Author: Helen Weems

HELEN 5/24:  I wonder what everyone is thinking about the end of this collection — Steven, in particular. I think you can see by the title of this post what I thought. Looking forward to our visit.

STEVEN 5/25: I completely agree. The piece is much the same to play as to listen to: not easy, though easier than some of these pieces, and very powerful and majestic.

I was a little worried that the 7 page fugue would be exhausting, but then I felt like I hit the end before I was ready. As with #4, I really enjoyed the double fugue with the return of the first subject creating a big climax about 2/3 of the way through the piece. The simplicity of the first subject and the strong rhythm of the second subject also helped me draw them out and made listening to my sight-reading much nicer.

NADIA 5/25: I have been very busy with the end of my junior year at school so I haven’t had much time to reply to the group. I just came home this past weekend and now have access to the piano. I may have cheated the system a bit, but I was able to play through the entire first book over the last couple days! I’ll be moving onto the second book tomorrow.

These preludes and fugues are probably my favorite out of all our monthly projects. They’re definitely complex, but I like them (even if I struggle sight reading some). After I finish playing through them, I’m going to listen to get a better feel for the pieces. I’m looking forward to our chat!

CRAIG 5/27:
I”ve been gathering a few notes on these as I went through. I did get behind by maybe 5 preludes/fugues along the way.

Here are some late, late notes on finishing, starting with #14. My musicology needs a lift, so I’m learning a lot from you all.

Prelude 14:
I felt dark, brooding and serious when playing this, although it made my left arm hurt more than my covid vaccination. It reminded me of a goth club in Tokyo in the 80s called “La Femme,” which was a grey room in a basement with Geiger prints on the walls. Everything was grey.

Fugue 14:
Who doesn’t love a C flat? I know I do. This one was quite chipper compared to the last one — sort of light, like Olga Korbut’s 1972 Olympics floor exercise. But when I play it, Olga is moving very, very slowly, flying through syrup air. When will she land? Will she ever?

Prelude 15:
This one made me feel good. It moved right along, and I felt confident and really good about myself. Is this feeling real?

Prelude 23:
Oh. Oh oh oh oh. Oh. And oh. I love it — “this sad prelude.” (Wikipedia)

Prelude 24:
I was quite lost but still wanted to feel the power. And I did! What a magnificent ending.

I haven’t listened to all the performances, but I have to say it will take a lot to persuade me away from Tatiana Petrovna Nikolayeva.

Her finale to XXIV is just amazing to me to watch — she has lived a whole life of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQPS7CmZlHM&t=4919s. It is riveting.

HELEN 5/28: Wow, Craig. I love reading about your experience, and thanks for the great references.

GRACE 5/29: Hello 24 pieces crew!

I finally caught up and finished the last prelude and fugue yesterday! Wow that stately prelude, and the beautiful theme of the fugue… amazing.

HELEN 5/30: Yay, Grace! Bravo, everyone!

HELEN 6/7:  On June 1, the tireless Grace and Celia began playing through the Bach Inventions and Sinfonias, one each per day, from June 1-15!

GRACE 6/2: Hi 24-pieces club! I started right out the gate playing catch-up. Today I played Inventions and Sinfonias 1 and 2.

I’ve never played through the sinfonias, though I am familiar with a few of them. #2 is really lovely, and I’m kind of surprised I never played invention #2, as c minor is one of those keys that always feels right in my hands and brain. Of course I did play invention #1 as a kid, and therefore was able to actually pay more attention to dynamics and phrasing when playing it, which is always nice. That being said, boy do my ornaments need work! The trills have flagged over the years…

CELIA 6/3: Grace, I did the same thing yesterday, playing Invention 1 and Sinfonia 1, followed by Invention 2 and Sinfonia 2. I’m quite familiar with Invention 1, because I think I once played it for a church service prelude. I find it quite cheerful!

I enjoyed playing Invention 2, which I have listened to many times but not played much before. The repeating eighth note motif is mournful and beautiful. I completely agree with Grace’s comment about ornaments – I need more practice with them! I loved the harmonies in Sinfonia 2, especially in the sections where right or left hand had running sixteenth notes.

Today I played Invention 3 and Sinfonia 3 (trying something new where I play piano before baby wakes up for the morning – it worked for 10 minutes 🙂
I didn’t find the melody of the invention very intuitive, but really enjoyed the playful nature of the sinfonia. Listening to Glenn Gould playing it was good inspiration, although as usual, I played it much more slowly than he does.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

HELEN 6/3: How wonderful to have Grace and Celia leading us forward here. I’ve had a murderous few days, with plenty time to play piano . . . at midnight . . . and a young family next door who might find that objectionable. Still, I picked up the book today and powered through the first three inventions and sinfonias. As usual my reading improved considerably by the third set. I really love the 3rd invention — it has a dance rhythm that, when you think of it as a circular dance motif, works better, a trick of accenting the phrases almost like a hemiola.

This is a lovely project for part of June!

