Pianophilia

Brian, this is the first time I've heard of a student actually wanting to tackle any of "Vingt Regards" so hats off to this student. Not being a Messiaen fanboy I'm glad that I don't teach as it would be hard to teach something I don't like and admire anyone being up to the task. Still I have found great stimulation in the compositional method and Theme of Chords, etc.

fleubis wrote:Brian, this is the first time I've heard of a student actually wanting to tackle any of "Vingt Regards" so hats off to this student. Not being a Messiaen fanboy I'm glad that I don't teach as it would be hard to teach something I don't like and admire anyone being up to the task. Still I have found great stimulation in the compositional method and Theme of Chords, etc.

Hi fleubis,
oddly enough once the different modes become familiar the chords themselves become much easier to anticipate, or at least the sound of them. Messiaen uses an awful lot of repetition of phrases and apart from monsters as No. 6 the fugue "Par lui tout a été fait" the rest are not as difficult as you would normally think, many of the strange chords fit well under the hand and there is about the same difficulty factor as with the etudes of Chopin in my opinion. They are a huge challenge, which I hardly need to mention but they are much less daunting when you tackle them properly. For those who insist on hearing other performances before playing or learning something (a habit I detest) then listen to John Ogdon, his approach is very musical and lyrical, sometimes he plays slower than marked but always to the benefit of the music All the other performances I have heard are on the dry side and explore the rhythmical problems more aggressively culminating in the worst performance of them all by Mrs. Messiaen, Yvonne Loriod. She takes everything at ultra-high speed with mallets for fingers leaving the poor listener very fatigued indeed. Her performance of No.4 Regards de la Vierge is 2 minutes faster than Ogdon and at least a minute faster than the marking of Mr. Messiaen, the piece should last approximately 4'40". No doubt he was too scared of her to correct her, she was a formidable lady. Anyway give him a chance and first analyse the structure of your chosen movement and realise how logical and straightforward he was.
regards
Brian

Thank you for your comments Brian. I will drag out my 40 year copy and have another look.

Theodore Lack (1846-1921) - somewhat prolific French composer and pianist. Lots of his works on IMSLP, except this piece.

Malcolm

Yes, I had uploaded a good number of them on IMSLP. Glad to see another piece of this composer of light pieces always well written. Thank you Malcolm.

4candles wrote:Hi

Does anyone have Alexandre Goria's etude 'Le Trille', Op. 72 I think?

Thanks
4c

was there ever a response to this thread? I was seeking some others from Goria's Op. 72 - would be nice to have this set! Any ideas?

RAVEL Ondine

alfor fingered

Wonderful, Alfred. What surprised me the most was your assigning the left hand to some notes usually played by the right hand.....and your fingering does reduce the strain quite a bit. Much appreciated.

fleubis wrote:Wonderful, Alfred. What surprised me the most was your assigning the left hand to some notes usually played by the right hand.....and your fingering does reduce the strain quite a bit. Much appreciated.

You are welcome!
I cannot imagine pianophilia without fleubis!!
You are among those who keep me and this website running!!

Does anyone have some works by Antoine Mariotte? Not much on IMSLP and the scans for Kakemonos aren't the best. Cheers!