For more advanced students I would certainly recommend studies by Czerny, Cramer,
Clementi and Moszkowski before reaching out for Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff or
Scriabin.
Exercises have advantages over studies because they focus on a specific problem and
provide for unsparing methodical repetition of the same formula in both hands.
Realizing the musical content of the passage helps the pianist to find the right technical
approach.
Chapter 3 – Articulation and Phrasing
Control over the end of the sound is a powerful means of creating gradation of touch for
organists and harpsichordists. The ability to establish control of the cutoff moment
(executed by the fingers) enriches the variety of articulation.
In the serial compositions, articulation of individual notes is strictly governed by the
series, together with pitch, duration and dynamics.
Dealing with short motives, indicated by articulation slurs, the late nineteenth century
musical phrase is built from one slab of marble, while the eighteenth century one is built
from many small bricks.
Phrasing is the result of a delicate combination of dynamic shaping and timing.
The task of the performer is to identify the focal point, the ‘address’ of the phrase.
Disregarding the inner life of small melodic cells is particularly detrimental to Classical
and pre-Classical music.
Phrasing in twentieth century music is a complex issue given the vast range of existing
styles.
Generally speaking, the more complex and unfamiliar the language of the modern work,
the more the listener depends on the performer to provide guidance to him.
In a polyphonic texture it is imperative for the pianist to maintain the logic of phrasing in
each voice, not allowing any of them, even the leading one, to impose its phrasing on the
others.
With Bach, realizing the inner rhythmic structure is the most important task. The vast
majority of his phrasing is iambic, or anacrustic, going from the weak to the strong.
When applying the iambic phrasing, guard against stressing or “swelling” of the weak
beats. The point of this phrasing is to emphasize the forward motion of the phrase toward
the downbeat.