Medtner, Prologue from Eight Mood Pictures, Op. 1, No. 1

[rachfan]

This is the “Prologue” from Eight Mood Pictures Op. 1, No. 1 composed between 1895 and 1902 by Nikolai Medtner.  In my interpretation the Prologue takes on the atmosphere and imagery of a romantic and sometimes intense reverie.
 
The piece is embedded in 3 against 2 polyrhythms, and double note figurations abound.  The melody is played by both hands, one either mirroring or shadowing the other given the polyrhythms, or sometimes with one hand offering counterpoint to the other.  Along with melody, the right hand plays accompaniment too.  The left hand similarly attends simultaneously to melody, bass harmonies and accompaniment and covers a surprising compass of the keyboard, sometimes making difficult leaps.  At times the left becomes the dominant hand in the flow of the music.  I’m reminded of Thalberg’s “three hands” illusion which might have influenced Medtner’s design.  These complexities require careful voicing and layering of sound into foreground and background, as well as being alert to voice leading between the hands.

Nearing the midpoint of the recording, with the entrance of Part B the fantasy shifts unexpectedly into a more somber minor mode causing the dreamer a moment of unease--but the music soon blooms into a lush, ultra-romantic and gripping climax which gradually ebbs and gives way to the tranquil reprise of the reverie’s main theme, the piece ending in a gentle double-notes coda fading into the quiet of the night.
  
I believe that the Prologue works splendidly as a standalone piano solo and need not be played as part of the suite.

Comments welcome!

Piano: Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6’3”) with lid fully open
Recorder: Korg MR-1000
Microphones: Earthworks TC-20 matched pair of small diaphragm omni-directional condenser mics in A-B configuration

[49410enrique]

this is so beautiful! as a certified nut for late romantic russian piano lit this made my night, had i been in the audience, i assure you any empty seats would have been only my own any perhaps anyone else who felt they needed to run to the restroom to dry our tears and wash our faces (not literally of course, figuretavely, i'd be glued to my chair till the end!).
a moving performance, wow.

[rachfan]

Hi enrique

Thanks so much for that wonderful compliment!  I appreciate it. 

I've spent a lot of hours practicing it.  Today I had the feeling that I ought to record it an let the chips fall where they may, otherwise I might never record it. Just about all I play is Russian Late Romantic piano literature.  I believe that of all of them, Medtner writes in the most difficult idiom.  I recorded and posted his Sonata-Elegia here earlier.  By the way, if you ever need a shortcut for finding recordings of music by particular composers, the Index to Audition Room at the top of the list here is the quick way to search.  They are alphabetical, and you can just scroll down.  My favorite is Georgy Catoire.

Thanks again!

David

[costicina]

Wow, David!!!
a marvellous music, and you play it  soooo beatufully!!!!  You master admirably  the complex texture of the piece , doing justice to its lyrical, intense romance: the climax, the subdued end…I liked everything: a joy to listen!

Thank you for sharing, really!!!
Margherita

[rachfan]

Hi Margherita,

Thanks so much!  I'm glad you enjoyed listening.  I have to say though, this piece is a beast to play!!! 

David

[goldentone]

I loved this!  It's a beautiful, romantic piece, so much that it's kind of hard to believe it's Medtner.  You do a wonderful job with all the layering, which you bring across in a 3D effect which is magical.  Some of those high treble tremolos sparkle incredibly like diamonds.

You reach breathaking heights here.  We have some wonderful pianists here at Piano Street.  But, David, your artistry is hard to beat.  Superb!

[rachfan]

Hi goldentone,

Thanks for that praise on my playing!  You're very kind.  To be honest, I would have liked to have produced an even better rendition, but this piece is really tough to play!  It reached the point where any more practicing would have been a diminishing return.  So I decided to just do my best and record it.  Maybe someday I could take another look at it.

It's a beautiful, romantic piece, so much that it's kind of hard to believe it's Medtner.

Yes, exactly!  So much of Medtner's piano literature is very cerebral in nature and contains prolixity too.  Similar to his "Sonata-Elegia" I posted earlier, I was looking for a Medtner piece that instead spoke from the heart.  And when I came across Op. 1, No. 1, at first I was concerned that it might be merely an early student piece from his conservatory days.  But no, it's complex music but also very romantic in nature.  I'm glad to have learned and played it. 

