Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Tchaikovsky Themed Recital: April 2014

So many members here were willing but unable to take part in earlier recitals because of the difficulty of the pieces. The idea from the proposal stages was that the easier works like Opp. 39 & 40 would encourage greater participation without technical barriers for many in the ABF but those that were able to take on greater challenges could still do so.

We have 35 participants already, more than we had for Mendelssohn or Grieg, and many more of them from this forum. All those that want to join in have something they can do. In that respect it's already a good job, done well. It would be nice to have Op. 39 complete but the way is open now to have more than one player per piece and I'd much rather that than a full set. If I were to take on another piece by Tchaikovsky it would be one of those already chosen rather than something less popular that I wouldn't ever perform again.

The reason I'm totally against a full set is that is that it requires extra work at the piano without compensatory reward. For me, it would be as exciting to listen to as Hanon. I still haven't listened to much of the Mendelssohn or Grieg where the performers were from outside the ABF.

We've had the benefit now of spreading the news that Tchaikovsky should be as mainstream as Schumann and Grieg, beginners have had the opportunity to listen to opus 39 as a set in order to choose their pieces and will listen more actively to the pending recitals. There is also a greater familiarity with his more challenging works for future uptake.

Are the remainder of his works worth the extra time required to listen to them all? How much of our practise time will have to be given up for that?

If you want a full set, do Op. 39 and Op. 37 and allow multiple players per piece. If you want everything Tchaikovsky wrote, there are still huge amounts of his repertoire available, sonatas, larger works, transcriptions, etc. that were dropped from the list because of their size that can be added back. Where do you draw the line? I wouldn't even participate in that for Bach or Beethoven so if that's what you want I'm outta here!

Seems that what you get is what you go with . . multiple players per piece invites comparison obviously. And whilst this is inevitable anyway (musicians are an egotistical lot) it`s maybe not good to have it in sharp focus.
Doesn`t matter to me if all the stuff gets taken; chances are T wrote some rather less than interesting stuff, I don`t know. What I`ve heard is very impressive indeed. But also can be very hard . . . I just like to hear people playing. At whatever level - we`ve all been there and some of us haven`t advanced all that much . . . Shrug

Returned to the piano after two weeks (actually 17 days) absence and played through the three pieces I have signed up for. As expected my fingers were pretty stiff and I had problems with several of the passages that ran relatively smoothly before the holidays. The good thing was that I remember most of the music, and could play relatively long sequences without looking at the sheets.

Anyhow I'm going to give Tchaikovsky another two weeks break and spend the time with two- and three-part Bach inventions to re-gain some of the agility and flexibility of my fingers. Still I hope that I'll be able to learn my Tchaikovsky pieces within the deadline.

Drat! I realise now that I probably made a mistake putting my Tchai tchoice on the back burner these last couple of months. What with domestic issues threatening to squeeze the time I have spare it looks like I'm overcommitted with a pair of Rags, a Chopin Nocturne and maybe (only maybe) some work on the Chopin Ballade. Reluctantly, I'm going to put August, The Harvest (op37,8) back up for grabs. I hope everyone is making good progress!

The Tchaikovsky Themed Recital is due to take place April 15.

To preserve existing selections, always QUOTE from the latest list then, in any order:

-- Delete the initial "[quote=<name> ]"
-- Delete the final "[/quote ]"
-- Add your name and the bold tags, "[b ]" and "[/b ]", around your chosen piece.

Then submit the new list.

A 30sec clip is available of each piece in the same order as below @ Deezer (If you sign up or in with FB, the whole pieces can be played for free)
Or here, if you're restricted from the above due to your location:
All Music


Op. 1 No. 1. Scherzo a la russe
Op. 1 No. 2. Impromptu (patH)

Op. 2 No. 1. Ruines d'un chateau (Morodiene)
Op. 2 No. 2. Scherzo (Morodiene)
Op. 2 No. 3. Chant sans paroles (Morodiene)

Op. 4 Valse caprice in D major
Op. 5 Romance in F minor (Ganddalf)
Op. 7 Valse-scherzo No. 1 in A major
Op. 8 Capriccio in G flat major

