ZenArtPiano Excerpts 3-7-09

7/29/2019 ZenArtPiano Excerpts 3-7-09

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/zenartpiano-excerpts-3-7-09 1/57

ZENand the

ARTo f

P

IA

NO

A Pto

at

M



ZEN and the

ART o f

PIANO A Pi i t’ G id t



zen and the art of piano

BY DAVID MICHAEL WOLFF

Zen and the Art of Piano

Zen and the Art of Music (in preparation)



David Michael Wolff



David Michael Wolff

The myriad differences are

resolved by sitting,all doors opened.

In this still place I followmy nature,

be what it may.From the one hundred

flowersI wander freely,

the soaring cliff – my hallof meditation(with the moon emerged,my mind is motionless).

SitnoT

fol

and throunot ev

Preface

Twenty years old and a new-comer to Manhattan’s daun

landscape and dizzying frenetic pace, I happened upon Zen inBroadway was arrested by Japanese Peach Blossoms. Twelveout to write Zen and the Art of Piano and a companion work,

Music.

I think of Piano as a modern Zen Art-form, and from long befheard the word Zen, my approach to Piano was imbued with ipresent volume is not a philosophical Buddhist tract, but rasimple treatise on Piano technique – viewed as an art of orckeyboard with all the possible colors of the Piano – and a guidto phrase according to a system of musical analysis based on b




This performance manual does not claim to be a metaphys

universe or to parallel realities, nor is it a String-theory of mucountless dimensions (!). However, the musician’s power lietranscend time and space by evoking and balancing many dimspace and color at every moment. There’s a mystical moment aeach work, movement or phrase where the performer imagicome and somehow conjures into being an entire fieldimmediately becomes reality, entering the actual world

performer forward. I call it the Point of Invocation. Most musicsensation but it would be difficult to define or prove. This Iphysicists and metaphysicians.

One of the main goals in these pages is to give the reader hundto acquire greater sensitivity to the movement of musical enecommand over it so that he can then release command and fl

ease. To me, the energy of Music is part of Creation and is a nathe physical and non-physical worlds. Some would call it Tanot you believe in Tao as a spiritual energy force, most oaccurately describe the practical experiences of great musicianand all sensitive human beings.

It’s essential for the interpreter to imagine Music in limitless di

space and color. When I play a phrase, I search out ways todimensions and am constantly aware of balancing multiple dsame time, as if juggling. Every phrase contains countless ponot always immediately apparent, even to the keenest eyeunexplored, the interpreter and listener are trapped withidimensional perceptions. Incredulous, you may find yourselask,

Excuse me, where’s the portal to the fourth dimension?

Where can I find the 19th dimension?

Whil I b i l ’t th ti di tl it’ bi



David Michael Wolff




Table of Contents

Preface • viIntroduction • xv

Part I • 1{ Zen Prelude and Allegro moderato }

Zen Prelude • 1

The Path to Zen • 1Self and the Eternity of Gestures • 3

Allegro Moderato – The Filters • 5

The Vertical • 7

Defining the Color LevelsThe Techniques behind the ColorsCreating an Orchestral Sonority – Applying Vertical

Grouping Levels and Packaging Chords



David Michael Wolff

Linking and Separating Defining Rubato Differentiating the Texture of Touches The Dry Pedal – Finger-pedaling From the Key Surface or from the Air?

Applying Height Vertically

Applying Height Horizontally To the Key-bottom or Beyond? Applying Depth VerticallyApplying Depth HorizontallyCombining and Contrasting Height and Depth

On Conducting and Studying the Score Away from

Imagining Real Orchestration Zen, Circular Energy, and the Four Time DimensionThe Four Principle Mallets The Four Physical Levels Mimicking Masters ~ The Imitation Filters The Hand of Karajan

The Hand of God – Using Hammers and ChiselsAfter-TouchIs Percussion Beautiful , Zenful?Horowitz’ Voicing Speed, Weight and Compression Super-melody

Playing Blind

Part II




The MetronomePreparing for PerformanceOn AccompanyingWillpower and VisionOn TeachingOn PracticingSlow Practice ~ Fast PracticePostureIntegrity and Persona

Part III{ Scherzo }

On Great Pianists

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Vladimir HorowitzArthur RubinsteinIvo PogorelichMartha ArgerichClaudio ArrauArturo Benedetto Michelangeli

Glenn GouldWalter GiesekingAlfred CortotSviatoslav RichterE il Gil l



David Michael Wolff

Part IV{ Fuga con Variazioni }

Fuga: The Music Theory behind Energy Pilla

Harmonic DissonanceMeter Note-valueNote-height

Variazioni:

Practicing Zen Orchestration

Applying and expanding techniques from Part I us from the full gamut of the Piano Repertoire

