Sonata Secrets

Joe Hisaishi is known for his scores to Studio Ghibli films, like this spacious theme from Spirited Away. It features quartal harmonies with a slightly eerie vibe to start with, but settles after a while into a perfect lounge piece. There are a few different official versions with Hisiashi himself, and in this video we see where they differ. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/_tRSzrQL-xU

Grieg summons an army of trolls, who apparently become dwarfs in English, in this highly effective piano piece! With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/y9fPd3zOYPQ

Dario Marionelli composed the score to the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice, and the opening track Dawn is a nice piano piece in its own right that captures the air of classy salons. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/AsgXmgnpcGI

We look closely at the details of this colorful creation and find typical Debussy devices everywhere: pentatonic and whole-tone vibes, extended dominants, sharp contrasts, and even some polytonality!VIdeo: https://youtu.be/jEfo70SY4BM

Another gem from Grieg's Lyric pieces Op. 12, known as either "Elfin dance" or "Fairy dance". The Scandinavian elves are actually more like fairies or sprites than fantasy elves, and this music captures their short but energetic dance show succinctly!Video: https://youtu.be/6rEWZVMIC3k

The opening music of the film Forrest Gump (1994) is a lovely piano tune in almost total syncopation and with graceful lightness. In this video we look closer at the musical material. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/NFtNL85r0Fc

Rachmaninoff took Kreisler's beloved Liebesleid for violin and turned it into a virtuosic piano showpiece full of crunchy chromaticism and awkward chords :) With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/EAKBxLgu560

We look closer at Yann Tiersen's (first) waltz for Amélie to see how he crafts four rounds of beautiful piano textures based on the same chords. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/-jQSSoEygBE

Yann Tiersen wrote one of the most memorable pianistic scores for the French film "Amélie" in 2001. Using only simple means of carefully crafted melodic ideas over repeated textures makes this Comptine a modern, minimalist classic. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn.Video: https://youtu.be/M41GA-rxkHQ

The Sugar Plum Fairy is sneaking around in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker with the help of celeste bells and staccato chords, but it all works fine to play on a piano too after the composer's own arrangement. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/X-J7eP-RLMM

Revered as one of the most powerful and difficult etudes of the romantic repertoire, Scriabin's in D-sharp minor is impressively cohesive, with every phrase leading seamlessly over to the next over vast arpeggios, bass pedal points and poignant harmonic moves. Analysis with pianist Henrik Kilhamn. (Apologies for the audio quality - somehow my external audio setup didn't record the analysis part so I had to use audio from the keyboard camera which isn't as good and harder to mix with its autolevels.) Video: https://youtu.be/oxZhxC_xDPo

No. 6 is Debussy's first book of Preludes is called "Des pas sur la neige" or "Footsteps in the Snow", and paints a poetic picture with repeating rhythms and colorful chords, all the time while looking for a way forward. It's hard to put this type of evocative art into exact words, but we can nevertheless look closer at the musical material to see a bit more of what's going on. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/m3eNCDNiGts

Edward Elgar wrote his famous "Salut d'Amour" as an engagement present to his fiancée Alice Caroline Robert. The original conception of the music was probably for violin and piano, but that didn't stop Elgar from writing a version for piano solo: a beautiful song without words and a great encore. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/JDJdgQ3G-o4

My take on the newly discovered Chopin (?) Waltz in A minor (Morgan Library, 2024) Video: https://youtu.be/BhIyT79Y_CI

This is one of the most interesting piano sonatas of the early 20th century. Scriabin pushes the boundaries both in musical expression, harmonic coherence and structural integration in this amazing work, so full of life and creative spirit. It's also nice to be able to do a substantial analysis play-through when I have the music in my hands, since I've just recorded it for my upcoming solo album Scriabiniana! Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube. Video: https://youtu.be/pLq8wHK8mYY

