Rachmaninoff piano concerto No. 3

[geetrue]

Just from an old memory module left over in my head ...

aren't you a music teacher Takeda

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by geetrue

Just from an old memory module left over in my head ...

aren't you a music teacher Takeda

I am. I am a professor of music history and theory. So, I am the loudmouth that I was refering to.

[Armistead]

I like Jerry Lee Lewis myself.....

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

I am. I am a professor of music history and theory. So, I am the loudmouth that I was refering to.

It's funny, but sad. I took music theory as a major and music history as a minor my first (and last) year at college. I suddenly found myself not caring and bored, and more interested in playing music than studying it. Years later I discovered a true love of history in general, and began to kick myself. It's only this last year and the medieval and renaissance discoveries that have made me wonder what I was thinking back then. It's too late to make a career of it, but not too late to enjoy it.

Originally Posted by Armistead

I like Jerry Lee Lewis myself.....

Never met the man.

Oh, you meant the music...

[vienna]

I am. I am a professor of music history and theory. So, I am the loudmouth that I was refering to.

Never even remotely cosidered you as any form of loudmouth.

You are correct about SMEs and the arts. If you ever want an amusing read, try "Twilight of the Gods: The Music of the Beatles" by Wilfred Mellerz. The book (actually more like a booklet) is about 40 years old and written from a formal musicology view. The depictions of the Beatles music and it "mechanics" is amusing when you consider none of the Beatles could read or write musical notation and had no formal education in music theory. I'm willing to bet John never turned to Paul and said, "Hey, Paul let's revert to the Mixolydian on this number."...

I'm a firm Beethoven admirer myself. Rachmaninoff seems, to me at least, to be more famed for his technical skill and somewhat "chessey" emotional romanticism...

An interesting series of pieces is the Listz transcriptions of all nine of the Beethoven symphonies. Listz, who deeply admired Beethoven, made transcriptions, for solo piano, of the symphonies and, since Listz was an exceptional technical pianist who liked to show off, he imbued the transcriptions with many challenges for other players. One of the side benefits of the transcriptions is the abiltity to hear the symphonies in a form very akin to how they were originally composed. Beethoven composed at the piano and these "stripped down" versions allow one to hear the "nuts and bolts" that went into the building of the final full-form symphonies. There are a few recordings available of the Listz transcriptions; not many pianists are willing or capable of properly executing the pieces. Glenn Gould recorded one of the transcriptions (the 6th, IIRC)...

<O>

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by vienna

Never even remotely cosidered you as any form of loudmouth.

You are correct about SMEs and the arts. If you ever want an amusing read, try "Twilight of the Gods: The Music of the Beatles" by Wilfred Mellerz. The book (actually more like a booklet) is about 40 years old and written from a formal musicology view. The depictions of the Beatles music and it "mechanics" is amusing when you consider none of the Beatles could read or write musical notation and had no formal education in music theory. I'm willing to bet John never turned to Paul and said, "Hey, Paul let's revert to the Mixolydian on this number."...

I'm a firm Beethoven admirer myself. Rachmaninoff seems, to me at least, to be more famed for his technical skill and somewhat "chessey" emotional romanticism...

An interesting series of pieces is the Listz transcriptions of all nine of the Beethoven symphonies. Listz, who deeply admired Beethoven, made transcriptions, for solo piano, of the symphonies and, since Listz was an exceptional technical pianist who liked to show off, he imbued the transcriptions with many challenges for other players. One of the side benefits of the transcriptions is the abiltity to hear the symphonies in a form very akin to how they were originally composed. Beethoven composed at the piano and these "stripped down" versions allow one to hear the "nuts and bolts" that went into the building of the final full-form symphonies. There are a few recordings available of the Listz transcriptions; not many pianists are willing or capable of properly executing the pieces. Glenn Gould recorded one of the transcriptions (the 6th, IIRC)...

<O>

I appreciate that. Thank you.

There is a lot of over thinking that occurs in my profession. I am usually inclined to recall Freud's quote about a cigar just being a cigar. If only musicologists could just let things be more often.

I know the Gould recording that you are talking about. I do not own a personal copy, which says something because my music library is, as you could imagine, quite extensive. The university I work for does. It is fantastic.

[vienna]

I agree with your view on musicologists. There is much the same problem with film. I live in Hollywood and the place is teeming with film students. It is almost impossible to go to a film screening without running into some film student expounding on the movie of the night. There are times I wish I was Woody Allen in "Annie Hall" and I could magically produce the appropriate film director or producer to shut them up. A co-worker of mine once remarked he believed people became film and music critics not just because they cannot produce their own art, but, mainly, to justify the expense of time and money involved in getting their degrees...

<O>

[sublynx]

Thank you for the link, I'm looking forward to listening to the piece

A couple a days ago I was at a concert where Prokofiev's second piano concerto was played and after the concert there was somebody in the queue for the coats comparing Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto (or was it the 3rd Piano Sonata - I was just listening to what some strangers were talking and couldn't hear too well ) to Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto. I was wondering what Rachmaninoff's piano works would sound like and now I get a chance to listen to some