Group 1

I often tell my students that writers tell stories with words and us pianists tell stories with our hands. Really can't wait to attend this lesson. 

What is the most important analysis of the score for a script? Is it a single script or multiple? How many scripts can you possibly have in mind?

Hi everyone! I'm looking forward to learning more about this aspect of playing the piano! 

Hello everyone! Excited to be part of this class! 

Hello everyone! Looking forward to learning with you all!

Hi All! V much looking forward to this, and to seeing what narratives we each come up with. 

Like everyone, I am looking forward to participating in this group, and to learning to communicate a story via music. I find recording myself, audio and/or visual, hugely intimidating. It's a challenge I'd like to address.

Hi everybody! I am excited to learn more.

Hello Everyone,

I often hear dialog in the music I play, and sometimes see images or stories, but I am not sure this relates to what will be taught here, yet it points me in the direction of wanting to learn more about affectively energizing and relating the music to an audience, even if it's only my trusty dog, who does appreciate all my efforts. 

This is a fantastic handout! Thank you. Its important to create one's own palette because music is so personal, which is why it touches us so deeply. 

Having just completed the Grieg challenge, I am going to do the narrative on his Op 71/No 7 lyric piece called “Remembrances.”  Grieg composed this piece- the last of his 66 lyric pieces- in 1901, six years before his death. It is a simple waltz in E flat major, based on the melody of his first lyric piece. To me, it feels like the character knows he is close to the end of his life. This is about nostalgia- not a tragedy/pain filled situation like with other pieces from Beethoven or Schubert.  The character is thinking about his whole life (hence going back to the very beginning theme from Arietta) and his life’s work (this is the end of a very large/diverse set of 66 pieces). I see questions asked and answered- did I live a good life/did I accomplish what I wanted to? As he modulates to other keys, the character is moving through various happy memories and chapters in his life. A little bit after the piece returns back to the main key, I was struck by the “cantabile” marking. It is a waltz but I imagine my character is closing his eyes and humming the lovely melody at this point  while slowly dancing. In the end the melody gradually drifts away and disappears. No sadness, just happy memories of a fulfilling life.