Topic by 1MuddyDog

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Topic: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

Here is Debussy's Ballade, L.70

https://youtu.be/I3c2Rb2y6UQ

It was was composed in 1890 and revised during 1903. Debussy originally cast it as "Ballade Slave" (recalling some time that he had spent in Russia during his teenage years), but after revising it, he republished it with the title "Ballade". It is a piece that is rich in character, and in it he takes a simple, child-like melody and transforms it into a colourful work that is filled with masterful special effects and episodes that are by turns tranquil, melancholy, dramatic and nostalgic. In his final treatment of this melody, Debussy encloses it with open 5ths in the upper register of the piano to create some truly atmospheric effects.

For unknown reasons, the work is quite neglected, and does not appear on concert platforms very often. However, it is currently gaining in popularity and hopefully one day it will be recognised for the great work that it is.

I hope you will enjoy it, and thank you for listening !

** Technical Notes
Version: Pianoteq 8 (Stage)
Piano: Steinway Model D (Hamburg)
Preset: "Closed Microphones", with a few adjustments to the velocity curve and some eq applied to the selected piano within the software itself (i.e. not via the DAW).

Reply by budo

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

beautiful performance!  i hadn't heard this piece by him before.  really enjoyed your interpretation.

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Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

1MuddyDog wrote:

Here is Debussy's Ballade, L.70

https://youtu.be/I3c2Rb2y6UQ

It was was composed in 1890 and revised during 1903. Debussy originally cast it as "Ballade Slave" (recalling some time that he had spent in Russia during his teenage years), but after revising it, he republished it with the title "Ballade". It is a piece that is rich in character, and in it he takes a simple, child-like melody and transforms it into a colourful work that is filled with masterful special effects and episodes that are by turns tranquil, melancholy, dramatic and nostalgic. In his final treatment of this melody, Debussy encloses it with open 5ths in the upper register of the piano to create some truly atmospheric effects.

For unknown reasons, the work is quite neglected, and does not appear on concert platforms very often. However, it is currently gaining in popularity and hopefully one day it will be recognised for the great work that it is.

I hope you will enjoy it, and thank you for listening !

** Technical Notes
Version: Pianoteq 8 (Stage)
Piano: Steinway Model D (Hamburg)
Preset: "Closed Microphones", with a few adjustments to the velocity curve and some eq applied to the selected piano within the software itself (i.e. not via the DAW).



”……..the work is quite neglected, and does not appear on concert platforms very often……”   Well, I like this as much as I like Arabesque 1, Childrens corner Goliwogs cakewalk, Clair de lune etc.

So Debussy-like   

So, what can I say - Such a beautiful interpretation. I Iike all your phrasing choices. Very musical playing. Exquisite Ballade by Debussy.
Thank you so much for sharing !

All the best to you,

Stig

Last edited by Pianoteqenthusiast (16-11-2023 19:39)

Reply by kencarlino

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

So delicate and beautiful, extremely well done!

Reply by 1MuddyDog

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

budo wrote:

beautiful performance!  i hadn't heard this piece by him before.  really enjoyed your interpretation.

Hey budo

Nice to hear from you. Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I found it only recently also - was looking for something completely unrelated on YouTube and this came up in the search results, hence a very happy coincidence for me

I enjoyed your "Turn out the Stars" - Bill Evans is always great to listen to. Good luck in the competition!

Keep well..

Reply by 1MuddyDog

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

”……..the work is quite neglected, and does not appear on concert platforms very often……”   Well, I like this as much as I like Arabesque 1, Childrens corner Goliwogs cakewalk, Clair de lune etc.

So Debussy-like   

So, what can I say - Such a beautiful interpretation. I Iike all your phrasing choices. Very musical playing. Exquisite Ballade by Debussy.
Thank you so much for sharing !

All the best to you,

Stig

Hey there Stig,

Good to hear from you as always - hope you are well! Thanks for your kind comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I only discovered it recently, and there aren't too many performances to learn from so it was difficult to build an intuition for the work and what it should sound like. Debussy is an amazing composer - he really turns the piano into a "sound canvas" and shows one capabilities that you never thought possible for the instrument.

I enjoyed your competition piece too - I liked all the sudden stops and the "kaleidoscope" change-overs in the video Good luck in the competition!

Keep well..

Reply by 1MuddyDog

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

kencarlino wrote:

So delicate and beautiful, extremely well done!

Hey there Ken,

Nice to hear from you, and thanks for your kind comment. This piece was a nice test for the Pianoteq piano - for Debussy, one's teacher requires one to do all kinds of intricate pedalling to blend things and create all the impressionistic effects that Debussy composed, so it was interesting to see if one could do those same kinds of things with Pianoteq - it did not disappoint !

Keep well..

Reply by J. Unruh

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

Hallo 1MuddyDog,

an interesting composition by Claude Debussy and a very beautiful interpretation.
Many thanks and all the best
J. Unruh

Translated by DeepL

Reply by 1MuddyDog

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

J. Unruh wrote:

Hallo 1MuddyDog,

an interesting composition by Claude Debussy and a very beautiful interpretation.
Many thanks and all the best
J. Unruh

Translated by DeepL

Hallo Herr Unruh

Vielen Dank für Ihren Kommentar, es freut mich daß Ihnen das Stück so gefallen hat

Herzliche Grüße..

Reply by paulvanbladel

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

Truly intelligent and sensible piano playing. Congratulations.

Reply by 1MuddyDog

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Re: Debussy Ballade L.70 (Pianoteq)

paulvanbladel wrote:

Truly intelligent and sensible piano playing. Congratulations.

Hey there Paul,

Thanks for your kind comment, it means a lot! I enjoy Debussy very much but don't find it easy to play at all because much of his piano music is quite abstract - one has to imagine what he was trying to depict in the music and then try to reproduce that on the piano, so that touch and pedalling are crucially important!

Keep well and thanks again..