Debussy- Hommage a Rameau

[lisztmusicfan]

Hi All!
I have a competition coming up next week and I am just putting some finishing touches on my program. I will be performing this along with a Bach Prelude and Fugue and the first movement of a Schubert Sonata. I hope you enjoy this recording, and please leave comments on what you liked about it, and how I can make it better!
Thanks a ton

[verqueue]

It's quite well.

I think you should work more on phrasing, especially in the middle part of this piece. It seems a bit "weighed". The hardest thing in this piece is maintaing the flow and avoiding playing from beat to beat. You should work more on this - I would recommend practicing this in faster than performance tempo. Also playing melody alone with one finger (from memory). It'll give you more perspective. Try to just push the melody, but also restrain it in the same time... It's hard to explain.

You can also play more with "colors".

Good luck with competition.

[lisztmusicfan]

Its always hard to describe Debussy's intricacies, but thank you for your insight. I will try to implement these suggestions right away. And I've been trying to grasp what exactly coloration in Debussy sounds like. My teacher has talked about it before. How would you suggest i use more "colors" in my performance?

[cbreemer]

Notewise this is quite good. I don't think there are any significant slips - maybe one or two read
mistakes but I'm not sure of it. Most of all I would recommend heavy use of the sostenuto pedal.
This piece really isn't properly doable without one. All these long bass notes and chords need to
sound throughout entire bars where a lot of modulating and chromatic stuff is going on. The clarity
would immensely benefit from doing that properly. I hope you can still do that. As for coloring, I think it's paying more attention to the dynamics, also making quite sudden changes, aided by
subtle pedaling, and a bit more flexible rhythms and phrasing. E.g. bars 5-8 could be just a tiny bit more urgent and singing. Don't be afraid to use a little discreet rubato - it says Like a Sarabande
but not too rigorous ! The middle section marked "au Mouvement" could be a little faster and more
rhythmical and playful. As Verqueue said, avoid the impression of playing note by note. A bit more (controlled) fantasy and freedom and you'll be doing just fine. Hope this helps !

[lisztmusicfan]

Alright, thank you so much for the comments! It gives me some good ideas and insight.

[lisztmusicfan]

And in reference to the middle section, are you talking about the section where the big chords leading up to the climax is? Because before that, it is marked "A little under tempo" and later, "A tempo"