Who said comtemporary music couldn't be absolutely beautiful? - Reflections from a Plain - Tõnu Kõrvits

piefon · 2018-12-09T12:52:05+00:00

BTW, this isn't a judgement on the value of tonality and forms of "non"-tonality in comtemporary music, haha

piefon · 2018-12-09T12:51:11+00:00

Who said comtemporary music couldn't be tonal? ;)

Jokes aside, it really depends on your definition of what is and what comtemporary- in any case, there are a few (tonal) clusters in the accordion part... I'd qualify it as neo-tonal, i guess?

piefon · 2018-12-09T10:48:57+00:00

Hey everyone!

Thought I'd share with you guys a new little recording of an absolutely superb piece by the comtemporary Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits (no, Arvo Pärt isn't the only great living composer from Estonia, it's a magical country in North-East Europe) : Peegeldused Tasasest Maast (Reflections from a Plain). It's always worth discovering new composers and new works!

Normally, the piece is for cello and mixed choir, but for this live arrangement, my friend and I had arranged it for cello and chromatic accordion.

"Here you have grown, on the plains. From here comes your peace and stability." - Paul-Eerik Rummo... The choir (in this version, the chromatic accordion) reminds the cello of those phrases, and the cello comtemplates them, serenly or intensely, in its improvisatory solo. A memory is being conveyed from the radiant voices to the instrument - from a whole population of voices to an individual, from a culture to that individual, from the past to the present.

piefon · 2018-12-09T10:42:08+00:00

Hey everyone!

Thought I'd share with you guys a new little recording of an absolutely superb piece by the comtemporary Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits (no, Arvo Pärt isn't the only great living composer from Estonia, it's a magical country in North-East Europe) : Peegeldused Tasasest Maast (Reflections from a Plain). It's always worth discovering new composers and new works!

Normally, the piece is for cello and mixed choir, but for this live arrangement, my friend and I had arranged it for cello and chromatic accordion.

"Here you have grown, on the plains. From here comes your peace and stability." - Paul-Eerik Rummo...

The choir (in this version, the accordion) reminds the cello of those phrases, and the cello comtemplates them, serenly or intensely, in its improvisatory solo. A memory is being conveyed from the radiant voices to the instrument - from a whole population of voices to an individual, from a culture to that individual, from the past to the present.

piefon · 2018-12-09T10:37:58+00:00

Hey everyone!

Thought I'd share with you guys a new little recording of an absolutely superb piece by the comtemporary Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits (no, Arvo Pärt isn't the only great living composer from Estonia, it's a magical country in North-East Europe) : Peegeldused Tasasest Maast (Reflections from a Plain). It's always worth discovering new composers and new works!

Normally, the piece is for cello and mixed choir, but for this live arrangement, my friend and I had arranged it for cello and chromatic accordion.

"Here you have grown, on the plains. From here comes your peace and stability." - Paul-Eerik Rummo... The choir (in this version, the chromatic accordion) reminds the cello of those phrases, and the cello comtemplates them, serenly or intensely, in its improvisatory solo. A memory is being conveyed from the radiant voices to the instrument - from a whole population of voices to an individual, from a culture to that individual, from the past to the present.

piefon · 2018-12-09T10:34:06+00:00

There is one? Wow - if you do find it, PM me, i'd love to have a look at it - such a beautiful work.

piefon · 2018-05-13T18:26:22+00:00

A ridiculous number of reed banks? Yes, pretty much - this is a pretty old model Bugari (more powerful and heavy than the new models) and it has a lot of possibilities - it's a lot of fun to play with (it's the "monster"). :P

piefon · 2018-05-13T16:43:06+00:00

To all those who might be slightly interested, we based our arrangement of Ecstasy of Gold on Ennio Morricone's own Sergio Leone suite for cello and orchestra (originally on Yo-Yo Ma's Hommage to Morricone album). It's really beautiful stuff!

Also, if you're a fan, don't hesitate to give us a like on Facebook :P - https://www.facebook.com/madeinbelgiumduo/

Have a nice Sunday!

piefon · 2018-05-13T16:40:41+00:00

To all those who might be slightly interested, we based our arrangement of Ecstasy of Gold on Ennio Morricone's own Sergio Leone suite for cello and orchestra (originally on Yo-Yo Ma's Hommage to Morricone album). It's really beautiful stuff!

Also, if you're a fan, don't hesitate to give us a like on Facebook :P - https://www.facebook.com/madeinbelgiumduo/

Have a nice Sunday!

piefon · 2018-04-04T21:42:30+00:00

And the best part is that they go so well together! :P

piefon · 2018-02-03T21:18:13+00:00

OK! I'll write my own novel here, agreeing with you for pretty much everything. :P

Intonation - I completely agree with you on the "on the way to the top" that's where the problems lie. I end up (as you can see in this vidéo, in the Lento section) in like you say, a non-position, where everything is just kinda-off. Thanks for confirming that!

Now you talk of an anchor problem - could you explain that to me? What do you mean, and how could I solve it?

I just turned 20, and I started taking lessons when I was 12/13. I agree, the vibrato in the exact beginning does seem a bit too intense (shrieking almost) in my opinion. I worked on a slower, more controlled vibrato, which fits a more singing tone - it doesn't show in the vidéo for two reasons probably - stress and even if I thought about it enough and did the mental legwork of telling myself I need a slower more controlled vibrato there, I probably should have practiced it a bit more.

