Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka (Won Kim, Ullman)

Stravinsky’s joyous & psychedelically colourful transcription of 3 Movements from Petrushka. I’d heard some of Stravinsky’s other piano music before I got around to this, & didn't get the impression he was a terribly good composer for the instrument - but by the time I finished with this, I was like: Yeah, alright, he's a genius at this too. Just think of the number of textures here that you find basically nowhere else - the rapidfire planing chords at the beginning of the Russian Dance (weird to use the term planing, since the technique is used in such a drastically different way from Debussy), the bassoon line that peeps out from the middle of the texture at 0:55, the muted chordal tremolos at the beginning of The Shovetide Fair, the shy oboe at 8:44, the exuberant canon over the E pedal at 14:01, & all those wild passages of bright, obsessively folkish counterpoint (the 5 main melodies in The Shovetide Fair are derived from Russian folk songs, it turns out). And’s it’s not just about these moments - the whole piece just reverberates with such an unusual & compelling style - percussive & anti-lyrical yet intensely melodic, with long passages constructed from the repetition of tiny motivic cells. Plus there’s the lovely harmony too - from the lydian/dorian colour at the beginning (which then slips right to the opposite end of the dark/bright spectrum by deploying the Locrian #2 at 0:20 - the E seems tonicized in the RH, but there’s also that Bb in the LH), the dirty chords punctuating the end of the Russian Dance, the ecstatic 7th chords at 9:13 (when the violins let the melody loose), the tritone-ized folk tune at 9:50 - all great stuff.

[@AshishXiangyiKumar]

Won Kim 00:00 - Danse Russe (Russian Dance) 02:44 - Chez Pétrouchka (Petrushka's Room) 07:34 - La semaine grasse (The Shrovetide Fair) Ullman 16:18 - Danse Russe (Russian Dance) 18:58 - Chez Pétrouchka (Petrushka's Room) 23:54 - La semaine grasse (The Shrovetide Fair) Won Kim has a brilliant, hard-edged approach to the work, with some beautifully crisp articulation and surefooted handing of some of the most diabolical contrapuntal passages (2:10, 10:34). Ullman has a more generous & impressionist approach, dwelling more on the narrative nature of certain passages (21:11), & magicking up some gorgeous soundscapes (see e.g., the luminous halo of sound at 23:54).

[@DariusMo]

Thanks as always!

[@m.l.pianist2370]

How many hours a day do you listen to piano music, looking for these great performances?

[@nezkeys79]

Ullman seems to play louder. Both good ofc but i think i prefer Kim

[@user-vg5sr9jj9n]

ㅁ마 ㅁ

[@bmois9578]

OMG Won Kim's articulation....

[@moosicisthegood]

0:08 this gliss will never get old

[@tchaffman]

0:07 I realized at the glissando how unique it is to hear the sound of the hands in the background moving around the piano in recordings

[@legendoflegends9744]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LPhJxngc1-sNU STRAVINSKY 🤘🤘🤘

[@na-kun2136]

0:21 chords create such strange and impossibly good harmony

[@notmytempo464]

2:10 Unbelievable brilliance and clarity of counterpoint. You look up a limitless open night sky, the cosmos is on display shooting stars flash and dash across your vision.

[@radudeATL]

To be able to play this music with this degree of precision and accuracy is mind-blowing.

[@lucasamory7056]

What a way to return! We've all missed you immensely Ashish!

[@dmitriykashitsyn3383]

Could not agree more. Honestly, I'd be happy to support this channel on Patreon. Such a detailed and yet concise analysis (at the same time!) is truly unique. Not to mention author's exceptional taste and erudition.

[@pantoleonantonio9653]

@@dmitriykashitsyn3383 i completely agree

[@amirron1337]

inthane

[@yuvalavital2357]

3 staves flex

[@alejandrom.4680]

He can't just use some extra lines, no, he needs 3 freacking staves

[@rag2458]

4 stave flex at 14:16 lmao

[@scriabinismydog2439]

Lol check Sorabji's Organ Symphony

[@alejandrom.4680]

@@scriabinismydog2439 We are talking about playable thing sbskahsjsh

[@scriabinismydog2439]

@@paeffill9428 yup I knew about Sorabji... That piece by Xenakis is for only one instrument?

