On Jan 29, 2010, at 8:07 AM, Dennis Johnson wrote: > I have not seen a single bit of evidence anywhere, or any > suggestion, that even one of these great composers did not welcome > advances of the instrument. Do you not agree that given the choice > any one of them would jump at the modern concert Steinway? > Beethoven especially, and Lizst. I think it is reasonable to suppose that they would use the dominant instrument, and would prefer it if they had it. But that is speculation. The instrument they wrote for is the instrument they had. Sometimes it doesn't make so much difference, but sometimes it does. With Liszt, probably the biggest difference is in clarity. To give one example, he liked to reinterpret chords to move to strange harmonic places, often by changing a single inner voice. This can be hard to make audible on a modern concert grand, but it "just happens" on a period instrument - that is, you don't have to make an effort, it sticks out without trying, The same thing can be said of some passage work, where there is what we hear as a "wash of color" on a modern grand, in which the individual notes disappear. On a period instrument, the intricacies of figuration are more apparent. With Chopin, I was interested to hear a very prominent French pianist, Marylene Dosse (who recently semi-retired here), tell students at a Chopin masterclass that they should always practice pedaling with the tip of the toe, the point being that they should learn the technique of "half pedal." Again, it is a question of clarity. With the pedal fully depressed, the modern piano has too much resonance and sustain, and a lot can disappear in the "mud." Chopin wrote for a piano with much less sustain, and considerably more clarity. You can play his music well and successfully on a modern instrument, but learning how it sounds on his piano often reveals considerably more. And bringing those things out on a modern instrument requires special techniques. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu
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