Hello Monica,

What a wonderful rendition of El Puerto, congratulations!
This is one of Albeniz's most colorful pieces.

I also like your Marcello-Bach. This is such a profound piece. You can see that Bach learned a lot from Marcello and Vivaldi. A lot of influences on his music.

Best wishes,
Alexandre

Yes, I prefer this version I hope you're happy with it too.

Thank you, Alexander and Alexandre!

@Alexandre - Colorful is a good way to describe this piece. And I do like Vivaldi's music a lot, and now I can say that I also like Marcello's, even though this is the only piece of his that I've played.

@Alexander - I am happier with this version, although I could probably re-record it a hundred times in an effort to get the trills just right. Ah well....but it is your suggestion to think in 3/4 that made me re-think this piece. Admittedly, I actually was thinking in 6/8 when I recorded it the first time. I did that in order to make sure I got enough beats in each measure because the piece goes so slow and I was afraid of screwing up the counts. It was a dumb idea - I have lots of those...

Hi Monica,

Just listened to your Albeniz. The first thing that struck me is the need for more flow especially as you set up the LH ostinato at the very start. It is a two bar phrase, and your first two notes seem to remove themselves from the latter half of the phrase. If you are trying to emphasize the accent, do so in a manner that doesn't play so much with horizontal continuity of time. Especially true of this opening motive where the skeletal pulse of the piece is being founded. This becomes less of a problem when your RH melody is introduced, but in numerous points in the piece where the LH ostinato is called to the forefront this break in flow presents itself. Think of the phrase - think of how a vocalist uses breath support, or a string player draws the bow.

You have good control over the tone you use in this interpretation. It is always pleasant and sweet. However, the music does call for some contrasts and many moments of Spanish bite. These episodes of punctuated and brassy flourishes are hidden away in your dulcet tone. They add flavor and spice to the music, so do not be apologetic when they come about. Don't be afraid to make your tone more edgy when the music asks for it.

Some of the slight tempo changes sounded as if you were not exactly sure of where they should be placed. Make sure to keep the phrase and the structure of the music in mind when playing with the tempo, especially in pieces such as this where the ostinato sets up the expectation of a repetition. Changes in the consistency of the pulse are magnified. This can be put to interpretational advantage when the music is set up to break expectation. However, if slight changes in tempo are placed in awkward moments, it can cause a sense of instability. Place your tempo changes within the structure of the piece, and always know where you are going.

At the end of the piece be sure to map out the sempre rit. carefully. Because it occurs over a very long span, it is easy to loose steam early and not have anywhere to go before the piece is finished. In the same manner as terraced dynamics, one can also carry out terraced tempo changes.

Hi Neil,

It's been a long time. Good to see you! Thank you very much for the thorough analysis. I agree with some of the things you say - like that I could come down at places with more bite. Believe me, I want to do that and really I try to do so, but I'm a weakling and have wrist problems so maybe it's not coming off as hard and loud as I think it is as I am sitting right there at the piano.

No one has ever mentioned the phrase issues at the beginning - the LH ostinato. Very interesting, I'm glad you said all that and I'll surely think about that next time I play the piece. Regarding tempo - perhaps my tempo changes are not to everyone's liking, but I actually do like them.

Thanks again. Hope we 'hear' more from you one of these days.