Hi everyone,
Note: all single apostrophes have been deleted by Simon's software from this Word Document I just pasted here.
One of the problems with any discussion board is that it doesnt allow us much of an opportunity to show other dimensions of ourselves.
My great passion is and has always been serious music. Those of you who know me, know how important this is to me and in fact, has helped keep me from become terminally insane from time-to-time. If you are chuckling about that last comment right now and think Im already there, then put a lid on it!
Ive stated recently that due to the very-generous goodness of an unnamed angel who sometimes appears on this board, Ive come into the possession of an excellent keyboard. In fact, it is more than excellent: it is the Rolls Royce of all keyboards and is nearly as good as the $80,0000 Concert Grand Steinway I once owned.
Within the next few weeks I will have the software I need to record music I want to record and I will make it available to all who are interested in hearing me play. This will consume much of my free time. Much of the stuff I will be recording is very difficult to do. I know that some of you are musicians and some of you are music majors, so I especially am directing this thread to you.
I have a rather large repertoire and am going to be very ambitious in getting much of it recorded. I have spent a minimum of three hours per day practicing for the last three months or so and will spend more time practicing as I wind down my dub-crusader life on this forum and elsewhere. I've been practicing the piano for over forty-five years and I learn something new about myself and music every day.
For those of you who appreciate this kind of stuff, I am providing a list of my recital and how I rate the music with regards to quality and difficulty:
CHOPIN:
Ballade in G Minor (major industrial strength music. One of the most difficult Ive ever
done. It covers the entire gambit from sentimental to tempestuous.)
Revolutionary Etude in C Minor (killer workout for the left hand. Very impressive to hear.)
Etude in E Major (beautiful and simple-sounding, yet technically very difficult)
Waltz in A Flat Major (Minute Waltz) fun and impressive!
Preludes:
#9 in E Major
#11 in B Major
#13 in F Sharp Major (COMF, I played this for you on H20 when you said you were leaving)
#17 in A Flat Major
#19 in E Flat Major (Very impressive!)
#21 in B Flat Major
#22 in G Minor (tempestuous and probably demonized)
The Flight of the Bumble Bee by Rimsky Korsakov from the Opera Tsar Saltan a show-off piece, but then again, I like to show off when I can get away with it!
Claire de Lune (Moonlight) by Claude Debussy (Always a favorite for folks)
Arabesque #1 by Claude Debussy
The Engulfed Cathedral by Claude Debussy
Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum by Claude Debussy
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor by J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in G Minor by J.S. Bach
The Moonlight Sonata (Opus 27 #2) by Ludwig Beethoven
The Apassionata Sonata (Opus 57) by Ludwig Beethoven (very fast and very difficult)
Impromptu (Opus 90, #4) by Franz Schubert
Rhapsody #1 in G Minor by Johannes Brahms
Hungarian Dance #5 by Johannes Brahms
Chanson by Rudolf Friml (dreamy and beautiful)
Zug der Zwerge (March of the Dwarfs) by Edvard Grieg (fun stuff!)
Liebestraum in A Flat Major (A Dream of Love) by Franz Liszt (music to make love by)
Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in C Sharp Minor by Franz Liszt (This is the most difficult piece of music Ive ever attempted to play.)
Prelude in C Sharp Minor (Opus 3, #2) by Serge Rachmaninoff (Phantom of the opera stuff. Even you musically-challenged people will recognized it.)
Prelude in G Minor by Serge Rachmaninoff (one must have hands the size of cars to play this one)
Song of India by Rimsky Korsakoff
Melodie by Anton Rubinstein (true 19 th century fluff!)
Rustles of Spring (Fruhlingsrauschen) by Christian Sinding (great Norweigian music)
On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Straus (I hated this one as a child, but have grown to appreciate it)
Y ?Como Le Va? (What it is) by J. Valverde (Tango, anyone? Girls: put a rose stem in your teeth, but dont forget the head covering!)
Finally, Ill top it off with a rousing rendition of the most popular ragtime song of all: The Maple Leaf Rag by the great Scott Joplin.
I play lots of Mozart too, but I'll leave that for a future session.
Look for this music from Da Farkel at a website near you very soon.
Farkel
Edited by - Farkel on 14 July 2002 3:29:24