As I informed y’all last week, I began working on a new piece called Lob der Thränen (Translation: [In] Praise of Tears) by Franz Schubert. According to my teacher (and the internet), Schubert was a composer during the late Classical/early Romantic periods. This is my first piano piece by Schubert. Prior to this, my experience with Schubert has mostly been through his sacred music. For example, I grew up singing this version of the Ave Maria. Because I had only been exposed to his music within the context of a Catholic mass, it didn’t even occur to me that he wrote other things.
Anyway, I am planning on playing Lob der Thränen for my recital. It is short, pretty, and not that godforsaken Sonatina. As I am writing this, I have been playing this song for a little over a week. At this point, I am able to get through it and have it sound a little bit like music.
Here is my current progress.
By the time you actually read this, I will have had another week of practice and will be a bit farther along. I am specifically working on the following:
- Balance between my left and right hands. Sometimes my left hand overpowers the right hand, which is no bueno since the right hand plays the melody.
- Dynamic contrast i.e. changing the volume i.e. following the instructions in the score
- Not playing the wrong notes/skipping notes (this was a bit of an issue at my last lesson) i.e. memorizing the piece
I have about three weeks to get this song completely together. Based on my progress so far, this seems totally doable. However, I will 100% keep y’all abreast of any other changes/freakouts/piano shenanigans between now and my recital.
Compulsive Creation 