Hello all.


I decided to struggle through this long and underrated composition from an underrated composer. But I have a question. Take a look at pages 8 and 9:

http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/4 ... _op.59.pdf


Is it possible to play an octave whilst trilling? Measures 9 and onwards boggle my mind.

Will I have to omit one note from the octaves to keep the trill?

Also, how can I quiet down the 16th notes on pages 4 through 5 and bring out the melody? I recall David instructing, when concerning left and right hand volume difference, to quiet down the dominate hand...reverse psycology. But what about quieting the dominate fingers? It seems to me that when I do so, the weaker fingers aslo quiet down.

There is a video on YouTube of this composition. Due to the video angle, it is hard to see how the pianist goes about playing this march.

Thanks a bunches,

-j



p.s. Disregard the video, is the opening music composed by Brahms? And if so, is it his reqiuem? I cannot put a name to it having heard it many times before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6YdTTnAXtY

Try this video.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/thalb ... IDURVMUS02

That's the same video on YouTube which I described. I cannot tell from this camera angle, nor do I have perfect pitch to hear what he plays.

Well then, sorry. I don't know the piece at all. Good luck with it, J.

(you can always pick out a different piece )

It is not impossible, but extremely difficult to do a trill while other fingers of the same hand must do something else. Thalberg here seems to take that into the extreme, requiring you to trill with pinky and fourth finger which is already hellishly hard enough when the other fingers are free. Before you get totally frustrated with this, pick a feasible piece. This is Hamelin stuff.

I play up to page 8 and call it a day I've tried to trill with 3 and 4 when I am required to trill Bb / Cb, but even so it is very difficult.

I'll see what else Thalberg composed but suited to my level (probably none, just like Rachmaninov )

Why did Thalberg and Liszt have to try to one-up each other? It only paved the way for people like Alkan and Tausig to try to one-up the one-up'ers. Which leaves Joe Schmoes like me sitting on the side-lines.

When I saw your post, I tried learning for fun the trill passages, and oh my... It's such an exercise in frustration if you want relaxed and metronomic trills ; add to that the fact that it is especially tiring to practice (after a while my fourth finger just starts to twitch, "no more no more"...).
I'd say the best way to learn it is to memorize it and play it as a quite technical workout while practicing other pieces (over a few months). I'll do just that, so if I feel like learning it in full later I'll be prepared ; I don't think I've ever seen octave and trills together somewhere else though.

Anyway, don't give up on it, especially after 8 pages !

Well not actually 8 pages, I can play through the "barcolle" section without too much trouble, but when I have to play the section with the right hand runs and left hand triplet with a right hand note between the notes (pages 6 and 7), thats when I really start to struggle. Only to give up on the 8th page because of those devilish trills.

The good thing that comes out of this is my realization and verbalization that I am no Cziffra.

I would personally obssess over Hanon for a while until my weaker fingers felt as if i was using steriods. However monotonous and dronelike the books are, if you play the three books in succession daily along with your other repertoire daily, you would begin to see why Liszt, Chopin and Alkan didn't have much of a trouble with competition in their day.

Hi Julius,



Actually Thalberg did write some very playable pieces. His "L'art du Chant Appliqué au Piano" is a collection of 24 opera arrangements of only modest difficulty. They are useful for developing melody playing.

He also has a lovely piece called "Viola". His 3 Romances sans Paroles op. 41 are playable, especially no's 1 and 2.

You can find the L'art du Chant on The Henselt Library website, as well as tons of other Thalberg you can check out.

James