Op. 9 No. 1. Reverie
Op. 9 No. 2. Polka de salon
Op. 9 No. 3. Mazurka de salon

Op. 10 No. 1. Nocturne in F major (Valencia)
Op. 10 No. 2. Humoresque in E minor

Op. 19 No. 1. Reverie du soir (Dipsy)
Op. 19 No. 2. Scherzo humoristique
Op. 19 No. 3. Album Leaf (zrtf90)
Op. 19 No. 4. Nocturne (Rupak Bhattacharya)
Op. 19 No. 5. Capriccioso
Op. 19 No. 6. Theme originale et variations

Op. 21 No. 1. Prelude in B major
Op. 21 No. 2. Fugue a 4 voix in G sharp minor
Op. 21 No. 3. Impromptu in C sharp minor
Op. 21 No. 4. Marche funebre in A flat minor
Op. 21 No. 5. Mazurque in A flat minor
Op. 21 No. 6. Scherzo in A flat major

Op. 37 No. 1 January: By the Fireside (hreichgott)
Op. 37 No. 2 February: Carnival (hreichgott)
Op. 37 No. 3 March: Song of the Lark (SwissMS)
Op. 37 No. 4 April: Snowdrop (Pavel.K)
Op. 37 No. 5 May: White Nights
Op. 37 No. 6 June: Barcarolle (Sam S)
Op. 37 No. 7 July: Song of the Reaper
Op. 37 No. 8 August: The Harvest
Op. 37 No. 9 September: The Hunt
Op. 37 No. 10 October: Autumn Song (Andy Platt)
Op. 37 No. 11 November: Troika
Op. 37 No. 12 December: Christmas (carlos88)

Op. 39 No. 1. Morning Prayer (casinitaly)
Op. 39 No. 2. Winter Morning (Wisebuff)
Op. 39 No. 3. Mamma (gingko2)
Op. 39 No. 4. Hobbyhorse
Op. 39 No. 5. The Toy Soldiers' March
Op. 39 No. 6. The New Doll (ClsscLib)
Op. 39 No. 7. The Sick Doll (earlofmar)
Op. 39 No. 8. The Doll's Funeral (ajames)
Op. 39 No. 9. Waltz (Saranoya)
Op. 39 No. 10. Polka
Op. 39 No. 11. Mazurka (MrPozor)
Op. 39 No. 12. Russian Song (Johnny D)
Op. 39 No. 13. Peasant Prelude
Op. 39 No. 14. Popular Song (Peterws)
Op. 39 No. 15. Italian Song (sinophilia)
Op. 39 No. 16. Old French Song (Recaredo)
Op. 39 No. 17. German Song (sydnal)
Op. 39 No. 18. Neapolitan Song (IreneAdler)
Op. 39 No. 19. A Nursery Tale
Op. 39 No. 20. The Witch Baba Yaga (jfmartins)
Op. 39 No. 21. Sweet Dreams (AimeeO)
Op. 39 No. 22. The Lark
Op. 39 No. 23. At Church (AZ_Astro)
Op. 39 No. 24. The Organ-Grinder's Song

Op. 40 No. 1. Etude
Op. 40 No. 2. Chanson triste (Greener)
Op. 40 No. 3. Marche funebre
Op. 40 No. 4. Mazurka in C major
Op. 40 No. 5. Mazurka in D major
Op. 40 No. 6. Chant sans paroles
Op. 40 No. 7. Au village
Op. 40 No. 8. Valse in A flat major (timmyab)
Op. 40 No. 9. Valse in F sharp minor (PikaPianist)
Op. 40 No. 10. Danse russe
Op. 40 No. 11. Scherzo
Op. 40 No. 12. Reverie interrompue

Op. 51 No. 1. Valse de salon
Op. 51 No. 2. Polka peu dansante
Op. 51 No. 3. Menuetto scherzoso
Op. 51 No. 4. Natha-valse
Op. 51 No. 5. Romance
Op. 51 No. 6. Valse sentimentale (lyricmudra)

Op. 72 No. 1. Impromptu (Peterws)
Op. 72 No. 2. Berceuse (MaryBee)
Op. 72 No. 3. Tendres reproches
Op. 72 No. 4. Danse caracteristique
Op. 72 No. 5. Meditation (Ganddalf)
Op. 72 No. 6. Mazurka pour danser
Op. 72 No. 7. Polacca de concert
Op. 72 No. 8. Dialogue
Op. 72 No. 9. Un poco di Schumann (Wayne32yrs)
Op. 72 No. 10. Scherzo-fantaisie
Op. 72 No. 11. Valse bluette
Op. 72 No. 12. L'espiegle
Op. 72 No. 13. Echo rustique
Op. 72 No. 14. Chant elegiaque (chopinoholic)
Op. 72 No. 15. Un poco di Chopin (chopinoholic)
Op. 72 No. 16. Valse a cinq temps (Ganddalf)
Op. 72 No. 17. Passe lointain
Op. 72 No. 18. Scene dansante: invitation au trepak

The Nocturne in F major Op. 10 No. 1 is back up for grabs as there is no way I'll be able to learn it by April. It's a gorgeous piece. Hope someone else takes it up!



