Piano Heroes

Piano Hero: Season Finale

2010-05-04T09:49:00.001-04:00

Piano Hero: Season Finale
12:10 – 12:45
Wednesday, May 5
Phillips Recital Hall

Piano Hero Goes to the Opera, featuring Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries and more....

Piano Hero: This'n'That

2010-04-27T15:14:00.004-04:00

Only two more Wednesdays left in the school year, so we didn't feel we could let either slip by without a little Piano Hero. Tomorrow (April 28) will be a somewhat eclectic selection, though I suppose all the works were written in German-speaking lands within about a 50 year span. I guess I'm just admitting there's no official "theme" this week. However, it's all great music, maybe even less rehearsed than usual! (I've been pondering this quirky idea that "less rehearsed" might be considered a good thing in some contexts. In the meantime, students, don't try this at home! Well, that is, you should try sight-reading for pleasure at home, but rehearsing for upcoming concerts and juries is still considered a good thing.)

OK, so we'll open with Beethoven's stirring "Egmont" Overture, which just so happens to be what the Gordon Symphony Orchestra will be opening with this Saturday night at 7:30pm. A sneak preview, if you will. Come hear it in black-and-white form tomorrow, then return on Saturday for the technicolor version. You can also sample it here.

I'm particularly excited about what we'll play next. In fact, I'll just be playing Mozart's very famous little Sonata in C Major, K. 545, often known as the "Easy" Sonata. You know, the one that goes like this. However, it turns out that Edvard Grieg wrote his own slyly mischievous 2nd piano parts to this and several other Mozart sonatas. They cast a wonderfully different light on this very familiar music, in some cases just supporting the original piano with added sonority, and sometimes adding extra melodic ideas. Very charming, and let's just say that "slyly mischevious" is right up Nathan's alley.

We'll close with the rousing final movement of Mendelssohn's "Reformation" Symphony. Written to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the symphony's finale is based on Martin Luther's great Reformation hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. So, like the Mozart/Grieg, this is music that builds on a pre-existing musical work. I guess that's kind of a theme.

Looking Bach...

2010-04-22T09:29:00.003-04:00

A few reflections on yesterday's "Bach to the Future" Piano Hero can be find on my blog.

And, looking ahead, we'll pretty likely being hero-ing on the last two Wednesdays of the school year, April 28 and May 5. Programs TBA. Check back here for information or email me at MMmusing at gmail dot com to be put on the email list.

Piano Hero: Bach to the Future

2010-04-20T10:25:00.003-04:00

All previous Piano Hero events have been about tackling big orchestral works from the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, especially, pianist-composers were so dominant that even the largest symphonic canvases translate with a certain logic to 88 keys. This week, we look further back to the 18th century and the music of J.S. Bach, who never met anything like the modern piano. Bach was, of course, a great organist and harpsichordist, and his keyboard music is a cornerstone of the modern pianist's repertoire, but two pianos might seem like too much of a good thing for the graceful music of this Baroque giant.

However, an extra set of hands comes in quite handy when trying to manage some of Bach's most intricate creations, so we'll take advantage of the two-piano setup to help untangle the Brandenburg Concerto #3, which in its original form calls for nine separate string parts, and the magnificently austere 6-part Ricercare from The Musical Offering. Although Bach didn't write for ensembles anything like the size of a 19th century symphony orchestra, some of his organ works are just as big and bold in scope, so we'll be closing with a two-piano version of the grand Passacaglia in C Minor.

As always with Piano Hero, the pianists won't have rehearsed much ahead of time, so it will be interesting to see what contrapuntal traps Mr. Bach has in store for them. The doors will be open throughout, and listeners are free to come and go. We'll start at about 12:10 and end around 12:45.

Piano Hero: Shakespeare Edition

2010-03-28T20:42:00.004-04:00

Also, note that Michael Monroe will be giving a Faculty Forum presentation, "Music in Translation" at 4:30, also in Phillips Recital Hall.

