I need help with measure 16, the one in which stretto beggins...

1.) How is played that trill?


And another question:
Can last measure be played with una corda pedal? My piano is too loud...

Hello GreenRain,

Play the turn (not trill) in measure 16 as four demisemiquavers (32nd notes): B A# Gx A#.

The turn may be delayed very slightly such that it doesn't begin simultaneously with the chord in the left hand but immediately follows it instead.

You should feel free to use the una corda pedal wherever you think you need to.

Steven

Thanks for answer:)
The shame is, that ive been playing this prelude for months without that trill...
Oh, Gx means A right?

You're welcome, but remember that this is a turn (and that turns are different from trills).

In theory, Gx and A are not the same. On a piano keyboard, they're the same note.

Hey GR, I have an unrelated question for you about the French author George Sand.

When you pronounce the word Sand in isolation (i.e., all by itself with nothing following it), does the "d" have a sound?

In my limited understanding of French, the "d" would be pronounced if the word were spelled as Sande—but not Sand.

Could you confirm whether that's correct?

Steven

Im sorry but im not from France actually... i made mistake while i was registering:)

Is there any site which explains a little bit about these TURNS, how they work?

www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory23.htm#turn

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_(music)#Turn

Make Dolmetsch your friend. Wikipedia, too!

Steven

SV
I am not French but received my education up to High School in French as a primary language.
George Sand's name gets pronounced with a hard d like Sande . You are correct about the d being commonly silent at the end of a word unless followed by a vowel. However with the pronunciation of "noms propres" (I can't think of a correct translation, ? "proper names"?.. ie names of people and places), you take liberties..
Another example is Marcel Proust. Normally the s and the t would be silent; but in this case it is pronounced phonetically as is, or as you would predict in English with the s and t audible.
It is not an uncommon problem in French. The good dictionaries, or some of them, such as the Robert will indicate the phonetics of such names..

Thank you steven:)

Exactly! and it is the source of my statement in the thread about Chopin and Sand that the final 'd' in Sand is pronounced.

Hence, George Sand = [ʒɔʁʒ sɑ̃ d]

Regards,

Andromaque, thank you! (BTW, des noms propres = "proper nouns.")

I had wondered if you were a Francophone based on your nickname. Is it a reference to Racine or to Virgil (or to Greek legend in general)?

Bruce, thanks again.

GreenRain, you're welcome again.

Steven

Oh, I hope not!

Andromaque:
J'ai vu mon père mort et nos murs embrasés;
J'ai vu trancher les jours de ma famille entière,
Et mon époux sanglant traîné sur la poussière,
Son fils, seul avec moi, réservé pour les fers.
(Racine: Andromaque Act III, scene vi.)

Although her fate was undoubtedly the same at Vergil's hands.

Racine's Andromaque embodied the faithful wife and protective mother who wished only to be left to mourn her dead husband (Hector) and to protect her son. But her only protection for her son, Astyanax, who is Phyrrus' captive, would be to marry Phyrrus! Phyrrus was responsible for the death not only of Hector but also of other members of Andromaque's family.
Andromaque one of Racine's greatest works, with due credit going to Homer, Virgil, Sophocles and Aeschylus!

Regards,

Ah BruceD, you bring back a flood of memories.
What wonderful verse in Jean Racine's work, especially in Andromaque. What wonderful, grand, dignified character he gave her, tragic fate non withstanding..

I have memorized a good part of that play (as well as Corneille's Le Cid (O rage, O desespoir, O vieillesse ennemie!)! I used to have stern French teachers whose idea of punishment was to have us memorize entire pages of either work!! it is still engraved in my brain somewhere

Umm, if you wish to move away from France, the information in your profile can be changed.

Green Rain,

My thoughts about the una corda pedal:
This pedal should only be used on a grand piano. Do you play on a grand or an upright?

If you play on a grand the una corda should only be used to change the timbre of what you are playing. The una corda moves the hammers over so they hit 1 or 2 strings instead of 2 or 3 strings. It should not be used merely as a device to play softly. Your technique, all by itself, must be able to control dynamics.

The mechanism of the soft pedal on an upright simply moves the hammers closer to the strings. This is not the true sound of the original una corda, as used by the great composers. That is why I would avoid this pedal on an upright.

By the way, you can easily change your profile information so that everybody doesn't keep asking you about France all of the time.

best wishes,
Valerie

Thanks for answer...

Well i am playing upright... i know that soft pedal should not be used to play more silently, but these last chords really cant play silently enought on my piano...

I also know that una corda on uprights is not recomended, but i rarely use it (only few pieces)

Im also need help with turns in mozart fantasie k 397... last 3 measures before allegreto part... i just cant figure them out...