WEEK TWO Updates: Main Thread - Beethoven a master of Variation!

• Variation you worked on: No 6
• One thing you found easy: The Dynamics and Articulation of the less busy section at the back. 
• One thing you found difficult: The greater the velocity of the demisemiquavers, the less control I have towards the dynamics and tone quality. At times It plunges into chaos and sounded like banging. Although, it is really fun to play, helps in regulating and expressing my emotions. I do realize I might be playing the piece out of style. hahaha 

 “What possibilities are there in terms of human experience? In a way, the simpler the music, the more possibilities you have.” 

- Leon Fleisher on tonebase, Reminiscences, Part 2

I have tried to assemble the variations to be meaningful and interesting – at least to me. Maybe we can have some conversations on the items I have focused on:

-       Phrasing: (almost always) decresc. at the end of a phrase, even if it’s just the last note. “Don’t start with a bang, don’t end with a bang” is much harder than it sounds.

-       Dynamics: as many contrasts as the music will allow. I had actually aimed for more contrast in Var.2 and was surprised at the final result. 

-       Touch: crisp and short staccati. To my ear, they sound unintentional otherwise.

-       Character: what makes each variation special? How much can a characteristic be emphasized without resulting in poor taste? Var 1: cello solo and tenderness running above it. Var 2: boisterous children at play dodging adults’ reprimands. Var 3: Unexpected crescendo/diminuendo. Var 4: an episode of Murder, she wrote. Var 5: the little toy piano. Var 6: showing off. Coda: hesitating, trying to find some final words before – Ah! What have we got to lose! – finishing with a big, noisy flourish. 

-       To score or not to score? I heard something on tonebase, Garrick Ohlson, perhaps, saying that Chopin asked his students to practice with the score. This was new to me and hugely impactful once I tried it. I found that 1>There are plenty of details in the score that I missed when first learning the piece and 2> it’s helpful to mark the score with ideas and fingerings that might need revisiting later. I’d LOVE to juggle and reorganize all of this in my head, but that’s not happening. You’ll notice a vanity edit in the posted video where I deleted the page turn...

-       Fingerings: as you know, I really depend on fingerings to address technical and musical issues. That’s another reason I need the score – my fingerings are on the far side of weird sometimes and take time to work out.

-       Continuing the conversation on repeats: when I was a student, playing WoO80, Beethoven’s 32 variations at a music camp, I overheard another teacher say: “C’est trop de do mineur pour moi!” (For something completely otherworldly, listen to Glenn Gould’s interpretation on https://youtu.be/UoWXRlw9vBA) Repeating each section is too much G major for me, too much of the same old, same old. However, without repeats everywhere else, the “written-out repeat” in Var. 3 comes as a surprise, like a melody floating in from the neighbour’s house. Actually, I like that moment so much that…well, we’ll see.

One thing I find easy: NOTHING. Still looking. 

One thing I find difficult: to give meaning to every note and every phrase. 

Thanks everyone, I love every note you play and every thought you share. Thanks especially to Dominic, whose initiative and kindness make all this possible. 

• Variation you worked on: Memorizing through var. 3.
• One thing you found easy: Playing from music.
• One thing you found difficult: Playing from memory.

I've been inspired by those of you committing this to memory so quickly.  I've always found it extremely difficult to play from memory so that is my challenge for this one.   I won't post a new video until I can play at least some of it from memory. 

I've started listening to a few recordings and tempos can vary quite a bit but I'm thinking most of it should not be played too fast?

Sept 30, 2021

Since yesterday's (very wordy) post is still pending review, here's another from this morning.

Variation: all

One thing I found easy: I'm beginning to understand what is truly unique and interesting about every variation.

One thing I found difficult: getting dynamic variations just right. And, of course, memorizing, especially the phrase endings that are similar enough between variations to be confusing.