Sometimes a wake up call arrives in the form of a LIVE lesson as it unfolds in real time. A review of footage often clarifies ideas about phrasing, allowing for modifications here and there.
If we as teachers are absolute in our thoughts, embracing an unchanging perspective about a composition, then there’s absolutely no room to grow or gain new insights about phrasing, interpretation, etc.
Yet in this piece of video shown below, I became ever more convinced that the motif or subject of Bach Invention 1 had a curvy contour that threaded through the composition in one form or another. It needed an internal aural image that could be realized by a particular physical approach.
When the subject’s inversion occurred in measure 3, the curvaceous character remained and required a certain playing consistency.
This is such a miraculous composition that journeys through many keys in its two economical pages, yet the nuances of the modulations cannot be overlooked. I love the transition to D minor, where one can dip the C# in Measure 10, coming under it with a lesser dynamic--in a subtle way to herald the key change.
In any case, this is how the lessons played out: (Still a partial sample of what we worked on) followed by my early morning demonstration of wrist motions that applied to this composition. The ungodly hour required my playing softly with a flat dynamic so as not to wake my neighbors in our Berkeley apartment.
In any case, this is how the lessons played out: (Still a partial sample of what we worked on)
Shaping the Subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7ykJK62l0
The Inverted Subject:
http://youtu.be/WekjnlnoaIA
A Slow motion subject rendering, followed by playing the balance of the Right Hand:
My Invention 1 performance in tempo:
