Schumann Cameos as dictated to Rosemary Brown

If you want to hear what music from beyond sounds like, here is some.

I couldn't resist trying these out to see if I liked Schumann's music that he wrote after he was dead better than what he wrote when he was living.

Here are Cameos 1 - 5 (or 5 - 1 if I screw up the upload)

 

I'm not a fan of Schumann's music but I was curious to listen after reading the liner notes.
These are really well played. You seem to know the style and distinguish the fine details that add to the overall impression. Well done.
Your sound is a little distant though. I'm sure these pieces would benefit from a closer or more 'intimate' recording.

 

Solid and committed playing Scott. Nothing to moan about on the technical and musical side, though I think I heard one or two hesitations. The piano has one or two sour notes but at least we know it's a real one

About the music, hmmmmm..... I love Schumann (well, most of his works) but these don't just sound clumsy, but dull as ditchwater. I think anybody with some feeling for German romantic repertoire could have concocted these. I am sure Schumann would have cringed in his grave if he heard these.

With all respect for your fine playing, I'm not sure this should be on the site. I've never believed in the Brown hype.

 

Thanx all for your comments.

It doesn't matter to me if these are put on the web-site. I just wanted to share these abberations.

Not only are they clumsy, the first in particular contains two gross exposed parallels (1st and octave and then a 5th) that I am sure Schumann would have learned to avoid by now.

There were a couple of hesitations. I read through them only a couple of times before recording and my glasses keep sliding down (at least that's my story and I am sticking with it ). They aren't something that I plan to add to my repertoire. And the piano was tuned in the dead of a very frigid winter in a sanctuary that varied in temperature substantially. I am working on getting the church to realize that the pianos need more regular tunings -- they were doing it annually whether it needed it or not!

I'm still trying to figure out the recording. I had my Zoom-H4 about 3 feet away. The poor piano has several issues. The upper registers are weak and becomes more and more percussive and hammery as I try to bring out melodies whil the lower booms out no matter how soft I try to play it. It is a Baldwin that I have known through three owners since the late 1960s, and it was inherited then. I keep meaning to look up its age, but I haven't found the serial number yet. It is from back when Baldwin used a more Old English type face for its name rather than the more modern block type.

Scott

 

I haven't heard of Brown before , so I had to look into Wikipedia to follow this topic. What a weird person! I'm hesitating to listen to your recordings of these, Scott... it would be scary... :? (But I'll listen to your another recording for sure! :wink: )

 

It would be scarier if I actually channeled Schumann while playing (though my little finger did hurt a little :wink: )

Scott