[@chloeprice4166]

imagine being able to sight-read this

[@mojeo522]

Not even Liszt could

[@escopiliatese3623]

Möjë Öøœ yes he could. In fact many well-trained pianists could sight read this quite easily. Sight-reading does not mean getting every not correctly, but keeping some form of tempo while not losing the essence of the score’s sound.

[@preblalar8798]

@Charlemagne I think you mix up two different stories here. Liszt sight read both the concerto and Griegs violin sonata where he played both the piano and the violin part. On Griegs first visit in Rome(1870) he Liszt sight read the sonata. Here is Griegs account of what happened: "Now you must bear in mind, in the first place, that he had never seen nor heard the sonata, and in the second place that it was a sonata with a violin part, now above, now below, independent of the piano part. And what does Liszt do? He plays the whole thing, root and branch, violin and piano, nay, more, for he played fuller, more broadly. The violin got its due right in the middle of the piano part. He was literally over the whole piano at once, without missing a note, and how he did play! With grandeur, beauty, genius, unique comprehension. I think I laughed - laughed like an idiot." On the second visit Liszt sight read the concerto. Here is from wikipedia which cites Harald Herresthal: "On his second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the manuscript of his Piano Concerto, which Liszt proceeded to sightread (including the orchestral arrangement). Liszt's rendition greatly impressed his audience, although Grieg gently pointed out to him that he played the first movement too quickly." There are many anecdotes of Liszt remarkable sight-reading ability, one of them is that he sight-read Adolf Henselth concerto op.16 at a rehersal in Leipzig from the manuscript. An absolutely ridiculous feat! And he could read full orchestral scores as well, which he is said to have done with the manuscript of Tristan and Isolde. Here is an account from Otis Bardwell Boise who visited Liszt in Weimar in 1876 (from Schoenberg 1963): "He (Liszt) glanced at the instrumental scheme, turned the successive pages to the end, tracing my themes and procedures, and then with this flash negative in his mind, began the most astoundingly coherent rendering of an orchestral score that I had heard and such as I never since heard from another musician. Those who have attempted such tasks know that the ten fingers being inadequate to the performance of all the details, it is necessary to cull such essentials from the mass of voices as well as clear the line of development. Liszt did this simultaneously. No features of the workmanship, contrapuntal or instrumental , escaped his notice and he made running comments without interrupting his progress."

[@bakubaku4333]

Organists read stuff like this all the time

[@tchaffman]

@@mojeo522 LOL Liszt was a few decades gone by this time... But he'd probably be able to fake his way through Petrushka just fine.

[@nemo89740]

Even in this piano version, Stravinsky's massive dynamic bombs can still be observed. This man was a wild genius.

[@sirchoppy1810]

fuck yea

[@johnchessant3012]

1:15 Rite of Spring! 5:30 Milhaud's Scaramouche! 8:16 Enescu's Suite No. 2! 8:42 Stravinsky's Symphony No. 1! 13:07 Poulenc Sonata for Four Hands! 15:12 Rite of Spring!

[@alexandercanright2318]

6:53 Firebird!

[@dukeofcurls3183]

Petrushka contains lots of foreshadowing to the Rite of Spring, I can point to at least five passages in the entire ballet that strike me as strongly resembling and being borderline identical to passages in the Rite

[@benharmonics]

“Good composers borrow, great composers steal.” -Igor Stravinsky

[@cinemagraphymahivara2000]

His 1 symphony was mad on Wagner and Tchaikovsky (and Cui operas), and this is rus folk song Vdol po piterskoi

[@CameronGuarino]

This channel should be the entire website

[@fredericchopin6445]

Cameron Guarino lol it took me a while to understand lmao

[@adanmartinezpiano]

I have heard this before but never looked at the sheet music. Looks intimidating as hell!! Edit: A letter

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

It is 😂

[@adanmartinezpiano]

@Hose2wAcKiEr I know! Really easy to make it sound really bad.

[@javascriptkiddie2718]

It looks like something from Alkan

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

@@javascriptkiddie2718 Only something like the Solo Piano Concerto, Comme le Vent, or Le Preux can beat this suite.

