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Learned this loving monster for my recital this year. It's one of the greatest piano pieces ever written, IMO. I thought it would take forever to learn the notes, but it was surprisingly straightforward given 6 or so hours of sloooooooooooooooooow practice every day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54f_dvBaDd4 Played some Radiohead last year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91o4QnJPzGg
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Aug 27, 2013 13:36
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I just did a recital dedicated to variation sets. Here are two of the works on the program, Bach's "Aria Variata alla Maniera Italiana" and Justin Writer's "Variations on a Gregorian Chant Chorus" (awesome piece!). The third, Rzewski's massive "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" is forthcoming. Bach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nn8CbMwoyY Writer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54YxImxgbGs
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Oct 10, 2013 13:47
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The Dark Wind posted:No idea if this is the best place to post this question, but do any of you guys have any experiences with using a tablet for sheet music? I'm getting tired of weak Dover editions that fall apart and whose pages flip on me in the middle of playing. However, things like the iPad air look a little too tiny. Are there any things you guys would recommend? I've been using an iPad 4 and an AirTurn for turning pages (http://www.airturn.com) for a year now and have no complaints. For usage comparison, I do about 40-50 concerts per year (accompanying, solo, etc.), so I'm using it more or less every day. It's never crapped out on me onstage, holds tons of music, and is a great alternative to carrying around books for gigs. Make sure to try it out on a friend's tablet before you buy. IT BURNS fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Dec 15, 2013 |
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Dec 15, 2013 14:48
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I've written some solo piano transcriptions of Samuel Barber's artsongs for voice and piano for my recital program next year. This one, "Nocturne" ("Night Piece"), has turned out to be my favorite so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CthTs_wVkYE For reference, here's the original piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQtloRute-s
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May 8, 2014 05:30
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baw posted:piano really is the best instrument isn't it Yes, etc. 
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May 18, 2014 05:49
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For those who dig Chopin, you might also like Alexander Scriabin's music. He's basically the late-Romantic Russian equivalent in lots of ways (wrote primarily piano music such as etudes, preludes, mazurkas, sonatas, etc.). I just finished working on one of his sonatas, check it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvsIV46O3dw
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Jul 10, 2014 14:09
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baw posted:I have a really specific request. I have been listening to Schumann's Kreisleriana, based on the character from ETA Hoffmann's The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr. It's become a bit of an obsession and I look forward to reading the book when I get a chance (sadly I think I am years from being able to consider playing it.) I really like the idea of pieces based on literary stuff because they combine two of my favorite things. Are there any other good examples of solo piano pieces that interpret literary works? Romanticism, and Liszt in particular, is your friend. Check out the first and second books of his Years of Pilgrimage (Annees de Pelerinage), Switzerland and Italy. A number of pieces are based on Renaissance poetry, 19th-century philosophy, Dante, William Tell, etc. It's pretty amazing music. Here are two selections from the Italy book ("Petrarch's Sonnet #104" and "After Reading Dante") that I learned a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINPs_bPXCo You won't find too many literary correlations in Chopin, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and others, so keep listening to Schumann and Liszt.
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Jul 30, 2014 03:37
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Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, probably my favorite piano piece of all time. Love playing this masterpiece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZBKjr__8Y
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Sep 27, 2014 02:34
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megalodong posted:Where's a good place to start with Brahms? I want to get into some of his music. If you're doing op. 111, I'd say that the First Sonata, the Handel Variations, or the First Piano Concerto would be right up your alley. If you're in for the long-haul, take a look at the Second Piano Concerto. It took me about two years and ten or so performances for it too feel comfortable, but goddamn it's worth the struggle. For sheer punishment, try Book II of the Paganini Variations (the first book, aside from the last variation, isn't as horrible as it looks).
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Oct 5, 2014 04:48
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megalodong posted:Can touch affect the tone of a piano? Seen and raised (taken from one of the more prominent ones): "Can cry or Can't cry while performing publicly" "In one word, what is Piano to you?" "How to solve psychological problem on piano playing?" "Hello. I would like to ask how Czerny's studies are ranked." "Define 'atmospheric' in piano music"
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Dec 31, 2014 04:00
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owl milk posted:1st mvt. of les adieux op 81a by Beethoven Have fun with those MOTHERFUCKING AWFUL three-note chord licks in the exposition and recap. I don't think I ever played those passages cleanly onstage. Got a recital coming up in a few weeks: Mozart, Sonata in F major, K. 332 Copland, Four Piano Blues Scriabin, Sonata #2 -intermission- Liszt, Sonata in b minor The Liszt is a pretty challenging piece to hold together, but goddamn it feels good to perform it when it goes well.