GRACE 6/4: A familiar invention today. What year did I learn this, Helen? 2007? Wow. All my old bad fingering habits just come flooding back 😅

Love this sinfonia! I feel like I’m relearning the harmonic language of Bach after several months away. It’s fun!

HELEN 6/4: 2004, Grace. !!!

GRACE 6/4: 😱 wow. I was 12.

CELIA 6/4: I learned this one, too!

HELEN 6/7: (delayed response) Celia learned it in 2003!

CELIA 6/6: I played Invention and Sinfonia 5 yesterday and loved the invention! I wrote in all the fingering and I think I am going to try to learn it.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

NADIA 6/8: Hi everyone, Sabrina and I have been playing through the inventions and I’m really enjoying them! I remember trying to learn D minor (#4) in elementary/middle school and having to call it quits because of the long trills which sadly I’m not much better at 10 years later. Today’s invention in F major, both Sabrina and I have played at one point in time and it’s one of my favorites. I really like the staccato notes throughout the piece. I look forward to playing through the rest of the inventions and maybe the sinfonias if we obtain a book.

GRACE 6/11: Hello friends, I’ve had a bit of a hectic week and have been falling behind on Bach, but I’m nearly caught up. I found sinfonia number 8 to be particularly lovely this week. I’ve barely played sinfonias before and I am really enjoying them. A bit of a work-out with the held notes… I continue to largely avoid trills and ornaments on my first read, but I’ll sometimes go back and try to work them in. It’s good practice!

GRACE 6/17: Finally got caught up and finished the inventions and sinfonias today. The b minor invention and sinfonia were really interesting! It took me awhile to figure out many of the patterns in the sinfonia, likely because of the overarching pattern of doing something twice, and then changing it the 3rd time through.

I also got started on the WTC since I know I’m going to be away for several days at the start of July. I played C major and c minor today. -Grace

HELEN 6/22: OK, what is this, nearly a week later, I am finally caught up and finished as of yesterday! I enjoyed the crossing hands passage in the b minor sinfonia especially. What a pleasure to play through the entire sinfonias without the weight of any other project at the same time — I listened to them much better playing only an invention and sinfonia daily. I am grateful to Grace and Celia for encouraging us along! Who else is working on these or finished them?

CELIA 6/27: Hi All, I finished playing through all the inventions and sinfonias about a week ago and have just been way behind on emails!

I decided to start learning Invention 5, because I really liked it and have been (slowly) working on that. I also would like to learn Sinfonias 8 and 9… 8 was just beautiful, and 9 was intriguing to me because it seemed to have more chromaticism than many of the other pieces. I also really loved the harmonies of Sinfonia 11. I have been listening to Glenn Gould playing all the pieces. Excited to get started with WTC soon! -Celia

HELEN 6/27: Thank you for this message, Celia! And thanks to Grace for keeping us moving this month (it looks like an earlier message got stopped in mid-thought right at the point of thanking Grace, and then sent, which is rather indicative of my life recently).

I am greatly looking forward to beginning WTCI in a few days, and I will update the blog with the recent emails from everyone. For those who played WTC last summer, I can promise a different experience second time around. It is different for me every year.

Love, Helen

HELEN 7/4: Today’s P&F is absolutely lovely, and even though this was by far the hardest fugue so far, I played it so much better than the three previous, perhaps because I settled into the piano here and took my time. I was hoping to hear from one of our C# Major fans yesterday! That was a mental workout.

CELIA 7/5: What a joy it is to be playing through WTC 1 for the second time with you all! It feels both comforting and refreshing to play these pieces for the second July in a row. Here are a few things I noticed and my reflections on the first few P + F:

Prelude and Fugue 1: I love playing the first prelude – the rhythms are repetitive and feel good in my fingers and the chord progression is simple yet beautiful. Playing this piece makes me feel so happy and grounded. I love the fugue as well, especially the section between measures 15-19. I’m not sure if this is right (I’m kind of glancing at the music and haven’t formally analyzed the chords), but Bach seems to tonicize G, return to C, use harmonies from d minor/Major, and then by m. 20 tonicize G again before heading back to C. I love how he is able to tonicize so many different keys and then come back to the home key by the end in a way that seems so satisfying.

Prelude and Fugue 2: I think I started learning this one at one point but did not finish learning it, and I remember feeling like the prelude was a bit boring because it was so repetitive. When I played these earlier this week, I found I really enjoyed the prelude, especially the changes in tempo at the end. I find this fugue to be very cool. In many fugues, I love the part where the third (or fourth or fifth) voice enters – m. 7 in this fugue – because it is so beautiful and exciting to hear the texture become thicker and the harmony more complex. This one made me wish I was playing on an organ instead of a piano. The ending would sound so grand on an organ!

Prelude and Fugue 3: I kind of like playing in C# major because everything is sharp. It seems like if I am able to just remember that the whole time and not get distracted, and also not think about it too hard, it is fun to play in this key. When the double sharps come in is when it starts to get iffy for me and I have to start thinking harder (and I’m also usually sorry I didn’t start the piece slower).

