Dear Music Teachers and Piano Teachers,
music schools have been mainly closed during a long time now, and lessons often have taken place via video portals. Many music students (and their parents) depended or still depend heavily on teaching materials and tips on how to play music at home and/or teach themselves in this tense situation, while still having fun.
These tips are solely aimed at piano teachers and their students. We can certainly offer you valuable support with good tips, specific suggestions and – not least – the sheet music material you need.
Part 15: Schönberg | Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19, no. VI.
Schönberg composed the sixth and last piece in the piano cycle op. 19 a month after the death of Gustav Mahler, whom he greatly revered and to whom he had also dedicated his Theory of Harmony, published that same year. Just as Schönberg had arranged many works for other scorings, this piece would also have lent itself to the scoring of Mahler’s famous Adagietto from the 5th symphony, namely for harp and string orchestra.
In measure 5 Schönberg only stipulates the right pedal, but measures 2-4 and the ending are really calling for a way of sustaining the chord longer. Measures 2-4 and also the ending are very well suited to discovering the middle, sostenuto, pedal.
And another fingering suggestion: small hands can play the lowest note of the first chord with the left hand each time.
Schönberg devoted a great deal of time to setting text to music and also sometimes set his own to music. Literature might also be a good starting point for students to get to know Schönberg’s works. What about getting them to write their own elevenie that captures the sound of the piece in words? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevenie)
The piece can be found in
HN 1547 Schönberg – Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19
which you can either order from your music dealer or in our online shop.
Part 14: Schönberg | Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19, no. II.
Number II is all about the rhythmic element coupled with the lyrical component. In measures 1-3 there is an ostinato in the left hand. This can easily be turned into an improvisation, also for four hands, so one person plays the ostinato and the other improvises on top.
In order to make the piece swing despite the conscious metric concealment, the first beat in each measure could be made to sound with a syllable – almost Dadaistically.
And a fingering idea: in measure 6 the thirds could be spread over both hands and the final chord in the piece could be played by the left hand so that the upper part can be played using the strong thumb.
The piece can be found in
HN 1547 Schönberg – Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19
which you can either order from your music dealer or in our online shop.
Part 13: Johannes Brahms, Rhapsody in b minor, op. 79 no. 1
-> dynamics
At the beginning of this heated rhapsody, composed in 1879, Brahms calls for an increase in the dynamics after the forte opening by inserting two crescendi, even though they only end in another forte in measure 11.
So, what does Brahms actually mean? The key to this can be found in the nuanced dynamics in the passage. Following the forte opening the sixteenth-note triplets should be scaled back a little. The melody could then be continued in mezzoforte agitato, while the middle part with its half notes takes on a subordinate role with its individual legato line. The figures in the left hand are more expressive if each group of eighth notes is played with a decrescendo, the same applies to the right hand in measures 3 and 4. The forte in the following measure indicates that the left hand now takes over the lead and continues in a similar manner with a carefully balanced tone in the right hand. If the dynamics are graded in this way the musical texture remains transparent and allows the performer to increase the sound to the forte in measure 11.
In measure 81 onwards as well as the parallel passage from measure 209, there is a leading middle part im più forte, whose execution requires a large hand span.
So, what can a pianist do who does not have the span to be able to play the top notes of the arpeggiated chords as strong notes in the melody? In this case, the right hand can be brought in to play the top notes of the chord, as demonstrated by the fingering. Spreading the notes across the hands like this serves the musical expression and might even make it playable for some pianists, even if the right hand needs to practise the leaps.
The rhapsody can be found in
HN 1251 Brahms – Two Rhapsodies op. 79
which you can either order from your music dealer or in our online shop. If you use a tablet, you can also find this particular rhapsody in our Henle Library app.
Part 12: Johannes Brahms, Rhapsody in b minor, op. 79 no. 2
-> Tempo
One of the greatest challenges with this rhapsody is choosing the ‘right’ tempo. If it is played too fast, it will be less effective. On the other hand, if it is played too slowly, it will be too drawn out. And if the tempi are too flexible, the Rhapsody will soon lose its overall coherence. But there are solutions! Particular attention should be paid to the eighth-note triplets. They leave their mark on the work and are present in almost every measure. Whether as a driving force in the main motif (M. 1-4),
an undulating legato movement in the lyrical theme that comes after this (M. 14 ff.)
or a pacing ostinato in the secondary theme (M. 21 ff.),
they always prove to be character-forming. For this reason, the best effect is created when all the eighth notes are played without haste, and when the mezza voce passages in particular (M. 53 ff., M. 106 ff.)
are played with even dynamics and rhythm, thus lending them a mysterious and hypnotic quality. The musical flux of these triplets connects the contrasting passages of the work into one larger form, so the performer does not have to resort to changes of tempo.
This rhapsody can be found in
HN 1251 Brahms – Two Rhapsodies op. 79,
which you can either order from your music dealer or in our online shop. If you use a tablet, you can also find this particular rhapsody in our Henle Library app.
Part 11: Johannes Brahms, Waltz op. 39 no. 1
-> Staccato
You can download a PDF version of the work free-of-charge here, either in the original version or in a simplified version by the composer.
Pdf for download (original version)
Pdf for download (simplified version by the composer)
In the first eight measures of the Tempo giusto waltz published in 1867 there is a staccato dot at every note. What did Brahms have in mind? Did he want all the eighth and quarter notes to be played in a short and detached manner? Is the performer allowed to use the pedal?
If we approach this from a musical perspective, it would be wrong to only play the notes in a short, dry manner. Instead, the staccato should be seen as an indication that the opening of the waltz should be played lightly and with verve. This also means that the pedal should be used carefully to support the rounded sound that is needed, in particular through the resonant harmonics. Thus, the energetic opening should be seen as a contrast to the middle part of the piece that is marked piano-legato after the forte-staccato opening.
This waltz can be found in
HN 1286 Brahms – Waltzes op. 39 (16 Waltzes), and in
HN 1287 Brahms – Waltzes op. 39, in a simplified version of the original arranged by Brahms himself and which is especially suited for teaching purposes.
You can either order these editions from your music dealer or in our online shop. If you use a tablet, you can also find this waltz and all the other ones in this collection in our Henle Library app.