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Thanks for the recommendation Christine I just ordered the Dover Edition from Amazon - I was going to get it from sheetmusicplus but they didn't have it in stock currently - it worked out well since it was $5 cheaper at Amazon!

JF

I think I'm in a waltz phase too. On suggestion of Bunneh i've looked at Remembrance - I love it, charming! Then I will have a set that goes Arietta, Waltz (12/2), Remembrance (71/7).

JF I probably would be brave enough to share this waltz with you, but I don't have stuff for recording yet (that's on To Do list too). I love playing it many different ways. Sometimes I sustain though those staccato chords with pedal, sometimes they are bright and short. I look forward to hearing yours when you are ready to record it.

Arietta, Waltz, Remembrance would be a great programme. A sort of condensed Lyric Pieces ! I play 12/2 so maybe I'll record it for a piano bar sometime soon.

I just listened to Arietta (a woman's name?) and Remembrance on YT - both are very pretty and lyrical - KeemaNan, would like to hear your version also in a PB - maybe someday I'll do a medley of all three for a Recital (with the Waltz sandwiched in the middle!) - looking forward to my music book getting here this week.

JF

Hi John,
That would be a lot of fun!!!
BTW: I think Arietta means "little or short Aria." I really like Opus 12- Watchman's Song and Album Leaf along with the Waltz you are playing and Arietta are my favorites.

Christine - you're right about the definition of "arietta" - never heard it before, even after years of listening to opera!
Thanks. Goes to show that "old dogs" can learn something new...

JF

Guess What! In an amazing turn of fate I have been asked to perform a set of background music next weekend. So that means I get to inflict my 12/2 on the public, must rush to get Arietta ready, but pretty sure there is not enough time to learn Remembrance (I have to organise/practise/choose the rest of the set).

That's great! Have fun with it. If you're performing this as background music there probably won't be so much pressure or worry - and who knows, maybe a few people will actually listen instead of yakking constantly

I got my copy of "Complete Lyric Pieces (Dover Ed.) yesterday and discovered that "Remembrances" is a waltz! It does look a tad difficult though (as do a lot of the other pieces) but I may try to tackle it myself soon.

Anyway - Good luck and enjoy yourself!

JF

Why thank you very much From my memory of a couple of play throughs, Remembrances modulates and then modulates again in an odd but interesting way - just the kind of piece that could tangle you up if you didn't know it well enough. Yes of course it's a waltz - that's why it's lovely

ok I'm going to play all 3 right now.

Nice to see so many Grieg enthusiasts Just to share some of my favourite Lyric Pieces:

op 12 no 4 Alvedans (Dance of the elves)
op 43 no 4 Liten fugl (Little bird)
op 54 no 2 Gangar (Pheasant march)
op 57 no 6 Hjemve (Homesickness)
op 65 no 5 I balladetone
op 68 no 5 Bådnlåt (Cradle song)
op 71 no 2 Sommeraften (Summer evening)
op 71 no 3 Småtroll (Little trolls)

Ragnhild

I was looking thru the list of other publications from Dover found in "Lyric Pieces" and there are a lot of really interesting ones (found at doverpublications.com). Here are a few that would probably be of keen interest to some here who like the Grieg works:

Johann Strauss Jr. - Waltzes, Polkas and Other Dances for Solo Piano

Brahms - Complete Shorter Works for Solo Piano (incl. Waltzes)

Mendelssohn - Complete Songs Without Words for Piano

Scott Joplin - Complete Piano Rags

Chopin - Complete Masterpieces for Solo Piano: 46 Works (incl. Waltzes)

John Philip Sousa - Complete Marches in Piano Transcriptions

There are many, many others...a treasure trove of outstanding publications.

JF

I am glad you like the book John. Remembrances looks more challenging note-wise but it is graded at the same level of difficulty (4) as Arietta.

How COOL is that?? Have a lot of fun!!!!!

OK, here's my Op12 no 2. I did a couple of takes. The first one was fine all the way through but I flubbed the coda. This one has a couple of stumbles but I played through them so here it is. I thought I'd just post it here rather than the piano bar.

http://www.box.net/shared/0p4uumzz69

JF - a couple of things, one - Grieg is often easier than it looks on paper, his music tends to fall under the fingers very well (unlike Bach, Beethoven, Schumann...) so don't be put off by how difficult some of these pieces look. There *are* some very advanced ones in there, but I see this as a book to grow into, and return to time and again as my playing (hopefully) improves.
Secondly, Dover editions are usually reprints of older editions. In some cases this is great (e.g. the Grieg which is a reprint of the Peters edition which is still the best) but in others e.g. (I think) the Beethoven sonatas or the Well-tempered Clavier, there are better modern editions. In general though, they are great, and really good value. Worth looking into each one individually to see how well that edition is regarded. They are always well bound on nice paper, and very good value.

That was absolutely LOVELY Keemanan!!!!! Thank you for sharing it!!!!

Are you working on any of the other pieces??

Keemanan, thank you for the nice music. I confess that the only Grieg piece i heard was grieg concerto in a minor. I did not know there were so many nice pieces within my reach. I looked at his music in the link below. The link is from a local university for everyone. you may find other composer you like by following the link under CosandScores.


http://waltercosand.com/CosandScores/Composers%20E-K/Grieg,%20Edvard/

Very nicely done KeemaNan! Good tempo and phrasing, and really nice Rits. You brought out the LH melody very well in the B section and slowed the tempo down just right in the C section (so to speak ) or Coda - that's about as good as anything I've heard on YT

And thanks for the encouragement and adviceon the Dover editions.

JF

GlassLove, FarmGirl, John Frank, thanks, glad you liked it. GL - I'm not working on any more at the moment but sometime soon I'll tackle some more (this thread has got me interested in these pieces again). Probably "In ballad style" or "Remembrance". Too busy with Bach at the moment. That does NOT fall under my fingers !

I like your feel in the coda Keemanan, and the danceyness of your rhythm. It's such a pretty piece and satisfying to play around with. I noticed that you have different grace notes in the last few bars (that made me sit up and go check my score!). After Bach the Lyric pieces will probably seem a lot easier

One of my students is now very inspired to learn this too.

Thank you Glasslove, I will try to have fun...

Terrific job on that piece. I started first with this one as well.

I attempted a second Grieg piece this afternoon - Phantom - and the left hand DOES NOT fall under the fingers very well. I put that one away fairly quickly.

Oh well. I printed out a bunch of his pieces from IMSLP so I'll try another one tomorrow!