A busy month

I've had a constant stream of deadlines over the last month, taking in a lot of repertoire - both Brahms concertos, 3 Beethoven sonatas, Ravel piano trio, Messiaen quartet for the end of time, Messiaen Vingt Regards, Debussy preludes, Shostakovich second piano concerto… It is an interesting discipline preparing so much music at one time because it forces you to focus very clearly on how to minimise practise time on any one piece. Increasingly I find I need less and less time to prepare music I've played before, which I think is down to practising more slowly. I read a wonderful quote from Peter Serkin - "Practising is a very peaceful way to spend the day". This has had a big impact on me, not exactly that I feel like this when I practise but that I find it a very useful ideal to aim for. The closer I get to this, the quicker and easier I am able to work. It reminds me of something my brother Kenneth told me: when he was at St Mary's Music School learning piano as his second study his teacher (and mine - Richard Beauchamp) got him to practise the last movement of a Beethoven sonata. The reason I remember this is that he told me he could still remember the piece by heart many years later. I guess the brain absorbs the material much more quickly when it is given a lot of time in this way. Certainly, I find I can prepare most pieces that are vaguely in my repertoire in 3 or 4 days if I allow myself the time to practise them very slowly.

—

Comments

I LOVE that quote on practise. Does that help when you are performing too I wonder, to link back to calm and peaceful preparation?..

Posted by Lins on 29 July 2008

I guess peaceful practising must help one's state of mind while performing but I rarely get nervous when I play so I don't notice it so much. The big benefit I notice is being much more physically relaxed while I practise.

Posted by Steven Osborne on 31 July 2008