The arpeggio

A new installment of the Gaspard de la Nuit Saga.
Having very successfully performed Ondine Tuesday evening having picked it up less than three weeks beforehand after several months' hiatus, I undertook Scarbo Wednesday morning. I've never even sightread through it before, so this has been a challenge. So far, since I haven't had anything major going on Wednesday through today (except Thanksgiving, when I didn't play the piano at all, thank God), I've moved relatively quickly through it. I have the first 435 measures of the 627 measure piece more or less learned. Today, I thought I would devote a post to a specific passage that is troubling me.

Every time I listen to this piece, the moment that overwhelms me is the arpeggio in mm. 228-234 (pictured) and its sequence transposed down a fourth in mm. 249-255. A perfectly-executed diminuendo as it flies up literally the entire span of the keyboard sends chills down my spine again and again. Needless to say, I have a sense of responsibility to pass that impression on to my audience. When I first arrived at that moment in learning the piece, Wednesday (day 1), I worked at it two hours at a stretch. It's Saturday and I am only slightly less dissatisfied.

The principal issue is that the arpeggio is simply awkward to play. It fits too well into the hand in some places, and once it comes time to shift up to the next octave, there is nothing natural about the movement. Furthermore, Ravel has both hands shifting up together, landing in the new position on each beat. This makes it easy to have a pulsing effect rather than a gentle "whoosh" up to the pianississimo A7.

A second main issue is that the forte D#1 at the bottom of the arpeggio doesn't decay quickly enough for the arpeggio to be heard in the last two octaves. This means that this already-awkward arpeggio must be playable completely smoothly with no pedal at all. Then I can clear the pedal after, say, C#5 and have the control over the sound I need to finish effectively.

Ondine's Return

I was working hard at Ondine from Gaspard de la Nuit through the end of the summer, but I had to set the piece aside, both to maintain my own sanity and to prepare for a small handful of competitions.  I ended up only applying for the two, both of which accepted me - the International Keyboard Odyssiad and MTNA.  Now that MTNA is finally behind me and, through a silly trick of luck, an unusually mediocre pianist is representing New Mexico at the Regional Level (I received Honorable Mention), I am free to learn new pieces.  Of course my first project was to run right back to Ondine.  I discovered to my delight that I had done a very good job learning the notes before; the piece came right back into my fingers and after a week and a day was completely memorized.

My junior recital is fast approaching.  I'll be giving it sometime next fall, preferably as early in the semester as possible.  I have some ideas for a program:

• Rachmaninoff, Variations on a Theme of Corelli.  I performed the majority of this work in 2007 or 2008.  I did a horrible job, and I am grateful that no one remembers my performance anymore.  Nowadays, however, I am much better-equipped to tackle such a piece and perform confidently, comfortably, safely, and musically.
• Beethoven, God Save the King Variations.  A really fun little piece of music.  Like everything Beethoven wrote, it's brilliant and fits the piano.  Unlike most of what Beethoven wrote, it's short enough to be played as an encore, weighing in at about 4 1/2 minutes without repeats.
• Bach, Art of Fugue.  Not the whole thing, probably, but certainly a large chunk thereof.  I never cease to be amazed by what Bach is capable of.
• Beethoven, Piano Sonata in A, Op. 101

I will also start work on the fourth piano concerto of Beethoven as soon as this studio recital is past.  I love learning new pieces!  I am really looking forward to this.