First Love Bach Fugue in F minor, BWV 881

What a divine pairing from J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2! The ethereal, "sighing" Prelude is joined by a somber, though monumental Fugue in three voices. The Subject with its characteristic three-8th note repetitions followed by two-16ths, meanders in stepwise movement with small skip deviations while its borrowed melodic and rhythmic components weave through the…

J.S. Bach’s ethereal Prelude in F minor, BWV 881 (contour and voices)

A kindred musician friend and Baroque scholar residing on the East Coast tipped me off that my "first love" reading of Bach's Prelude in F minor a few months back, was just the very top layer of a more in depth relationship to come. And as time bore out, she was right because my earliest…

Studying J.S. Bach: What many piano students overlook

In the course of learning keyboard works by J.S. Bach, many students are riveted to the top most line, often ignoring alto, tenor and bass voices. The Prelude in F minor, BWV 881, is a case in point. While sobbing thirds in the treble are attention grabbers, there's more to the composition than meets the…

Early stage learning, and ways of knowing a new piano piece

One of my adult students has embarked upon studying Tchaikovsky's "German Song," Op. 39, and in her initial baby-step exposure to the composition, she has already explored multiple ways of "knowing" the work. http://youtu.be/ocd8Ci0Ny_E http://youtu.be/iEfP45vQIqs 1) Setting a fingering for each hand, and counting beats through each measure in a sub-divided way (within a slow…

Andras Schiff in recital at S.F. Davies Hall (Feb. 15, 2015)

Pianist, Andras Schiff delivered an uneven performance at San Francisco's Davies Hall yesterday afternoon. Those who expected the pianist to play his signature Bach program were pleasantly surprised by Schiff's insertions of self-imposed Baroque style ornaments in Mozart's "Drawing Room" Sonata, K. 545.(in particular) As whimsical as it might have seemed, the "improvisation" was out…

A tribute to the late, Robert DeGaetano, classmate, NYC High School of Performing Arts

"Bobby" as I remember him at "P.A." (nickname for the FAME school that hadn't yet acquired Broadway, TV, or movie status) was a shining light among stage-struck students, some of whom swished down the hallway in first position, ballet style, while others in the drama department audibly cajoled each other, wise-cracking their way through academics.…

A favorite Piano Prelude to play and teach

Randall and Nancy Faber came through with flying colors by including J.C. Bach's Prelude in A minor in their Developing Artist Series Album, Early Intermediate Level. It's definitely a winner with ear-catching appeal! *** In a heart-melting opener to a more cognitive analysis of the composition, I play a series of sonorities that provide a…

Thoughts on learning Mozart Sonata No. 12 in F, K. 332 (first movement)

After my review of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Drawing Room" Sonata K. 545 in C, Allegro, I discovered by comparison that the opening movement of K. 332 in F Major, had a more complex mosaic. In the short space of its nearly three page exposition, K. 332's multiple themes weave through markedly contrasting sections. *A Sturm…

Piano Rack Extender: Adapt-A-Stand

My latest studio accouterment is an import from Clear Lake, Iowa. (Pianoman Products is owned by a piano tuner.) For me, it's Good-bye to 4 page limit/slipping and sliding sheet music, or self-made cardboard creations with monster clips . Using Adapt-A-Stand I can now stretch to six pages and scan from left to right without…

Pianist, Irina Morozova in Concert at New York’s Mannes College

Each year, when compiling my favorite You Tube beamed performances, I invariably dote upon the artistry of Irina Morozova. Her playing is simply heavenly, resonating with a heart-melting singing tone that weaves through undulating, well-sculpted phrases. http://youtu.be/e8BQc5wwQGU It took only a smattering of HD transported Chopin offerings to catapult me to Subscriber status and then…