O piano de Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman: You know there’s a very interesting paper I once read about somebody... played on the original pianos of great composers. How Schumann harmony sounded on that instrument. The clarity of the harmony was extraordinary. Under a big light. Chopin’s piano sounded just like Chopin - that he never really played loud. The piano cannot play loud. That he made a mezzoforte sound big. And because of the level of the piano, that what he wrote on that piano was the best that sounded on that piano.

Somebody once came to my house, and wanted a criticism of their playing some years ago, and for some reason played the SONATINE by Ravel, and she stopped and she said: “On your piano, it sounds like your music.” Very, very interesting - the importance of one’s instrument.

Bunita Marcus, I went away, she used my piano. I came back, I said: “Did you work?” She said: “What I did, I did in half of the time, because I worked on your piano.”

I love the piano to work, because the balance on it... marvellous instrument.

Kevin Volans, Conversation with Morton Feldman

1 Comments:
At Sábado, 21 Maio, 2005, sasfa said...
Pois, nunca tinha pensado nisso do ponto de vista de um compositor, mas faz sentido...
A relação de um instrumentista com o SEU instrumento é uma coisa especial, principalmente para aqueles que tocam instrumentos “portáteis” e não estão habituados a sofrer constantes trocas!
O caso dos pianistas é um bocado mais complexo, porque têm, no acto, que se identificar com um instrumento desconhecido... Faz-me lembrar uma certa luta do Nelson Freire com um Steinway fantástico, numa sala fantástica, mas com quem ele “antipatizou” sem razão aparente. Segundo ele, a antipatia era mútua e não conseguiram entender-se...