Scriabin’s fiery D#-minor Etude, with its relentless triplets and huge leaps, used to just fall under my fingers, while the Lento final movement of the Copland Sonata was a minefield of wrong notes. Why is that? Is it just because we practice hard music 20 times as much as easy music, or is it psychological, or what?”
Kyle Gann ponders music and the mind…
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Kyle Gann, “Post Rehearsal Musings”, Arts Journal, 26 May 2009.
Difficult music is the easiest to play
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