Me In My Living Room-Brahms' Rhapsody Op 119 no 4

[@notmytempo464]

Cole looking absolutely jacked. Sleeves about to burst...

[@TheIndependentPianist]

@@notmytempo464 Heading to the gym right now! 💪

[@jonathanlee5364]

Have not heard this piece (I suppose I need to "get out more" LOL). It is wonderful. Your play, as usual, is outstanding.

[@erwinschulhoff4464]

Hello this is your host swole anderson

[@walter9215]

Brilliant commentary and performance as usual. The biceps are an added bonus💯

[@TheIndependentPianist]

@@walter9215 🤣

[@shubus]

This Rhapsody is one of the earliest Brahms pieces I learned and I played it strictly in tempo. Decades later I've allowed more flexibility with a little rubato. The structural form is a model of expanded sonata-like form as Cole explains here very clearly.

[@grahamtwist]

Another fabulous upload, Cole. The new position of the camera certainly lets us see a lot more of you (looks like you have been busy at the gym as those biceps are quite distracting [!] and you're looking very toned indeed), but I did enjoy the previous format with you speaking directly to camera (though the story behind your chosen art work now on display would, I'm sure, be interesting!). After she received the Op. 118 and 119 pieces from Brahms which he composed in 1893, Clara Schumann wrote in her diary: "It really is marvelous how things pour from him; it is wonderful how he combines passion and tenderness in the smallest of spaces." This concluding Rhapsody certainly is a robust and complex piece with the affirmative opening E-flat major section then following some curious and diverse byways before the main theme returns, only to be deflected in that ferocious coda in E-flat minor! Those powerful biceps certainly help you explore all the passion in the music, and your virtuoso performance is truly stunning. And, as ever, the commentary and preparation tips that introduced your performance were both fully comprehensive and helpfully informative. B R A V O !

[@kristian6566]

Like the new setup very much! Gives it a more spontaneous vibe.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

@@kristian6566 excellent, thank you for the feedback!

[@matthewosterholzer]

Really a standout performance in this one, bravo! The new setup is also nice

[@mvmarchiori]

The A part marcial style always brings Schumann vibes to me. Also the C part is sublime!

[@dianabrown1444]

Thanks for sharing! Great explanation

[@miguelbayne4506]

Who would've thought this guy was RIPPED?!

[@Claudia-up6hr]

Me 👉🧓👈 , a lonely old widow in a nursing home, that's who! He takes me out of this dreary place for awhile 💞.

[@Stevie-Steele]

I somehow mentally connect this piece to his First Piano Trio in B Major - composed when he was twenty. One of his first masterpieces connected to one of his last - connected by the way they're major key pieces and end tragically in the tonic minor. Very powerful!

[@neilkilleen3911]

I Think the new format is better. Since you still use the overhead for the performance I can still assess fingerings if I want I’ve never even read through this interesting piece, it’s pretty hard ! I shall show your video to my gym trainer so she knows what we pianists need to do…

[@bradyredding1964]

YAYY NEW TIP VIDEO LETS GOOOO

[@davidkubecka7571]

Congratulations on finishing op.119! Now that you have covered the last three Brahms' piano opuses, the obvious question is what about op.116 :-) I love the quirky E minor intermezzo, especially in the Kempff's mono recording. I think it's quite a unique piece in the piano literature. Thanks for all the greater work so far!

[@TheIndependentPianist]

@@davidkubecka7571 Yes! Op 116 for sure, although I make take a short Brahms break before tackling op 116, 76, 10 and 4.

[@zendorcen]

Hey Cole, the new format is great. Any practice tips for getting the 4th mvt of Beethovens 1st Sonata up to speed? The arpeggios and polyrhythm sections feel like an insane task at the tempo marking. Thanks in advance.

[@iggyreilly2463]

More Schumann, please. 😊

[@gryffynda1]

Reminds me of the Chopin Scherzo No. 3😂

[@elliotdavies3555]

Thanks Dr Anderson! I've just discovered Schumann's F# minor sonata - it's an extraordinary composition. Have you played it? It has elements of liszt, Chopin, Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert. Woukd be very interested to hear your thoughts and interpretation 😊

[@THCBach]

Are the rumours true that you bench press a grand piano?

[@kevinmcelhaney8066]

Thank you Cole for this video of my favorite piece from Op. 119. Here's my feedback on the new set up. Some advantages for me are (1) I feel better connected to you as the performer and explainer in this set up, rather than seeing your disembodied hands, then your floating head--it feels more "live" this way. The graphics superimposed on the empty area of the screen work very well, while still preserving the full view of you as a performer. (2) I get a better view of your technique this way--better for me to learn from your technical approach. The potential disadvantage is that I find the visibility of your digital instrument a little disconcerting. I am fully aware you use a digital instrument for these videos, but when I see only the keyboard, it suspends my disbelief that you are playing an acoustic instrument. As such, it is possible that viewers will perceive the sound to be different, even if it in actuality it's the same sound. (There is psychology research to support this notion.) I also want to say that although you described this as "Andras Schiff" style, I think your analyses are much more rigorous, while his are more off the cuff. I generally prefer yours. =)

[@johnfox8912]

What piano is it?

[@richardlehoux]

I have the same question. I can’t make out the make or model of his electronics piano

[@grahamtwist]

Cole covered this in an earlier upload: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKnagouvid6ApLc I believe it's a Kawai VPC1 Virtual Piano Controller.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

I hear lots of Chopin's 3rd scherzo being copied by Brahms.(and some of the 4th)..and in turn I hear Rachmaninoff stealing from Brahms' non-Chopin bits in, I think, one or 2 of his etudes-tableaux...or maybe preludes...

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

I am a Brahms-despiser. Well played, though...