During a master class I gave at the Gilmore Festival, I noticed something in Bartok's Barcarolla. The piece's notation mixes measures of 6/8, and 7/8, and 5/8. But in almost every bar there are two big beats. As in lots of folk music, and unscripted music, and perhaps in the actual performance of every kind of music -- these beats are not equal in length. In Bartok's text, some of the large beats are equal to 3 eighth-notes, others equal 4 … [Read more...]
Art is long
Long notes are more important than short notes. Pianists often get confused. Because we don't hold out long-duration tones with bow or breath, it's easy to underestimate their significance. Virtuoso pianists spend so much time attending to what's difficult in virtuoso pieces that it can seem these difficulties -- often passages of short, quick notes -- really are the most important thing in a piece of music. Frequently, it's the other way … [Read more...]