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Jan 14, 2015 05:41
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Did a recital a few days ago! Played some Liszt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdGijFJPyA Some Mozart, too (great stuff): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdwriBqzkak
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Jul 3, 2015 18:12
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Tried out some new rep in public recently. It went okay overall, despite a cell phone going off at the softest moment possible and a few other small mishaps. The program included some Renaissance music, two of my own arrangements of artsongs, a fairly disturbing piece by a Czech composer named Leos Janacek, and a few pieces by Liszt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCRQKMsUd9k
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Feb 4, 2016 21:25
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Speaking of complete collections, for some reason I took it upon myself to learn and perform the entire goddamn first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier this year: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4PL6EW9eZJ_AfW3fi4PpJ0cYQIC_K26x It was a fun albeit taxing project. I don't think I have it in me to do a Book II, at least at this point.
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Jun 20, 2019 20:26
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Stringent posted:Cripes dude, I can't even imagine how you'd go about preparing for that. I guess you've been playing out of WTC for a long time and just decided to put it all together? I played maybe about 8-10 of them before and it took from about March until September to learn the others. It wasn't impossible aside from being tied down to it 5-6 hours a day to get the new ones into my fingers plus keep the old ones warm. Enormously beneficial project, though. My usual way of doing it was splitting it in half (about an hour each) or doing a "best of" version (ca. 80 minutes). I only ever did a top to bottom in concert once and it loving slayed me. Getting to the end made me believe in Bach's version of redemption through suffering.
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Jun 21, 2019 01:17
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If you guys aren't watching the International Tchaikovsky Competition, do yourself a favor and hit it up immediately. There are some unreal performances: https://tch16.medici.tv/en/piano/
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Jun 22, 2019 20:53
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Stringent posted:I had to get you an avatar, looking at that Trump thing was messing with me. Wow, thanks! I didn't even know about the Trump thing, I had avatars turned off, lol.
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Jun 24, 2019 17:06
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I composed a piece! Please watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fEsqKfi6ZA Two years ago, I wrote this piece for speaking pianist (the performer has to play and talk at the same time) for a friend who started a commissioning project called #45miniatures, call for composers (caveat: I’m not a real composer) to write short works based on Trump’s Twitter feed. The one word that I always associated with Trump was his trademark insult “SAD!”, so I cobbled together a series of tweets and statements on the campaign trail that focused on this word in various ways. The result, I hope, is a comedic montage of short episodes (one section is a little serious) that highlights the inanity of his statements, with musical inspiration taken from what one might hear in an Atlantic City Casino. The full text is below and in the description box in the video. “SAD!” for speaking pianist will receive its world premiere in the coming weeks (I have a concert in NOLA next week that I might play it on). ****** “Wow! Lyin' Ted Cruz really went wacko today...Can't function under pressure. Not very presidential. SAD!" "The failing New York Times does not mention the new CNN poll that has me leading Iowa by a MASSIVE thirteen points. I am at 33%. Maggie Habermann, SAD!" "Jeb is a WASTE...Jeb is a MESS...The weakest person on this stage is Jeb Bush!" "Lightweight Jeb is spending a fortune against me...in South Carolina...false advertising! Desperate and SAD!" “BOYCOTT APPLE!” "Am in Bedminster for meetings today on Virginia and all that we have done and are doing to make it better, but Charlottesville - SAD!" "SAD to see...the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson. Who's next? So foolish." "Condolences to the family of the young woman killed today, and best regards to all those injured in Charlottesville. So SAD!" "Because of me, the Republican Party has taken in millions of new voters...if they are not careful, they will all leave, SAD!" "Just watched Brian Williams on Today Show. Very SAD! Brian should get on with a new life...stop apologizing! Very SAD!" "Hillary LIED at the debate last night...SAD!" "Whoopi Goldberg is terrible...Very SAD!" "Irrelevant Glen Beck...his failing show...very few listeners. SAD!" "The biased media...SAD!" "Get that baby out of here...you know what? Some people just don't get it."
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Aug 31, 2019 20:03
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Stringent posted:hosed up the ending, but I don't care because I'm never playing this again! Nice! You're ready to move on to some other rep, IMO. I see some sonatinas or Chopin op. 69 Waltzes in your future.
