St. Mary’s College of Maryland Musician in Residence Brian Ganz resumes his popular PianoTalk series, now in a virtual format. In his PianoTalks, Brian takes music-lovers behind the scenes with great works of music and then performs them. His discussions shed light on subtle aspects of musicianship and piano technique “between the lines” of great musical masterpieces, revealing the ingenuity of the composer and the artistry of the interpreter.
In PianoTalk No. 1, he discusses and performs Chopin's beloved Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3, explaining the technical challenge of “voicing,” or bringing out melodic lines and subduing accompanying voices.
In PianoTalk No. 2 he begins a series of explorations of what he calls “Chopin’s Creative Laboratory: Mining the Mazurkas for Experiments in Sound.” He examines and performs Mazurka in A-flat major, Op. 41, No. 3, which features an experiment in four-part harmony and a hauntingly incomplete final phrase.
Both PianoTalk videos can be found on the Music department webpage.
