Illuminating and very interesting observations, Cole - many thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences! As a 'pretend' composer, I have been interested to discover that as I notate and refine my improvisations into compositions, I can play them from memory for several days . . . but then they gradually fade away so that after just a week or so, I need the score to play them (or at least, refresh my memory). In a somewhat weird way, after many months - and years - I can look at a score I wrote and marvel that I even created it because I have to learn it as 'new' music and can't imagine where it came from! And that made me wonder . . . Do you think Mozart would have been able to play any of his compositions from memory if he had not revisited a score for several years? And what about Bach - would he had had perfect total recall of everything he ever composed. And did Rachmaninoff need to work on his scores before playing a concerto or prelude after a long break from a performance? I wonder if Shakespeare would have had recall of all the soliloquies of his tragic heroes; or if Michelangelo would have been able to replicate the Sistine Chapel ceiling if it had been whitewashed in error? Some wonderful research possibilities here for those interested in neuroscience!

SCHIFF is now completely OFF my Playlist for ridiculous statements he made about BEETHOVEN during a "Master Class"! He was so arrogant that I had to turn it off!

My gosh , this 14 min video really touched my heart ! Every point you’ve shared here makes total sense! I’ve always wondered about how many repertoires does one learn during 4 year music conservatories or universities?? And what else do you achieve in masters programs and to doctorates ??…. Thanks ❤

Interesting points. I find bypassing the conscious brain and allowing oneself to play from muscle memory the best method. Challenging to do!

Please do one on Maria Yudina as well! She and Myra Hess are certainly the greatest female pianists ever

My final thought for now is about the duality of memory and sheet music If I try to largely memorise, but retain the music, and just use it as needed on demand, I get very confused This is because I don’t really know, at any time, what I’m relying on. I might play a passage from memory and then need the music, but I have no idea where to look to find it on the page This reinforces for me, that I need to remain largely looking at the music, but further develop the ability to play without looking at the keyboard

I commented that I’m very dependent on the music but there are passages where looking at what you are doing helps (so memorise). But is this really true ? Most concert pianists look at the keyboard when playing by memory. Now, I’ve just finished reading Carl Lachmund’s Living with Liszt (ed walker) diaries. One very clear Liszt method is that he strongly discouraged his students from looking at their hands. Now Liszt had a phenomenal memory, even in his last few years, and his physical ability to play precisely without looking was likely extremely developed So I’m trying to learn to play hard bits still looking at the music also as it will help develop this tactile spatial awareness. As an aside, I have always had uprights. The music stand is just above the keyboard. My ability to flick my eyes between keyboard and music is highly developed after 60 years. Now when I go to my teacher for an occasional lesson, he has a grand. The music is about 12cm higher. Now I have to move my head up and down to move between keyboard and music. It actually knocks my proficiency down quite significantly because the pattern is so ingrained in me So learning to play without looking at the keyboard better (I’m pretty good at it anyway as I mainly look at the music) is beneficial to me!

The pieces I’ve been learning recently, Rach dflat moment musicaux, Rach dmaj prelude, Chopin nocturne in b. Op 62 no 1, I’ve been deliberately trying to keep alive by playing regularly This works quite well but I find the parts that were hardest for me to learn are the hardest to keep robust. I suppose that makes sense as those bits are outside of my intrinsic can just do with ease However I’m still very dependent on the music so I’m always reading - so the technically hard bits that I really have to memorise to play are gone first

Thanks Cole - there is some reliable neuroscience research that demonstrates regular short learning sessions are more effective than few long sessions. It seems that our neurons can continue to form connections (form memories) after we have finished active learning. I’ll try and dig out the reference some time So I believe this is the basis of these kinds of techniques

What you describe is called spaced repetition and it works as long as you repeat the material before you forget it completely. I've used a digital flashcard program called Anki (free download) for years to memorize things, including music. It takes some time to learn, but once it is set up, it presents the material right before forgetting. All I need to do is have the discipline to review the cards regularly.

I never knew Myra Hess. I happen to hear her Chopin interpretation. I went cold. I love her deep passion, her intensity. How she plays is immense. Wonderful pianist.

