I enjoyed this video. Strangely enough, I didn't like the Steinway grand piano at all. I liked the vintage Bechstein grand the best. There is also a very nice VST plugin from Native Instruments for this sound, called “The Maverick”. I once recorded a piece by Frescobaldi on it. It gave the piece a singing warmth that you can't achieve with a harpsichord, a historical Italian organ or a modern grand piano.
Fair, it probably has to do with the ornamentation and phrase articulation, and since I used a VST plugin harpsichord I habitually added sustain pedal, so everything is a bit off and physically impossible on a real harpsichord. The comparison of sound quality between instruments is what motivated this video, so I hope unconventional technique isn’t too distracting in this case
It would be cool to do the same thing but with different pianos frome the 1700's early 1800 and comparing like english, german, italian and square pianos
the pianos very well played, if you omitted the harpsichord part this would be less... controversial? but perhaps it being so attracts more attention. so... well played, on both counts : o )
@@PianoCurio I don't often read descriptions and until I saw this comment I thought you actually went around the world and found these 6 instruments to play on.
My mother thaught me to refrain from speaking if I don't have anything nice to say, especially if it's disrespectful. I guess people are thaught different nowadays. Anyway, nice video idea and great playing(even if not baroque fundamentalist friendly)!
Just FYI, there is no word "thaught" in English. There’s "taught" and "thought," but they have VERY different meanings. Using precise language helps to avoid confusion, especially among non-native speakers of English.
@@DaveTexas English is not my first language, so when I wrote the comment I accidentally put "thought"(as they sound practically the same), but I read it again and corrected the "o". Missed the "h", though. Since I already had edited I figure "nah, whatever" But thanks for noticing
Great idea moving through the eras of pianos. And interesting interpretation with spicy ornamentation. I wonder what edition was used for the visuals. I play this so differently. My interp would drive purists insane. Not in a good way.
I don't know why you insist so much in saying newer pianos had improved clarity. In fact an old fortepiano is much clearer than a modern Steinway. piano evolved to blend notes and generate colors with increased resonance. pianos with "clarity" have simple tone with sharp attack.
I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to in the video but I 100% agree, harpsichords and fortepianos had the benefit of greater articulation and agility, or clarity, whereas modern pianos are like big ships that take longer to turn (especially when using the pedal). I don’t think I nailed the plus and minus descriptors for each instrument in this video and would likely describe them differently if I remade it today.
I mean, the main advantage of a big Steinway is that it's very loud without losing its tone quality. I wouldn't say it has the best "color palette". Otherwise, that's an interesting video!
Fair enough. Now that I think of it, my choice of a Steinway at the end was to represent the modern piano generally (impossible to do but it was the obvious choice for its ubiquity), so in my mind I was thinking “[modern pianos] have an exceptional color palette when compared to earlier instruments,” but there still might be issues with any blanket statement like that. Could be fun to do a video comparing all modern grands maybe.. Thanks for watching!
I have a half grand 1913 Pleyel ,when id bought it ....more than 40 years ago ,i was able to heard harmonics in thé middle and strong basses that i didn't hear clearly on others ,did played " 0" Steinway ,bosendorfer , Erard more than 10 top known !!!!
There are not many musicians that would say Steinway piano has a wide colour palette besides the one that Steinway pays to say so, and that’s for a reason
Virtually all harpsichordists are first and foremost pianists. Playing the harpsichord has been, since Wanda Landowdka first stepped on stage as a concert harpsichordist, a watered-down piano technique thing. I was taught to play the harpsichord based in historical principles, including the old fingering systems. And despite holding a master’s in harpsichord performance, I was originally a pianist. Nowadays, I play piano exclusively - I haven’t touched a harpsichord in almost 30 years. The lack of historical accuracy and sensitivity in this regard is still astounding - it all boils down to varying degrees of compromise.
Personal choice only but I preferred the clarity of the harpsichord version. I'm not a pedant and I'm not telling anyone what they should like. Just my view.
