Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Unsung Heroes Ectial -Heidi should've come to us first - -

Sorry, Frycek. I wasn't slighting the ABF. I've been running back and forth between the computer and the kids this morning and I just happened to post it on Pianists' Corner first. Thanks for posting the link for me. Of course everyone is welcome.

It's just that AFB "invented" the Ecital and it's most enthusiastic participants are here. I think this is a totally wonderful idea.

Thanks for filling me in. I'm new here. I was planning to post on both forums, but just as I was finishing my original post on PC, there was an incident at my house involving 2 little girls, a bottle of hot pink nail polish and a puppy...

I'm glad you're enthusiastic about the idea. I think it will be enlightening for all of us.

I'm afraid to ask about the puppy - - - -

Physically fine (red fur hides a multitude), psychologically it's too early to tell.

School starts Wednesday.


May I suggest to anyone who may be interested -- please don't be intimidated, even if you are a true beginner. There are many beautiful pieces out there accessible to all of us. This isn't a contest. The whole point is to be exposed to new music.

If you would like to participate but are unsure of which composer to choose, don't worry. With everyone's input, I plan on compiling a list of suggestions for everyone to explore.

Oh no... Hope it was nothing too serious.

Hmmm

2 little girls + hot pink (of course) nail polish + puppy =

the two girls decided Fido would look 'cuter' with nail polish, they raided Mom's make up area, applied the polish to the dog's nails, the dog was not cooperative, knocked the nail polish onto the rug - spilling contents, girls are now having a 'quiet time' event in their rooms - dog is being cleaned

I'm sure I can come up with something wilder given a little more time

In the meantime - I am looking into unsung bohemians - Dvorak, Smetana, and Martinu all wrote a lot of piano music, most of it pretty much unknown - to me, anyway -

Either them or Paradisi - who was overshadowed by Scarlatti and then the Bach boys and Mozart - but his sonatas are completely enjoyable and worthwhile - the great film director Bunuel used one of them at a crucial moment in The Exterminating Angel - a fantastic mix of surrealism, acid portraits of the haute bourgeousie, and, most unexpectedly, Nietzsche's Eternal Return of the Same. All that was enough to permanently burn Paradisi into my subconscious mind, where it lurks - perhaps waiting for this e-cital to emerge.

I didn't even mention the water puddles on the floor from the "pedicures." Fortunately, it was kiddie nail polish, easy to clean up. And fortunately it was a toy poodle and not a doberman

You have many great ideas, Schubertian. Any of those choices would be great. The hard part might be narrowing it down to the one you'd like to do. I've never heard of Paradisi - I'll check him out.

Hi everyone. Here's the updated list:

Participants

-Frycek: Adieu by Carl Filtsch

Euan Morrison: Prelude #tbd by Cesar Cui

beet 31425: Prelude and Fugue #tbd by Trygve Madsen

akonow: Scharwenka tbd

gerg: tbd

heidiv: The Angel by Bortkiewicz

Schubertian: Sonata by Hyacinth Jadin

epf: Under the Palms Waltz by Irene Audain

currawong: tbd

RachFan: tbd

SlatterFan: Fantasy Op. 12 by Vorisek

pianojerome: Joseph Achron

Nyiregyhazi: Nuit d'ete by Liapunov

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I have asked the Teachers' Forum for their help in providing a list of pieces by obscure composers that are accessible to beginners. I'll post some suggestions when I get them. Also, ask your own teacher, if you have one. Don't be shy about participating. The whole purpose of the e-cital is to shed light on under-appreciated composers. The more, the merrier.

Alkan comes to mind immediately, I have doubts I will be able to play any of his pieces though

Hi Mati- Yes, Alkan would be a great addition. I believe most of his pieces are quite advanced. I'm not familiar with all of his works, but what I've heard seems for advanced players. Do some digging, though. Maybe you'll find something.

We have a couple of suggestions from Kreisler that I wanted to pass along.

1 - Alexandre Tansman

2 - Alexina Louie "Star Light, Star Bright"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLu-ZwaLV7Q

I'll post more suggestions as they come in.

I might add Grazyna Bacewicz with her piano compositions, and Ignacy Paderewski too. Come to think of it, his piano pieces don't have much exposure these days. Maybe Robert Muczynski and his Maverick Pieces for solo piano? Alexander Borodin composed for piano too.

It might be a good idea to google for what Marc-Andre Hamelin has recorded during his career. He is well known for recordings of obscure and rarely played composers.

Thanks for the suggestions, Mati. I actually credit Hamelin for introducing me to Alkan. You're right, he does like to perform works by lesser-known composers. I have his Kaleidoscope CD and here is a list of some of the more obscure composers:

Edna Bentz Woods, Felix Blumenfeld, Jakob Gimpel, Jules Massenet, Leopold Godowsky, Aleksander Michalowski, Arthur Vincent Lourie, Emile-Robert Blanchet, Alfredo Casella, John Vallier, Nikolai Kapustin.

Most of the pieces on this CD sound quite advanced. However, these composers might have some material suitable for beginner to intermediate level.

Thanks for the input. I would imagine that most of the performers for this e-cital will have to do some research and buy new music, so I appreciate the suggestions.

Are we limited to a single submission? If not, I'll add something from Massenet to what I'm already doing. Maybe another waltz.

Ed

Hi epf -

You know, I was originally thinking we should limit it to one submission per person, but I think we should allow multiple submissions. After all, the whole idea of this e-cital is to give exposure to under-played composers, so it seems logical that we should allow more than one piece per person. So as long as it's okay with everyone, I say go for it!

Also, some recent suggestions from our friends over on Teachers' Forum:

Aeolian Harp by W. Gilock, Level2 NYSSMA piece
Tokyo Twilight by N. Faber, Level 4
Album for the Young by Lowell Liebermann

Would you consider Kabalevsky and Bartok too well known?

Rich

Not at all, Rich. We decided not to argue what " obscure" means. If Kabalevsky and Bartok are new to you, or if you feel they are under-appreciated, by all means play them!

I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a neat little relatively uncomplicated (but nevertheless delightful) piece by one Cornelius Gurlitt (1820-1901), a German I believe - it's his Op. 205, No. 11 in B minor titled "A Little Flower", which is much more like a Classical minuet than a musical "nature study" - apparently Gurlitt gave a number of his shorter, easier pieces descriptive titles - would this fit in with your theme?

I also submitted a piece to the last ABF Recital by Johann Krieger (also from Germany), a contemporary of Bach and Handel - this is his Minuet in A minor, which I could also upload to this thread if desired.

Regards, JF