Week 2: Your First Check-in

Since I am part of the Transcendental Etudes faction, I have started working on my Etudes a few months ago (then stopped for other projects!), and in the following weeks will be aiming to polish them as much as I can.

Here is an early version of the Preludio. The most challenging part is near the end, with fast arpeggios all on white keys, very difficult to play accurately. I practice it (and everything!) in groups of notes. In this recording you can hear that the arpeggios part is still in groups , so doesn't sound as fluid as it should. Training wheels still on!

https://youtube.com/shorts/mwMOUt_R0Rk?is=06KtWZC22PtYtDiS

I studied this etude S136/2 for a while… aiming to improve my collapsing knuckle joints. I’ve been trying to use it as a study piece for a longer period on and off. My teacher told me that this etude will stretch hands and be a remedy for my problems. 

Honestly, I don’t know if this etude is helping my issue. This challenge rescued me from despair 😔 Good to have a purpose in our practice. So thank you friends & TB.

I've spent a bit of time organizing how I will work on the Eroica etude. I have divided it into 7 sections (A-G on the attached .pdf if anyone wants to see the score and sections.

The piece is essentially an introduction, a short series of strophes leading to an apotheosis, and a coda. My practice sections align with this general form as follows:

Practice Section A - Introduction (mm. 1-18)

Practice Section B - Strophe 1a (mm. 19-44)

Practice Section C - Strophe 1b (mm. 45-62)

Practice Section D - Strophe 2a (mm. 63-74)

Practice Section E - Strophe 2b (mm. 75-86)

Practice Section F - Strophe 3 / Apotheosis (mm. 87-102)

Practice Section G - Coda (mm. 103-end)

My goal this week is to record practice clips of each of these sections. I'm not aiming for a flawless take, just a fairly stable run through of each section to ensure security across the piece and start moving toward memorization. Below I have included my recording for section A and will update as I record the other sections.

Section A - Introduction (July 11)

In this introduction, Liszt is playing around with diminished 7th chords and their chromatic flexibility. mm. 12-18 are surprisingly tricky as 12-15 and 16-18 are just the same diminished 7th being resolved differently; in 12-15 it chromatically resolves to a D7 chord whereas in 16-18 it resolves chromatically to a B7 chord. This slight difference is actually surprisingly disorienting to get the fingers around!

Section B - Strophe 1a (July 12) 

Here the theme is introduced. This section can be played using the sostenuto to sustain the march themes notes while the staccato chords are played. I am not using it here though, partly because I'm not sure I want to and partly because my sostenuto needs adjusting as a few notes are not engaging properly at the moment. The challenge here is primarily the ping ponging back and forth accurately.

Section C - Strophe 1b (July 12)

Things start to ramp up a bit here. I am still deciding just how much pedal I want to use with the strum-like chords. The thematic material shifts to the left hand and the arpeggiations in the RH are challenging to play rapidly and lightly against the LH.  

Section D - Strophe 2a (July 13)

The LH continues to play the theme but now in dramatic octaves while the RH quickly switches between short flourishes and extended arpeggiations. The layering here is quite challenging. The first two arpeggios fit the hand well but the last are somewhat awkward and require care.

Section E - Strophe 2b (July 15)

This transitional section proved surprisingly tricky for me. The triplet figures were easy to misfire on and are still not 100% but they are getting much better. The chromatic descent in the low octaves as the RH jumps registers with wide, rapid rolled chords. This is actually not too bad though. Finally, the diminished 7ths that resolved to two different dominant 7th chords return but are transposed and have a slightly altered rhythm. These really proved to be the hardest part to play with consistent accuracy.

Section G - Coda (July 16)

I've skipped over the F section because it's not cooperating today for recording (it is definitely the most challenging part)! Instead, I worked on the concluding section. Here the original form of the theme comes back and then builds to a dramatic cadential 6/4 before the final arpeggios. A B7 chord is first voiced as a German 6 chord and then again as a Dominant 7th chord, continuing Liszt's chromatic playfulness right up to the end.

Section F - Apotheosis (July 17)

With week 2 of the challenge coming to and end, I did not want to leave out the F section even though it is still ''in progress'. It is the most demanding section of a demanding piece with a page of relentless chords and octave arpeggiations in both hands. I had hoped to have this a bit more tightened up but one cannot really force this type of passagework without risking strain / injury so this is just where it is at now. I can play it pretty comfortably and dramatically but my accuracy of the arpeggiations will continue to be a main goal going into week 3. Even though this is the last recording I made for this week, I have added it in alphabetically below in case one wants to listen to them in the order they occur in the piece.