I consider myself a good sightreader since I worked in an Opera Studio and I work as an accompanying pianist as well. I remember when I had to learn 3 operas in a couple weeks: La boheme, Le nozze di figaro, and I dont' remember the third one. But reading Le nozze in barenreiter version, was insane, especially the overture it was a pain in ... and also some other challenging arias from the other acts. I really consider this a very good test for sightreaders. I only knew one pianist, a collegue, who played the overture and the whole score as written in this version.
These are some cute novel pieces and definitely very odd to have "male" and "female" categories. I'm also surprised with the simplicity of this music, where the textures are very easy to sightread... though I'd love to browse more of this music! all the music I've had to sight-read for auditions, rehearsals, lessons, etc were significantly more intense than this 😶 and in an exam, it's acceptable to not be brilliant, but in a professional context, people have expectations 😵💫
I think our music education/training has come a long way, but people do regularly make wild demands on pianists as if we are robots. I envy those who have the fluency and confidence to read just about anything on the fly! It’s clear that their standard in these pieces is on fluent modulation and tempo/expression sensitivity rather than difficult textures, and I wonder if the modulations were stranger for pianists of the 1890s than they are to us. Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts!
A large part of my life was spent as an instructor of technical and physical skills in an entirely different field. I found that individuals bring their own degree of ability to the table, and what could be a struggle for some was a walk in the park for others. The common thread appeared to be self-confidence.
@@tomarmstrong1281 on my first day of collaborative piano as a college student we each had to sight read in front of the entire class - my living nightmare. It made me get better and improve myself, but I never reached the level of my peers who seemed to be much more fluent in it. Confidence was definitely a factor, stemming from less experience (late bloomer). On the other hand, I never had trouble with memory and could learn music very quickly, something I realized not everyone could do. I’ve found that many students are one or the other, readers or memorizers, and my theory is that they engage different processes in the brain. Learning to switch between the two willingly rather than just relying on your natural tendencies is a big part in becoming a well-rounded musician.
Absolutely, there are many times when it feels like he’s writing for multiple manuals in the same range, so the hands are constantly crossing over each other. There were many great pianists (Saint-Saens, Liszt, Alkan) who also played the organ well, but Widor was one of the rare organ virtuosos who composed equally fluently for the piano, in a unique voice.
just one thing I could notice: 4th measure of the Agitato section near the end of women's piece is D-flat, instead it's played natural D here. Beautiful pieces!
Always wishing I had the attention span to spruce up my sightreading chops. More of an improviser - but I take time to write down good shells of ideas in hopes to refine them and expand them someday...
Why rely on your future self to pick up the material and do something with it? Seems unlikely, if I know anything about people. I think you'd be more likely to finish them if you took time to sit down and deliberately work on them right now, even if only for 20 minutes or so. If you in the now won't be bothered to do it, why will future you?
Tight thirds with lots of accidentals is something that requires a lot of training and practice to pull off. Both pieces are beautiful but the ladies had the more difficult task.
Hmm. The only difference I know of female players is oftentimes their hand span is smaller (though its a bell curve) other than envisioning a case where they are giving female players some leeway for that fact I have no idea Heckin Awesome playing tho Edit: i read the descripition and now have a better idea of the social environment
Glad the description helped frame it for you! As others have noted, the women’s piece is arguably slightly more difficult. My hunch is that it was for the sake of variety and a holdover of tradition, but who knows.
Would you have passed the test? Which piece is the better or more challenging one? (see description for more info)
No.
They are both so easy.
Superb music and excelently played!what a delight!
I consider myself a good sightreader since I worked in an Opera Studio and I work as an accompanying pianist as well. I remember when I had to learn 3 operas in a couple weeks: La boheme, Le nozze di figaro, and I dont' remember the third one. But reading Le nozze in barenreiter version, was insane, especially the overture it was a pain in ... and also some other challenging arias from the other acts. I really consider this a very good test for sightreaders. I only knew one pianist, a collegue, who played the overture and the whole score as written in this version.
