Pianism

Fluid pianism. It was as if

he sat down at a waterfall, it flowed

over his fingers and they wrestled

With the disappearing water; the piano’s

frame and strings reappeared

from moment to moment in the busy water

Then disappeared in a sudsy flux of brilliant

current, or were marked across by some

new breeze of tributary torrent but

The sheerwhite style was creaselessly present:

something in the speed; his hair flowed too

down to his shoulders and was a part

Of the music seen as well as heard,

its sound matched the brilliance

of his hair-gloss and the white foam

Flowed over the piano's terraced ledges

down his legs and over the stage

into the audience soaking them with Liszt.

PETER REDGROVE

Benediction

for Andrei Navrazov

‘A state of pentatonic intoxication’ –

So Alfred Brendel describes the listener’s

Condition at the close of a piece by Liszt –

To gain which, so I think at daylight's end

(Chill glass in hand, and through another glass

The garden), one needn't actually be pissed.

‘Master of the extended melodic line’ –

Yes, after stubborn decades I bend the knee;

My old heart moved, though great with jealousy.

Intense, the fruit-trees’ reds and indigos

Appear this year, the summer even more

Fleeting, because of flowing skies of grey.

Epoch when virtuosity must be

Transformed to sweet and melting simplicity.

ROY FULLER

A Music Lesson

Kröte's not well. His mood is bloody.

A pupil he can hardly stand

attacks a transcendental study.

—Lord, send me one real pianist.

Soul of a horse! He shapes her hand

and breathes apologies to Liszt.

‘Reflect: in order to create

we must know how to. Think about

the balance between height and weight,

shoulder to fingertip; a hanging

bridge, resilient, reaching out

with firm supports. Let's have no banging!

‘Playing begins inside your brain.

Music's much more than flesh and bone.

Relax, and listen. If you strain

your muscles here and here contract.

You get a stiff, unlovely tone.’

His pupil says, ‘Is that a fact?’