June

Studio News

June, 2008 --

Welcome to Studio News for June.

Several performance opportunities are coming up – at the studio and another at a retirement village – details are outlined in this newsletter. Also, students need to be making plans if you are interested in the AMEB exams or Galston Eisteddfod. Although entry is not due until the beginning of next term, preparations need to be started soon.

With performances very much a theme of this newsletter, we will take a look at useful strategies for presenting ourselves confidently. The most important thing to remember is that if we enjoy playing for our audience, they will enjoy hearing us.

Our composer for June is Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian Nationalist of the late 1800s. The folk of his country had a great love of fantasy and myth. Grieg wrote, "The peculiar in life was what made me wild and mad. . . dwarf power and untamed wildness. . . audacious and bizarre fantasy." He wrote many pieces with reference to the countryside, fascinating creatures, ghosts and other mysterious beings. He was alive with vivid imagination and his music brings these images to the listener.

Student Recital 29th June, 2:00 pm

Everyone will be receiving a letter with invitation to attend the student recital to be held at the end of this month. Please notify of your intended attendance as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a few factors are outside of my control and there is some possibility that the date will vary. All going well, the 29^th seems to be a date after students’ other assessments and commitments have quietened. Families will be advised as soon as possible if any changes are made.

Help is needed for setting up (3:00 pm on 28^th) and clearing (after the event) at the studio. Assistance is needed for transporting chairs, catering and cleaning. It would also be much appreciated if a volunteer would organise and run party games (supplies will be provided). A considerable amount of work is involved in putting on recitals and they are not possible without parent assistance. Please, if you are able to give any time over the weekend, your help will make a difference.

Public Performance Opportunity

Students have the opportunity to share their skills in an authentic context at a proposed performance one weekend in August. Students are invited to entertain villagers at a high dependency retirement home in Parramatta. The date is yet to be determined, and is open for suggestions. The day will be Sunday and the time from 10:30 am for about an hour. Car-pooling can be organised from the studio to Parramatta (and back) if written consent is given. Please let me know if you are interested and if you have a preferred date.

Confidence for a Shining Performance

Playing for others is one of the privileges of learning piano. Everyone loves to hear music, but not many people learn how to play. When we play for others, we are sharing something precious.

Yet, sometimes when we are performing, we feel under pressure and forget that our audience is just there to enjoy our music. We want to play our best, but we feel nervous and our performance is never perfect. We notice our mistakes, because we have heard every note of our pieces hundreds of times and we know how we want it to sound. An important thing to remember is that most of our audience has never heard the music we are playing – they do not hear the mistakes unless we draw attention to them. If we enjoy our playing, so will our audience. So, how do we enjoy our performance?

	Remember you have developed a valuable skill that not everyone has and your audience values the opportunity to hear your music – they are there to enjoy, not judge.
	You will make mistakes and you are your harshest critic, but you have practiced and prepared well and it is your knowledge and understanding of the music that will show.
	If you lose your notes or forget where you are, keep playing. Make something up, just play with purpose and play the most beautiful chords or notes you can imagine. Be creative. Listen. Your own music is valid. If you need time to think, play long notes – semibreves.
	When slip, keep smiling. Chances are nobody will notice your mistake – unless you pull a face. Even if they do, if you really lose your way, your audience will be impressed by your skill and confidence if you keep smiling.
	Sometimes, it is true, we make mistakes and we begin to worry. We start losing confidence and the mistakes seem to snowball. So what to do then? Instead of thinking about the music, distract yourself. Think about ANYTHING else. Go through your spelling list. Do your times tables – just stop thinking about your playing and go into autopilot. If you have prepared properly, before you know it, you will have made it safely to the end of your piece without even knowing how you got there.

No matter how well you play, your audience is on your side. If you play wonderfully, almost perfectly, your audience will fall in love with your music. If you struggle and make mistakes, your audience will become your cheer squad – holding their breath, cheering you on to the finish line, admiring you for your courage. Whether a stunning performance or a genuine effort, everyone will be glad to be your audience.

Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg was born in Norway on 15 June, 1843. At this time, Norway was struggling to find its own identity. It had been under the control of Denmark and, at during Grieg’s lifetime, it was controlled by Sweden. Grieg loved Norway, its beautiful countryside and its folk-tales and folk music. He dedicated his life, through his music, to creating a national identity. His music brings to life images of Norway.

Grieg came from a musical family. His mother was his first piano teacher, commencing his learning when he was 6 years old. He developed well, in composition and performance. At 15, he met the famous violinist Ole Bull, who recommended Grieg be sent to the Leipzig Conservatorium (Germany) to make the most of his talents.

Grieg majored in piano studies at the conservatorium and attended concerts that were held frequently in Leipzig, a cultural hub of Europe. Grieg gave his first public performance around this time, in Sweden. He finished his studies at 19 years of age and was able to return home to give his first performance in his hometown.

Grieg spent time over the following years alternating residence in Norway and travelling Europe, developing his compositional style and increasing in fame. Franz Liszt admired him, recommending Grieg to the Norwegian government. Grieg was granted an income by the government, for helping establish recognition of Norway in European music culture. This allowed Grieg to retire from performance and teaching and to dedicate his time to composition. Grieg built a single room hut, overlooking a fjord and a beautiful forest in the heart of Norwegian countryside at a place called Troldhaugen (Hill of the Mountain Men, or of the Trolls). From here, the view and the sounds of the folk music and dances of the local people inspired him.

Grieg wrote a number of works for orchestra and ensemble, including the A minor Piano Concerto. However, his most famous works are his smaller character pieces, or Lyric Pieces, which comprise more than 60 short sketches of the stories, dances, animals and scenes of Norway. These pieces include scenes of fairy dances, lark songs, ghost stories and dwarf marches. He also wrote incidental music to accompany the play Peer Gynt, which he organised as two separate suites. Peer Gynt tells the story of a lonely traveller and includes trolls and fantasy characters. Several of the pieces from the suites are very famous and have even been rewritten for young pianists – arrangements of In the Hall of the Mountain King and Morning are included in the Adventure Piano Lesson books. Grieg’s music has a sense of being untamed or unpredictable and is full of unusual harmonies.

Grieg died in 1907, a very successful composer.

Annah Hyrst

Individual Dynamics

Music is what feelings sound like.

Studio News

Last modified: June 04, 2008