The Tchaikovsky Themed Recital is due to take place April 15.

To preserve existing selections, always QUOTE from the latest list then, in any order:

-- Delete the initial "[quote=<name> ]"
-- Delete the final "[/quote ]"
-- Add your name and the bold tags, "[b ]" and "[/b ]", around your chosen piece.

Then submit the new list.

A 30sec clip is available of each piece in the same order as below @ Deezer (If you sign up or in with FB, the whole pieces can be played for free)
Or here, if you're restricted from the above due to your location:
All Music


Op. 1 No. 1. Scherzo a la russe
Op. 1 No. 2. Impromptu (patH)

Op. 2 No. 1. Ruines d'un chateau (Morodiene)
Op. 2 No. 2. Scherzo (Morodiene)
Op. 2 No. 3. Chant sans paroles (Morodiene)

Op. 4 Valse caprice in D major
Op. 5 Romance in F minor (Ganddalf)
Op. 7 Valse-scherzo No. 1 in A major
Op. 8 Capriccio in G flat major

Op. 9 No. 1. Reverie
Op. 9 No. 2. Polka de salon
Op. 9 No. 3. Mazurka de salon

Op. 10 No. 1. Nocturne in F major
Op. 10 No. 2. Humoresque in E minor

Op. 19 No. 1. Reverie du soir (Dipsy)
Op. 19 No. 2. Scherzo humoristique
Op. 19 No. 3. Album Leaf (zrtf90)
Op. 19 No. 4. Nocturne (Rupak Bhattacharya)
Op. 19 No. 5. Capriccioso
Op. 19 No. 6. Theme originale et variations

Op. 21 No. 1. Prelude in B major
Op. 21 No. 2. Fugue a 4 voix in G sharp minor
Op. 21 No. 3. Impromptu in C sharp minor
Op. 21 No. 4. Marche funebre in A flat minor
Op. 21 No. 5. Mazurque in A flat minor
Op. 21 No. 6. Scherzo in A flat major

Op. 37 No. 1 January: By the Fireside (hreichgott)
Op. 37 No. 2 February: Carnival (hreichgott)
Op. 37 No. 3 March: Song of the Lark (SwissMS)
Op. 37 No. 4 April: Snowdrop (Pavel.K)
Op. 37 No. 5 May: White Nights
Op. 37 No. 6 June: Barcarolle (Sam S)
Op. 37 No. 7 July: Song of the Reaper
Op. 37 No. 8 August: The Harvest
Op. 37 No. 9 September: The Hunt
Op. 37 No. 10 October: Autumn Song (Andy Platt)
Op. 37 No. 11 November: Troika
Op. 37 No. 12 December: Christmas (carlos88)

Op. 39 No. 1. Morning Prayer (casinitaly)
Op. 39 No. 2. Winter Morning (Wisebuff)
Op. 39 No. 3. Mamma (gingko2)
Op. 39 No. 4. Hobbyhorse
Op. 39 No. 5. The Toy Soldiers' March
Op. 39 No. 6. The New Doll (ClsscLib)
Op. 39 No. 7. The Sick Doll (earlofmar)
Op. 39 No. 8. The Doll's Funeral (ajames)
Op. 39 No. 9. Waltz (Saranoya)
Op. 39 No. 10. Polka
Op. 39 No. 11. Mazurka (MrPozor)
Op. 39 No. 12. Russian Song (Johnny D)
Op. 39 No. 13. Peasant Prelude
Op. 39 No. 14. Popular Song (Peterws)
Op. 39 No. 15. Italian Song (sinophilia)
Op. 39 No. 16. Old French Song (Recaredo)
Op. 39 No. 17. German Song (sydnal)
Op. 39 No. 18. Neapolitan Song (IreneAdler)
Op. 39 No. 19. A Nursery Tale
Op. 39 No. 20. The Witch Baba Yaga (jfmartins)
Op. 39 No. 21. Sweet Dreams (AimeeO)
Op. 39 No. 22. The Lark
Op. 39 No. 23. At Church (AZ_Astro)
Op. 39 No. 24. The Organ-Grinder's Song

