More music than pictures
Apologies for being so quiet over the last few months. I’ve been moving house, which took a lot more time and energy than I expected. But music is starting to happen again…
In brief:
Both in North Adelaide. And eventually I’ll put more stuff on the YouTube channel.
Continue reading “Upcoming concerts: Sorabji and Brahms”Also, for those who missed it, you can now watch the October concert on Vimeo (Bach Partita no. 2, and Polglase Five Pieces).
I’ve got a concert coming up soon! I’m excited to be giving the world premiere performance of John Polglase’s Five Pieces. I’m also throwing in Bach’s second partita. Details at https://recitalsaustralia.org.au/programs/22-october-2022-alexander-hanysz-piano/ Note the unusual time of day: it’s a morning tea concert. If you can’t get there in person, there will also be a live video stream: check the Recitals Australia home page a few minutes before the start time. Or catch the recording afterwards on their Vimeo channel.
Hope to see some of you there! Bookings essential: get your ticket at https://recitalsaustralia.org.au/artfuel/tickets/130/sale
Sorry, this has been up on the channel for a few weeks now. I should have updated this site sooner, for the thousands of fans following here. No pianos in this one, more of an experimental soundscape created with the Python programming language and Csound. Enjoy!
I somewhat overdosed on Bach between 2010 and 2013, so I took a bit of a break. Now it’s time to revisit this world.
Sorry, I uploaded this a few weeks ago but didn’t get around to mentioning it here. Enjoy!
I don’t know if anyone ever reads this stuff (no one has commented, except for a bizarre collection of hairdressing-related spam caught in the filter), but I’ve started so I may as well continue.
Here’s some more piano music.
When Beethoven first published his sonata opus 27 number 1, the title page said (in Italian) “Sonata, almost a fantasia, for harpsichord or pianoforte”. The received wisdom is that it was always supposed to be a piano piece, and the harpsichord bit was just marketing to sell a few more copies. But I think it could have been a different story if the Electric Distortion Harpsichord had been around in Beethoven’s lifetime!
Every pianist should spend some time playing harpsichords. At first, it’s frustrating. On the piano, you’re used to two main tools for expression: dynamics (loud and soft) and sustain pedal. The harpsichord has neither. Playing the harpsichord expressively is a much more subtle affair. The instrument has a fantastically precise attack to each note, so that small variations in articulation and timing become far more meaningful. Good harpsichord performances have a wonderful intimacy to them — but in a large modern concert hall, they don’t have the same impact as a grand piano.
What if you could have the best of both worlds, combining the grace and precision of the harpsichord with the dynamic range and power of the piano? Now I know there will be some purists out there telling me I’ve actually got the worst of both worlds here. But I’m not relying on album sales for a living, so let’s have some fun creating a new instrument.
Continue reading “Creating the electric distortion harpsichord”Concert 1: Wednesday 28th April, 12:30pm at North Adelaide Baptist Church
Concert 2: Wednesday 12th May, 4pm at Flinders University
Here’s what I did on the Easter weekend. Well, not just the Easter weekend. There may have been a little bit of practice during the previous year or two.