Variation I: Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor, Op. 2 no. 1movement) Variation II: Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9, No. 2 Variation III: Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Variation XXVariation IV: Debussy’s Pagodes from Estampes Variation V: Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6, Op. 82 ( first mo



David Michael Wolff

I am not concerned at not being known;I seek to be worthy to be known.-K'ung Fu-Tzu

Introduction

The following pages describe my search to attain a c

encompassing all the possible colors and color combinations ois capable. I write of my understanding of musical phrasing antransmitting musical energy – physical, emotional and psych

Zen-like ease and purity. Along the way, I discuss my persvarious works in the repertoire to teach you practical aptechniques. You will quickly gain practical tools to transformOrchestra of infinite sonic and expressive possibilities. And my personal relationship to the great pianists of the past and

h h h d




be happy to have inspired passions and moved people’s m

fingers to action.

By the water, deep within the fo

Leaving fragrant grasses behind,

Following the tracks, you ente

Distant sky – how can the tip of its nose

The Ox-Herding P



David Michael Wolff

How many times have I discovered the Great Secret, only to teaday as a mirage or half-truth! But gradually, you wind rounmountain and slowly find yourself a little closer to the summ

joy of this never-ending pursuit of a Parnassus that may not evceases to beckon. As Zen philosophers would say, the mountain

The book is divided into four large sections, echoing the form

I: A Zen Prelude and Allegro moderato, II: Andante con mosso, IIIFuga con Variazioni.

The body of Part I, Filters, is an introduction to the concepts orchestration and energy. Each Essay teaches a new filter oprocessing musical information, the essence of practice. I limitmusical example, the first page (“A-section”) of Rachmanin

Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2. This is a page of music eaintermediate pianist and was carefully chosen to help make thnot only to University Piano Performance Majors and Concertto young aspiring pianists and amateurs.

Part II expands on the ideas in Part I in a less dense, more includes Essays about all matters pertaining to the preparing a

a work.

Part III consists of a collection of Essays about great pianislearned from them.

Part IV, like a second-year foreign language text book, reviews presented in Part I, expanding and developing them. It ope

exploration of the Music Theory behind Energy Pillars. ThVariazioni, in which five examples from stylistically diverse wone at a time, following the path laid in Part I. Examples fromof the Piano repertoire are included along the way.




I s



Part I

Zen Prelude

The Path to Zen




and tried to follow the energy of the music, as if accompanyin

and dance and sing of its own accord. If I could disappear, it wI would be a mere vessel of eternal gestures.

I became sensitive to blocks of energy like walls in my mindseparating one gesture from the next, and I began a process of ethought, like clearing cobwebs. The fields of energy beneathmusical expression began to be visible as arching lines of energ

lines began to sing out uninhibited. ~ Zen flowed ~

My road to Zen started however much earlier. I remember oage of nine or ten spending a solid four hours after school onliving room staring at my hand, trying to figure out the paths ointo my fingertips. My brothers and parents walked by in disbwhat I was doing! I would spend my teenage years often h

keyboard, looking at my fingers from inches away as I playedminutest movements; I would stare into mirrors strategically pPiano, trying to rid my technique of excess movement and direct musical expression was inseparable from the perfect phytechnique.

Later I would discover that the quickest way to rid the mind a

energy and movement is to practice with your eyes shut. Blthe senses; the fingertips develop eyes and the whole bodyRecently watching a documentary about a deaf percussionist, I of her comments: The deaf musician has a distinct advantage — hwith his body, even after the sound has stopped being audible. The pof sound and energy is often more pure than the audible perteaches if you’ll listen.



David Michael Wolff

Self and the Eternity of GestNot long after reading Zen in the Amy twenty-first birthday, a friend gMilan Kundera’s Immortality. In inarrator describes his shock at seeinwoman wave with the gesture th

memory to a 20-year-old girl from occurs to him that gestures are notone’s personality but rather eternaown right that manifest themunsuspecting human beings. Andthat the interpreter’s goal should large a vocabulary of gestures as

transcend self.

There’s such a strong feeling in thhaving to express one’s individualor look like somebody else, you mand imitation is a form of stealingartists and thinkers of the past vie

the best way to honor one’s colleagacquire command of their language and attain greater coNewton said, “I reach for the stars by standing on the shoulderpreceded me.”

Gestures are immortal. They can’t be owned, but they can be them out, one by one, and learn to be used by them. Only th

possess them and they you.

Along my road to self-realization, to understanding interpretatorchestration on the Piano, I have stolen and pillaged from esource, and I intend to continue stealing and pillaging. But in lik t ff h f th b t t th d






David Michael Wolff

Allegro M oderato

The Filters

Techniques are only abstract ideas until they’re put into actuown two hands. It’s a bit like driving — you often don’t reauntil you’ve driven there yourself. This is not a quick, passive inspire you to discover each paragraph with your own two han




I approach learning a new work as a process of filtering, ov

developed hundreds of techniques to filter music through showing it in a different light. I always return to freedom, follow my own intuition to the nth degree. But intuition is a cuis the sum of experience, prejudices and preferences, and ispresent physical/mental/emotional state as well as a hosarbitrary influences. It needs to be listened to, but also traGradually your relationship to your own intuition becomes mo

intuition itself wiser and purer.

