Mendelssohn is one of those weird composers in my opinion. He must have been quite the virtuoso because some of his music is insanely hard. I remember turning pages for the D Minor piano trio and cringing at the amount of notes and difficulty of the music (astonishing music though). Then we have pieces like Songs Without Words and smaller pieces for children. His teaching philosophy was interesting; I found it unique that he only played pieces for his students that they weren't studying. This forces students to come up with their own technique and interpretation which can be quite a difficult process. Also, I think we all need to listen to good singers or something...
The Schumanns and Wieck had some good stuff. I personally loved all of Schumann's aphorisms. I liked that we shouldn't strive to be the best just to be the best at the sake of losing music. Obviously Papa Wieck was an important predecessor for modern technique, strongly advocating the loose wrist. I don't think I've had a lesson yet where Dr. Tsachor mentions having a supple wrist, must be important or something! And Clara's technique directly comes from her father. Interesting that he only made her do exercises and how she got frustrated but never gave up.
Brahms is also another important figure for technique. His exercises looked a bit torturous but when playing his music it's so important to have good thumb dexterity. That and syncopation. I also think it's impossible to play Brahms without big arm technique.
What a joyous circle of people. I would have enjoyed knowing them back in the day.
I also found it interesting that Mendelssohn didn't play pieces for his students that they were already studying! I don't think this would be effective for me becuase it is very helpful for me to hear and see played the pieces that I learn. Are there any other benifits to this method other that creativity?
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