Piano Hero: Shakespearo

2010-03-24T22:37:00.007-04:00

The wait is over! Piano Hero 2010 finally debuts on Wednesday, March 31, at noon in Phillips Recital Hall (Gordon College, Wenham, MA). Michael Monroe and Nathan Skinner will be tackling 2-piano arrangements of two orchestral masterworks inspired by the Bard himself: Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. You'll hear fairies scurrying, donkeys braying, families feuding, and love blooming - that's assuming our heroes can hit the right buttons as the scores go flying by. Shakespeare's all about the drama, after all.

More info to come...

Level 1,812

2009-05-04T11:11:00.012-04:00

[UPDATE2: We had an even bigger success with this at an Oct. 10, 2009 Homecoming event, with a much larger audience on hand. Read more about it here.]

[UPDATE: This was definitely our biggest success yet. We had a big audience, many of whom participated by popping paper bags as cannons. Works remarkably well! I'll write more about this soon and post some video highlights...]

Yes, we've found a secret code that allows us to jump all the way from Level 40 to Level 1,812. (Note, we've also skipped Level 6 & Levels 8-39.) This is the final Piano Hero of the semester, so something of a celebration is in order.

We'll leave it as an exercise for you to guess what the main course will be for Level 1,182. HINT: Bring noise-making devices. (No gunpowder, please.) There will be at least one appetizer (of the musical variety) as well. As always, the doors will be open, so you're free to stay for much or as little you wish.

Wednesday, May 6 at 12:20pm
Phillips Recital Hall
Gordon College
Wenham, MA.

Amadeus

2009-04-29T09:31:00.002-04:00

Today. Mozart. Symphony. 40. 12:15.

Level 7: Beethoven 7

2009-04-20T11:49:00.003-04:00

Piano Heroes ride again this Wednesday (4/22) with a two-piano version of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. I wish I had more time to write now, but I'll just say that this is my favorite of all the Beethoven "Nine" and maybe my favorite Beethoven, period. The last movement is wildly entertaining, and it should be quite a thrill ride as a sight-reading exercise.

[Yes, technically we're skipping Level 6, whatever that means. Let's pretend that we found a secret code that lets us skip a level.]

Week Off

2009-04-14T06:54:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all who came out for Beethoven's 5th last week. We had a fantastic audience.

We're taking this week off, but Piano Hero will return on Wednesday, April 22. Stay tuned!

Level 5: Beethoven's 5th

2009-04-07T21:36:00.003-04:00

It was inevitable that Level 5 of Piano Hero would have to be that most famous of all symphonies - however, to make it all the more exciting, we'll be playing an arrangement for 2 pianos, 8 hands. Between us, Nathan and I only have 4 hands, so we'll be joined by two outstanding guests, Chaz Woodstock and Megan Muthersbaugh. And, to really make it exciting, we will have very little rehearsal time as a group. I haven't even looked at my part yet, come to think of it.

Anyway, it all takes place tomorrow (Wed) at 12:15 in Phillips Recital. As always, the doors will be open and people are free to come and go as they please. We'll be projecting the orchestral score if you like having something to look at - other than 4 desperate pianists hoping they don't get lost.

Piano Hero 4 Recap

2009-03-27T22:08:00.002-04:00

Here's a taste of what Piano Anti-Hero looked and sound like:

Level Four: Piano Anti-Hero

2009-03-23T12:34:00.004-04:00

We're back this week, after a two-week hiatus, with Aaron Copland's wonderful arrangement for two pianos of music from his ballet, Billy the Kid. As an added bonus, we'll be taking on the famous "Hoedown" from Rodeo. If you don't know the "Hoedown" by name, you've probably heard it as used in the "Beef: It's What's For Dinner" commercials. But everyone loves it, even vegetarians.

Piano Heroes at Rest

2009-03-16T14:01:00.002-04:00

We took last week off for Spring Break, and it turns out we'll be taking this week (3/18) off as well. The truth is, we met to rehearse a piece this morning and just didn't like the way it sounded on piano. If we're not enjoying, why make others come suffer along.

