Sunday, March 25

Musical reminiscence

How does music reside in memory? In what specific form is a melody embedded in our brain? I always found these questions fascinating, but something I listened to today brought home these questions in more vivid terms:
When I was a child, there was a TV show on Greek television. I never really watched it, and I could not even remember what it was called. BUT, I did remember a theme played on the harpsichord at the end-credits. It's strange; this theme has ever since remained "intact" in my head, down to the smallest detail - in fact,  I could (still can) play it by ear on the piano. And today, some 20 years on, I bumped into it on the internet! And I listened to it again after such a long time of keeping it vividly in my memory for so many years. I really cannot grasp the mechanics of such a mysterious procedure. I can only say that music is a powerful thing, much more powerful than it may seem to be. For it affects in a decisive way not just our emotional world, but our whole being in ways that are really beyond comprehension. 

Just for the record, here is the theme...


 

Saturday, March 3

Rachmaninov's Rach 3: Cadenza recording...

This is one of the most exciting things I've ever played! It's perhaps interesting to know that Rachmaninoff actually composed two cadenzas for the 1st movement and many pianists prefer the ossia version; yet I think that this one (the one here below) is more original and light and, most importantly, allows for a more convincing crescendo. Here is what Geoffrey Norris has to say on this (excerpt taken from his excellent book on Rachmaninoff):

"Rachmaninoff composed two versions of the first part of the cadenza. One is 59 bars long with an intricate passage work; the other has 75 bars, is chordal throughout and is considerably more taxing (...) The numbering of the pages in the manuscript indicates that the longer cadenza was the composer's first choice, but presumably the necessity to fit the concerto conveniently  on to 78 rpm records compelled him to choose the shorter one, or maybe Rachmaninoff simply felt that enough power had been generated elsewhere and that lightness provided an agreeable contrast.  Both versions achieve the same purpose in providing a suitable platform for displays  of virtuosity and in commenting adequately upon the motifs from the first subject". 

I am not convinced that the longer version was the composer's first choice but it's of no importance really. 

So, here is an excerpt from the [short] cadenza (I had to stop when the orchestra comes in, for obvious reasons!). 
Any comments are most welcome!