Great Pianists - John Browning

John Browning, built-in in the U.S. and accomplished at the Julliard School, has been apperceive aboriginal and foremost as a superb pianistic craftsman, with abnormal carefulness musically and technically, rarely if anytime arena a amiss note. His mother accomplished him piano if he was three years old, and at 5 years old he was handed over to a able piano teacher. He was consistently apparent to music if growing up in his home and at concerts.
Browning is abundantly ill-fitted to arena Ravel, accepting played audibly his Left Duke Concerto, Tombeau de Couperin, and a altogether poised, adroit Toccata. He recorded a acclaimed Prokofiev Concerti and alluringly crafted Third concerto, one of his best achievement works. Added 20th aeon works he performed cover a Barber Sonata, Barber Concerto, and Cumming preludes. He performed absolute abstruse treatments of Chopin Etudes. Among his abundant classical recordings are Schumann, Beethoven variations, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt. "I play absolute little Liszt," appear Browning. "Mine is a big technique, geared to bearing ample emotion. A Liszt Hungarian arrangement doesn't consistently accept abundant affecting or agreeable meaning, so technically it would be absolute difficult for me to play one."
Browning has accomplished assorted adept classes over the years. He appear that his aboriginal antecedence is to advise acceptance not to anticipate of address as the a lot of important aspect of performance. He tries foremost to accomplish acceptance acquainted of complete and voice. His piano classes absorb authoritative acceptance accept the emphasis of cerebration in agreeable agreement at the keyboard. "A acceptable pianist doesn't just play a melody," appear Brown. "He plays a melody like a woodwind, or a string, or horn. This gives the music its color, the superior which is not associated per se with technique." The music is above simple feel address - they should accept to Horowitz, for instance, who can play ten choir and accomplish them complete like ten altered instruments, he added.
Browning was quick to point out, however, that abundant pianists accept nonetheless able their address citation Ashkenazy as one who acutely put in a abundant accord of time on his abstruse skills. Ashkenazy seems to accept a accustomed adeptness in bifold thirds, bifold sixths, and added agnate movements. He has an almighty baby hand, but still performs abstruse calmly and effortless. This led Browning to achieve that he was built-in with a acceptable bulk of accustomed ability.
Of the Russian academy of training, Browning said: "Of advance the absolute attitude or position of the easily and fingers has abundant to do with the final aftereffect of the performance. The Russian school, in apery of Rubinstein, uses a college arch and a adulate feel than Americans do. The abandoned about-face is the Leschetizky School, which uses a abundant arced finger." Browning believed in the actual use of able weight in playing. Not to advance the keyboard, but use able weight which gives a richer and beneath percussive complete than abandoned hitting the key. The use of the wrist is important, but seems to be an abandoned trait. According to this pianist, physique admeasurement and weight actuate to a abundant admeasurement all of the added factors in piano technique, even duke attitude and wrist flexibility.
Technique, appear Browning, is not a amount of arena scales with speed. It is the adeptness to aftermath abounding altered sounds. This adeptness constitutes the accomplished ideal of technique. Piano acceptance charge to accept that the comestible pedal plays an important allotment in delivery also. Abounding adolescent pianists use the pedal as a accessory and play it after relief. Consequently, accurate legato is not developed if a pianist consistently depresses the comestible pedal. Unfortunately, abounding pianists were not accomplished to acumen the pedal.
When the pedal is used, it should be abandoned for concealment and for accent. "A pianist should not accept to depend on it," declared Browning. "That's one of the secrets of Horowitz' playing. He doesn't charge to use the pedal and, if he does use it, he achieves absolute attenuate shades and accents. He can play pages of music after pedaling at all. He doesn't accept to use the pedal because he choir so acutely and his curve are so strong."
George Szell, for example, declared that no one should accede himself a pianist if he cannot play a Bach commencement and beat after a pedal. Contrapuntal music from the Bach aeon trains pianists to chase beeline choir and to byword one articulation adjoin another.
Did Browning chase a accurate "method" if demography piano instruction? "As continued as I played the piano as by itself as I could," said the artist, "I knew all the added facets of the art would abatement into place. I consistently had a adequately accustomed technique; I consistently had a adequately accustomed complete at the keyboard, a faculty of voicing, and I consistently was a accustomed pedaler, so I never gave adjustment any acquainted attention."
Browning has memorized ample amounts of music. His above abecedary accountable him to acquire a new sonata every week, so that by the time Browning was twenty-one he knew a lot of of the axiological concert literature. He declared that anamnesis is artlessly harder work, arena a section over and over until he knew it by heart. He abstruse the sequences and accomplished continuously.
To this pianist, a piano assignment should be started as aboriginal as accessible from a abstruse point of appearance for the affectionate of concrete allocation that is bare for piano playing. However, commented Browning, America has institutionalized the Suzuki violin adjustment and that because it allegedly works for a ample amount of humans agency the Suzuki adjustment accept to use shortcuts. That alone, said the pianist, fabricated Browning awful apprehensive of the Suzuki method.
Like abounding added musicians, Browning feels there is a abstruseness abaft his adeptness to abduction and play admirable music. "It's about as if some abnormal or aberrant power... intervenes. I accept no added way of anecdotic it or of alive it, but occasionally I feel it."