Instrument players - come and chat!

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

I thought we could have a thread to chat about playing! I play the piano (not as badly as I fear but not as well as I hope) and have recently tried my hand at chamber music. Would love to hear what other people are doing.

CoteDAzur Here's a picture of the instruments they used in Rameau's Dardanus.

Ultimate prettiness is such a subjective thing. Mozart's music sounds bland, overly simple, and pop-like with its catchy little tunes. (Or possibly I just haven't listened to the good ones - feel free to link some )

My idea of pretty is stuff like Rameau's l'Entretien des Muses, usually played on the harpsichord because its ornaments (especially the long trills) are quite difficult on the piano. NK plays it on the piano but her interpretation is way too slow & liberal imho.

I know what you mean about Mozart, but periodically I hear something unearthly and have to revise my opinion...

Do share, Never. I would like to enjoy Mozart but haven't yet come across anything outstanding.

Maybe if he lived a little longer & discovered the minor keys...

with a youngish Barenboim. I really want to play this.

I hear in the concert I went to on Tuesday night.

And once I tried to play the . It was not a successful experiment ...

I don't even know why I'm defending Mozart. I hope that he was actually like the character in Amadeus.

I'm glad you defended Mozart Never, love those .
'Fiddly and pretty' wasn't the most articulate way of putting it Yes that's what I meant Cote, contrapuntal etc - I love the inventions and fugues.

Thanks for trill advice both, they're improving.

I guess ease of playing any piece is very personal...whether it fits under your fingers well or not.
Love the Rameu linked above too.

Like the ornamentation discussion! Music came in oddly useful the other day when one of my students was complaining about the style of Frankenstein! He said it was like too much ornamentation in music when you just wanted to hear the tune!
I personally like Frankenstein but have great issues with twiddly bits attached to notes as my fingers don't tend to move fast enough without a lot of practice!

Interesting comment by the student!

I'm still thinking about ornaments and what they mean...

I listened to the Mozart links. The last one was somewhat more interesting than the first two imho, but none was anywhere near the weakest Bach piece I have ever heard. All imho of course.

Once you appreciate counterpoint, there might not be any turning back to Mozart. I'm now playing 2 voices in one hand in Gavitte's 3rd Double. Don't ask me to enjoy a single voice in two hands

To each their own!

(And the Requiem. How about Mozart's Requiem?)

How about Schubert? How do people feel about Schubert? All the changes in mood, like clouds on a windy day! I used to dislike vocal music, until I heard Schubert ...

And Don Giovanni. And the overture to the Marriage of Figaro - such energy and joy!

(Oh dear, I've talked myself into liking Mozart now...)

I love Schubert! But it's a very recent discovery. Maybe our tastes change over time? Our local music service was involved with a festival recently and the chamber group played a Schubert piece. It was absolutely beautiful.

I think so too - that our taste changes over time. I'm listening to a wider range of music now, but there are things I used to like that I cannot stand now.

I went to a local Schubert music festival and was surprised by all the Schubert I didn't know. We did a Schubert chamber piece recently which I completely massacred. But I'm going to try to persuade someone that they want to sing some of the Lieders so that I can play the accompaniments. And if I played a stringed instrument I would definitely want to do a Schubert quartet.

It would be lovely for you to the accompaniment Never - I do hope you persuade them!
Little does cello-playing DS2 know that I have plans for him to play Schubert in a quartet one day! Although actually DS2 never does anything he doesn't want to do but he did listen very attentively at the festival so hopefully the seed has been planted.

Loose! DS1 (who plays the cello) doesn't seem to think it's the best thing ever despite me insisting it is.

Right. I spent the last half hour listening parts of Mozart's Requiem. It was OK, but nothing I would get excited about tbh.

For comparison, this is what Rameau can do. And of course Bach has raised the bar in this sort of music to here, here, and here. There's just no comparison imho.

This was supposed to be the 3rd link.

never your DS is wrong - it is the best!
Maybe I can indoctrinate DS2 with this one. I suspect he's not at that stage in life to appreciate it yet, though!

Oh I've discovered you all so late! Another Maths graduate with a passion for music and a sneaky enjoyment of scales.

I did grade 7 piano in my teens and started lessons again about 5 years ago. Since then I've taken grades 5,6 & 7. I also play clarinet with a couple of groups and used to do choral singing.

Grade 8 just demands more time than I can give so I'm working up to a mini concert (i.e. DP, DD and maybe a friend in the living room!). Will play 1st mvt of Beethoven. F Minor and a Rachmaninov duet with teacher - Valse from Six Morceaux. Anyone else played the Rachmaninov? Really good fun.

Welcome Cooroo

Hello Cooroo!

Beethoven F minor - do you mean the first sonata? I love that. Especially the last movement. As for Rachmaninov I had a go at a couple of preludes - they are quite fun, but one of them gives me a bad back, for some reason... I don't know the duets - will check them out!

How are you getting on with G & 6Ds, Never? I'm happy to report that after about 6 hours of practice this weekend I'm now pretty OK until the end of the 4th Double and I'm getting there with the 5th. I've also started tacking the 6th but it's nuts