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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
The video is brilliant and the performance is also very very good.
Personally I'm fond of a little more adventure in the musical language (harmony, etc), but this doesn't mean that this work is not excellent how it is!
The director and cameraman at Arkippus films worked his socks off to do something a bit interesting with the video without going too overboard! I have been practicing a bit lately as I have a few public performances coming up, it is such a good feeling to get the old fingers working hard....Toccata is quite a demanding piece due to the repetitive motif in the RH. The lactic acid soon builds up in the thumb muscles and makes it hard to control.
As for the composition, well it is one of my very early attempts and although a bit derivative I still like its simplicity. I think it makes a simple, happy statement and is a nice light little number to finish off a concert!
Thanks for sharing your music, Andy Quin, it certainly is brilliant!
If you don't mind me asking, just out of curiosity ... what prompted the making of this video? Is there any significance in the choice of piano in this case?
Thanks for sharing your music, Andy Quin, it certainly is brilliant!
If you don't mind me asking, just out of curiosity ... what prompted the making of this video? Is there any significance in the choice of piano in this case?
Thanks Axtremus!
I am getting a bit older now and really just wanted to do a bit more live piano playing before I get past it!!
I have spent a lifetime in recording studios doing music for film and TV and somehow in my very busy career and bringing up a family, actually just sitting and playing the piano got a bit left out! The video was for fun really but I intend it to be the start of a series of piano videos and recordings I will be releasing myself instead of through a publisher.
I chose the piano for recording purposes in my studio, and have recorded a number of albums of material for my publishers on it
I still always find inspiration in Bach, I guess we probably nearly all do! The romantic element is almost certainly influenced by Rachmaninoff but also The famous organ Toccata by Widor. I will hopefully shortly be recording Toccata NO.2 which also draws from another great source of inspiration for me; Debussy.
First of all great playing, excellent choice of piano and beautifully recorded. You do a nice job of exploring different dynamic levels and overall this piece works fine. Could it be more harmonically adventurous? Perhaps, but as is it won't disappoint most of any audience. I hear only slight similarities with the Widor Toccata more in the left hand than anything else. It may be the nature of the piano as a dynamic instrument vs. organ where dynamics are determined by registration and swell box, not the hands, that makes the similarity harder to hear.
Do play music by any other composers? I've got a Toccata you might be interested in.