1/7 Sheet music from Cornelius Gurlitt. The Rocking Horse. Opus 228, Vol. 1

Transcription

1 /7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom About Cornelius Gurlitt The Rocking Horse Opus 8, Vol In this piece, the composer paints a musical picture o a a rocking horse swinging back and orth The middle section seems to suggest some great drama going on in the mind o the child playing with the horse What scenes do you imagine when listening to the piece? Cornielius Gurlitt (8090) composed music in several genres operas, symphonies and so on but his special talent was undoubtedly that o writing perectly suitable, charming and poetic works or the young (according to his riend Carl Reinecke) He was born in Altona near Hamburg in Germany, studied at the Leipzig and Copenhagen conservatories and went on to become a well respected organist, music teacher and military band master Preparatory Questions Together, the three notes o the irst bar orm a triad Which one? How many dierent notes does the third inger o the right hand play in this piece? Which ones? In which bars should the tempo slow down? (Tip: look up all the italian markings in the score) What is the dierence between bars 8 and? As you can see, the six eighth notes in each bar are written in two groups o three, making it easy to ind the two beats o the bar Mark the beats in the irst eight bars o the score! Example: Mastering the Piece Flowing rhythm (counting two beats per bar) Clear articulation (staccato upbeats) Dynamic variety Balance between hands Practice Plan Session Bars Session Bars 8 Session Bars 9 Session Continued practice o or 6bar sections Copyright 06 Op Productions

2 /7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom Preparatory Exercises Session : Bars Play legato, and let the hand move reely to the let on the G and to the right on the E Play a little quicker and count six eighths per bar! let! right! 6 Now do the same thing with the next chord let! right! 6 Keep counting six eighths Let the hand bounce on the staccato upbeats j j 6 Bounce! Bounce! Let hand: 6 Lit the hand on count 6 Now play the irst our bars with both hands, slowly and careully Keep counting six eighths 6 8 m j j Lit the hand on count, and bounce on G Copyright 06 Op Productions

3 /7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom Session : Bars 8 Now do the same kind o work to learn the next our bars This bit is slightly trickier, because o more requent chord changes, more ingerings to memorize and more notes in the let hand, so keep really ocused! 9 0 j ump! ump! ump! Count six eighths and play the rests as precisely as you can! p Let hand: Now you are going to play with both hands, but let's tread careully and begin with two simpliied versions 7 m Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Place the hand in the new position as quickly as possible ä ä Then play all the notes as written, but stop and wait at each chord change until you are absolutely sure how to go on 8 m Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ U j U Copyright 06 Op Productions

4 /7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom Session : Bars 9 In this section, the hands play in unison, exactly the same notes an octave apart, but it is still a good idea to practice them separately I you can play each hand luently on its own, you will achieve the desired dramatic eect more easily 9 0 ΠΠj j j # j The slight diminuendo at the end is there to prepare or the crescendo in the next bar (see exercise ) # j ΠΠm # j j j j # j Right hand: (slow down slightly) # # (gradually soter) Let hand: j j # j # j # # j j # j # j Finish by playing the whole section with both hands 6 # j # # j j j # j j j # j # j Copyright 06 Op Productions

5 /7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom Session : Continued practice o or 6bar sections You will be pleased to know that you have already practiced every single note in this piece! The last 8 bars only repeat the irst 8, but louder Keep practicing our bars at a time (or six, as in exercise 9), until you can play luently and in a lively tempo, counting two beats per bar instead o six 7 (a) j j m ( and a ) ( and a ) (a) ( and a ) ( and a ) 8 m 9 j # j # # j j j # j j j # j # j Copyright 06 Op Productions

6 6/7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom 0 Vivace (a) m ump a ourth! THE ROCKING HORSE (Das Schaukelperd) rom Technique and Melody, Opus 8 ( and a ) ( and a ) Cornelius Gurlitt PS Practice Score j j Upbeats to bars, and : play with increasing energy as the intervals grow bigger ump a ith! # j # # j j # j j j # j # j j ump a sixth! ΠMore requent chord changes in the let hand here Practice separately! Play slightly soter as the melody goes down to prepare or the crescendo Taper o to make the contrast to orte more eective Dramatic accents! Play this bar exactly in time Don't slow down or get soter yet j j a tempo j j This is an exact repeat o bars 8, but marked instead o m To make the dierence more interesting and noticable, try to ind a word that you think expresses the eeling o these inal bars ΠFor more dynamic variation,start sotly here and make a crescendo to the end 9 ΠΠCopyright 06 Op Productions

7 7/7 Sheet music rom wwwpianostreetcom Vivace j j j m DAS SCHAUKELPFERD (The Rocking Horse) rom Technique and Melody Opus 8, Vol Cornelius Gurlitt Piano Street Edition ΠΠj j 0 # j # # j # j j j # j # j a tempo j j j 9 ΠΠCopyright 06 Op Productions