This is a great piece for beginners who have started to play separately with the hands. Robert Schumann wrote the whole "Album for the Young" Op. 68 for his three daughters to learn piano properly, and still to this day it's a great educational resource for getting started with a romantic conception of piano playing. Henrik Kilhamn takes you through the short piece in this video. Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube. Video: https://youtu.be/2WY8-XrjRDU

This poignant prelude from Chopin's set of Op. 28 is one page and about 2,5 minutes long. That's almost the length of a modern pop song, but it still contains more interesting musical ideas than most in that genre. It's a great piece for intermediate players, and here I give some playing tips before going through the piece again to inspect those ideas further. Pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Update dec 2024: Sorry for lagging behind in podcast uploads; I'm catching up with a few episodes already published on youtube. Video: https://youtu.be/Pkb5Lk2UCqs

Henrik Kilhamn presents this lesser known Funeral March from a romantic piano sonata, by a composer who admired Chopin but went on to write his own name in music history as well. His first sonata, Op. 6, ends with this very solemn but gripping statement after major struggles of previous movements, marking it a tragedy of great proportion. Can you guess the composer? Video: https://youtu.be/icrkAmN-rQo

In this video we'll look up the beautiful musical number "Married Life" from the Disney/Pixar movie Up (2009), scored by Michael Giacchino. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/yDglADz8GlA Sheet Music (My arrangement): https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1551158/Product.aspx

Pianist Henrik Kilhamn points out five things about this iconic theme song written by Danny Elfman. Video: https://youtu.be/n8Jo48PtRsU Sheet music (My arrangement): https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1550901/Product.aspx

This is a real showstopper of a piano piece, composed by a young and ambitious Schubert in 1822. The seed of much of the work's material comes from the song "The Wanderer" he had written earlier; he used a melody for variations in the slow second movement and kept the same rhythm for the other fast movements too! Maybe there it feels more like running than wandering, but it's really a fantastic work full of energy and sparkling melodies. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/jTE569yQ9EM

This is a valuable major Liszt work from his first book of "Years of Pilgrimage". It's quite thoughtful and introverted music, dealing with psychological matter from pioneer romantic figure Senancour's novel Obermann about a young man goes out in nature to seek answers to life's hard questions. But over the span of this 14 mins long musical essay, you also see the amazing view from the mountain tops, full of hope and glory. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/dDiJJZZKxnk

Scriabin's epic sonata no. 3 is one of only two with a more classical approach of four movements, before he ventured further into more integrated forms. However, you can already here savour everything that makes Scriabin great - soaring melodies, expansive textures over the whole piano, tightly knit counterpoint with individual voices and ever-unfolding chromaticism to name a few important ones. Pianist Henrik Kilhamn guides you through the composition with its four movements, with presentations interlaced with musical excerpts, the score and some analytical insights. Video: https://youtu.be/FEHzUgy5y2o

Rachmaninoff's suites for two pianos are quite unique in the classical repertoire - a musical language from the height of the romantic period but breaking new ground by utilizing two separate keyboards and pianists for some extraordinary textures! Pianist Henrik Kilhamn guides you through the composition with its four movements, with presentations interlaced with musical excerpts, the score and some analytical insights. The recording used in the video is from a performance with Henrik Kilhamn and Svetla Tsvetkova. Video: https://youtu.be/sLG17eEjkgU

Enrique Granados is one of the most prominent Spanish composers that used the national cultural heritage in his art music to open up new ways of writing for piano in early 20th century. Here we look at one of his most famous pieces, from the suite "Goyescas", inspired by the great art by Goya. Video: https://youtu.be/T4IfCvYlzlE

The Polonaise provided Chopin a ground for writing grand pieces in dance form. One of the most emblematic, the "Military" Polonaise feels more like a victorious parade rather than conflict and war. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/x-R6flahwqI Thumbnail image: Fanfare 'Korps Nationale Reserve' - Eksjö (Zweden) 2022 This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

