Scenes From A Piano Lesson

[Gary Freedman]

During the summer of 1969, when I was 15 years old, I took piano lessons with a private teacher, Miss Elisabeth Elaine Griffith. Miss Griffith taught piano in the living room of her home. She had a beautiful Steinway grand piano. Murray "Mike" Marion, a student in my class at Central High School (1971, CHS 230), was also a student of Miss Griffith's.

That summer I began my second year of piano lessons. Miss Griffith wanted me to study Kinderscenen (Scenes from Childhood), a collection of piano pieces,opus 15, by Robert Schumann. I thought that some of the pieces were too advanced for me, but Miss Griffith insisted that I learn the collection. The first piece I learned was Wichtige Begebenheit (Important Event). It's impressive to play, because it sounds more difficult than it actually is. I liked playing the final piece in the collection, Der Dichter Sprict (The Poet Speaks). It's an easy piece, but it's quite beautiful. Kinderscenen includes the famous piece Trauemerei or Reverie.

One afternoon, Miss Griffith's next student arrived and sat on the Davenport -- what Miss Griffith called her sofa -- as I completed my lesson. I played Der Dichter Spricht. The student was a woman, a young nun. When I finished, she said to me "You played that beautifully." I said, "It's actually an easy piece." She said: "I wish I could play like you."

Here's a YouTube of Vladimir Horowitz playing the entire Kinderscenen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxz2UfCYtQk