Anyway, it was a workout, so I'm glad to be moving on. 

[birba]

I must download this music.  I imagine it's in the IMSLP, right?  Beautiful.  I can't believe I've never played ANYTHING by Medtner.  It's sounds fiendishly difficult.  Like it was 4 hands playing instead of one! 
Really beautiful.

[rachfan]

Hi birba,

Yes the score is on the IMSLP, although reading from the PDF is the usual travail.  In one instance I was playing a ledger line G# in the coda and decided it was actually F# so practiced it that way.  Then horror of horrors, I rediscovered that the G# was correct and had to get the F# out of my fingers.  

I wish I could have given a better rendition, but the piece is really tough! I felt I had plateaued with it and that further practicing would be diminishing returns, so recorded and posted it.

The two hands are more than occupied with this music.   The leaps are sometimes a challenge.  In fact, I missed one of them in this recording.  

This was my second Medtner piece following the Sonata-Elegia.  I'm very picky in going through his repertoire, as a large part of it doesn't appeal to me.  I'm thinking that in the future I'll tackle one more of his works, if I can find the right piece.

David

[scottmcc]

very interesting.  I've heard most of Medtner's works but had missed this one.  what an intriguing first opus!  as usual this is played to a very high standard and i enjoyed it thoroughly.  David, I'm surprised that you will be limiting yourself to just a few pieces by Medtner, he seems like a composer who would be right up your alley.  Perhaps you should finish out op 11?  I really like that set.

[rachfan]

Hi scott

This first piece of the first opus is astonishing indeed.  I would have expected a student work done in composition class at the conservatory.  But this is an incredible piece of high complexties.  When I first examined the score, I definitely underestimated it.  Once I got into it there were many frustrations along the way.  There are moments when the texture is thin and transparent, and if the pianist gets off track, it's difficult to impossible to get back on track (without improvising), which sounds like a real gaff. Toward the end I practiced it with the metronome at increasing speeds flawlessly.  But once I would shift away from mechanics into the musicality mode of recording, mistakes would pop up that never happened previously.  It was maddening!  In preparing a Medtner piece, it seems that he and I are constantly at swords' points.    

As you know, when I look for repertoire, I try to find the lesser known or even forgotten pieces.  Their lowest common denominator is that they are works of ravishing beauty.  With Medtner more often than not in his character pieces, they tend to have stringy melodies, a cerebral sound, and,  not infrequently, prolixity.  For example, I find no romance whatsoever in his Sonata Romantica.  That's fairly typical.  If I pick up a piece by Rachmaninoff, Bortkiewicz, Catoire, Glazunov, etc. I find their hearts in their music instantly.  Between posting Medtner's Sonata-Elegia and this Prologue here, it was probably the better part of a year.  I'll continue to sift through Medtner's music, but in the end will probably not have played nearly as much of it as the other Russian late romantics.  It's just my take on it.  I realize that others will disagree. I think it all comes down to differing preferences.

Again, thanks for listening and commenting!  

David

[49410enrique]

Hi scott

This first piece of the first opus is astonishing indeed.  I would have expected a student work done in composition class at the conservatory....

As you know, when I look for repertoire, I try to find the lesser known or even forgotten pieces.  Their lowest common denominator is that they are works of ravishing beauty.  ...will probably not have played nearly as much of it as the other Russian late romantics.  It's just my take on it.  I realize that others will disagree. I think it all comes down to differing preferences.


David

David your comments here bring to mind Prokofiev sonata no 1, f minor, Op 1, have you spent any time (or perhaps already performed it?), it is definately uncharacteristic of his later mature style and while today criticized for it's lack of modernism,it is this decidedly straddling of the border between late romanticism and his finding his voice was that was the source of criticism back when it was published, as such I hear (as has been written about before) influences of Anton Rubenstein (a favorite composer of his mother) here. also he origianlly had plans for a second mvnt and finale but he scraped the idea and only published the revised first.

 thoughts?

just wanted to bring it up in case you're open to suggestions on works to explore.

[derschoenebahnhof]

Rachfan, I have only a few words:

Gorgeous, layered, multidimensional, complex... beautiful!

