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Lesson time: (6min 15sec)
Julia Zilberquit breaks down the tricky middle section of Tchaikovsky's April: Snowdrop, with fingering and practice tips for its repeated sixteenth-note passages.
This lesson is part of the course Perform Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" - March, April, June, October
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Now, the middle section ? the famous middle section ? poses a bit of a technical challenge with its well-known passages.
The good news is that Tchaikovsky repeats the two bars over and over again, specifically eight times. Once you learn that one passage, you're set!
I personally prefer the fingers from that addition and always play them as follows:
How to practice this challenging section? Here are some tips:
Practice Staccato:
Start quite slow, then gradually speed it up.
Accents:
For practice, it's okay to accent it, but during performance, it's preferable not to. Think of it as a wind ? it's better to avoid strong accents.
Old Practice Method:
Using stops (every other or every four notes) can also be effective here.
Now, let's address the tricky left hand jumps:
The left hand requires careful finger placement:
Always ensure that the fifth finger is on a D.
Chord Practice:
Usually, you'd do four notes, either on the last chord.
Practice Steps:
To further aid in mastering this section:
Play just the lower notes:
e.g., 4, 5, 4, 5, 4 or 4, 5, 4, 5.
Incorporate stops and reverse the order to solidify positions.
Once you've learned it, pay attention to the piano start.
Here's a Slow Tempo Example:
A Little Secret:
Once you've mastered that, you'll continue into the second movement.
Dynamics:
Pay attention to mezzo forte sections which are more dramatic and require more sound.
Key Transitions:
You will experience a different color as we move into another key.
Make a note of your endings:
This distinction is important for the echo effect in music.
Before repeating, Tchaikovsky wants us to adapt and read the notes carefully. The second time around brings a transition to a different key, incorporating question-and-answer phrasing.
Remember, this reflects Tchaikovsky's original writing style in measure 59, which is the same text as measure 1. We've come full circle!
Russian-born American pianist Julia Zilberquit has earned critical acclaim as a recitalist, chamber musician and recording artist. She was praised by The New York Times as "an outstanding soloist" after her Carnegie Hall performance of Cesar Franck's symphonic poem Les Djinns for piano and orchestra with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, Warner Classics released her CD Bach: Complete Solo Keyboard Concertos. This recording features the premiere of two Bach-Vivaldi Concerti Grossi arranged by Ms. Zilberquit for piano and orchestra, and was hailed as a "gorgeous rendition" by the prestigious Gramophone Magazine. Her arrangement of the Shostakovich Concertino for 2 Pianos, Op. 94 for piano and orchestra was premiered at Carnegie Hall; she has performed it worldwide to critical acclaim and recorded it with Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi. Other recordings include a solo recording, The Mystery of Bagatelles, released by Naxos. The CD was praised as a "superb performance" by The Washington Post, and described as an "adventurous program, sparkling with unusual clarity and pointillistic luminescence" in London's Piano Magazine. Her recitals have taken place at major concert halls including New York's Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Engagements at major international music festivals include appearances in Seattle, Colmar (France), Klangbogen (Vienna), Valery Gergiev's "White Nights" (St. Petersburg), Richter's "December Nights" (Moscow), "The Palaces of St. Petersburg," the Bard Music Festival in New York, and the Penderecki Festival (Poland). A native of Moscow, Julia Zilberquit was born into a family of musicians. She graduated from the Moscow Gnessin School of Music and The Juilliard School (class of Bella Davidovich). She lives in New York City with her husband, son and daughter. In this course she draws on that artistry to guide you through four movements of Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" - March, April, June and October - so you can shape their poetry and colour at the keyboard yourself. read more
