I'm just starting to learn this piece. It's moderately difficult but especially if played up to speed. These old fingers may never be able to accomplish that, but I so love the depth of tones this produces from my piano. It's a rare piece that uses the entire keyboard down to the very lowest A. I find it inspiring to think of other hands that have played these very same notes over about 150 years, including the original composer -- that my own fingers walk in those exact same paths Reading music is perhaps like learning a foreign language -- another language in which to express yourself. Not unlike an actor reciting lines of Shakespeare, the notes connecting the page to the keyboard also connect you to so many others down through the years. It's a rather thrilling thought.
2 comments:
Love your commentary on learning this piece. Not being a musician I had never thought of music in quite that way. Nice.
YouTube is such an amazing resource for musicians. This morning I played Chopin's "Waltz in C Sharp Minor" and then listened to it performed by Horowitz, Rachmaninoff, and Paderewski. What insight it gives to interpretations and technique. I particularly liked the Horowitz at the White House version.
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