theme and variations

This morning I read through a Mozart Sonata but can't remember
which one.  As I tried to figure that out I noticed the KV 284 in
DM - which includes a T & V.

Mozart is so cool and when I play Mozart I always think of
Thomas Jefferson - go figure.  But Mozart - he was smart and
some go so far as to say he was a Genius. : )  And the thing is
Mozart always comes up with little surprises in his music.

Mozart's T & V brought to my mind Beethoven's Six Variations -
Nel cor piu non mi sento which literally translated means 'in my
heart I feel no more' and I'm thinking no more what?  Six Variations
was written in 1795.

There is no comparion between the two T & V - but of Beethoven's
I like the 6th Variation the best - and it has a crossover.  Crossovers
are hard for me but I force myself to work through them because
I figure they are good for the mind.  And wouldn'tcha know there is
a crossover in  Mozart's Variation VI.  Great minds do think alike.
To tell the Truth - I can't wait to fool around with  Mozart's T & V -
but I'll have to wait until my pointer finger on my left hand heals.
I had a really bad abscess on it and I was scared to go to the doctor
yesterday but today it got a lot worse and I even considered doing it
myself like Tom Hanks did with the ice skate in Cast Away.  You
can't even imagine how really nasty it looked - like something out
of a sci-fi movie and I honestly thought I might lose the top joint
of my finger and then where would I be I could still blog and paint
but playing the piano would never be the same. The doctor was real
nice about it and I'll be ok but I can't play Mozart's T & V until it heals.

I may dump Beethoven for Mozart - but I'll always go back to
Beethoven because of his Inherent Passion and his High Moral
Standards.

interpretation of fur elise

Fur Elise is a gentle, beautiful piece.

But Ludwig von Beethoven was not.

Beethoven was a very passionate pianist - and most
of all he was a Master Composer.


Fur Elise must be played gently - and passionately.
If the dynamic markings are correct then one must begin
playing pianissimo - with only a slight chance of getting louder
on the fifth note and back down again.  Same with the repeat.


The second section is mf - but then goes back to pp again.

Now in my last post I say that the third section - fifth stanza - is
marked dolce - and is the Heart of Fur Elise - so pure, open and
even sweet.  So one must make the best of that while it lasts.
I  simply love the turn in the 7th measure but really have no
use for the next part which ultimately leads back to the beginning
and always recurring theme.  He really obsesses on this - don't
you think?

Now - here is when Beethoven gets down to business - letting his
passion and rage show - when the 16th notes start drumming in
the left hand - and we have to make sure that we keep track of
when the a goes up to b flat and so on.  I like to really pound on
this part - but get back into control of myself by the main theme
in the end.

Fur Elise is tricky - so one has to remain alert as to when to show
off the quiet and sweet parts - and when to really get down and dirty
with it.


Fur Elise - one for the ages.


thank you Beethoven -

For what you might ask?


for enduring what must have been a very tumultuous
and difficult life so that we most unworthy people could
live off of your music forever...

fur elise - con.

I googled Fur Elise:

It is officially a Bagatelle - no. 25 in am.

Fur Elise was not published until 40 years after Beethoven's death.


but here is what i was really interested in finding out:




Nobody really knows for  sure who Elise was.
~~~

~perhaps the Heart of Fur Elise - at least for me - is when in the
second section Beethoven goes into CM kind of - and it gives it a
pure sounding clarity that I never tire of

~Fur Elise can get pretty repetitious but I always play all the repeats
because I figure Beethoven wanted it that way - and besides it's pretty
short and  he probably wanted to stretch it out some (kind of like when
I use song lyrics to make my posts look longer :) )

~ya gotta love the e-e octaves cause it's not hard but a little impressive -
and it goes nicely into starting the main theme over

~now here's where you can really wow 'em - first you get the fingering
down pat so as not to mess up - and the play the ascending triplet patterns
three times until the chromatic downward scale  - i'm telling you people
will think you are good

~after that it's a piece of cake

~I believe the ending is meant to be abrupt - but a little soft - don't cut it off
too quickly but don't hold on to it


NEXT TIME:   stidh's interpretation of FE - dynamics and stuff

fur elise

I have said more times than I would like to remember that Beethoven's
Fur Elise is overplayed.

And I used to think of it as a simple piece for children.


Wrong.


First I am memorizing it - and it won't be long until I accomplish that.

And then I'm going to study it - because I believe that Fur Elise is a most
beautiful piece of brilliance - and by studying it we can look into the very
heart of Ludwig von Beethoven.


Anyone have any thoughts on that?


I'm going to spend the next few posts of my new Classical Piano Seminar
on this and would welcome any comments from anyone.