Simple power of the piano

By Stephen Charles (courtesy)

Piano is a great way to introduce friends to classical music. There are new listeners who can't follow the violins and flutes and timpani and feel a little overwhelmed. They will take time to get used to to the melody of such togetherness.

Till then, there is the piano. It can absorb and translate the different melodies. If you like, you can play this video while you read the rest of the story.

This is Mozart's super popular first movement of symphony no. 40, conveyed through the piano. Of course, the urgency of the strings, the flourishes of the violins of the original, are absent in the piano version. But what a supreme way to lead you to the various classical music instruments!

You can, I say with certainty, feel the differences between the piano version and the original version in less than ten seconds. A minute or so will tell you that the mood varies.

You will understand the role the piano plays in conveying the melody, and you will understand the power of the symphony -- the various instruments playing together, in harmony, and in storm.

When you listen to different instruments play the same melody, you understand the power of the instruments in conveying to you the song of the soul.

Wikipedia describes this process very well as:

'A piano reduction or piano transcription is sheet music for the piano (a piano score) that has been compressed and/or simplified so as to ... be playable on the piano.'

This reduction readies listeners for the world of symphonies and quartets and trios. If classical music is the religion for the soul, then the piano is the great sage.

To end this post, here's famous composer Bach's music on solo violin, and the same melody played on the piano.