Prelude No.6 - Live Performance by Henry Ng

Oh hi again

Here's no.6, kind of an ABA form, Eb - Cm - Eb. I wanted to write something conservative this time, keeping the harmony romantic and all. Hope you like it, this one is one of my favorites so far. 😄

The tempo marking probably shouldn't be lento. Any suggestions?

Hey @Thatguy v2.0 @Vince,

This is very beautiful for me. Direct emotion is displayed here. 

I love how you delay the PAC right at the end. You prevent the PAC in b.9 and 11 to go directly to the middle section which is a good treatment of keys.

12 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

D - Bm - D.

Is that Eb-Cm-Eb here haha!

12 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I wanted to write something conservative this time, keeping the harmony romantic and all. Hope you like it, this one is one of my favorites so far. 😄

I think this one and no.3 my favourite so far since they are both very expressive. I love you try to be functional and conservative here while retaining your voice with those blue notes. I can definitely feel the emotions behind these notes.

I find the clash of Gb and G in b.14 a bit off. You are having the flat submediant there and immediately modulates to C minor with that G note. Maybe retain the Gb or write that with F# will be better?

12 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

The tempo marking probably shouldn't be lento. Any suggestions?

Maybe Adagio molto espressivo will be a good one?

My aha moment will be b.28 as it's utterly beautiful there with the contrast of harmony and register there!

Thanks so much foe sharing Vince that guy! It's halfway now and looking forward to the finishing line!

Henry

This work shouts maturity in its very first bars. Then it loses a bit of that and then we go to the Cm (Bm?) section which is very beautiful and straight-forward in my opinion. 

The ending is above some other pieces I have listened here but not your best one, though I liked it anyway.

Again you seem to be very careful in regards of the engraving and this is something that you know I value highly, so thanks and congratulations. Perhaps this prelude has some more technical difficulties than the average but it more or less maintains it overall.

Depending on the piano (and obviously, the pianist), though, subtle dynamic changes might be more difficult to do, but this is not a inherent problem of the score.

Another great prelude I had lots of pleasure enjoying, very different in character than the former one, and somewhat more mature than prior works of this set. Again, congrats.

Kind regards,
Daniel–Ømicrón.

9 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Is that Eb-Cm-Eb here haha!

8 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Then it loses a bit of that and then we go to the Cm (Bm?)

I had just been working on the one in D....whoops 😄

9 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I find the clash of Gb and G in b.14 a bit off. You are having the flat submediant there and immediately modulates to C minor with that G note. Maybe retain the Gb or write that with F# will be better?

hmm yeah good catch, I'll dig into it to make it better. Thanks!

9 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Maybe Adagio molto espressivo will be a good one?

Yes! From now on I should just ask for your opinion before I post lol

9 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

looking forward to the finishing line!

I'm ahead, so three more to go! (though I'm feeling the wear of trying to finish up. I want to finish before taking a break though, this has been keeping my creative juices flowing.)

8 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Again you seem to be very careful in regards of the engraving and this is something that you know I value highly, so thanks and congratulations.

Thanks man, but I still feel like I can do better with engraving. 

8 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

The ending is above some other pieces I have listened here but not your best one, though I liked it anyway.

Omicron ending seal of approval. That should be your trademark badge

8 hours ago, Omicronrg9 said:

Another great prelude I had lots of pleasure enjoying, very different in character than the former one, and somewhat more mature than prior works of this set. Again, congrats.

thanks for checking this out Daniel and Henry, I always hope one of you two will stop by when I post

9 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

Yes! From now on I should just ask for your opinion before I post lol

Yeah consultation fee required on top of the $100000000000000 recording fee for each prelude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For a melody that seems to meander up and down the keyboard you bring much interest and beautiful dissonance and chromaticism to it!  I can see why you'd say this was one of your favorites because it's definitely inspired.  The rhythms of the piece are particularly notable for always giving the listener an unexpected relief from previous rhythmic material.  There are also plenty of beautiful chromatic neighbor tones and appogiaturas.  For being a piece deliberately constructed to be easy, it hides lots of craft and beauty in plain sight.  Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the kind words Peter, always look forward to hearing your thoughts. 😄

Updated YET AGAIN with Henry's performance. 

I'd just like to say that I feel so lucky @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu decided to play so many of these. Even if he stopped now, I'd be forever grateful for the generosity. 

I could care less about peak recording quality. I love hearing the other instruments practicing hearing his recordings, or the bench squeaking and breaths being inhaled. It makes it so much more real, like I have a bit of insight into Henry's world. 

This is the reason I write music, collaborations and comradery. And, hearing Henry play these so wonderfully and masterfully is a treat I don't deserve. Thanks so much Henry, I love how you only charge me $10,000 for each recording you share. 

There's so much passion and thought with your tempo and dynamics, Henry; it's something I could have never foreseen. You really brought these to life.

I encourage anyone posting here to really prioritize playability and practicality when writing. You never know who will surprise you with their ability. 

8 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I could care less about peak recording quality. I love hearing the other instruments practicing hearing his recordings, or the bench squeaking and breaths being inhaled. It makes it so much more real, like I have a bit of insight into Henry's world. 

I think the squeaking chair and instrument practicing problem are more prominent in the recording of prelude no.4 and 5, since they are recorded in another Piano shop I am not teaching, and that Flute practicing! Hopefully my own practicing won't scare them away lol. For the breathing, it really helps my playing. I probably learn it from chamber music though.

8 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

This is the reason I write music, collaborations and comradery. And, hearing Henry play these so wonderfully and masterfully is a treat I don't deserve. Thanks so much Henry, I love how you only charge me $10,000 for each recording you share. 

You deserve everything Vince. Your preludes are amazing and I love the whole season 1. I guess you still owe me $999999999990000 for each recorded prelude LoL!

8 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I encourage anyone posting here to really prioritize playability and practicality when writing. You never know who will surprise you with their ability. 

I think it's crucial. If you don't aim to have it played, why do you compose it? Maybe I'm a practical guy, but I think no matter what fanciful concept and idea you have, it has to be at least playable to realize the great ideas.

8 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

There's so much passion and thought with your tempo and dynamics, Henry; it's something I could have never foreseen. You really brought these to life.

Thx Vince. I do put some thoughts here. The rubato is completely spontaneous, but for the dynamics I feel like b.12 should be mf, b.21 should have a dim. with that jazzy melody, and b.23 should at least be in mf since it's brighter and thicker. My fav. moment is b.28 after that C minor outburst. It's so cool and serene there!! I also put an sf in b.32 and 33 LH. It reminds me of the 1st movement of Schubert's D960 with the same Gb. The slight sf should give some unsettling mood there.

Henry

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu Great performance! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

To piggyback on both of your comments regarding playability: I've also noticed that when you write what is playable, and even idiomatic, for an instrument, 99% of the time it's going to sound better than writing it in some "impossible-to-play" way.