Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Composer's Lounge mp3 of an untitled piano miniature

Hello Everyone,

Here is an mp3 of a piano miniature of my authorship:

http://michaelsayers.com/mp3/STEFAN_ABELS_PIANIST__0021_WITHOUT_A_TITLE_130512_BY_MICHAEL_SAYERS.mp3

The pianist is Stefan Abels:

http://www.stefanabels.de/

All observations and comments are welcome!


Mvh,
Michael

The website has been offline globally some hours for causes I am trying to determine.

Here is an alternate way to hear the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVHgDwO-Bo

I am not really seeking comments, rather the desire simply is to share the audio if the whims of the internet will allow this.

Mvh,
Michael

Is there a PDF of a score available? That's more useful to me than a recording.

Considering that in a previous thread by Michael, you didn't like his manuscript and didn't provide any other useful information, I'm not sure anything's changed...

Michael,

I think that this is an interesting work.

But having "met" you a bit better over the past few weeks I see a common thread running through your various works... The idea of a chord progression (wonderful as it may be) building up, along with the left hand giving the tremolo solution.

This begs the question: "Is it a conscious choice to be repeating yourself, or you can't do otherwise"?

In any case I found the performance actually magnificent, and the piece itself quite interesting. It run its full circle and was done in the 2 minute spot.

So there's no other comment really from me, but the question above, which is more or less trying to understand a bit more about you, rather than 'tell you off'!

Stefan Abels is in my belief a tremendous pianistic interpreter of music. This recording by him of that popular Rachmaninoff G Minor Prelude is one of only two I thoroughly like (the other is a live Josef Hofmann recording):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG41uY2w4mo

I don't blame Polyphonist for not wanting to read the handwritten manuscript scan. The music doesn't look like much on the page and the handwriting is a bit idiosyncratic to try and keep the notation accurate. Eventually there will be an engraved version of this using Finale, I should be able to manage with short pieces that have minimal notational elements . . .

About the tremolos, these are not the result of any conscious selection. Sometimes these seem to be purely pianistic, other times as substitutes on a piano for orchestral effects such timpani rolls, extended deep bass pedal point, maybe the bass drum when all notes of the tremolo strike sfz with the first 32nd note . . . perhaps the solution here is to write for orchestra while being careful to omit anything that really belongs with a piano, i.e. having purely orchestral music as separate from piano music (or maybe there could be some piano concerto type music where the orchestra does the orchestral parts, and the piano the pianistic writing)?

However, anyone can print out a piano piece and place it on a piano to play, but with almost all persons an orchestra piece requires a physical orchestra to be heard and probably such music if I were to do it would never be physically heard by anyone . . . and these would need to be Södermalm Fantasy Ballade length compositions and probably much longer, not two minute miniatures . . . right?

Thanks for listening Nikolas, and yes Stefan Abels recording is superb!


Mvh,
Michael

Sorry, I forgot about that. Yes, I don't like reading manuscripts; I'd rather look at the score after it's been input in a music notation program. So when that happens I'll be glad to look at it and give my comments (and yes, I have provided detailed and useful feedback on several compositions before on this forum).

I am entering a little bit of music into Finale everyday and will be able to link some finished efforts soon. There seems to be an issue with tied whole note intervals - sometimes a composer might want all notes in both pairs tied, sometimes just the highest or lowest note of each pair tied . . . and there seems to be an impediment with inserting a tempo mark that takes over on measure x (there is a third tempo change on page two, the sequence is quarter note = 49, then 46 and lastly 53). If this the right forum to ask such questions?

I will try to resolve these two issues on my own after the remainder of the piece is entered - posting here about it should be the last resort option . . .

p.s. - I will have that G Minor one in Finale also and soon!

M.

Michael, that's a nice little piece. There's a long and proud tradition of writing orchestrally for the piano, as well as orchestrating piano pieces. It's very expensive to get an orchestra to play anything, but a piano requires just one player. While that's an obvious fact, it's the fact that underlies the truth that many have used pianistic devices to mimic orchestral effects. I'm sure there's a dividing line between pianistic and orchestral effects, but I'm not sure where I'd draw it.

Nikolas made a salient observation about your pieces. May I suggest you try coming at composing from the other end, following a melody wherever it goes (as opposed to building on a chord progression). Of course there are other ways to approach composing (starting with effects is one popular one), but these two (harmony vs. melody) strike me as two ends of a continuum.

Hi Steve,

Both you and Nikolas have good observations, and it would be nice if more of the music were melody driven.

Right now composition is without conscious method apart from slight editing (usually in the interpretative notation) and some assembly for longer works.

The method is one of maximum silence and quiet of mind in order to properly hear the music as it arrives and write it down.

Eventually some conscious control over the outcomes may be exerted, especially for longer and more coherent compositions, but right now the focus is purely on the most natural and uninhibited possible formation and content of the compositions.

Thanks for listening and for the quite right observation!


Yours,
Michael

I liked the ideas I heard but as a pianist I would not be attracted to play that piece as was. I think it would have appealed more to me if the piano evolved into an orchestral arrangement or perhaps more movement in the piano score itself.

There are so many great movie themes that either begin with piano and transition to orchestra or vice-versa. I can hear that possibility in this piece.

rada

Thanks Rada!

I believe 100% in freedom of interpretation which includes not playing music 'as is'.

If I were to play it (or anything else) there might be differences in many compositional details as desired in the moment - and if this is okay for me then it should be okay for all pianists.


Mvh,
Michael