These are some cute novel pieces and definitely very odd to have "male" and "female" categories. I'm also surprised with the simplicity of this music, where the textures are very easy to sightread... though I'd love to browse more of this music! all the music I've had to sight-read for auditions, rehearsals, lessons, etc were significantly more intense than this 😶 and in an exam, it's acceptable to not be brilliant, but in a professional context, people have expectations 😵💫
I think our music education/training has come a long way, but people do regularly make wild demands on pianists as if we are robots. I envy those who have the fluency and confidence to read just about anything on the fly!
It’s clear that their standard in these pieces is on fluent modulation and tempo/expression sensitivity rather than difficult textures, and I wonder if the modulations were stranger for pianists of the 1890s than they are to us. Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts!
A large part of my life was spent as an instructor of technical and physical skills in an entirely different field. I found that individuals bring their own degree of ability to the table, and what could be a struggle for some was a walk in the park for others. The common thread appeared to be self-confidence.
@@tomarmstrong1281 on my first day of collaborative piano as a college student we each had to sight read in front of the entire class - my living nightmare. It made me get better and improve myself, but I never reached the level of my peers who seemed to be much more fluent in it. Confidence was definitely a factor, stemming from less experience (late bloomer).
On the other hand, I never had trouble with memory and could learn music very quickly, something I realized not everyone could do. I’ve found that many students are one or the other, readers or memorizers, and my theory is that they engage different processes in the brain. Learning to switch between the two willingly rather than just relying on your natural tendencies is a big part in becoming a well-rounded musician.
I recently started to get into widors piano music, tbh he has a nice way with counterpoint. I assume his mastery of organ precedes it.
Absolutely, there are many times when it feels like he’s writing for multiple manuals in the same range, so the hands are constantly crossing over each other. There were many great pianists (Saint-Saens, Liszt, Alkan) who also played the organ well, but Widor was one of the rare organ virtuosos who composed equally fluently for the piano, in a unique voice.
@@PianoCurio indeed
Woman in the 1870s played the Alkan Concerto? I would've loved to hear that.
At the time, Alkan’s son Delaborde was a professor at the Conservatoire, so he likely had influence in the decision
just one thing I could notice: 4th measure of the Agitato section near the end of women's piece is D-flat, instead it's played natural D here.
Beautiful pieces!
Oops! Good catch 👍
I don’t think either is particularly difficult to sight read.
Always wishing I had the attention span to spruce up my sightreading chops. More of an improviser - but I take time to write down good shells of ideas in hopes to refine them and expand them someday...
Why rely on your future self to pick up the material and do something with it? Seems unlikely, if I know anything about people. I think you'd be more likely to finish them if you took time to sit down and deliberately work on them right now, even if only for 20 minutes or so. If you in the now won't be bothered to do it, why will future you?
Tight thirds with lots of accidentals is something that requires a lot of training and practice to pull off. Both pieces are beautiful but the ladies had the more difficult task.
Good point, it’s an eye test as well as a music test. Those close corners can easily make an inexperienced player panic and go into guessing mode.
Were you sightreading the pieces? ;)
Nope! I cheated after failing many times 🤫
@@PianoCurio Beautiful playing especially the first piece
Thank you!
Hmm. The only difference I know of female players is oftentimes their hand span is smaller (though its a bell curve) other than envisioning a case where they are giving female players some leeway for that fact I have no idea
Heckin Awesome playing tho
Edit: i read the descripition and now have a better idea of the social environment
Glad the description helped frame it for you! As others have noted, the women’s piece is arguably slightly more difficult. My hunch is that it was for the sake of variety and a holdover of tradition, but who knows.
Both are fairly easy but I'd say the woman's is generally harder
It always is
Actually I think the women's is easier
Who is the pianist ?
Moi
Why are you playing both? Are you both a man and a woman? Pick one!
I was not expecting this comment hahah
LMAOOOOO
Lol!! 🤣
Bros non-binary
Genderfluid moment
Both of these woule be a cakewalk for me