Yes, to clarify, only the variations demonstrate the piano’s lineage while the theme is played on a harpsichord to represent the music’s origin. It wasn’t the intent to claim the harpsichord as an early piano, though I regret that the “evolution of the piano” title was inadvertently misleading. That being said, I don’t think their proximity in this video is inappropriate because so much of the modern piano repertoire comes from harpsichord works, and the clavichord was never a dominant concert keyboard instrument like the harpsichord was before being supplanted by the piano. Mechanically they are different, but musically they are intimately related. Though it makes me wonder, today a work played on or written for a harpsichord is an active choice, whereas in the early 18th century and before it was a practical necessity. Harpsichord/clavichord/virginal music was just music on a keyboard instrument, and early piano music developed in a similar way. You had lots of orchestral works being reduced on or even composed for the piano in the 19th century (as Bach did by transcribing concertos for the harpsichord), not for the tone of a piano per se, but to represent other instruments entirely or simply be absolute music reproduced on a piano. Even Beethoven’s piano sonatas are very orchestral. Today, lots of composers typically choose a piano for a song or composition because they want a piano sound specifically. At what point did it start to change or split off? Kind of philosophical! Some generalizations and speculations in there but hopefully that was somewhat coherent for a UA-cam comment. Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Way too much ornamentation for my taste. But I’m an opera musician so I’m very much used to precise interpretation since to do otherwise would lead to utter chaos.
Fully understandable. It is interesting if you get the chance to do a deep dive on the history of ornamentation in performances. Some piece I never imagined to be ornamented have evidence to suggest they would have been performed with pretty significant improvisatory structural changes and extensive melodic variation.
imo that's a contradiction. Opera vocals has ornamentation and improvisation as well. Baroque performance practice is an improvised style wherein each performer should have a somewhat unique approach to the music
@@MegaMech you’re obviously not a professional musician. I’m not an opera vocalist; I’m a musician for an opera company. There is NO improvisation in what I do. If we, the large opera orchestra, do not play the notes exactly as written, the result is chaos. Anyone in an ensemble knows this. My ear is tuned to performances that are not improvised in any way. That’s why I said that there was too much ornamentation FOR MY TASTE. Maybe work on your reading comprehension before making asinine comments that attempt to tell someone that their opinion is wrong.
@@DaveTexas I guess you wouldn't like the French Baroque keyboard style where they ornament the ornamentations. This ornmentation is pretty standard for this era and is probably somewhat mild at that. I am a professional musician and have studied performance practice to great extent. A tad aggressive for someone who didn't state which instrument. I agree the orchestra sticks to the notes. But I was talking about solo performance. You'll be even more angry to learn that ensembles of the Baroque era often didn't bother tuning. Albeit, that's just from a single source. So take that with a grain of salt. I'm still surprised you're not somewhat familiar with a more 'free-spirited' in the recitative. And still, again, I would imagine you'd be used to the vocalist doing whatever they want likely in a much more exaggerated-style than this video. Don't forget that opera existed since at least the 1600s. Early operas wouldn't be quite as refined as you're used too. Sort of have to have an open-mind when delving into new musics.
I'm pretty sure, the person, who wrote "evolution of the piano in six variations" and "Rameau's Gavotte but each variation played on a new piano", did not know that (let me repeat it again) the harpsichord is neither a piano nor a step in its evolution.
Each variation of Rameau’s Gavotte is played on a piano in this video. Each variation represents an evolution of the piano. The theme, however, is played on a harpsichord. Didn’t intend to mix the two just thought it would be a fun concept, that’s all!
If you're going to make a video about variations played on different pianos throughout time - try at least to play them on actual real pianos ... not digital midi. 🥱
You could have shown the awesome late harpsichords, those who can do dynamics with the venetian windows and the buffle stop
Or Wanda Landówska's Pleyel harpsicord from the 1920s.
I enjoyed this video. Strangely enough, I didn't like the Steinway grand piano at all. I liked the vintage Bechstein grand the best. There is also a very nice VST plugin from Native Instruments for this sound, called “The Maverick”.
I once recorded a piece by Frescobaldi on it. It gave the piece a singing warmth that you can't achieve with a harpsichord, a historical Italian organ or a modern grand piano.
5:41 sounds like Super Mario Bros in an extremely epic moment
Well played!
Whoever plays the harpsichord here must be a pianist...
Yo moms
Why?
As a blissfully ignorant pianist, I can only imagine the horrors I’ve created for harpsichordists
But it's no longer bliss when you know something is off but you don't know what or why lol at least I'm really curious to know...
Fair, it probably has to do with the ornamentation and phrase articulation, and since I used a VST plugin harpsichord I habitually added sustain pedal, so everything is a bit off and physically impossible on a real harpsichord. The comparison of sound quality between instruments is what motivated this video, so I hope unconventional technique isn’t too distracting in this case
It would be cool to do the same thing but with different pianos frome the 1700's early 1800 and comparing like english, german, italian and square pianos
Good idea, maybe the Diabelli variations would be a good set to play from while sampling some other instruments in that range. Adding it to the list.
