On Saturday (24 Sept), Iain Burnside presented a programme that examined the role that a composer's hands played in his compositions - especially if he was a pianist. In advance, I thought the topic somewhat whimsical, and so it transpired - though a few interesting points emerged.
We learned that composers with large hands incorporated tenths (and even elevenths) in their writing: hardly a surprise, though then we heard that Rach himself, despite huge hands, added a slight LH roll to the chords at the start of his PC2. We learned that Chopin was prepared to arrange his arpeggios awkwardly, and make huge demands of RH fingers 3,4,5 in the Etudes to test the player - though most wannabee pianists had probably already noticed. It was suggested that Stravinsky just spread his hands wide on the keyboard to set off his Symphony of Psalms, and that ambidextrous composers perhaps made unusually cruel demands - don't all pianists have to be a bit ambidextrous? And of course there was reference to the machinery that wrecked Schumann's hands, and to his wife's tendonitis. But it was very encouraging to hear Stephen Hough declare that some works were too difficult to be worth playing: I'd always assumed he could play anything at the second attempt!
I had rather looked forward to this programme, and it did entertain modestly, but in the end I felt it was little more than a light-hearted survey of known curiosities. Did anyone listen and form a view?
We learned that composers with large hands incorporated tenths (and even elevenths) in their writing: hardly a surprise, though then we heard that Rach himself, despite huge hands, added a slight LH roll to the chords at the start of his PC2. We learned that Chopin was prepared to arrange his arpeggios awkwardly, and make huge demands of RH fingers 3,4,5 in the Etudes to test the player - though most wannabee pianists had probably already noticed. It was suggested that Stravinsky just spread his hands wide on the keyboard to set off his Symphony of Psalms, and that ambidextrous composers perhaps made unusually cruel demands - don't all pianists have to be a bit ambidextrous? And of course there was reference to the machinery that wrecked Schumann's hands, and to his wife's tendonitis. But it was very encouraging to hear Stephen Hough declare that some works were too difficult to be worth playing: I'd always assumed he could play anything at the second attempt!
I had rather looked forward to this programme, and it did entertain modestly, but in the end I felt it was little more than a light-hearted survey of known curiosities. Did anyone listen and form a view?
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