By MELISSA ANDERSON
A 4-year-old boy sits at a piano plunking out notes he just learned, smiling when he gets them right and concentrating harder when he misses a note.
This was the scene at the home of Kurt Hansen 18 years ago as he started learning to play what he would soon discover to be his greatest passion.
Hansen said that he really started to listen to and develop a love for classical music when he was in high school. Beethoven is one of Hansen’s favorite artists.
“I love his music, his music is very emotional and very passionate and it is very powerful and it speaks to me probably more than most other music ever has,” Hansen said. “I want to perform the music that speaks to me the most, because I want others to feel the joy that I feel.”
Hansen can still remember the moment that he decided that he wanted to be a pianist. He remembers he had already learned Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto and had performed it several times. He decided that he wanted to learn more about his sonatas, particularly one of his last, Opus 109.
“I was listening to this pianist [Claudio Arrau] play, he was doing opus 109,” Hansen said. “I was just listening to it in my house, just doing the dishes and was blown away by how beautiful it was and it hit me that this was something that I wanted to share with others all the time.”
He said he had already formed a love of classical music and Beethoven while learning to play the piano, but he realized that love more firmly as he listened.
“Listening to that particular sonata it really hit me that this is something that I wanted to do,” Hansen said. “And that I was in for the long haul for this.”
Hansen now practices six hours a day so that he can become a piano master.
“At times it feels like a job because there are times when I don’t want to practice,” Hansen said. “But I always remember how much I need to do this, because it is something that I want to be able to excel in and I have to stay focused on it.”
One of Hansen’s latest projects has been transcribing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony into a piece for five pianos for the upcoming Bauchauer competition. This competition is unique in that it is the only competition for PianoTeams.
PianoTeams is a new concept created by Jane Tan.
“Teams got its name from the person that invented it,” said Paul Pollei artistic director of Bachauer. “This combination of five pianos playing at the same time, borrowed the name from basketball teams, five on five.”
Hansen feared that all of the teams would be using the same pieces that had already been transcribed by Tan. He thought that it would not be too difficult to transcribe a piece himself. Continuing in his love for Beethoven he chose Beethoven’s ninth symphony.
“I would check out a couple scores from the library and I would take Beethoven orchestral score and transcribe it the best I could,” Hansen said. “Taking the same piece written for a full symphony and move it to five pianos.”
He had to keep in mind all of the instruments and their role in the original piece. Hansen had to remember the string, wind and horn instruments when transcribing. He said that the horns play a crucial role in the ninth symphony.
“We are not going to be playing the same notes at the same time,” Hansen said. “I divided it equally, like I wouldn’t have one piano playing the bass the whole time.”
In the beginning of the piece Hansen said that there are thunderous chords that the entire orchestra plays.
“I had all five pianos all playing at this loud octave in the first 8 bars,” Hansen said.
In the ninth bar of the symphony he said it moves to pianissimo and only one voice playing. To portray this image on the piano Hansen has one piano start and set the cue and then a second piano comes in when the next instrument enters the original piece. He continues with this every four bars until all pianos are playing at the same time. Then in order to produce variety for the players, as well as for the audience, pianists switch parts.
“They [pianists] would be switched around so that they would be able to play all over the piano throughout the piece.” Hansen said.
Hansen said he was not just transcribing the piece, but also trying to make it interesting for five pianos, as if it were written for five pianos.
Hansen is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at BYU. As a junior he is trying to build up his repertoire and extend his competition field. He wants to receive a doctorate’s degree in piano performance and teach at the university level.
“Its kind of a three fold mission in music, to perform to teach and to compose,” Hansen said.
Most pianists dream would be to perform in Carnegie Hall. Hansen believes that that would be a great opportunity but he wants to expand his performing opportunities as much as possible.
“I would rather perform in halls all over the world and not perform in Carnegie Hall, than to perform once in Carnegie Hall,” Hansen said. “It’s not so much the place, it is that I want to be able to reach as may people as possible.”
