Piano Hours | Informal Non-Public Performances at Tea Time

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📖 "When you play, always play as though a master listened to you." Robert Schumann

📖 "Instrumental music is the soul of music."
Anton Rubinstein Music and its Masters

📖 “It is often perfection in little things which distinguishes the performance of the great pianist from that of the novice. The novice usually manages to get the so-called main points, but he does not work for the little niceties of interpretation which are almost invariably the defining characteristic of the interpretations of the real artist—that is, the performer who has formed the habit of stopping at nothing short of his highest ideal of perfection."
Ferruccio Busoni in James Francis Cooke's Great Pianists on Piano Playing

From Latest Recordings

Ruimin at Steinway Hall, London Marylebone (25/2/2023)
Robert Fuchs
Jugend-Album Op. 47
Banges Herzlein (Sad at Heart)

📖 Consider FANNY BLOOMFIELD-ZEISLER'S ADVICE ON PIANO PERFORMANCE:
“To the young man or woman who would learn ‘The Secret of Public Appearance’ I would say:
1. Look deeply into your natural qualifications. Use every morsel of judgment you possess to endeavor to determine whether you are talented or simply ‘clever’ at music. Court the advice of unbiased professional musicians and meditate upon the difficulties leading to a successful career, and do not decide to add one more musician to the world until you are confident of your suitability for the work. Remember that this moment of decision is a very important time and that you may be upon the threshold of a dangerous mistake. Remember that there are thousands of successful and happy teachers for one successful virtuoso.
2. After you have determined to undertake the career of the concert performer let nothing stand in the way of study, except the consideration of your health. Success with a broken-down body and a shattered mind is a worthless conquest. Remember that if you wish a permanent position you must be thoroughly trained in all branches of your art.
3. Avoid charlatanism and the kind of advertisement that will bring you notoriety at the sacrifice of your self-respect and the respect of your best friends. Remember that real worth is, after all, the thing that brings enduring fame.
4. Study the public. Seek to find out what pleases it, but never lower the standards of your art. Read the best literature. Study pictures. Travel. Broaden your mind. Acquire general culture.
5. Be careful of your stage deportment. Endeavor to do nothing at the keyboard that will emphasize any personal eccentricity. Always be sincere and true to your own nature, but within these limits try to make a pleasing impression.
6. Always be your own severest critic. Be not easily satisfied with yourself. Hitch your wagon to a star. Let your standard of perfection be the very highest. Always strive to reach that standard. Never play in public a piece that you have not thoroughly mastered. There is nothing more valuable than public confidence. Once secured, it is the greatest asset an artist can possess."
In James Francis Cooke's Great Pianists on Piano Playing

📖 Consider FANNY BLOOMFIELD-ZEISLER'S ADVICE ON PRACTISING PIANO:
“1. Concentrate during every second of your practice. To concentrate means to bring all your thinking powers to bear upon one central point with the greatest possible intensity. Without such concentration nothing can be accomplished during the practice period. One hour of concentrated thinking is worth weeks of thoughtless practice. It is safe to say that years are being wasted by students in this country who fail to get the most out of their practice because they do not know how to concentrate. A famous thinker has said: ‘The evidence of superior genius is the power of intellectual concentration.’
2. Divide your practice time into periods of not more than two hours. You will find it impossible to concentrate properly if you attempt to practice more than two hours at a time. Do not have an arbitrary program of practice work, for this course is liable to make your work monotonous. For one who practices four hours (and that is enough for almost any student), one hour for purely technical work, one hour for Bach, and two hours for pieces is to be recommended.
3, In commencing your practice, play over your piece once or twice before beginning to memorize. Then, after working through the entire composition, pick out the more difficult passages for special attention and reiteration.
4. Always practice slowly at first. This is simply another way of telling the pupil to concentrate. Even after you have played your piece at the required speed and with reasonable confidence that it is correct, never fail to go back now and then and play it at the speed at which you learned it. This is a practice which many virtuosos follow. Pieces that they have
played time and time again before enthusiastic audiences are re-studied by playing them very slowly. This is the only real way to undo mistakes that are bound to creep into one’s performance when pieces are constantly played in a rapid tempo.
5. Do not attempt to practice your whole piece at first. Take a small section or even a phrase. If you take a longer section than say sixteen bars, you will find it difficult to avoid mistakes. Of course, when the piece is mastered you should have all these sections so unified that you can play the entire composition smoothly and without a break.
6. First memorize mentally the section you have selected for study, and then practice it. If you do not know it well enough to practice it from memory, you have not grasped its musical content, but are playing mechanically.
7. Occasionally memorize backwards, that is, take the last few measures and learn them thoroughly, then take the preceding measures and continue in this way until the whole is mastered. Even after you have played the piece many times, this process often compels a concentration that is beneficial.
8. When studying, remember that practice is simply a means of cultivating habits. If you play correctly from the start you will form good habits; if you play carelessly and faultily your playing will grow continually worse. Consequently, play so slowly and correctly from the start that you may insure the right fingering, phrasing, tone, touch (staccato, legato, portamento, etc.), pedaling and dynamic effects. If you postpone the attainment of any of these qualities to a later date they are much more difficult to acquire.
9. Always listen while you are playing. Music is intended to be heard. If you do not listen to your own playing it is very probable that other people will not care to listen to it either.
10. Never attempt to play anything in public that you have just finished studying. When you are through working upon a piece, put it away to be musically digested, then after some time repeat the same process, and again the third time, when your piece will have become a part of yourself,”
In James Francis Cooke's Great Pianists on Piano Playing

Piano Hours - Performance Workshops

Piano Hours are informal non-public performances in a friendly atmosphere. Only pupils who participate actively are present, so there is no actual audience other than people who are all doing the same thing by playing to each other.

