JON DOES DEBUSSY

 

 

 

 

 I'm soused on homemade wine and shouldn't be allowed to blog. Acute inebriation is the only way I can tolerate life and get through these incredibly intolerable days......

Every time I post a piano video, everybody runs for the EXIT and leaves me in the dust.

What the hell should I do to get some attention and respect? Strip naked, stand on my head, and sing Pagliacci ??
Don't smirk. I just might do it.

Let's look at this with some semblance of reasonable plausibility:
How many Tennessee hillbilly pauper hermits do you know who can play Debussy?

I rest my case.

I found this old VHS rehearsal tape and just posted it on YouTube. It was recorded in San Angelo, TX. (the audio is bad - the camera was too close to the piano).

Arabesque #1 in E major, by Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918).

As much as I like Debussy's music, performing it has never my forte. And - to be absolutely blunt - I've never liked this Arabesque. In fact, I almost hate it. It is an early Debussy composition, which has none of the intoxicating intricacies that are prevalent in his later piano music.

You've already seen my interpretation of Debussy's Clair de lune, but some of you forgot to applaud - so I've decided to inflict it upon you again.

 

Two Debussy compositions for the price of one.
What more could you ask for?

Cheers, Jon

SAVE THE MUSIC

 

When I was a young music student/musician in Southern California, I made several hundred (no lie) piano recordings. In retrospect, my infinite energy and vast musical repertoire astounds me. Nowadays, I hardly have the energy to crawl out of bed and feed the cats.

At that long ago time, I never really thought about preserving any documentation of my musical efforts. When I was an accompanist and performed with various chamber orchestras my concerts were often video-taped, but I have no clue what happened to those tapes.

My solo piano performances were mostly recorded on cassette tapes, which were usually tossed into boxes and quickly forgotten.

After I moved away from California I began to lament my musical past and wished that I had more diligently preserved my efforts.

I had a small music studio in San Angelo, Texas, where I decided to record some video tapes of my old piano repertoire. I was sorely out of practice , but figured anything was better than nothing.

The video tapes were less than amateur - and I made the mistake of placing the camera too close to the piano, which  distorted the audio and made my playing sound harsh and annoying.

At around the same time, I discovered several boxes of old cassette tapes containing my piano music. There were over 100 tapes, in various degrees of rapid deterioration.
Fortunately (thank God for modern technology) I found a way to transfer the tapes to mp3 files. It was a long and tedious task, but a worthy one.

The only problem was that the audio quality is mostly appalling, but at least my music on the crumbling cassettes is saved.

So what's my point?

Very recently (this week, in fact) I've discovered how to edit my tapes and videos to (at least slightly) improve the audio quality.

Last night I edited two of my videos recorded in San Angelo. I admittedly didn't know what I was doing, but I do think they sound somewhat better.

I'm posting both of the videos here for your listening pleasure.
I can hear you applauding! All two of you.

The first video is the original piano version of Clair de lune by Claude Debussy ( 1862 - 1918).

The second video is my own arrangement of Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona ( 1896 - 1963). My arrangement is EXTREMELY difficult. It takes a helluva lot of technical stamina to get through it.

Oh, one more thing -
my piano videos were purposely designed to keep the light focused on my hands - - not on my pretty face.
(*smile*)

BLUE MOON

This is the night of the Blue Moon. A so-called blue moon occurs when there are two full moons in one month. January, 2018 had a full moon on the 2nd and on the 31st.

While you marvel at my knowledge and the astounding wonders of nature, I'll admit that I'm actually writing this in the early morning hours of February 1st. But it's still dark outside and the moon is still full. 
Not blue.
But full. 

In honor of the not-so-blue full moon, I've decided to torture you with my piano rendition of Clair de Lune (Moonlight) by Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

Long-time readers of my blog have seen this video before - but I'm assuming that they'll politely ignore the fact and enjoy seeing it again (I'm being a wiseass). 
Question:
Is "wise ass" one word or two? It doesn't often occur in my vocabulary.
Only about once in a blue moon.

A few program notes:
I recorded this video when I lived in Texas - - when I was already past my prime (almost) and far past my youthful days in California when I was a genuine musician. 

This composition by Debussy was originally titled Promenade Sentimentale, but he later changed the title to Clair de Lune - based on a poem by Paul Verlaine.

Critics could probably say that I play this piece too fast, too harshly, and too loud.
I say "Crap!" (and I'm being polite).

I've always maintained that most pianists play this piece far too slowly and with too much sweetness and delicacy. 

The average time length for a pianist to perform this is somewhere between five to six minutes.
I recently saw one pianist (a near-comatose female) who took over six and a half minutes to play it.
That isn't a performance. It's a crucifixion.

According to this video, I take about 4 minutes and 32 seconds to play Clair de Lune.

And my interpretative instincts are correct!!!!
I recently discovered an actual recording of Claude Debussy playing this and he only takes 3 minutes and 51 seconds.

Of course, these ancient recordings may not be entirely accurate, but they're close enough.
Here's the Debussy version.