2022-2023: Two Years of Music in Review

Last year, I didn't get around to writing a post like this, so now I will be reviewing the past two years of my musical endeavors - discussing what I learned, enriching experiences I had, and what I look forward to improving upon in 2024. It was my desire to improve as a musician that led to me starting this blog, so I thought it fitting to reflect on these things.

New Discoveries
The past two years of have been the most musically involved for me, from discovering new composers to improving my piano technique, and giving a variety of performances.

First, the composers. I present them in roughly chronological order rather than the order I discovered or "rediscovered" them.

Domenico Scarlatti

Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas are not new to me - I grew up hearing them (primarily on classical guitar), and they have always been a source of musical inspiration and joy. However, until the past year or so, I had only tinkered with them on the piano. In years of piano lessons, Scarlatti was neglected in favor of Bach and (to a lesser extent) Händel. I am now making up for this by a more in-depth study of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas, and I hope to record several this year. There are many "hidden gems" that I discovered just in the past year, and I continue to find remarkable sonatas that I previously had not heard. K. 478, presented below, is probably my favorite (but, of course, they are all my favorite - all 555).

Muzio Clementi

Three years ago, I did not consider myself a stranger to the music of Clementi (1752-1832), but starting in early 2022 I came to realize just how much Clementi wrote for piano outside of the famous Op. 36 Sonatinas. Five volumes of Clementi later - I bought the four sonata volumes (published by Kalmus) as well as a reprint of the complete Gradus ad Parnassum - and I could probably be considered "obsessed" with his music. It is very melodic like Haydn and Mozart (though Clementi's melodic style is very different from the Viennese composers), but also very dramatic and full of unexpected contrasts. I also discovered his charming piano trios (really piano sonatas with string accompaniment) and his four symphonies. Below is the masterful Symphony No. 4 in D Major. He wrote more than four, but unfortunately most have been lost.

Jan Ladislav Dussek

My in-depth exploration of Clementi and his sonatas led inevitably to the works of the Italian's friend and another member of the London Pianoforte School - Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812). I first encountered this Czech composer through his Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 44 ("The Farewell"). While I was not immediately entranced by his music, it quickly grew on me with further listening. Dussek is now my favorite Classical-era sonata composer after Beethoven (yes, I like his sonatas even more than Clementi's - they're that good!).

    It is a great tragedy that Dussek died at the age of 52. I am convinced that, had he lived just another ten years, he would have far greater recognition today as one of the most important piano composers of his time. Further, his Messe Solemnelle, C. 256 is a wonderful piece of sacred music, full of lyricism, powerful contrasts, and wonderful orchestration. Unfortunately, he never wrote a symphony as far as I can tell. Below is his "Farewell" sonata, a work that I particularly love for its gentle and melodious outer movements (the Rondo is unexpectedly beautiful).

Jan Václav Voříšek

This Czech composer (1791-1825), although he sadly died young, wrote a good number of works, including a symphony, a Mass, and a piano sonata. These impromptus - apparently the first works of that name - are wonderfully lyrical pieces which sound quite Schubertian at times. They predate Schubert's impromptus, so perhaps the great melodist was influenced by Voříšek.

Nicolás Ledesma

I have always been an admirer of Spanish music (Enrique Granados is among my favorite composers). My investigation into Spanish music led me to Nicolás Ledesma (1791-1883). His music is very classical in style and unlike with Granados, predates the rise of nationalistic traits in Spanish music. He wrote a good number of sonatas and exercises for piano. Stylistically, these works are closest to Clementi, and Ledesma even wrote his own set of six sonatinas.

    Below is my own recording of Ledesma's third piano sonata. Although my performance contains glaring mistakes and inadequacies, it is one of the few available on YouTube currently.

