Hi TL. This is my second blog, and unlike my first blog which was ridden with sadness and feelings of dejection, this one is a happy blog about what I consider my "real life." I have been involved with music ever since I could remember, as my mother was a music teacher and I went to Church every Sunday. As I grew older, my choices became more limited for what I wanted to do and what I could do successfully, and it lead me back to my roots in Music.
Now, I went to alternative school from the time i was 6 until I was 16, with there being anywhere from 15-25 kids year by year, and 4-5 teachers, one of them being my mother (awkwerrd). Due to econmic difficulties and high tuition, the school was forced to end its curriculum for most students, including myself. This is when I decided to enter Community (junior) College at 17 (What would have been my senior year) and Graduated with a 3.42 GPA and an Associates Of Science in Music.
Now, I bring you my first video of me playing a solo performance, Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, Opus 13, No. 8, 1st Movement
I apologize for the sub-par quality, cameras just aren't really all that good for this stuff.
I'm about to watch the video, but an important note- never put an apology in the description. Either upload something you're happy with and stand by it, or don't upload it. Even if it is just for the camera quality, it's still a real mistake.
Generally speaking, there isn't enough dynamic contrast (just seems like it's always between somewhat loud to very loud, or if you prefer, between mf and ff), and there are too many unnecessary accents/emphasis on mid-passage notes that break up the phrases. You don't have to destroy the piano to make the audience feel the impact, you just need to increase the contrast. I received the exact same criticism at a Kiwanis when I was a little kid, and it stuck with me a long time. Hope it helps!
Your performance was great! I was actually planning on writing something similar, about me and music in my life, since I play the violin and it's been a huge influence in terms of social life and stuff.
Edit: 666th post o.O Edit2: To the post above, yes, it's true that it isn't necesary to "destroy the piano" to make the audience feel contrasts, but after all, it IS Beethoven and my conductor would always tell the orchestra I'm part of that when playing Beethoven, you kind of have to recreate some form of exaggerated energy, and play a little more feverishly (be a little crazy).
My only suggestion as someone who has learned this piece as well.........learn a quiet tone in this piece. When you go from loud to even louder, you have half the effect of going from very quiet to very loud, and this piece has so many awesome oportunities to dramatically alter the volume and tone even mid passage. Still, quite well done. I like.
Go over the first part with a metronome. Some artistic license with different speeds is fine, but you switch tempo around so often it just sounds completely random. Glenn Gould might be able to get away with that, you can't. :p
As for the main part, slow down. By all means play it this fast if you want to impress some friends, but you're not completely on top of what you're doing anymore and the clarity of your interpretation suffers as a result.
Sorry if this sounds altogether negative, but I think you could make this a much more impressive interpretation by just tweaking a few things here and there.
haha i envy those of you who enjoy playing piano. my mom forced me to learn piano since a young age and i eventually reached a pretty high level although i've always hated it.
On August 22 2012 23:30 sorrowptoss wrote: To the post above, yes, it's true that it isn't necesary to "destroy the piano" to make the audience feel contrasts, but after all, it IS Beethoven and my conductor would always tell the orchestra I'm part of that when playing Beethoven, you kind of have to recreate some form of exaggerated energy, and play a little more feverishly (be a little crazy).
That's such a mind boggling stupid and generalized direction that I'm not convinced that that's what your conductor meant...
Also 100% agreed with Orome. Beethoven is not Chopin, rubato really doesn't have a place. Beethoven meticulously marked out his metronome tempos, and even if you choose to take it slower than his original markings, you must do so consistently. (No metronome marking for this piece in particular, but the later usage of metronomes in his composition definitely show he had very clear tempo in mind for his compositions) The #1 interpretative failing I hear in recordings of the "major" named sonatas (Pathetique, Moonlight, Appassionata are the big three here) is succumbing to the temptation of artificially injecting drama/tension/emotion through arbitrarily manipulating the tempo - extended ritardandos even in places where it's not marked, deliberating oscillating between fast and slow, etc. This is by no means limited to amateur pianists, or even pianists at all - there are many concert/recorded pianists and even conductors in symphonies who sometimes feel the need to vastly exaggerate tempo markings in a vain attempt to make a statement.
Try going through pieces with a metronome and sticking exactly to the tempo, and you'll find that a lot of the subtlety of the music shines through. Again, playing fast is ok if that's the interpretive stance you're taking - but you must be consistent with it. No random slow downs if that's the route you're going.
On the subject of dynamics: a common trend among Beethoven's more tempestuous movements is the, perhaps surprising, dominance of p and pp markings. Though exhibited to a lesser extent than, say, third movement of Moonlight, the overarching dynamic of Pathetique movement one is still piano. Beethoven was a master of placing, sparingly, sf and f/ff notes and measures to create the illusion of a "loud" and driving piece. Try paying especially close attention to the dynamic markings, playing generally softer across the movement, and avoid sforzandos and fortissimos except in the measures where they're explicitly marked. Currently, I'd characterize the default dynamic of your performance as around mf, when it should be closer to p if the score is to be followed.
Full disclosure: I'm not a pianist nor a music student of any sort, merely someone who listens to a lot of Beethoven.
I'm glad you're enjoying Beethoven, hopefully you can upload some more videos with better sound quality =)
EPT
