Schumann Toccata, Op.7 (Caleb Hu) скачать в хорошем качестве

Schumann Toccata, Op.7 (Caleb Hu)

Composed by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) in 1833. Schumann's Toccata is a work of great imagination and beauty, even if not every pianist plays it that way. Even when Robert set out to write "the hardest piece ever written", he did not neglect to include his trademark lyricism and harmonic sense. This is why I consider Schumann's Toccata to be the greatest out of all the great post-Bach toccatas, far surpassing Czerny's Op.92 and Onslow's Op.6 which Schumann found the bare bones of his inspiration from. The counterpoint, chromaticism, and syncopation in this work at times boggles the mind, especially for a piece written in the 1830s. And most incredibly, the work ends on a reflective and austere fashion, as if fading from exhaustion. Pianists have taken issue with the ending almost ever since the work's conception: "[Schumann] told me that Friedrich Wieck has tormented him to make him change the ending of the Toccata, because [Clara] would play it in the next concert…. The end appears to be not brilliant enough — what an insanity." Indeed, some of the great recorders of this work (Pogorelich, Cziffra, Kissin, etc.) ignore Schumann's indication of a quiet ending, probably considering a contemplative finale to be a bit of a waste after a nonstop virtuosic display. While there are practical reasons to do this (perhaps if played as the end to a long concert, or an encore), doing so is a misunderstanding of Schumann's intentions. I believe that playing this work with the objective of bringing out its musicality is really the only worthwhile reason to tackle this beast in the first place, because there are plenty of showpieces that are superior at conveying virtuosity to the audience, while being much easier on the hands to boot. Some of the truly terrifying difficulties in this work (alternating ninths, left hand leaps) are written so subtly as to be imperceptible to an audience, notwithstanding the contemplative finale. This is not a traditional showpiece, and really hardly a showpiece in nature other than the Romantic ideal of a pianist "heroically" navigating their way through complex difficulties without succumbing to fatigue. Truly, maintaining physical and mental concentration through the Toccata is its prime difficulty. It is quite easy to overstrain your hands while playing this work, especially at higher tempi. For smaller hands, the difficulty ranges from extreme to nigh impossible, due to the prevalence of intervals larger than an octave that cannot be readily arpeggiated while maintaining the rhythmic integrity of the work. For larger hands, care must be taken to delicately articulate the main theme and subsequent themes—with minimal pedal—otherwise the result is a wall of sound and a lack of nuance. All things considered, this work deserves its reputation as a technical monster, and perhaps deserves even more of a reputation for being very musically difficult. Many pianists accomplish one but not the other. This piece is in (surprisingly) standard Sonata form, one of the forms that Schumann struggled the most with. 0:00 Exposition. Massive opening chords that set the rhythmic pattern that will permeate throughout the piece. Theme 1 is an undulating series of double notes that wildly modulate before ending with a C major flourish. 0:26 Transition towards Theme 2 in five (!) voices, later changing to four. A majority of this piece is in four voices. 0:45 Theme 2, in the tenor. What appears to be embellishment in the right hand is actually the original theme 2 in his 1830 Exercise. 1:05 Transformation and development of Theme 1 that starts closing material. 1:26 Combination of Theme 2 and Theme 1 that ends the closing material 1:47 Development. Starts the same as Theme 1, but in A minor. 2:00 The famous developmental octaves. 2:16 A fughetta, which develops the motif from the opening chords. 2:37 Recapitulation. 3:03 New transitional material into Theme 2, which seems to be an homage to Beethoven's Pathetique. 3:30 Theme 2. 3:49 Start of closing material, an uber-difficult transformation of Theme 1. 4:05 Yet another transformation of Theme 1. 4:32 Transition into the coda, which anticipates the right hand rhythm in the coda. 4:39 Coda. Transformation of Theme 2. Note: As I am nearing the end of my undergraduate degree, I will try to be creating as many recordings as I can. Expect a slowdown of "Top 10" videos, although I will try to finish some of my most requested composers, such as Alkan. Recorded on a Samsung S22. (8+) in my difficulty rating   / calebhu