As if repairing and synchronizing metronomes isn’t befuddling enough, this sequel to the previous post will continue to focus on the purpose of the metronome and my favorite piano piece–Chopin’s G minor Ballade. Recall that my Russian piano instructor, Alex Mlynarski pulled no punches with his practice routines and anything delivered short would simply result in self-deceptions leading to abysmal failure. And thus has been my life as a musician–I get far enough into a piece and begin to entertain myself……and very few others. However, I made this piece somewhat of an exception and I wanted to learn one “war-horse” in my life and perform it. It would be this piece. I began by purchasing an old upright in Haines Alaska dragging it into a rental house for a year. A second year was on a practice piano at the Senior Citizens home in Sitka Alaska and then on a 55 note keyboard in, of all places, Antarctica.
There were three pianos at McMurdo; none at South Pole. One in a bar called Gallagher’s as I recall, one over at the New Zealand Base two miles walk (north) and a 55 note plastic electronic keyboard in this church. The Gallagher’s piano was horribly out of tune–it had languished outside at about -100F for a winter I’m told. The pin-blocks wouldn’t hold the tuning pin.
After three years, I pretty much had memorized and brought most parts up to tempo but I’d not heard it on a “real” piano. Upon leaving McMurdo, we landed in Christchurch New Zealand and everyone ran over to the botanical gardens to hug trees–we’d been living on ice and rock for 6 months. Me, I rented a car, drove out to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula which is a thriving French art colony, established in 1852; lots of wine, cheese and art. And by chance there was an art exhibition being set up in a building in town and in the corner, was a Steinway concert grand. With permission, I sat down and stared at all 88 keys for the first time in 6 months (the Antarctic piano had 55 keys and blown speakers). And what music I could play on this–I felt like the miner in Robert Service’s “The Shooting of Dan McGrew:”
Not exactly a travel-blog post, but certainly a journey of mine worth mentioning. While sparse for photos, I’ll provide links–here are several versions of this Chopin Ballade: first by the master of them all Vladimir Horowitz, another by Kristian Zimmerman, and a third by young protege of Murray Parahia, Natalie Schwamova. Natalie is one to watch and thoroughly enjoys this difficult piece. Zimmerman is a true connoisseur with perfect execution but the Horowitz recording is frankly terrible–both in performance and recording quality……here at 79 years in what appears to be an impromptu recording session in London, you see his once great power. I got up at 3am once to watch him perform at the Bolshoi Theater, live, in Moscow after Glasnost. That was the definition of magnificence.
You’ll also note the last three pages of this music–the coda–are terrifically fast and furious and this is the mark of a truly professional pianist. This is what my two metronomes are for. At Juilliard, I’m told, if you play this piece for a graduation recital, the judges blithely insult the pianist by asking them to simply play the coda–let’s not waste our time here with all those melodies. But the melodies are signature Chopin and are introduced three times throughout the piece each time becoming more complex……and for a reason: to be the musical platter that delivers the coda.
I was lucky to stumble upon Paul Barton’s tutorial which he first describes as one of two parts, however it appears to have been combined into one video. Paul is an unusual fellow who lives in Thailand and plays piano for abused elephants. And he’s got quite a following, myself included.
Pianos in my life:
- My childhood upright–white-flecked paint–my dad bought and played German beer drinking songs on: “For I’ve never injured anyone, when I’m drinking, drinking, drinking……” I hated practicing but wanted to be able to play.
- Lily May’s Steinway (my first teacher)
- All of Mr. Good’s pianos–those at Eastside Music and the Alaska Steamship boatyard where one warehouse had dozens of pianos.
- (no pianos were to be found in Vietnam)
- A childhood upgrade to an Tracy & Davenport upright–Mrs. Wright’s (my fourth grade teacher) piano. It was this piano I practiced 5 hours daily when taking lessons from Alex (previous post).
- Alex Mlynarski’s two (dovetailed) Steinways–he held musical soirees there.
- The Grand Teton upright–the one I bought at Chesbro’s Music in Idaho Falls for $135 and trucked over Teton Pass (my first “Grand” piano).
- My first real grand: a 7’4″ Kawai semi-concert grand–I still have it in my Alaska cabin.
- Victor Borge’s (half ownership) Bosendorfer 9’6″ Imperial Grand. This was stored at Sherman Clay in Seattle–in the back room–and Peter DeLaurenti (no relation to the Deli in the Market) let me play this after work when I was a dentist at the Pike Place Market. It had 7 extra keys in the base hidden under the block which could be slid back into the cabinet, colored black so as to not throw off your eyesight…..just in case you were playing Listz or Chopin.
- Fred Jarvis’s Bosendorfer–a 6′ home version. Fred was a cardiologist in Seattle and sat on the Board of Directors of the Seattle Chamber Music Festival with me. He bought this “Bosie” and asked me if I wanted to play it–of course, I replied. I had two pieces under my belt at the time: Listz’s Concert Etude #3 (Sospiro) and Brahm’s Intermezzo Opus 118, #6. Well, I show up at his house and here were about 50 guests including the concertmeister for the Seattle Symphony, Victoria Bogdashevskya. It was a fun evening and Victoria even complimented me after the performances.
- Steinway, Model M (5’7″)–rebuilt in Edmonds WA by Ed McMurrow at Lighthammer Piano. Ed possesses a patent on a device that eliminates the sympathetic vibrations that interfere with the highest strings on a piano yielding a crisp treble–good job Ed. This piano also is “souped up” with carbon fiber hammer shafts for a quicker action–needed for the coda in Chopin’s Gm Ballade. Here‘s a short snippet of this Steinway made at a recent event in Tucson; Beethoven’s Spring Sonata performed by Anna and David Gendler.
Here’s a list of the piano pieces I’ve (more or less) learned–Blue Lagoon not listed:
- J.S. Bach……………..…Prelude #1 in C (Well Tempered Clavier)
- J. S. Bach………………….Invention #8 in F
- Franz List………………..Concert Etude #3 Un Sospiro
- Beethoven………………Fur Elise
- Beethoven………………..Moonlight Sonata #14 C#m Opus 27, No.2
- Beethoven………………Pathetique Sonata #8 Cm Op. 13
- Beethoven………….…..Sonata #32, in Cm, Opus 111, third movement.
- Brahms………………….Ballade #4 in B, Opus 10
- Brahms………………….Intermezzo #6 in E flat m, Opus 118
- Brahms………………….Intermezzo #2 in A, Opus 118
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #1 in C
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #4 in Em
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #6 in Bm
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #7 in A
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #9 in E
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #15 in Db
- Chopin……………….…Prelude #17 in Ab
- Chopin……………….…Etude Nouvelle #2 in Ab
- Chopin……………….…Ballade #1 in Gm
- Debussy…………….….Clare de lune
- Scott Joplin…………….Maple Leaf Rag
- Scott Joplin…………….The Entertainer
- Scott Joplin…………….Gladiolus Rag
- Scott Joplin……………..Solace
- William Bolcom…………Graceful Ghost
- Alberto Ginestera………..Argentinian Dance #3
- Federico Mompou……….Impresiones Intimas–El Secreto
Gotta go–time to practice!