BaL 12.04.14 - Schubert: Impromptus D899

[vinteuil]

... thought so.


.
Perhaps an orchestra or a synthesiser might bring out even more???


(Me, I prefer to trust Schubert to know what he wanted... )

[Sir Velo]

... are you suggesting that Schubert's music is better served by playing it on instruments unlike anything he would have encountered?

Didn't you know Schubert had in mind some platonic ideal of the perfect piano when he composed these pieces?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

He didn't write these works for orchestra of synthesiser. He wrote them for pianoforte. Over time, pianos got better. Most composers used the most up to date instruments. Very few bothered with those of 10, 20 or 30 years earlier if they could lay their hands on newer versions.

[vinteuil]

He didn't write these works for orchestra of synthesiser. He wrote them for pianoforte.

... to be precise, he wrote them for the pianos of the 1810s - 1820s which he knew.

Over time, pianos got better.

No. Pianos changed, they acquired different characteristics, "gaining" in some areas, losing in others. They ceased to be the instruments that Schubert knew.

[waldo]

He didn't write these works for orchestra of synthesiser. He wrote them for pianoforte. Over time, pianos got better. Most composers used the most up to date instruments. Very few bothered with those of 10, 20 or 30 years earlier if they could lay their hands on newer versions.

And they were always bitching and moaning about their limitations. They were always on the lookout for the latest model, always pestering manufacturers to make improvements.

It is and remains an inadequate instrument - Beethoven, 1826.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No. Pianos changed, they acquired different characteristics, "gaining" in some areas, losing in others. They ceased to be the instruments that Schubert knew.

If the instruments hadn't got better, they would have been discarded.

[Barbirollians]

I see no reason for anyone to be so dogmatic about it . I can understand why listeners are fascinated by or might prefer to hear Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart played on pianos from their time . Waldo is right they do seem largely to have complained about their inadequacies and the music sounds wonderful on a modern piano too . There is no " right " instrument upon which to play their keyboard music .

Lipatti's Bach Partita No 1 i always think is the best answer to dogmatism of the HIPPite tendency - whilst Andreas Staier playing Haydn's Piano Concerto No 11 is a disc for anyone never convinced by a fortepiano .

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I see no reason for anyone to be so dogmatic about it . I can understand why listeners are fascinated by or might prefer to hear Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart played on pianos from their time . Waldo is right they do seem largely to have complained about their inadequacies and the music sounds wonderful on a modern piano too . There is no " right " instrument upon which to play their keyboard music .

Lipatti's Bach Partita No 1 i always think is the best answer to dogmatism of the HIPPite tendency - whilst Andreas Staier playing Haydn's Piano Concerto No 11 is a disc for anyone never convinced by a fortepiano .

[vinteuil]

... the music sounds wonderful on a modern piano too . .

Of course the music can sound wonderful on a modern piano.

But, unlike Eine Alpensinfonie - I do not think the music sounds "better" played on instruments unknown to the composer.



.

[MickyD]

Applying the same argument to artists, I wonder if Vermeer or Rembrandt would have preferred acrylic paints had they been at their disposal? Just wondering.

[Alison]

Nobody expects us all to enjoy the same food.

We're all a bit different so let's just go with the piano sound we prefer!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Of course the music can sound wonderful on a modern piano.

But unlike Eine Alpensinfonie, I do not think the music sounds "better" played on instruments unknown to the composer.

But if you put to one side the historical factor of what Schubert did or didn't have - put a Clementi piano and a modern piano side by side, and make a judgement about which is better to play, in terms of flexibility and expressiveness. I make my preference by the experience of playing both.

[Nick Armstrong]

And they were always bitching and moaning about their limitations. They were always on the lookout for the latest model, always pestering manufacturers to make improvements.

It is and remains an inadequate instrument - Beethoven, 1826.

That's the argument that's always persuaded me - coupled with the fact that I enjoy the sound of (certain) modern pianos FAR more and they seem to me to bring out far more of what's in the music.

I don't think that the analogy with painting's valid. This is about performance. Are we saying that Shakespeare should only be performed with the lighting 'equipment' available in the early 17th century? It's an interesting curiosity to see them like that once in a while, but apart from that...

[BBMmk2]

I much prefer the rather warm bright sound of the modern concert grand as well, be it Steinway or whatever. Especially withy the 19th century repertoire. The foretepiano, just makes me squirm, everytime I hear it!

[vinteuil]

... clearly I just happen to have 18th century ears rather than 20th century ears.