[A Note from Natalie: I’ve just barely begun exploring Tomplay, but I’m looking forward to learning more about what they have to offer. And I’m thrilled that they are offering all Music Matters Blog readers a promo code to access their entire music library for free for 30 days! See below for the code and instructions. I’d love to know what you think as you check it out!]
Which easy concertos can you get your students to play? When thinking about a piano concerto, it can be difficult to know which easy concertos to start with, or even how to choose the movement which suits you best. This is why we have drawn up, in collaboration with the interactive sheet music app Tomplay (click here to check it out!), a non-exhaustive list of concerto movements in order to guide you in this choice, whether you are an amateur pianist or a teacher wishing to tackle a concerto with one of your pupils.
With the Tomplay app, it becomes easy and fun to learn a concerto. Thanks to its interactive scores, Tomplay reinvents sheet music for an interactive and immersive playing experience.
Suited for all levels, from beginner to advanced musicians, Tomplay allows you to play along with your favourite classical, pop, rock, folk, jazz, film and world music scores accompanied by real recordings from professional musicians. The interactive scores scroll automatically on-screen, creating an immersive, concert hall experience. With features such as controlling the speed of the score’s audio, looping selected passages, and self-recording, Tomplay makes learning music simpler, more effective, and more fun.
You can find the score of each concerto mentioned below in the Tomplay app.
Mozart: 2nd movement of Concerto n° 23 in A major, K. 488
Mozart began working on writing this concerto while he was in Vienna. Composed in 1786, the work is contemporary with his opera, The Marriage of Figaro. It has become a real “hit” and is used abundantly in film scores and advertising, but nevertheless has lost nothing of its beauty and musical quality. It has been interpreted by greatest pianists such as Vladimir Horowitz, Hélène Grimaud, Arthur Rubinstein and Murray Perahia. It has been played by orchestras led by the most prestigious conductors. When talking about Mozart’s Concerto n° 23, Olivier Messaien concluded that it is “the most perfect of all, if not the most beautiful.”
For the sublime second movement of Concerto n° 23, the Adagio, Mozart chose a ternary form and created a dialogue between the piano and first violin, illustrating a nostalgic swaying motion close to despair, but where light continues to pierce its way through.
The notation of the Adagio is relatively easy to read; moreover, this movement invites the player to work on interpretation, imposing precise fingering with the aim of rendering the most delicate nuances. The use of the pedal is also interesting without being too complex. Some bars are even an open invitation to improvisation, something at which Mozart himself was quite adept.
Don’t hesitate to download the sublime, slow, and technically accessible 2nd movement of Mozart’s Concerto n° 23 via the Tomplay application. The application offers you many tools for optimising your learning: make notes on your score, adapt the tempo to work at your own pace, or repeat bars over and over again. When you feel ready, go for it and take advantage of the orchestra recording synchronised with the score to accompany you!
Bach: 2nd movement of Concerto n° 2 in E Major, BWV 1042
Bach found the inspiration for writing some of his works in Vivaldi’s Concertos for Violin, Opus 3 in particular. This is the case with the Concerto n° 2 in E Major, a strong and poignant work.
The movement we advise you to tackle is, here again, an Adagio, and the difficulties of notation and interpretation are quite similar. Playing this movement will call more on the flexibility of your left hand as it is this which leads the melody on the piano in response to the violin.
With the Tomplay accompaniment of a string orchestra recorded on a high-quality audio track, you will have the option of recording yourself and printing your annotated score if you wish. An opportunity to become familiar with the art of ornamentation – produced in our score – which was so dear to Johann Sebastien Bach!
Beethoven: 2nd movement of the “Emperor” Concerto in E-Flat Major, Opus 73
Written at almost the same time as his 5th and 6th symphonies, this is the last of five piano concertos composed by Beethoven. It was begun in 1808 while Austria was preparing to go to war against Napoleon and the composition of the concerto was even halted during the invasion of Austria by the Great French Army. Some draft pages are moreover annotated with words such as “song of triumph,” “attack,” or “victory,” reflecting the war-like atmosphere of the time.
Using the Tomplay application, you will be able to tackle the 2nd Adagio un poco mosso movement. Contrary to the rest of the work, which is judged to be very heroic, this part in E-Flat Major is quite lyrical and contrasts with the rest of the work. In this slow movement, the high-quality audio recording will allow you to blend your interpretation with the orchestra to unfold a richly embodied melody, close to meditation.
Thanks to the technology of the Tomplay application you will be able to play the movement accompanied by a professional orchestra! You will also be able to adapt the tempo to your progress in interpreting the score (useful for working on the many rises and falls in this sublime movement), and look again at the bars you’re not happy with by activating the “loop” function.
Ravel: 2nd movement of the Concerto in G Major, M. 83
Created in the fabulous Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1932, Maurice Ravel’s Concerto in G Major is his penultimate finished work. As with his Concerto for the Left Hand, it was written in fulfillment of an order from the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was composed over the course of two years. Although established according to the characteristics of the canons of the classical era, this concerto contains many references to jazz and remains to this day one of the most often played pieces by Ravel.
Tomplay offers you a high-quality recording of the orchestral score to accompany your interpretation of the second Adagio assai movement. You begin the movement by playing a long and expressive melody before the orchestra unobtrusively joins you in the 34th bar of this virtuosic contemplative work full of the delicate colours which are so special to Ravel.
As far as rhythm is concerned, the organisation of the ¾ bar time can pose some difficulties for the youngest pupils. The metronome built into the application will be very useful for them, allowing them to place the accents in the best way to create an impression of duple time and will help them master the waltz movement with the left hand while their right hand is trying to put them off.
Haydn: 2nd movement of Concerto n° 11 in D Major
Composed around the end of the 1770s for clavichord or pianoforte, Joseph Haydn’s Concerto n° 11 was only published in Paris in 1784. Although no original score remains of the whole concerto, the two cadenzas of the 1st and 2nd movements still available are those played at the time by the composer himself.
Moreover, it is with the Poco Adagio cadenza that the Tomplay application allows you to practise, accompanied by an orchestra and via a quality play-along recording. Thanks to the score, which scrolls on your tablet, you can be totally immersed in the music and you can get help or find inspiration from the professional recording of the work available in the score. Dive into the era of the classical concerto through the interpretation of this second slow movement!
We’d like to provide Music Matters Blog readers a 30-day free trial using voucher code MUSICMATTERS19. Just follow these simple instructions:
- Visit Tomplay and click on “Go Premium.”
- Select the monthly or the yearly subscription offer.
- Register and create your account.
- Enter the promo code MUSICMATTERS19 and fill in your details. You will have free unlimited access to the whole Tomplay catalogue for 30 days.
Tomplay Interactive Sheet Music is our newest advertiser here on Music Matters Blog, and we are grateful for their support of the online music education community! If you are interested in finding out more about how you can promote your company, event, or product, just send us an e-mail and we will let you know about our advertising packages.
Leave a Reply