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Thursday 18 November, at 9.00 p.m. "Porte aperte all'infinito" (Open doors to infinity) L. Einaudi Live on "Corriere Tv Night". http://www.corriere.it/corrieretvnight/ The concert live at the Hangar Bicocca of Milano, 18 November at 9.00 p.m. -------------
Here's an interesting article I just discovered on Einaudi...
Ludovico Einaudi reduced Aly Stoneman to tears at the Royal Centre
Italian is said to be the language of love, but the music of Ludovico Einaudi is famous for evoking a range of emotions. Aly Stoneman braves the bitter cold of a Nottingham night to find out why…..
What is it about the music of Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi that can sell out Nottingham Theatre Royal on a Sunday evening in mid-November?
I've been learning Le Onde and I've got it pretty much wrapped up, except that I don't understand the 1 C. and 3 C. that Einaudi uses in it (and throughout the entire book, for that matter). Could any of you perhaps shed light on this? My friend says it could imply using the left pedal.
"Practice makes perfect, but obsession makes better."
Hi Zindaras, your friend is correct. The 1 C. stands for una corda, which on a grand would be the left-most pedal. Then when it says 3 C., you let up. Le Onde is a beautiful piece, but deceptively tricky to pull off those accents in the melody just right.
My family rarely goes out to see movies in the theater, so we're usually months behind the times when it comes to keeping up with popular culture. This past weekend we got around to seeing "Kick-Ass," which is a movie I almost didn't rent (I'm not a big fan of the super-hero genre), but was swayed by the 8+ rating on IMDB. And I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be an excellent and unexpectedly thought-provoking movie that's not about superheroes at all, just ordinary humans engaging in heroic acts. It's not often I finish a movie thinking that I really want to see it again, and soon, but Kick-Ass was one of them.
So... getting to the point of why I'm posting about it here [everybody sighs in relief], I really enjoyed the instrumental score accompanying the movie. But I was taken by surprise at this particular track, the first 20 seconds of which will be immediately recognizable by any Einaudi fan:
Hi Zindaras, your friend is correct. The 1 C. stands for una corda, which on a grand would be the left-most pedal. Then when it says 3 C., you let up. Le Onde is a beautiful piece, but deceptively tricky to pull off those accents in the melody just right.
Thank you.
It certainly turned out to be more difficult than I expected it to be, and with more variation, even if the variation is in the details. I haven't even gotten to all the specific accents and small differences in speed yet.
"Practice makes perfect, but obsession makes better."
I'm not sure if this is off topic but I've just discovered Primavera. I'm not a great Einaudi fan but did attend his Nightbook concert in London earlier this year, and enjoyed it.
My question is whether Primavera is within reach of a one year self taught older beginner? Or should I leave it for now.
Examples of other new music I can play are: Comptine and Sur Le Fil by Yann Tiersen. More traditional: Bach's Toccata in D minor (not the Fugue), Satie's Gnossienne #1, and a few other beginner pieces: parts of Purcell Minuet in A minor and Bachs Minuet in G, most of Fur Elise and similar. I'm advancing with the help of Alfred's and the Piano Handbook but like to have a main piece as a goal to go along with as well.
The notes of Primavera are definitely doable for somebody with your repertoire. The main challenge of the piece is to play it at the blistering tempo that Einaudi plays it at.
The good news is that Primavera also sounds beautiful played at a slower tempo, so I'd encourage you to go ahead and work on it.
The notes of Primavera are definitely doable for somebody with your repertoire. The main challenge of the piece is to play it at the blistering tempo that Einaudi plays it at.
The good news is that Primavera also sounds beautiful played at a slower tempo, so I'd encourage you to go ahead and work on it.
Thanks Monica.
Yes beautiful pieces help with the motivation and enthusiasm to learn and practise.
Hi Zindaras, your friend is correct. The 1 C. stands for una corda, which on a grand would be the left-most pedal. Then when it says 3 C., you let up. Le Onde is a beautiful piece, but deceptively tricky to pull off those accents in the melody just right.
Thanks for that information. I am starting Limbo and I had the same question. Just out of curiosity, why 1 and 3? Would there ever be a 2? And....I am just assuming that on my upright, the leftmost pedal is also the una corda. While I can hear a difference that is ever so slight, I wonder if the effect is more pronounced on a grand. Finally...is this the pedal that people cheat with to get pp?
