Theme 1: Concert 6 11th April 2012

Similar to concert No 3, the left hand quavers on the Stuart sound heavier with louder attack, than the Steinway, generally the Steinway blend is lighter than Steinway

Commodo Theme 2:

Theme 2: Concert 3
In the second theme, after the slight pause and a diminuendo, the brightness of the Stuart tone is enhanced expressively by the pianist’s playing of the accentuated melodic quavers ‘shorter’ on the Stuart than on the Steinway. The Steinway is played with a more cantabile interpretation, with longer accentuated quavers. The audience at this concert responded to the survey question about the ‘singing quality’ of tone, with 75% associating the Steinway sound with ‘singing quality’ and 92% of participants describing the Stuart sound as ‘short tone not singing’. On closer listening, the legato ‘e’ treble quavers on the Stuart are not short at all, it is only the accentuated quavers that are played short. The legato quavers on the Stuart are sustaining their harmonic spectrum for a longer duration than the Steinway. Sustain in this register was found to be greater in the Stuart sound in the tests of chapter four.

Theme 2: Concert 6 11th April 2012
The Stuart sound is clearer than Steinway, the notes are more distinct and the crescendo is played more dramatically on the Stuart. There is less pianistic ‘staccato’ applied to the accentuated quavers than in concert 3. Again, the melodic ‘e’ treble notes of the Stuart sound are sustaining their spectrum for a longer period than Steinway. The accentuated ‘e’ is brighter at the onset on the Steinway, and then decays quickly- changing with the effect of a change in timbre to a less bright, ‘mellow’ tone. Similar to concert No 3, 81% of participants at concert No 6 described the Stuart as ‘short tone, not singing’ and 63% described the Steinway as having more of a ‘singing quality’, a perception not heard in this example.