Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Members Recordings - Pianist Corner Kuhlau, Sonatina in C, Op. 55, No. 1 -- LIVE!

I just discovered that my little digital camera will also record video!

And here is the backstory to this recording...

Angelia P and I have had some discussions behind the scenes about the relative merits of live performance vs. edited recording art. I have been depending on my editing skills to create pretty little pieces that make me sound better than I really am. She prevailed upon me to promise to do a performance, straight through, no edits.

I have been playing with this little Kuhlau piece for a while, but until bringing it to Angelina's attention, had never taken it seriously. She heard an early version of it and said, "It sounds like you haven't quite decided on your phrasing, yet. And by the way, don't you have anything better to do?" Well, ok, that second sentence was a paraphrase, but, yeah, I know it's not Mozart!

Still, I am trying to make something of this piece, and am trying to do so without using any pedal.

For this, my first "live" Piano World performance, I am reminded of one of my firsts posts in Pianist Corner regarding performance anxiety, in which I invoked Ferdinand Reis, a student of Beethoven, with this quote:

"When I left out something in a passage, a note or a skip, which in many cases he wished to have specially emphasized, or struck a wrong key, he seldom said anything; yet when I was at fault with regard to the expression, the crescendi or matters of that kind, or in the character of the piece, he would grow angry. Mistakes of the other kind, he said, were due to chance; but these last resulted from want of knowledge, feeling or attention. He himself often made mistakes of the first kind, even when playing in public." (Beethoven: Impressions by his contemporaries, O.G. Sonneck, ed. c1967, of 1926.)

To which Angelina replied,



Since I did not ever go to music school, I submit this to you, my Piano World jury. Furthermore, I dedicate this to all my Piano World friends who have exams and juries coming up, but specifically, I dedicate it to Angelina and Canonie, who have recently made public their pains and progresses with recital preparation and exams. Angelina and Canonie, this one's for you!:

YouTube:Kuhlau Sonatina in C, Op. 55, No. 1

Warm regards,
--Andy

Oh well I'd better listen right away then.
(I can only hope that the doorbell rang during your Live recording, and that you couldn't edit it out but instead improvised around it and somehow included it in the piece. Hehe haha jk.)

Here goes...

[...picks self of floor..]
Andy you are such a comedian! Even a simple performance of Kulau, I mean Kulau for goodness sake! - where are the laughs in Kulau? But you found them. I'm still laughing. Somehow it's funnier in a piece like this played at home for no live jury. Andy are you mocking the serious dedication of students who are trying to get everything perfect?
...Of course I know you are not! But this is good therapy all the same. I've just found out that I am going to perform for a small group of exam students on Tues (oh help) so this is timely.

So Andy, you did NOT practise instant forgiveness here. What you did is the opposite - just thought I'd better spell that out. It's amazing how distracting to the music it is to have mistakes (and the performer's negative reaction to them) highlighted in this way. The mistakes would hardly exist if you passed right over them in the way Angelina suggests.

What the performance longs for IMHO is more dynamic variation - then the mistakes would disappear in the unfolding of the musical drama that is the Kulau Sonatina (it's quite a nice one and I recognise it from childhood, I think the neighbours kids played it). Not sure if you'd bother to do it with this piece tho, you could learn some Mozart, or more Beethoven instead.

I hope you don't mind me saying that Andy (it could be the recording but this is the impression I got on my computer), but what it has shown me very clearly is that in preparing my Haydn for tuesday I need really strong commitment to the shape of the music, to strongly and convincingly perform, and to be committed to it during the performance. Oh and to pass straight over those mistakes with instant forgiveness. I have a tendency to perform apologetically when I think piece is not up to scratch. It won't be up to scratch yet, this is a performance class to get ready for exam later on. Mentally this is a challenge.

So yes, You have helped me in my journey-to-exam, thanks Andy. You're a real gem.

No editing - yeh right! the text is still editing, and it completely changed the performance to memorable and engaging. You are very talented but it is certainly not the spread of talents of the average pianist, you have many other weapons in your pockets that are every bit as valuable as perfectly even 16ths.

LOL - love it! Encore.

Goodness, that was hilarious! Thank you for being so transparent and allowing us to laugh with you.

HAHAHA that just made my (rather idiotic) day WAY better.. thanks!! It was quite funny AND I could see you were trying not to laugh there for a while.. busted! Hahahh!

Btw, I really wrote that? Damn when will I start taking my own advice for a change?! God, I swear.......

Anyway. I'm really glad you did this! See, it ain't so bad.. =) At all! Keep playing!

You bet Andy has "many other weapons" and that's what makes his contributions here so rich.

Actually, Andy, it was fun to finally see your magic fingers at work. Now there is absolutely no question that its been YOU playing in all of your prior posts - as opposed to a 10 year old prodigy on you tube !!

Finally we actually see Cinnamon playing. Hey Cinnamon, you forgot to post your age in the youtube title!

yeah it's great to see the Real Strongbear in action at last (we've seen still pics before).

I forgot to thank you for the dedication - thank you
i wish my current sonate sounded as clean as this.

That was great! If not instant forgiveness... why not embrace small flubs in a way that makes the performance even more enjoyable.

I'm with Canonie - I wish my current sonata was a clean as yours was here!

Yes, you really wrote that. Really, really!

Andy,
Once again, your playing and repertoire is astounding! Great to see your hands in action on the Kuhlau. Encore!!

Glen

P.S., Angelina--that little impish grin you saw for a moment was my normal self. I was actually enjoying playing those few measures... and then... oops. Well, art being a creative process, I had no idea that I was going to turn this clip into comedy until I dumped it into Movie Maker, and discovered all the neat stuff I could do with it! Once I got going, I thought I could send you and Canonie an encouraging message.

P.P.S., Thank you Glen, LimeFriday, LA, carey, Sarah, and kck for your kind words! This is very much a work in progress. I am 49.

And so,

P.P.P.S., Canonie, my response to you is next!

My dear Canonie, you have helped me in my journey, as well, my friend! Because I have taken your comments to heart (indeed, I told you by PM how right you are!), I have given this another go. Like I wrote you, the expressive statement of this piece has eluded me! I hear dyanmics in my head, but still cannot get them to come out of my fingers just yet! I will not drop the Kuhlau for Mozart until I get it right! I'm treating this as a pre-requisite!

And so, I hope here to demonstrate a more positive attitude. But please be reminded, everyone, that change does not come easily--especially changes in attitude, and changing the way one talks to oneself... That takes just as much practice as working at the keyboard!

Kuhlau Sonatina in C, Op. 55, No. 1 (Take 2)

Yours truly,
--Andy

Very pretty!

Loved the "Beethoven's housekeeper" joke! My practice room almost always looks like a bomb hit it, so I definitely empathize.

I definitely think your dynamics are better on try 2! Something you might enjoy experimenting with is making your music "breathe." Along with dynamics, stretching climaxes or giving a little breather room between phrases can add expressivity to the music.

Keep up the wonderful work! I'm enjoying listening to your playing.

Exciting tempo increases One very nice thing is that the pulse of the 2 movements now sound different enough. This certainly helps when both are in C major! My solution would have been to play the first movt slower - but you are a glutton for punishment and did everything faster.

There was a very nice lyrical moment at about 2.16 with a little rit.

I would love to have a set of flash cards with "comments" like yours for my performance class on tues - it would distract the audience hehe.

I love these forums. This was awesome - thanks a ton for sharing!