Reminds me again why I like romantic music so much over classical. My father said Mozart was the first one to invent computer generated music. This was perhaps exaggerated. Nonetheless romantic music appears so much richer and emotionally powerful.

But enough talk and back to work.
CG

[littletune]

Wow this is really great!! And it really doesn't sound like only one person would be playing this! How do you do that?!  Thanks for posting it! 

[rachfan]

Hi enrique,

That's a good point.  In fact, I have a CD with that Prokofiev sonata on it played by Barbara Nissman, but haven't heard it for a long time.  I'll listen to it later on.  Sometimes composers' early works are quite surprising.  Who would ever had forseen Schoenberg's style given those very romantic early piano pieces?  And Debussy's early pieces like the Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (and what a gorgeous work!) were late romantic before he shifted into impressionism.  Another very high-quality surprise for an Op. 1 would be Berg's Piano Sonata.  

Thanks for that suggestion.

David  

[rachfan]

Hi littletune

In Liszt's time there was a composer and pianist, Sigismund Thalberg who developed a "third hand" illusion in his compositions.  In this technique, basically the thumbs play the melodic line while the other fingers tend to harmony and accompaniment.  The only other time I can recall encountering this technique was in Schumann's little "Romance", Op. 28, No. 2 in F#.  In the Prologue it's used a lot if not exclusively.  It's is devilish piece to play!  Don't try this at home!!!  

David

[costicina]

Hi David, Littletune

I can add to the list Schumann's Intermezzo op 26, Chopin prelude n 8 and Etude op 25 n 1 : there, too, the thumb of RH plays the melody and the other fingers simultaneously the accompainment..
I struggled with the last two pieces, and you are perfectly right: this kind of technique is pure hell to master!!!

Cheers
Margherita

[rachfan]

Hi Margherita,

I've never played the three pieces you mention, so I'm glad that you could add them here as examples of the Thalberg technique.  It's a very challenging way indeed to play the piano!  In this Medtner piece, I was glad to escape alive! 

[pianowolfi]

Great work Rachfan! I'm still trying to find my way through that score...

[rachfan]

Hi wolfi,

Glad you liked it, and thanks for that compliment on my playing.  Yes, it's a difficult score for sure.  It's difficult to record too.  I found that I could play it flawlessly with increasing tempi with the metronome to test my grasp of the piece; yet once I would switch from mechanical practicing to a total focus on musicality, problems would start cropping up, and sometimes where there had never been a problem before.  It was very frustrating to say the least.  But, I finally captured it.  I'll be avoiding Medtner for awhile.

Thanks again!  

David

[rachfan]

Hi derchoenebahnhof,

I hope I got your name correctly--it's a long one!  I think those descriptors of this music you mention are right on.  It was a wild ride preparing this piece, but worth it.

Thanks for listening!

David

[ted]

For some reason I cannot grasp what I have heard of Medtner but I cannot understand most of the classics either so what do I know ? The important thing is that you do possess an affinity with this type of music and it shines through regardless of the listener's personal preference. I think it has something to do with the strong points of your technique coinciding with the way these Russians conceived the physical aspect of their music. Perhaps our bogus friend was inadvertently right in saying you have a "Russian soul", at least in that less mystical sense.

I rejoice in the fact that your downloads in general are getting very numerous indeed, which fact indicates you have struck a common chord with many people. Perhaps you could approach somebody with a view to recording a couple of CDs of Russian romantic music. Of course being capable of something does not imply we must actually want to do it. Nonetheless, response indicates the possibility might be there.

Well played again anyway.

[pianowolfi]

Hi derchoenebahnhof,

I hope I got your name correctly--it's a long one! 

It means "The beautiful railway station" in German 

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

Thanks for listening and the compliment too.  