Franz Liszt

Seeing Liszt on a list of musical "discoveries" might come as a surprise to many classical music lovers. But besides the Sonata in B Minor, I was not familiar with Liszt's greatest works until a couple of years ago, when I dove into the Années de Pèlerinage. I was astonished at the reflective quality of these works, so contrary to the silly but all-too-common portrait of Liszt as a mere showman. The Transcendental Etudes, too, were a revelation, as was the second ballade. Beyond the many fine piano works, I must recommend to those who are unfamiliar with it, Liszt's oratorio Christus. When I first heard that masterpiece, it was all I could listen to for about a month. Below is his Legend No. 2, which is now one of my favorite Liszt works.

Charles-Valentin Alkan

In the Spring of 2022, my incessant search for new piano music led to Charles Alkan (1813-1888). It was the gorgeous lyrical theme from the trio of his Grande Sonate, Op. 33 that led me to explore his music in some depth. His Sonata de Concert, Op. 47 for cello and piano is also a wonderfully lyrical work, while the colossal Symphony for Solo Piano, Op. 39, Nos. 4-7 is, in my opinion, one of the greatest works in the piano repertoire.

    While I can't say that I find all of his music to be particularly interesting or inspired, Alkan is certainly an underappreciated composer. The extreme technical difficulty of a great number of his works probably has something to due with this. I would recommend the "Chants" (Songs) for solo piano to those who are new to his music. Below is his lovely Chant in E Major from Op. 38a.

Vítězslav Novák

Yet another Czech composer I have come to admire is Vítězslav Novák (1870-1949). Most of his piano works are miniatures, with the notable exception of the Sonata Eroica, Op. 24, a magnificent work which I hope to program someday. I was particularly impressed by his String Quartet No. 2 and the Piano Trio No. 2 ("quasi una ballata"). Quite a few of his works are still on my listening list.

Sergei Taneyev

I came across the Russian composer Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915) because of his connection to Nikolai Medtner (whom I will discuss below). Unlike with most of the composers of this list, it was not primarily his piano works (he wrote relatively few) that interested me, but his string quartets.

    Below is a recording of Taneyev's masterful cantata John of Damascus, Opus 1 (what a way to start one's compositional career!). I could just as easily have selected his piano quintet or one of his string quartets - all wonderful and inspired works in their own right.

Alexander Glazunov

As with Taneyev, I discovered Glazunov (1865-1936) because of his association with Medtner, calling him "an artist guarding of the eternal laws of art." Glazunov was an incredible artist himself, and has quickly become one of my favorite symphonists. Below is his majestic eighth symphony. I would also recommend his second piano concerto, a warmly lyrical work, and unabashedly joyful in its spirit.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Again, classical musicians may be puzzled at how a pianist could be just discovering Rachmaninoff after years playing the instrument. Though of course I knew of him, I was not familiar with his works outside of the incredible All-Night Vigil (which, to be fair, is probably his best work), the second and third piano concerti, and the first movement of the fourth concerto. In the past two years, I have come to be familiar with his preludes and etudes, and I performed a the lovely G Major prelude in my 2022 recital. My listening and playing merely confirmed what I had already heard and read about him - he is one of the greatest piano composers out there.

    Beyond Rachmaninoff's piano music, discovering many of his songs for the first time has been a great source of musical inspiration for me. Below is the famous "Zdes' Khorosho" ("How Fair this Place").

Nikolai Medtner

Lastly, I discovered the music of Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) in the summer of 2022. Without a doubt, Medtner is (for me) the most important musical figure I have discovered in the past two years, and doing so was among the most significant musical occurrences of my life. His works represent some of the most inspired and noble to be composed. They contain a certain gravitas which flows naturally from their musical structure, rather than pretentiously contrived as with so many of the works by Medtner's fellow 20th century composers. Alongside Enrique Granados and Sergei Rachmaninoff, I consider Medtner to be one of the greatest composers to write for the modern grand piano (I have a special reverence for these three composers).

