Pianophilia

Dear fleubis,

you are most welcome!

Ever seen a fugue like this?! (sibley scan) Ernest BLOCH
Fünf Sepiaskizzen (alfor scan) Fine, sensitive miniatures. Recommended!

Well, Alfor, no, I've not seen a Fugue like the Ayres......and calling it such is stretching the term a bit. It wouldn't pass in 18th century counterpoint classes. More like a fugal fantasy. The most striking thing about the first part of the fugue is the use of chords in the subject. One might ask, why hasn't this been done before? Well, besides being a modern innovation, the chords prevent imitation in more than a few voices unless you have 10 fingers on each hand, not to mention that the usual fugal devices become almost impossible to configure for 10 fingers. And whoever heard of a chorale in the middle of a fugue? Clearly Ayres is having fun with us in this piece and it is a fun piece to play and more fun to listen to because it completely upsets ones fugal expectations.

I'm very glad to have a nice clean copy of Bloch's 5 Sepia Sketches to replace my slightly foggy old ones. I have always liked these pieces and like them much better than Bloch's Sonata, for some reason--and I'm the guy who likes long-form works. Feel the need to put in a plug for my favorite non-piano Bloch pieces: his two Concerto Grossi are completely captivating and I enjoy listening to them as much as the Brandenburg Concertos, so give them a listen if you've not heard them.

fleubis wrote:...Feel the need to put in a plug for my favorite non-piano Bloch pieces: his two Concerto Grossi are completely captivating and I enjoy listening to them as much as the Brandenburg Concertos, so give them a listen if you've not heard them.

I think I have one of them, but also his violin sonatas, three (!) different recordings of his violin concerto, a couple of string quartets, his first Piano 5tet (twice), etc. (all on LP - you know, I am the analogue-addict!)

To keep (Sir) Malcolm in good spirits:

Leonid A. POLOVINKIN
Sonata No. 3 op. 15

Only one word i can say to that.................Excellent

Thank you Alfor.

Malcolm

As always, Thank You Alfor for all your postings.

With regard to the Polovinkin Sonata, (and in the certain knowledge that I am exposing my musical ignorance and pianistic backwardness), I have to admit that I was already confused by the 3rd & 5th bars left hand part compound time of "2" - where do the respective L & R beats fall? Could some kind soul tap out the notefalls for me? I hate to admit that this confuses me, and I'm sure it's simple, but I seem to have a mental block on it.

Sorry. &

kind regards,
tobyjj

tobyjj wrote:As always, Thank You Alfor for all your postings.

With regard to the Polovinkin Sonata, (and in the certain knowledge that I am exposing my musical ignorance and pianistic backwardness), I have to admit that I was already confused by the 3rd & 5th bars left hand part compound time of "2" - where do the respective L & R beats fall? Could some kind soul tap out the notefalls for me? I hate to admit that this confuses me, and I'm sure it's simple, but I seem to have a mental block on it.

Sorry. &

kind regards,
tobyjj

It's like the opposite of seeing a triplet amidst a straight-eighths pattern. In 6/8 time, the 2 beats will fall evenly across three counts. If it helps you could look at each of them (the rest and the note inside the 2 bracket) as having lengths equal to dotted eighths (eighth plus a sixteenth in length).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

Ooops. I thought i posted a reply to this. I must have erased it. Right it is a two against three rhythm. The Second beat of the third measure starts right on the G (Right hand) and the rest (Left hand).
Have fun with that and the bottom of the page with the 3 against 4.

tobyjj wrote:As always, Thank You Alfor for all your postings.

With regard to the Polovinkin Sonata, (and in the certain knowledge that I am exposing my musical ignorance and pianistic backwardness), I have to admit that I was already confused by the 3rd & 5th bars left hand part compound time of "2" - where do the respective L & R beats fall? Could some kind soul tap out the notefalls for me? I hate to admit that this confuses me, and I'm sure it's simple, but I seem to have a mental block on it.

If you count each bar: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +, the left hand duole notes bar 3 and 5 fall at the "+" after the fifth eigth note (quaver). It is simply the same rhythm as at the beginning of bar 1, 2, 4, etc., only split between the two hands (cf. bar 9, 13 etc.).

alfore, if possible gives us some slick (and rare) piano transcriptions' scores as well!!