Sep 28, 2020
My guest today is Concert Pianist, Composer, and Music Educator Rami Bar-Niv. Rami Bar-Niv made history by being the first, and so far the only, Israeli artist to perform in Egypt following the Begin/Sadat Peace Treaty. Praised as “Effective and Flamboyant” by the New York Times and “An Original major talent” by the Boston Globe, Bar-Niv is an international concert performer who has written two books, the first is the “Art of Piano Fingering” and the second his autobiography “Blood, Sweat, and Tours: Notes from the Diary of a Concert Pianist”.
0:55 Playing by ear, Improvising, and composing from age 5
3:38 What music did you listen to growing up?
5:46 Parents teaching their own children vs having a stranger
6:43 Were you a good practicer?
7:47 Studying harmony, counterpoint and theory at the
conservatory
8:37 What is your theoretical approach to composition?
9:55 What was your education in counterpoint?
10:21 Did you use Hindemith’s textbook?
11:14 Did you take ideas from repertoire and absorb them into your
compositional process?
12:22 Theoretical studies with Carl Schachter
13:06 How long did you study with Schachter and what’s your
perspective on Schenkerian analysis?
14:11 Do you think of theory when composing?
16:05 Does your pianistic ability inform your composing?
18:27 What was your personal relationship with Carl Schachter?
19:04 Did you always improvise?
21:31 Improvisation vs Interpretation
23:59 Do hum when you play?
24:56 Do you have an interested in Jazz?
25:48 What the names of jazz pianists that you enjoy?
26:06 How would you teach improvisation to someone?
30:04 What is your method of teaching composition?
32:57 What do you mean by “knowing” a piece of music?
33:28 Did you face any professional or cultural pressure not to
improvise in your career?
35:45 What is your position on cadenzas in piano concertos?
38:54 How did you come to creating your compositional voice?
40:40 The Art of Piano Fingering
43:12 Do you distinguishing between old fingering and new modern
fingering systems?
45:06 Do some great composers like Beethoven write bad,
non-idiomatic piano music despite being great composers?
47:38 Why is Opera the height of everything?
48:26 Would you consider yourself a self-taught composer?
49:44 How important is family to you?
50:45 Wrapping Up