For students enrolled in my piano studio, we will be continuing the private lesson/ group class combination this year. Your tuition will stay the same, but instead of receiving 18 private lessons, each student will receive 16 private lessons in the fall term and can attend up to 4 group classes, which are scheduled approximately once a month on a Saturday morning.
This is a great opportunity to build an atmosphere of community and collaboration among our piano students: they’ll get to know each other by playing for and listening to each other. It will give us a chance to do some other supplemental things that we often don’t have time to do in lessons, like learn more about great performers and composers, talk about recital etiquette, and learn more about our instrument!
FALL GROUP CLASS DATES
Saturday 9/26, 9:30-10:30am
Saturday 10/31, 9:30-10:30am - Rep Class
Halloween Recital to follow at 11am. Costumes are optional, but encouraged!
Saturday 12/5, 9:30-10:30am
Saturday 1/9, 9:30-10:30am
Because of the group class schedule, there will be two weeks during the term where we will not have our regularly scheduled private lessons. There will be NO private lessons on the following dates:
Tuesday, October 13
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 26, 28, 29, 30
I will release the second set of “no lesson” dates later this semester.
Today is Bartolomeo Cristofori's 360th birthday! Check out today's Google Doodle, and read below to learn more about the inventor of our instrument! From Phil Edwards at vox.com [http://www.vox.com/2015/5/4/8539727/piano-invented-bartolomeo-cristofori]:
The piano is one of those inventions that's hard to think of as an invention because it's just always been ... there. When you do think about someone actually inventing it, it's hard not to wonder: why haven't I heard of this person before? And why isn't their name plastered on every piano in existence?
Bartolomeo Cristofori celebrates his 360th birthday today, and he's generally credited with being the sole inventor of the piano. The fact that his name is largely forgotten is a reflection of his times, when a genius could be just another employee.
The piano eventually beat the harpsichord by solving its biggest problem.
The first official record of the piano appears in 1700, though Cristofori may have been working on it for a couple of years before then. Cristofori's most recognizable piano dates later, to 1720. But more important than the date was the step forward the piano represented.
At the time, the harpsichord was the dominant keyboard instrument. The biggest problem was that it couldn't play notes with differing degrees of softness. To play a note, a tiny device called a plectrum plucked a string and the note played. There wasn't an easy way to modify the sound and give it additional nuance. Though there were some hacks (and other instruments) that tried to fix the problem, they never worked well enough.
The piano was clearly indebted to the harpsichord — in early records, Cristofori called the piano an Arpicembalo, which means "harp-harpsichord," and he frequently worked on and invented other harpsichord-like devices. But the piano took one big step beyond that instrument by using a hammer instead of plucking a string. That allowed for a better modulation of volume thanks to its hammers and dampers, which could more artfully manipulate sound than the plucking motion of the harpsichord.
The earliest surviving piano, from 1721, is still around, and it's clear it was a transitional instrument: there are hints of the harpsichord in its sound. As the Metropolitan Museum of Art notes, it had a narrower range, thinner strings, and harder hammers than modern pianos, which are part of the reason it sounds a bit like a harpsichord.
But even then, it's clear why the piano changed music forever:
Soon, the piano got its name. Cristofori also referred to his invention as "un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte" (a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud), and over time it was shortened topiano forte, and eventually just piano.
It's rare that such an old instrument has so clear an inventor and is so obviously a revelation. So why do we have to be reminded of Bartolomeo Cristofori's name? After all, there must be a reason pianos aren't called Cristoforis.
Court employment, centuries of improvement, and slow adoption all probably made Cristofori's name fade.
The only portrait of Bartolomeo Cristofori. In the bottom right corner, it's possible to see what looks like a piano.
We may know so little about Cristofori may be because he was just a hired hand (albeit a well-respected one). As an employee of Ferdinando de' Medici, an Italian prince and member of the famous Italian family, Cristofori was hired to serve the court, not music alone.
As an employee of the Medicis, Cristofori was a cog in a royal machine. Though he was earnestly recruited to work for the Medicis, he was initially shoved into a workspace with about 100 other artisans (he complained about how loud it was). Ferdinando de' Medici encouraged Cristofori to innovate, but the inventor was also tasked with tuning and moving instruments, as well as restoring some old ones. Unlike musicians, who circulated royal courts and could become famous far beyond their borders, Cristofori was a local commodity. He wasn't seen as a revolutionary genius — he was a talented tinkerer.
At the same time, without the Medicis, Cristofori may never have been able to invent the piano. The royal family gave him a house to work in, space to experiment, and, eventually, his own workshop and a couple of assistants. As the wealth of the Medicis declined, Cristofori did sell some pianos on his own, but he didn't possess anything like a modern patent — other people were free to sell their own improvements on the instrument. He remained in the court until his death in 1731.