Chopin's collection of Mazurkas is an important manifestation of his Polish identity, comprising a range of musical elements from the traditional folk dance. In this video we'll look closer at the somewhat peculiar and haunting Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 no. 4. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/znXaTwHMvj4

Henrik Kilhamn looks into Chopin's famous Prelude in C minor, a miniature piece just like a poem, that rings with heavy tolls of funeral bells. Video: https://youtu.be/cgqAH4lig4k

Henrik Kilhamn explores Chopin's first, embematic Nocturne in B-flat minor. Video: https://youtu.be/j5sOlWPyAvg Easy Arangement: https://sonatasecrets.gumroad.com/l/chopin-nocturne-9-1

Alongside Einaudi and Michael Nyman, Glass' music aims to carry the torch of instrumental music into the modern musical world of a steady pulse and coherent harmony. His minimalist style uses repetition of potent musical ideas as a foundational device for setting up hypnotic musical soundscapes. In this video we take a deeper look at the Opening movement of his 1982 album Glassworks, which is a solo piano piece. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/QEadFTZ71aQ

J. S. Bach proves his compositional genius in the Goldberg Variations. A bass line with implied harmony of 32 bars provides the basis on which Bach creates the world in a piece of music, over 30 variations following the initial Aria. In this video we go through this bass material in depth to see how its harmonic movement enables the piano to sing so beautifully over it. With Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/8AU7d5hhlwQ

Béla Bartók's six Romanian Folk Dances introduces exciting rhythms, modes and harmonic setups that we are not that used to, coming from a classical perspective. They are very short and make for great intermediate pieces, and this is a long lecture going into details on all six with pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/GwtCWrx6_SI

Come along when we explore the harmonic journey of Bach's Prelude no. 2 in C minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier. Since there are very few markings other than the notes, pianists different choices create different interpretations of the same music. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/6sQHahneCGQ

Scriabin takes the standard Waltz form and makes it his own with the help of floating polyrhythms, tender melodies, dramatic surges and exploratory harmony in this marvellous composition. The piece was a request by my Patreon sponsor D. E. Frez. With Henrik Kilhamn, pianist. Video: https://youtu.be/IYaEsjTmEvo

A real gem to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the great Rachmaninoff. This is his way of basically writing a Nocturne, albeit under the wider-encompassing title of a Prelude. But compared to Chopin and the first generation of romantics, Rachmaninoff utlizises the modern piano to its full extent with breathing swellings of sound and aching chromatic harmony, put together to perfection. Henrik Kilhamn, piano. Video: https://youtu.be/zdAF-BOgQ2E

Beethoven's two sonatas in Op. 49 are usually called "Leichte Sonaten" or "Easy Sonatas", and are perfect pieces for early intermediate students who want to become more familiar in the classical style. In this video we check out the music of the 1st movement in Op. 49 no. 2 in G major, with a lot of consideration of the governing Sonata form structure. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/wMMP50y691g

One of Schubert's rare short pieces and true gem: the Moment Musical no. 3 in the set of six, published the last year of his life. The is a great example of his personal musicalstyle that wanders freely through different tonal territories. Video: https://youtu.be/GBUQ7Qdpltg

Op. 62 no. 6 of Mendelssohn's Lieder Ohne Worte has the accompanying title "Frühlingslied" or "Spring Song," and the popularity of the music is testament to its evocative power of summoning those spring feelings! In this video we take a closer look at the playful melody that's constantly undergirded by quick and soft arpeggios traded between the hands. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/Nfxk3dCMaVA

Felix Mendelssohn wrote songs for piano: Lieder Ohne Worte = Songs Without Words. The very first one of all the volumes (Op. 19 no. 1) is a perfect piece for practicing sound balance in the right hand, and the music is just fabulous. You need this kind of sound balance/hand weight for playing these works - Beethoven Moonlight Sonata mvt I - Schubert Impromptu no. 3 in Gb major - Chopin Funeral March - Debussy Claire de lune (fast section) - Ravel Pavane for a dead princess ...and countless more pieces. So I can recommend this piece as a study to lay proper technique ground work within real and great musical context! Video: https://youtu.be/VedGgsxgqTg

