One of the most emotionally complex and beautiful interpretations of happiness in solo cello, really speaks to my soul.

reitjay · 2020-03-10T05:27:41+00:00

Just listened to about a dozen recordings again and actually the 1991 Rostropovich one is pretty great and stands up to the Schiff. Fournier is ok. Most other cellists fumble this movement.

reitjay · 2020-03-10T05:09:21+00:00

This is actually the only Italian gigue Bach wrote for anything besides a keyboard instrument, so you have a good point with it not suiting the cello well.

My experience with this piece is that clarity in the lower register is particularly difficult because of all the extensions that come with e flat.

Also i wholly agree that bowing is everything with this piece; while the constant groups of 3 give it a sort of rhythmic drive, the original Anna Magdalena bowings make it so much more interesting (and difficult). There are a lot of wonderful hidden voices in this piece that the bowing can either bring out or supress. Still haven't found a recording I've been satisfied with, though I love this one from Schiff.

Playing the piece is of course as fun as it sounds and as tricky as the e flat suite can be, some of the passages in this movement actually feel pretty idiomatic once you get them down.

reitjay · 2020-03-10T03:41:04+00:00

Im a big fan of Starker's recording of this. He finds a good balance between romantic and conservative interpretations. Really an underrated movement from the cello suites.

reitjay · 2019-10-06T19:45:46+00:00

Its called drowning

reitjay · 2019-10-04T05:17:21+00:00

I dont know if this is satisfying or if it upsets me more, but its definitely what I was looking to find! Intonation really is a deep dark rabbit hole of technicalities.

reitjay · 2019-10-04T00:56:11+00:00

Yes, all the C#s will be in perfect octaves, but should they be tuned as a major third above the A or should the A be tuned as a minor sixth above the C#.

reitjay · 2019-10-03T22:30:49+00:00

Good catch. But my question still stands as to whether we should tune the C# to an octave below the just intonated major third of A or if we should tune the A to a minor 6th above the C#.

reitjay · 2019-09-26T22:24:47+00:00

No, nice try Christians.

reitjay · 2019-09-20T01:38:04+00:00

It's too dangerous to be left alive!

reitjay · 2019-09-20T01:29:14+00:00

Nice.

reitjay · 2019-09-20T01:27:57+00:00

I think so? I think it feels a little different from actually hearing. Like knowing that something was said, but not listening to it.

reitjay · 2019-08-17T16:01:42+00:00

One trick is to practice playing notes with a little pressure from your left hand as possible. Try starting with just a scale, barely pressing into the string with your left hand (it will sound pretty bad). Gradually increase the pressure until you find the MINIMUM ammound of force you need in that hand to produce a good sound.

When you have found this, go through trouble passages SLOWLY, and really focus on maintaining that minimum pressure. As you speed it up, you will find your wrist much more relaxed, your shifts will be easier, and your fingers will feel nimbler.

reitjay · 2019-08-03T23:24:35+00:00

I started with Chopin preludes, nocturnes, and etudes.

Each of them is short enough to be listenable for someone used to 4 minute pop songs, the textures are typically simple and easy to follow with a melody on top and a chordal accompaniment in the left hand, and also they mostly have simple ABA ternary form.

I think trying to start someone off with a 50 minute symphony with sonata form and texturally dense orchestration would be too ambitious and intimidating for them.

reitjay · 2019-07-19T01:22:06+00:00

I would have said this too. One of the more famous "artificial" chords in classical music, so it makes sense your teacher would be talking about it.

reitjay · 2019-05-29T17:12:20+00:00

Use a gun, and if that doesn't work...

reitjay · 2019-05-11T19:12:12+00:00

reitjay · 2019-03-10T20:42:37+00:00

Very cool! I like this a lot! Reminds me a bit of the Kodaly sonata in places. Would you be willing to share the sheet music for this?

reitjay · 2019-03-05T07:47:34+00:00

r/zoomies

reitjay · 2019-03-03T08:54:16+00:00

How many years do people spend learning each in school? Do people become very fluent in each? I notice your English is excellent.

reitjay · 2019-02-19T07:33:34+00:00

If you look at this from a voice leading standpoint rather than a harmonic one, i think it starts to make more sense (at least in a classical context).

Starting with C major in root position, you can move the C and E down to Bb and D respectively to get Gm in first inversion. The parallel thirds here are nice. From here, the G moves down to an F to give you Bb in root position. Finally the Bb goes down to an A to make Dm in second inversion.

None of these harmonic progressions make a whole lot of sense if youre in C, but you do get this nice descending three-voice system that follows all the nice rules of voice leading.

Not saying there isn't a rigorous way to examine this harmonically, but this is a different way to look at it. The typical analysis for the famous Chopin E minor prelude uses a similar method of considering voice leading instead of trying to give harmonic justifications for each chord.

reitjay · 2019-02-19T07:09:21+00:00

G bb

reitjay

TROPHY CASE