@@PianoCuriowaiting for it!
Excellent video!
the pianos very well played, if you omitted the harpsichord part this would be less... controversial? but perhaps it being so attracts more attention. so... well played, on both counts : o )
Haha honestly didn’t think about it while recording, just plugged in a harpsichord sound and played. But engagement is engagement!
@@PianoCurio I don't often read descriptions and until I saw this comment I thought you actually went around the world and found these 6 instruments to play on.
In Yamaha Rameau rocks!
Une de mes pièces préférées, j'aime le son sur le Erard.
This is nice
This is so cool
My mother thaught me to refrain from speaking if I don't have anything nice to say, especially if it's disrespectful. I guess people are thaught different nowadays.
Anyway, nice video idea and great playing(even if not baroque fundamentalist friendly)!
Just FYI, there is no word "thaught" in English. There’s "taught" and "thought," but they have VERY different meanings. Using precise language helps to avoid confusion, especially among non-native speakers of English.
@@DaveTexas English is not my first language, so when I wrote the comment I accidentally put "thought"(as they sound practically the same), but I read it again and corrected the "o". Missed the "h", though.
Since I already had edited I figure "nah, whatever"
But thanks for noticing
Great idea moving through the eras of pianos. And interesting interpretation with spicy ornamentation. I wonder what edition was used for the visuals. I play this so differently. My interp would drive purists insane. Not in a good way.
I don't know why you insist so much in saying newer pianos had improved clarity. In fact an old fortepiano is much clearer than a modern Steinway. piano evolved to blend notes and generate colors with increased resonance. pianos with "clarity" have simple tone with sharp attack.
I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to in the video but I 100% agree, harpsichords and fortepianos had the benefit of greater articulation and agility, or clarity, whereas modern pianos are like big ships that take longer to turn (especially when using the pedal). I don’t think I nailed the plus and minus descriptors for each instrument in this video and would likely describe them differently if I remade it today.
I mean, the main advantage of a big Steinway is that it's very loud without losing its tone quality. I wouldn't say it has the best "color palette". Otherwise, that's an interesting video!
Fair enough. Now that I think of it, my choice of a Steinway at the end was to represent the modern piano generally (impossible to do but it was the obvious choice for its ubiquity), so in my mind I was thinking “[modern pianos] have an exceptional color palette when compared to earlier instruments,” but there still might be issues with any blanket statement like that. Could be fun to do a video comparing all modern grands maybe.. Thanks for watching!
I have a half grand 1913 Pleyel ,when id bought it ....more than 40 years ago ,i was able to heard harmonics in thé middle and strong basses that i didn't hear clearly on others ,did played " 0" Steinway ,bosendorfer , Erard more than 10 top known !!!!
I like the Yamaha Electro Piano)))
Great video! Did you also compose the variations or were they written by someone else?
Thank you! The theme and variations are all by Rameau, I am just the performer
The Y CP-80 has a slightly muddy tone that i find slightly annoying. 🙃
Walter pianoforte has excellent volume and power
Not so sure about that piano at 5:42 but I'm sure I've played that game.
There are not many musicians that would say Steinway piano has a wide colour palette besides the one that Steinway pays to say so, and that’s for a reason
I personally prefer the tone of the ZIPPY Kids Piano from Amazon but Steinway sent me $2 to say something nice for the video
Virtually all harpsichordists are first and foremost pianists. Playing the harpsichord has been, since Wanda Landowdka first stepped on stage as a concert harpsichordist, a watered-down piano technique thing. I was taught to play the harpsichord based in historical principles, including the old fingering systems. And despite holding a master’s in harpsichord performance, I was originally a pianist. Nowadays, I play piano exclusively - I haven’t touched a harpsichord in almost 30 years. The lack of historical accuracy and sensitivity in this regard is still astounding - it all boils down to varying degrees of compromise.
Silly comment of the day
Personal choice only but I preferred the clarity of the harpsichord version. I'm not a pedant and I'm not telling anyone what they should like. Just my view.
Sorry, very good music, but the pianoforte or fortepiano never comes from the harpsichord but from the clavichord with hammers and not plectra.