The following filters are essential to developing a ricmultidimensional interpretation. I recommend starting by uorder presented, however it’s later possible to reorder them at w




th

e

V

E

R

T

I

C

A

L



David Michael Wolff

Defining the Color Levels

I am color — Paul Klee

Polyphony

I’ve always felt that the most effecedition of any work would be colorimagine having a color-coded editioPréludes edited by Debussy himself! colors into visual colors heightperception and sensitizes your imathe following visual exercise will opthe real orchestral choices and demathe interpreter.

Here are the first few measures oPrelude in C-sharp minor , Op. 3 No. 2,

Y ’ll ti th t ithi th fi t t f t



Part II { Andante con mosso }

Encircling Reflections

Horowitz liked to say, “Think orchestrally - play pianisticallythat mean? What are the means and techniques of pianistic orc



David Michael Wolff

into related aspects of pianistic thought and practice,

Accompanying, and Using the Metronome to Integrity and Pers

Most of Part II is less dense than Part I, and you’re invited to recon mosso.




The Myth of Evenness

Singers spend their lives learning to sing with a perfect, evenimitating the ideal of great singing, try to make every note as cits predecessor as possible. Why is it that few trained musicianphrasing? Why is legato so elusive if it’s so easily defined?

The problem lies in the definition itself. Legato is a paradoantithesis of evenness! Two notes side by side with identical cfight against one another like two positive magnets pushedcancel each other out. This truth applies not only to legato butside-by-side. Redefine your energy, respecting a phrase’s real eand you’ll discover true legato and natural phrasing.

As a rule, every note is either in diminuendo, in crescendo or{arrival point, Energy Pillar}. You’ll rarely get tired if yousomewhere or coming from somewhere. You get tired when yolike tagging behind your wife on a shopping trip. Static energits lack of release and renewal. Oddly, although it’s generally

over flat terrain, in music it’s less tiring to walk over hilly terraiThe reason for this is that when you give out emotional energsensitive to it with listening eyes and open ears, it comes back toboomerang, and refreshing you. On the other hand, when youexpression inside, it quickly becomes blocked and produces all physical, emotional and mental. And when you release energydon’t remain sensitive to it, you lose it forever and quickly be

drained and physically tired. Why this should be remains a my



David Michael Wolff

The reverse side also has a reverse side. - Japanese Proverb

You need release from tension whenever possible. Only in points of tension and expression be fully felt and realized. It’aware of every crescendo and diminuendo, no matter how small,a successful interpretation. In practice, the continual sw

exaggerated.It may seem like an overstatement to say that every single crescendo, in diminuendo or an arrival point, but it’s not really. accurate of course to say that every note is either increasing indecreasing in energy, or a pressure point; after all, there are




This is particularly difficult for singers and wind players to gra

they need to sustain the breath to the end of the phrase. The cenergy sometimes seems to conflict with perceptions abousupport, but usually within a couple days, if not almost imovercome. Tenors tend to be a caricature of “expressive sustaievery phrase all the way to the end, and as they come off it, slwith their lionesque masculinity.

The peak of every phrase or gesture should have an exprefocuses into a single note { and within that note to a single spliwhy I sometimes prefer the appellation pressure point to arrivPillar . They usually require expressive pressure: when placed alike acupuncture, they realign the energy to its original, natural

These notes should be looked forward to – save yourself for them

physically and they’ll be emotionally rewarding to play. Oeffortful and the whole phrase becomes forced, belabored, or simyou don’t release enough energy at a pressure point or if you mfollowing notes will tend to want to crescendo to compensate,fall away in diminuendo and lose their presence.

Why is this? A good musician instinctively tries to balance negenergy. He struggles to maintain emotional balance but doesn

how to identify the emotional pressure points and organizeEnergy Pillar is miscalculated, the interpreter puts the egenerally over negative, unimportant space. This reverses thethe result is confusing to both interpreter and listener. The infeels a certain satisfaction in achieving personal emotional positive and negative energy; the listener either wonders waccuses himself of not having understood the music. My ver

Guru as a teenager loved to chide his students: “It’s not your jo job to make others feel!”

Technique and interpretation are linked much more intimate



David Michael Wolff

than planned-out expression { see Preparing for Performance belo

As the emotional energy of an interpretation is defined logicenergy follows, and countless technical problems disappear. many of whom sing in the major Opera Houses of the world, their technique improves more under my coaching than undtheir voice teachers. { In America, voice teachers generally tand defer the “music” to vocal coaches. } Although I’ve stumost-respected literature on vocal technique and hav

understanding of it, I’m not a singer and couldn’t possibly teacbeyond a beginner level.