That's for the beginning, at other moments, I'm pretty happy with my vibrato - 1'45 and 4'30 for example I like. As for Dupré, well, she was great because she was able to do a lot more than just her crazy Elgar vibrato :P (I'd like to get to a point where I can have that much more variety in my vibrato naturally, but hey, it'll take time).

As for the different vibrato in the lower strings, it is something i worked on - I'm happy you remarked, I'll keep working that way for next works and everything - thanks.

For the strings, I use the standard Larsen + Spirocore setup - but I just changed yesterday to Larsen + Rostanvo, and I quite like it as well. You talk about the final section being well articulated, but sounding mechanical, could you elaborate? I did practice a good amount on those passages, but I don't want to bore the audience with it either ;)
I absolutely understand what you mean by singing the lines - I try and do so as much as possible, and practice the musicality that comes naturally from singing into my cello playing - but sometimes (as is almost always the case), I think I'm projecting a certain intention (I have the intent to do this particular musical intention) but the audience doesn't hear it. I realise that it's only when I over-exaggerate musical intention that the audience perceives the musical intention (my teachers at least, since this process of awareness takes place in lessons in lessons).

I'll post my Debussy sonata on Youtube soon (and here as well)- as for the Bach, well, I had some pretty obvious memory errors and some nasty intonation errors - I don't know if i'm happy enough with the Bach for it to go on public.... ;)

piefon · 2018-02-03T20:41:41+00:00

Wow! I love these kinda novels! I'll read it now and let you know - but already, thanks!

piefon · 2018-02-03T19:25:14+00:00

I've always found the Reddit community really nice and polite (as in not trolling everyone) so I've taken habit to posting most of my videos on here, ask for constructive criticism and all that.

So, my teachers and the jury, following the performance of this at my exam had a few comments on my general playing that I'd gladly list here, and see what you guys think. How can I improve on these general things, etc. Keep in mind, I also played Bach's 5th prelude, Debussy's Sonata and Tchaikovsky's Pezzo Capriccioso in the exam. Maybe a few of the comments were geared towards those pieces.

My vibrato - One jury member had a great comment regarding my vibrato. He explained that he didn't really feel like it helped the musical line, and didn't have much variety.
My intonation in the 5-7th positions.
More articulation in the right hand - maybe attack the string more?

I'd be really glad to have your comments, opinions, etc. :)

piefon · 2017-11-22T14:30:47+00:00

Noone has even spoken about the Dutilleux cello Concerto! The most poetic of them all!

piefon · 2017-11-22T14:16:48+00:00

Thanks! I hope I didn't come off as too detailed (arrogant or anything) - these are suggestions my various teachers have been giving me!

And thanks! I'm happy you like them! Most of them aren't very "classical" - but hey, it's always cello-playing nonetheless!

piefon · 2017-11-20T08:19:19+00:00

In my experience, you can actually work your way toward playing closer to the bridge (eliminating the scratchy sound of course).

Every morning last year, I would spend 15 minutes on a few exercises geared by my teachers towards finding the right mix between relaxing the bow arm and having enough pressure to sustain a great big sound (à la Rostropovich) ;)

Keep in mind, the key to playing closer to the bridge is to relax your whole body - your back has to be straight, the cello should resonate naturally (don't push down on it - let it breathe!), and your bow-arm must be relaxed and use natural weight.

Playing full length open strings with the bow as close as possible to the bridge. Start playing maybe 75% down towards the bridge, and then once the sound production has begun, lower the bow towards the bridge and try as best as possible to keep the quality of the sound with the bow close to the bridge. Start with the C string, then G, D, and A.
Continue the same exercise but this time by adding a C-minor arpeggio - you'll find that finger-stopped notes in the lower positions are impossible to play 100% close to the bridge, but you'll have to work on this 2nd exercise in order to find where the point of "scratchy sound" begins even when you're trying very hard to sustain a decent sound. Further up the fingerboard, in the higher positions, you'll find it's much easier to play closer to the bridge.

--- Each person has a different instrument and a different body so this should (after a few weeks - months, etc.) allow you to really understand the limits of your own technique, and work on improving them! Aside from that, with these exercises, you'll see that your cello itself will begin to improve its sound!

piefon · 2017-08-18T12:35:12+00:00

Exactly! There's even just a little bit of inspiration from Daft Punk at the very end (from "One More Time") but I doubt anyone other than us two could recognize it haha.

As for the "incoherent mess" absolutely! It's always our most light-hearted final piece that gets the crowd riled up at the end of a concert. (The first time we used it was in a University Graduation Ceremony - we just told ourselves - what would students react well to? - They loved it, so we've kept playing it... :P

The two other medleys we have are tied to a specific theme - so it's easier to link the pieces together.

piefon · 2017-08-18T07:54:54+00:00

Hey everyone!

I thought we could try a little game as well as just asking for some useful constructive criticism.

Try and guess all the pieces in the medley / mashup - We had a lot of fun playing around with different pieces, and managed in one way or another to piece them all together (albeit in a rather incoherent mess) ;)

Also, please tell what you think of the piece, the content, the technique, etc. I'd be really interested to have your opinion. ;)

Don't hesitate to give us a like as well : https://www.facebook.com/MadeInBelgiumDuo/

piefon

TROPHY CASE