[@lucaslorentz]

@@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji comme le vent does not match petrushka

[@Sam-zj6mw]

There is a minute or so in here, 11:14 - 12:15 which is staggering. The clarity. The glory.

[@tarikeld11]

4:00 and 4:24 very lovely and unique!

[@dedede5586]

they performed russian dance with a level of precision i didnt even think was possible, amazing

[@hunterj.9753]

1:01 and 3:59 are pure bliss

[@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivy]

I have a book with this in it. I first saw it when I was about 13 and I was struck by feelings of amazement and abject horror when seeing something like this. Thanks for the upload!

[@lygazvbx]

Won Kim’s performance at 12:31 is just amazing

[@stacia6678]

Reminds me of Bartok

[@FlorianBriegel]

Mesmerising performance by Won Kim. Suits Stravinsky‘s writing for piano imo. I enjoyed it very much.

[@footlessgums1276]

My my, such clarity! Won Kim really does a splendid job here. I feel every slight, wooden nuance of Petrushka's movements here. Oh what a tragic story though. The sorrow unrequited love can bring

[@LISZT-]

Amazing composition, and the performers are also amazing!!! 😊😊❤

[@AgnesRonan]

So glad to see another video from Ashish! I really think this channel helps expose new people to classical music. Without this channel I might never have discovered so many pieces I now love dearly.

[@XavierMacX]

Two great interpretations of one of the most difficult solo pieces in the rep. Having practiced (but never performed) most of this, Won Kim's clarity and voicing is kind of unreal. This is especially true if you understand the mental and physical implications of what you're seeing. And no... most of the difficulty doesn't come from all the black on the page or the three (sometimes four) staves, although it definitely adds to it. I'd put this up here with Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit and Barber's Sonata as some of the most difficult solo music to pull off well. None of those are even in the top ten most difficult piano pieces, but probably at least top twenty/thirty.

[@XavierMacX]

@@andrecastro2609 Agreed. Except I'd actually put Liszt's works below these (in terms of difficulty.. he's one of my favorite composers) except for the fireworks etude and solo Totentanz. The B minor sonata would be included for musical difficulty if not technical, perhaps. Liszt usually fits very well under the hands, and I find him to be much easier than most Brahms even (when it's not a major 12th or something he's asking for lol). Hammerklavier, Goldberg, Art of the Fugue, Rzewski's The People United..., Opus Clavecembalisticum, some of Alkan's works... those are the real top tier monsters [talking standard rep; of course there's a bunch of difficult modern music, but unfortunately a lot of it doesn't have the great payoffs of the masterworks]. And that's just for solo piano. Getting into chamber/orchestral works we have Prokofiev's 2nd concerto, the Ravel trio, Bartok's 2nd concerto, Rach 3, etc...

[@XavierMacX]

@@andrecastro2609 For sure! It's also a stretch to call Sorabji standard rep, haha. So you're right about that one. I love the Reminiscences... very underplayed and underrated.

[@jonathanm.9801]

XavierMacX alkan le preux

[@lucasamory7056]

As someone who has played Reminiscences di Norma, I don't believe it's even close in difficulty to many of the things listed here. Don Juan is much more difficult alone, but the counterpoint, voicing, and clarity that is needed in Petrushka is insane.

[@lisztomani4c]

XavierMacX I agree. Liszt has certain comparable works, but most of them are either not so incentive early virtuosity works (S. 140/La Clochette Fantasy/Spanish Fantasy) or their difficulty comes from the more musical perspective adorned with wider technical capabilities [The Legends/Sonatas (specifically, Dante and B minor sonatas)/ Années de Pèlerinage] and some remarkable fusions of both (as named, Totentanz for solo piano, El Contrabandista, most of his mephistophelic works) and of course, his symphony transcriptions (Berlioz & Beethoven). Still, a lot of his fans skip the fact that it is truly painful to perform 20th century music as certain boundaries of piano playing was eventually surpassed with the modern pianism. I can name numerous more difficult works from Godowsky, Prokofieff, Busoni, Ligeti, Ravel; modern works with generous instances of polytonality or atonality..

