Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Private messaging is working again.
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
(9 votes) 
Regulars
Offline
.....anyway, my question is....In one of Thomases competitions, he is required to perform 2 pieces not only in differrent eras(which I understand well) but "2 works or movements in contrasting styles". I initially thought that meant one slow and one fast, but I think I am wrong. Can someone tell me exactly what contrasting styles means? And please please....do so in a manner that a man can understand. Thank you very much.
Jim(Thomases Dad)
Offline
Classical and Romantic for example.
Baroque and Contemporary.......
Mozart 3, 4, or 5th concerto is the most commonly played Concerto in auditions and then paired with a romantic violin concerto such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, or Sibelius. Thus two contrasting styles.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regulars
Offline
@Fiddlerman Ahhhh.....so styles would be the era, i.e. romantic vs baroque vs classical....?
Jim(Thomases Dad)
Offline
Thomas B. said
@Fiddlerman Ahhhh.....so styles would be the era, i.e. romantic vs baroque vs classical....?
Mostly, yes. This is what they are asking for.
However, Players perform similar works with different styles as well. You have players who play classical and baroque music in a very romantic manner, and you have people who play romantic music in a cold, or classical manner. When you play things differently you are open to a lot of critique and will usually not succeed unless you are famous or well known. The best way to succeed at first is to listen to as many recordings of that piece of music as you can to develop an understanding of the style, then play it your way, without changing it too much.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Offline
Just a passing comment, and not to hijack your post in any way @thomas B. ----
This should surely go down as the "Quote Of The Year" from Pierre - extracted from his response above - EVERY aspiring player should take this on-board -
Fiddlerman said
...cut...When you play things differently you are open to a lot of critique and will usually not succeed unless you are famous or well known. The best way to succeed at first is to listen to as many recordings of that piece of music as you can to develop an understanding of the style, then play it your way, without changing it too much.
The 'bold, italics, underlined and colored' bits, are my edits...
So much truth and understanding in these few words...
My own way if seeing it, as I've probably mentioned before, is "sheet is a guide (indeed an essential guide) giving a reasonable indication of how the composer or arranger wants/expects it to be played - it is not an edict or proclamation having the force of law behind it". You will NOT be shot at dawn for having your own interpretation of a score-sheet ! Really, you won't !!!
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
Regulars
Offline
@BillyG -
Pertaining to Classical Competition - might be a be more strict.
@JimandThomas -
Something to think about for in the future - the International level!
Regulars
Offline
Don't forget, the 2 works must be "contrasting" styles. That probably means that playing a romantic classical piece won't necessarily be in contrast with a romantic baroque piece.
If it were me, and all styles allowed, I'd make sure the difference was huge. Play some Country/folk fiddle or R&B or even a Celtic jig paired with some kind of technical piece like Paganini's Caprice No. 24 from either the classical or baroque eras.
Showcase the talent as much as possible. I'm positive that with some help from dad, Thomas could easily master Fire on the Mountain to a very credible level.
Regulars
Offline
@Fiddlerman and @BillyG He is as much of a purist as I am, after all, we are 8th and 9th generation Yankees from Puritan stock. Anyway, we were listening to an accompaniment for his Schindler's List and boy did he get ugly when someone ad libbed some notes in the piece. He HATED it and thinks it should be played exactly as it is written by Williams. I did tell him however that as he gets older, feel free to add your own touch to certain pieces but only when he is out as a soloist, which he cannot wait to do.
Jim(Thomases Dad)
1 Guest(s)
ELCBK
Mouse
Fiddlerman
Jols