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Nov 16, 2019 02:45
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Been working on some Beethoven lately! I'm supposed to have some concerts next season (hoping they're not ALL cancelled) for the 250th anniversary featuring three of his piano sonatas, all of which I've never played before. Here's a little bit of one of them, the first movement of Appassionata, op. 57, aka the best goddamn Sonata in the literature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m13Qv3Ze-Yw
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Apr 20, 2020 19:14
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This thread needs more music, so here's some Beethoven - his complete first Sonata, op. 2 #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmK82FqZ3wI I'm recording several of his Sonatas for the bicentennial this year. It's been a fun project so far, but HARD! Op.2 #3 and Appassionata (op. 57) are next. IT BURNS fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Aug 11, 2020 |
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Aug 10, 2020 22:23
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Time to spam some more Beethoven! Here's another one of his early Sonatas, the op. 2 #3 in C major (the first movement is linked here, but the rest of it follows in the playlist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2n5tI5a6n8 I also recorded his "Appassionata" Sonata op. 57, aka one of the goddamn best (and hardest) pieces in the piano repertoire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehl1RTAJ3aQ ....and for shits and giggles, here's Für Elise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGnmiy5FZo
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Aug 14, 2020 22:24
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Hey, thanks! I was actually supposed to have some concerts this year with all of these pieces. A friend set up a festival featuring a multi-pianist presentation all of the Beethoven Sonatas over the course of the Fall semester, with my portion being what I posted (Für Elise as an encore). As of now, everything is rescheduled for the Spring, so I thought I'd record them anyway since they're in my fingers. Never played that particular Polonaise, but I'd be excited to hear it.
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Aug 16, 2020 00:31
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Stringent posted:So this is still very rough, but I gotta perform it in December so I guess I better start getting as much feedback as I can. Any advice is welcome, I really don't want it to go like this in front of an audience. Hey, beautiful playing! You've got a pretty good handle on this so far. Maybe it can have more flow/excitement in the tempo? Try to let your wrists breathe throughout so you can shape and phrase the scales more expressively. On the moving notes in the B section, make sure that you can both hear and feel the notes clearly with your ears and hands (some of the ornaments seemed a little crunched together). Great job, though!
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Oct 10, 2020 14:46
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We haven't had some Chopin in a while ITT, so here's some. A friend put together an online recital of Chopin's complete Mazurkas, and this one is my contribution. Very short, but many layers of complexity and also kind of awkward on a technical level, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTKyKJbJzI
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Jan 20, 2021 02:37
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Yo, thread! Time for some Chopin. Here's a video of Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude" plus the same piece arranged for left hand alone by a pianist named Leopold Godowsky. Fun, but challenging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxMVYBB7ts
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Oct 10, 2021 18:28
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In the mood for something off the beaten path? Try the ultimate troll, John Cage. I did a recital recently of his Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, where you're supposed to put 19 screws, 20 bolts, 7 nuts, 15 pieces of rubber, 5 pieces of plastic, and a #2 pencil inside to change the tone of the instrument into a quasi percussion orchestra. It's unique, but great music. I had a camera streaming the inside of the piano during the concert so the audience could see the foreign materials inside the instrument. Preceding this, I did a live performance of 4'33 (look it up). Here's an excerpt from the concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywv-Oiu8XRA The sounds range from slow and hypnotic to weird to rhythmic. Give it a shot, you might like it.
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Nov 21, 2021 04:49
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Working my way though Bach's Goldberg Variations. Halfway done, but I think the hard stuff is towards the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSi6hJFDLOg
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May 24, 2022 22:22
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Haven't posted here in a while, so here's some Bach! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vT88cu_qF8 The Goldberg Variations is a masterpiece, a total peak of the literature. I never planned on learning it because it's a total bitch, but during the pandemic I casually sat down to it (again without the intention of preparing it for performance), and after a few weeks was amazed to see that I was about halfway through, so I figured that I might as well finish it. There's a long way to go with this kind of piece, but it's rewarding to study and perform.
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Feb 24, 2023 22:37
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 14:09 |
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It's been a while since I posted something, so here's a recent project. 2023 is the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birth and I've been working on his Piano Sonata #1, op. 28, an absolute unit of a piece. I recorded practice takes of the outer movements recently: 1st mvmt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLt3y96_IFA 3rd mvmt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tYkGf5g-Mc The whole thing lasts ca. 38-40 minutes. Need to go back and record the second movement. The thing with Rachmaninoff is that learning the notes is only about 10% of the work.
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Dec 30, 2023 01:31
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