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This study discusses the diverse entrepreneurial trends that concert pianists are pursuing to complement their performing careers. These trends include musical endeavors such as organizing festivals, recital series, pedagogical workshops, making performer’s editions of piano literature, learning and recording unfamiliar repertoire, commissioning new works, and performing new music. The study includes eight interviews with concert pianists and four interviews with artist managers. The managers’ responses provide additional perspectives on how entrepreneurial pursuits can impact a pianist’s career. The study also provides an overview of music entrepreneurship in higher education and presents a variety of educational resources for further research on the topic. The purpose of this study is to present the various paths that can be included into the traditional model of being a concert pianist. As this study demonstrates, these entrepreneurial trends help pianists create opportunities for themselves and sustain a performing career.

A healthy posture protects the body-supporting functions and prevents injuries by maintaining balance. Literature in performing arts medicine suggests that posture is an important component to prevent piano-playing related injuries. However, no known research studies have quantified, characterized, and compared pianists' sitting postures. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between playing postures and perceived pain among pianists. This study applied innovative approach using qualitative and quantitative methods, combined with three-dimensional motion captured technology. To examine risk factors related pianists' postures, three-dimensional motion-capture cameras recorded approximate 40 pianists' postures in various situations; data recordings were combined with a statistical method to investigate pain-posture correlations. Results reveal that the degrees of head-neck or body tilt angles are the tendency of risk factors for piano-playing related pain. Results from this study may have multiple practical implications among which are: (1) a risk factor pain, injury index, or indicator (2) a performance habits profile and (3) practice guide to prevention of piano-playing related musculoskeletal disorders.

No description available.

No description available.

Denna uppsats är en komparativ studie av två pianister med olika kulturell bakgrund, Hans Pålsson och Valentina Lisitsa. Utgångspunkt för arbetet är en undran över varför klassiska pianister tenderar att i viss mån gestalta ett stycke olika trots framförande av samma noterade stycke. Frågeställningarna lyder: Hur skiljer sig gestaltningsprocessen åt mellan pianisterna? Hur skiljer sig tolkningar av två specifika verk åt mellan pianisterna? Går det att koppla avvikande skillnader i tolkningarna till gestaltnings­processen för att besvara varför pianisterna i vissa avseenden spelar olika? Metoden för att utforska detta möjliggörs först genom en redogörelse av pianisternas gestaltningsprocess där källmaterialet är intervjuer, tv-program och skriftlig dokumentation i form av böcker och artiklar. Därefter en komparativ analys av audiovisuella inspelningar i form av youtube-klipp och tv-program av pianisternas interpretationer av samma verk. De valda verken är två kompositioner av Rachmaninov, preludium i G-Dur op. 32:5 och preludium i g-moll op. 23:5. Resultatet av jämförelsen relateras till pianisternas tankar för att ge generella fingervisningar om vad de personligen uttrycker i vardera tolkning. Uppsatsens resultat är ett argument för att både övergripande och konkreta skillnader i tolkningarna går att koppla till pianisternas gestaltningsprocess och musikåskådning. Slutsatsen är att pianisterna i olika grad är aktivt medskapande till det musikaliska uttrycket i respektive framförande.

Begrepet musikk, utøverens framvekst, talent, evner, begavelse, kreativitet og intelligens.

abstract: There are many passages in the standard collaborative piano repertoire that are best executed with average to larger hands, such as densely voiced chords, fast octave passages, spans of 9ths or 10ths, legato lines with wide ranges, or extended arpeggiated passages. As a petite Asian woman with smaller hands, I am frequently engaged to rehearse and perform such works. Such engagements involve a greater amount of practice and preparation, as I spend time determining how to negotiate passages or avoid mistakes that larger hands could easily solve. Nevertheless, despite my best efforts, it is not always possible for one with smaller hands to play exactly what is written by the composer, and one may end up becoming injured by too much stretching of the fingers or hands, which can lead to stress and tension on the arms. This paper will be discussed certain passages from frequently-performed pieces that can be difficult for smaller hands, what makes each passage so awkward or uncomfortable, and provide several solutions that yield musical results without compromising the composer's original intentions. This paper will not only examine orchestral reductions such as concerti, in which the reductions are a mere representation of the composer's true intentions and therefore easier to adjust, but also repertoire originally written for the piano. Three methods will be offered that, while occasionally straying from the printed score, stay as true as possible to the composer's artistic intensions, all the while allowing these collaborative pianists the possibility to approach this repertoire in a realistic fashion. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2017

Hur går det att spela på en modern flygel, vars tangenter med tiden blivit bredare och tyngre, om man inte har Rachmaninovs, Liszts eller ens Chopins spännvidd? Den här uppsatsen avhandlar ämnet ”Små händer i pianospel”. Syftet med följande uppsats är att undersöka vad den med ringa spännvidd kan göra för att optimalt kunna använda de verktyg ̶ fingrar, händer och hela kroppen ̶ som hon eller han är född med. Vid början av detta arbete, fanns det överraskande lite lösningsinriktat material tillgängligt för pianister med små händer. Det har därför känts viktigt att grundläggande diskutera och framhäva ämnets olika sidor rörande såväl historia, problematik som möjliga lösningar. Små händer och korta fingrar ställer stora krav på en pianist inom flera olika delområden. Att övervinna de utmaningar som pianister med små händer konfronterar handlar inte enbart om arbetet vid pianot utan även det arbete som utförs med den egna kroppen. Efter att fysiologiska hörnstenar står på en fast grund, rör det sig företrädesvis om sakkunskap. I vilket fall behöver en ringa spännvidd inte kännas som en stor begränsning när det gäller valet av repertoar; pianorepertoaren är väldigt bred. Därtill finns det speltekniska ”strategier” som den med små händer kan utnyttja för att kompensera sin korta spännvidd. Om en pianist, trots stora ackord och långa avstånd på tangenterna, på olika sätt lär sig bevara handens neutrala position, erbjuder denne sin kropp och hela systemet en nyckel till hälsosamt och kraftigt pianospel.

The numerous piano figurations, exercises and experimental ideas that are found throughout the leaves of Beethoven’s sketchbooks remain a largely unexplored area within the field of Beethoven sketch-scholarship. Their existence is commonly known, but the purpose for which they served the composer has not been explored fully. Moreover, there has been little attempt to catalogue these ideas in order to make them more accessible and approachable. This study is divided into two parts. Part one provides the biographical context in which the subsequent analysis of the figurations is based. It presents an assessment of Beethoven as a student, performer and teacher by evaluating contemporary sources and including a discussion on performance anxiety. This evidence is used to demonstrate that Beethoven could be prone to lapses in technique; that he undertook his studies with complete dedication; and that he also created exercises for some of his pupils, which supports the notion that a number of the figurations could have been designed as piano exercises. Part two analyses the figurations, classifying them by type and grouping them into themes related to specific areas of piano technique. The analysis establishes that many of the figurations are highly inventive; that occasionally developments can be traced (in particular the evolution of the ‘Beethoven’ trill); and that in many cases there are parallels with Beethoven’s published works for piano, which proves that a single classification for the figurations is often problematic. The analysis further reveals that a significant number of the figurations were written in 1793 and, in conjunction with the earlier biographical study, strongly suggests that Beethoven’s move to Vienna was a major impetus for their creation. Volume two presents a separate catalogue of the transcribed piano figurations, some of which are previously unknown. Within the catalogue, the figurations are arranged by type to correspond with the categories discussed in the analysis and ordered chronologically to enable them to be examined alongside the accompanying text.