Article by Anoush Tchakarian, 8/12/2015
“No one can make an
educated decision about the instrument that they want to study without hearing
it played beautifully!
Students need to hear instruments played to their absolute,
full potential, both before choosing it and also during their weekly study.”
- Anthony Mazzocchi, author of The Music
Parents’ Guide
Often when I assign works by
Johann Sebastian Bach to my students, regardless of age and level of progress,
I am met with mixed reactions of fear, poorly disguised disappointment, sighs,
and frowns. When I first started teaching young children, some of them already
had encountered J.S. Bach as part of their training, and with a very few
exceptions, all disliked playing his works. When I asked them why they had this
attitude towards one of the greatest composers, the overwhelming answer was “.
. . Too hard to learn and memorize.” To the kids who actually learned and
performed Bach, I directed my second question: Well, after you learned it,
didn’t you love playing it? Most of them answered with a frank and short “No.”
At first I found this disheartening.
When I was a young student, I
went through Bach’s two-part, three-part inventions, his short preludes and
fugues, and later on his Well-Tempered Clavier Books I and II, French Suites,
and Partitas, and loved every single one of them. Quite often I sight-read Bach
and asked my teachers to play particular works by him, with which I easily fell
in love. Thanks to my father, whose never ending love for music prompted
non-stop listening to recordings and radio, I listened to music almost
endlessly. Also thankfully Bach was a requirement at my school and nobody could
get away without covering most of his Well-Tempered Clavier Books prior to
graduating. This developed tremendously my touch, phrasing, attention to
detail, and understanding of polyphony, and helped me develop the necessary
skills for interpreting other genres, especially the rich multi-voiced layered
structures that we find in Brahms, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and the
list goes on.
After meeting this initial
resistance from my students regarding Bach, I decided to set on a mission to
make Bach appealing and loved. One of my first steps was personal
demonstration. When I assign Bach, I always sit in front of the piano before
students and parents, and play through the assigned work, trying in the best
possible way to convey his ideas. I noticed that this started to make a slight
difference. In addition, I will
recommend to the families to get recordings of particular performers, listen to
his cantatas, or simply check the local listings of WQED radio (Sunday Baroque gives
a great opportunity to hear great performances). I tried my best to persuade both students and
parents of the tremendous benefits that come from learning and performing Bach.
From developing greater dexterity to strengthening their ability to focus. And
if all else failed, I occasionally simply insisted: “Johnny (and Mom), you are
going to finish working on this chorale because it is beautiful. And I won’t
let you go before you hear and feel the beauty and put the thought into it.”
The looks and ill-attempted protests I get after sentences as such I cherish
the most. My second step was and still is, to keep my smart technology handy
and send them a performance or recording info. Not necessarily of the same
exact work (most young kids have assignments from the Anna-Magdalena Notebook),
but another one of Bach’s which I believe will benefit them most.
The choice for my playlist is
of the acclaimed Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt’ lecture/demonstration DVD Bach Performance on the Piano. This DVD
could be easily found for purchase through her website (or on amazon.com) or on
YouTube. She is the leading performer of
J. S. Bach and an exquisite pianist. I would like my students to pay particular
attention to her touch and phrasing, as well as her flawless ornamentation.
When most students listen to her interpretation, the overwhelming comment is
how she sings on the piano, her cantabile. Her masterclass is a great guide and
tool not only to students, but pedagogues alike. I picked Bach’s Two-Part
Invention No. 1 in C major BWV 772 since it is one of the pillars of standard
repertoire for every piano student.
My second choice for the playlist is a young Yuja Wang
performing Carl Czerny’s Etude Op. 849, No. 2. Czerny’s etudes (and
unfortunately not only his technical studies) are often met with pure boredom
and eye rolling. But when performed by a kid (Wang is currently one of the
leading concert pianists and an amazing performer touring around the world and
performing in the best venues) puts it in perspective how necessary and crucial
technical studies are to develop better and safe technique. It helps
children to identify themselves with other young pianists and it helps them to see
how much they can achieve by dedicating time, practice, and patience to the
piano. Etudes are inseparable part of the piano training. Yes, they can be
quite monotonous at first, but down the road the complex ones by Chopin,
Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff await us! They tackle various techniques and issues
that will be met in the repertoire, as well as prevent injuries when executed
correctly and under the expert supervision of the teacher. In this particular
video, Yuja Wang seems and sounds comfortable and confident. She looks like she
is having fun. Let’s have fun with these scale patterns and eventually our
fingers will become as independent and dexterous as possible. Even if we aren’t
having fun with Czerny, Cramer, or Duvernoy, it might be a good idea to pretend
that we are, since stage appearance and presence are crucial parts of our
beloved art. Being in a particular character is part of the game.
And speaking of character, the last video of Prokovief’s Peter and the Wolf illustrates best the
abilities of different instruments to paint a picture, tell a story, and create
characters with different colors, timber, and rhythmic patterns. It challenges kids’
imagination and engages them on another level of listening carefully and
recognizing the various instruments. It will help young pianists to imitate
these different timbres on the piano, encourage them to “paint” a picture, tell
a story, and play with dynamic levels when on their instrument. After all, who
doesn’t like a great fairy tale or making up stories? I know I do, and I am not
the only one out there. Many kids when first heard that piece made immediate
connection with the movie A Christmas
Story. Isn’t it fantastic when the arts unite?
When it comes to recommend performances to help my students,
I tend to recommend recordings of the legendary pianists of 20th century such
as Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Younger pianists who I often recommend are Valentina Lisitza, Evgeni Kissin,
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Lars Vogt, Helene
Grimaud. Fortunately for us Bronfman, Grimaud and Thibaudet visit
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra quite often, and are part of their
calendar of events. A must see local pianists are David Allen Wehr and Natasha
Snitkovsky, who are world renowned artists residing here. We are very
lucky in having Pittsburgh Symphony, Chatham Baroque, and other acclaimed
ensembles in our area, which bring great guests artists and delight us with
outstanding performances.
I would recommend “a must” performances based on the
repertoire being performed and who (in my modest opinion) would be the best for
that genre. For instance, if Thibaudet performs Ravel’s Concerto in G major or
any of Saint-Saëns’ piano concertos, or Bronfman plays Prokofiev’s or Rachmaninoff’s
piano concertos, or Hewitt Bach’, these are recitals not to be missed. Most of the above performances and recordings are available
through companies such as ArkivMusic and/or Amazon. Students find easy access
through YouTube, but I would always insist on attending live performances, and
purchasing great performances. These recordings will be cherished for years to
come and will give a well-rounded basis in performance practice to every young
pianist. Inspirational live performances give indescribable experience and are
an important part of the development of every young aspiring musician.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAeLjliS1LY Bach, Invention No. 1 in C major
2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GII-j-6f4LY Czerny, Etude Op. 849
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcQyE0hAXSQ Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