[@josephalvarez5315]

A new Ashish video, and it's petroushka! Couldn't be happier

[@adrianomeis184]

I’ve loved this music since always, every single note, every single melody, rhythm and different sounds. But the final remains for me something mysterious. Perhaps I wanted that that the last dance could not have an end

[@sanjoychakraborty8638]

4:43 This sounds so modern!!!

[@vmdp8790]

Us jazz people love him

[@JafuetTheSame]

lady gaga modern?

[@bilkishchowdhury8318]

It's Russian aesthetic You see this kind of melody in Shosty too

[@fazergazer]

As always the challenge is to being out the central themes against a daunting and dense background of technical filigree. Syncopated minimalism. Each pianist accomplishes all this with sensitivity and requisite bravado. Technical capacity to spare. Musical clarity and precision. Each is masterful and memorable performance setting the bar high for any mere mortals who would take on this stupendous challenge!

[@nokhimchan7966]

Here I find why Agosti wrote his Firebird 3 movements so hard.... Stravinsky himself is making it much harder!

[@aramkhachaturian8043]

So many beautiful colors that Stravinsky can make you see

[@eustachiusvonackertiban1958]

Heard the piece once life. I'll keep it in my memory for my lifetime because it was a great experience.

[@Prometeur]

Damn, this looks brutal. Polyrhythms, thirds, jumps, voicing, dynamics - yeesh

[@legendoflegends9744]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LPhJxngc1-sNU STRAVINSKY 🤘🤘🤘

[@roberacevedo8232]

*Thirds Thirds are already made of 2 notes. I don’t think it’s necessary to say double thirds, just thirds.

[@Prometeur]

@@roberacevedo8232 Very true. Edited

[@Prometeur]

@@roberacevedo8232 Actually, I'm not entirely sure, as I believe double thirds refer to thirds played by one hand

[@MathieuPrevot]

@@roberacevedo8232 There are actually double thirds overlapping alternated thirds, bottom of page 3 of Semaine grasse, so it's in a way quad thirds !

[@skycollar2836]

I'm smiling like a crazy person + crying.

[@sujithegde2456]

Another Ashish Xiangyi Kumar video, another beautiful day!

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

Sujit Hegde yes!

[@empireentertainmentevents1353]

Stravinsky... you were ahead of your time. A genius you are indeed with your incredible music.

[@mojeo522]

20:26 So delicate!

[@jurriepurrie]

Glad you're back!! Really miss the regular uploads

[@raulquezada3143]

Siempre fascinante el gran Stravinsky.

[@joshuaslater7858]

12:23 it sounds like a knock on wood and i don’t know why. That’s so cool. I don’t really want to listen to petrushka or firebird ballet now because these transcriptions are so good ( especially Agosti firebird). I’ll defo give them a listen though.

[@Wandelbart]

0:08, 13:54 and 32:42 are pure gliss.

[@BrianPaick]

He's back!

[@SpencerCha]

I've been looking for more interpretations of this piece for a while! Thanks for uploading!

[@benthrandish2706]

Immortal performance

[@ihms-ju5gm]

просто одно из самых ярких красивых ослепительных мажорных произведений!!!

[@Aminuteorso...]

9:12 is amazing

[@kr61ab67]

Amazing work and interpretation, thanks !

[@joelbarr5171]

4:43-5:07 is the best part ever

[@erezsolomon3838]

The fact that the auto-generated captions write "[laughter]" 👌

[@DerekWilliamsMusic]

Outstanding transcription and performance of this masterpiece.

[@PianoHypnoshroom]

crazy stravinsky transcription

[@neutral_puma845]

Amazing

[@florisende8015]

The legend is back! So happy about this, I watch your videos on a daily basis. Will you continue uploading?

[@thenameisgsarci]

Welcome back, bruh! :D

[@luizmelofilho]

SO FUCKING HAPPY TO SEE A NEW VIDEO FROM THIS MARVELLOUS CHANNEL

[@Wandelbart]

‚Too technical.‘ was my first impression. But I returned here after listening to three other interpretations because every note has a meaning in this interpretation.

[@MathieuPrevot]

What does this even mean 'too technical' ? The pianist the means or almost (not: no recording). Too much ?

