Seeking challenges

Pianist Artur Schnabel was asked at a public forum why his repertoire was so restricted:
My answer is that now I am attracted only to music which I consider to be better than it can be performed.  Therefore I feel (rightly or wrongly) that unless a piece of music presents a problem to me, a never-ending problem, it does not interest me too much.  For instance, Chopin’s studies are lovely pieces, perfect pieces, but I simply can’t spend time on them.  I believe I know these pieces; but playing a Mozart sonata, I am not so sure that I do know it, inside and out.  Therefore I can spend endless time on it. … Children are given Mozart because of the small quantityof the notes; grown-ups avoid Mozart because of the great quality of the notes.

Artur Schnabel.  Cited in: Schonberg, Harold (1987) The Great Pianists.  New York: Fireside, pp.426-427.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

,

Featured Content

Site map
Joyous art
Art that feels like a duty is probably bad art. But most of the art industry is geared towards foisting that kind of art on us. Bad art changes over the centuries far less than we think. Today’s theory-heavy video installations are often modern equivalents of pompous and moralising Victorian paintings. It’s the joyous, uninhibited […]
After music from a bridge, why not a tower?
To mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson river in New York, composer Joseph Bertolozzi sampled sounds of percussively hitting various parts of the bridge.  He now has his sights set on using the Eiffel Tower.  Wakin, Daniel, ""After Music from a Bridge, Why Not A Tower?"", Arts Beat, 8 July […]
Beethoven and the spider
Xaver Schydner von Wartensee, in the early days of meeting Beethoven, was curious about a tale he had heard about Beethoven and a spider. Before Schnyder had become acquainted with the immortal Master, he had read the well-known anecdote according to which, when Beethoven was practising the violin in his garret, a spider lowered itself […]
Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity
Title: Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity Text: St. Catherine’s Dialogue on Divine Providence Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano (easy)     Related products:     – Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity
Feel creates thought
Feeling creates thought, men willingly agree; but they will not so willingly agree that thought creates feeling, though this is scarcely less true. — Nicolas Chamfort (Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort) S. Chamfort, Maxims and Considerations of Chamfort, Volume 2, Trans. E. Mathers, Golden Cockerel Press, 1926, p. 22.  
Richter on Bach
“It does no harm to listen to Bach from time to time, even if only from a hygienic standpoint.” – Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Monsaingeon, Bruno (2001). Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations. Princeton University Press, p.196. Cited at: Wikipedia
Abstraction III
Title: Abstraction III Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor – Psalm 32 (33)
Title: The Lord hears the cry of the poor Text: Psalm 32 (33): 2-3, 17-19, 23 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
A man is not a failure until …
What is luck?  Is it being in the right place at the right time?  I think it is something more.  Luck is the active process of creating the life you want.  So don’t just sit back and hope that good things will happen to you.  Be courageous and go after what you want.  Commit to […]