What works are you learning?

Ha, that was my thought as well Monica. But I decided it would be rude to say so. :lol:

 

Not disbelief.

 

Of course you are very proud that your teenage daughter is playing such music. Every parent would be, and obviously you believe every note she plays is great - as all parents would, especially those who do not play the piano themselves :wink:

But, you should not expect people to coo and wow over it instantly.... In this day and age, thousands of youngsters can toss off the hardest pieces without even blinking. Both the quality and quantity of young pianists (especially the Asian ones) are staggering. Technique means little these days.... they just have that. A musical personality is far more important - and many of them don't have that, or not yet. It worries me when pupils only play what their teacher "allows" them to play.

I hope your daughter will develop her own musical personality (well maybe she has that already, despite the teacher thing) and will join us one day with some recordings. We can't very well discuss her playing without recordings, and in her absence.

 

Yay, another minor key lover! I love that Sinfonia, too...the fugue is awesome!

 

Ah I promised recordings from the recital and I haven't been able to get a copy of them yet! I promise I will post them when I can get my hands on a CD

So for now I'm working on some stuff for a benefit I'm going to play to raise money for a guy I know who's having a kidney transplant in December. The program should look something like this:

Sinfonia from Partita no. 2 -- JS Bach
Sonata no. 26, "Les Adieux" -- L. v. Beethoven
I. Adagio-Allegro
Barcarolle, Op. 60 -- F. Chopin
Scherzo #3 -- F. Chopin

-Intermission-

Intermezzo Op. 118, no. 2 -- J. Brahms
Preludes, Book II -- C. Debussy
IV. (...Les Fées sont d'exquises danseuses)
VII. (...La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune)
Jeux d'eau -- M. Ravel
Sonata no. 6 -- S. Prokofiev
IV. Vivace

I might also do the last Debussy prelude from book II, or replace La Terrasse with it... haven't decided yet. I also *might* record it, but that's up in the air too

The next you'll be hearing from me will be my recordings I'll use to audition for a competition in Arizona this January. I'm recording the Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Ravel that I listed earlier, and Scarlatti k.39... I'm going to be busy this month! :shock:

 

there has been quite a big change since i went under my present teacher...she expects alot and assigns me a new piece/mvt of a sonata every week or 2, so i have been really busy

Beethoven:Sonata in C op.2 no.3(complete)
Beethoven: Sonata in D op.10 no.3(complete)

Mozartiano Concerto in D "Coronation" (complete)

New piece: Schumann Abegg variations- I just started this one again, it was too challeging for me a few months ago

for music school
- I have my exam tomorrow, so i'll finish off my bach&czerny after that will move on to
Mozartiano Sonata in a minor K.310

with/for my piano buddy
Stravinsky: 3 movements from Petrushka- there's no need to rush this one, the dateline will be about a year from now and when we meet, we'll put it together

Scrabian: Etude op.8 no.5- as and when i have the time

 

I LOVE the 3 movements from Petrouchka! I'm working on the (solo) Russian Dance right now

I don't really have any big competitions very soon... a couple concerto competitions, for which I'm working on the Prokofiev 3rd. Mainly I'm working on some pieces for a recital I'll give in April. The program should look something like this:

Beethoven Sonata no. 26 (the Les Adieux) - Complete

Ondine (from Gaspard)

1st mvt from the Prok concerto (w/ my teacher as the "orchestra" on a second piano)

-intermission-

Chopin:
Barcarolle
Etude op. 10 no. 7
Nocturne op. 48 no. 1 (C minor)
Scherzo #3

And then for an encore I'll probably play the Brahms 118/2 intermezzo (sooooo beautiful )

Apart from that stuff, I'm also working on the 4th Ballade of Chopin, and a Bach p&f (can't remember which one right off... it's from book I of the WTK), for when I start auditioning for colleges next year.

 

Currently...


Working on for my teacher:

Chopin Op.10 n.12
Schoenberg - six short piano pieces
Copland - Cat and the Mouse
---------------
Working on for myself:

relearning Chopin Op.10 n.3
Beethoven Op.32 n.2
Chopin Nocturne in c minor n.21, Opp
Chopin Prelude in F# Maj, Db Maj, and g minor
Mozart Fantasy in C minor
Liszt Transcription of Beethoven's fifth.

 

I've worked on all three of those Chopin preludes, and both of the etudes, and I think I could perform 10/3 but I was never able to get past tension issues with the 25/12. I also fiddled a bit with the Mozart fantasy last semester but there's just other stuff I'd rather play. But if I had to choose between Mozart and Schoenberg I'd embrace Mozart with tenderness and glee.

 

i haven't touched the ocean

i'm almost a bit scared of it, and for no good reason, other than that I saw a 10-year old play it at a level that would put me to shame, easily.

The mozart fantasy, I want to play just because there's very little Mozart that i like, so I wanted to get something in my favorite key... so i picked it.

 

Ha, I thought you said 25/12, but I see it was 10/12 now. :lol: I'm sort of scared of 10/12 myself, or certain bits of it anyway.

There is also very little Mozart that I like, but then, there is very little from the Classical era that I like. I usually avoid it by playing Baroque, Romantic, and 20th century.

 

Chicken :lol:
Watch this, then : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr9SXtvunwk

 

That's sick. I don't do feets. :lol: That dude is crazy!

 

Yes, the ultimate Kitsch.

 

That performance is nuts.

Anyway, the Revolutionary doesn't scare me that much, as I started playing some of it a few years ago (when I first started, I was very overzealous... four months into playing, I played Mozart's K397 flawlessly in a recital, and my teacher praised me for it... gave me a big ego at first, so I attempted the Rev. a week later... That humbled me back down quite a bit, but the two sections I learned, I kept playing for years after.


The Tristesse Etude... I performed it about three years ago (yes, my teacher made me do it a year into playing... killed me... KILLED me )

But as you can see... a year into music, one doesn't know music theory very well...I had only one semester of music theory, and my history classes hadn't reached the Romantic era yet... I didn't even know who Chopin was except that he was a Pole with a big nose that composed the Revolutionary etude. I didn't understand the middle section, and relied completely on muscle memory for playing it... It was probably the worst performance of the etude that has ever been done.

Back to Mozart...

I like his c and d minor fantasies, the 23rd piano concerto, the requiem, and the magic flute... everything else he composed (i've heard most of it... box set with everything, and i've yet to listen to maybe two cd's)... is... well... today's pop-music.... i just get really bored with it and being able to predict each chord progression really bothers me.

 

Yes, it helps to at least understand the fully diminished 7th chord to play/memorize the middle section of the 10/3. :lol:

So you also use your understanding of harmony to memorize? I do that, and I have always done that, even before I studied theory, but some people I have talked to think that's strange. :?