John Citron!!... one of our newer MA members who joined us for a small, sort of last minute, gathering which was hosted by Jeanne W. on Tues evening.

It certainly was a pleasure to finally meet up with John after reading many thoughtful and inspiring posts he has shared with members on this board.

John awed us with his playing of a few Chopin Nocturnes. He first played Nocturne #1 and since this is a piece I have been working on for awhile, it was wonderful to hear it played "live". I have a long way to go before perfecting this piece but was truly inspired by John's performance.

Jeanne delighted us with her new and latest "gems" that she has composed this year alone! All of you who enjoyed following Jeanne's piano purchase will be pleased to know that Jeanne is enjoying many hours of musical pleasure on her beautiful grand.

And Bee, as exhausted as she was from her newly appointed role in her life, stepped up to the bench and entertained us with a piece of music written by PW member Kreisler.

On with the pics.... I don't expect anyone will have any problems figuring out who John is!! Jeanne is on the left, Bee next to John and as for myself... well, I'm just in the "pink" of things!! :p

WOW, great pics, Terrytunes!! Thanks for the report too.

Everyone looks great!

Jeanne W.,
Your place is fantastic! How beautiful.

I forgot what kind of piano you have. The wood is gorgeous.

Thank you Terrytunes for posting the pictures.

Many thank yous to JeanneW for hosting the gathering, and letting me play her wonderful Steinwa! The instrument has such a beautiful touch and tone. I had so much fun, I kept the party going in my head and didn't sleep a wink all night.

John

Thanks, Everyone, for coming! It was good seeing you again, Terrytunes and BeeLady, and meeting you, John. I enjoyed hearing each of you play: Terrytunes, your ragtime brought my piano alive; Beelady, the piece you played by a PW member, Kreisler, was a real treat, and John, your Chopin led us away to another place.

John, I have to thank you for playing one of my pieces of music. You said sight reading is your forte - yes, that's true, in addition to being a wonderful pianist, you are a great sight reader!

OH, AND JOHN...you send a thank you for playing my "wonderful Steinwa!" WHAT'S A STEINWA???

Jeanne W

It's a wonderful Steinway <----- see the 'y' here.... sorry typo....

John

Ooops. I fixed my post.

That IS a beautiful piano. What's the finish? It looks more exotic than a basic mohagony.

And I truly do enjoy getting to see what people on the forum look like. Thanks for taking the effort to post the pictures.

Hi, Monica:

Thank you! The wood is plain mahogany, as I recall. Course right now it's 3:16 am....my mind is mush. I'm also thinking the rebuilder (Lee Doherty, Acme Piano, Somerville, MA), may have said it's "ribbon mahogany". ??? When I found it, by the way, the finish was a very light blonde color. I had it refinished darker - it came out great!

John: Re: the "Steinway" thing - I was just razzing you, you know! :p :

Hey, everyone, I have a challenge for you. Take a look at the photo with all four of us happy Piano People in it. There's something in the background of the photo - at the far end of the room. Can you guess what it is???

**You'll need to be able to see all of the detail in the photo. If the rug and background of the photo fades to black on your pc monitor, adjusting the brightness of your pc monitor should, I think, help. The reason I mention this is, on a friend's pc, this photo is so dark you can't see any detail at the back of the room, but the photo is brighter and all of the detail is visible on my home pc. **

If that doesn't work, you can copy and paste the photo into microsoft word and brighten it there: right click on the photo in PW...click on "copy"...open a microsoft word doc...Right click on "paste". Then to brighten the photo:
click on the picture...Right mouse click on the photo...click on "format picture"...click on "picture...click on "brightness" - increase brightness from 50%. Brightening it from 50% to 62% makes all the difference in the world.

Anyway, can anyone hazard a guess what it is?

I'm wondering how many replies this will receive. I know not many PW members visit this particular forum.

Jeanne W

Thanks, Bernard! We had such a nice time, and *My Piano* loved it as well. (Pianos are people, too, you know. :rolleyes: )

Jeanne W

It looks like either an old school desk with the lid up, a square piano with the lid up, or else you're the person Jay Leno mentioned the other day that bought Benjamin Franklin's Commode Chair on E-Bay, and ITS lid is up. Maybe a sewing machine but I see no treadle.

Before I got my photo editor dialed in, I thought it might have been an easel and the plant behind it might have been jodi's head......she's into both painting AND plants, as I recall.

Did John demand that the party be held at night? ( that MIGHT be his vampire coffin, but it looks kinda short for him, to tell the truth.)

Is that really TerryTunes in the photo? I can't recognizer very easily without being able to see her tenni shoes.

I think its a school desk with the (most probably metal) legs painted brown.

Nice finish on the piano,by the way.


Bob

RKVS1 Bob:

I am sitting here howling at your guesses! I think, maybe, I like your "Ben Franklin Commode Chair" guess best.

It's NONE of those things, though.

