Classical Musicians of the world unite: you have nothing to lose but other people’s prejudices that we are all stuffy, elitist and live in ivory towers.
Alexander Rodchenko
Classical Revolution takes classical music out of its traditional home of the concert hall, and into bars, cafes, clubs and other unusual venues to allow audiences to engage with the music and the musicians in new and alternative ways.
It was started in San Francisco in 2006 and has migrated to some 25 cities across Europe and the USA. Classical Revolution London is curated by energetic and innovative violinist Simon Hewitt Jones (the Road to Jericho project, Musbook, Music Teacher Map). Classical Revolution encourages both “indie” classical musicians and more established professional performers to showcase their work, and offers “open mic” sessions to allow up and coming performers the opportunity to present their music as well as headline acts and “chamber music jam sessions”. The informal presentation allows the audience to connect more closely with the music and musicians, to chat informally over a drink, and the opportunity to play with the musicians in the Chamber Music Jam sessions.
I am a huge fan of this kind of “democratisation” of classical music, which makes it more accessible to a wider audience, and breaks down stereotypes about classical music and classical musicians. Come and get to know us – we are mostly harmless!
The first event, on 23rd March, takes place at The Red Hedgehog, an intimate arts venue in Highgate, north London, and features pianist Christine Stevenson, playing Liszt.
Another excellent three days in the company of other advanced pianists – some students, some piano teachers like me, and some professional pianists – on the piano course run by my teacher, Penelope Roskell. We enjoyed a wide range of repertoire, from Scarlatti to Stephen Montague, and discussed and practiced aspects of technique such as soft hands and forearms, ‘Mozartian’ staccato (what Penelope descibes as “detached legato”), ‘orchestrating’ sonatas and piano works by Haydn and Mozart, and how to achieve a beautiful cantabile sound in Schubert’s Impromptu in G flat (D899 No. 3) and Chopin’s ‘Aeolian Harp’ Etude (Opus 25, No. 1). And much more besides….. Our coffee and lunch breaks were full of interesting ‘piano chat’ and it was both instructive and enjoyable to exchange ideas with other pianists and teachers. The next course is on September – details at the end of the post.
Despite finding the first course (in April 2009) very daunting, because of the very high standard of the other participants, I have always gained a huge amount from these courses: they are instructional, inspiring, very supportive, and non-competitive. Everyone comes to the course with different needs and interests, from help with tension or performance anxiety, or simply a desire to play through some repertoire to other people in a relaxed setting. The course always ends with a concert, to which friends and family are welcome. The performance aspect of these courses has done wonders for my confidence and I have lost any shyness I had about performing, and now actively enjoy it. The 30 seconds of contemplative silence which greeted my performance of Chopin’s Nocturne in E, Opus 62, No. 2 was the ultimate compliment at the concert yesterday afternoon, and I was flattered and touched by some of the comments I received afterwards.
What we played during the course:
Debussy – Preludes Book I: ‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’
Villa-Lobos – Prole de bebe No. 1: ‘O Polochinello’
Bach – Prelude & Fugue in F minor, XII, WTC Book 2
Chopin – Nocturne in E, Op. 62, No. 2 (me)
Mendelssohn – Variations Serieuses, Op. 54
Chopin – Berceuse, Op. 57
Scriabin – Piano Sonata No. 4, in F sharp major, Op. 30
Mozart – Piano Sonata in A minor, K 310 (1st & 2nd movements)
Haydn – Piano Sonata in E flat, No. 59, Hob. XVI:49 (1st movement)
Mozart – Piano Sonata in D, K 576
Chopin – Waltz in E minor, No. 14
Beethoven – Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 10 No. 2
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 5 (1st movement)
Dave Brubeck – ‘Dad Plays the Harmonica’
Henry Cowell – ‘Exultation’
Stephen Montague – ‘The Headless Horseman’
Bach – Concerto in D minor after Marcello BWV 974 (me)
Chopin – Etude, Opus 25 No. 1 ‘Aeolian Harp’
Mozart – Rondo in A minor, K511 (me)
Scarlatti – Sonata K.215
Martin Butler – ‘After Concord’
Joanna MacGregor – Lowside Blues
Diana Burrell – ‘Constellations’
Schubert – Impromptu in G flat, D899 no. 3
Chopin – Nocturne, Op. 48 No. 1
Bach – Prelude & Fugue in C-sharp major, WTC Book 2, III
Prokfiev – Piano Sonata No. 3 (1st movement)
Liszt – Concert Study: ‘Un Sospiro’
Charles Tebbs – ‘Moonlight from Sunlight’ (Charles is a pianist and composer who attended the course and performed some of his own pieces for us)
Turner Inspired: in the light of Claude is an opportunity to see the work of two great landscape artists side by side: Turner’s paintings, watercolours, and drawings demonstrate his lifelong devotion to Claude. What comes through in this engaging exhibition, however, is Turner’s strikingly innovative approach to painting and his redefining of the British landscape. Read my review for OneStopArts here
I’m flagging up this interesting project which a colleague of mine in the US (and contributor to this blog), Catherine Shefski, is undertaking this year, to learn and record one piece of piano music per week. As she says in the blurb to accompany her recordings on SoundCloud “Like many piano teachers, over the years my own piano playing has taken a back seat to teaching and all the administrative work that goes along with running a music studio. This year I’ve decided to change that. I am making a commitment to record and upload one piece each week. By setting these weekly deadlines, I’m hoping to overcome my tendency towards procrastination and perfectionism.”
I think Catherine’s comments probably chime with many piano teachers – that we don’t play enough as we focus more of our attention on teaching. If one runs a busy teaching studio, it can be hard to find the time to play oneself, and at the end of a long teaching session, one may not feel like sitting at the piano. However, I think it is crucially important for a teacher to play regularly, if possible. One should be constantly exploring new repertoire, and honing one’s techniques and skill-base. All useful in teaching, and to me, more useful than reading dry pedagogical texts and music theory away from the piano.
I admit I am very selfish about my piano playing: this is partly because having got one Diploma (with Distinction!) under my belt, I am now working towards the next one (LTCL). I learnt from my preparation for the first Diploma, that if I don’t put the hours in at the piano, I won’t be properly prepared – and preparedness is essential. On another level, I really really enjoy playing the piano. Even if I am working on some particularly knotty passages of Liszt or a finger-twisting Rachmaninov transcription of Bach, I get a tremendous amount of pleasure and satisfaction from playing. I am rarely bored, because if there is nothing else to do, I will nearly always play the piano. And I know I’m not alone in feeling this – even a busy professional pianist has to love his or her job to do it well.
Take a look at Catherine’s accompanying blog to read more about the Go Play Project, and visit her SoundCloud to hear her pieces.
As for playing the piano, in the words of the slogan of a famous sportwear company – JUST DO IT!
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