More Pianothon tips from Sarah Walker

DOWN WITH ACCURACY!

Some of my friends asked me why I feel an amateur performance of Fur Elise is almost always better than a professional one. Hmmm....well... I think amateurs tend to give the piece more weight, as they can't quite rattle it off so effortlessly. This may be accidental, but it is a good thing. The episodic structure sounds more fantasia-like in amateur hands, each section taking us into a new expressive world. Professionals tend more towards creating unity - trying to make the sections relate to each other more strongly and lead in and out of each other with more inevitability. That always sounds contrived to me. I think the widely contrasted sections are more like brainstorms - capricious changes of direction. Although of course you could argue that Fur Elise is a Bagatelle and should sound light, effortless, fun. But I prefer it to sound more like an adventure. Occasional wrong notes and extra repetitions of the right-hand Es and D#s just indicate the player's total absorption in this sometimes bewildering journey. And who did he write it for, anyway?!!!

I wonder if anyone will play this piece on Saturday! Can't wait to see what the Pianothon participants are going to bring along. It will be a real feast of music and pianistic bonhomie.

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