VIDEO: Prelude Op. 28 No. 1 by Frederic Chopin

[michael_sayers]

Hi Everyone,

I hope that this is enjoyed!

[stevensk]

OMG  I hate this ....sorry

[mjames]

talk about a different approach lol

[birba]

Is this some sort of joke?!

[chopinlover01]

I'm going to assume this is a practical joke, because you clearly demonstrate in this video and in number 20 that you can play it semi well.

[liszt1022]

holy hell I think he's just trolling us now guys.

[diomedes]

Fairly certain his goal is to be famous. As far as this forum is concerned, total success.

[j_menz]

Fairly certain his goal is to be infamous.

Corrected your post. 

[michael_sayers]

I'm going to assume this is a practical joke, because you clearly demonstrate in this video and in number 20 that you can play it semi well.

It is no joke.  The playing is only "semi-well" because I stopped practicing in 1995 except for a week here or there before performing or recording.  Nowadays I am working my way back to my teenage level of technique and beyond.

[j_menz]

I stopped playing in 1995

Hmm..... just wishing.

[birba]

J menz!  What is that supposed to mean?!
I, on the other hand,  think sayers has talent and it was demonstrated in part of the other prelude.  Certainly not in this.  That said, though, you (sayers) shouldn't post performances where you have to explain away the faults.  You just shouldn't post them.   Period.  Microphones
 or old pianos are no excuse for that unearthly fortissimo in the other prelude.  And stopping in the middle of a piece and proceeding at 1/10th the speed can never be justified.  At least in a performance.  Which is what the audition room is all about.  N'est-ce pas?

[michael_sayers]

J menz!  What is that supposed to mean?!
I, on the other hand,  think sayers has talent and it was demonstrated in part of the other prelude.  Certainly not in this.  That said, though, you (sayers) shouldn't post performances where you have to explain away the faults.  You just shouldn't post them.   Period.  Microphones
 or old pianos are no excuse for that unearthly fortissimo in the other prelude.  And stopping in the middle of a piece and proceeding at 1/10th the speed can never be justified.  At least in a performance.  Which is what the audition room is all about.  N'est-ce pas?

Hi birba,

As you know, the world is a very imperfect place.  Faces are imperfect, pianos are imperfect, pianists are imperfect, behaviour and personalities are imperfect, our minds are imperfect, et c., and the cult of perfection is something I tend to reject.  I've always normally done two takes of a composition - one that is out of control and without fear, and the other quite careful, more calm and also evasive of any risk taking - and the more sincere first one has always ended up being my personal preference.  The world is flooded in "perfect" recordings from multiple takes, splices, the finest microphones, et c., and it just doesn't appeal to me.  A pianist can record the Chopin preludes one measure at a time in "perfect" studio conditions - I know of a concert pianist who did that - but that sort of thing isn't for me to do.

No matter where the microphones are in a hall, my sound will tend at times to overload them.  At least if the microphones are not too far away then some of the pianissimo to piano dynamic range effects can be captured without them subsiding too much into the noise of the preamp or below the microphones' sensitivity.

And the piano-pianissimo playing is what is most important, in my opinion.  Both ends of the dynamics spectrum have transformative power, but anyone can play loud if he wants to.  There is more of an art to quiet playing and it tends to be far more beguiling.  And often one gets the best of such beguiling effects from a piano manufactured to older design specifications, not a recent one.  As in 1920s to early 1990s C. Bechstein grands, 1930s to about 1968 N.Y. Steinway D concert grands, et c.

Just listen to this 1928 C. Bechstein grand with the original hammers and hammer felts - I am quite confident that no one will get this type of sound out of a year 2015 C. Bechstein grand:

[j_menz]

J menz!  What is that supposed to mean?!

Perhaps I should explain. michael_sayers  has posted quite a number of these interpreted versions. My issue with them is that they are fundamentally flawed failures.

Michael has simply taken an external impulse and used other peoples notes with which to express it. It is not an interpretation of the pieces in question, but an imposition on it. It thus fails to shed any light whatsoever on the actual pieces. It fails as a means of self expression, too, simply because the melody, harmony and some of the rhythm is appropriated from elsewhere and is not adapted to assist in expressing that which Michael wishes to express. These are not interpretation, "inspired by..." versions, improvisations or compositions.

Michael undoubtedly has some talent as a pianist, and judging by the few original pieces he's posted a reasonable talent for melody and harmony. My wish is that he's stop with these neither fish nor fowl efforts and actually develop his skills. He may well turn out to be a very interesting composer.

[birba]

I'm beginning to get it...

[quantum]

After listening to a number of these recordings, although I can not completely endorse the execution, there are elements of the ideas that intrigue me.  Mainly, the presentation of ideas that challenge cultural norms.  The canon of art music is steeped in tradition, a tradition to which sadly far to few of us have been inquisitive enough to investigate in a deeply thorough manner.  We do what we do, many of us were taught to do so, we teach our students to do so as well, but have we ever questioned why the things we do have become to be defined as the standard?  How do we come to define a standard and how do we react when that standard is challenged?

[ted]

....but have we ever questioned why the things we do have become to be defined as the standard?  How do we come to define a standard and how do we react when that standard is challenged?

I shan't sidetrack this thread, however interesting your questions are, except to say that I only managed to completely ignore musical standards, cultural norms and most of what I had been taught, at about fifty-five. Had I been professional I probably couldn't have managed it at all. Improvisation helps !