So, check back soon. Hopefully, Piano Hero will resume on Wednesday, March 25...

Piano Hero Reflections

2009-03-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

Some extended musing about the experiment so far...

Level Three Completed

2009-03-07T11:40:00.003-05:00

Piano Hero will be off this coming Wednesday, for Spring Break. Stay tuned for information about the next performance, likely to be on March 18. In the meantime, here's a quick video excerpt from this past Wednesday's takedown of Beethoven's "Eroica." Read more about it here.

Piano Heroica

2009-03-02T09:38:00.007-05:00

Yes, Piano Hero is back for Level Three this week with, appropriately enough, Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, the "Eroica." Many have asked to have these performances start a little later than noon, since classes get out at 12:25. The "Eroica" is a long symphony though (at least 45 minutes), and we have to be done by 1pm, so this week we'll plan to start at about 12:10. As always, the doors will be open and you're free to come for as much or as little as you'd like.

We'll be projecting the score (if all goes as planned) this week, so you'll be able to see exactly what our pianists are seeing and (hopefully) playing. And, for the first time, Michael and Nathan will each get his own piano. That's twice the Steinway for your money (free admission). If you want a sneek peak, here's what the score looks like. Now the only question is, can they beat the score? Come find out.

Beethoven's Symphony No.3

Michael Monroe and Nathan Skinner, pianos

Wednesday, 12:10pm

Phillips Recital Hall

Level Two Completed

2009-02-27T15:43:00.006-05:00

Our heroes survived their encounter with Mendelssohn on Wednesday - wow, that piece has a lot of notes. And, to increase the challenge factor, they were playing from a scanned version of the score that looks like this in spots:

Still, it's worth noting here what an amazing resource the International Music Score Library Project is. Without IMLSP.org, we'd have had no score for the Mendelssohn. Plus, the poor scan makes a great excuse for any little misfires that might be scattered throughout the performance. The video above provides a brief sampling of the Piano Hero experience, but the mistakes are more exciting in person, I have to say.

We've decided to go back to Beethoven for Level Three next week (3/4), with a few new wrinkles. First of all, we'll be playing the landmark Symphony No.3 in a version for two pianos, as opposed to the 4-hands-at-1-piano arrangements we've used the last couple of weeks. Beethoven famously intended to dedicate this work to Napoleon, but then when disillusionment with the self-proclaimed emperor set in, the composer switched the title to the more generic Sinfonia eroica (heroic symphony) - which I think we can finally understand as a forward-looking dedication to our Piano Hero concept.

Also, if all goes as planned, we'll be projecting the score for your viewing pleasure this time, perhaps with some helpful annotations thrown in. This way, you'll be able to see exactly what we're seeing - and possibly faking. Nathan might go old-school and play from paper pages this time around, but I will definitely continue to play from a Tablet PC, because that's how I roll now. In the interest of full disclosure (and since there were witnesses, and all), I might as well admit that we had a minor technical snafu this last time out. I had the Airturn page-turning pedal all set to go, but when we arrived at the first turn, I pedaled - and nothing happened. We had to stop and restart after a quick exiting and re-entering of full-screen mode. In retrospect I'm not sure what went wrong, although it wasn't the fault of the Airturn device. The PC had simply stopped responding to instructions in full-screen mode, and the PageDown key wouldn't budge it either. This machine has done that a few times before when it's been left sitting unattended for awhile (as happened here), but I don't think it's a major concern. However, I will always remember to double-check that the program is "awake" before starting a performance.

Finally, a quick reminder that you can hear the "orchestral" version of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 this Saturday night (2/28) at 7:30 in a performance by the Gordon Symphony Orchestra. It's a very rich program that also includes a Handel oboe concerto, with student soloist, a large-scale work for cello and orchestra by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Yehudi Wyner, with artist-in-residence Carol Ou as soloist, and Brahms' gorgeous Schicksalslied for chorus and orchestra, feating the Symphonic Chorale and College Choir. Guest conductor is Susan Davenny Wyner.