Op. 40 No. 1. Etude
Op. 40 No. 2. Chanson triste (Greener)
Op. 40 No. 3. Marche funebre
Op. 40 No. 4. Mazurka in C major
Op. 40 No. 5. Mazurka in D major
Op. 40 No. 6. Chant sans paroles
Op. 40 No. 7. Au village
Op. 40 No. 8. Valse in A flat major (timmyab)
Op. 40 No. 9. Valse in F sharp minor (PikaPianist)
Op. 40 No. 10. Danse russe
Op. 40 No. 11. Scherzo
Op. 40 No. 12. Reverie interrompue

Op. 51 No. 1. Valse de salon
Op. 51 No. 2. Polka peu dansante
Op. 51 No. 3. Menuetto scherzoso
Op. 51 No. 4. Natha-valse
Op. 51 No. 5. Romance
Op. 51 No. 6. Valse sentimentale (lyricmudra)

Op. 72 No. 1. Impromptu (Peterws)
Op. 72 No. 2. Berceuse (MaryBee)
Op. 72 No. 3. Tendres reproches
Op. 72 No. 4. Danse caracteristique
Op. 72 No. 5. Meditation (Ganddalf)
Op. 72 No. 6. Mazurka pour danser
Op. 72 No. 7. Polacca de concert
Op. 72 No. 8. Dialogue
Op. 72 No. 9. Un poco di Schumann (Wayne32yrs)
Op. 72 No. 10. Scherzo-fantaisie
Op. 72 No. 11. Valse bluette
Op. 72 No. 12. L'espiegle
Op. 72 No. 13. Echo rustique
Op. 72 No. 14. Chant elegiaque (chopinoholic)
Op. 72 No. 15. Un poco di Chopin (chopinoholic)
Op. 72 No. 16. Valse a cinq temps (Ganddalf)
Op. 72 No. 17. Passe lointain
Op. 72 No. 18. Scene dansante: invitation au trepak

Wow, Valencia, that piece is amazing! I just listened to it for the first time and I love the chords in there! I have a lot on my plate, namely Tchaikovsky. Maybe if I can get the Op. 2 pieces (at least 1&3) under my belt I can add something else, but I'm not really sure at this point. It's a real gem - I'll learn it someday if not for this

I agree!! I will definitely continue my practice on it because it is so beautiful. Whenever you do learn it, I'd love to hear it!

What I learned:
"How hard can a 1 minute piece be?" -> Wrong on many levels
"I have lots of time till April, I'll get to it sooner or later" -> shouldn't have thought
"Well this piece sure feels different to what I have worked on so far and it's currently a mess, but I'll just keep playing and it will eventually fall under my fingers" -> turns out wrong

I am still struggling, there is a section with some third runs on right hand (on mixed black & white keys) and a waltz rhythm with jumps/skips on left hand which I just can not get smooth. I will keep working hard but I started feeling the stress of possible impending failure already.. Anybody in similar situation?

sydnal, seeing how hard you work in the Alfred books I am quietly confident you could do this, although this is not an easy piece to be sure.
Do not panic yet although I think we all go through that stage learning a difficult piece, I know I do. Typically as we attempt more challenging pieces the time needed is often months where previously it was weeks and that is a little hard to get used to. If you continue with this piece, even if you are not happy with the end result, you will still find the process very rewarding.



If you are not doing so already practice measure you have particular problems in isolation. No use covering the stuff you find easy.

Don't panic, sydnal, there's still plenty of time.

This is a bit detailed. Discard what you don't want.

Start at M10, the second bar of the repeat section. Practise just this one measure until you can do it three or four times together at a comfortable speed, jovial and bouncy. Alternate the RH slow with fast until it's comfortable before you alternate LH, RH and HT. Make sure you're changing from 2-4 to 3-5 for the descent and that you're going back to 2-4 at the start. You might need to practise just the first three notes first to get the fingering change secure. Make this the first thing you practise each day (on this piece). Spend up to five minutes a day just on this measure if you need to until it starts to flow.

When M10 can be done in a minute or two then do the same thing with M12. Give it a few days and only when both measures are comfortable at tempo join them together.