I simply teach energy management – awareness and undemovement of musical energy. Learn to manage your energy emay not need to think as much about “technique”.




Energy + Form + Color = Emotion

Maybe it’s not E=MC2 but there’s an important truth hereEmotion nor is Color. Only combined with Form do they tsubstance of Emotion. The four are easy to confuse and difficuas you gain conscious awareness and control of your art, it’s eto differentiate them and develop them individually.

As an adolescent, music is pure emotion. Color is a subset of emunable to see the skeleton of energy underneath it all. Gradualof Energy as a separate force and my Theory of Musical Energthat it’s a new discovery – it’s more of a difference in semanpractical point of view, I know of no other musical theory fonears its usefulness.

Imagine Energy as Architecture. My family’s business wabuilding houses, so I grew up seeing small wildernesses cleareddug up, and skeletons of houses slowly take shape. At first, evthe same. Even as the foundations and principal pillars were lonly like cement spread over dirt with wood sticking out. { Holay cement at $2.50/hour on free Saturdays! Building founda

me from early on. } Gradually, magically, the form started tohouse and I looked forward to helping paint the hard-to-corners in bathrooms and closets. There was a satisfaction finished and sold, then become a home as a family moved in. 10-year-old self took satisfaction and pride in knowing that mhad helped create something important.

On top of a cleared plot of land springs a skeletal form, which is gra filled in and colored, and a house is born. The house then becomes liv

This is the proper relationship between Energy, Form, Color aalso nears the process of composing and interpreting }.



David Michael Wolff

The first formula represents the most common form of mamong unformed interpreters. The second is less common ambut quite common among mature interpreters. Remember, evemotional state. The third formula is an important analyticcourse impossible to realize.

Defining the underlying energy may seem dry or analytical at

interpreter, but don’t try to construct castles of emotions withofoundation. First, study the overall design, the plans. Lay dowand then the pillars. Don’t build the second floor before the firs

Colors can and must be learned separate from their emotionalarchitectural uses. Next, learn to paint architecture with minvolvement. This is the beginning of mastery. But when you

sure that you have a wall to paint on. These are basic truths…

And once your house is properly constructed, release it to the wlived in. Zen begins when you free your creation and the hous

d h l lff



David Michael Wolff

Willpower and Vision

As you prepare to practice or perform, remember that reality iof perception.

Once I went to play for a friend of mine outside of Rome. through a recital program for him and get his feed-back. He’s

pianist and I assumed that he’d have a beautiful grand, but whplace in the countryside, I found a beat-up, old, awful upright wmissing, horrifically out of tune, and with keys cracked to the blood if struck at the wrong angle. Complementing this, he hadkeyboard with a couple notes sticking, a squeaking pedaelectronic sound malfunctions such that the octave around midavoided as much as possible. He invited me to take my choice.

d th t f i




And he sat down and demonstrated a few suggestions. A bea

to me.

How do you get that sound out of that thing!!

- I simply refuse to accept what it gives me…

It was like talking to Yoda. My eyes were opened. It would ha

had he not just proved it.

Use the force echoed through my ears…

I massed my willpower and vision together and went througprogram. Gradually I found my way, and my musical vision sinto actual sounds.

After that, I went back often, whenever preparing to play sommy friend’s warm, intelligent advice, and to prove to myovercome his piano and make it sing. If I could convincintentions, I would be strong enough to play any instrumenttime of day or night.

Strength does not come from physical capacity.It comes from an indomitable will.- Gandhi

Musicians are spoiled. And singers are the worst! How manyto coax professional and not-so-professional singers out of a possibly-sing-today self-pity…?

When you have a performance, running away is not an optionyour audience because you’re a little under the weather is nohaving slept well in an uncomfortable hotel room is no reasonyourself



Part III { Scherzo }

From the pine tree le And from the ba

O G Pi i

David Michael Wolff



David Michael Wolff

This Scherzo is the lightest of the four movements and is at

times pensive, at others irreverent or provocative, but alwayrespect for the subjects. Each sheds a special indirect lightpresented in the other three sections.





Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff was perhapsthe most complete musician of the20th century. He towered ascomposer, conductor and pianist,and in him, all three disciplines

were intimately intertwined.

One of the many paradoxes ofRachmaninoff’s genius is that heis most beloved for his lyricinspirations – timeless, never-ending melodies that linger in the

ears and heart. Paradoxical because he was one of the greatestcontrapuntal masters of the 20th century. He writes layers uponlayers of melody and each layer isa world unto itself.

