a piece by Mozart

[franksolich]

The other night, the stars, planets, sun, and moon all aligned exactly right--a very rare, almost-never, occurrence--and with the assistance of sound conduction through the skeletal structure, I believe for the first time in my life I "heard" a piano being played as hearing people hear it.

It wasn't flat at all; it had depth, and sparkled.

The piece was Mozart's "Twelve Variations on a French Song."

Three of them could've been omitted, in my opinion; they were like foreign objects that didn't belong with the rest.

Anyway.

At least during the first part, there was another musical instrument--besides of course the piano in the forefront--in the background.  But I have no idea what it was.  That second instrument seemed to heighten the effect of the piano.

Would anybody have any idea what that instrument was?

Also, and it's been driving me nuts--the "song" itself seems familiar, something I should know, but damn, I can't place it.

[Mr Mannn]

Also, and it's been driving me nuts--the "song" itself seems familiar, something I should know, but damn, I can't place it.

its "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7yiD6cz8A[/youtube]

[franksolich]

Oh.

[Eupher]

The piece was composed for solo piano, so likely the extra instrument that you're "hearing", Frank, is the obbligato or variation in the left hand. The left hand is usually lower in the tessitura (overall pitch) so the sound isn't quite as prominent.

The melody itself has been arranged for dozens of instruments and voices, but Mozart stuck to the piano. I played this myself on solo euphonium with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds back in 2002 or so. In the piece I played, Adolphe Adam, a French composer who live in the first half of the 19th century, was credited with the melody. but Adam apparently used the melody in his opera Le Toréador.

[franksolich]

The piece was composed for solo piano, so likely the extra instrument that you're "hearing", Frank, is the obbligato or variation in the left hand. The left hand is usually lower in the tessitura (overall pitch) so the sound isn't quite as prominent.

Thank you, sir.

It's a habit of the deaf, or the near-deaf, to use the imagination to fill in gaps of things (usually things spoken), and what I was "getting" from the background seemed a second instrument, almost as if a set of billows breathing in-and-out.

In my perception, it added considerably to the more-prominent music coming from the piano.  At any rate, for the first time I could recall, the piano-played music didn't seem "flat;" it had depth.

- - - - - - - - - -

Now, for those who are curious about how a deaf person can hear, there's various levels of deafness, being "mild," "moderate," "severe," "profound," and "total."

My own range is mired in the "profound;" a graph of my hearing would look as the wavering lines on an EKG of a dying patient.

.....you may sometimes hear or feel very loud sounds like lorries passing in the street.

"Total deafness" is actually almost unheard-of, because the body is always absorbing sound from the environment.  One feels the muddled, tenuous sounds, but has no idea what they are (and so considers them, wrongly but humanly, as being of no consequence).

And the ability to "grasp" it has several variables, including one's state of mental alertness at the time, one's sense of well-being at the time, and probably even things such as air-pressure, humidity, temperature, whatnot.

But nearly all the time, it's not worth even trying to figure it out; it's too hard, like laboring a mountain to bring forth a mouse.

However, for whatever reasons, the other night, the conditions must've been ideal, and so I caught this.  If I were to "hear" it again, I probably wouldn't get it so good.

- - - - - - - - - -

And one "hears" different qualities at different ranges; for me, plucked strings are usually distinct, while percussion instruments aren't--thus my idea that the harpsichord is the most delightful musical instrument ever contrived by man.

An assessment of course simply because I can "hear" it, at least somewhat.

[franksolich]

The piece was composed for solo piano, so likely the extra instrument that you're "hearing", Frank, is the obbligato or variation in the left hand. The left hand is usually lower in the tessitura (overall pitch) so the sound isn't quite as prominent.

I haven't yet set up the new computer, but being brand new and powerful and all that, it has sound capabilities, which usually I'd ignore.

However, now I'm interested, depending upon whether or not the male part of the special headsets (which weigh, not really but seemingly, about twenty pounds) fits into a female part on the new computer.

If something's workout-able, could you recommend a couple of other piano pieces that feature that "background," the "obbligato or variation in the left hand"?

[Eupher]

I haven't yet set up the new computer, but being brand new and powerful and all that, it has sound capabilities, which usually I'd ignore.

However, now I'm interested, depending upon whether or not the male part of the special headsets (which weigh, not really but seemingly, about twenty pounds) fits into a female part on the new computer.

If something's workout-able, could you recommend a couple of other piano pieces that feature that "background," the "obbligato or variation in the left hand"?

Wow, interesting question. Fredric Chopin's music comes to mind; he composed boatloads of music for solo piano. Preludes, nocturnes, polonaises, all would be good, although the more up-tempo stuff might be more easily discernible for you. These would be usually the 1st and 3rd movements of any given prelude; polonaises, mazurkas, are Polish dances.

Since you're on the side of the keyboard, I would strongly suggest you make an attempt to listen to some Johann Sebastian Bach, in particular some of his organ works. With the pipe organ, you can crank that baby up to nuclear and really begin to "feel" it. Bach's Preludes and Fugues are great pieces of music; indeed anything out of his Well-Tempered Klavier should be enlightening.

Some well-known organists whose stuff is likely on Youtube: E. Power Biggs (one of the all-time greats), Virgil Fox (brought the pipe organ (sorta) to the stage), and many others. There's a reason they call this instrument "The King". Crank it up and get right with God! 

[BlueStateSaint]

Since you're on the side of the keyboard, I would strongly suggest you make an attempt to listen to some Johann Sebastian Bach, in particular some of his organ works. With the pipe organ, you can crank that baby up to nuclear and really begin to "feel" it. Bach's Preludes and Fugues are great pieces of music; indeed anything out of his Well-Tempered Klavier should be enlightening.

Some well-known organists whose stuff is likely on Youtube: E. Power Biggs (one of the all-time greats), Virgil Fox (brought the pipe organ (sorta) to the stage), and many others. There's a reason they call this instrument "The King". Crank it up and get right with God! 

In Bach's day, when he heard about a new pipe organ at a church, he used to go to it and play Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, to see if the organ had "guts."  The Philadelphia Opera Company doing the "Random Act of Culture" with the Halleluia Chorus was played on the Wanamaker Organ at the Macy's in Philadelphia.  Said organ has 28,604 pipes which are arrayed in seven stories of the store.  A neighbor of mine has played that organ.  She told me that she knows the head organist there quite well.