Week 4 – Play Through & Share

Dustin Anderson So much sweetness, warmth and tenderness in your tone. Those runs are just sparklingly delicious! And the middle section is exhilarating while your movement looks so effortless. Really enjoy listening to it ❤️

Dustin Anderson Wow!! You played the nocturne so beautifully and peacefully. Sounds Wonderful 👍

Dustin Anderson Loved the emotions behind the playing.  And the technical runs.  I admire all those who were able to polish their pieces to this level within the month.  Beautiful playing!

Dustin Anderson Wow! Beautifully played. 

Dustin Anderson Extraordinary version of this gorgeous nocturne, Dustin! Deeply expressive.

Sachi Nicely played, Sachi. My son played a lot of Fanny Hensel compositions last year. It was nice to hear this one again. Thank you!

(Edited to add: I had forgotten that "fanny" in a post will put it in a pending review situation. :-)

Sachi A lovely miniature, nicely played, thanks for sharing, Sachi!

Sachi Wonderful ping on high RH notes! It was nice to hear someone play this. Definitely wish that she had been free to pursue composition with the same support as her brother. Despite her constraints though, she still has a remarkable body of work. Such an impressive person and artist. Thanks for sharing this clip!

Juan Carlos Olite Thank you for warm comment! 

Dustin Anderson Hi, Dustin. I become more and more interested in composers lived lives. Fanny’s compositions are intimate and emotionally charged. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 

Michelle R Oh... I thought "Pending review" ment due to I logged on multiple devices. I discovered F. Hensel's compostions newly after I started to learn Felix Mendelssohn. She has created beautiful music :) 

Sachi Yes, there are certain words that trigger a review, and this is one of the funnier ones!

We have quite a few of her compositions here in our little music library. It is charming music, and very distinctively her own!

Sachi Very nice, delicate rendition of this piece by my personal favorite Mendelssohn sibling composer!😁

Thank you Noel Nguyen I don´t want to say laud but yes me, too :)

Hae Young Kim Hello! I love this nocturne and know it quite well. You've done some excellent work! A balanced and secure LH is so important for all the syncopation that occurs in the RH and you have that well worked out. You navigate the thirds and sixths of the RH with light ease and you have an impressive fluency of the fioritura passages which includes one of the most challenging in all the nocturnes. The balance between the hands is consistent and your melodies flow well with sensitivity to the main changes in mood. You have really worked through many of technical elements of this challenging nocturne and it is clear to the ear that you are honouring many of the markings. Now you are at the fun part of adjusting tempo and rubato to further enhance your great work. 

Really enjoyed listening to it =) Are you also learning the Op. 27 No. 1?  They are such a wonderful pair.

Dustin Anderson Thanks so much for your encouraging and detailed feedback, and for your explanation of this piece. As an amateur, I sometimes play without a deep understanding of the musical structure and flow, and mostly I just try to reproduce what I hear from others. If you don’t mind, could you share your thoughts on my tempo (I suspect it’s not entirely consistent throughout), and on my use of rubato—where you feel it works well, and where I should avoid or adjust it?

Hae Young Kim You are very welcome. I actually found your tempo to be pretty consistent throughout. For such a lengthy nocturne with a relentless 16th note LH pattern, some orbital tempo is actually going to feel more organic. If you listen to recordings, you may notice that even within the span of four measures a performer may not actually be 100% 'steady'; there are often small fluctuations in tempo. For instance, if playing at a bpm of 60, the piece will likely shift a little to 58 or up to 62 here and there (my students often try to point this kind of thing out to avoid using the metronome!). This is more what I meant by experimenting with tempo.

However, if you are also wondering about your overall tempo, I thought it was a convincing choice. This nocturne is performed at pretty wide range of speeds. For instance, Arthur Rubinstein is on on the faster side while, Maria Pires is a bit slower and Ivan Moravec is VERY slow but still makes it work with such beautiful tone (but it is still too slow for my taste despite this admiration). You are actually well on the faster side, very much like Claire Huangci's recording. I feel all these tempos are viable, though a faster tempo does mean the fiorituras have to be a bit more virtuosic.

Your question of rubato is a huge point of conversation! In just a few words I suppose I would say that rubato should be used rhetorically; it should be used draw attention to structural elements like important harmonies, details in the form, textures or voicing etc. Which particular elements are really up to the performer because you will value elements differently and will want to take your listener on your own tour of these features. This does mean that a knowledge of structure is key to making convincing rubato choices. Some places that come to mind are the beautiful slide into Bb minor at m. 10, the busy textures and layers of mm. 14-16, the chromatic harmony at mm. 42-43, or the re-coloring of the opening at mm. 49-50 as a dominant 7th.  For listening, Maria Pires' recording of the nocturnes is noted for her thoughtful use of rhetorical rubato without excess.

Hae Young Kim Hae Young this sounds fantastic. One of Chopin's many greatest pieces! Thanks for posting. Another recording I like is Claudio Arrau's. 

Hae Young Kim Wonderful playing, Hae! So elegant and sensitive.

Dustin Anderson 

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and give such detailed feedback. I truly appreciate your time and effort.

About the tempo: I’ve listened to other performances where some sections are a bit faster than others, and I once received criticism for making the tempo differences too extreme. Because of that, I’ve been a little afraid to vary the tempo between sections.

Your suggestions about rubato are especially helpful. I really value the specific places you pointed out where I can express the music more through rubato, and as I refine this piece I’ll experiment with both tempo and rubato to find what feels and sounds most convincing.

I’m very grateful for your feedback and appreciate it again!