There have been many greatmelodists, from Mozart to Chopin,Verdi to Gershwin, but in all ofthese composers’ works, there is basically a melody accompaniment. Rachmaninoff’s genius lay in his ability to colayer of melody while giving the listener a sense of a single promplex inner life.c

This applies to his orchestral works, piano works, vocal works,everything. But it also applies to his piano playing. The innthe bass-line all the way on up, teem with life. The emotionaintegrity of the inner part compares perhaps only with the

David Michael Wolff



David Michael Wolff

Another striking element of Rachmaninoff’s playing is the gr

dynamic range. His piano begins where most pianists’ foSOUNDS piano and IS piano! And this brings us back to an impdynamics and energy – dynamics are only indirectly related to they’re related to relative decibels of sound, but more impdefined to the listener’s ear by the relative level of the perforthe quality of that energy. A piano can sound forte, for instaSimply stated, dynamics represent mood, color and relative ene

One’s energy level changes from day to day, hour to hour, minuthe performer must be sensitive to this and counterbalance itwithout forcing. Rachmaninoff plays piano with a big soundand relatively relaxed joints, so the effect is piano. Yet undernthere are seemingly infinite layers of dynamics, which lends hisa rich, orchestral effect.

Technically speaking, Rachmaninoff plays the melody from hisarm. This immediately gives him effortless access to an enostrength unattainable from the fingers alone. In general, he pas well as fff chordal masses all from the arm with its pepenetrating quality. The inner voices he assigns to the forearmaccording to the color desired.

This general approach to technique is typical of most of the grgolden age – it is one of many reasons they were able differentiation of sound and emotion. Modern techniques are bon finger-strength or on a finger-hand combination that leavand forearm floating effortlessly in the air. Great economy of mstrength and monotony of color result. How can the fingerscreate all the colors of the orchestra! That’s a recipe eithresulting from over-working the smaller muscles (to little sonic and-white contained approach to piano requiring only a smalproduced with a petite dynamic range.

A d R h i ff’ f t h d l R h i




f p

Rachmaninoff’s singing “wooden” sound in forte is the closest

percussion in his playing. This is perhaps part of the nobilitand general character. The sound sometimes has an edge bualways rounded. The irony here is that Rachmaninoff the orcpercussion section to maximum effect. In such an orchestrally-why did he deny the piano of some of its most striking, innatecolors? Who is the real Rachmaninoff?

When I listen to Rachmaninoff, I occasionally long for timpani hundercurrent there, bells and chimes . . . This negation of percupiano strikes me as odd and somehow unfulfilling.

My way of understanding this paradox is through my owncomposer and conductor, but also through my experience with I first learned to speak Spanish as a teenager, I discovered that was streaming out of me through my newly acquired languagculture are so powerfully intertwined that they often dict

personality. Gradually this never completely. I went thexperiences as I acquired fluItalian and Korean. What bahaving a conversation with anlingual speaker, switching betwyou’ll notice how your feelinabout the subject subtly shift.

So it is with Rachmaninoff – composer is different from Rconductor is different from Rpianist. Together they give account of the completeness of musician. As a conductodeveloped, more inhibited anda pianist, he reached the highes

h l t t

David Michael Wolff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sergei_Rachmaninoff_LOC_33969u.jpg



ff

Vladimir Horowitz

If I could go back in time,there are two red-letterdates in the history of 20th century pianism that Iwouldn’t miss, bothinvolving Rachmaninoffand his Third PianoConcerto. The first isaround the beginning ofthe century whenRachmaninoff debuted hisnew Concerto in NYC withnone other than Gustav

Mahler at the podiumconducting – what aconcert that must have been! The greatest conductor perhapsconducting accompanying the greatest pianist of the first half of

The second was a much more private affair. The young Hlanded off the boat in NYC and with all the sights the New W

his first stop was Rachmaninoff’s Manhattan apartment. The nat the now famed basement of Steinway Hall so that Rachmawhat the young artist could do with his colossal Third Concethrough the entire work at two pianos. Can you imagine whsounded like - these twin giants of 20 th century pianism blending and playing off each other!

Horowitz is a complex beast. He always forces you to love often simultaneously.

I remember the day my allegiance switched from Rubinstein




I’m sure that the lecturer was making some important point ab

competitions, how individuality rarely wins out and how youwin, but rather not to be eliminated. What remained with me inWhat’s wrong with Horowitz if he can’t even pass the first round of a

Horowitz died when I was thirteen and I didn’t even notice …

I didn’t buy his LP’s or go out of my way to listen to them.

And then I put on the Sonata.

No single event in my musical life has impacted me as muchFrom the first crashing, cascading arpeggio followed bypenetrating chords full of passion and sheer color, I knew thabsolute mastery and artistry. Others have said it before – ThHorowitz, it’s as if I were hearing the piano for the first time, as if never known what the piano was capable of… Such was his imafternoon.