I believe that Medtner's music, more so than most of the other Russian Late Romantics, is often not immediately accessible--not just to you, Ted, but probably for many of the other listeners, and I include myself when listening to some other Medtner pieces I've not heard before.  Sometimes it take several hearings to grasp the form and his meaning.  It's the complexities (and in some pieces even prolixity) of his style that baffles people.  Rachmaninoff considered Medtner to be the greatest genius of the living composers of that era.  Yet today Medtner is still relatively unknown due to the difficulty in performing his music coupled with the fact that listeners do not always readily absorb it at first hearing.  And with the pace of life today, few have time to give those extra "chances" to Medtner.  For an Op. 1 No. 1 though, I have to give him a lot of credit.  Although his first numbered work, it certainly comes across as a mature one.  As I mentioned in my introduction (how could someone post this one with no introduction?!), the imagery it presented to me was a reverie, intense at times, so I interpreted the music accordingly; however, other pianists might have diferent notions.  That's one of the wonders of music--it often speaks differently to peoples' imaginations.  

Yes... I recall that compliment.  After she was exposed, I felt glum.  I really don't know about the "Russian soul" in my playing.  No real Russian pianist has ever said anything similar to me, but I can't judge because they're always so busy practicing, they probably don't have time to notice other pianists.  I think if a couple did comment, they'd likely say, "Of course not!!!"

On your last point, I'll send you a PM on it.

Thanks again!

David

  

[rachfan]

Hi wolfi,

I'm still trying to find my way through that score...

How well I know that predicament!  Thanks for listening and your compliment on my playing.  Oh, and also for that translation of "the beautiful railway station".  If I need help with German, I'll know where to turn.    Do you remember marik?  He does Russian for me.  It's good to have connections! Thanks again. 

David

[starstruck5]

This is a strangely haunting piece. It is the beginning for Medtner in his composing career -but the melody sounds as if it wistfully looking back, full of nostalgia and longing. I think you could make the melody sing a bit more, but I appreciate how difficult this is to accomplish, given how many voices there are.  Your performance is still really lovely and a joy to listen to.

[rachfan]

Hi starstuck,

Thanks for listening and your kind compliment!  Yes, I agree that considering that this piece would be Medtner's first numbered work is remarkable given its complexity and high quality.  I'm very careful in choosing pieces by Medtner to play and record.  My first one was the Sonata-Elegia, Op. 11, No. 2 posted here in September 2010.  The elapsed time between that and this Prologue was about 15 months.  Of course, I have other piano literature of other composers that take up time as well.  But the fact is I'm very choosy in selecting a Medtner piece.  More often than not I find Medtner's music to be cerebral, the melodies often seem stingy or fragmentary, and then there is his tendency to sometimes be musically verbose.  What I look for is a piece with great melodic content with lush, romantic surge as well.  That exists in these two pieces, but it takes awhile to discover pieces like this.  Then once I find one, there is the issue of fighting with Medtner and his complexities.  Anyway, I'm happy that you enjoyed this recording so much.  It makes the effort I put into it seem worthwhile.  Thanks again!

David

 

[derschoenebahnhof]

It means "The beautiful railway station" in German 

Exactly. It's not my name, it's just a user name... I got it from a silly show on Swiss TV where in one of the skits, a talentless artist would play the piece "Der Schoene Bahnhof" and it ended up being a single note on a triangle, or something similar, after which the audience would throw tomatoes at him...

CG

[rachfan]

Hi derschoenebahnhof,

(I think I spelled that right. )  Thanks for that explanation!  I had thought it might have a connection to the "Prologue", that is to say, that the piece might have had something to do with a train and train station, perhaps like Liszt's "Paysage" from his Transcendental Etudes. But it's actually from a more humorous origin.  I appreciate your revisiting to dispel the mystery.

David 

[emill]

Hi David,

The good thing about PS for a piano music lover, who does not play the piano is the amount of info he can learn from discussions of just one composition. This is the 1st Medtner I have listened to and frankly it is not something that one can immediately absorb as in some pieces by Chopin ... but rather its musical line is something potentially likable with sufficient exposure. Interesting .....

BTW, may I just say your recordings are very good ... they seem to sound as played.  I wish I could afford the equipment you use.

[rachfan]

Hi emill,

Thanks for listening to this piece.  When selecting Medtner pieces, like the "Sonata-Elegia" I posted earlier, I try to find ones that have sufficient melodies (sometimes Medtner melodies are stingy or fragmentary) and also contain much romantic surge.  Frankly, some of his works can be quite cerebral, musically verbose, and dry.  These two I've played are among the more accessible to the listener in my opinion.  His pieces that are less accessible sometimes require several hearings to begin to appreciate them!  I believe this is why Medtner is not as well known and as frequently played as, say, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.  Incidentally, Rachmaninoff considered Medtner to be the greatest genius of the then living composers.  But it's sometimes a real effort to become acquainted with his  idiom and thoughts.  At some point I'll probably tackle a third Medtner piece, but it'll be a fairly long search until I find one that draws me to it.