Prelude and Fugue 4: I was kind of distracted by my cat and baby while playing these, so I didn’t make too many observations – maybe I can go back to them soon! The fugue subject is really different from a lot of Bach’s other fugue subjects. It seems darker and more pensive to me.

Looking forward to playing 5 today – I learned this one and played it at Middle School Piano Camp at Westminster Choir College!

Happy July, everyone! – Celia

HELEN 7/6: Nice comments, Celia, of the first four days, especially the number of keys present in the C major fugue. They are, I think, all related keys, and so much easier to think about that the later fugues, starting right off with no. 2. And the mention of distraction in P&F 4! Distraction is such a bugaboo for me, it’s easy to get to the end, not sure if I heard what I was playing, which defeats some of the purpose of playing. I work at staying present and listening, and I do not always prevail.

HELEN 7/10:
I hope everyone is still enjoying WTCI for the second time round — a different experiences with every iteration. I loved E major yesterday, and found e minor today a bit hard to focus.

I’m still mulling the idea, which occurred to me this week, that most of J. S. Bach’s modulations might be to closely related keys, and maybe Shostakovich’s aren’t. I don’t know if I have the spare mental space to look into this, but it would explain the largely easy-to-understand sounds resulting from Bach’s P&F’s, as opposed to many of Shostakovich’s.

GRACE 7/10: Still haven’t gotten back on the wagon since I got home (I, too, an experiencing jetlag) but once I get back to it I look forward to rejoining the conversation more thoroughly!

HELEN 7/11: We’re all pulling for you, Grace!

HELEN 7/11: For the umpteenth time, I had no memory of ever having played today’s Prelude and Fugue. Most of Bach’s P&F’s stick in my memory and become part of my DNA. Then there is F major from WTCI. I wrote a particularly acerbic post in 2018 about this prelude, comparing it to Hanon (wow). That’s not the thought I had today, although I chuckled at not remembering the piece. I believe that playing through these series this year has helped my sight reading considerably, and I was able to play it much faster, for a clearer view, today. Then I really enjoyed the fugue. I laughed out loud at the sequences around m. 56, just enjoying them. I’m thrilled with a little joy from (for me) an unheralded Prelude and Fugue.

Some of you may recall that I love Daniel Barenboim’s “reading” of the two books of the Well Tempered Clavier. I read today from his thoughtful book “Everything is Connected” regarding fugal subjects: “One cannot know how long it will be or how far it will stray from its starting point. This uncertainty is resolved only with the entrance of the second statement of the same subject. The subject can therefore only be perceived in its entirety once the second entrance of this subject has already begun.” I was so relieved to see someone else define subjects this way. I’ve always thought it was me, that there was something about the first statement that I should understand, and that it was a crutch to look at the second iteration. What a relief than a polymath like Barenboim determines subjects this way, too.

GRACE 7/11: I’m up through #6! Love #6, I should learn it… That fugue subject is really something, and I’m absolutely spoiled by having heard Gould play it so many times when I was growing up (read: listening to the WTC played by Gould every night as a child when I went to sleep).

I second your remark about my reading being smoother than last year. And, I also seem to prefer playing the fugues to the preludes now! Probably because my reading is stronger.

I absolutely feel the same way about feeling like the first iteration isn’t done till the second begins. That’s always been part of how I’ve organized fugues in my brain.

HELEN 7/19: I’ve really enjoyed thinking about Katie and Grace’s comments over the last few days, and about fingering and the use of hands in the Well-Tempered Clavier. I began paying exquisite attention to the fingering especially today, with the long sixteenth note countersubject that first appears in the fugue at measure 23 (is Steven going to tell me that it’s a double fugue?).

Fingering is also an important part of mastering transposition, you may recall from those beastly keyboard exams I made you take every October. Today I read this from Daniel Barenboim: “In my childhood I played practically all the preludes and fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier and many other pieces by Bach. That was my basis. At the age of twelve I moved to Paris to study harmony and counterpoint with Nadia Boulanger. When I arrived for my first lesson, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier was on the music stand of the grand piano. She turned the pages forward and back; finally she settled on the Prelude in E minor from Book One and said: ‘Right, my boy, now play it for me in A minor.’ She held a wooden ruler in her hand and every time my fingers played a wrong note she tapped them with it. Thus Das Wohltemperierte Klavier became the foundation for everything.”

HELEN 7/24: I hope we’ve all made it to the end, or almost to the end! I just finished no. 24 — all six pages of the fugue. I wasn’t all that excited about it, although I love the sequences in that fugue created by the extrapolation of the second subject.

I’m curious, besides improved sight reading and held ties, what the experience is of playing — and hearing — Book 1 is for others. I know it’s taken me several summers to start recognizing more and more of the preludes and fugues, and I’m only now beginning to understand what there is to learn about key relationships and tonicity, from playing these annually and also from playing the other composers’ works in comparison.

