Playing/practising the Fortepiano?

[kristina]

My question is this:

I would like to know if there are people in ESRF
who learn/play classical music on the (Forte) piano?

I just have a few questions which I would like to ask
about practising when we are so regularly unwell
and cannot keep up with regular daily exercises etc.

Thank you from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

I don't play, but I sure enjoy listening.  I am a big fan of Renaissance music.  I prefer Baroque to classical.  I think the high point in my life was singing Bach's Mass in B Minor accompanied by the symphony in Guadalajara in Mexico.  We were a choir of 100 voices, and we performed in the cathedral in the city's center. 

I'd sell my soul if I could learn how to play an instrument.

[kristina]

Hello, MooseMom, thanks very much for replying.

I am very fast falling in love with the baroque music as well.
This started mainly when I collected many baroque-records
which were being “thrown away” by libraries, music-colleges, the BBC, etc.

I have been listening to them every day and I am extremely impressed,
also with the inspiring baroque music which came out of Italy.
Their style is wonderful and they influenced many Northern composers like Händel, Bach etc.

I am also discovering some beautiful work by Georg Philip Telemann and what is really enjoyable,
is to come across productions by some of the best Chamber Orchestras whose work
through the 1940's, 1950’s, 1960’s & 1970’s is absolutely exquisite and very inspiring.

Boroque music is so harmonious and many works have a beat which they achieve without any drums
and this I find extremely interesting, it seems perfectly compatible with our own natural heart-beat!
And this produces a very, very pleasing calming music.

As a child I was also in a Bach-choir myself and it was awe-inspiring.

The hardest thing in becoming an instrumentalist is to make the decision
to get an instrument and learn to play it.
Here are five works which are some of my favourites at the moment:

Bach: Largo (From Harpsichord Concerto) and Adagio (from Concerto for Violin & Oboe), I listen to.
Haendel: Sarabande (From Suite No.11) a wonderful "teaching-guide" on youtube is played by cubus.
Corelli: Sarabanda (from Clementi’s lesson XVII), it sounds divine and I love to play it regularly.
Scarlatti’s K466 (from Clementi’s lesson XV) played also by cubus on youtube in a very inspiring way,
and it took me a long time to learn it, but it was worth the effort.

Good luck from Kristina.

P.S. It is never too late to start, I have not started with the Fortepiano that long ago,
in fact, I really started when I was told that I was in ESRF
and I thought I start playing the Fortepiano to divert my thoughts
and get a healthy balance to my disaster.

I am not in any way accomplished, but I really enjoy this diversion
and it not only relaxes me, but it also gives me a big interest
and I also enjoy very much listening to the records which I have collected.

Best wishes from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

My latest CD purchase was "Dances from Terpsichore" by Praetorius.  Even though he was German, some of his best work was inspired by musicians of the French court in the early 1600s.  This particular recording is comprised of short dance pieces.  Here's a funny thing...You know the mini-series "The Tudors"?  OK, so it was trashy, but the costumes were breathtaking and the music divine.  There were several times when Henry and Anne would be at court, dancing some complicated routine with other court members, and I'd be listening to the music to which they were dancing, and I'd literally stand up and shout, "I know that tune!", and it would be Praetorius' "Bransle simple 1".  It doesn't get more obscure than that!!

I also have a recording by the Tallis Scholars called, simply, "Renaissance Giants" because it has works by Josquin Des Pres and Palestrina dating from the 1400-late 1500s.

Bach to me sounds like aural lace.

I'll check out the works you mentioned.  Thanks for that!

I did take guitar lessons for a while, but it got too expensive.  In my spare time, I probably most enjoy reading.  My husband bought me a Nook colour, and I have really fouled up my sleep schedule because I rarely get to sleep before 3AM as I always have to read just one more page!  I don't think I have the energy to start something that takes as much dedication as playing the piano.  So, I'll just listen while others play!  That's the lazy way out.

[kristina]

Hello, MooseMum,

Yes, it is interesting how music travels, and people have always been taking the music they love with them
when they travelled, though in those days it just took a great deal longer for music to gain an influence,
as travelling was less frequent and more arduous than it was in the 19th century and afterwards,
and there did not exist the ease of communicaton which can be instantanious today.
Händel who came from Germany visited Italy early in his life and then later came to England
and we can hear in his music influences from across Europe
and we also notice this when we listen to 18th century Italian music etc.

Your expression in mentioning “aural lace” is a wonderful expression which I have not come across before
and I agree there is beauty, purity and delicacy in Bach’s music.
I am also learning to play Bach’s “Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring”
and it sounds wonderfully calming, almost meditative and I like playing it very much.

If you want to listen to some other interesting Italian composers, you might like to check-out some of these:
Gaetano Donizetti, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Torelli (Toreli), Arcangelo Corelli (Coreli), Pietro Locatelli, Francesco Manfredini,
Tomasso Albinoni, Scarlatti (father and son), Giovanni Battista Bononcini, Giuseppe Jacchini, Giuseppe-Matteo Alberti, Guiseppe Baldassare Sammartini,
Felice Evaristo Dall’Abaco, Baldassare Galluppi etc. Sometimes there are slight differences in the spelling or these names.

Good luck and best wishes from Kristina.

[Hemodoc]

Dear Kristina, before I went to medical school, I could play quite well,  and I actually had more than one professional believe I was a professional pianist.  I took lessons from a teacher who had her masters and bachelors from Julliard who told me I played the Chopin Military Polonaise better than she did.  Then I had 20 years of medical practice which limited my piano playing time, and now I have my renal disease which does alter how well you can play.  Every once in a while, I get a good day where the music flows once again, but for me, I had to memorize the music since sight reading is NOT one of my skills.  I still play from time to time, but not like I did in my 20's.  I am afraid no one today would mistake me for a professional pianist, but you have motivated me to go and do some practice again today.  Stick with it, it is not only good exercise for our arms and forearms, it is good for the brain.  I simply have fun with it today.

Take care,

Peter

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

.

[MooseMom]

Your expression in mentioning “aural lace” is a wonderful expression which I have not come across before

That's because I just made it up!

I'll check out the composers you recommended.  I am familiar with many of the names but not specific works, so I look forward to having many hours of listening pleasure.  Thanks!

[kristina]

Thank you Peter, for your kind thoughts.
I do hope, the practicing went well yesterday and you enjoyed it.
Maybe the reason why your interpretation sounds brilliant is
because you are playing more from the heart
and your reading of the score does not predominate.

I often feel a score is purely a guide constructed by the composer
for the musician to interpret in their own way with their own feelings.
 
One anecdote is that Beethoven often played the same piece,
of one of his compositions differently according to his mood,
and this was the same with the conductor Furtwängler
who used to read the mood of the day
which affected the way in which he conducted the piece. –

You were very fortunate to have had a teacher from the Julliard school.
I wish you all the best with your playing because I think it is a great help,
to anyone who is having difficulty with their health.

I am a bit slow and awkward on trills.
Any tips on how to get my hand working properly would be welcome...

I entirely agree with you, Henry, that some music is good for the soul.
It is often said that Bach’s music has a purity and some composers like Chopin claimed,
playing Bach before their concert “cleansed their soul” and prepared them for the concert itself.

I use the phrase “some music” because I have come across music,
which builds-up feelings of anger or it is unnerving,
upsetting (I call it a “tooth-ache symphony”)
& of course there is even the music which builds one up to the point
where one shouts “CHARGE”!

Good luck MooseMom and good listening.

Thanks very much for all your kind replies from Kristina.