    Below is the second piano sonata and the first of the Sonata-Triad, Op. 11. This is the work that caused me to fall in love with Medtner's music. I remember listening to the climactic build-up to the recapitulation (occurs at 5:25 in the video) over and over again, more amazed each time. Already in his second sonata, Medtner had seemingly reached the heights of artistry and craftsmanship. His more than one hundred art songs are all wonderful works as well. However, I tend to think that his greatest work is his last published - the Concerto-Ballade in E Minor, Op. 60, for piano and orchestra.

    These are just a few of my personal discoveries in music that had a great impact on me, but there are quite a few others. Some of the composers who did not make it on this list, but I have gained great admiration for, include Domenico Cimarosa, Anatoly Lyadov, Sergei Lyapunov, Alexander Gretchaninov, and Reinhold Glière. It is my hope that readers can benefit from these discoveries of mine, as well as suggest to me composers that I should look into. In the future I hope to write more in-depth posts about certain works by these composers, providing information about scores, discography, and more.

Recitals

And now to some performances worth mentioning.

Autumn 2022 Solo Piano Recital

This concert was my first time performing a solo recital in three years, and I must say I was not entirely pleased with the result. I actually think my 2019 recital (also on my YouTube channel) was better. I did not have as much practice time as I would have liked, and I'm also not the most efficient in my practice. With that being said, the performance had its nice moments. The recital was centered around the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, a work which I had earlier attempted and quit, more because of laziness than anything else. I had the most trouble with Granados' El Pelele, which is a frightfully difficult work despite its happy and carefree sound. The entire recital can be heard below.

Spring 2023 Collaborative Recital

On April 20th of this year, I collaborated with several musicians to give what turned out to be probably the most fun recital that I have done thus far. It was also a great learning experience, providing me with important lessons in accompanying both singers and instrumentalists. Below is a performance from that concert, of a composition for flute and piano by my father, Timothy Williams.

Autumn 2023 Duo Piano Recital

Just this past November, I collaborated with another pianist at the university I attend, to give a duo piano recital. We each played three solo pieces, then closed the recital with Mozart's joyful Sonata in D Major for Piano Four Hands, K. 381. This was my first time learning and performing a piano duo with another pianist. A recording of that duo performance is below.

Teaching & Accompanying

In October 2022, I began teaching piano at a local music store. For a long time I had wanted to start teaching, since I knew that so much insight could be gained from guiding other's musical development. Teaching has provided me with a better appreciation of just how much dedication on the part of my teacher was necessary to get me to this point. I find that the most difficult aspect of teaching is discovering the student's strengths and weaknesses and adjusting the lessons to address them. For example, I struggled most with rhythm as a beginning piano student (and rhythm is still not my strength), so I tend to emphasize that most, and perhaps too much at times. But teaching is about evaluating the student's individual needs, not simply going by one's own experience as a former beginner. Teaching - especially something as intricate and precise as a musical instrument - is an art that is continually refined over years, so I am grateful that I was able to start it at a relatively young age.

    

    At the same time I began teaching, I was also offered the opportunity to be an accompanist for vocal students at the university I attend. My only other experience with accompanying came in two spring musicals (Bye Bye Birdie in 2022, West Side Story in 2023) for a local high school. I have now been accompanying vocalists for two semesters, and am about to begin another. Along with discovering Medtner's music and beginning to teach piano, this has been one of the most enriching musical experiences for me. I never realized just how much detailed work is required to convey the musical meaning of a single song. Additionally, I've begun to explore the vocal repertoire in greater depth, both through the music I'm required to play and my own study.

    Accompanying has proved to be a challenging task (I hate to call it a "task" - it is actually one of my greatest joys in music) in its own way, requiring a different set of skills than solo performance. That is not to say that good technique is not required of the accompanist. On the contrary, I've run into quite a few difficulties in practicing song accompaniments (art songs as well - not only orchestral reductions). One of my big goals for the coming year is to learn all I can about the art of accompanying, and to that end I bought several books that treat the subject. I will soon be writing a book review of a fascinating book on accompanying that I recently read.

