Home
—
Application Form
—
Eligibility
—
Extra Events
—
Founder & Director
—
How Do I Teach Creativity?
—
Join Our Mailing List
—
Judges
—
Mission Statement
—
Philosophy of this Festival
—
Prizes and Educational Infomation
—
Repertory Requirements
—
Schedule
—
Sponsors

Founder & Director: Arthur Houle

THE PRE-BAROQUE AND BAROQUE ERAS

The three most significant Baroque keyboard composers are J.S. Bach, Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.  However, daring souls who wish to pursue pre-Baroque keyboard repertory are urged to consult Chapter Two of Stewart Gordon’s excellent book, “A History of Keyboard Literature: Music for the Piano and its Forerunners,” 1996, ISBN 0-02-870965-9.  Check your local library; if they don’t have it, ask them to get it via interlibrary loan.  You can also check your favorite local bookstore or order online: 

http://www.amazon.com/ or: http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/

Examples of important pre-Baroque/early Baroque composers are:

To find specific keyboard repertory by these & other composers, consult:

“Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire” by Maurice Hinson: 1st edition, 1973, Indiana U. Press, ISBN 0-253-32700-8; 2nd edition, Indiana U. Press, call # ML 128 P3 H5 1987; 3rd edition due out in February, 2001.

Ask your librarian, order from your favorite local bookstore, or try online:

http://www.music-matters.com/

For an excellent discussion of Bach interpretation, see:

“Interpreting Bach’s Preludes & Fugues” by Andras Schiff, Clavier magazine, March 1987, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 15-18.  (Consult your local librarian; if they do not have it, ask to get a copy by interlibrary loan.)

We encourage contestants to embellish and/or improvise when appropriate.  In the words of Andras Schiff (from the article cited above): “One thing is certain: in movements written in binary form, such as dances that require repeats, the last thing the composer intended was for the second time to sound like an exact copy of the first.”  

See also the discussion under Best Demonstrations of EMBELLISHING AND/OR IMPROVISING IN A Classical Work (an appropriate Baroque, Classic or Romantic period work).  See also: How Do I Teach Creativity? (Suggestions for Winning Strategies).

Keyboardists who play Baroque music with imagination and tasteful embellishments include:

• Sergey Schepkin (click here for recordings):
  http://www.ongaku-records.com/SergeyBio.html
  (See the November/December 2000 issue of Piano & Keyboard, p. 64, for Arthur Houle’s favorable review of Schepkin’s CD’s of Bach)

• Andras Schiff (click here for recordings):
  http://www.amazon.com/
  

• Igor Kipnis (click here for current recordings):
  http://www.amazon.com/
  or Complete Kipnis discography:
  http://people.mags.net/kipnis/

___

THE CLASSIC ERA

The three most significant classical composers were Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

We encourage contestants to embellish and/or improvise when appropriate.  See discussions under other prize categories.

 See also: How Do I Teach Creativity? (Suggestions for Winning Strategies).

For repertory ideas see:

“Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire” by Maurice Hinson: 1st edition, 1973, Indiana U. Press, ISBN 0-253-32700-8; 2nd edition, Indiana U. Press, call # ML 128 P3 H5 1987; 3rd edition due out in February, 2001.  Check your local library, order from your favorite local bookstore, or click one of these:

http://www.music-matters.com/

Best book on Classic Period performance practices: “Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music ,” by Sandra Rosenblum, ISBN 0-253-34314-3, 1988 Indiana University Press.  Check your local library, order from your favorite local bookstore, or click one of these:

http://www.music-matters.com/
see also:
http://www.indiana.edu/~iupress/books/0-253-34314-3tc.html

Best book on Beethoven performance practice: “The Sonatas of Beethoven As He Played and Taught Them” by Kenneth Drake, ISBN 0-253-20262-0, 1972, Indiana University Press.  Check your local library, order from your favorite local bookstore, or click one of these:

http://shop.barnesandnoble.com | http://www.amazon.com
see also:
http://www.indiana.edu/

_____

Please note: All terms of this festival are contingent on fund-raising and subject to change.

Problems with this site? webmaster