How is everyone feeling about this summer’s project? Would you like to have a zoom session next week, say Wednesday night the 28th to visit about Book 1 and get motivated for Book 2? Or would you like to wait until the end of August and visit about the two books? I am always, as you might guess, ready to talk about Bach. Love, Helen

GRACE 7/25: I am currently still just as behind, but I think I can be all caught up in time to chat on Wednesday evening! I’m available after about 7:15 PM EST. Happy to discuss now or to wait according to whatever the group decides!

KATIE 7/25: We had family visiting this week, so I’m now a week behind, but I should be able to catch up by Wednesday if that works for everyone else! I’ll be free pretty much anytime on Wednesday or I’m happy to wait until after Book 2 as well.

STEVEN 7/25: I’m in the same boat as Grace and Katie: behind, but catching up as fast as I can. Wednesday after 8:00ish EST works for me, if we’re meeting this month.

SABRINA 7/25: I’ve also been playing along but am a bit behind. We’re on vacation right now so unfortunately I won’t be able to join on Wednesday.

CRAIG 7/25: Done. Did it! Even kept up during the 24 days, for the most part.

Thanks so much for including me in the WTC1 club. I had not played nor listened to Bach much until now. Admittedly a glaring omission– so thank you!

What a nice break from the usual routines of meetings and deadlines to go into the other room, switch the brain, and put the eyes and fingers through the paces of “reading” a prelude and a fugue.

In looking back at this experience, it’s easiest just to list the ones I keep coming back to. Consider this list based mainly on my experience of the preludes, mainly, which the fugues tagging along. (Sorry, fugues.)

#3 C-sharp major (Just the prelude — it’s beautiful, even if I can’t play it that quickly, as I know it should be. The three voices of the Fugue are still throwing me. I’m not hearing voices, and that’s not a good thing.)
#4 C-sharp minor
#9 E major (Gerald my partner interjected after I played prelude #9 on my rather ill-tempered piano in the desert and said, “Play it again! I like that one!” That was enough to encourage me…and he was right. This is a nice one.)
#22 B-flat minor (!!!YES!!!)

And then the ones I would like to come back to:
#12 F minor
#16 G minor
#18 G-sharp minor
#19 A major

Playing these also compelled me to reopen the Shoshtakovich Opus 34 Preludes. Don’t they seem easy now? And is there something special about the number “22”?

CELIA 7/26: I had a great time playing through Book 1 and would love to talk about it!

GRACE 8/8: Everyone else keeping up ok? I just did number 8. Wow that prelude was long, especially with the repeats, but it gives you plenty of time to get into the key signature. That prelude theme was pretty complex, and the other hand was more of a counterpoint than an accompaniment. A really interesting one. And the fugue today was rough! Whenever the rhythms get broken up that way within a hand, it’s challenging for me to get all of my fingers to cooperate.

Yesterday’s prelude reminded me of Jesu joy of man’s desiring. I looked up the dates, and Jesu was written in 1723 (vs WTCI in ’22 and WTCII in ’42). I seem to recall another Jesu-like piece from the first book or that was a sinfonia, and whenever I notice those similarities I wonder if he’s just trying with these ideas until he finds a way of using it that he really likes and does a big piece using it. Since WTCII comes later, though, maybe he’s just still not done with the idea (or it’s not done with him, or never will be). So that’s what I think about while I play preludes I guess. 😆

GRACE 8/14: Yeah reading without checking one’s hands is the best groove. On a good day I only have to look down a couple times!

Absolutely love today’s prelude. I should really come back and play it for real some time. Today is my Mom’s birthday so played it a second time, recording it for her. The fugue, though very long and technically challenging, is so interesting. Those trills with the syncopation are very fun to try and figure out how to do in my hands. Glad I was up for the challenge today. Double fugue? Lots of interesting ideas blending together.

CRAIG 8/14: I’ve also been keeping up and enjoying. I don’t really have the problem of looking down at my hands — if I did I would just completely lose my spot in the music and that’s that. So I just forge ahead and hope for the best. Playing more frequently as part of this project is helping me gauge the distance and hit the target key a bit better than I used to.

Helen — I am keeping your quote io the young Chopin-lovers in mind, particularly when stumbling through a 6-page fugue, and not hearing any voices, much less three or four.

Not sure it was exactly this, but something like: “Bach is important to your musical development.”

I am getting a lot out of this. And have been going back to play some of the pieces in WTC1, which makes me happy. Must be working.

HELEN 8/23: Yes, I think Bach is important for everyone’s musical development. And (maybe not so) secretly, important for every other type of development of the person. XOXO

CRAIG 8/18: The G# minor prelude and fugue are amazingly beautiful. Can’t say anything else.

GRACE 8/18: I will! They’re amazingly long 😉

CRAIG 8/18: Ha!

HELEN 8/22: Finally I’m ready to rejoin this excellent conversation.

First, this came into my inbox this morning. Everything about it is wonderful — beware! you can lose a couple of hours here.

