He says that one should not be put off from learning a piece by its reputation as a difficult piece.
I'm gonna learn it regardless, I just wanna know what I'm getting in to.
I know Appasionata is more musically demanding, but is it more technically demanding? And if so, then why? You don't have to worry about exhausting yourself in Appasionata like you do in La Campanella do you?
If you're exhausted (physically or emotionally) after playing La Campanella, you've done it wrong.
If you're not exhausted, both physically and emotionally, after playing Appassionata, you needn't have bothered.
What exactly is that supposed to mean?
La Campanella is a bit of fluff
And if you do do it justice, it will leave you feeling like an elated wrung out sock.
So you're saying it's not as hard as it seems?
Like technically exhausting where your wrists are burning? or exhausting like you just sprinted a mile? Because I'm in pretty good shape! BUT... You still didn't answer my question.
Like technically exhausting where your wrists are burning? or exhausting like you just sprinted a mile? Because I'm in pretty good shape!
Not technically exhausting, good technique will prevent this.
Physically and emotionally draining. Like running a marathon back from burying your favourite pet.
How about emotionally exhausting - like when your best friend dies (for example i mean, not something I've personally experienced and I hope you haven't either).Real emotion is physically exhausting though, that I do know from experience.edit: clearly j_menz beat me to it... wrung out sock is a fairly good description, as would be "punched in the guts" or "nauseous"
Well good technique will prevent getting exhausted from anything right? So my getting exhausted from La Campanella is a result of bad technique then huh... Oh Rachmaninoff's 4th moment musical is another good one! I just wanna know if I'll encounter the same problem of forearm exhaustion in the 4th moment musical and La Campanella as I will in Appassionata.
I'm in pretty good shape. And you'll seriously feel like your pet died?! Are you kidding me?! Will my attitude change or something?*just finished playing Appassionata*Kid: hey wanna skate today?Me: nah man, I don't feel up to it... Really?
It's either lack of exercise of the relevant muscles (ie not enough practice of those bits) or bad technique or a combination of both. Ask your teacher.Unfortunately, both AJ and I picked bad experiences as examples. Yes it can be draining in that way, but it can be cathartic, joyful, exhilarating as well. You will feel wrung out, but you may feel better than you could imagine alongside it. You may well be too exhausted to skate, but you may also feel like skating to the moon.
You STILL didn't tell me if I'll encounter the same problems as I did in La Campanella and the 4th moment musical. And you still didn't tell me if Appassionata was more technically diffiult. Are you trying to hide something from me?...
There's a technique to a convincing performance that isnt physical such as how you move your arms.. its "feeling the music".. That the part that makes the Beethoven more demanding.
Omg haha lol. This what I hoped this thread would never come to. Yes, I know it's musically demanding, I just need to know if Appassionata is more PHYSICALLY technically demanding than La Campanella and if my hands will burn out from playing this.
J_menz and I are saying that the musical/emotional element of the beethoven can be physically relevent.
Never heard or played anything like that before. I must have a pretty narrow repertoire...
Hypothetical Example 1.Say there's a passage that is really powerful and hits you really hard, it evokes anger, frustration, and rage within you.. as a result you feel angry playing it, because of this you instinctively start hitting the keys harder, this slows you down and wears you out..Mentally it messes with you because now despite feeling like hitting the keys with a sledge hammer you have to maintain a technique that facilitates the remaining 10 minutes of sonata not falling in a hole because your hands/arms hurt from bashing the piano.After you finish the sense of rage lingers and you have to play chopin 9/2 afterwards, which is all lovey love love love but you can't stop feeling ragey rage rage rage....not like that for everyone obviously.. plenty of people get through their pieces without ever being heavily connected to them emotionally.Edit:Don't know if you've seen "shine" - if so, remember david gets taken the piano teachers house and they ask for him to be taught Rachmaninoff. The teachers reaction is like "Don't be stupid, he's a boy, he can not express that kind of passion"Thats an element of something as big as the appassionata, there's playing the notes, and then there's really playing the notes... and you have to draw on life experience not just musical experience.
Instead I smile lol. I mean sure I feel the emotion, but instead I'm like, 'hey do you hear this? Doesn't this sound cool?!' in stead of, 'I'm so freaking mad!!! I'm gonna punch you in the face!'Or when I listen to or play something sad, I don't cry, I'm like, 'ooooaaaoooaaooaooaooh dude this is soo good!'Like a new discovery
From a compositional perspective, or interpretivative from whatever angle - sometimes what you're trying to do is, to quote zimmerman (roughly) "shape peoples emotions over time" - you want a performance to take your audience in different directions and different moments, highs and lows - and to share your own personal experience of life through music. That is perhaps how one truly makes an impact as a performer, rather than just entertains. You have to mean something, and share that.
Isn't the objective of all art to evoke emotion in the audience? From acting to paintings to books, and to music?
So when you play any given piece from your repetoire, what string of emotions are you trying to evoke? Can you describe that..? or are you just saying to people "hey check out how cool this sounds?"
Time to go work on that...Actually, let me rethink the way I play the pathetique. I haven't really thought about it. I'll give you a better response tomorrow.
I believe a truly great performance allows/enables the listener to see the piece from a first person point of view.
But what if you lay everything out and have the audience decide for themselves how they feel? What you feel as happy might feel as sorrow for someone else.
Is Appassionata more technically demanding than La Campanella? (Read 8512 times)
