Critique Paper: The Piano Visual
You need to watch this video, then write the essay: https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=Cd4wAPZwli4
Your critique should include the following elements:
The date, time and location of the recital--or the date and time you watched the performance on Youtube.
The name of the performer
The names and dates of the pieces performed, and the names of the composers who wrote those pieces.
Did any of the pieces have individual movements (smaller sections) listed on the program?
What are the meanings of any titles of pieces or titles of movements?
Compare the styles of the different pieces on the program. How do pieces written earlier in time sound different from pieces written later in time? You should talk about dynamics, tempo, and the ways in which the piano is used. Is the piano used to make song-like melodies, or is it being used for rhythmic effect? Are lots of notes used at the same time, or just a few? Are both rhythm and melody happening at the same time? Be sure to talk about all the pieces on the program.
From your own knowledge of piano playing so far, describe the physical approach that the performer had to the piano. Describe the performer’s posture, movement, and overall use of their body.
What parts of the recital did you really like? Why? Be sure to talk about aspects of the music here—talk about the pieces in terms of melody, rhythm, tempo, dynamics and so on. You can also talk about the performer’s interpretation.
What parts of the recital did you enjoy less? Why? Again, be sure to give details about the music and the performer.
One of the main jobs of a pianist is to make sure that the audience can hear the melody (when there is one)—even when there are lots of other things happening in the music. How did this pianist succeed in the pieces on this program?
Piano
Name
Institutional Affiliation
The beautiful sound from piano is one of the elements of piano that draws the attention of the listener. I have listened and watched several piano recitalss, but my attitude towards piano artists almost tripled when I watched the work of Martha Argerich on Youtube. The recording is of a live event of Argerich’s artistic recital in 1983. I watched it on 4th October 2018 at 5:00 am, three decades after the live performance in Paris. Argerich is one of the greatest pianists to have ever lived and this is an analysis of what I noticed from the recording.
The musical pieces I watched belong to Martha Argerich and composed my Domenico Scarlatti, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel (1983). The pieces composed by Ravel have a formal structure because he was considered highly structural and meticulous craftsman. This is different from those composed by Scarlatti and Debussy which are lacking order and formal structure. While the pieces did not have any individual movements, I have to admit that the musical style in each piece of the video makes the listener to be entangled in it. During the One of the interesting things I noticed is how melody, harmony, and rhythm have interacted in the video, giving it a musical feeling and sense of perfection. This is one of the best approaches that make the piano interesting, leaving the heart and feelings of the audience clued to the next rhythm. Argerich has noticed this and that is why she dedicated her time in this play, giving it her best attention ever.
I was also touched by how the artist has used the piano to showcase and explore the streets of Paris. The images that zoom in and out with the rhythm indicate a peaceful environment, a place that one would wish to call a home. Another uniqueness of Argerich’s art is how music and rhythm have been combined in the piano. The rise and fall of the tone in addition to the uniqueness of every piece leaves the audience attracted to the performance. The flexibility of fingers helps the pianist to capture the feeling and mood of the audience without necessarily having to include lyrics on the video.
One of the basic roles of a pianist is to provide accompaniment to the pieces of work. The accompaniment is often in form of styles. Argerich understands her role in this video and has used chords as styles of piano accompaniment. Chords are performed in the form of alberti bass that accompany the musical recital, creating a rising and falling tone. The overall outcome of this style is to create a basic rhythm that is basic and unique to the audience. The alberti bass has also been keenly used to create smoothness of the artistic work in the piano. One of...