Thank you Les. Once again, a GREAT post! Sincerely, Greg Torres Les Smith wrote: > On Fri, 13 Mar 1998, Michael Jorgensen wrote: > > > Hi John, > > This logic of yours makes perfect sense. Even most music played by > > advanced pianists was written during the common practice period prior to > > 1900 which suggests a form of well temperament. Virtually all classical > > period works were written in keys of four sharps or four flats or less. > > (I'm sure someone will probably find an exception, please let me know > > what work it is). > > Hi, Mike. > > I guess a lot depends on how you define the "Classical Period". If that > includes Beethoven, then his 24th sonata--the one which followed Opus > 57--is written in the key of F# major--6 sharps. Similarly, part of the > Adagio movement of Opus 106, is also written using the same key signature. > Db--five flats--was not an uncommon key for Beethoven. You also find part > of the 31st Sonata written in the key of Ab minor. Although, for reasons > known only to Beethoven, he chooses to use only 6 flats in the key sig- > nature, itself, and chooses to write in all the F flats as they occur in > the course of the piece. Also, one in general finds a much richer harmon- > ic texture in all of Beethoven's later works, especially in the fugue > movements in the later sonatas. I won't belabor the point, the music is > there for those with an interest in such things to analyze for themselves. > > However, since no one seems to have brought up this point regarding the > Beethoven sonatas and the subject of key specificity, I would draw you > attention to the edition of the sonatas edited by Hans Von Bulow, Liszt's > son-in-law. If you check out his notes to the last movement of Opus, 57, > you'll find a curious comment regarding the at-first-strange-looking > fingering given, which differs markedly from what you will find in any > other edition. Hans explains that the fingering is given specifically > because it will facilitate the transposition of the movement into other > keys! Gasp! Could it possibly mean that pianists used to play Beethoven > Sonatas in keys other than that in which they were originally written. > YOU BET IT DOES! Of course, that dreaded international terrorist organi- > zation know as the CMP--that's the Classical Music Police--want to sur- > press such radical ideas, because they won't rest until every pianist in > the world plays every single piece of music ever written in exactly the > same way--the same notes, fingers, rhythms, tempos, dynamics, expression > and pedal marks, etc. It wasn't always that way, as Hans's comment sug- > gests. While we're on the subject, allow me to toss in a couple of > comments on Bach, too. > > As a youngster, I started out with the two and three part inventions. > All of them. From the beginninng, I was taught that Bach was the origin- > al "swinger" and that the inventions were to be regarded as interesting, > fun-to-play, technical and rhythmic exercises written in a contrapuntal > style. I was also taught that they were NOT to be regarded a key-spe- > cific and that their true value lay in transposing them into other keys. > That is to say that the major key inventions were to be transposed to > all the other major keys and all the minor keys inventions into the other > minor keys. Not transposing them was regarded as the equivalent of a > student playing the exercises of "The Virtuoso Pianist" only as written, > and not transposing them through all the keys in order to to reap the > maximum benefit from them. > > Later, when I progressed to the 48 preludes and fugues of the WTC, they, > too, were presented to me as NON-KEY-SPECIFIC! That is to say that they, > too, were meant to be transposed into other keys. Although Bach wasn't > my primary are of interest, I played many of the 48 in keys other that > just that in which they were originally written. In this respect, I was > by no means unique. First, the teachers who taught me to do this, had > been taught that way by THEIR teachers. Secondly, over the years, I have > both known and done pianowork for both pianists and teachers far more > adept at transposing Bach (and others!) than I, who both played and > taught him (and others!) this way. > > This idea is hardly new. When Liszt fell under the spell of Paganini, > and set out to do technically for the piano what Paganini had done for > the violin, part of his standard practice routine consisted of everyday > selecting a different prelude and fugue from the WTC and then playing > them through all twelve keys. Thus, more than 150 years ago, Liszt was > already playing all 48 preludes and fugues from the WTC through ALL the > keys. Impressive? You bet! Impossible? Hardly. Worthwhile? Absolutely. > Dangerous? Definitely--if the enforcement division of the Classical > Music Police ever get wind of what you're up to, you could be in BIG > trouble. > > The CMP have been around a LONG time. They were there to complain when > Brahms played Chopin's "Minute Waltz" in double notes; when Carl > Tausig played the LH of the "Revolutionary" etude in octaves; when > Godowsky started combining the Chopin etudes and playing two of them > at the same time (!) (no longer in print, those interested should be able > to find copies of his transcritions in a really large library); and even > when Horowitz dared to make changes in something like the ending of > Liszt's 6th rhapsody. And the list goes on and on. > > Somewhere along the way, people seem to have forgotten that many of the > great pianist/composers of the past were absolute masters of improvisa- > tional, extemporaneous playing, some rarely playing even their own works > exactly the same way twice in a row! What you see written down on a page > of music a century or two later is ONE way of playing it. The Classical > Music Police would have you believe that it is the ONLY way of playing it. > > Stagnant, petrified, ossified, god-awful boring and predictible as it > has become, Classical music really isn't dead. It's just that through the > never-ending efforts of the CMP in ensure that the same tired old pieces > will always be played in the same old, tired, mind-numbing ways, that > those forced to listen to the same things over and over and over again > eventually get to a point where they wish that THEY WERE DEAD, and > then just stop listening altogether. One can hardly blame them. > > Les Smith > lessmith@buffnet.net
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