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Joined: May 2009
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PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD! USE THE DISCUSSION THREAD!

I am delighted to introduce our 34th quarterly AB Forum “Beginners and Beyond” Recital! smile So, pull up a chair and have a listen.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask the audience to please refrain from commentary in this recital room.

A separate room has been provided for the purposes of intermezzo discussion. Please take any and all comments to the General Discussion Room.

Thank you!

In addition to the zip files linked below, mahlzeit has added a feature to his program that creates an online streaming player. Just click on the link to hear all the recital pieces without having to download the zip files:

Online Streaming Player


A template has been created for those who wish to provide individualized feedback:

Recital #34 Response Template


For the convenience of forum members, mahlzeit's program has normalized the files for consistent volume and standardized the ID3 tags in a collection of zip files. This makes it easier to create personal CDs and playlists.

These zip files have been posted at the following URLs:

Recital 34 Zip 1
Recital 34 Zip 2
Recital 34 Zip 3
Recital 34 Zip 4
Recital 34 Zip 5
Recital 34 Zip 6


And here's the link to Sam S.'s terrific ABF recital index, that allows you to browse through and search for pieces in all of our past recitals:

AB Forum Recital Index

Let me express my greatest thanks to some very special people: mr_super-hunky for coming up with the idea of our online recitals, which have proven to be more successful than any of us ever dreamed; LaValse for hosting the recitals for so long and then devoting hours of programming trouble-shooting making the transition to Frank's servers; Frank for agreeing to host the recital now that it's gotten so big; Copper for trouble-shooting help and the Order of the Red Dot; Sam S. for his terrific AB Forum Recital Index and also devoting hours to programming trouble-shooting; and last but not least, mahlzeit for writing the absolutely fantastic web-based recital program that we are using. THANK YOU MAHLZEIT!!! heart


AGAIN: DO NOT REPLY OR POST ON THIS THREAD!!

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01 
Performer's name:dynamobt/Marilyn
From:NH
Experience:Many
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Symphony No. 40 1st mvt
Composer:Mozart
Duration:11:47
Source of music:Schirmer Edition Four Hand Piano
Instrument used:Mason & Hamlin BB
Recording method:Zoom H2n
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:We'd both had dinner with wine. You also need to understand that my sister is an organist not a pianist. She controls volume with the swell pedal. And she plays with conviction!! There was nothing for me to do but pound out my part to be heard. This was only our 2nd or 3rd attempt playing it through. My sister was here on vacation. So, we had learned out parts separately only sitting down together during her visit.

Please be kind with comments. I know the tempo is slow and we are pretty much pounding it out. Pedaling is poor, because my sister is not a pianist. Main thing is, we had fun. Lots of it!! We hope to do more duets in the future.

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02 
Performer's name:Whizbang (Chris)
Experience:35+
Direct music link:click to download
Video link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_KHGV08E74
Title of piece:Milonga del Angel
Composer:Astor Piazzolla
Duration:06:32
Source of music:Piano sheet, arranged from the ensemble by John Mortensen
Instrument used:Fandrich Piano Company U-122
Recording method:Zoom H4 and iPhone
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This is not ragtime. It's also the product of about 9 months of painstaking work--a real labor of love that was at the limit of my abilities but which finally came together.

The only editing in this piece was to trim empty space off the beginning and the end of the recording. It took about 7 or so takes over 45 minutes. I usually try to capture an early take that I can live with and then continue recording a few times. With less pressure from the recording, I tend to find at least one of the subsequent takes will be less stuff and thus more musical.

Astor Piazzolla is a composer that many of you may not be familiar with. He's an Argentinian composer who originated the style of music called nuevo tango. He is possibly my favorite composer but he composed for ensembles of 5 or more instruments and it's hard to find playable piano works of his music, which features multiple instruments trading melodic lines in dance-like counterpoint.

Piazzolla himself played the bandoneon, which is a button accordion. You should look up his music on YouTube. He will change your opinion of the accordion.

Piazzolla studied music and composition under Ginastera. He won a composition contest, the prize of which was to be able to study in Paris with the renowned teacher Nadia Boulanger.

If ragtime and nuevo tango have anything in common, it's that they at heart are bordello music. Both styles found their first home in red-light districts. (Jelly Roll Morton, however, did claim tango as the root of ragtime.)

Piazzolla played his many compositions for Boulanger who, paraphrasing said, "I hear Shostakovich and other composers in your music, but I don't hear you." She was infamously frank about prying into her student's lives and when she learned that Piazzolla had been earning his living by playing tango in bordellos, she made him play one for her. Afterwards, she went, "There, there is the real Piazzolla!" Piazzolla destroyed many of his early compositions and started to invent a new style of tango, influenced by jazz.

