W.A.Mozart :: Sonata in B flat Major, KV 333 :: Wim Winters, clavichord

[@noblekime319]

Wim--I love how you make these tempos work. You have given the world a new (old?) way to think about playing Mozart. So often when listening to performances of Mozart I've thought, "could Mozart possibly want it to sound like that-so rushed and cold?" I don't have that feeling listening to you. Your tempos are not so much slower, but enough for us to hear and appreciate what is happening in the music (in fact most of your second mvt is quicker than all those performances where the pianists seem to read "andante" as "adagio"). Thanks for so many, many videos!

[@kefaad]

Love this sonata since my childhood, exquisite performance as always too!

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Alexander

[@gianlucabersanetti6454]

What a wonderful performance, Wim!

[@momoalnajjar]

My favorite performance of my favorite Mozart sonata

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read Momo!

[@georgmohr3924]

I know it's a rather old recording. But still it is pure magic. Like you invented a time machine.

[@zioscozio]

This was so enjoyable! And the conversations happening in the comment always add to my understanding and enjoyment.

[@AuthenticSound]

+scozio thank you very much for letting me know!

[@JanWeinhold001]

Wim, a very warm bass range, I like Joris' instrument from your two recordings a lot and look strongly forward to play it soon. best Jan

[@AuthenticSound]

It is a beautiful instrument, same family as mine, but indeed with own characteristics. You'll get soon a change to play on it!

[@migueldelillo3400]

To say this recording is remarkable would be reductive. The instrument sounds closer to an early XIX century Pleyel piano than to many German XVIII century fortepianos!

[@paolofaeti3509]

Delightful ! Bravissimo...

[@AuthenticSound]

+Paolo Faeti Thank you very much for letting me know you liked it! Always nice to read reactions. best wishes, Wim

[@ElReyDelCringe]

Do you fell the bass in the first movement is like a stubborn child who want to play in his own way, never tuning on with the personality of the movement? Thanks for your wonderful work.

[@norwegian24]

Do you have a video where you explain your interpretation of this sonata? :-)

[@rogerjamesmusic]

Boy, I’d hate to listen to this in single beat now.

[@stdaggett]

I'm wondering about the grace notes in Chopin's Heroic Polonaise, right hand, in first statement of theme and it's reiteratiions. Grace note-8th-16th-16th. Should we play it as four 16th notes? I played around with it and it's very interesting and fresh. Would get crucified for it after the first crucifixion for playing it so "slow"... haha

[@YANAGITAtokinori]

This piano sonata hears like fitting to clavichod. The sound is very nice and It's available to play this sonata with wide and deep expression.

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Tokinori, I'm reading all of your comments, but you're going too fast to answer them all! Thanks for tuning in! Wim

[@Ekvitarius]

Mozart is known to have composed at the clavichord.

[@YANAGITAtokinori]

Thanks !

[@AuthenticSound]

yes, and more than that, he was a great clavichord player, related to the instruments of Friederici, due to his father's position as a seller of their instruments. A lot needs to be rectified regarding the historical use of the clavichord !

[@YANAGITAtokinori]

Thank you for more explanation ! I like your playing of this movie.

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

Excellent, I was curious as to how you would handle the cadenza like passage in the 3rd movement. It sounds so much more natural on the clavichord than on the Steinway I played it on a few years ago. I think that Mozart benefits more than most composers "classical period" composers from using period instruments, it sounds do much richer. You really understand why he was called a "romantic composer" during his lifetime.

[@AuthenticSound]

+Anthony McCarthy Thank you so much for letting me know! It energizes... best wishes from Belgium Wim

[@pekeninu]

Is there any reason you hold the first note of the left hand alberti bass on the 3rd movt? Not criticizing, just wondering...

[@AuthenticSound]

It was a common practice to hold notes longer than written. Interesting source is Beethoven's score of the Cramer etudes, you'll find videos on my channel on these etudes, live sessions. Hope this helps!

[@pekeninu]

@@AuthenticSound Thanks, I think i'lll investigate it further :) I asked because some pianists play all of the left hand non legato, even the Alberti! With no room for note holding. It has a clear acoustic difference, but then again... it's usualy on modern pianos

[@fuhrerlandon]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is your clavichord tuned to be a half or whole step higher? I'm listening to the pitches and compared to playing it on the piano, your instrument seems sharp

[@AuthenticSound]

there is no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid answers :-)! You are right, the clavichord is tuned at a'=408

[@fuhrerlandon]

AuthenticSound thanks for the reply! I didn’t think you’d see my comment on such an old video!! I am a pianist for 15yrs, currently about to transition from community college to study piano performance at a university. I found your Chopin Scherzo 3 recording a few days ago, and after hearing how beautifully one could make it sound by simply slowing down I’ve been inspired to look at all my repertoire from a different perspective! And today I found your recording of Bach’s Chaconne, and I’m already anxious to sightread it tomorrow morning. Absolutely love your your attention to the tiniest detail and the usage of micro expressions, keep up the amazing work!

