Week 3: Expression over Perfection
At this point in the challenge, you've likely become more comfortable with the notes and structure of your piece. Now it's time to shift focus toward interpretation and emotional depth. This week is about exploring what the music means to you and how you can communicate that meaning through sound.
Assignment:
Define the Emotional Landscape
Take a moment to reflect: what is the emotional world of your piece? Is it reflective, playful, tragic, or unsettled? Write a short reflection (1ā2 sentences) describing the feeling you want to convey and how that shapes your approach.Record a Passage with Intention
Select 8ā16 measures that feel emotionally significant. Focus on tone, voicing, and timingānot technical perfection. Record and share your performance, along with a brief note on what you aimed to express and why you chose that section.Engage with the Community
Watch another participantās video and leave a thoughtful comment. Offer one observation about what worked well!
Guidance:
Schubert's music often blurs the line between clarity and ambiguity, joy and sorrow. Rather than striving for a ācorrectā interpretation, embrace the nuance and let the music unfold naturally. Sometimes the most moving performances are the ones that feel the most personal.
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Phew... I am at this point in practice now, where things are getting worse again. I mess up so often now!
Listening back to this recording I still realize that my inner tempo feels faster than it actually is.
I like the withdrawn emotion, those lonely inner thoughts which open up at some spots. For me the emotion I want to go with is solitude, peace, reflection, a part where dreams open up a bit and get sparkling or maybe thinging back at times that were more socializing, but then reality is back and it's just me and the piano again. But because there is music it is not lonely, it is caring and tender and all fine. Or like maybe an older person who is at peace with herself, thinks back to times when there were more people around, and then is back at the beach, sunset, just enjoying the moment.
Unfortunately the more emotion I put into it, the more mistakes I actually make.
I notice that perhaps I should think in bigger phrases beyond the small ones, maybe that will help. And I will try to find target notes and resting points. I would so much love to perform this at the recital end of next week, but not sure if I can bring it to enough security.
If anyone has any more tips, please share. Especially on how I can reduce those random mistakes which happen at all different spots now. Because there are no more "difficult " sections, I have it all sorted out and practiced and know the chords, the progression and all. But still mess up randomly...
Side note: this school grand only can go full pedal and only if you press 100% down, so the bad pedaling is partly because of the bad instrument, as are some notes that I played but came out too silent or not at all.
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Dagmar So beautiful! Love the melancholy!
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Dagmar I love the Schubert Waltzes. This one is beautiful.
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Dagmar Lovely! I especially appreciate your beautiful smile at the end. While listening I imagined an older woman, thin, wearing flowing white clothing swinging on a playground swing - she was thinking back over her life and enjoying the gentle reminder of a childhood long since past.
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So, first of all, sorry for me not being so active in the past two weeks of the Challenge regarding listening to the videos and commenting. It was very busy schedule for me - due to very delicate situation in my country at the moment there were a lot of factors which caused changes of the deadlines, so last two weeks I practically spent locked to the piano. Thereās a good reason behind - I auditioned for local Conservatorium, but the dates for the audition were confirmed finally 10 days before the actual audition. You can imagine the tension. Since Iām not skilled in performances and I have quite significant stage fright, I decided to put myself out of all comfort zones, I joined this challenge (and itās the first challenge on Tonebase that I ever joined so far), I brought a keyboard to the office and played to everyone - from teddybears to my colleagues to try to learn how to calm the nerves on a fast-track lane.
The sonata was literally pulled out of the closet, because my professors decided that it would be much better to go with this piece which I played over a year ago (and to be honest not so well) instead of Beethovenās Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement. I had barely 3 weeks to pull it out from the depths of my brain, secure the memorization, improve voicing, increase the tempo and go out on the stage to play it together with other two pieces. From memory - of course (thank you so much, Clara Schumann!
).My luck is that this Sonata calms me down in normal circumstances- in my imagination it brings me in the woods on a sunny day. During the performance I of course messed up where I never did before, including the final part of the passage with octaves in both hands, when I wonderfully missed the E octave in full forte. But hey, thatās life
.Iām sharing the recording with you. It sounds nervous and itās far from how I wanted it to sound and how it sounded without all the stress - but then, I was shaking like the leaf on the wind, so I guess it can explain it..
Donāt be surprised with the dress code, luckily at least this was casual. The Conservatorium is small, so the codex is not so formal. I think Iād have died if I had to play in high heels and a gown. Plus this was a full size grand piano, and I had like 30 minutes to try to get familiar with it the day before. I never ever experienced such a huge stress in my life so far.I still donāt know the results of the audition, they should be out in a few days. But since there were only 5 of us, maybe I have some chance
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Aleksandra Bogomaz Beautiful playing! Good luck on your audition results!
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Vidhya Bashyam thank you! And the results are out - Iām in!
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Aleksandra Bogomaz Congratulations!
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Vidhya Bashyam thank you
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Aleksandra Bogomaz Beautifully played - and congratulations!!
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Michelle R thanks a lot!
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Hi everyone-so sorry that I'm woefully missing in action in the terrific participation of this group's members. However, a terrific Tonebase masterclass video with Leon Fleischer gave me some great help with the path to follow in this sonata. As I predicted, the almost 2 weeks at the piano immersion at my hometown university took up most of my waking hours. This weekend I will try to put up a recording of all or part of the first movement of D. 894 as well as listen to all the great recordings everyone has so generously shared throughout this challenge!
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cdales
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