Piano Hero: Level 2

2009-02-24T07:10:00.000-05:00

Last week’s debut of Piano Hero seemed to be a success, so we’ve decided to go to Level 2 this Wednesday (2/25), again at noon in Phillips Recital Hall.

If you missed last week, the idea of Piano Hero is that pianists Michael Monroe and Nathan Skinner will sightread (more or less) a symphony originally intended for orchestra, but arranged for one piano, 4 hands. Such arrangements date from the nineteenth century when the lack of home audio equipment meant that this was the best way to hear Beethoven’s latest at home. So, these performances are intended to be rather informal, which means that Michael and Nathan have agreed not to practice too much. That’s what gives the experience a bit of a Guitar Hero feel – at least for the performers. They also will again be playing from a geeked-up piano that replaces the conventional music rack with two computer monitors, and also incorporates a magical page-turning pedal.

Last week Michael and Nathan survived Beethoven’s first symphony. This week, in anticipation of Saturday’s upcoming Gordon Symphony Orchestra concert, our pianists will be tackling Mendelssohn’s colorful Symphony No. 4, popularly known as the “Italian.” If you don’t know this piece, hearing it in the piano version is a nice way to get to know the tunes and basic character in preparation for hearing the full orchestra play it on Saturday. If you do know the piece, you’re still sure to hear something new in this “black-and-white” version. In a preliminary pseudo-rehearsal, Michael and Nathan noticed that there are a LOT of notes in the first and last movements. This could be the week they go down in flames. Would you want to miss that?

As before the doors will be open and you are welcome to stay for as much or as little as you please. The symphony is about 30 minutes long.

To recap:

Piano Hero
Wednesday, 2/25
High Noon
Phillips Recital Hall

Piano Hero Debut

2009-02-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

This Wednesday (2/18), come see pianists Michael Monroe and Nathan Skinner take on Beethoven in a matchup of four hands against the great master’s first symphony.

It’s often said that 4-hand piano arrangements of orchestral works were the record players (iPods, for the kids out there) of the nineteenth century, as this was the only practical way to hear such music in the home. Although some details might get lost in the translation from colorful orchestra to black-and-white keyboard, these stripped-down transcriptions provide an enlightening, entertaining, and economical way to hear the classics.

It’s also a lot of fun for the pianists, and in that spirit, Michael and Nathan are planning not to practice too much. It’s often said (by Michael, at least) that sightreading at the piano is kind of like playing a video game. The notes come flying at you and you do the best you can not to get blown up. So, this is intended less as a polished performance than as a diverting way to pass the noontime hour on Wednesday. The doors will be open, and all are invited to wander in for as much or as little as you’d like.

Although the performance will be old-school in the “nineteenth century record player” sense, it will have a twenty-first century feel as Michael and Nathan read the music from computer monitors and turn the pages with a magical wireless pedal. (Why? Because they can.) So, it might really look like they’re up there playing a piano version of Guitar Hero with an 88-key controller. Feel free to cheer or boo as so moved.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, the first of the legendary Nine, is a delightfully high-spirited work in four movements lasting about 25-30 minutes (depending on how many times our heroes crash and burn). If all goes well, Symphony No.2 might follow next Wednesday.

It all takes places this Wednesday (2/18) at noon in Phillips Recital Hall.

Admission is free, and you’ll get your money back if you don’t have a good time.

~ ~ ~

Michael Monroe is an Assistant Professor of Music at Gordon, where he teaches piano and music history and helps to turn unsuspecting undergrads into opera singers. He blogs regularly about music at http://MMmusing.blogspot.com.

Nathan Skinner is a 2007 Gordon grad now working as a coach in the Music Department. He’s also the organist at First Congregational Church of Hamilton and is frequently featured as an organist at major Gordon events. He can play really loud.