Music and the Mystery of Aliveness

Second, the playing of today’s Prelude and Fugue in Bb minor (with only two left to go for this summer’s discipline) struck me how much I’ve improved my reading this year, thanks to you and your enthusiasm with these bi-monthly projects. I’m also struck that I won’t understand this fugue for another two summers or so, which is kind of comforting. Love, Helen

GRACE 8/23: Ha! Yes this fugue is crazy-pants. When it started I was like, “oh yeah I remember this, I’ve heard Gould play this so many times.” And then around like 4 I realize I have no idea what’s going on, and I have many more lines to go. Incredible. No idea how it was constructed…

HELEN 8/24: OK!  Number 24!  Is that a fugue, or is that a fugue?  A fandango prelude, followed by I think one of the most beautiful fugues ever written, resolving to that magnificent B major triad at the end. Love, love, love this stuff.

GRACE 8/25: Love that fugue. Stopped by my parents’ house yesterday and read through the fugue on their keyboard while I was there. It was nice to be able to share it with them.

I’m all done on time! How’d everybody else do?

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon about how this month went.

CRAIG 8/25:
Me before: “What’s a fugue?”
Me now: “How can I hear and follow the voices in a fugue as I try to play it?”

Me before: “Bach is math-y. I like something more, um, mood-y.”
Me now: “Bach is a puzzle that always opens up to another beautiful level.”

It was fun. I must be a better person, too.

GRACE 8/26: Love this, Craig! I’m glad you learned a lot and opened up to the beauty of Bach these last couple months. I’m biased, of course, but I think everyone can learn a lot from Bach.

Welcome to our new project, the Goldberg Variations by Bach, 32 pieces (counting both iterations of the Aria) in 31 days. Many thanks to Celia for suggesting this project.

There are few pieces I know as viscerally as the opening Aria.  I played it this afternoon on a brilliant, cool, clear afternoon, and took all the repeats.  I luxuriate in this music, not to mention the painfully sweet memories it evokes.

GRACE 10/2: Hello all, Yay we’re all doing it now! I’m up through number 19 today. Still planning to go away on the 13th! Maui County has similar case volume to our county, and my providers assure me that wearing a high quality mask in the airport and plane is adequate, especially with our vaccines, to keep me from getting sick.

So I’m planning to finish the Goldberg Variations by October 12th!! And I’ve ordered the Short Tempered Clavier for November.

CRAIG 10/2: I hope your trip to Maui is fantastic, Grace! (i’ve actually never been to Hawaii, and I’m 6 hours closer than most of you all.)

I’m up to #4 and loving it. But that first Aria:

It’s kind of a research project for me every time I come across those many fancy ornaments.
Glad to be back!

HELEN 10/6: Love the screenshot, Craig! Indeed! And I’m thrilled that Grace gets to take her trip (hopefully) and is moving through the variations steadily.

Wished I was playing an organ or harpsichord today, on the 5th variation.

HELEN 10/14: Today I played through (and thoroughly enjoyed) the 13th Variation. Coincidentally, I read the following passage today in Philip Kennicott’s lovely book, “Counterpoint: a memoir of Bach and Mourning,” which is about his journey of learning the Goldberg Variations after the death of his mother.

“….I sat down with the score away from the piano and studied another one of my favorites, the thirteenth variation. While it seems one of the most transparent and even sentimental of the variations, I discovered with delight that it is also one of the variations that most closely tracks the original aria. If you have been struggling to stay attuned to the bass line since first hearing the aria some twenty minutes [13 days] earlier, here you will find it strangely intact, and at times quite close to its original statement. Even the top line, which begins with a graceful turning figure reminiscent of the little mordents heard in the opening of the aria, seems to track the rising and falling profile of the aria’s melody. But for all of its apparent similarity on the page, it is difficult, and perhaps perverse, to play it in a way that underscores its close connection with the original aria. If in many of the variations Bach says, ‘I have changed everything and still it is the same,’ in this one he seems to say, ‘I’ve changed little, but it is utterly different.'”

GRACE 10/14: Wow that’s an awesome passage, thanks for sharing!! I finished the variations on Tuesday evening and flew out early on Wednesday!

Looking forward to catching up with you all when you all catch up.

HELEN 10/31: Here we are on the last day! I am ready to play the final iteration of the Aria. I played two variations on October 17, in order to put myself on the Variation that corresponded to the day. I’ve kept up and enjoyed this, although I have been stymied by how difficult some of these are. Occasionally, after suffering through and thinking “I vaguely know how this one goes” (remarkable, given how many times — 50? 60? — I have listened to this whole work, not to recognize what emerges from the hands!) I will wake up the next morning and hear it in my mind at full, accomplished speed and voicing, most probably Glenn Gould in 1955.

I am also trying to finish Philip Kennicott’s book on the Goldberg, something that I fear I won’t accomplish by day’s end, but serves as a worthy companion to the project.

How are y’all doing?

GRACE 10/31: I completely agree, Helen, that the variations were so often much more difficult than I anticipated. It really feels like a pedagogical exercise at each level – it’s so easy to get lost in the theory and the fingerings that you can completely lose sight of the voicing, which is in itself made that much more challenging by the frequent use of crossed hands!

