Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro?
I've been playing violin for three years but have made the progress of almost ten and I am currently participating in 3 orchestras. When I heard Najda Slerno-Sonnenberg's recording of this I automatically wanted to learn it. Am I good enough or does anyone have any advice.
Replies (25)
Thanks, I asked my teacher about it and found out he has a recording of it on his website [ www.eliasonviolin.com ] and gave me the impression that it was quite virtuosic.
Has anyone played this>?
I have played now for ten years, and performed several times as a soloist, but when I tried to play this piece, I found it very hard. It's not just hard techically; if you listen to good recordings of it (try Perlman), you will realise that it demands the preparation of a mature violinist. Certainly, if you are at a good level, and have played a good deal of Baroque Music, it's an advantage, but in the end I decided that it was best to wait. Good luck!
This is a very popular with students. It's not too hard technically, but I don't really like it. I think it sounds better played on viola.
I don't think the piece is too difficult--it isn't exactly the Glazunov Concerto--but it's harder than it looks. I won a minor competition with it at age 14, but I'd already been playing ten years at that point.
I think you should give it a shot, just to get a feel for the piece. At the very least, you'll be able to play some parts of it...
Thanks Im typing this to get it back on top of the "Updated!" list.
My teacher told me it was hard but mabye he is wrong?
Whether a piece is difficult of course depend on your level. Personally I would trust my teacher if he/she tells me whether I'm ready for a piece or not. There's never a right or wrong answer for these.
I've played the Praeludium and Allegro. I found it technically challenging as well as musically. The quarter notes not only requires perfect intonation, and it's also not an easy task to play it musically. And then after that there's spiccato, double stops and other fun stuff, not easy at all unless you have the technique. Oh, the cadenza-esque bit near the end isn't as difficult as it appears, all you need to do is to figure out the figure patterns.
Of course no one here can really tell you anything unless we've heard you, but out of curiosity, what pieces are you studying?
Well Im mostly doing orchestra stuff right now, We are playing Carmen suite by Bizet, Variations on a Paganini Theme by Rachmoninov, and Danse Bacchanle by Sant-Saens.
As for solo Im finishing up the Bach double concerto before getting out of Suzuki. My intonation and vibrato have never been a problem because I've always striven for a beautiful tone. Working on 4 Octave scale frames. Whats the hardest part of the piece? I feel a little afraid to go get the music beacause it would be almost an insult to my teacher. =/
Hmmm, Bach Double to the Kreisler seems to be a bit of a stretch, although again we never heard you play before. Are you studying any double stop etudes/scales? Might be tough if you haven't started double stops yet.
Well what is there really to double stops? I do Kreutzer sometimes but It's not really something I usually need to practice....
The only part of this I had trouble with was the doulble stops on the second page because of a squeaking e-string (my fingers kept touching the side). The rest of the song is easy once you take the time to figure out the patterns for fingering.
I thought that maybe only 3 years is kinda young to be learning it. What I do want to encourage is to go ahead and look at the music and mess around with it, and listen to a lot of recordings.
I know that it sounds really hard, but once you know it, you will never forget it
EVER
I played Praeludium and Allegro when I was 12, after playing for about 4 years. Needless to say, I almost had a nervous breakdown when I saw the second and third pages. Although, yes, it is very demanding, it does lie fairly well in the hand, which is a huge advantage. The hardest part for me, initally, was the first half of the third page, with the trills and spiccato, and then the weird patterns that emerged. The good thing was that there ARE patterns, so once I learned it, I could smoke right through it.
Basically, you are your own judge. If you feel you can handle it, then try. Also listen to the recommendations of your teacher. Your teacher knows your ability and what you can do. At the worst, you'll be able to play parts of it, and that is a lot of fun in and of itself.
the technique involved is not too difficult although it really depends on what other pieecs you have studied but it does require a lot of tone production and phrasing, i think its more demanding on the bow arm than left hand by far.
