Brahms: Ballade in D Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 [VIDEO]

[orangesodaking]

This is a very interesting piece!

I hope you enjoy. The audio quality isn't the best, though. I will have a better quality recording up later this month.

[furtwaengler]

Yes, I love the Brahms Ballades. Are you playing all of them or just this one?

I listened and the sound did not bother me. The opening grace notes could have some more snap to them. Right now it sounds a precise dotted eight sixteenth. There could also be more variety in color and mood between the different sections. You are very transparent in the end in a very transparent piece. Allegro (ma non troppo) with all the triplets always reminds me of a view of the night sky with different layers of clouds pasting over and under each other at different speeds, made known by the light of the moon. Whether or not that has anything to do with the piece, I don't know, but that's what I think!

Good job. I hope to here more.

[orangesodaking]

Yes, I love the Brahms Ballades. Are you playing all of them or just this one?

I have also learned 2, I have started working on the third, and will learn the fourth as well, and will perform the whole set in a recital at the end of the semester!

Thanks for your other comments... I need as much insight to think about as I can, for I never heard these pieces until I started playing them (so I don't have an interpretation or two that inspired me). The more insight, the better!

I'll probably play them a whole lot better after they sit under my fingers and in my mind for a while.

[rachfan]

This is a very nice rendition, thoughtfully played.  The piece needs to have a tragic and even ghostly sound, and I think you've achieved that convincingly.  I'm glad you'll be learning the set, as it's a very important opus, so well worth the effort.