CRAIG 11/2: Finished up the Goldberg Variations after getting ahead, then behind, and playing 5 in a day, not counting the recap aria. I was amused to see this blank page right after that:

Seems like it was just daring me to record how I felt about finishing! (Though after turning the page, I realized that there really were prewritten Bemerkungen | Comments | Remarques in the next pages.)

I really enjoyed playing these — more at that end than at the beginning. I suppose that’s a good sign. I think most of you are pretty well-acquainted with these — I’d of course heard of them, but hadn’t really listened to the Gould (or any other) recordings. So, I did that at the end as a wrap-up, which was really fun.

Did you all have any favorites, or is it more like one big piece to you…all parts of the whole? I guess I’d say that the final measure of Variation 13 takes me somewhere every time. That’s quite a moment.

HELEN 11/4: I’m fond of Variation 13, too, and I find its conclusion fast and yet graceful.

I’m partial to the conclusion of Variation 15. This variation in minor, called by Wanda Landowska “the black pearl,” attracts a few paragraphs from Kennicott. He writes, “The music gets lost in grief, becomes almost static in its self-absorption, with every motion and event localized, as if the subject who sings this dirge can no longer see outside the immediacy of pain.”

CELIA 11/5: I did read through all of the Goldberg in September – I was going to do it a second time last month but did not get through the whole thing.

HELEN 11/2: Well, here we are in a different sort of project, yet bizarrely related to our ongoing project. Thank you, Steven, for this suggestion. I feel like I’m coloring outside the lines.

Our November 2021 challenge is to play through the Short Tempered Clavier (by, who else, PDQ Bach), one of the more inspired titles of recent memory, and such excellent timing for the mood in 2021! I played through the Prelude yesterday. What a gas — he gives us basic cadence patterns in C major, lowering our expectations for the remainder of the collection! I played a little of the fugue to get my feet wet, and resolve the fact that he doesn’t announce the fugue with a title, so, you just have to know. Today, November 2, I will play the fugue. Some of this book looks perversely difficult, and I anticipate happiness (relief?) with being able to separate the Prelude from the Fugue.

HELEN 11/8: I am thinking hard about this PDQ Bach . . . Stuff.

I played part of the first fugue for a student today, who was hysterically excited to find that there is, in the universe, a fugue on Chopsticks. Tonight I played the fugue written on that “Nyuh . . Nyuh Nyuh-Nyuh . . . Nyuh” thing that children sing at each other around the globe. I often think to myself, this . . . Stuff . . . does not deserve my time. But the reaction of the child in the studio this afternoon could change my mind. When did I stop being silly? Maybe some silliness is necessary right now.

GRACE 11/9: What a profound wondering, Helen. Yes i know what you mean – reading these I rapidly cycle through, “what the heck am I doing?” as well as “who knew this would make such a neat theme?”

HELEN 11/12: Tonight I played the Eb Major Fugue (No. 6), which comes after the Prelude’s attacca (prelude ends on the V chord and has some qualities like an overture). This Fugue is built on Twinkle Twinkle (or Mary Had a Little Lamb). Tip of the chapeau to Schickele — it’s decently written! I would consider giving this (without the prelude) to a student who wanted a rather simple fugue that they could understand, learn, and enjoy. It also manages to quote a Brahms symphony (don’t know which one) toward the end — the one that we sing “Mich-ael Tilson Thooooo-mas” to in order to remember what it is, but that doesn’t help me today. The flourish at the end is brilliant.

HELEN 11/15: As for the continuing experience of PDQ Bach, I was utterly disgusted to play a double fugue yesterday on “How Dry I Am,” met with “You Are My Sunshine,” which ended (ok, I laughed) with a nod to R. Strauss’ Til Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. Having had a couple of French Horn players on my dorm floor at Peabody, this is an excerpt with which I am much, much too familiar, practically breaking out in hives.

Pray tell, what do others think about while playing through these . . . constructions?

HELEN 12/3: This is written on December 3, long after the droll strains of PDQ have faded from our souls. It was a fun project, and we had a fabulous time talking over our Goldberg and PDQ experiences on our November zoom visit.

Next up for this intrepid crowd: a break for December and January. In February, we will redux the sweet 24 Lyric Preludes by William Gillock, in preparation for (drum roll) the Preludes of Sergei Rachmaninoff in March! There are 24, spread over several opuses (opi?).

If you don’t have the music, you can score it (ha!) here in Henle urtext: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FWS36VU/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_306MH8YKYA7T92QVFJHF?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

or here in Dover, much more affordable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486256960/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_RCTP9T905AXRWTZG1DRK

Get it now, while we wait!

Love, Helen

After what feels like a very long break from this stalwart group, it is finally February 1 and the first day of our tiptoe back into daily playing — a replaying of William Gillock’s charming “Twenty-four Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style.”  I blew through the first prelude thinking, aw, easy, and then noticed it didn’t sound very like Forest Murmurs. I realized that I hadn’t used the soft pedal — one of the first instructions at the beginning.  The second play through started to have some atmosphere.