I played a small home concert for family last spring and I didn't touch any of the pieces after the concert until this past week. First run through it was like I had never played them before, fully sightreading each note. But after the second methodical playthrough it came back to about 75%. Also notable, but not surprising, was that the pieces requiring the least hand coordination (Brahms op 188/2, Scriabin op 32/1) are taking much longer to relearn, compared to the ones which required much more deliberate fingering/blocking/memorizing (Rach 32/12, 23/4). Thanks for the insightful video!

My personal experience is that once I memorise a piece, it never truly goes away from memory when I leave it. I don't have exactly to relearn it, but to remember it.

I came for the analysis but I’m staying for the gym routine💪🏾💪🏾

I VERY MUCH AGREE! Thank you for your thoughts.

Some of my most striking memories from music school were the times where I was with my teacher in her studio when she would get a call from her manager asking if she could replace a concerto soloist in the coming days and often at venues that required long travel time. I was astounded that she always accepted the engagements to play concertos that she hadn't touched for an extended period and would need to perform on such short notice. I could never imagine myself being capable of achieving that.

I just discovered you tonight. I like your observations. My teacher Edith Knox was a friend of Myra Hess. Her playing was very beautiful. I did the 109 in my graduate recital many years ago. Thanks.

Sokolov??????

I think the explanation for the slow tempo of Richter's Schubert G major sonata is that he thinks of the meter in 12, not 4. And the explanation for the slowing down in m.2 is the cresc - dim. Schubert notates.

Wow interesting discovery, especially that outro jesu joy of man's desiring by Myra Hess! Incredible on top voicing!!! What a fantastic upper singing voice, it sounds like 2 pianos!!! I am confused 🤔. How does she do that? Is she also such a female pianist like Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn with enormously large hands? Maybe Tatiana Nikolayeva is also interesting for a video?

Myra Hess, an extraordinary legend.

Wonderful pianist...Myra Hess!

I would love to see your take on Leon Fleisher. (I studied with him for two years.)

I heard Horowitz live. For me his sound was clangy; it was a sound he wanted and got from the Steinway technicians. What amazes me most is how little he used the pedal during incredibly difficult octave passages. I think he was at his best in miniatures, although his Tchaikovsky 1 with Toscanini is by turns beautifully lyrical and hair-raising. A little-known fact: Horowitz was great friends with Rudolf Serkin, who by the way was a fine Chopin pianist. The two used to play four hands together. Oh to be a fly one the wall!

I was fortunate enough to hear Richter live. I still have a vivid memory of that concert. He performed a set of variations by Schubert, Schumann's Faschingschwank aus Wien (a neglected masterpiece), and a piece he owned: Pictures at an Exhibition. He played like a conductor; the piano was his orchestra.

For me it's Toscanini all the way. Do the other players come in before the oboe's high D? Yes--but Toscanini was undoubtedly displeased with this. Is Furtwängler's performance moving? Yes. What Brahms wanted? From everything we know about him, no. Tempo matters. Brahms writes Un poco sostenuto; poco is the key word here. Furtwängler's tempo is molto sostenuto. In mm.36-37, Brahms has composed a built in ritardando. Furtwängler adds his own huge ritardando; the result is that the music falls apart and loses all of its tension. Brahms was quite capable of writing "ritardando". Brahms 3: As a conductor, I find sloppy ensemble unacceptable. And tempo again: at the lead in to the 2nd theme, Brahms has a built in ritardando, going from 8th notes to quarter notes. Adding a ritardando is not only unnecessary, but distorts the music. I admire much about Furtwängler, but I find his manipulations of tempo harmful; they distort what the composer has written. There are other ways to be expressive. I hope I haven't offended all of you Furtwängler fans out there!

Her recording of the Brahms B major Trio with Pablo Casals and Isaac Stern is the bomb.

I heard a wonderful story about her: She was a guest of a woman who had a music room with a grand piano. She went in to practice, and her hostess listened at the door. She heard silence for a long time, then a few notes. Then a long silence again, followed by a few notes. This went on for an hour; then Hess left the room and said to her hostess "I've had the most marvelous practice session!"

