Exactly. I was at a school concert the other week listening to some songs about being friendly to the planet or something, and thought "Had I composed those songs, I would have been too embarassed to play them to anyone - let alone submit them for publication"

I had a friend who could knock out Stock / Aitkin / Waterman style 80s pop numbers until the cows came home - she didn't seem to even think about it and just churned them out one after the other sitting at the piano.

Like you, she was miffed that they'd made millions and she hadn't!




Who condemed it? I don't like it and have difficulty seeing a lot of it as music. Same goes for a lot of house style stuff. However, I am definatley outside the target audience so whatever floats your boat as they say!

Like Le Onde to play, as a chill out...

also love playing Chopin nocturnes as a chill out...

...Debussy......

also Nyman 'Big Sleep' as a chill out....

...love Final Fantasy theme ' to Zanarkand'.....the teens love this and so does 40 something me......but the best way to chill out is jump in a pile of snow!!

I think it's difficult to put an umbrella over all a composers works as all being great/terrible e.t.c.

I love Bowie but hated his 'China Girl' stuff. Liked only his early stuff. I think it's the same with all music as the musicians/composers explore and experiment. Some stuff is great, some is terrible.

I know what you mean about Einaudi though. I do like Le Onde but can't be bothered with the others as it is too repetitive. So I've just picked one of his works...and lucky me to have a nice piece of music to ....'chill out' to!

The girl in question came over y'day for her first post-exam lesson, so I thought I'd run the Einaudi past her. It hadn't been something she'd requested - she claimed never to have heard of him - but as soon as I embarked on 'Le Onde' her eyes lit up: 'Oh, I want to play that!' - which is what it's all about really, isn't it. I played a few others to her too - we agreed they all sounded pretty repetitive - but I sent her off with the volume, and know she'll get going on it. With respect, Tom, I can't imagine any Haydn or Bach that would have had the same effect, though we'll get started on some Mendelssohn and poss Grieg after the holiday ( and Grade 5 theory!) . She's not quite up to Chopin Nocturnes yet; but given time..

Incidentally, my other post-Grade 5 student seems rather more like Jacob - pop, jazz, Pam W and all that have never appealed to him. He really enjoyed the exam Scarlatti, has now started Daquin's Le Coucou, and will really enjoy unravelling some Bach Inventions soon. I wouldn't dream of using Einaudi as a sort of fail-safe auto-response - it's far more interesting to tune into what will appeal to individual students.

I love Einaudi's compositions......

After a long day I can sit and play through a whole book of the things, refilling my glass of crisp dry white between each piece. Ahhhhhh

It is not technically demanding in any way and 'easy on the ear' - it is supposed to be.

My teenage girls love it because it is playable, dreamy and pulls at their heart-strings!

while reading music can be useful (and might be a requirement for GCSE music, i don't know), don't make the mistake of assuming you have to read music to be a musician. i get the feeling you're primarily interested in Western art music, in which case of course reading music would be a requirement for any serious achievement, but art music is not the only form of music; there are plenty of other styles, many of which don't involve reading (or writing) music notation, and they are not lesser forms of music because of it, nor are their practitioners lesser musicians. if music teaching in schools is starting to recognise this, that can only be a good thing.

BTW: i just had a listen to a couple of versions of Le Onde on youtube, and i have to say i quite like it. okay, so it might not be technically brilliant, and i'm sure there are several people on this forum who could knock out similar stuff for hours on end without thinking about it, but these are not things i care about when listening to music. i probably wouldn't pay money to see someone perform it, but as something to listen to, i found it quite enjoyable.

(then again, i also like trance, techno, hip-hop, traditional music, and various other styles which would probably be considered complete rubbish by many people here ;-)

'How the world has changed in 40 years! Are those days gone forever when every young girl wanted to play Sinding's Rustle of Spring, Mendelsohn's first Song Without Words, and the four-hands Arrival of the Queen of Sheba?

Good teaching is all about understanding your students and doing what is best for them. I would not dream of trying to tell you what you should and should not encourage (or allow) them to play. Whatever works! I learned to read on the Dandy, Beano, Beezer and Topper - followed by some books that I would be to embarrassed to name here. When I look at them now I fail to see any interest in them whatsoever. When I was 13 Shakespeare was a bore. Now he is quite wonderful.

If Einaudi encourages someone to get their fingers going - great - use it.

I actually believe that amongst the works of for example Haydn and Mozart there are plenty of pieces that should enthuse any teenage girl that enjoys 'Le Onde'. The adagios in Mozart's sonatas and sets of variations are without exception heart-rendingly beautiful. Then there are such pieces as the second movement of Haydn's sonata in F (Hob XVI/23). Not at all difficult to play. A simple yet beautiful melody, "Einaudi-esque" arpeggiated accompaniment. Straightforward harmonic progressions. But with a wealth of musical wit and subtlety behind the superficially simple exterior.

Maybe there is a faint echo of Chopin's Nocturnes in Einaudi?

I have already confessed my real reasons for not thinking much of Einaudi's music. There does not seem to be much to it - and I can produce similar stuff. Conversely I doubt that I shall ever have the musical understanding to create music that bears comparison with that of the 5 composers you have mentioned above. I am in awe of what they (and others) can create in sound.

In Einaudi's shoes - looking dispassionately at the compositions, I would never have thought them fit for publication nor dreamt of inflicting them on the rest of the world. I think it is basically a fraud. Charlatanism masquerading as art. A la Tracy Emin, or any number of recent Turner prizes. EInaudi also has the advantage that he looks every inch the tortured, sensitive artist. Basically I am jealous!!!

But who knows? Perhaps he is privately a supremely capable musician who could, if he wanted, write a piano sonata to rival Prokofiev's. But that he chooses not to because he knows just what appeals to his target audience. And is he doing something right? Perhaps there is something of value in his music that explains his success and popularity. I just cannot see what it is!

Yes. This is exactly what happened with my student and the reason we are playing Le Onde.

My point exactly

What on earth is wrong with Emin??

Not a great reply but I'm very tired and I doubt I'll win much support.

The fact that although she claims to be an artist, she can't draw?

Details!!!

That is like a musician claiming to be a musician even though s\he cannot do x, where x = whatever skill we think said muzo should be able to master.

Anybody know a mathematician who cannot add up?

Journalist who cannot spell? No, that is silly. Apparently hardly any of them can spell.

Yep - maths degrees are all x, y, z etc. - no numbers required!

The other night, on some-programme-I've-forgotten-the-name-of, Marcus du Sautoy (famous Oxford mathematician) managed to add up 7 and 8 to give 16.

Not being able to draw I can forgive. Claiming to be an artist I cannot.

MT could you possibly empty a space in your PM box?

(I am trying to pester you, ask you a serious piano playing related question, add an addendum to my previous PM )

Two people played Einaudi for their A level recital yesterday - I felt sorry for the examiner..having to listen to 30 minutes of Einaudi!

However, some of the pieces are quite nice to play!

I saw that too - it was on Horizon. Really strange how, although they claimed that the brains of the two men would work in the same way, the areas with greatest blood flow seemed so different!