I devoured all of his recordings and took up Rachmaninoffimitating every nuance of Horowitz’ legendary interpretationsmonths, I reached my first Horowitz saturation point – I simany more. Everything I loved about it started getting on mwould come back, over and over again, the cycle always repeati

I simply couldn’t figand that bothered mme. All artists cancategorized, but Enigma: as soon a

briefly pinned dowanother entity andHis strengths are weaknesses. But hfascinate No other

David Michael Wolff



The most common argument about Horowitz’ approach is – H

only he didn’t do such-and-such, if only he didn’t do such-and-approach him like that, trying to imitate only Horowitz’ excising what shouldn’t be there. But what I was left with was babble.

And this is so often true – take away what you don’t like abouyou may be removing the very reason why you like it so much.

Horowitz will sometimes willfully mangle part of a phrase, medge and gnaw your teeth, close your ears and cringe. You wWhy do you have to do that! And then the next moment, hebeautiful, dissolving, nostalgic phrase, and you’ll swear that yosuch a beautiful passage. You’ll love him again and know himseducer he is.

Yet take away the first part, and what’s left? Dribbling nonsensegives you anything important without somehow making you is part of his genius. He knows how to balance love and hate,romantic, extreme contrasts. And it becomes addictive. Youthe phrases against your own design so that he can then aeverything right again.

Horowitz’ least successful, least personal playing, are hisToscanini. Yes, they’re fantastic recordings nonetheless, but thinterpretation were simply not meant to make music togetherspeaking to each other in Chinese, one in Mandarin, the other in

Horowitz is the weaker Artist in the meeting. He was intimidain-law and wanted to please him and be accepted by him. He and Tchaikovsky’s First in a quite normal, proper way. You sunderneath but he’s in a straitjacket, smothered. Listening, yobreak free, but he doesn’t. It’s disingenuous playing, masterfu

L t i hi lif H it ld ft b i t




He has a similar chemistry with several composers, Rachman

The composer admitted that Horowitz played many of his wConcerto, for instance – better than himself.

And Scriabin! And Scarlatti! The list goes on and on. But letsecond important feature of Horowitz style, indirectly relateusually overlooked or misunderstood – his percussiveness.

Horowitz imitators are the noisiest pianists around. It’s not neait was thirty or forty years ago when every Conservatory piaplay as fast and loud as Horowitz. Students pick up on hunderstanding its source or being able to define its substance acapture it by simply flailing away at the keyboard.

I myself admit to having occasionally fallen victim to this traHorowitz recording, I go to the piano and try to recapture couple days I think I’ve managed somehow. Then I listen agaas percussive or loud or heavy as it seemed in my memory. It a golden shimmer. The weight doesn’t stay in the sound; it paselectricity. The effects often seem much greater than they actuathe way he places them in time and constrasts them against oagainst silence. In his phrasing and in his voicings, he pinpointo point up for maximum effect. He searches out the dimelodically and harmonically, and heightens them. He doesneffects over groups of notes – he crafts each note individually.

Unlike most pianists, Horowitz isn’t afraid of Percussion embraces them as friends. He uses them sparingly but alwaymoment for maximum effect. Only in Horowitz do you thintriple forte only to be suddenly hit with a chord twice as loud ahe rarely actually offends the ear as many of his imitators do. Hthe gut and sends you reeling. And you stand up smiling amore!

Gil l i th i i t th t b P i d B b

David Michael Wolff



polish; it has more of a matte finish. Listen to the entire Lesch

example – all possess an almost identical sound, singing, roundHorowitz’ sound, at least in the melody, is rarely as beautiful oa certain edge in it that gently attracts the ear to it. HorowitzLeschetizky sound, but he usually hides it from view.

Why conceal beauty? This is a mystifying feature of his langoften veils his most beautiful sounds underneath the surface, leeffect a complexity and beauty that often surpasses the greatAge pianists.

The conundrum for a pianist wishing to experiment with percwhere do you use them? If you put them in the melody, the melody becomes less beautiful. If you put them underneath distract the listener’s ear from the melody and generally destroy

Horowitz deliberately uses brighter, less beautiful colors in thcommon logic. And this is revolutionary! The proof of its effecrecordings. An added bonus of this approach is that the melmore carrying power in a large hall. Brighter sounds ring mobetter.

Remember also, brightness in a small space never sounds as space. The larger the space, the duller the effect, and the grincrease the scope of everything.

Finally, Horowitz’ embracing of Percussion and Brass is one osets him off as Modern against the previous generation of pianis

In Horowitz, fire sings through metal, glass, water and ice.




Martha Argerich

I was sixteen and about to perfo1st Concerto. I was out of town aa CD by an unknown pianist. Fchords, I was enthralled - what sfree-flowing lyricism! Then c

octave passage in the Developmof octaves out of Hell. I couldn’t stopped the CD and opened the it was – Martha Argerich. { How of sixteen without knowing anythsurprises me }.

Fast-forward two years.