[@fuhrerlandon]

AuthenticSound PS, any particular reason your clavichord is tuned to 408 instead of 440/443? Is it tuned to 408 for historical accuracy?

[@AuthenticSound]

Great to read how you've landed on my channel! I'm working on a playlist focusing on basic introduction to tempo research which I guess could be helpful to many. If you post a comment under a video, it pops up in my comment section at the backend of youtube. Replies to comments gets lost easier. Though 408 is a known pitch, there are many many more historically seen. Bascially every region had its own pitch, ranging from 492-465! A clavichord had a particular place, it's pitch is determined by the construction and string scaling, the range of mine is from ca 392-415, but at the lowest end it will sound a bit energyless, at the highest a bit too iron.

[@fuhrerlandon]

AuthenticSound I see, thanks for elaborating! I find the history of tuning and tempo absolutely fascinating. Looking forward to your new playlist!

[@back2backband1]

Well done sir & Superb playing, You're re my fav Clavichord performer on you tube. I would love to hear K332 and maybe if you get a partner you can record Mozart piano sonata K.521 four hands

[@AuthenticSound]

I'll add it to my list!

[@AuthenticSound]

I skipped reading the KV332, it's recently uploaded you'll find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWfRhIWKmcuZgM0

[@antonpodolny6487]

Wonderful performance. It's fascinating to hear such a different sound after years of listening to this piece coming from modern pianists. I was wondering, is it supposed to be slightly out of tune? I'm not an expert, but is it some kind of different temperament perhaps?

[@AuthenticSound]

here I still might have used a more tempered tuning jndeed!

[@jackhousman6637]

Hello, Wim/ Looks like you used the very top note on your instrument. Is that as high as Mozart wrote for keyboard?

[@AuthenticSound]

Hi Jack, yes Mozart wrote for 5 octave instruments FF-f''''

[@cperocks2319]

The Deutsches Museum in München has a few clavichords on display, and they demonstrate one (by Christian Gottlob Hubert, Ansbach 1782) which has a *very* quiet sound, close to the auditory threshold. I don't know whether this is badly constructed or just has suffered over the years, but in its present state it can easily give clavichords a bad name, and it certainly gives a very different impression from yours! (Of course I don't know how much of what we hear here is due to microphones and amplifier, but you also give live concerts, don't you.) That instrument has very thin wires, by the way, almost hairlike in the treble, I'd like to add in view of Gerard van Reenen's very interesting comments. I thought all clavichords were like this before I came across your website! PS. Lovely performance of the Mozart sonata!

[@AuthenticSound]

+cperocks Thank you, I'm glad you liked this performance! Much needs to be researched I guess. Hubert is an incredible builder, his instruments are top, maybe not made with the intention of making a really loud instrument, his key lever is, as I understand, rather slow. But the question of the strings is important. Many instruments, also historical ones after restoration, got strings -as I've been told- that are too thin, just to get this kind of sound of which many today think that it is an original clavichord sound, but of which I -without being a specialist, very far from, pure on intuition- think that that might not be too historically correct. It would have been the only instrument that people in the past intentionally wanted to sound very soft, almost on the edge of inaudibility. Instruments with only that capacity can - again, in my opinion, not raise emotions and interests in a so wide scale as they did in the 18th century. To me, as a player, these very soft sounding instruments with very limited dynamic range, are in fact... boring...! And it is hard to believe that that would have been the standard back then. Again, to me... no problem with Gerard's point, who thinks differently about that. These differences make life interesting.

[@cperocks2319]

+AuthenticSound "It would have been the only instrument that people in the past intentionally wanted to sound very soft, almost on the edge of inaudibility." I find this argument very convincing. The very soft and flat sounding clavichords do not really fit with the enthusiastic descriptions e.g. of CPE Bach (and his very expressive music), and the later preference for these may have contributed to the clavichord being mostly forgotten in music history and 18th century keyboard music being played either on harpsichord or some form of piano. Perhaps we are having this discussion accompanying this particular recording because the sound is indeed a bit sharp (in the sense of cutting) in the final movement, not as rounded and blended as in your other recordings. Is this due to the more frequent ff and sfz in the music, or did you use different settings for microphones and/or equaliser this time?

[@AuthenticSound]

+cperocks I experiment often with new microphone settings. As for these recordings, no equaliser is used, here, in stead of cardioid I used hypercard with some more distance from the instrument (+/- 1 meter) . Sound judgement is very difficult for clavichord recordings. Two factors influence the listening experience: the DA converter and the compression. The latter, is KZbin's algortitme, nothing to do about that, and no surprise that the sound is not on par with the RAW-file, especially it get's a bit more 'metal' sound in stead of 'wood'. The same for the converter. It amazes me how bad some of my recordings sound in my car... as if all was recorded in a complete metal can. All to say that I don't have the impression that the trebles of the last part are too sharp, certainly not when played here at the large speakers. But it is FF and I play on the edge of the clavichord.

