BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
Sonata for horn and piano in F major, op. 17
I. Allegro moderato
José Vicente Castelló, guest professor
Jessica Rueda Vasquez, student
Jesús Gómez Madrigal, accompanying pianist
Before starting to play the piece, they work on the tuning of the first chord. The professor recommends getting into the music before starting to play: his feeling is that the student is a little behind, and he advises her to play it from memory in order to be inside the music. He quotes an interview with Simon Rattle: ideally, the music should be part of our system to the point of not needing the score. Castelló also comments on a class that Richard Watkins gave him at the School: when the line that separates before playing from the concert is crossed, one feels a certain liberation, one must cross it with total conviction.
There are moments in which one should not be too refined because with a natural horn it would sound much more comical. In addition, the ascents towards the high notes should be done with more impetus, and certain passages do not have to sound so static. There is a bit of a ‘struggle’ between the melodic part of the horn and the Alberti bass in the piano. In the development, it is advisable not to pause so much at the entrance of the horn, one must reserve oneself for later, which is much more active.
The professor talks about the first time he played this sonata: when an interpretation goes wrong it is usually because we are not very clear about what we are doing, so we must clarify as much as possible beforehand. Other indications that the professor makes refer to articulating the main theme more, graduating the dynamics throughout the duration of the movement, and playing the last note
Language: Spanish