Piazzolla's music is incredibly emotional, even melodramatic, contrasting dark 'masculine' sections with incredibly lyric feminine sections. I think he'll be considered one of the great composers.


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03 
Performer's name:ShiroKuro
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:15 years in June smile
Direct music link:click to download
Home page link:https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u
Title of piece:Big My Secret
Composer:Michael Nyman
Duration:02:58
Source of music:Sheet music
Instrument used:Digital piano (Yamaha Arius)
Recording method:From piano, line-in to laptop mic-in port, then audacity to mp3
Technical feedback wanted:No
Additional info:In case you missed the big discussion on editing: I edited this recording in one spot by deleting a pause in the middle of the piece. If that bothers you, please don't feel obligated to listen. Otherwise, please listen. I've worked hard on this piece, and I think it's a good representation of where I'm at with this piece and with my playing. I'm painfully aware of the ways in which I'd like to perform this piece better, but in spite of its shortcomings, I'm proud of this recording and I'm very pleased to have the chance to share it here.


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04 
Performer's name:Anne H
From:New Orleans
Experience:10 as a child, 1.5 as an adult
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Discovery At Night
Composer:Ludovico Einaudi
Duration:03:51
Source of music:Sheet music
Instrument used:1960 Steinway console
Recording method:Zoom H4
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This was the piece I was working on for the last recital, but we ended up finding a great house and relocating 250 miles right before. My piano ended up in storage while we packed up and moved in and I just got it back a month ago - I found I was really anxious without it.

This is one of those soothing pieces that I spent lots of time listening to during the move. Like most Einaudi, the notes are easy and making it sound like something is a much harder proposition. This was also my first recording in my new home music studio and I love the sound I got out of it.

Lunch was two cups of tea and organic mac and cheese while on the phone with a client - not my favorite!


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05 
Performer's name:wouter79
Experience:4 years and a few months
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Kinderszenen, Op. 15, "Von fremden Ländern und Menschen" and "Träumerei".
Composer:Robert Schumann
Duration:03:18
Source of music:sheet music (Breitkopf & Härtel).
Instrument used:Grotrian-Steinweg 189
Recording method:DPA4060, EMU0404, Jecklin Disk
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:Schumann composed this set of 13 character pieces "Kinderszenen" (child scenes) in 1838. These are mostly pieces of just 1 or 2 pages. I thought it was time to work on a few relatively simple pieces after all the hard crunching that I did on my previous recital pieces.
The first piece that I play is " Von fremden Ländern und Menschen" (about foreign lands and men), which is also piece 1 from the cycle. The piece has the form AABABA. There are two counterpoint voices, and a middle voice that does triplet arpeggios. In my interpretation, the A part is a happy reminder of the composer's youth. The B part is a somewhat nostalgic look back at that time from the current moment in time.
The composer put just a single "Ped" marking at the start. I take this that he wants a little pedal to be used when needed.
The second piece that I play is "Träumerei" (a bit of dreaming), the 7th part of the cycle. This I think is the most famous piece of this cycle, and maybe even of Schumann. The piece is a variation of a theme, something like AA'AA' A'' A''' A A''''. Here we have 4-voice counterpoint in places, and I use hardly any pedal to bring those all out as clear as possible.
There is a lot of discussion about the speed of this 7th piece. Schumann indicates quarter note=100, which in later editions was changed to quarter note=84, but some say that the speed should be halved, that his metronome was broken, etc. I think that Schumann did have the right speed marking, but that this is the speed for the fastest parts, and that a lot of slowdown can be used where he indicates so.
I'm very sorry about the cracking sound that my pedal made. Various technicians already looked at it 3 times, and I also looked at it 2 times, I disassembled the food pedals twice. Every time, the cracking returned after a few weeks...

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06 
Performer's name:Jazzwee
From:Los Angeles
Experience:9.5 Years
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:All the Things You Are Improv
Composer:Me
Duration:02:33
Source of music:From memory of chords from Lead Sheet. I don't play the actual tune. This is entirely an improvisation but uses the chords from All the Things You Are.
Instrument used:Nord Piano 88
Recording method:Zoom H4N recording the room from Mic. Keyboard playing through monitors.
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:I didn't realize it was recital time so I just turned on the recorder and did an unplanned one take improvisation. So nothing fancy here.