The structure of piano hours is always the same - pupils not only play but also discuss performances, learning to listen analytically and critically with the view of helping others. Despite this the atmosphere is friendly because pupils are not encouraged to be competitive. It is a good opportunity to find new friends with the same interests or catch up with people who are already friends. Piano hours are not concerts but opportunities to run through new repertoire, sometimes even play the same repertoire in several piano hours. Pupils are encouraged to perform new repertoire as soon as feasibly possible and then continue practising the pieces for public performances when applicable. This is a motivation which also significantly propels learning progress in a safe environment. There are no marks or prizes for piano hours as they are opportunities to practise performance rather than assessment events. We used to have tea, coffee and cake but since the events have shifted to Steinway Hall, Peregrine Pianos etc beverages are no longer part of them.

Piano hours used to be run only for adult pupils because adult learners have a lot less performance opportunities as they embark on or continue their musical journey through beginnings, grades, diplomas etc and feel more isolated in their learning than kids. But since the pandemic shut down much of what used to offered to children now piano hours are open to participants of all ages. Children play in their own slot at the beginning without a general discussion.

Piano hours have been taking place regularly since 2011. The current participation fee is £20.

Historic Piano Hour Schedule

23 June 2024

PIANO HOUR - PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of piano solo and duo works by William Gillock, Alexander Reinagle, Marjorie Helyer, Anton Diabelli, Hermann Berens, Muzio Clementi, Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Antonin Dvorak, Jules Massenet, Camille Stamaty, Georg Handel, Henryk Pachulski, Serge Prokofiev, Astor Piazzolla as well as beginners' pieces from the Faber series.

2024.6.23 Piano Hour Screenshot

28 April 2024

PIANO HOUR - PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of piano solo and duo works by Alexandre Tansman, William Gillock, Ferdinand Beyer, Carl Czerny, Alexander Reinagle, A. Arensky, Henry Lemoine, Fritz Spindler, Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, Antoine Marmontel, Henri Herz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Jules Massenet, Camille Stamaty, Georg Handel, Henryk Pachulski as well as beginners' pieces from the Faber series.

Piano Hour Screenshot 2024.4

16 March 2024

PIANO HOUR - PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of works by William Gillock, Béla Bartok, Carl Czerny, Stephen Heller, Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mikhail Glinka, Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Jules Massenet, Johannes Brahms, Camille Stamaty as well as beginners' pieces from the Faber series.

Screenshot 2024-03-19 at 02.34.59

27 January 2024

PIANO HOUR

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of works by C.H. Wilton, William Gillock, Nikolayev, Joseph Haydn, Béla Bartok, Franz Schubert, Carl Czerny, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Camille Erlanger, Serge Bortkiewicz, Francis Poulenc, Johannes Brahms, Camille Stamaty as well as beginners' pieces from Hal Leonard, Alfred's and Faber series.

Screenshot 2024-01-27 at 22.56

11 November 2023

PIANO HOUR

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of works by C.H. Wilton, William Gillock, Nikolayev, Alec Rowley, Joseph Haydn, Edvard Grieg, Franz Schubert, Carl Czerny, Henri Herz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Heinrich Hofmann, Camille Erlanger, Gabriel Fauré, Serge Bortkiewicz, Scarlatti, Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy

2023.11.11 Piano Hour Collage

8 July 2023

PIANO HOUR

At Peregrine Pianos, London

With performances of solo piano and violin works by Oskar Rieding, Friedrich Seitz, William Gillock, Daniel Gottlob Türk, Marjorie Helyer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Reinecke, Alexandre Tansman, Litovko, Alexander Gretchaninov, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, John Field, Franz Liszt, Serge Bortkiewicz and piano duets by Leopold Godowsky etc.

2023.7.8 Piano Hour Collage

3 June 2023

PIANO HOUR

At Steinway Hall, London

With performances of solo piano works by Carl Czerny, William Gillock, Daniel Gottlob Türk, Jo. Georg Witthauer, Carl Reinecke, Alexander Reinagle, Robert Fuchs, Jean Sibelius, Edvard Grieg (from Lyric Pieces), Antoine Marmontel, Serge Bortkiewicz, Alexandre Tansman and piano duets by Eugen Scholz, Anton Diabelli, Cornelius Gurlitt, Robert Schumann.