Thanks again!

David    

[scottmcc]

Emill, a few other suggestions for "easily accessible" Medtner works would be op 9 #2, op 14 #2 (search for andhow04's recording of it on this site), or op 38 #1.  I agree with David that the works can be challenging to understand, and I certainly can't hum most of them (something which for me is often a surrogate marker for accessibility), but these three selections should whet your whistle for the harder works.  I'm a big fan of Medtner overall, but I do agree that it takes a certain investment on the part of the listener to really digest the pieces.  They're all very densely composed and most are relatively sparse on melody, instead focusing more on counterpoint and texture.  structurally, he wrote a number of sonatas, but he also made liberal use of a form he called the "skazka," which is russian for "fairy tale;" most of which are relatively short and simpler in construction than the sonatas (although this is a generalization that does not hold true for all of them).  Also, if you are interested in concerti, he wrote 3 for piano, of which I most prefer the 2nd, although they all have merits.

happy listening!

[furtwaengler]

This is one of my favorite Medtner pieces, David, and one I have to admit I've always been afraid to play. You handle it so beautifully, as I could only expect. We are incredibly spoiled in this regard.

Now I have to dig of the song which shares the theme. I have to look for it, but it I must say the voice adds such an irresistible element that every time I here this piano prologue I cannot help but think of it as a well orchestrated transcription!

Thanks so much for giving this to us!

Dave

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

I'm so glad you enjoyed my rendition of this piece.  And thanks for that compliment!  There were a couple of places where I wish I could have made the melody soar more above it all.  Also I wish I could have made the coda more subdued while managing all the double notes, but... it's a tough number to play well. Thanks for listening and commenting!  It was definitely an experience learning and playing it!

David    

[faj]

hi david ..
I never forget your rendition of schubert Op. 90 No.1
And seems I will never forget this one also .. beautiful !

[rachfan]

Hi faj,

I'm so glad you could hear this Medtner piece and enjoyed it so much!  It was a real challenge to play, but well worth it.  

Ah yes, the Schubert.  Believe it or not, that was actually a 1987 analog recording made on a cassette tape deck with three Nakamici mics in the mix.  Of the two impromptus I posted here years ago, I always preferred my recording of the Op. 142, No. 2.  But my take would be more subjective than that of other listeners.  Of course, anything by Schubert is great music

Thanks for your compliment on my playing!

David

[j_menz]

Hi David,

I was so impressed by this piece I went and downloaded the sheet music.

It's is devilish piece to play!  Don't try this at home!!!

That's quite an understatement.  It's even worse to sightread - I've never seen that bottom A rendered entirely in ledger lines (at least I hope it was that bottom A  ) 

I'm building up the courage to actually have a serious go at it.  Gonna take a bit to get it up anywhere near your standard, though.

[rachfan]

Hi j,

Thanks for that compliment!  I really appreciate it.

I too worked from a downloaded pdf file.  Normally that's difficult enough as any score reduced to
8 1/2 X 11 inch format will be harder to read.  Then when you combine that with squinting at tall ledger lines in both hands, it can be misery! You mention that contra A.  There's also a contra A# to be played in a long downard leap.  Well, I missed it and played the A, but it still sounds alright.  The right hand ledger lines can fool one as well.  In the double-notes coda I was using a G# for awhile, but then convinced myself it was an F#, so started practicing it that way.  Plus it added a nice edginess to the sound.  Well then still later, I rediscovered that it was a G# after all.  You know how difficult it is to unlearn a habit!  I got it straightened out though.  Certainly the biggest challenge is laying the sound so that the melody prevails.  There were a couple of spots in the piece where I could have done a better job with that, although most of it was the way it should be played. 

I'm flattered that my recording inspired you to play this prologue.  By the way, I also recorded his Sonata-Elegia.  You might like that piece too.  Anyway, have fun practicing! 

David