Well, the "3" is for the normal setup where the piano's hammer strikes all three unisons for a given note. The "1" is for una corda, which in a grand occurs when the action shifts over, leaving the hammer to strike only 1 unison. (Or maybe it's that the action shifts over so that it omits striking one unison but hits the other two... I forget which. )
In an upright, the action does not shift from side to side, so it does not have the same effect as on a grand. You are right that the una corda is the pedal pianists "cheat" with. In a grand, particularly, the real purpose of the una corda is to alter the tone, rather than control volume.
The above link suggests that your first description is correct for the very first pianos, the second description is accurate for the modern piano. So it seems that the notation regarding the soft pedal didn't change (fits old piano description), but the piano did.
It also confirms my suspicion that I am not getting the same effect with my upright. Reason 5,000,000,000,000 to buy a grand
Last night I was able to play the first three measures of Limbo. Even with that tiny bit, I am hooked.
My family rarely goes out to see movies in the theater, so we're usually months behind the times when it comes to keeping up with popular culture. This past weekend we got around to seeing "Kick-Ass," which is a movie I almost didn't rent (I'm not a big fan of the super-hero genre), but was swayed by the 8+ rating on IMDB. And I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be an excellent and unexpectedly thought-provoking movie that's not about superheroes at all, just ordinary humans engaging in heroic acts. It's not often I finish a movie thinking that I really want to see it again, and soon, but Kick-Ass was one of them.
So... getting to the point of why I'm posting about it here [everybody sighs in relief], I really enjoyed the instrumental score accompanying the movie. But I was taken by surprise at this particular track, the first 20 seconds of which will be immediately recognizable by any Einaudi fan:
One doesn't have to use a crossing left hand. I've played that section both ways but tended to stick with crossing despite it being rather tricky to get between black keys. I'm in the process of going slow and learning that section over again without the crossing over except on the first one where you cross over to a black key.
I am having a lot of fun with "Limbo." I have a question for all of you "seasoned" Einaudi folks. What strategy do you use to bring the piece up to tempo? I can play a page and a half without mistakes now, but (as my older son so warmly pointed out this weekend) I am playing at about 1/4 of the necessary speed. Do you generally master a section until you get it up to speed, or learn the whole piece and work on speed later? While everything I have learned so far, I have learned with the latter strategy, for some reason I am tempted to do the former for this piece given the amount of repetition in it. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
I play mostly "by ear" (then I check the sheets for missing notes) so usually I learn to play pieces directly in the original speed, because it is how I know the piece by memory. If you are learning by the sheets I think the learning process changes a bit.
Anyway Limbo looks originally really slow, isn't it?
A.
Originally Posted by GlassLove
I am having a lot of fun with "Limbo." I have a question for all of you "seasoned" Einaudi folks. What strategy do you use to bring the piece up to tempo? I can play a page and a half without mistakes now, but (as my older son so warmly pointed out this weekend) I am playing at about 1/4 of the necessary speed. Do you generally master a section until you get it up to speed, or learn the whole piece and work on speed later? While everything I have learned so far, I have learned with the latter strategy, for some reason I am tempted to do the former for this piece given the amount of repetition in it. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
I am having a lot of fun with "Limbo." I have a question for all of you "seasoned" Einaudi folks. What strategy do you use to bring the piece up to tempo? I can play a page and a half without mistakes now, but (as my older son so warmly pointed out this weekend) I am playing at about 1/4 of the necessary speed. Do you generally master a section until you get it up to speed, or learn the whole piece and work on speed later? While everything I have learned so far, I have learned with the latter strategy, for some reason I am tempted to do the former for this piece given the amount of repetition in it. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
When I practice, I generally try to run through the entire piece as well as practice new sections on their own. This usually solves those issues. If I get completely stuck, I will practice small passages on their own until I get them up to speed, but that doesn't happen very often.
I got Nightbook for Sinterklaas (Dutch holiday) last weekend. Is it just me or are the pieces in there generally a lot more difficult than those from Le Onde?
"Practice makes perfect, but obsession makes better."
I got Nightbook for Sinterklaas (Dutch holiday) last weekend. Is it just me or are the pieces in there generally a lot more difficult than those from Le Onde?