🎶 Latin American Music Challenge | Week 1

Blaise Laflamme right! I think this tempo portraits much better the joyfull and lively musical life and youthful interest in concert life in Rio which supossedly this Prelude portraits.. I understand of course the desire to sing slower but, also, i think this tempo gives better sense to the 6/4 marking. And I thought hard about all those usual arpeggiatos and decided I can do without most of them... when I play 5 note chords I just use the a finger to play both first and second string... 

Blaise Laflamme if you listen to it a few times it grows on you... But surely it's a bit of a shock after listening so many other renditions.

Blaise LaflammeI don't think there is,... for this section. Williams is the consistently fastest I have found online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUx4xkFQKfs) but he doesn't care at all about legato. My version is not much faster (just a notch) than his, but I can tell you it's not easy to try to sing the melody legato at this tempo and have the harmonies not beaten and phrases not accentuated every third beat.

What I found very disturbing in many other renditions is the fact that many excelent players approach this tempo or close at certain points of the section as a part of a more or less gradual accelerando but the initial or avarage tempo is far slower. I find it a bit disturbing that we as instrumental performers are so comfortable playing with such huge tempo shifting with no concern for the indications of the score, where there are no indications about accelerando or rubato, barely some rallentando in very specific points. 

In fact, this tempo creates a far better proportion with the C section which I should play still a bit faster yet and that should be just "piú mosso" (a bit faster) and of course, you'll not be surprised then that my B section "Meno" (less) will also be much faster that other renditions, trying to keep the proportions in place.

I'll try to post it on Saturday.  

Ariel Elijovich I agree with Blaise. I think Williams' version seems a little mechanical at that tempo, but in your faster version, the tempo breathes more with some ebb and flow that I really like.  

Ariel Elijovich Your playing of both sections are exceptional, so clean and legato and the Music just flows. However, the A Section does seem a little fast, mainly due to what I am used to hearing, but it works. Looking forward to hearing the entire Preludio. 

Ariel Elijovich Interesting Part A, however I feel the melody is so beautiful it needs more time to breathe with a slower tempo.  It would also provide more contrast with the other sections.  Sorry, this is just my opinion.

Perhaps I'll change my mind when I hear the whole piece .

Barney it's ok, Barney. I understand there's a long tradition regarding this prelude and it's weird to hear it so different. I think If you just sung it in the spirit it's intended I suspect you'd end up singing with a trempo very much like the one I took,.. but alas, the fingers are tyrants!! Just don't give up on me. Try it a couple of times more and you'll see how it grows on you.😉 

Ariel Elijovich Very well played, Ariel. Personally, I wouldn't play with that tempo as a musical choice but also because technically I can't play that fast😀

Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary at least a nice debate can surge from this: technical possibilities forge musical tastes and musical tastes develop technical possibilities? 

Ariel Elijovich I think both go together. Obviously one needs good technique to be able to play musically. As for the A section of the prelude, I picture myself venturing out of my tiny village/town and into a big city for the first time, full of awkward optimism and a spring in my step. So, I'd try to bring out that feeling. That's just my own infusion of my mood into that section, others might have different tastes.

Btw, you played the C section wonderfully, with such controlled but very lively tempo. For me, that section evokes feelings of conflicting emotions, perhaps harsh realities of city life or perhaps hopes dashed or fading.

Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary nice immaginery... I hear the echoes of European music in the lively brasilian soul... C is Chopin, no doubt. Thanks for listening and commenting, Nijwm!

joosje Thanks for listening and for your comment...!! this is just the beginning. I have no doubts it'll mature into something else,... along this lines but surely more loosen ... I'm a bit constricted by the metronome yet, trying to bring everything up to the tempos I have immagined. 

Steve Price thanks!! glad that you enjoyed it! I respect a lot the work of Wiliams but never felt much afinity with his interpretations. But lately, I have to say, I found that his tempos for many pieces are very much similar to what I hear in my head, even if the phrasing or sound is completely different.

Steve Price Nicely played. These are very lovely Preludios. Regarding your question on the thumb stroke in the second Preludio, I would point you to Carlevaro's School of Guitar, Chapter IV, where he goes into great detail on the right hand thumb. BTW, I love the Cabezon Variations. 

Steve Price Nice work on these Steve!  Ponce's Preludes are great.

Dale Needles Thanks, Dale. And I appreciate the tip to look at the school for some thumb help. 

I wasn't familiar with that set of Variations, but I found out about it while researching the Preludios Cortos. It really is a lovely piece, and it doesn't sound as difficult as some of his other longer pieces, being written for a hobbyist friend of his. There's been quite a bit of research on it, and it seems likely it wasn't based on a theme by Cabezón, but is a quote from the 15th-century French Easter hymn, O Filii et Filiae. You might think it's an interesting story if you choose to look into it. 

Barney Thanks a lot, Barney. His preludes really are some gems. 

Steve Price Of the six short Preludes by Ponce, I really like # 6, #1, and #4.  Not sure if you played those yet...