My Piano Professor was having hthe-year party for her studentsevening she invited us to watch she’d just acquired – Argerich Burlesque, live with Abbado on Ne

never seen her play before and arms and a bit of jumping up-aseat.

I see a petite, fragile, feline creatuwith a shy, girlish smile and

conductor to begin. A few moments later, she enters with thooctaves and humbling virtuosity. But she remains perfectly stshe were sipping tea. My jaw dropped. My whole concept thrown on its head. I left immediately, muttering apologies, anthe University. It was nearly midnight and the School of Musbut I searched out a cracked window and crawled through it

David Michael Wolff



In terms of color and orchestration, she’s a rather black-and-seems to have learned little in that regard from her studies wNor is she a great architect; she simply doesn’t seem to have aBut she dances and sings in a way that more than makes up for

She’s also aaccompanismalleable such that wwith a goointerpretatiomore logiorganized fo

On her ownyounger yenergy woubetter of hefor exampseveral minit ought tgobbled uppedal and p She has a lust for spethe few whaway witperformanc

excitement, which she doesn’t apologize for. Speed sometimes

itself. At her best, she makes you believe that every one else several notches too slow!

Onstage she embodies passion, grace, absolute freedom, ford j Sh k t it d b t Cl i l M i



Part IV { Fuga con Variazioni }

The fourth and final movement of this Zen Symphony is a recOrchestration and Energy principals from Part I. As the sutakes the themes from the Zen Prelude and envelops them in a dFugue ensued by a set of five variations.

David Michael Wolff



stylistic differences that affect the application of certain technwill be explored in detail. I’ve chosen works that you may alreor with which you at least likely may have a strong familiarity.

As with Part I, read slowly and try to put each of the examples Techniques are only abstract ideas until they’re put into actual use hands. To understand and absorb the techniques, they have toand filter through you. It may be helpful as you work throughcorresponding Essays from Part I.




Fuga: The Music Theory behind Energy Pillar

Mastering the flow of energy is the Zen aspect of music-makingunderstanding of positive and negative energy. This energseveral different energy fields that overlap. Getting beneaenergy movement, which can be reduced to quite simple patEnergy Pillars, requires delving into each individual energy fielthe notes are affected by them. Each field must be separated aas much depth as possible. Although this seems impossible

plausible and practicable.

In order to master the flow of energy, you need not onlymovement of energy on a local level, but also the larger architectonic plates of form revolve around one another, creatin

David Michael Wolff



Music theory and analysis are not simply about understandingbasic musical form. This is simply scratching the surface, asense does little for the performer.

My approach to analysis of harmony and energy is not dissimnotion of appoggio, centering one’s energy and support in theemotional tension and expression. Relative dissonance is genof harmonic expression and each harmonic pattern creates its with positive and negative pulls. Rhythms and meters also eaenergy fields, and as they play off each other, juxtaposed agflow of the many levels of harmonic and melodic movement, energy emerges, which when properly understood however, with Mozartian precision. The important points of each musieasily identified like pressure points and brought out, aligningclarifying the surrounding architecture, and heightening the me

The prerequisite for the following argument is a basic undersTheory. Whether you possess this or not, remember that undchoose the Energy Pillars is less important than believing in taking your best guess. More often than not, your intuition correct answer. And even when it does not, choosing a Pillayour energy around it will focus your interpretation and give i

while giving you all the other physical and emotional benefits static energy. Skim over this and come back later if it’s too diffi

This subject in and of itself is the subject for life-time study andof its own – Music Theory for Performers (perhaps someone wwriting it one day…). I took many Theory courses as an

Graduate student, required and elective, and all left me unsimplistic and dry nature. No course frustrates the Performamost perceive it as the antithesis of performing and either try Nfear of being corrupted by academia, or learn it enough simply t

d th i kl f t it b th it F th




become a unified approach to Theory and be taught from Theory 101. After all, music needn’t be separated from itsmusicians are performers.

This is what my approach is about. Start from the performenergy, color, emotion, and form. What truth does he instHow does Theory apply to his actual experiences playing mulearn to analyze his own energy and the energy hidden in a psomehow unite them logically? Shouldn’t this be the goal of Th

Let’s start with a basic example from the 2nd movement of BeethSonata, Op. 111.

If we analyze the harmony of the first couple measures with Rolooks like this:

It’s in C major and the chords are all primary. Granted that achord generally possesses more energy/tension than a I-chassume that those chords in the first two bars might be accented

David Michael Wolff



However, the performance major will tell you, No! That’s no point of analyzing harmony if it doesn’t tell you anything about the m

If you take the normal performer’s view of the energy in theselike so:

But how can you justify it theoretically?

The four basic types of energy that define Energy Pillars, limportance, are as follows: 1) Harmonic Dissonance (both appochord, and relative dissonances between chords); 2) Meter, 3

relative length of the notes), and 4) Note-height (how high or lorelative to one another).

