Philomena - Dorothy Pilling - Grade 5 ABRSM Piano 2023-2024 B3 Teaching Notes

Philomena
Dorothy Pilling

Teaching Notes

The instruction at the beginning "piangevole" is often given in musical dictionaries as "plaintively". If you're still unsure how to perform this, note that the Italian word "piangere" means "to cry." This piece has a lot of dynamic detail that needs following, almost exaggerating, to achieve the emotional effect envisaged by the composer. 

The melody should always sing out, but that is not to say that the LH chords are insignificant. Often those that occur between RH melody notes add something to the imploring style and can be struck relatively boldly. This is particularly the case in bars 25 and 26 where the LH only is marked "marcato". In general however, chords should never be so strong that they overpower the upper  part. Ocassionally the melody transfers to the LH, in particular the echoes of the top part in the bass in bars 13-16.

Pedalling is prescribed very specifically, generally once per bar (note the instruction "simile" in bar 5. Later on however, there are places where more than one pedal is required such as bars 12, 19, 21 etc. There is also a place where no pedal should be used at all in bar 18 to enable the staccato effect of the upper chords, but be careful here that the LH minim C sharp is sustained underneath. Finally regarding the pedalling, note the use of the soft pedal from the 2nd beat four bars from the end.

To convey the composers intentions, the tempo can benefit from some tasteful use of "rubato". but be careful not to lose time during some of the quicker notes, for example the ornament in bar 10 and the demisemiquavers in bar 28. However, the demisemiquavers in bar 26 are still part of a continuing "rall" so a relaxing of the beat is required here.

Be careful to hold the top tied note from bar 35 over into bar 36 and finally, don't move away from the piano for the last empty bar. It is the composer's way of instructing you to stay involved with the atmosphere of the piece even after the final chord has been played. Think of the phrase "you could hear a pin drop" and any placing of your hands on your lap before this empty bar has finished will break that delicate atmosphere you have created.