10 Sep 13
Originally posted by sonhousePretty amazing! There are numerous prodigies such as this wonderful child. Too soon to compare to Mozart until he also plays violin and composes a symphony at six. Mozart had such perfect pitch that out of tune instruments would make him cry as an infant!
From Florida, memorizes an entire sonata in one afternoon! I think he is up to 13 pieces so far, doesn't need the paper to play!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2414971/Baby-Beethoven-Jacob-Velasquez-5-child-piano-playing-prodigy.html
10 Sep 13
Originally posted by scacchipazzoYeah, maybe a bit of a stretch comparing him to Mo! He is certainly a prodigy though. Did you get the bit where he is experimenting with alternate fingering to accommodate his tiny fingers? And that on his own.
Pretty amazing! There are numerous prodigies such as this wonderful child. Too soon to compare to Mozart until he also plays violin and composes a symphony at six. Mozart had such perfect pitch that out of tune instruments would make him cry as an infant!
10 Sep 13
Originally posted by sonhouseNo doubt he's amazing, despite his young age. There are many child prodigies out there, but none of them come close to the great Mo! Or the great quasi-child prodigy, Ludwig van, or Felix Mendelssohn. Our very own Edward McDowell was no slouch as a child.
Yeah, maybe a bit of a stretch comparing him to Mo! He is certainly a prodigy though. Did you get the bit where he is experimenting with alternate fingering to accommodate his tiny fingers? And that on his own.
11 Sep 13
Originally posted by scacchipazzoJust out of curiosity, how old were you when you started getting serious about piano and how old were you before you had a dozen pieces like that committed to memory?
No doubt he's amazing, despite his young age. There are many child prodigies out there, but none of them come close to the great Mo! Or the great quasi-child prodigy, Ludwig van, or Felix Mendelssohn. Our very own Edward McDowell was no slouch as a child.
11 Sep 13
Originally posted by sonhouseI am a music lover, not a musician, although I do play drums credibly. I am nor knocking this child prodigy, merely placing him in context lest we get a wee bit ahead of ourselves in pronouncing him the next Mozart/Beethoven, Mendelssohn. That's all.
Just out of curiosity, how old were you when you started getting serious about piano and how old were you before you had a dozen pieces like that committed to memory?
11 Sep 13
Originally posted by scacchipazzoAh, I thought you were a pro classical pianist.
I am a music lover, not a musician, although I do play drums credibly. I am nor knocking this child prodigy, merely placing him in context lest we get a wee bit ahead of ourselves in pronouncing him the next Mozart/Beethoven, Mendelssohn. That's all.
13 Sep 13
Originally posted by Pianoman1Indeed Saint-Saens was a child prodigy. Can you imagine Saint-Saens being unable to win the Prixe de Rome even as an established composer?
Many musical geniuses in history. Just think of Camille Saint-Saëns who performed a Mozart concerto when he was just 13, but then, as an encore, offered to play any of the 32 Beethoven sonatas from memory!
14 Sep 13
1 edit
Originally posted by Pianoman1Point I'm trying to make is that even a composer of Saint-Saens stature was not always deemed as worthy by his peers, but he himself was no slouch in dishing it out, considering Debussy, a Pris de Rome winner a degenerate of composition. Other august winners: Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, D'Indy, Charpentier, Gounod, Ambroise Thomas, Massenet. Perhaps none of these are better or worse than Saint-Saens, but I have heard the compositions they won for and were not better than Saint-Saens'. Of course of these composers only Berlioz and Debussy had a huge influence on music. Here's Debussy's winning piece: . I could not find an example of Berlioz' Sardanapale. But here's a second prize entry: Death of Cleopatra: One can detect the incredible influence on future music on this one piece. And Berlioz was no child prodigy, but de facto father of the idee fixe or leitmotif. Herminie, another losing effort germinated Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique:
I didn't know that. Thanks.
15 Sep 13
Originally posted by scacchipazzoInteresting point about the influence composers had on future generations. Considering, as Schweitzer said, that everything leads up to Bach, nothing from him. The culmination, the pinnacle of the art of polyphony had nothing new to say! I would, as I have said elsewhere, always take Bach to my desert island as I regard him as the Master whose music never palls. The great innovators, Beethoven, Wagner, Debussy, (I would say Schönberg, his atonal serialism was innovative and fresh but, in my view, something of a dead end) challenged the establishment in a way that Saint-Saëns and Berrlioz never did. Saint-Saëns is something of a musical lightweight, like Mendelssohn, and Berlioz gets bogged down in tragic self-importance.
Point I'm trying to make is that even a composer of Saint-Saens stature was not always deemed as worthy by his peers, but he himself was no slouch in dishing it out, considering Debussy, a Pris de Rome winner a degenerate of composition. Other august winners: Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, D'Indy, Charpentier, Gounod, Ambroise Thomas, Massenet. Perhaps none o ...[text shortened]... rt germinated Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-QSQ3PA3w
15 Sep 13
Originally posted by Pianoman1Bach indeed the center of the musical solar system and the core around which all music circulates. Saint-Saens was indeed somewhat of a musical lightwieght and the most German of French composers, yet his two masterpieces, Organ Symphony and Samson and Delilah are truly magnificent. Perhaps his true calling was being a teacher and birthed us the awesome requiem of requiems through his pupil Gabriel Faure. Berlioz was considerably influential in his "idee fixe" being what helped Wagner conceptualize the leitmotif and orchestration for his music dramas. Symphonie Fantastique, Les Troyens, Grande Messe des Mortes, Harold in Italy. Berlioz certainly was no lightweight.
Interesting point about the influence composers had on future generations. Considering, as Schweitzer said, that everything leads up to Bach, nothing from him. The culmination, the pinnacle of the art of polyphony had nothing new to say! I would, as I have said elsewhere, always take Bach to my desert island as I regard him as the Master whose music never ...[text shortened]... a musical lightweight, like Mendelssohn, and Berlioz gets bogged down in tragic self-importance.