Word: passagework
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...concert grand. For the next two hours she worked from page to page of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, starting at dead-slow tempo, one hand at a time, working up to half tempo, patiently repeating certain figures again and again, uncovering little melodies hidden in the passagework, testing the spaces between chords for the precise measure of silence. Finally, humming cheerfully to herself, she went back and played it up to tempo, pouring out the great music in a liquid cascade that, even in the lonely practice session, glowed with an inner radiance. Brazil's great but little...
...examined the keyboard closely whenever the New York Philharmonic-Symphony played without him. As his entrances approached, he grew tense, and his body began to sway and jerk to the rhythm. But there was nothing jerky about his playing. From his crashing fanfares to his softly rippling passagework, his performance had the strength and luster of blue steel. When the music ended, there was a moment of silence before the crowd recovered itself enough to start cheering...