Harmonic Dissonance

In Western Music, Harmonic Dissonance is the single most im

determining relative energy value between notes and between close second because it’s difficult to determine whether dissonaccented without knowing where it’s placed rhythmically. before there was meter, such as in Gregorian Chant, music balan

iti d ti l L k t th t f




the dissonant 4th degree of the scale, which then descends stepand D until the C, our second main Pillar. This dissonant 7th dis accented as a brief appoggiatura, resolving through the E ansettling back into the consonant, Tonic D.

I can’t allow myself here to drawn into a several-hundred-pageabout the relative value of harmonies, but suffice it to say forevery chord in a composition has a relative energy value to alin the work. No two chords, even when appearing identical, c

the same energy value because they are influenced by their pIt’s important at first to gain a conscious command of fedissonance between any two chords side-by-side. Analyze traditional notation and the perceived movement of energy, which one has more dissonance. Usually, the answer presents asked. Seek and you shall find – provided you know the right que

Move through a phrase step by step until you’ve establiharmonic dissonances, then step back and compare the mcharged chords to one another to see which one is more dissonaway from the work and see its larger harmonic movement, ygenerally motored by relative dissonance between harmonies.

Melodic dissonance is a close second in determining the move

energy. An incredible amount of energy can be released by simelodic dissonance into an otherwise relatively consonant chmoment of dissonant consonance is expressed in the final appo

Aria of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (played on the beat as a long e

David Michael Wolff



Meter

Meter is another enormous subject beyond the confines of thisbasic ideas need to be understood. Meter alone produces its owEach meter has a basic energy pattern that cycles bar after barbeat makes up a meter in itself, and inside the beat, the possinner meters is theoretically possible.

Let’s look at a few basic meters.

In 2/4, beat one is strong and beat two weak; beat one is posinegative.

3/4 is a little more complex. Beat one is the strong beat, beatand beat 3 slightly stronger. Beat one is positive and beats t

negative, however beat 3 is positive in relationship to beat two.

4/4 is even more complex. Beat one, as always, is the strongestsecond strongest, beat four the third and beat two the weakethree is negative to beat one, but positive to beats two and foremain negative. Beat four is usually stronger than beat two, the energy of the downbeat.

Compound meters combine two simple meters. 6/8, for exa2/4, each beat divided by three. The parameters change slightbeat six can’t be so weak that it’s not able to lead into beat one. Tis only slightly weaker than beat 4.

Any individual beat can be defined as a meter or combination

look at examples of that later on.

The mystery of meter is that its power is constantly in flux dstrength and dominance of other energy fields. It is often negab i i bl th f O l i ll i it




Both the melody and the accompaniment bubble with rhytvitality. Let’s look first at the accompaniment. The constant,notes (string pizzicato in orchestration) arpeggiating slow

harmonies, cleanly respect the metric energy fields - positive alnegative:

David Michael Wolff



{Here Level I represents the Metric Field at the eighth-note lev

the quarter-note level.}

Interestingly though, if we look at the complete first phrase of first four bars), the energy and expression of the Italian text somthe underlying metric and harmonic energy. Voi che sapete chwho knows what love is, or word-for-word, you (Voi) che (that) (what) cosa (thing) è (is) amor (love).} In Italian, this phrase can b

accented in several different ways, depending on the desired insetting of the words seems to imply that he deems the che on th3 as the primary accent. After all, he places it on the highest tonand exactly in the middle of the phrase, which lends it symmetrecite the Italian this way though, it sounds awkward. It woulto emphasize VOI or CO(sa) or (a) MOR, or all three, in relative So the sensitive singer needs to find a way of respecting Mozar

while also observing the rhythmic and metric values of the orig

This is the world of the Singer and the Vocal Accompanist, ifthe vocal repertoire, you must take into account this other dimcharacter and style, often even during the instrumental interluwonder if purely instrumental works as well are not sometimthe energy and even diction of the silent, unformed words that

Endless volumes have been written about programmatic “pure” music, but what of the hidden languages behindAlthough we won’t be able to enter such discussions here, we wto a discussion of the rhythm and energy of speech in a later ess

David Michael Wolff



Variazioni: Practicing Zen Orchestration

The following five works have been chosen carefully to span piano repertoire and demonstrate the universality of the concep

ZEN



and the

ART o f

PIANO At once inspiring, revelatory,stimulating and transformational,Zen and t he Art o f Piano speaks to

amateurs as well as aspiring concert artists. David Michael

Wolff offers illuminating insightsinto every aspect of the art ofpiano and the life of a concertpianist. A rare book on Musicthat will challenge yourpreconceptions and lead you in

new directions.

Zen Art Music Press

Date post:	03-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	balika1
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

ZenArtPiano Excerpts 3-7-09

Documents