It’s been an exciting day today for other reasons — congratulations to Grace! Way to start the monthly event! I hope we get to hear from you soon! Love, Helen

It’s a few days passage since the last official post, which was met with joyful news from Grace! The big question, are the Gillock Lyric Preludes up to the task with such impressive distractions as, for instance, a new bundle of joy? But, Helen, this is the wrong question. The Gillock pieces are not Chopin or Scriabin. They are well-crafted little pieces for students to develop the phrasing and arc of a piece, in preparation to play Chopin and Scriabin. And for us on our second play-through, it’s a great project for cold February, and for exercising our fingers and minds in preparation for Rachmaninoff.

Today’s piece is called Interlude, and darn if that’s not a depressing little Interlude.

CRAIG 2/14: Hi everyone, How’s the Gillock? Are you all playing these?

I have been. They are so easy. And dramatic. (Kind of like a sentence without a verb.) I love them — they are so fulfilling.

Now it’s “Procession of the Mandarin.” We’re going once again on a voyage to an exotic locale with Gillock — a holiday in Paris, Mission Bells in California, a horseback ride in the Old West, and the classical romantic period in Vienna. Now we’re in China!

No wonder he’s so popular — the songs are great…but he also captures the wanderlust that he, as a kid growing up in LaRussell, MO, must have felt. He’s the Rick Steves of your weekly piano lesson.

GRACE 2/15: I’m not keeping up with much besides Kaya these days.

NADIA 2/15: I’ve been playing 2-3 pieces everyday because I can’t have the keyboard set up all the time, but I really enjoy playing through! I think my favorite so far was Autumn Sketch.

Also, I hope you’re doing well Grace!

HELEN 2/17: Whoa, Craig, thank you for that Valentine’s Day post, and your “Rick Steves” analysis of Gillock’s little pieces. I didn’t manage to respond on email or blog, but you know I responded to those cool vibes!

I’m thrilled that Nadia has got her keyboard working part-time, and that Grace is hopefully sleeping part of the time during this transition. How is everyone else doing?

Today’s piece was “Fountain of Diana,” which (to me) resembles whipped cream. Craig wrote to us on “Winter Scene” day, appropriately enough, and we got messages from Nadia and Grace on “Serenade” day. How are others faring?

HELEN 2/19: After playing today’s “Soaring,” I have a question for Grace specifically. Does the opening of this piece remind you of anything? (smile)

GRACE 2/19 (8 minutes later): Rachmaninoff piano concerto 2, second movement!! 😁

HELEN 3/1: Finally . . . welcome to the Rachmaninoff Preludes! My hands hurt after playing slowly through the first one! But it’s beautiful music (and I’m trying not to think about his home country today). In other news, we are glad that Grace is joining us  — with her assistant!

GRACE 3/2: I think of this first prelude as an etude on chord inversions. I also think it would be much easier memorized so you can just jump around without thinking.

HELEN 3/2: I agree!

NADIA 3/2: Sabrina and I played through the first 2 preludes today! All I have to say is between the 2 of us it took about an hour to sight read both of the pieces😂, but we had fun. In addition, I’ve also been learning the G minor prelude which is in my “piano masterworks” book.

Also, my hands were definitely feeling tired after all of the octaves.

HELEN 3/2: That’s hilarious, only because I know how long both of these preludes have taken me thus far.

CRAIG 3/2: I had to split #3 over two days…that one was quite epic!

HELEN 3/2: Opus 3 no. 2? Epic is definitely the word.

I’m suddenly disappointed that I didn’t do something proactive like start the month on Opus 23 No. 1 instead of Opus 3 no. 2. Going through them in Opus order, as I’m doing, means that I’ll never be on a number that matches the day of the month. One of the very small problems of life that vex me.

HELEN 3/6:  This is some challenging playing.  I think third night, Op. 23 No. 2, all seven pages, took the cake for me (and Craig, I see).  Crazy rhythms, crazy octaves, of course a proper amount of chromaticism.  Today was the towering Op. 23 No. 5, which I enjoyed playing.

It is of paramount importance not to fall behind on this project — whew! I’m quite impressed that Nadia and Sabrina played two of these Preludes in one day. How is everyone else doing? Are you finding a common thread in his musical language?

CRAIG 3/8:
“Many many apple trees…And it was fresh and tender!”
Did you all play it correctly?

Loving this.
HELEN 3/9: Did I play it correctly? (Hollow laughter) I heard a few measures that resembled this heavenly playing, but most were a miserable jumble, and of course I was experiencing the busiest day ever, wondering, what the heck is this supposed to sound like? And indeed thought to look it up but was off to the next piece I’m working. So, Craig, many thanks for this gem of a link. My goodness, now I want to go back and play it again. Her story and her playing are lovely beyond words.