[@bm4114]

@@MathieuPrevot too technical is something folks with average technique say about folks with exceptional technique.

[@harryrees627]

He lives! :)

[@clivegoodman16]

Once I attended a funeral of the mother of my cousin's boyfriend - she eventually married him. Someone took me home, and on the car radio, they were performing Petrouchka, however the driver and owner of the car thought it was the Rite of Spring.

[@user-pi6wo9ln9d]

やはりストラヴィンスキーは天才だ

[@bsharpmajorscale]

The staccato bits remind me of the Thunder Plains OST in Final Fantasy X.

[@a-trainstudios2360]

7:50 Whoever has three hands, please tell me.

[@classicalant3959]

The Won Kim recording is absolutely amazing. How he can play this absurdly difficult piece with so much clarity is inhuman. Where did you find the recording? I can find hardly anything about the pianist, and can't find the recording/CD online anywhere...

[@geoffstemen3652]

classicalant the answer is in the question - recording

[@natmichaels4698]

i know its been two years, but his name is actually do-hyun kim.

[@moosicisthegood]

@@natmichaels4698 does he have any other recordings on KZbin?

[@AldenHardaway]

@@natmichaels4698 omg that explains it, do-hyun is amazing

[@AldenHardaway]

@@moosicisthegood here's a great one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d36sfIOaq6mHepo

[@samifaheem1266]

That harmony is crunchy

[@allan-lk9sz]

26:43 is played exceptionally

[@flatmarssociety1169]

Question here, if you don't mind. Are you still thinking of doing the 'theme' based programmed video? - the one you posted for a vote on community.

[@athanasiusleong3815]

There's a community? I want in 😂

[@Depresstival]

12:21 onwards is the most joyous, beautiful thing I've ever heard

[@athanasiusleong3815]

Thanks for the introduction to modern pianists Ashish! How did you discover them?

[@Lillars]

Merci beaucoup !

[@aramkhachaturian8043]

Wished they turned that trumpet solo and the trio afterwords into a arrangement for piano

[@TomCheer9]

Aram - I thought you were dead! Good to hear from you. I couldn't agree more.

[@YIM203]

Delicious!!!!! Thankyou Ashish :)

[@DailyKosia]

Now I see where Bartok found his inspiration for its second concerto

[@komori_diary]

너무조아💕💕

[@aramkhachaturian8043]

This sounds like a burst of colors

[@sameester]

A question not really related to the music, but for you Ashish; why is it that you never feature Georgy Cziffra on this channel? Just wondering out of curiosity. Thanks!

[@AshishXiangyiKumar]

1. I try to feature modern pianists. 2. Except for some pieces that have a improvisatory nature, I find Cziffra's style kind of ugly -- too much distortion for not very much payoff. Given the right repertoire it can be pretty exciting, though.

[@sameester]

Interesting! And thanks for the reply. Cziffra can come across as brash at first, but really his playing is filled with emotion - usually happiness. After all, few pianists lived through so much, and I get the sense he didn't want to fill his music with the melancholy he'd lived through. I wonder if you're aware of his recordings of Chopin's Berecuse - his 'effortless' technique really gives a gentleness to the runs in a way almost no other pianist can, and which greatly suits the piece. As for his recording of the Grieg concerto... well, I think it is unmatched.

[@user-ru8vy1uz7c]

Bravo bravo bravo bravo brilliance genial fantastic music

[@gky7170]

it proves that a great composer NEEDS a great interpreter

[@LightSearch]

I just went to the piano and I was surprised that I could learn to play the first screen until the glissando quite easily. I still gave up immediately after I tried the first notes of the 2nd screen.

[@misslemon6032]

wow

[@leonardbernstein2285]

I would love to see some more Stravinsky on the channel (ec the piano arrangements of the Song of the Nightingale or the Historie du Soldat Suite), even though the writing in pieces like the piano/wind concerto can be a bit stiff and dry.

