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Greetings everyone,
I'm here to get some advice from the great pianists and knowledgeable students around the world. Ever since that first day which I was introduced to the great music of Rachmaninoff by my father I have found myself more and more enclosed in my own little world along with Rachmaninoff, I spend every waking hour sweating and laboring in my attempt to understand and interpret his music like no other. Rachmaninoff is the only composer I've heard that can touch me at such a level I have no words to explain (and believe me I've heard PLENTY of pieces and have great respect for all the greats). however like i stated before I've found myself only being able to focus on his music and mastering it for that great high I get, I no longer spend time on any other music, hardly ever practice scales etc. I guess I'm just looking for advice if this is a little wierd or healthy or whatever.
Thanks.
"The Lord Almighty is the only one capable of fully understanding her nature, man can never tame her. We can only await her visit."
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Greetings pucketmeister, welcome to the boards.
I have a cure for your ailment. Try some Liszt instead, as he is a "genius" next to the mere "conversationalist" Rachmaninoff according to the "Great and Boundless" pianistic rhetoric of the masterly Alfred Brendel.
*goes on mumbling bitterly*
"He who turns himself into a beast, gets rid of the pain of being a man."
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Rachmaninoff is great -- no doubt about that. There's nothing wrong with being very into one composer, however, to improve all aspects of piano playing, it is useful to play all styles and composers. From playing Mozart and Bach alone, one can improve dramatically in areas that Rachmaninoff may not address. You can't always force yourself to like something else, but as a serious pianist, it's important to be open and broaden your horizons. There is so much to play, I'm positive that you can get that great high you mention from many, many other composers. Buy yourself recordings and sheet music of the Bach Well Tempered Clavier, Mozart sonatas, Chopin nocturnes, and Beethoven sonatas, to start. I guarantee you'll find something that you like.
By the way, do you have a teacher? A good teacher should have a diverse, productive, and interesting repertoire for students of all levels.
Keep in mind -- one may make more improvements by practicing a wide array of compositions. You might have to push yourself, but in my experience, pieces often grow on me as I practice them. Enjoying playing the piano is most important, of course, but if you're serious about being the best pianist you can be, then be open, push yourself, and don't give up!
Good luck!
-Ari
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Study and play and listen to Rachmaninov's work to your heart's delight. You've acquired a great love for his music, and you should not let that go.
As you said, you do have great respect for the other masters, and eventually you might like to get back to some other styles (for a change, even!) But you certainly will learn a lot from Rachmaninov, and have fun at the same time (which is what playing the piano and studying/listening to music is all about).
Sam
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There's nothing unhealthy about doing what you enjoy. It's an unhealthy habbit only if you are trying to grow as a pianist in general. If you love Rachmaninov that much, and you only play the piano for pleasure, keep doing what your doing!
- Zack -
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you should never have to force yourself to like or not like something but you should figure out what it is that you like or don't like about something.
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Thanks for all the input everyone, greatly appreciated. Summer's sneakin' up on me and i was wondering if i should use it to get some serious practice in or try and broaden my horizons.
"The Lord Almighty is the only one capable of fully understanding her nature, man can never tame her. We can only await her visit."
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Well in that perspective I think it depends on what your ambitions are. If you want to play professionally on large stages and tour the globe, or win competitions, or indeed even become an exceptional teacher, there is no question that you need to expand and find other composers which could only enhance your enjoyment of Rachmaninoff, I believe, or even in a rare case top his music in your personal opinion! Not to say that it necessarily will happen, but it's always possible. If you already have such a bond with his music, though, it's not very probable.
Nevertheless, you would definitely need to be familiar with the rest of the repertoire and composers if that's what you want to do.
On the other hand, if you're like 99% of the people on this forum, and I assume you are, you just want to enjoy yourself and become as good as you can be without committing your life and wages to the practice--well, if that's the case, then you have no worries at all. Carry on with Rachmaninoff and learn as much of his music as you can! By all means, studying music should never be a task or a dutiful pursuit filled with questions similar to, "well, I like playing Rachmaninoff, but Bach is "better" for me. Shouldn't I play more Bach? Hmmph...." and so forth (though I trust that most people would respect Bach wonderfully).
So, no, don't worry about it yet. Expansion will come eventually, for sure. Just play what you like!
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Originally posted by puckettmeister: Greetings everyone,
I'm here to get some advice from the great pianists and knowledgeable students around the world. Ever since that first day which I was introduced to the great music of Rachmaninoff by my father I have found myself more and more enclosed in my own little world along with Rachmaninoff, I spend every waking hour sweating and laboring in my attempt to understand and interpret his music like no other. Rachmaninoff is the only composer I've heard that can touch me at such a level I have no words to explain (and believe me I've heard PLENTY of pieces and have great respect for all the greats). however like i stated before I've found myself only being able to focus on his music and mastering it for that great high I get, I no longer spend time on any other music, hardly ever practice scales etc. I guess I'm just looking for advice if this is a little wierd or healthy or whatever.
