Monday, December 29, 2008

What does practising look like?

Dear Fluters,

Happy New Year to all, and a lovely short film.
This is a real find: I would entitle it "What does music practising actually look like?"
Enjoy. Best of the snowy season, Jen

Comments (6)
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Jen,
thank you for posting Glenn Gould practising, I am a big fan of him and it is always a pleasure to see him at work, especially so young!
I wish you a happy 2009, to you and your family, lots of beautiful moments and music in your life. Thanks for your very interesting postings...!
Sincerely,
Christian (from Ankara, Turkey)

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:57:00 AM

 
Blogger jen said...

Dear Christian,
Thanks so much for your comment. Yes, I really enjoyed these films of Gould's piano too, after reading "Romance on Three Legs", a book about the pianos that he used.
Happy New Year to you too and thanks.
Jen

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 8:16:00 AM

 
Blogger Sheila said...

Oh boy!!! If only I had those fingers. Wow. Truly, after reading Romance on Three Legs, I get *chills* watching that! Amazing! Thank you!!!!! I think I'll start out the new year with a bit of piano tomorrow! :-)

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:09:00 PM

 
Blogger Susan said...

Jen,

I, too, read "Romance on Three Legs". I couldn't put it down. Filled with stories, not only of Glenn Gould, but of the piano tuner and the Steinway company. The most moving story, for me, was the illustration of the generations that worked for Steinway and the son who discovered his father's signature inside a piano he was repairing - 40 years after his father had passed away. Too moving for words.
Thanks for the videos. i think one of the later one is quite possible of Gould playing CD 318.
Susan

Friday, January 02, 2009 1:47:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wondering how the "sing along" approach works with flute --

Friday, January 02, 2009 5:28:00 PM

 
Blogger jen said...

Two comments that didn't appear for some reason:

From Susan:
Jen,
I, too, read "Romance on Three Legs". I couldn't put it down. Filled with stories, not only of Glenn Gould, but of the piano tuner and the Steinway company. The most moving story, for me, was the illustration of the generations that worked for Steinway and the son who discovered his father's signature inside a piano he was repairing - 40 years after his father had passed away. Too moving for words.
Thanks for the videos. i think one of the later one is quite possible of Gould playing CD 318.
Susan
-------------------
Anonymous wrote:

wondering how the "sing along" approach works with flute --
------------------
Dear Susan,
Thanks for your comment. I too couldn't put it down. Great cliff-hanging chapters!
My favourite scene was of course, the climax (don't want to spoil it for everyone--but you know the fate of that piano!) and the moment when the blind tuner has to feel to find out what happened to the piano.
ACK! Amazing!

Dear Anonymous,
Actually I find that this kind of rhthmic checking (by using the mouth to create the rhythm) is brilliant!
And singing while playing, as you'll see from my youtube videos on creating a more resonant tone, is also a terrific technique.
Gould simply enjoys singing the phrasing of the line.
Very smart. Flutists should definitely all sing (just maybe not on their CDs! hahahaha)

Best,
Jen

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Saturday, January 03, 2009 7:22:00 PM

 

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