Lisztian
CULTURAL WRITER: LISZTIAN
It is not just Liszt's pianistic brilliance that thrills me. Nor is it merely the brilliance and complexity of his personality. It's also his commitment to his own creative vision.
Liszt's performances, compositions and writings are all part of the same sustained intellectual effort. His effort caused me to make my own sustained intellectual effort. I have spent over eight years writing a book on him and his fellow Romantic pianists, Chopin and Mendelssohn.
The cards below highlight the different aspects of my engagement with Liszt's work.
Liszt Book Project
I've spent the last 8 years researching and writing an academic work on Liszt, his peers and the relationship between their views on music and those expressed in works of aesthetics. I am currently approaching academic publishers with this work.
Liszt & Obermann
Published in the Liszt Society Journal, my article 'Obermann on Obermann' asks whether the eponymous character from Senancour's novel Obermann would like the piano music inspired by the book in which he appears - Liszt's 'Vallée d’Obermann'.
Liszt Articles
I've written articles on my relationship with Liszt and his music, including pieces for The Journal of Music, and Cross-Eyed Pianist's website.
You can read my blog posts on Liszt here, and on the piano here.
New Article: 'Practising in Public'
The decision to stream my piano practice on my Twitch channel as part of my 100 day project has caused me to think carefully about the nature of private practice and public performance. My Twitch streams blurred the line between these two. I had beguun to practise privately in public.
In my article for the Cross-Eyed Pianist website I consider the different dynamics created by this breakdown of the private/public opposition.
In 2020 I took part in #the100dayproject.
My project: I set out to teach myself to play Chopin’s Nocturne no. 8 in D flat Major on the piano. What’s more, I did this live on my Twitch channel.
I love this piece of music and had wanted to learn it for some time. However, I’d always lacked the impetus. It was a little beyond my ability level so it was going to take dedicated practice – which means dedicated time – to master. What better motivation than The 100 Day Project?
For more info on the project, read my blog post here.