[@fardlerry6921]

You're great, BRAVO( I'm italian) You can try to compose something? Similar to mozart's period. Thanks

[@AuthenticSound]

thanks for listening! composing... that's not somethign for me

[@fardlerry6921]

@@AuthenticSoundok I got it👌what a pity😢, If I could ask you something else it would be, if you could finish the Mozart Sonatas, because I don't find n 14 do minor and 17 si b major. (I also asked you under your last video) P. S. I like how you sound, and I also like the sound of the instrument. Thanks for the response, bye...

[@ChopinIsMyBestFriend]

I just don’t know how I feel about those appoggiaturas in the first measures. i’ve been dealing with mozart’s appoggiaturas for awhile and after watching the afterthoughts on this piece. I can’t come to any sort of conclusion haha

[@ChopinIsMyBestFriend]

also the piece was played incredibly well!

[@AuthenticSound]

At that time I still played to the current believe those were short, today i think that position is hard to hold www.authenticsound.org/mozarts-ornamentation-system/

[@ChopinIsMyBestFriend]

AuthenticSound interesting, I’ll see what’s new 👍🏼

[@bach-ingmad9772]

Lovely expressive rendition of a beautiful sonata. The comments you make about JSB and the clavichord are open to much speculation. Exactly what instrument did Bach have in mind? We don't rightly know. Exactly what temperament did he have in mind? We don't know, but we do know that nobody could tune an instrument to his satisfaction! Exactly what expression did he put into the music? Again we don't know. The best we can do for authentic sound is to play on the type of instrument that would have been available at the time and use a pitch and temperament that would have more than likely been considered acceptable. This you do admirably in my opinion and the result is obviously much nearer to what the composer envisaged than the majority of modern day musicians produce.

[@AuthenticSound]

+Bach-ing mad that is very true. As mentioned in the reply to Gerard, these are questions, to a degree almost rhetorical. But questions I need to formulate and think of I think.

[@FrancescaGaetamed]

Third mov is delicious !

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks Francesca ! best wishes, Wim

[@allphone7485]

Great soundpossibilities. Thank you for playing the appoggiatures as written by Mozart. However, in my opinion they should be done here a little bit longer, more melodic, less figured. There are (rare) statements about this by Leopold Mozart and his son himself. And, for still more genuine Mozart, perhaps some own improvised variations in the Rondorepetitiones. But nevertheless, I'm very happy with your recordings! Thank you for your courage, daring new steps on old ways.

[@AuthenticSound]

Thank you, glad you liked this. It is a huge issue how to play the appogiaturas... one has to choose to play them either short or long, for the short version (as often is done in the HIP performances) there is not too much evidence, although it works remarkably well, for the long version, as also is printed in early 19th c editions, there is plenty of evidence, especially with L. Mozart. And, to make thins more complicated, apart from C.P.E.Bach, who clearly indicates a spot where to make those app. short, one should play the short ones on the beat (see Turk), which is almost impossible. So, a lot of mysteries, just to say, that it is not at all clear how Mozart intended to have this played, it is one of the real mysteries. Just to say that I am aware of the problematics, but do not know "the" answers.

[@allphone7485]

Thanks for your straight and honest answering . I guess, the best idea about appogiatures can only tell us the particular music itself. In this Sonate (KV 333) suspensions and syncopes almost seem to be significant for the first movement. Therefore, why not taking here all the appr. similary as syncopated suspensions, even first of all(!) in the very first sixteens (Perhaps it was still unusual at Mozarts time to notate such in this way.) Maybe sometimes the contrary of a devil is covered in a Detail!? And, again, why not the courage, to improvise variations in the rondorepetitiones? There are so obvious indicationes, that it was naturally for Mozart.

[@fizerethan]

ouch! 1:50

[@AuthenticSound]

Thanks for listening Erick ! I feared at 1,50 there would have been an ugly mistake, but luckily there wasn't...

[@fizerethan]

First of all, I apologize for my translator's English and for the rude way in which I express myself. I just wanted to express that the interval of the left hand sounded a little dissonant, I thought it was because the instrument was perhaps badly tempered or used it used a temperament of the time. Now I have analyzed it better and I see that it is a characteristic of the passage, perhaps rather in a temperament of that then sounded correct and not dissonant, or perhaps mozart was a rebel haha. Greetings and sorry for worrying you.

[@manuelschiopu4856]

Right, the interval sounded a bit dissonant

[@divisix024]

This is pretty much in the same tempo as I learned it.

[@susankinney5193]

😁

[@lunairepierrot5420]

Lol the highest key of this keyboard is f

[@AuthenticSound]

yes, it was for long time the largest compass, untill ca 1800