Week 4 Thread: The Meaning in Music 🕴

Welcome to the Main Thread for the fourth week of "Mozart & Haydn - Music from the 18th Century" challenge! 


Where is the meaning in a piece of music written in the 18th century for keyboard only? Is that music meaningless? Or was this type of music only composed for solely entertainment purposes?

Try to find the meaningful elements in the music you have studied this month

And… Post a clip of your beautiful performance!

Pick a piece from the suggested repertoire according to your level or share any piece written during the 18th century that you have been working on!


If you want to describe your process, feel free to use the following template.

  • Piece(s) you have been working on:
  • Things you found easy:
  • Things you found difficult:

Happy sharing 😍

110replies Oldest first
  • Oldest first
  • Newest first
  • Active threads
  • Popular
  • With a little bit of struggle, I'm glad to present the final version of Haydn Sonata in E-flat Hob: XVI 38. Some small mistakes here and there, but that was the best I could to today.  
    I want to thank Antonella for guiding us threw the wonderful music of the 18-century, and everyone for your encouraging comments and videos!  :)

    Like 4
    • Sindre Skarelven Sorry, I have to write again. Your second movement is soo moving! Thank you very much for sharing! 

      Like 2
    • Antonella Di Giulio Thank you so much, Antonella! And thank you for the encouragement, I will keep on working! :)   

      Like 1
    • Andrea Buckland Thank you so much, Andrea! That second movement is one of the more heartfelt pieces I've played, so I'm very glad for your comment about it! 

      Like
    • Sindre Skarelven Beautiful playing! Definitely matches the serenity of your surroundings! 

      Like 1
    • Vidhya Bashyam That’s good to hear! Thank you, Vidhya! 

      Like
    • Sindre Skarelven this sounds so elegant. Nice playing! Thanks for sharing your video.

      Like 1
    • Natalie Peh Thank you, Natalie! Then I feel it’s mission accomplished! 

      Like
      • Juan Carlos Olite
      • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
      • Juan_Carlos
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Sindre Skarelven That's great Sindre. How many details... You play the whole Sonata with extraordinary musicality. Bravo!

      Like 2
    • Juan Carlos Olite Thank you so much, Juan Carlos! :) 

      Like
    • Jackie
    • Jackie
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    I was wondering whether it is still possible to post a video to this forum? I am working on Mozart D minor concerto at the moment. My accompanist is coming over on Friday to rehearse the 1st movement with me, and I would love to post a recording of that for feedback.

    Like 1
    • Jackie Of course! Feel free to post the recording of your performance. 

      Like 1
    • Jackie
    • Jackie
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend and I are preparing the Mozart D minor concerto. We had our first attempt to get it together today. We recorded the exposition of the first movement tonight. It’s not good yet, but I would really love some feedback, especially regarding balance. Thank you.

     

    Actually, I don’t like my touch in the first video, so we made another. In the second one, I tried a touch which used speec of keystroke rather than pressure and I think i5 works much better. I will just need to add a bit of pedal here and there I think.

    Like 7
    • Jackie This is great, Jackie! You seem to be in total control of this exposition. I think also that the second video sounds a bit better. I love this concerto, so beautiful!

      Like 1
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Sindre Skarelven thank you. Yes it is an extremely beautiful concerto! I hope we can do it justice. Still wading through the movements and trying to write a cadenza, but struggling with that.

      Like 1
    • Jackie Very beautiful! I played this concerto long time ago and I truly loved playing it. 

      The balance in the second video and the overall sound is much better than in the first one.

      Musically, everything sounds very beautiful. Congrats.... you sound really lovely.

      If I might suggest a small adjustment: the repeated notes you have right at the beginning should sound more connected. Try to imagine you have to "clean the keys". So, instead of the key coming completely back up before the next sound on that same key, you have to play the key again.

      Most piano teachers would say that a legato on repeated notes is not possible... and yet it is totally possible if we play the key again before completely back up.

      I hope to hear the entire concerto from you soon!!

      Like 1
      • Juan Carlos Olite
      • Philosophy teacher and piano lover
      • Juan_Carlos
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Jackie Very expressive and musical. I think there is a larger dynamic range, more nuances, in the second video. In any case, it is a great and beautiful playing, Jackie! Bravo! 

      Like 2
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Antonella Di Giulio thank you so so much. Regarding the repeated notes, when I heard the video I thought tomorrow I will try to pedal them. But your suggestion sounds sublime! I will definitely try that tomorrow.

      Like 1
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Juan Carlos Olite thank you very much!

      Like
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Antonella Di Giulio did you play the Beethoven cadenzas?

      Like
    • Jackie I made up my own cadenza :)

      Like 1
    • Jackie Beautiful playing! You express yourself so well!

      Like 1
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Antonella Di Giulio oh really? That’s what I want to do, but I am struggling with it. I’ve been playing through and listening to a lot of czerny sonatas. I think they are beautiful and a great guide for cadenza writing. Do you have any other tips?

      Like 1
      • Jackie
      • Jackie
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Natalie Peh thank you very much!

      Like
    • Jackie A cadenza is basically an improvisation on some of the thematic musical cells in the piece. I would take the motives I like at best, decide for a certain order and then improvise a bit on them. I am sure you could come up with beautiful things.

      When I do something new for me, I tend to look at first for templates I can imitate at first and then change.

      Like 2
    • Jackie Very beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

      Like 1
Like1 Follow
  • 1 Likes
  • 1 yr agoLast active
  • 110Replies
  • 481Views
  • 13 Following

Home

View all topics