1 April 2023

PIANO HOUR

At Steinway Hall, London

With performances of works by Carl Czerny, Béla Bartók (from Mikrokosmos), Carl Reinecke, Robert Fuchs, Felix Mendelssohn (from Lieder one Worte / Songs without Words), Edvard Grieg (from Lyric Pieces), Serge Bortkiewicz, Alexandre Tansman, Walter Carroll, Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt and J.B. Duvernoy.

2023.4.1 Piano Hour Collage

25 February 2023

PIANO HOUR

At Steinway Hall, London

With performances of works by Carl Czerny, Henri Herz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antoine Marmontel, Béla Bartók (from Mikrokosmos), Carl Reinecke, Robert Fuchs, Franz Schubert (from sonatas), John Field (from Nocturnes), Felix Mendelssohn (from Lieder one Worte / Songs without Words), Edvard Grieg (from Lyric Pieces and Poetic Tone Pictures), Ludvig Schytte (Nocturne and Arietta), Merkel, Serge Bortkiewicz etc.

19 November 2022

PIANO HOUR

At Steinway Hall, London

With performances of works by Franz Schubert (from impromptus), John Field (from Nocturnes), Ludvig Schytte, Felix Mendelssohn (from Lieder one Worte / Songs without Words), Daniel Gottlob Türk, William Gillock etc.

15 October 2022

PIANO HOUR

At Steinway Hall, London

With performances of works by Franz Schubert (from impromptus), John Field (from Nocturnes), Béla Bartók, Carl Czerny, Johann Sebastian Bach (from inventions), Felix Mendelssohn (from Lieder one Worte / Songs without Words), Ludvig Schytte, Edvard Grieg (from Lyric Pieces) etc.

19 November 2021

PIANO HOUR

It has been a very long time - no one expected the pandemic to last as long as it has lasted already. When the lessons were all transferred to online formats in March 2020 the Piano Hours were put on hold. I waited to have these events in a normal live setting in a three-dimensional space with human presence. And after many disrupted attempts to organise a live Piano Hour again this year it has finally happened! As difficult as it is to motivate people to move as before it is worth it!

This time we had performances and discussions of works of Carl Czerny (from School of Mechanism), Ludwig Schytte (from Modern Studies Op. 68), John Field (Nocturnes), Ludwig van Beethoven (from Sonatas), Rachmaninov (Elegy) and Mendelssohn (from Lieder one Worte / Songs without Words) and more.

We are looking forward to the next Piano Hour which is meant to take place in December 2021. Announcements will follow.

3 June 2018

Internal Piano Hour

Piano Hour in Hither Green

8 October 2017

Internal Piano Hour
Piano Hour with works by Czerny, JS Bach, CPE Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, Kuhlau, Tchaikovsky, Grieg etc.

May 2017

Internal Piano Hour

Piano Hour in Hither Green

13 November 2016

Internal Piano Hour

3 July 2016

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Bartok, Tansman, Schytte, Czerny, Tchaikovsky, Burgmüller, Bach, Hummel, Gretchaninov, Glier etc

15 May 2016

Internal Piano Hour with works by Czerny, Glier, Gretchaninov, Hummel, Chopin, Corelli, Kuhlau, Beyer, Gurlitt, Helyer, Grieg, Kabalevsky, Bartok, Fuchs etc.

20 March 2016

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Kullak, Czerny, Kuhlau, Pachulsky, Handel, Gliere, Glinka, Beyer, Gurlitt, Gretchaninov, Fuchs etc.

21 February 2016

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Grieg, Czerny, Gurlitt, Bach, Kuhlau, Kullak, Beyer, Burgmüller, Amani, Handel, Glinka etc.

10 December 2015

Internal Piano Hour

8 November 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Gurlitt, Chopin, Wagner, Field, Beyer, L. Mozart, Berkovitch, Maikapar and some preliminary repertoire.

18 October 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Czerny, Beethoven, Bach, Tansman, Gurlitt, Scarlatti, Schytte, Prokofiev, Chopin, Haydn, Glinka, Wagner, Field, Amani, L. Mozart and Beyer.

3 July 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Tchaikovsky, Gurlitt, L. Mozart, Handel, some preliminary repertoire etc.

7 June 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Field, Bach/Souza Lima, Tansman, Gurlitt, Prokofiev, Grieg, Bartok etc.

8 March 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Czerny, Kuhlau, Bach, Schubert, Grechaninov, Beyer, Grieg, Gurlitt, Schytte, Tansman and some preliminary repertoire etc.

1 February 2015

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Czerny, Clementi, Kabalevsky, Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, some preliminary repertoire etc.

11 December 2014

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Chopin, Czerny, Bach, Busoni, some preliminary repertoire etc.

12 November 2014

Internal Piano Hour
With works by Beyer, Kabalevsky, Pachulsky, Bach, Chopin, Scarlatti, Reinhold, some preliminary repertoire etc.

6 November 2014

Internal Piano Hour

21 August 2014

Internal Piano Hour

6 July 2014

Internal Piano Hour

23 March 2013

Internal Piano Hour

8 December 2012

Internal Piano Hour

10 November 2012

Internal Piano Hour

7 July 2012

Internal Piano Hour

28 April 2012

Internal Piano Hour

28 January 2012

Internal Piano Hour

12 November 2011

Internal Piano Hour