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07 
Performer's name:AZ_Astro
From:Tempe, AZ
Experience:2 and 1/2 years and lots of trial and error.
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Seventh Street Blues
Composer:Martha Mier
Duration:01:54
Source of music:The score was in Jazz, Rags & Blues, Book 1, by Martha Mier
Instrument used:This recording was created using the software piano Ivory II German D by Synthogy. I played on a Korg SP-250 digital piano.
Recording method:Cantabile software that comes packed with Ivory II.
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:I fell in love with this piece the first time that I heard it. I've been working on it steadily for over a month. I can still improve my pedaling, my timing, and my chord attack. This piece is a really good vehicle to learn all of those techniques. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed learning and playing it!


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08 
Performer's name:8 Octaves
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:4 years 10 months
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:When River Flowed on Mars
Composer:Nancy Telfer
Duration:01:07
Source of music:RCM Level 5 Repertoire
Instrument used:Yamaha C3X
Recording method:Audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This piece might as well be called etude for the right hand. Both accompaniment and melody is played from the right hand (two-parts voice) with the left occasionally playing a fifth (2 notes) every measure or other measure. Recording note: live take, no edits. Thanks for listening.

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09 
Performer's name:SwissMS/Doris
From:Switzerland
Experience:Five years as an adult, a couple as a child
Direct music link:click to download
Video link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62BIxwUt_d0
Title of piece:Sonatina in C Major Opus 20 #1 1st Movement
Composer:Kuhlau
Duration:04:01
Source of music:Sheet Music
Instrument used:Bechstein A160 Grand
Recording method:Q3HD
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:Kuhlau was a German born, Danish composer who is best known for music for piano and for flute. He has become known as the Beethoven of the flute, for his extensive flute repertoire. His Sonatinas have a charming lyrical quality. This Sonatina is often taught to intermediate students because it has running scaler passages in both hands. I have spent quite a lot of time with it, and it has really taught me a lot about classical era music, and execution of running passages. It is such a cheerful, but dramatic piece, it is a lot of fun to play. The Rondo will likely show up as the August recital!

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10 
Performer's name:CarlosCC
From:Lisbon, Portugal
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:4 years 24 weeks (self-learning since Dec2009)
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Quietness
Composer:CarlosCC
Duration:05:42
Source of music:Original
Instrument used:Yamaha P85 (Grand Piano 1)
Recording method:Digital to PC
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This piece has a story. This collection of notes and chords were born last summer during the last days of life of my best listener and admirer, and now I think they are a reflex of what was on my spirit during that period.

The true is that since the day she left this world, I couldn't play this notes again... but, and because I think she would like to listen this quiet tune, I recently decided to work on it recovering the main idea. Then, I was not worried about any other "audience" or the technical level of the piece, and I didn't follow any figure or predefined formats behind the chords or musical structure. This was only a job I had to recover someday, and I felt I could do it now.
So, this is what's behind this piece. Thanks for listening.

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11 
Performer's name:Peyton
From:Maine
Experience:Lots
Direct music link:click to download
Video link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZKX_1fqJQM&list=UUfm6_6G1n0SmMfPJ3ojblZg
Home page link:http://www.peytonart.com
Title of piece:Escape
Composer:Philip Glass
Duration:03:59
Source of music:Sheet music
Instrument used:Young chang Pramberger grand
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:I had planned on entering a much longer Glass piece but between work commitments, an arm problem and a composing obsession have chosen to submit an earlier recorded piece instead. I've been enjoying the simplicity of Glass works and this one particularly has a nice feel to it.

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12 
Performer's name:Greener/Jeff
From:Toronto
Experience:Years
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Moonlight Sonata, Mvt 2 - Op. 27, No 2.
Composer:Beethoven
Duration:02:16
Instrument used:Heintzman, Normandie (console)
Recording method:2 Mics, Audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:The 1st and 3rd movements of this famous work attract a great deal of attention, I think. Not so much for the 2nd movement. It is not nearly as enduring as the 1st movement and even further removed from the 3rd. Too bad it is often over-shadowed in preference of the other movements. It is a very pleasant respite and a fun piece to play.

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13 
Performer's name:Riddler (Ed)
From:Florida
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:Two or three years of lessons as a kid; three years of jazz lessons as an adult; and a lifetime of noodling and playing by ear.
Direct music link:click to download
Home page link:http://edsjazzpianopage.blogspot.com/
Title of piece:Love Walked In
Composer:Gershwin
Duration:03:00
Source of music:Book of Gershwin Arrangements by Lee Evans
Instrument used:Yamaha P-120
Recording method:Pianoteq/Audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This book was recommended to me by a jazz piano teacher, as a source from which to learn good arranging techniques for solo piano. It did not disappoint!