Thanks. This is because Rachmaninoff wrote from the soul. I agree with you, and my obsession is Rachmaninoff as well...he is my idol, and I wrote about him in pretty much all of my college/conservatory entrance essays. He refused to compose without feelings. He sank into a depression, where he had writers block, and was taken to a hypnotheropist, and enlightened. He then wrote his 2nd-3rd concertos. He is forever unbeatable to me. Anyway, I do play other music, and I would recommend learning the music before saying you don't like it. I hated Mozart until I started learning full sonatas. You begin to appreciate the phrasing like no other when studying with a great teacher.
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For both puckettmeister and musicsdarkangel, just wondering what music of his is your favorite and what you are working on? I have been listening recently to a great recording of the Prelude in B Flat major (by Allison Lovejoy)--the piece is now on my short list--and I'm trying to become more deeply acquinted with the preludes.
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Well stephenT, The Rachmaninoff pieces i've been working on are a few of his etudes (op.33 mainly 2,4, and 5); I'm now spending time on the Cadenzas of the Rach. 3, prelude in C sharp minor, I played around with some themes in the second concerto (nothing to serious though); but i'd have to say above all i've taken quite a liking to his rhapsodie, i've been working pretty feverishly on it for the past many months, the piece just blows me away. but like you said, down the road i would like to put more time into his preludes, the one in b flat i believe is really awesome.
"The Lord Almighty is the only one capable of fully understanding her nature, man can never tame her. We can only await her visit."
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Originally posted by Goldberg: Well in that perspective I think it depends on what your ambitions are. If you want to play professionally on large stages and tour the globe, or win competitions, or indeed even become an exceptional teacher, there is no question that you need to expand and find other composers which could only enhance your enjoyment of Rachmaninoff, I believe, or even in a rare case top his music in your personal opinion! Not to say that it necessarily will happen, but it's always possible. If you already have such a bond with his music, though, it's not very probable. Goldberg i'd have to say that this suites me the best, i don't want to boast or sound erogant but the passion and connection that i have with music is such that i wonder if there is or was a human with such a disgusting flaming passion, with that in mind i would like to share this passion with the world, let them see what music REALLy truly is i would like to teach children and adults alike with such great passion that it would spark such a great fire in music history, i would like to perform so that people could see and hear the emotion of music and connect with it, with this in mind perhaos you could help me further and maybe i definately need to expand beyond Rachmaninoff, however the emotion connection in his music is really something of its which i fail to find in other composers music, or perhaps i just havnt looked long and hard enough(sure feals like i have). PS. sorry for speech
"The Lord Almighty is the only one capable of fully understanding her nature, man can never tame her. We can only await her visit."
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Rachmaninoff is also on my list of favourite composers but i also admire him as a pianist although he did very few recordings with low quality (recorded in the thirties).
But he is the most powerful pianist in the 20th century that's for sure.
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An obsession of this kind now and then is perfectly healthy. Your condition will improve with time!
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I've heard that some pianists have had periods when they have mainly concentrated on one composer only. These periods may have lasted from a few years to fifteen years. Whether their "ponding" has been equal to yours, I lack the means and interest to estimate. However, reading the sheet music, or listening to an ordinary good performance, doesn't always show you how powerful and contagious a composer's music can be. If you want to try to feel as strongly for some other composers as you do for Rachmaninoff, I would recommend you to get familiar with Alfred Cortot's recordings of Chopin. Especially the four ballades recorded in 1933, the second sonata and the 24 preludes from the same year, and the third sonata from 1931, and the second concerto from 1935. Cortot recorded those pieces multiple times, so make sure you get the right ones (if you are interested). All of those, save the -33 preludes, can be found on a six CD EMI set (along with some very fascinating waltz renderings, etudes, a few nocturnes, and some misc. stuff). As for Liszt, I'm very fond of some of Claudio Arrau's renderings. His Sonata in B minor, Benediction, two concert etudes, and Vallée d'Obermann can be found on a middle-priced, 24-bit remastered, re-issue on Philips' "Great recordings" -series.
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Puckettmeister--I was just browsing around at SheetMusicPlus.com and found this version of the Rhapsody score that comes with a recording of the orchestral accompaniment without the soloist so you can practice with the orchestra. It's published by Music Minus One. Here's the link: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store...2810141248&searchtitle=Sheet%20Music
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if you would give yourself 5 hour continuous listening to Beethoven last 4-5 quartets, you might be 'cured' from that .
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Also, try Richter's Schumann recordings... Fantasy in C is such a wonderful work... One of the very favourites of mine in the whole piano literature of the past three hundred years... And Richter's renderings are beyond words...
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thank you for the link stephenT that should be very helpful, and thanks to everyone else for the advice.
"The Lord Almighty is the only one capable of fully understanding her nature, man can never tame her. We can only await her visit."
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Originally posted by StephenT: I have been listening recently to a great recording of the Prelude in B Flat major (by Allison Lovejoy)--the piece is now on my short list--and I'm trying to become more deeply acquinted with the preludes. I'm working on this prelude at the moment. I love the piece as well. The left hand is absolute murder though. You should listen to Agustin Anievas' recording - it's my personal favorite. He recorded all of the preludes on EMI, and he also plays some Liszt and Chopin on there (Chopin and Liszt B minor sonatas).
- Zack -
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