[@benharmonics]

0:21 0:44 10:43 11:30 12:14 12:31

[@elmiramuradova561]

Wow ,so expressive! Looking to the sheet I can to lost my head))))

[@MrInterestingthings]

Stravinsky found the new way ! Schonberg had to be a little jealous that vinsky used so many old techniques made them new and made them comprehensible using folk music . Hindemith did the same but with his own genius . Schonberg doesn't get the popular vote , Hindemith goes in all the textbooks and Vinsky gets played everywhere while we give Schon , Berg and Webern good lip service . Berg Sonata and violin concerto and Altenberg lieder do get played as much as Firebird !

[@handledav]

stra vin sky

[@abc-dp3fo]

¡Hermoso!

[@polina_grishanova_creation]

Вам «La semaine grasse» не навевает мысль о том, что Стравинский в этом произведении процитировал народную песню «Вдоль по Питерской»?

[@ogre6666]

Там не только она.

[@erimakwns9215]

のだめが弾いてたやつ！

[@TATANKA-nf4ck]

途中で「きょうの料理」になっちゃった奴。

[@klop4228]

The melody Stravinsky (eventually) uses in the section starting at 12:30 was also used by Taneyev for the finale of his first symphony. I'm only mentioning this cos I find it interesting, though - Stravinsky did a great job with the melody here, whereas Taneyev, well, did not do a great job with it. As good as Taneyev's third and fourth symphonies are (especially the 4th), the first is clearly an early work where the composer didn't really know what he was doing entirely. Still, it's interesting to see the same folk song show up in multiple pieces.

[@tehPuulz]

Is the Won Kim recording from the 2009 album alongside Gaspard and Rach's op39 for sony classical (also is it the same Won Kim? There is another pinanist named Chae Won Kim)? If so how did you get it? I can't seem to find where to purchase it, as well as any information on this Won Kim guy. It would be much appreciated! It's so weird that any online trace of this pianist is the recording in this video. Thank you for all the amazing discoveries by the way!

[@FirstGentleman1]

There is a trend going on among young masters (Trifonov, Giltburg) to play the second part like the slow movement of a sonata. I am not sure about that.

[@ChrisHauser1]

i like it

[@MathieuPrevot]

Imagine playing it half a tone above.

[@fredericchopin6445]

oh i got wut u mean

[@viren4053]

Guys, you should also checkout yuja's interpretation on the russian dance mvt 1

[@MichaelAnthrak]

Everybody gangster until there's four lines

[@debrucey]

Where did you find this Won Kim recording? Is it on a CD? I want to buy it

[@kacemchawqi5787]

16:58 3 staves..........M.D.R.

[@dragonyt7348]

The hardest part 0:00-32:48

[@pauljackson1029]

These were written for Artur Rubenstein, did he ever play/record them? I just saw he did!

[@mark-eq5bq]

バレエの曲！

[@TheSunshinedreamer1]

Please, what Grade level is this and what are the prerequisites to prepare for it?

[@pierrefontenelle9271]

I think it's safe to say that you should only attempt this piece seriously if you are at a real professional level. Very few pieces are as unforgivingly difficult.

[@daniloberaldo570]

This is a very hard music! You need get a very advanced level to learn it. This music is in a virtuose level! Is very beautiful, but requires so much from the musician.

[@SpaghettiToaster]

Probably one of the most difficult things to learn in the standard repertoire, especially if you don't have a lot of experience with Bartok, Prokofiev, Ligeti or other music using similar techniques. For reference, it's not even listed in the RCM's list of repertoire for levels up to the associate degree (ARCT), which already goes beyond the standard ABRSM grades, and is instead listed as a repertoire choice for the licensiate degree (LRCM) exam, along with the Liszt Sonata, Gaspard, Liszt and Rachmaninoff etudes etc.

[@pjimenez08]

Grade 999 ABRSM.

[@TheSunshinedreamer1]

@@SpaghettiToaster Hi, Thank you so very much for your prompt, informative and very helpful reply. May I please ask you, which Virtuoso text can be used from Early Advanced level to develop into advanced level? Best

[@michaelrogers5495]

You should put the famous DG Pollini recording!

[@legendoflegends9744]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LPhJxngc1-sNU STRAVINSKY 🤘🤘🤘

[@alexanderkopitz3286]

I just recorded this piece for an international competition a few months back! Never again.......this piece is beyond cruel. EDIT: The recordings are on my channel if anyone is interested.