("french suite no. 5 in g major") (applauding) - bravo! very fine. very sensitive playing. really beautiful touch you have. and beautiful way of playing the piano. i want to discuss the problems of playing
bach on the piano. and the things that one has to work out in order to make this musicconvincing as piano music. if you look, for instance, at the third volume of thespitter's biography of bach, it has all the exercises thatbach gave to his students. have you seen them? not really? - not really.
- yeah. based around the idea of chorales. and they're a series of chord progressions that go somewhere, andgo back to something. they have a direction. he is teaching them voice leading. but at the same time, it's music. and it's not just dry exercises. and one should look at them.
they're full of mistakes, by the way, because i think they were student copies, and so he just collected them. there's a lot of mistakes. but there are manyinteresting things one hears. and i think the concept of a chorale is something that shouldguide you in the playing. because it'll show you where you're going, where are the points of climax,
where are the points of tension, and where are the relaxations,and how is it going. you have to create what iscalled linear progressions, for instance. hearing an interval unfold in time. and i think you can be more aware of that. and the other thing i would say is to not use too many pianisticeffects, like subito piano, or for instance, in thecourante, quite a strong sound.
yes, strong sound, but still having thisrhythm of the courante. one, two, three. so it doesn't becometoo pianistic, as such. it shouldn't be done. now, the question of tempo brings us. again, it's a matter oftaste, to some extent. but i think the allemande isflowing, but not too rushed. not too.
going forward. let me just play a littlebit the first phrase, and show you what i mean. also, don't do the ornamentsthe first time around. it's the second time that you can do. so that for instance, if you do. i wouldn't do that. now, you have to hear this third. and back.
so that that's a whole phrase up to there. it's one statement. then the tension gets more, when you're getting into a harmony that's not part of tonic-dominant. so very often in thispiece, he'll go to e minor. but it's a tease. it's a tease, becausehe's back on the dominant. and now you have.
this expresses the dominant. okay. now, the second half fulfillsthis idea of going to e minor. so it needs more tone. because one has to showthe amount of tension. that's a natural partof expressing the piece. and so therefore it wouldbe a little bit louder. and then you can use things from, i do, from the harpsichord.
instead of. sorry. big leaps. then be aware of the suspensions. four, three, four, three, four, three. that's the end of e minor. and now it has tomodulate back to g major. we're on the dominant,pedal point on the dominant. back to the minor.
and now it confirms the key. all of these structuralthings have to be shown. otherwise, the piece isn't complete. you don't hear it as a complete thought. try it now. relax. i don't think. i don't think it should have any tension. you're just expressing a third.
you want to just. play me just that. now it goes to the neighbor. and this is ornamented by bach himself. and again. it's that third that began the piece, that's sort of the motivefor the whole piece. sorry, it has too much tension.
yes. lead to the neighbor. good. and then now diminuendo. no, i wouldn't do it. needs more tension. just a little bit. lead to that, sorry. stop.
i would reduce it, when you're at home, to the basic chords, so that you know where things are going, and so that it doesn't just sort of go. it has a direction to it. more tension. now relax. nice. tension.
not too much. keep in your mind the high notes, because they don't really, they don't disappear. so that one hears. you see? so, in other words. keep it in your mind. grow.
whenever there's a neighbor note, a neighbor note is dissonant. so i would play it with more tension. and then it changes, and it goes back. right. go to the neighbor. all right, you can go on. you can do ornaments, if you want. expressive.
pure. keep the g. more sound. it's okay, more sound. you're in e minor. four to three. expressive! that's right. 7th.
seven. go to the 7th, to the 7th. yeah, what note do you expect? and he doesn't go there, because he wants to getback into the register. see, this register. so you should think of thatc going to the low register. shhh.
can you try just a little bitmore singing in the sound? just a bit. sing. that's good! to this. crescendo. yes, nice, nice. sing, sing. now, try the courante.
that was very nice. try the courante at less of, less fast, and less aggressive, too. so anything in g major, there's a kind oflightness and blessedness. if you think of the g majorpiano concerto of his, it has a tenderness, and, i don't know, a purity, that g major alone has, for the composers.
and so, for instance. can i hear this linear progression from the g? basically the g has to sound in your mind. do you see that? and then now it's in the alto voice. so we hear that 4th, because, coming up, d will be the most importantnote for the last four bars, but up to that,
and the second time, to go to the key of the dominant. that for me is a little too aggressive. it's forte, but it's not. yes! i'm sorry. do you know what i mean with this 4th? just slowly. this is not important, go here.
and then, not so much the f sharp, but the d. yes, that's it. that's a good shape. don't worry about it. good, now, with charm. a d on. is mainly how it's going.
for me, it's still a little bit too fast, but it has better shape. but now with the shape,be more subtle about it. everything you do is right, but now, very subtle. so it's very natural. it's getting hard. dance. yeah.
in three, what's thenature of this courante? which is a strong beat? the first beat, and the third goes to that. one, two, three, one, two,three, one, two, three. yeah, it's too much. you see, it's too much. suddenly an accent. even that shouldn't be that soft.
very subtle and dancing. not subido. try again. i wouldn't do subidopianos there, just natural. light and natural. not from the top, from. that's nice. let's go on. don't get too fast.
this is tension. this is much more dramatic, in a way. although it's not very dramatic. the whole period in e minor has to be with more tensionthan in the other keys, than the tonic and the dominant. that's loud, that's loud. you remember i told you about. but this.
show me that. but it starts. starting there. no, starting there. that's it, that's it, you've got it. e, e, e. yes, you remember? and now higher. now more.
dance, dance, dance. good, that's better. it has more charm. now, the sarabande. i think this is a fast sarabande. why? because you have 16 bars in one. do you know the structure of this? - yes.
- 16 bars in the first section, 16 bars in the second section, but the last 8 of thosebars are sort of recapping, they go exactly to the first. where is this? compare this. except for that f natural, it's the same. so it tries the recapitulation. play that.
and that recapitulationdoesn't really work, because it doesn't get back to g major. and he tries it again. i would move it, at least to the second bar. one, two, three. two, three.
one. you see, that's one thought. if it's going, it won't be able to encompass16 bars, then 16 bars, and then you have a coda of 8 bars. that's a very long. my math is not good, butthat's many, many measures, much longer than the usual16 measures or 24 measures. two.
is there a way you could lead it? if there's a way that you canlead it to the second measure. no, relax after the. one, two. it's very natural. no, i wouldn't play. maybe it's that. lead to the next measure. it's getting stuck.
it always has to sing. yes, it always has to sing. if it gets too pianistic, in a way, it doesn't, i don't think, imagine if it was a violin or something that you were accompanying. yeah, that's good. three, one. you can take a breath.
keep it moving. free now. sing, sing, sing the top voice. connect to the a. the a will connect to that g. where are you? and that won't be resolved 'til here. a. yes, you see?
the g resolves. it goes into the bass. that's good, you canuse this as a hemiola. in order to change therhythm from the three. three. and two, and three. that's good. now, more tension.
going to e minor. here you're in e minor. now you cadence, in e minor. and now you begin a recapitulation. it's exactly the first part. play it. and that didn't work, so now another.
no, keep it. now you're in g major. i would take a little time here, because this is a long 8-bar phrase, which isn't expected. sostenuto tempo. yes, that's extra. this is so beautiful. now you have your closing cadence.
not too loud. connect, connect this, the b to the e. connect it. very good. thanks very much.
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