I just checked the photo, again. Yes, there IS a plant behind it and I HAD noticed it could possibly look like someone's HEAD (hair) - BUT THAT'S NOT RIGHT, EITHER!!!! (Which "Jodi" are you referring to by the way??? Cause there 'tweren't any Jodi's at our gathering. )

Keep those guesses coming!

Jeanne W

Curious why John played with the lid down?

I'm interesred in seeing this piece of music. Where'd ya get it Bee?

The lid do go up as I was playing...We never thought of lifting it when we first started.

That is one fine Steinway. Wow!

BE: Kreisler's piece is really great. I would love to see the music for it too.

John

A virginal, perhaps? Can't really see it too well, not computer-literate enough to try harder.

I get it! It is a person playing a virginal. I can see their hair, and the lid is up.

Interesting...people really are thinking the PLANT is a person. But it ISN'T! It really is a PLANT!

I'll leave a little more time for guessing what that *thing* at the far side of the room might be...before letting the cat out of the bag.

BachEnthusiast/John: I'd also like to see the music for Kreisler's piece of music. We'll have to wait for BeeLady- I think she said it was posted here on PW somewhere. It may be a while before we hear from BeeLady, though. She is SWAMPED this week. We're lucky she was able to come Tues night.

YOO HOO, BEELADY - ARE YOU OUT THERE???

Jeanne W

Whew! My week is over!! But I just couldn't miss a PW gathering....Nearly dozed off while listening to the wonderful music at Jeanne's..but certainly NOT from boredom.

The piece I have been (and am still) working on is Kreisler\'s from nearly a year ago. I love it and especially love that fact that it is from a PW member...

Now if we could just get Ax to write down those lovely Chinese folk songs....

Thanks Jeanne for getting us together. John, it was a pleasure to finally meet you. I don't think I did ever see you at the Barnes and Noble...Terry, well ya know....Let me know what you need done for the 29th. I am sooo there!

a harpsichord?

Cool, for some reason I was expecting some kind of extensive multi-movement piano sonata or something. I played it. Quite a pleasant little piece. Reminds me of something I just can't put my finger on it.

Wow! Thanks for providing the link, BeeLady! I clicked on it, listened to the piece, promptly said, "I gotta learn to play that myself!", printed it out, and have spent the last 30 minutes trying to play it very, very softly so I don't wake the kids up. I can play it now maybe at half-tempo.

Kreisler, hope you don't mind that I printed it out. It's beautiful! So joyful and light. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Kreisler, (you here?) I just checked out your composition. You're doing yours with software, I see. Mine are all handwritten - *very* time consuming. I need to get software or something... I'm spending too much time copying my pieces ... I could be spending that time composing and practising, instead. Nice piece, Kreisler!

Jeanne W

Wow! Didn't know I was being discussed over here.

You're all of course welcome to print it out, it's very exciting to hear that people like the stuff!

I write everything out by hand first and put it into the computer later.

I only wish I had more time to write. It's a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to get published some day.

Thanks everybody!

In the original post about the piece, you mention having a "2" and "3" nearly ready to go...are they available for listening on-line yet?

Looks like a fun party ..

(Can't figure out what that "thing" is though.)

'Not that I even know for sure what a "virginal" is ..... I'm assuming its piano-like, but with no "sustain" pedal , or perhaps it is set up somehow so that one can ONLY play minor tunes. or maybe the fallboard has never been opened, or you're not allowed to play with either the long OR[/b] the short stick . But it doesn't matter. I'm thinking that this is EXACTLY what would be needed in that room to bring its Karma back into balance during this party.

I liked Kreisler's gentle offering. The start of the middle section (M10 -M17 ) reminded me of part of the folk melody that Ravel wove into the Bolero, and the whole thing kinda put me in mind of Charley Brown walking contentedly home after a good day at school.


Bob

Sorta. Parts of #2 and #3 got sent to an interested publisher. Can't really offer them for free in case they offer me a contract.

Anything they turn down will probably show up here though.

I hope it works out for you...and I'll be first in line to order it if it does!

p.s. I'm now up to 2/3 tempo on "1" (er, that's with many mistakes, though). Do you have a catchier name for the piece, by the way?

So, what is That Thing?

John Delmore, you guessed correctly. Yes, it's an Italian virginal by Zuckerman. Bob, apple, Congrapuntus, you also were on the right track!

An Italian virginal is, for anyone who doesn't know, a kind of small rectangular instrument that works on the same principal as a harpsichord.

The reason I mention it is, how many people would you think have one of these things??? I would think they are pretty rare. John Citron also has one (different maker) - how ironic. !!!

Jeanne W

Kreisler, keep us up to date on all your happenings...As I have told you before, I love the piece (as does my teacher) and I want more, more more!!! I, too, would be first in line to buy any publications with your work included!

My teacher and I have worked on this one from time to time and it is fun to see how different it can be.