One of Tomoko’s favorite piano composers is Lizst. His works enable the performer to showcase
technical virtuosity and strong emotional interpretation.
Lizst’s life is certainly reflective in his writing.
At age seven Lizst started piano lessons from his father,
started composing at age eight, and started public performances at age nine. Lizst
was a wildly popular performer because of his technical brilliance and intense
delivery, which his compositions could showcase. His enthralled audiences led
to Lizstomania – and enough income that he could gave away much of his profits
to charity.
Thus, because Lizst was first a performer, his compositions reflect
natural hand motions, and are more natural to play. That characteristic enabled
Lizst to create works that could maximize kinesthetic ability. Additionally,
Lizst was inspired by the violinist Paganin’s technique, and wanted to be as
excellent as him, so much so that he wrote a series of etudes based on Paganini’s
own violin’s technically challenging compositions. As a result, his compositions
are often used by piano teachers to improve students’ technical skills. In
fact, Tomoko remarks: “Sometimes a child – or the parent – wants to choose a
masterful piece of music, such as a Liszt étude. They want the status of
playing such a composition, but it might not be appropriatea at their stage of
development. “Their motivation may be to show off,” says Tomoko, “but they will
be miserable.” Instead, Tomoko asks the student to try it for themselves. “Then
they recognize for themselves what is really involved.” If they really want to
put in the effort, Tomoko tells them, “I will prepare this piece for you.”
Tomoko explains each part, and then they agree on doing the hard work together.
Tomoko also likes Lizst for his philosophy and emotional power.
Tomoko relates to his spiritual side. “Listen to Liszt’s compositions. His philosophy
is so beautiful. He was a very religious man.” While Lizst is not known for
religious compositions, he contemplated joining the Catholic clergy in his
twenties (after a romantic break-up) and
in late life did join a monastery.
Lizst’s compositions also capture human emotional life:
adapting folk dances and translating human expression, including violence, into
his music. Tomoko asserts: “Lizst is
great for pianists in their twenties because they don’t have to think so much
as express lots of action.”
Tomoko herself has masterfully performed Lizst’s works over
the years. In her 1964 television interview with UCLA Opera Theater director Herbert
Jan Popper, Tomoko She Hungarian Rhapsody A minor #11 by Liszt on the show. Almost
fifty years later, in 2012, on the show “The Piano Matters with David Dubal,”
Tomoko played Liszt’s "Au Lac de Wallenstadt."
Just as Lizst was inspired by his experiences, Tomoko and
her students find inspiration in Lizst for their own lives.