Practise M9 and M13 separately and include the first chord of M10 and M14 respectively when you practise them. Be aware of the different articulations. In M9 the first E ends the previous phrase. In M13 it starts the new phrase. Again, get each measure comfortable for a few days before joining them to their neighbours.

Watch the G in M16a and its absence in M8 and note the different chord inversions in these two measures (and M24). Treat these as different bars and practise each separately a few times each day before joining them onto their neighbours. Leave M16b until you've finished the outer sections.

For the outer sections start on M3/M19 and note the difference from M7/M23 where the last note is D not B. Include the first chord of the next measure when you practise this section and keep/tap/nod the two empty beats between each repeat.

Nearly there. Practise M1/M5/M17/M21 separately, as above, and including the first note of the next measure each time (with two empty beats between each repeat).

M2/M6/M18/M22 can be done likewise.

So, M10, M12, M9, M13 and M16a for up to a minute each. Repeat every day until they're each up to tempo before joining them into pairs: M9-10, M11-12, M13-14, M15-16a.

Then M3, M7, M4, M8, M1 and M2 likewise before joining them as pairs, M3-4, M7-8, M1-2.

By February, if not sooner, you may be able to join them into four bar sections without having to slow down much at all and you should soon have no trouble doing the whole thing.

Great detailed advice, Richard! I think a huge part about learning to play piano is learning how to dissect a piece and work out the details, rather than biting off the whole thing at once. It's like building a brick wall where each brick is a different section or musical aspect and the mortar is the daily practice. You get a wall eventually, but at first it just looks like a pile of bricks.

@earlofmar
Thanks.

@zrtf90; thanks. I will check your detailed instructions once I get home since I do not remember the measures at the moment. I already use basic practicing techniques, measure by measure, hands separate then together etc. The problem is, with the pieces I have tackled so far (Alfred Books XD) when I kept working I would see noticeable improvements day by day and at some point it would just click, and become natural. Now I can only see marginal improvements, if any improvements at all, which is frustrating.

Anyway; just wanted to rant a little bit and let of some steam, do not mind me. Thanks once again.

The transition from practicing in pedagogical pieces in method books to actual repertoire can be difficult at times. Many method books tend to have pieces that focus on just one aspect of playing, more like etudes, than you may find in other rep (even if it's from an "Album for the Young"). Because of this the level of detail and time needed to work out issues is generally extended.

Stick with it, and try to find new ways of practicing it. If you can provide some specific examples of the most difficult parts for you and what you've been doing in your practice to work it out, perhaps we can provide more applicable suggestions.

It's all about approaching the same problem from as many angles as possible.

I aometimes think the structure (chords and melody and hand interplay) has to be firmly embedded in one`s skull before the real progress can be made. And it takes a long time for some of us . . . . waaaay tooooo loooooooooooooooong!!

I'm glad I have a video of my piece, even though it's far from perfect. I guess I will try to improve on it once the Joplin is done (if ever!), because right now, the more I try, the worse it goes.

Just checking in ... no attempt to push this back to page one where it belongs (hint, hint, moderators ...)

I'm really happy with how "October" is progressing. Memorized and my teacher was really pleased with it last week. My biggest trouble is that some parts are so exposed any slip stands out like a sore thumb (at least to me.) The good news is that allows me to focus on just a few things ... in theory, the piece is just too darn beautiful not to play through to the end!

My plan is to lock the piece down in the next couple of weeks, get a recording done and sit back until the recital. And no, I'm not going to take another one of the pieces on: My teacher has greenlighted Liebestraum next and that's going to be the toughest piece I've worked on I think.

Hi all!

I've memorized my piece (Op. 39 No. 16. Old French Song), although I still play it slowly, about at half speed. I'm having some problems with this staccato for the left hand, since I don't get any musicality. So I'm afraid I'll have to practice the piece slowly for a while.



Cheers!

Hi folks

I'm very sorry to do this, but I can't commit to doing Reverie du soir because I there's a fair chance that I'll be moving soon, and I'm unlikely to have access to a piano. Hopefully someone will snap up my piece, which is really beautiful - though watch for the middle section, which seems to need a person to 'grow and extra hand' as peterws put it.

I've thought long and hard about this, and don't feel happy doing it, but it is better I believe to give it up now, to increase the chances (and practise time) of someone else picking it up, than carrying on with it only to risk letting people down further down the line.

That's bad luck Dipsy but a well thought out decision is always the right one