Organ & Voice

Lastly, in 2022 I began taking organ lessons at university, finally branching out of just piano. About five year ago I took classical guitar lessons for a few months, but found that nails and piano playing just don't mix. Progress in organ has been steady but slow, since access to practice organs can be difficult at times, and piano is still my top priority.

    Just this past semester I began voice lessons. I remember my wonderful teacher, the late David Zapka, once telling me that he learned so much about musical piano playing from observing singers. This observation has stuck with me through the years, and now with accompanying and practicing voice myself, I can more fully see the truth in it. I think that singing at a basic level is an essential for a complete musician, so I look forward to developing my singing abilities, which - to put it mildly - are less than adequate.

Projects for 2024

Now for what I am looking to accomplish and improve upon in 2024.

Musicianship Development

What I really want to work on in 2024, besides a lot of new repertoire (including several piano concerti and chamber works), is developing key musicianship skills that I am either deficient in or lack entirely. Gaps in my knowledge of music theory still need to be filled out, and I could benefit from some ear training. While I'm not tone deaf by any means, I really don't have as good of an ear as I should at this point in my music studies. Other things related to theory need to come easier to me - transposing song accompaniments at sight, for example, or improvising my way out of memory slips. I hope to acquire a better grasp of form, so that musical analysis (particularly of harmonic structures) isn't so tedious. I have a long list of books lined up to help me in these undertakings, it's just a matter finding (or making) the time to read and re-read them.

    I already mentioned accompanying as a subject that I want to study in greater depth. I also want to study a good number of books on the art piano playing by the "old school" pianists - artists from the so-called "Golden Age of Piano Playing" - Walter Gieseking, Alfred Cortot, Josef Lhevinne, Tobias Matthay, Heinrich Neuhaus, and others. There seems to be a great amount of literature produced by these pianists, most or all of whom were well-respected pedagogues in addition to seasoned performers.

    In terms of piano technique, I have goals to learn the Op. 10 Etudes of Chopin (at slower than performance tempi), and at least 25 etudes from Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum. I hope to become more fluid in fast scales and learn all the diatonic and chromatic scales in double thirds. Beyond these, there is the ever-present problem in my piano playing of "ghost notes" - miscalculating the pressure needed to sound the note in quiet passage - or the opposite - playing too harshly. Much of that depends on the piano's action, and I don't have access to the best pianos. Nevertheless, that is an area of my playing that could use improvement.

    Finally, I hope to expand my knowledge of the classical music repertoire in general. I consider myself to have a rather broad familiarity with the classical repertoire, but there are still gaps that need to be filled. Bruckner, for example; I don't know his music. Or Mahler. I often feel out of place when conversing with other musicians, and the conversation turns to the great symphonists. With the exception of Sibelius and now Glazunov, I'm not really familiar with symphonies after Beethoven. It's not just the orchestral repertoire where I'm out of place. The piano repertoire still holds quite a few gems waiting to be discovered. Robert Schumann is still waiting (impatiently at this point) for me to take a deep dive into his music, and Grieg as well (don't worry - I'm quite familiar with their piano concerti!). And, lastly, I want to become more familiar the choral repertoire of the past few centuries, which is so vast that I'm at a loss as to where to begin.

Upcoming Performances

I will possibly be doing another collaborative recital this Spring, if I can get enough musicians together. I also hope to record and post several Scarlatti sonatas to my channel. I am slowing laboring away at a rather extensive solo piano recital featuring a range of composers from the "three B's" (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms) to Rachmaninoff and Respighi. If this comes together, it will be later in the year. Besides these, I will continue to accompany for vocal and choral concerts as work demands.

The End

If you made it to the end of this article (and actually read it), you deserve an award. Please pardon my rambling, and feel free to leave a comment - I'd love to know your thoughts!