A portrait of Ferdinando de' Medici with his musicians. (Imagno/Getty Images)
The piano's relatively slow adoption may have stolen Cristofori's credit as well. Even if an invention went "viral" in the 18th century, it still had to travel at a glacial 18th century pace.Queen Maria Barbara de Braganza purchased five pianos of Cristofori's design, and after that the instrument slowly spread in elite circles. There were early objections to the piano —Johann Sebastian Bach thought it could use some tweaks — and even Mozart, born in 1756, played the harpsichord as a child. It probably lessened Cristofori's fame that his invention took 100 years to truly oust the harpsichord from elite musical circles.
Finally, there were a lot of improvements to the piano, and those improvements were crucial to its success. Organ builder Gottfried Silbermann added a sustain pedal, and he also boosted sales of the piano. Other inventors added materials better suited to the piano's unique abilities. Finally, composers eventually came around to the piano, which helped it replace the harpsichord as the premier musical instrument.
Though Cristofori was clearly the inventor of the piano, it's less clear exactly why he's forgotten outside of musical circles. It may be a combination of his employment, the piano's slow adoption, and the subsequent improvements. He wasn't famous when he was alive — that's the reason we only have one portrait of him — and he isn't particularly famous today. But in a way, that nuance is appropriate for an inventor who introduced new shades of sound to music. Cristofori's legacy isn't the sharp plucking of a harpsichord — it's a piano, playing still.
We're down to the final two pieces! From a list that included pieces by Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Copland, Barber, and Prokofiev, the Haydn Sonata from the Classical Period of music has survived! It now goes up against the winning piece in Susannah Steele's studio. Haydn Sonata in D major, first movement J. S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in C minor, WTC I, no. 2 Which is your favorite? Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was a composer from Austria. He got his start in music as a choir boy in Vienna's largest cathedral, St. Stephen's. As he grew and became a composer, he was discovered and hired by Prince Esterhazy to compose and direct the music of his court, a position that he held for his adult life. In addition to writing many works for piano, Haydn also composed symphonies, string quartets, and works for voice, including oratorios and masses. Much of his music exemplifies his lightness of spirit and sense of humor, both characteristics that we hear in the D major sonata!
I hope that you have all enjoyed listening to all of these great piano works over the past month!
Make sure you have cast your vote by Monday, March 23rd, when we also resume lessons.
We'll have one more round and then find out the results of our entire March Madness Piano Challenge at the Piano Party at MANC on Friday, March 27th, 6:30-7:30 pm.
On the other side of the competition, Susannah Steele's students, are choosing between another set of composers and music, and this week, they're voting on Bach and Ravel. You can check it all out here: http://slspiano.blogspot.com/p/special-events.html.
Happy listening, and see you next week!
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
March Madness - Round Three! Thank you to all of you who are listening and voting. I want to see 100% of student participation this week! The winners from the last round are: Team 1: Liszt "Un sospiro" Team 2: Haydn Sonata in D major Team 3: Prokofiev Toccata Team 4: Rachmaninoff Prelude in B minor This week's round of voting ends on Monday, 3/16. Team One - Adrita, Anna G., Arwen, Ellen, Emma, Irene, Jenny, Jizelle, Eric, Mira, Steven, Zoe Liszt Concert Etude no. 3, "Un sospiro" Haydn Sonata in D major, First movement Vote for your favorite! Team Two - Andrew, Anna S., Bebe, Lentz, Lillian, Lilianna, Maggie, Max, Michael, Nora, Wesley, Stella Prokofiev Toccata Rachmaninoff Prelude in B minor Vote for your favorite!
There will be NO lessons next week (3/16-20), due to the group class schedule. We will resume regular lessons schedule the week of 3/23.
Each week you will be assigned two pieces to listen to (YouTube links are provided below), and I'll ask you to vote on your favorite. Team members, family, and friends are all welcome join in - if you listen you can have a vote!
A few points on listening:
THE ONE RULE: no talking/noise distractions while you listen (this may be the hardest part of the challenge)
Listen in the car, during mealtime, when you practice, etc. - whenever works for you is fine. (I've made it a point to choose shorter pieces - most are under 10 minutes - so no one should have trouble finding time to do this each week.)
Try drawing or coloring what the music makes you think of while you listen
You don't have to sit still while you listen - move around and dance if you feel like it!
Talk about what you hear! We'll discuss it in your lesson, too.
Don't worry if you forget to vote - you'll have a chance to do that during your lesson if needed.
Here are the YouTube links for your listening assignment this week. Find your team and listen to the examples, then pick your favorite of the two! This first round of voting ends on Monday, March 2.
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