Great podcast and good luck with your work! You have a new listener here!

Space and peace yes!

LOVE LOVE Op 109..

This is fantastic thanks for all your work on this: the excerpts from recordings and music examples put up. I love hearing these! She is fantastic with Beethoven for certain~

I enjoy this so much! Thank you so very much. I am a pianist and teacher for 40 yrs and working on getting my playing back to a higher level again after many years of teaching and just church work etc. just moderate level. Your videos inspire me to access these recordings and also to practice more! It is so wonderful to hear these pianists the greatest and hear the variety. Never heard much Dame Myra Hess and she is delightful!

What the exact tablet you’re using? And what do you use to mark your music on it?

Great interpretation❤

I've just listened to Hess play Granados Goyesca No 4 (The Lady and the Nightingale). I learned this piece about 2 years ago, having been defeated by it for 40 years! I didn't come across her recording at the time so it is new to me. It's a beautiful performance - quite understated and dry, but beautifully voiced and she is very clear about what she's doing and why, I think. Again, beautiful trills! Having had a listen, I had a play through for the first time since I recorded it. It was like I'd never played it! It is a quite difficult piece, so densely textured and so much to get right at the details. And there is a horrible section in the middle (just 2 lines) with crossed hands and the melody switching between hands - I could not play this for months when I first learned it... However, after 2 or 3 goes (and of course I have all the fingers I worked out on the sheet music), it started to resurrect itself. I think I would get it back fully in a couple of weeks. So, Cole, an idea for a video is, how do we go about keeping pieces reasonably current, so that they can be sensibly reactivated on demand ? I memorise very poorly, so I don't have much of this to help me out and I think the way in which you learn a piece has strong impact on how well it comes back. Maybe when you reactivated the Gershwin/Wild etudes Cole, you had some thoughts about this (or perhaps you kept them in your fingers the whole time).

Nobody can play like this today. NOBODY not even the half naked Asians

So glad you appreciate Myra Hess. I love her recordings of the Beethoven sonatas 30 and 31. They are the performances I go to when I want to hear those pieces. You have good taste!

Dame Myra Hess has an amazingly beautiful recorded performance of Beethoven Op. 109: very sensitive, very musical performance. And I see you've included that performance here. Great!

I'm excited for the Liszt sonata video! Such an amazing piece

Indeed.....hearing her live is incomparable...a privilege I enjoyed 70 years ago: an afternoon in Carnegie Hall where she played the Opus 109, 110, 111. With my teacher who knew her intimately, we went to the Green Room....typically droll and surprising, she brushed away the due praise 👏 saying, " I'm ravenous ly hungry" She appropriately said after the continual applause after the 111, " What could one play after this?"

Charm......much absent, wit....marvelous Scarlatti 😅

Appassionata...forceful...not " animalistic " 😊 your listeners unfamiliar with Beethoven Concerto nr.4 ......😮

Fortunate to have attended many of her appearances, solo and with orchestra in NYC and New Haven. My teacher at that time had studied with Phillip and Matthay, was friends of Hess and 0:08 Denise Lassimone. Did you know she performed the 2nd Chopin Sonata...😅 She detested the new excessive tempi and limited palette of touch, amusingly saying she wanted to stand up at such and exclaim, " vive le sport".😅 re her stance of recording,,.,she detested the activity.

Myra Hess…a fantastic artist and transcriber. Though her transcription of Bach's BWV 147 is famous, I am actually learning her less famous transcription of the Adagio from Bach's BWV 564. (In which I find that if playing the Adagio on its own, as opposed to the work as a whole, that her transcription is more satisfying than Busoni's in that context.) She also recorded a fantastic Franck Symphonic Variations, which as you said about Myra Hess as a whole, is not talked about enough! I look forward to seeing the examples you've provided here.

Thanks. Brilliant video, wonderful start to the day. 😊

Thankyou for the exploration Cole.

A timeline of the performance is always useful.

Please,what does LH mean? Thanks in advance.May be <left hand>?

Richter in a Dress....Astonishing. BRAVA from Acapulco!