New art and the old formulaeAn art gathers new material usually by an original rejection of old formulae, a gesture of negation. At the beginning, this gesture is conscious, defiant, it lacks any other reason for existence than the very healthy one that dogma is death. In the turmoil of growth and expansion, this negation and denial loses its identity […]
Gershwin’s playing (and sense of humour)The composer Burton Lane describes George Gershwin’s playing: You could feel the electricity going through the room when he played. He could transpose into any key with the greatest of ease. He had total command of what he was doing. Musical surprises, unusual changes of keys. He was one of the few composers who had […]
Art and the strength of the former timesIn 1824, Schubert wrote a letter to his friend Schober concerning a general complacency about the role of art at the time: The idle time, which hinders the fulfillment of all greatness, destroys me too. Even golden verse is foolishly mocked by the people, no longer attentive to its powerful message. Only by the gift […]
Study music profoundly“The advice I am giving always to my students is above all to study the music profoundly. Because the music is like the ocean, and the instruments are little or bigger islands, very beautiful for the flowers and trees, or the contrary.” Andrés Segovia, guitarist. Cited in: Cited in: Kimball, K., Petersen, R., Johnson, K. […]
Matheson and Handel’s duelTwo flamboyant young musickers leave the town of Lübeck as soon as can be. For they have learned that the successful candidate must marry the daughter of the man in whose shoes they would fain have trodden the pedals. One look at the daughter was enough. She was not fair to see, and her years […]
Perahia on BeethovenMurray Perahia initially found Beethoven hard to understand: “I was always working on Beethoven, but I couldn’t feel close to him. For nearly ten years I didn’t altogether like his music because I felt it showed an aggressive, up-front personality.” But after studying, performing, and recording Beethoven (Appasionata,op. 2, op. 101 and the Piano Concertos), […]
The prerequisites of a genius“Of the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul; the second is soul; and the third is soul.” – Edwin Whipple, American essayist and critic Cited at: QuotationsBook
Tchaikovsky on Arensky“Arensky is a man of remarkable gifts, but morbidly nervous and lacking in firmness—altogether a strange man.” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in a letter to N. F. von Meck, Frolovskoe, July 2nd (14th), 1890. Cited in Modest Tchiakovsky, The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, np., Outlook Verlag, 2018, p. 477.
Collaborative pianoPERFORMANCE BIOGRAPHY GREG SMITH Certifications and degrees: – 1996: Associate of Music, Australia (A. mus. A.) in piano performance – 1998: Licentiate of Music, Australia (L. mus. A.) in piano performance – 2001: Bachelor of Music, with honours, class I (University Medal). University of Newcastle. Double major in piano and composition. – 2003: Master of […]
Schumann on Chopin’s styleChopin can hardly write anything now but that we feel like calling out in the seventh or eighth measure, “It is by him!” – Robert Schumann, 1838 P. Kildea, Chopin’s Piano, London, Allen Lane, 2018, p. 43.
