
Interview with British Pianist Stephen Hough - who-knows
https://www.musicandliterature.org/features/2020/7/7/the-stephen-hough-interview
======
thirteenfingers
This bit in particular resonated with me, as someone who's had problems with
nervousness giving piano recitals:

 _I have a psychological approach to nerves as well. We have to consider the
so-called importance of our little place in the world. This Beethoven
performance is unlikely to be of any significance in three hundred years—and
in three thousand years, not at all.

It’s like standing on a different planet and looking down; let go and lose
yourself. At the same time, we have to realize that the smallest gesture has
enormous implications._

~~~
jancsika
If you've never done it before, consider drilling _every_ single aspect of the
performance.

For example-- in a performance, you usually walk to the instrument, bow, sit
down, adjust the bench, pause, consider the tempo... all to play the first few
notes that establish the tempo of the piece.

So you would drill that entire entrance, as well as drilling from a sitting
position and establishing the tempo.

What you'll probably find is that the variance in speed among these drills is
well beyond what you desire for your performance. And the more you drill, the
more control you have over the established tempo, which is probably the most
important moment to _not_ make a mistake. :)

This approach doesn't "solve" nerves. But it can slowly decouple them from the
performance. E.g., you start freaking out because you never noticed how
"weird" your thumbs look in this passage; nevertheless, muscle memory
established a nice, solid tempo for your freakout instead of one thats 1.5x
too fast... :)

~~~
KineticLensman
Yes. I've used this for public speaking. Also for parachuting, where I finally
got a clean jump (back in solo static-line days) by working through in my mind
all of the distractions: stall alarm sounding, jump-master shouting
instructions, clambering into the door (seated position in a Cessna), smell of
exhaust fumes, slipstream.

------
bjornlouser
"I am composing the test piece for the 2021 Van Cliburn competition ... One
issue [about Bach] may be that I celebrate a certain chaos or irresolution in
art ..."

Can't help but wonder if modern composers use 'chaos and irresolution' as a
way to rationalize their terrible compositions.

Hopefully Hough will give us a beautiful pastiche.

Previous Van Cliburn test pieces:

Bernstein's Touches
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFjdVP_tQYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFjdVP_tQYA)

Christopher Theofanidis BIRICHINO
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXuKF20h480](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXuKF20h480)

~~~
yomly
>Can't help but wonder if modern composers use 'chaos and irresolution' as a
way to rationalize their terrible compositions.

I can somewhat sympathise with artists feeling everything is done. I'm not
convinced you could be novel in a baroque or classical form without ending up
feeling derivative

------
silviogutierrez
Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K03xMG7fdQ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K03xMG7fdQ4)

A great performance by Hough — a devout Catholic.

Currently one of my favorite pieces to play.

I was inspired to learn it after hearing him play it. Both the titles and the
content are deeply relevant during times of coronavirus.

Especially at the height of a solitary lockdown.

------
pantulis
Learning to play piano takes years, but rewards can be more or less immediate
if one knows how to set the right expectations.

As an adult learner, you need to make sure you are enjoying the instrument so
it should have the right action and sound. It's unbeliable how you can
purchase a Casio CDP S100 these days for less than 400 bucks and get a decent
keybed and sound, advances in digital piano technology are staggering! not
only sample libraries are huge these days, most digital piano companies have
been including physical modelling into their sound engines with success, it's
only a matter of time until these offering end up in the lower price points

One can safely predict that in a decade the only difference between an
affordable digital piano and a real acoustic piano will be the keyboard
action.

~~~
robdoherty2
It is absolutely true that adults can begin to learn piano (or any musical
instrument) and reap rich rewards. And as you say the key is to set the right
expectations and enjoy the sound, enjoy the process.

However, I don't agree that affordable to even high-end digital pianos will be
able to approximate real acoustic pianos within 10 years in two primary areas:
dynamics (being able to produce the full range of sounds from pianissimo to
fortissimo) and haptic feedback (the subtle vibrations felt by the fingers and
body when playing a real piano). Digital piano keybeds are getting better and
better in these areas, but are just not close yet to a real piano sound and
feel IMHO.

If anyone knows of any models of keyboards that prove me wrong, please share!

~~~
iainctduncan
I wouldn't say it would prove you wrong, but the StudioLogic SL88 Grand with
the sound coming from Pianoteq is stunning for the money. Obviously it's not
going to feel exactly like a real piano, but it is absolutely similar enough
to feel way more like a real piano than anything else I've tried, and at a bit
more than $1KUS, the price is unbeatable for anyone up to a very advanced
level. StudioLogic is Fatar's in-house brand, so you get the key-bed of a much
more expensive digital piano in a cheaper minimal housing, blowing away
anything else in the same price bracket on key feel. You might have to hunt
for them. They have weird arrangements as a part supplier for other brands, so
for instance I found it at long & mcquade in Canada, but it was _not_ on their
websites.

~~~
pantulis
On a similar spirit, the Kawai VPC1 although you need a PC to generate the
sounds. Most people tend to use Modartts' Pianoteq.

~~~
mbroncano
I've started to use a RPi4 instead (output is through a simple USB DAC) and
the quality is pretty much the same. Additionally, it makes for a simpler
setup if you have a dedicated unit for the purpose.

~~~
pantulis
Are you running Pianoteq or other software?

My Korg Kronos is just a dedicated mini-PC working as a synthesizer
workstation appliance. It takes about 3-4 minutes to boot so hooking a RPi4
next to it would make for a great weekend project.

~~~
mbroncano
I’m running Pianoteq indeed