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14 
Performer's name:George Schiro
From:Florida, USA
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:20+ years, self-taught
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Ambivalence
Composer:Schiro, George
Duration:04:44
Source of music:mood music, improvised
Instrument used:Yamaha Clavinova
Recording method:audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:Just another feeling?

Note: this recording was submitted after several takes "as is" with warts and all (ie. no edits).

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15 
Performer's name:peterws/peter
From:N England
Experience:Many, off/on. Trained up to "Forgotten Dreams" level . .
Direct music link:click to download
Video link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=r7pTYrfD4nU
Title of piece:Gymnopedies 2 & 3
Composer:Satie
Duration:05:29
Source of music:Sheet music
Instrument used:DGX650/Pianoteq
Recording method:Audacity/Videopad/File converter
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:These are soooo slow it was a real discipline to play. Took ages. The last is my fave; it might grow on you!
Music to yawn (relax) to . . .

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16 
Performer's name:sinophilia (Diana)
From:Italy
Experience:2 years 2 months
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:In Church - Op. 39 no. 24
Composer:Tchaikovsky
Duration:03:07
Source of music:Pianist magazine
Instrument used:Casio Privia PX-135
Recording method:digital to GarageBand
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:After my piece for the Tchaikovsky recital was ready I decided to learn this one too, even if it was marked as "intermediate" on Pianist, because it looked like a great exercise in several things that I needed to learn, such as chord voicing, soft playing, pedaling. I studied it for one month and was quite pleased, but didn't think I could actually manage to record it. My goal was not to learn the piece thoroughly, but I kept playing it, mainly on my real piano, with very mixed results. The other day I just tried to record it on the digital and I think it worked, although I recorded page 1 and 2 separately, in part because I had printed the score on both sides of a single page (LOL), and also because the second part is harder and I needed a break. So my chords are not perfect and the dynamics is still not great but I can tell you I've improved a lot since I started this. Hope to be able to record it on the acoustic sooner or later! I made a video but it's unbearable grin

As for the tempo, I have a recording by Idil Biret that is about 3 minutes and I was very happy to stick to that. There are several 2-minute recordings on YouTube but frankly I'm not a fan, and I would have never been able to do that anyway.

Yesterday night I had a wonderful crunchy pizza made with sourdough smile

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17 
Performer's name:Yamaha G3 & P-80 Mike White
From:90 miles West of New Orleans
Experience:Lifetime by ear, self-teaching since the beginning of the recitals.
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Torna A Surriento
Composer:Ernesto De Curtis
Duration:02:39
Source of music:sheet music
Instrument used:Yamaha P-80
Recording method:Audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:I heard this piece on the radio the other day and decided to see if I could find the sheet music for it. The internet is an amazing resource. This piece was not memorized.

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18 
Performer's name:earlofmar
From:Australia
Experience:18 months
Direct music link:click to download
Title of piece:Minuet in C Minor BWV Anh 121
Composer:Bach
Duration:01:43
Source of music:Keith Snell Essential Piano Repertoire Level 4
Instrument used:Yamaha P105 & Galaxy Vintage D
Recording method:Audacity
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:This is not an earth shattering piece or even one that might elicit much emotion other than a light and pleasant distraction. However for me this has been another wonderful learning experience, which is something you can only dream you will say one day as you go through the day to day trials of attempting to get it under your fingers. This is also not the work I intended to present in this recital, I have another piece which is a bit more flash, but at the very last minute I decided since I had worked so hard on this piece it deserved an outing.
Bach and I are good buddies but he really makes me work hard for just a little taste of what he has to offer.

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19 
Performer's name:CASINITALY (Cheryl)
From:Italy
Avatar:Avatar Image
Experience:4.5 years
Direct music link:click to download
Video link:http://youtu.be/plLYwFdcFGo
Title of piece:Fughetta
Composer:Pachelbel
Duration:01:12
Source of music:Sheet music: Music for Millions Vol. 27
Instrument used:Yamaha P112N (Silent feature used)
Recording method:Audacity to PC
Technical feedback wanted:Yes
Additional info:I was charmed when I found a Pachelbel piece in my book, and delighted it was a fugue. I remember the first fugue I ever heard/learned, was in the high school concert band: Bach's Fugue alla Gigue - in G major if memory serves. That was my first introduction to the "puzzle" of this music with interweaving voices and it really got me hooked on this sort of music. It took me a long time to get several of the passages under my fingers, and I would like to play it just a tad faster, but for the time being this is my speed.

For those who watch the video, the photos are from 2 trips we did on antique steam trains, and shots around Lago D'Iseo in Northern Italy.

Brunch was sausage and eggs with sliced tomatoes and brown bread.

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