Can someone post this piece in PDF plzzzzzzz!!!!!! With Sugar on top
I LOVE the piece on the Viola, I found it after hearing it done by a violinist. Being a violist primarily, I would have to think that Praeludium is a piece that you learn becuase you love, and must learn only what you can. Trying to force music down your own throat isn't healthy. You can learn what you can and appreciate it for its beauty
i dont have it in pdf, but you could buy it no? the complete works of kreisler isn't that much.
as for how you learn double stops, kreutzer is a good start. scales of double stops, like flesch are vital of course. and then other etudes as well, i'm not sure what at your level would have good double stopping practice, i suspect dont is a bit above your head.
Now thats kinda funny, :)
LOL John, seriously??
OP, just give it a try, doesn't hurt to try it!
While the amount of time you've spent playing can roughly correlate with ability level, this is not always the case.
The question you need to ask is: "Can I execute all of the technical skills necessary in order to interpret this piece of music?"
If the answer to that is "no," then you have more scales, scale exercises, and etudes to study before approaching the work.
John,
It's not "unknown."
Before a student begins addressing the interpretive issues, any competent teacher can evaluate the technical skills necessary to play the work. This is why people take private instruction, and hopefully have a teacher that can see what they can and cannot accomplish.
There *is* a list of skills, it is just presented differently by every teacher. Keeping your fingers down in whole/half step interval patterns so that you can stay in tune and keep the left hand movement efficient is one of those skills.
If you want to organize those skills into categories, you certainly can. The Galamian book, and Simon Fischer's Basics address individual parts of the playing technique in this manner.
For every concerto, showpiece, sonata, etc. that I teach my students, I most definitely have a list of skills they must be able to accomplish before they can play the work. If they can't do all those things, its back to basics, scales, and etudes until they can.
We're all engaged in an art form here, but things like mapping finger movement and execution of bow strokes are fairly scientific.
I think the Allegro section is a really fine exercise. In my opinion you should be able to work out the fingerings yourself in order to be ready to play this - so if you do get the music, and you can work out the fingerings, there is no need for your teacher to know you have leaped ahead. If you cannot work out the fingerings, then you should probably wait for your teacher to assign works requiring similar technique and just wait for it to come your way.
The music is included on the CD-Sheet Music CD-ROM of Violin Solos and Duets along with several thousand additional pages of music (maybe not all you will ever play, but enough solo music ( except sonatas and concertos) to last a lifetime). Once you have it, you can print the music out from your computer or even just play it off the screen. Of course, to insert fingerings, you will have to print from the pdf file.
http://www.cdsheetmusic.com/products/product_listing.cfm?cat_id=7
Now, the next thing is are the fingerings correct so that you can play the piece. It is not a hard piece once you have made the fingering patterns your own, but it does have "virtuosic characteristics." For a piece that makes this sort of impact it is relatively easy. In other words, for what you have to put into it, the payoff is high.
Andy
Hey guys.
I'm learning Praeludium and Allegro, does anyone know any general knowledge about this piece? Like the form and background info?
Thanks, greatly appreciated.
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August 13, 2004 at 04:51 AM · Preludium and Allegro is one of the greatest pieces ever written in the violin repetoire. It uses so many various techniques and has a sense of great musicality. I really feel that you should be the judge of your own playing and should gather the confidence to handle such a masterpiece. A lot of people play the piece because their teacher told them too and not out of a shear desire for the music. I requres a high level of musicality and understanding. I don't think you should ask anyone whether or not you can play it, because none of us know how well you play. It doesn't matter how long you have played and if you say you it seems like you have been playing for 10 years thats great but if you really want to learn it, you are the judge of your own capabilities as well as working with your teacher. everyone wants to play great music like Tchaikovsky or Brahms but we all have to be patient with our own strenghts as a player and most importantly as a musician. theres a difference between playing a piece and playing a piece well, so if you feel you can play it well, go for it, but if not, be patient and give it time and eventually you can handle the Kreisler.