HELEN 3/13: I’ve been affected, going forward, by Craig’s gorgeous youtube of Ruth Slenczynska. As I push at keys and wonder at the sounds coming out of the instrument, I think, “What on earth would this sound like at tempo?” Usually I don’t hear anything I recognize. Today’s, for instance: Op. 32, No. 2, in Bb minor. Bb minor?? Mostly, I hear some kind of modal version of F major! It doesn’t get down to Bb minor business until the last three measures. Is it me? (Probably.)

CRAIG 3/16: We had some guests in town, so I got a little behind.

For today, six flats! (Eb minor and Gb major).

For me, it’s just kind of fun to be introduced to these pieces, as I contemplate the makeup of each chord…and….then…..finally….play them.

HELEN 3/19: I like your patience with this project, Craig. Some of these pieces do not sound like music at the tempo I take and the mistakes I make. Some sound lovely at a slow tempo but are missing the character when played so egregiously slowly. Still, I am often encouraged to listen to a youtube of a competent performance, to remind myself what it was I just played, and that is in itself a value.

HELEN 3/23:  It’s just dawning on me as I write this that this is the penultimate day for Rachmaninoff — at least for those of us still on schedule! But I took to writing today because of 1. the surprisingly Impressionistic angle I hear on Rachmaninoff played slowly (and painstakingly), for instance, A major (from Sunday, March 20th), and especially the happily recognizable Lento of Monday’s B minor.

Then there is today, G# minor. I began working on this Prelude in December. I think it’s my favorite Rachmaninoff Prelude, and it was fun to play something that actually approaches the composer’s concept. In 2021 I chaired what for most of you is a recognizable event, “Music Tells the Story” (formerly “Tweets and Twitters”). One boy played today’s Prelude in G# minor, and he wrote poetically of a form coming into view in heavy snow. As it approaches you see it’s a man on a sleigh, cap pulled low, scarf and coat protecting him from the bitter cold. The student asked who the man was, what was he thinking, and ended with the thought that the man was unknowable, as his sleigh passed and he rode, silently, away into the snow storm, and disappeared.

GRACE 3/23: Wow! Yes I do find him to be impressionistic at times.

I’m quite behind and not trying to catch up for the sake of my wrists. After not playing piano for several days, but doing a lot of baby care, my right wrist is acting up a little (I’m sure it’s not because of piano. It has something to do with Kaya sometimes demanding we hold her for hours in a particularly uncomfortable position). I’m behind and not playing as much as I’d like. . . .That’s to say it’s been a most stressful month and I’m stuck around prelude number 14. What I have played I’ve either recognized and enjoyed or played so slowly that the piece is unrecognizable, strange, and impossible to follow intellectually. I feel like my left hand has been learning some really smart tricks for leaping across wider spans. And there are of course those notes I just drop because they’re doubled anyway and I don’t want to just myself. It’s an essential skill for the small-handed pianist.

HELEN 3/25: See the entry for 3/24 — you are a trooper, Grace! Yay!

HELEN 3/25: I finished this on March 24, on schedule. What a final piece. I had no idea, for at least three pages in the middle, what on earth I was playing. At one point I was not even able to find my place on the page for about two minutes of endless silence and muttering. But it came round toward the end, sounding like what it might be like, and so I had to find a nice performance online. Here is a guy I’ve been seeing recently, Adrian Brendle (nice last name, if spelled wrong, tee hee.).

Where are y’all on this incredible project? Was this the hardest yet? Kudos to Grace for hanging in there with a newborn, if not yet finished. You win. (Actually, everybody wins.)  Love, Helen

GRACE 3/26: I kept thinking about Shostakovich! I think they were similar difficulty, but of course I’m still not any farther than the last time I emailed. I’ll finish them eventually 😜
That final prelude sure took some interesting turns, and sounds like it’s many pages. Something to look forward to.

CRAIG 3/26: I’m a bit behind — I “played” XXI, the b minor, yesterday. Looking forward to the final three.

I’m checking out the wikipedia entry on polyrythym:

Those pieces that use it in the long passages, it feels like so many of them, but notably the g major is where it caught me. It’s beautiful — makes everything feel like a whirl — and disorienting, like you’re caught up in some cyclonic force, knock on wood. Thanks, Craig

CRAIG 3/30: Hi everyone,

XXIV is the hardest. I said it. Talk soon.

HELEN 3/31: I agree.

As folks get closer to completing this project (anyone besides Grace, Craig, and me?), we can schedule a zoom complaint session, which would be quite deserved. Is anyone else slogging through the Rachmaninoff ToughMudder?

CELIA 4/6: I’m sorry to say I haven’t been keeping up. I hope I can join back in with whatever we start next! Miss you all!

HELEN 4/10: I think we should consider a mid-May zoom, and that would give y’all a chance to suffer over a few more Preludes. Keep the faith. If you play one (yes, just one), post here to gloat.

STEVEN 4/10: Sorry for the radio silence. I fell off late February, and I’ve been trying to get back on ever since. I’ll see how far I can get with the preludes before we meet up. There will be lots of gloating. 🙂

GRACE 4/10: May sounds good! I think I played one last week? We have been very preoccupied with the baby.