No. 4 of the six movements of "Children's Corner" is the toughest to play, but paints a beautiful winter landscape with exciting energies in the intricate textures. With Henrik Kilhamn, piano. Video: https://youtu.be/3hQQhjspo24

Debussy spins up the perfect patterns for getting lost in a pleasant daydream. He was actually not a big fan of the piece himself, it was written when he was younger and had not yet reached the modern maturity we also associate with his name. But as piano music, the Rêverie is simply a wonderful delight! Video: https://youtu.be/fLGtT23LefE

The middle Intermezzo in the Op. 117 set is more restless than the outer ones, but still shows much nostalgia and introspection. Here we taker a proper look at the original and pianistic textures that makes this piece flow so seductively. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/rf5vdR4fqys

Brahms Intermezzo in Eb major, Op. 117 no. 1 is a kind of sweet lullaby but with a disturbingly dark middle section. What is that about? The gorgeous music draws you in with its lush harmonies and rich textures, and tells a compelling but unclear story. With Henrik Kilhamn, piano. Video: https://youtu.be/95nEeUymyaY

In this episode we'll see how Tchaikovsky summons the exotic arabian dancers in the Nutcracker ballet, using modal mixture, oriental ornaments and meandering structural segments over a rhythmic ostinato. With your analysis guide Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/9xoCT93XfjY

Debussy paints a musical depiction of dead leaves with dissonant harmonies and eerie and fragmented lines in his "Feuilles mortes," Prelude no. 2 from the second volume of preludes. It shows a lot of his typical features such as sequential rather than functional harmony, block chords, and a maximal use of different piano registers. With Henrik Kilhamn, piano. The piece was a Patreon request by L. von Geist. Video: https://youtu.be/pWmycfBX2zg

Tchaikovsky made the piano arrangement to his "Nutcracker" ballet music himself. The March is one of his most known tunes that immediately summons the Christmas spirit with its high energy marching features. Any ballet production tells the story of toy soldiers coming to life, but in this video we look at the music only. Henrik Kilhamn, piano. Video: https://youtu.be/PrZ15Lo2s6A

Faurés mature style explores the chromatic depths of counterpoint while retaining a radiant surface, and his 6th Nocturne in D flat major, Op. 63, is a great example that holds together three disparate ideas beautifully. This video is on the advanced side of analysis on the channel, e.g. some concepts are used freely in order to get more complex points through. If you don't know them this should still give some good context for getting acquainted with them (things like cadence, sequence, appoggiatura etc.) The piece was a Patreon request by S. Lam. Video: https://youtu.be/K5emh7NdGYE

Gabriel Fauré's Pavane is one of those pieces that just speaks directly to your heart with an air of nobility intact. The composition is a masterclass in coherent melodic structure and the use of coloring notes in harmony. Video: https://youtu.be/9ucfVYrbCDg

"Vogel als Prophet" (Bird as prophet) is a peculiar piece in Robert Schumann's Waldszenen suite Op. 82. On closer inspection we find the most prominent feature to be arpeggios leading to quite dissonant appoggiaturas. As often with Schumann, he strikes a balance between the playful and the profound. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/ic7cXHujqA8

Chopin's 1st Ballade in G minor has a special place in the hearts of many pianists and piano lovers. It has many characters who all speak directly and poignantly, and Chopin lets them evolve organically within the Ballade. It's a story without any explicit drama, but with intense dramatic content nevertheless. And it's especially one chord that sets the tone. With pianist Henrik Kilhamn. Video: https://youtu.be/7kfJvpODcXM

The piece that starts Waldszenen (Forest scenes) is "Eintritt", an Entrance into the forest. The pleasant melody shifts between the hands but for some reason Schumann has written most of the piece like it's metrically offset within the 4/4 time signature. Video: https://youtu.be/s7OI-OcUVko