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What's your purpose in posting that video other than to mock the performer? That's just being mean spirited, and you're the one who comes off looking bad.
Oh no.
Originally Posted by Mark_C
I guess the deal is that he sort of worked on the piece at some point, maybe he was currently working on it a little, but he didn't really know a lot of how it's written but he had a full sense of the piece in his mind -- and he was doing some combination of playing what he remembered of what was written, plus playing by ear what he had in his head.
The kid seems like a savant. I think he's playing by ear, which would explain, among other things, the octave doublings in the left hand where he seems unsure what to do other than duplicate notes in the right hand. There's lots of places where this looks like textbook autism spectrum. He almost certainly has absolute pitch. It's remarkable, but it's not musical IMO.
I'm going to post this on a FB group that was founded by an expert on musical giftedness among autistic children and adolescents. I'll get back to you all with what she says about it.
That IS a strange and unsettling performance. I think Mark_C's theory makes sense in explaining what might be going on there. Remember that troll thread a few months back where somebody (who now resides on my ignore list) proposed that learning to read classical piano music is wrong; that piano should be taught by ear instead? This video is the perfect argument against that.
My take is he's ok, as you can tell by some of the things he does, but this piece is way beyond him, so I think he's playing one of those "simplified" versions of a Chopin piece that one can get. His hands probably aren't yet up to the job either.
I don't think he's a savant, I don't think he's making it up by ear. I simply think he's playing a simplified version of a piece that's too difficult for him. His rhythm is completely out most of the time, but he manages some bits ok, just what you'd expect really.
Nothing weird going on here, I've seen this kind of thing before.
He's probably quite good now, if he kept on playing. In this clip, it would have been better for him to choose something simpler and play it like it should be played, but his folks probably wanted him to play Chopin so they could show him off.
Perhaps he is trying to go beyond the score. Perhaps he is trying to capture the spirit of the piece. I cannot actually see anything weird about his performance. He may have encountered some technical difficulties. Those potential difficulties can be overlooked and you can focus on his musicality.
What do you think is weird about his performance, JoelW?
To be honest, we are all overanalysing his performance. He is probably just having fun.
A fair number of students don't have teachers that demand much in the way of adherence to the score. I have heard similar performances from other people this age(and older also), and there are thousands of performances like this on YouTube. He probably thinks it's a good performance just like most who post on YT. Or he may have just decided to learn the piece by himself and is not used to being asked to play what's written in the score at the most basic level. Because of the many "covers" of pop songs, I think some pianists think there is equal leeway for "interpretation" in classical music.
To be honest, we are all overanalysing his performance. He is probably just having fun.
Having fun is good! Hope he kept at it through "the dangerous years" in which we all get too many other demands on our time and let the music lapse "until later".
I didn't find this performance weird. It's Chopin, so in my opinion it's possible to simplify the score, and still maintain the same amount of music. Just ask Richard Clayderman.
There was a thread here recently about how it's acceptable to rewrite composers. In this case, replay may be the more appropriate word. But as long as the result makes sense to the performer, it's acceptable. The boy in the video should ask himself one question: Is what I play acceptable for me, musically? If it is, then he has every right to play it that way. https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthre...cceptable-to-rewrite-some-composers.html
A few of you talk about him "simplifying" the score. I'd say that's not at all what he's doing, at least not in any sense of the term that's familiar to me. Usually what it means is, putting stuff into a simpler form that lets you be able to play it. I suppose that's what he does in some instances, but mostly what he's doing is a combination of: -- Playing things exactly right, -- Playing things in an approximate or not-very-approximate way that he can't play, any more than he can play it as its written, although I think he could if he worked on it, and his version isn't any easier than what's written, -- Playing things in a version that's more difficult than what's written, -- Playing things that aren't very similar to what's written.
I didn't find this performance weird. It's Chopin, so in my opinion it's possible to simplify the score, and still maintain the same amount of music. Just ask Richard Clayderman.
There was a thread here recently about how it's acceptable to rewrite composers. In this case, replay may be the more appropriate word. But as long as the result makes sense to the performer, it's acceptable. The boy in the video should ask himself one question: Is what I play acceptable for me, musically? If it is, then he has every right to play it that way. https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthre...cceptable-to-rewrite-some-composers.html Maybe those who criticized the boy's performance should reread these threads and ask themselves if the threads might have been about them.
1. The boy didn't simplify the piece as a few have said. He did cut huge sections of it but not just some of the hard parts. He just played the parts he wanted to or had learned. 2. The thread about rewriting classical pieces was only referring to LIszt and mostly to his show pieces. The rewriting is mostly changing the pianistic figurations. There are no serious professional pianists who regularly rewrite Chopin with the exception of Godowsly and a few others. who have written mostly one offs. Those pieces would be listed as "Chopin arranged by Godowsky" in the program. 3. It is not considered correct or acceptable in performance of classical music to equate "interpretation" with "do whatever I like".
1. The boy didn't simplify the piece as a few have said. He did cut huge sections of it but not just some of the hard parts. He just played the parts he wanted to or had learned.
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