Abegg Variations

[stringbot]

Hi,
Can someone please review my recording of Schumann’s Abegg Variations? Any comment or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[lelle]

Well done! It's not an easy piece.

Now that you are on your way with this piece, I would pay more attention to the phrasing and what you would like to do with this musically. Listen to your phrases in the theme. It's all short five note phrases/gestures. You are often hesitating in the middle of these gestures. See if you can shape them more, and play each five note phrase as one connected gesture. Hesitations are fine to use as an expressive device, but use them sparingly or it'll be too much of a good thing.

Work on playing the theme more expressively until you are really satisfied with it. Then use your now more musically attuned ears to likewise improve the phrasing in the more difficult variations, so you match the quality you've now achieved in the theme.

As for the technical difficulties, keep practicing slowly and carefully. Pay attention to keeping your arms, wrists and non playing fingers very relaxed (watch out for the thumbs in particular!). Any additional suppleness and ease of movement you can gain will likely help you play more evenly and feel more on top of things.

[stringbot]

Thank you so much for the feedback! They were extremely helpful as I used your suggestion in the theme and it was complimented by an adjudicator.