Yes, to clarify, only the variations demonstrate the piano’s lineage while the theme is played on a harpsichord to represent the music’s origin. It wasn’t the intent to claim the harpsichord as an early piano, though I regret that the “evolution of the piano” title was inadvertently misleading.
That being said, I don’t think their proximity in this video is inappropriate because so much of the modern piano repertoire comes from harpsichord works, and the clavichord was never a dominant concert keyboard instrument like the harpsichord was before being supplanted by the piano. Mechanically they are different, but musically they are intimately related.
Though it makes me wonder, today a work played on or written for a harpsichord is an active choice, whereas in the early 18th century and before it was a practical necessity. Harpsichord/clavichord/virginal music was just music on a keyboard instrument, and early piano music developed in a similar way. You had lots of orchestral works being reduced on or even composed for the piano in the 19th century (as Bach did by transcribing concertos for the harpsichord), not for the tone of a piano per se, but to represent other instruments entirely or simply be absolute music reproduced on a piano. Even Beethoven’s piano sonatas are very orchestral. Today, lots of composers typically choose a piano for a song or composition because they want a piano sound specifically. At what point did it start to change or split off? Kind of philosophical!
Some generalizations and speculations in there but hopefully that was somewhat coherent for a UA-cam comment. Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Wow, where’d you get access to these instruments?
The instrument sounds are being produced by a VST sound library called 'Pianoteq'
Grand pianos haven’t changed much since 1884 😢
Harpichord playing that'd make Ross turn in his grave, bless his soul... nevertheless, a wonderful video.
Beethoven took a ton of inspiration from pieces like these in his sonatas
Sometime soon, I hope to do a video featuring Beethoven’s sonatas performed on several different instruments from his lifetime. Stay tuned!
I prefered erard
Oh we’ve got that Bob James action too eh
Way too much ornamentation for my taste. But I’m an opera musician so I’m very much used to precise interpretation since to do otherwise would lead to utter chaos.
Fully understandable. It is interesting if you get the chance to do a deep dive on the history of ornamentation in performances. Some piece I never imagined to be ornamented have evidence to suggest they would have been performed with pretty significant improvisatory structural changes and extensive melodic variation.
imo that's a contradiction. Opera vocals has ornamentation and improvisation as well. Baroque performance practice is an improvised style wherein each performer should have a somewhat unique approach to the music
@@MegaMech you’re obviously not a professional musician. I’m not an opera vocalist; I’m a musician for an opera company. There is NO improvisation in what I do. If we, the large opera orchestra, do not play the notes exactly as written, the result is chaos. Anyone in an ensemble knows this. My ear is tuned to performances that are not improvised in any way.
That’s why I said that there was too much ornamentation FOR MY TASTE. Maybe work on your reading comprehension before making asinine comments that attempt to tell someone that their opinion is wrong.
@@DaveTexas I guess you wouldn't like the French Baroque keyboard style where they ornament the ornamentations. This ornmentation is pretty standard for this era and is probably somewhat mild at that. I am a professional musician and have studied performance practice to great extent. A tad aggressive for someone who didn't state which instrument. I agree the orchestra sticks to the notes. But I was talking about solo performance. You'll be even more angry to learn that ensembles of the Baroque era often didn't bother tuning. Albeit, that's just from a single source. So take that with a grain of salt. I'm still surprised you're not somewhat familiar with a more 'free-spirited' in the recitative. And still, again, I would imagine you'd be used to the vocalist doing whatever they want likely in a much more exaggerated-style than this video. Don't forget that opera existed since at least the 1600s. Early operas wouldn't be quite as refined as you're used too. Sort of have to have an open-mind when delving into new musics.
Bro has never heard a da capo aria in his life
Harpsichord is not a piano at all
Oh, really ? That’s a revolutionary discovery. Thanks, no body knew.
I'm pretty sure, the person, who wrote "evolution of the piano in six variations" and "Rameau's Gavotte but each variation played on a new piano", did not know that (let me repeat it again) the harpsichord is neither a piano nor a step in its evolution.
Each variation of Rameau’s Gavotte is played on a piano in this video. Each variation represents an evolution of the piano.
The theme, however, is played on a harpsichord. Didn’t intend to mix the two just thought it would be a fun concept, that’s all!
@@PianoCurio OK, got it, thanks
@@PianoCurio- It's a great concept! Thanks a lot for the great video!
If you're going to make a video about variations played on different pianos throughout time - try at least to play them on actual real pianos ... not digital midi. 🥱