Jul 27, 2017 Among the works featured are two new authentic harpsichord suites, discovered in 2004 and 2005, and the monumental La Capricciosa, one of.
![]() The Suite in G minor is made up almost entirely of pièces de caractère. The set opens with Les tricotets, a capricious reference to the swift and nimble movement of hands engaged in knitting. The perfumed tones of L’indifferente give way to the theatrical steps of the two Menuets which Rameau later recycled in his Castor and Pollux (1737). Then comes La poule, yet another of Rameau’s pieces that survived into the Romantic period as a bon-bon for the piano; it seems to have been played with particular aplomb by Louis Diémer, the teacher of Alfred Cortot. La poule
Les triolets takes its name from a genre of French poetry which by Rameau’s day had already become quite archaic. There is no discernible connection between this piece and the poetic form, but I have always imagined it to depict the discovery of old love letters in the attic of one’s grandparents, so sweet is the quality of nostalgia—and so fleeting, for in the closing bars of the petite reprise we hear the past crumbling like old paper in our hands. Les sauvages represents impressions of two Huron Indians sent from French Canada in the 1720s who performed at the Théâtre italien in Paris to a large crowd of curious observers. The unwieldy contour of the principal theme, based on bizarre leaps, transmits the quality of naïveté ascribed by eighteenth-century Europeans to anyone they considered to be ‘noble savages’. Rameau goes from the exotic to the esoteric in the following piece, L’enharmonique, which derives its name, as Rameau explains in the preface to the collection, from the enharmonic spelling of certain notes and chords which form the basis for striking chromatic modulations. Always certain to justify his musical decisions, Rameau argues that ‘the harmony which creates this effect has by no means been thrown in haphazardly; it is based on logic and has the sanction of nature herself’—a clear reference to the use of a circular temperament of some kind. The concluding L’egiptienne (not L’Égyptienne as it appears in some modern editions) portrays the wild mystery of a gypsy girl. Crossed-hand imitative gestures with descending arpeggios create a cascade of sound at once powerful and capricious. She is the darker, sultrier, and much more fun counterpart to Debussy’s Girl with the flaxen hair.
from notes by Mahan Esfahani © 2014
Rameau’s five finger exerciseRameau’s second set of Harpsichord Pieces begins with a pedagogical method dealing with fingering and technique, together with this small Menuet en rondeau in C. It serves to illustrate a point which Rameau liked to emphasize when explaining his views on keyboard fingering and hand movement: no large movement should be made where a smaller one will suffice. The melody of this Minuet contains no larger intervals than a third within each phrase, and it is possible to play the whole piece with very little sideways movement of the hand if you use all five fingers. Making such a big deal of a five finger exercise may seem quite unnecessary to modern pianists, but the fact is that until the 18th century, keyboard players avoided the use of the thumb which was regarded as too insensitive.Members who like this piece have also downloaded. Practice & Performance Tips:When playing music from this period, it is important to imagine a harpsichord, whose sound did not last very long. Therefore, play long notes (quarter notes in the left hand) shorter and detached.
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The non-legato touch will help give a dance-like feel to this minuet.Many harpsichords normally had two keyboards. The top keyboard played more softly than the bottom keyboard. Harpsichord players would move their hands from one keyboard to another whenever they wanted to vary the sound with contrasting dynamics (forte or piano). At the piano, you do not have to move to another keyboard, but a good pianist does vary the sound immediately when there is a change of dynamics.This minuet has many melodic sequences. Can you find them? For example, measure 2 is a copy of measure 1, but one step lower. The same pattern is used after the double bar line, but in G Major.
Compare the A and B sections, both hands. The only difference is that the B section is transposed to G Major (a very useful tip to help you memorize this piece more quickly!).Be very faithful to the dynamic changes. Although repetitive, this piece can sound very interesting and colorful if you follow the suggested dynamic. To read the practice tips. What customers say about pianostreet.com:'All of my students are members of Pianostreet and many of my teacher colleagues have joined as well.It is an excellent resource for students and teachers alike and there is very rarely any need to visit another website or music store in search of sheet music.'
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