (or months) to come.  

It is our wish that members of pianostreet will help mold the "final" form.
Thanks a lot for listening and advising!!!

Here is also an excellent recording by rachfan :
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=18732.0

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Sorry for getting too excited and posting several pieces in a span of a week...  wheeww !!

[pianisten1989]

There is one part which i quite not understand at 2.30-ish. I don't understand what you want to tell with the part, and I don't get the phrasing.

And you sit very close to the piano, and you back looks very tense. You might feel a bit more comfortable and being able too have wider split-vision if you sit a bit further away from the piano.

[rachfan]

Hi emill & enzo,

This is truly a very good performance.  It's easy to tell that much work has gone into preparing this piece.  I believe that Enzo puts it across to the listener quite well!

Following up on pianisten's comments, he might be right on Enzo being too close to the keyboard.  Here's a simple way to test it: The knees should slide under the piano case beneath the keyboard an inch, or two inches at the very most.  If it's actually more than that, then he's probably too close.   I do notice that Enzo is sitting a bit high too.  My guess is that it's a standard piano bench, most of which are made two inches higher than necessary for most people.  At some time in the future and when feasible (no rush), an adjustable bench would be beneficial to get the elbow height level with the keyboard and the forearms parallel to the floor for optimal ergonomic positioning at the keyboard which will also better facilitate the use of arm weight in playing.

This "Novellette" No. 1 is marchlike in character with the lyrical sections interspersed.  One of the biggest challenges is to avoid is a "squareness" of rhythm.  This is best done through flexible phrasing within the boundaries of good taste.  Think more of the long line in the piece rather than about the immediate phrase or the period in the piece.

Enzo has a fine handle on the triplets, playing them evenly in rhythm rather than as two 16ths followed by an 8th as sometimes heard in renditions.  On page 1 line 3, more could be made of the cresc. there. But on line 4, it needs to come down to mezzo forte.  Working up to that, think of this as the difference between speaking loudly at the beginning, increasing it to piu (more) f at the start of line three, then a crescendo building on top of that!  So at the start of line 4 that volume must noticeably drop down almost subito to more of a normal speaking level at mf.

By the way it's worth noting here that there is no such thing as a universal forte or a universal mezzo piano or whatever--dynamics are all relative to individual pieces.  Dynamic markings can be and are different among pieces.  So f in a Beethoven sonata could be different from f in a Debussy prelude or different from f in a Rachmaninoff etude.  In other words, the concept and volume of forte takes it's cue from the context of the specific piece in which it appears.  

In the march motif, I like the way you're pedaling the 3rd and 4th beats separately given the changing harmonies.

On page two, the challenge is melody and accompaniment simultaneously in the RH.  He etches the melody nicely while keeping the accompanying filigree quieter.  Work at layering the sound so that the accompaniment is even a bit softer in the background in these lyrical sections if possible.

On the bottom of page three where the main theme reenters, Enzo is playing that more portato than staccato, which is not indicated in the score.  That is to say, there is no slur marking over the staccatos thereby converting them to portato.  So he needs to attain a sharper detached touch--true staccato--rather than a heavier, pressing portato touch there.

At the top of page 7 marked mf, that is really a melodic peak starting in the RH F# and descending to E, D C#, B.... For that reason, musically Enzo would be justified in playing that at f rather than mf. We want to observe and respect the composers notation and other indicators closely.  But we also want to be aware of structural elements including climaxes calling for special attention and interpretation. Sometimes that means taking a small liberty to do it justice.  It's interesting listening to composers playing their own works, because sometimes they too deviate from what they wrote in the scores!  

In the coda I would aim at less squareness of rhythm there (which has already been securely achieved), I would relax more and realize the exciting flow of the finale.  Allow your own feelings to surge through that section to the end--let yourself play with more freedom there.

I hope some of these thoughts will be helpful.  Again, Enzo's playing this work very well in my opinion.    

Ha!  You guys found that recording of mine in the archive, and I appreciate your kind comment on it!  I looked it up here and it turns out that I made it in 1992.  So it's older than Enzo!   If I were to play the piece today, I might do some things differently.  That's one of the great things about playing piano. As your musicianship seasons over the years, you get ever new insights into the music.

[perfect_pitch]

Enzo started on this popular Schumann piece together with some other Chopin and Beethoven pieces around 3 weeks ago and he seems to prefer playing this in a "slower" and more deliberate way.

Actually wouldn't consider it slow... I'm listening to a recording of Arrau playing it and he takes it almost the exact same tempo as enzo... so I wouldn't speed it up any more - plus at this tempo it seems to have attitude and grandness.

[emill]

Thanks a lot you guys (pianisten1989, rachfan and perfect_pitch)
for the observations and comments. To rachfan in particular for the detailed comments and suggestions about his posture and the playing of the piece. I showed this to Lorenzo last night and I could observe his seriousness while going through the comments with the music sheet and pencil in hand, jotting down on the sheet as if he was an apprentice being lectured by his master about the finer points of being a Jedi-knight candidate. He is quite a serious kid for his age and speaks little. So after about 10-15 minutes, I ask him about the comments and he says ....  yes he is right (rachfan) and proceeds to adjust his piano chair. So much for father-son dialogue.
Even with his teacher of over 3 years, the dialogue is sparse.

Again ...THANK YOU ~!    

edit:  regarding the piece being "slower"; this was in reference to how Richter played it in his YT video.  Enzo finds the tempo just right as suggested by perfect_pitch.

[rachfan]

Hi emill,

I'm glad Enzo found those comments useful.  I've followed his progress from when you first began posting his recordings, and I believe that he has high potential as a musician.  For 14 years old, he obviously takes his music very seriously, and while he might be a man of few words, he's obviously a deep thinker.  And when it comes to piano performance, that's 90% of it.  So he should keep up the good work!

[furtwaengler]

I instantly knew it was to Richter you referred when mentioning Enzo's tempo. Richter's Schumann is very distinctive, dramatically larger than life and very much his own...He was a force of nature and while one can learn a lot from his approach, it is so easy to plagiarize! Much more difficult it is to approach a score with one's own freshness of thought and experience...Thus, you need not worry about Enzo's tempo in which the piece speaks majestically. He's at an excellent place for three weeks of study, and many of the issues in crispness, in contrasts, and in flow will naturally work themselves out given the space of time. But be it such little time as he's had, there remains an exciting and refreshing sense of discovery and freshness of approach which I hope he will not lose - Certainly, I'd think this will even intensify as he gets a firmer grasp on the structure, and he will be able to experiment more with Schumann's lovely characters. It is very exciting. Are you excited?

Ah, Op. 21 is a rich set, and we are in the composer's 200th year. I hope he adds a few more Noveletten!

(Sorry that I've not had the time for great detail...I can only be on late at night, and oh, the morning comes quickly! I need to sleep! But I want to spend more time on this and have a say on the Bartok. In its time...in its time...)