Continuing to talk about my struggles, I decided to focus my research on 20th-century music. My full master exam program consists of music from this period. The musical language of the 20th century is transforming and developing, making it more complicated to play compared to Baroque and Classical music. As a result, I face playing obstacles in every piece I perform.
Scriabin’s Sonata No. 9 has many difficulties, so I chose this piece to research and find solutions that I could apply to other pieces as well. While learning Scriabin’s Sonata No. 9, I noticed that on every page I struggle with the piano texture, which is quite challenging for me physically. After analyzing, I could divide all the difficulties into three groups (some fragments of the piece can be in more than one group):
1. Chords
2. Arpeggiated passages
3. Two to three voices in one hand
There is also a fourth group, which I put in brackets: large leaps which are not possible for any hand to play without a pedal. This is obvious because it is impossible to play the fragment without the right pedal due to 2-3 octave leaps.
For one specific problem, several solutions can be found (but not in every case). Only one solution will fit me, considering not only the technical and physical aspects but also the musical purpose, which I believe is most important. For this, we must take care of other musical elements such as:
- Dynamics
- Articulation
- Pedal
- Rhythm
- Tempo
- Timing (breaths and tempo changes)
- Composer’s notes
I made a full analysis of the Sonata with my explanations and included some ideas from the teachers I took lessons from - Evelina Vorontsova from HKU Utrecht Conservatorium and Anastasia Goldberg from Maastricht Conservatorium. One of my primary reasons for choosing female piano teachers was their typically smaller hand size compared to male pianists. This factor was significant for me, as both Evelina and Anastasia have smaller hands, which allowed them to offer practical advice and techniques tailored to someone with similar physical characteristics. Their unique perspectives and suggestions were beneficial and helped me view my piano technique from a new angle.
And the piano score of the piece:
Additionally, I chose 7 challenging fragments from the Sonata and asked other pianists for their solutions in my survey. Here, you can read their approaches and see my slow tempo recordings where you can observe my methods.
And here are some interesting recordings of this Sonata
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