The March Madness Piano Ensemble Listening Challenge has come to a close! Thank you to all who participated! Listening to music is one of best activities we can do to expand our musical vocabulary, develop our ears, and learn how to better listen to ourselves when we practice and play. I hope that you enjoyed the selections! In the Piano Concerto category, The Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto won in a landslide! The following students completed all four of the challenges:
Adrita
Alex Arwen
Claire Emma
Irene
Larry
Nora
Sarah
Stella
Steven
Zoe
Congratulations to all of you for sticking with it until the end. I will distribute treats to you at your lessons after spring break!
Stay tuned after spring break for some information about a special summer piano experience!
It's the final week of Piano Ensemble March Madness! Last week's vote was close, but Piazzolla's Oblivion edged out Ginatera's La Danza de la Moza Donosa with the most votes. Thanks for listening! Update on 3/28: the pieces are now at a tie! If you haven't listened to last week's pieces, cast your vote and be the tiebreaker! This week, you will be watching performances of two of the most famous works from the romantic concerto repertoire. A concerto is a work for solo instrument (or several instruments) and orchestra. As concertos developed, they became dramatic vehicles for a performer's technical virtuosity. You will hear the musical themes in both the soloist and the orchestra - sometimes they alternate playing, sometimes they play together. The power of the full orchestra combined with the dazzling virtuosity of the soloist make concertos exciting to watch and listen to! These selections are longer, but please watch the first two videos in their entirety. The first is the first movement of the famous piano concerto by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg(1843-1907). Many of you will recognize Grieg's name from having played or heard music from his Peer Gynt Suite. The second selection is the first movement from Peter Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) piano concerto, one of the most well-known works in the piano concerto repertory. Tchaikovsky should also be a name that is familiar to you (he wrote The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, among many other things). This video cuts off before you get to the end, so I have also added the 2nd part if you want to hear how it ends!
Last week's winner was Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee - thanks for listening! This week's videos feature music for piano in a chamber ensemble. A chamber ensemble is a small group of musicians and can feature many different combinations of instruments from groups of strings, winds, and even percussion. Chamber ensembles do not have a conductor - each musician is responsible for knowing not only their own part, but the parts of their partners so that they can listen and respond to the parts as they interact. Since I've been so heavily featuring composers from Russia, I've moved to a completely different world region. This week's listening examples come from two South American composers, both from Argentina. The first is a piece by composer and arranger Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). Piazzolla injected fresh energy into the tango genre, creating a new style called "nuevo tango" that incorporated elements from classical music and jazz into the traditional tango.
The second is a work by another Argentinian, Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983). The Danza de la Moza Donosa (Dance of the Beautiful Maiden) is a slow, gentle dance; originally written for solo piano, this is a beautiful arrangement for piano, violin, and cello.
Last week's winner was the Sabre Dance! Thanks to all of you who participated! This week's listening challenge again features the music of two Russian composers (I will select some non-Russians for next week, I promise!). Having 2 pianists at 2 different pianos provides the opportunity for richer textures and a more powerful sound!
The first is by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). This selection is from his ballet based on the story of Cinderella. This particular movement of the work is called "Gallop," and at this point in the story, the Prince is frantically searching all over the kingdom for the mysterious and elusive Cinderella. The second selection will be familiar to you! It is a two-piano arrangement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844-1908) Flight of the Bumblebee. Originally written for orchestra, we hear this piece in many forms, and the lightening fast finger work mimics the sound of a buzzing bee as it travels! Enjoy! Listen, vote, and email/text me your photo!
To kick off our listening challenge, we have two piano duets (one piano, four hands) by two Russian composers. The Russian composer Igor Stravinsky's (1882-1971) ballet Petrushka tells the story ofa puppet who comes to life. The ballet takes place during the carnival season in St. Petersburg, Russia and features colorful music that often references the folk music of Russia. Want to learn more about the story of Petrushka? Spoiler alert: the story does not have a happy ending. Click here to read more! Aram Khachaturian (1903-1987) was a Soviet Armenian composer. The "Sabre Dance" was part of a ballet and has become one of his most popular and recognized works. You may recognize it from TV or movies (classical music shows up in many places!). You can learn more about Khachaturian here. After you watch both videos, cast your vote below. You can invite your friends and family to vote as well! I will post the winning piece next Monday when I introduce the next challenge. Show me you participated by having someone take a picture of you watching the videos or taking a screen shot of your vote. Email me the pics so that I can mark your participation!
The March Madness listening challenge is back this year! Listening examples will focus on the piano in ensemble. WEEK 1: Piano Duet (1 piano, four hands) WEEK 2: Piano Duo (2 pianos, four hands) WEEK 3: Piano in Chamber Ensemble WEEK 4: Piano Concerto (piano and orchestra) Here's how it works:
Each week, I will post 2 videos for students to watch. I will try to keep the selections short, so please make an effort to watch the videos in their entirety.
Once you have listened to both videos, you may vote for your favorite. The whole family can participate in the voting process!
I will post the winning video on my board and the blog each week.
Every student who participates for all 4 weeks will receive a treat at the end of the challenge!
Listening to music and watching other performers is such an important part of our development as musicians. The first 2 videos will be released on Monday, March 6.
