BartK Well, now I know that when Liszt writes "più facile" he is trolling you and you shouldn't believe him. 😄

Ha ha, I love this comment! 😆 Reminds me of those books of "Easy" piano pieces, which turn out to be anything but easy!

That is a beautiful piece and you did well to get it to that level in 2 weeks... at my current playing level it would probably take at least 2 months (but I don't stray out of my ability zone, it would just be frustrating)! Thanks for posting an imperfect recording - the occasional hesitations reassure me that advanced players share similar struggles to early beginners like me. That said, there was some lovely playing there and you also coped with page turns very deftly - something I've deliberately swerved when choosing a recital piece! 🙃

"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

    BartK Gorgeous Bart. That is one of my all time favourite pieces, and your rendition actually brought tears to my eyes. I now have hope I might be able to play it too, hopefully 10 years from now. Love how the hands keep crossing over. Thanks for being an inspiration 🙂

        • BBartK

        • Post #91
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        Sophia BartK Gorgeous Bart. That is one of my all time favourite pieces, and your rendition actually brought tears to my eyes. I now have hope I might be able to play it too, hopefully 10 years from now. Love how the hands keep crossing over. Thanks for being an inspiration 🙂

        Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

        The hand crossings are the tricky part because they interfere with the melody and you have to do some clever finger and pedal work. And the part with the echo one octave higher (which I didn't play) is even harder. Like I said, this piece looks simple on paper but it's not easy.

        I have to pick something easier now...😆

            Thank you @Nightowl for starting this thread. Along with the recitals that was my favorite part of PW. I'm glad to see that the challenge has so many participants. I'm looking forward to listening to all the recordings over the next few days.

            I finally managed to update my January list. I have a tendency to procrastinate, unfortunately. I want to explore RCM level 8 repertoire this year. I would possibly manage level 9 as well. However, last year was pretty much a disaster as far as piano goes. I had started a lot of pieces and then put them aside. Because of this, I've decided that rather than adding 20 or more pieces to my “unfinished” list, I'd rather pick slightly easier pieces and complete them. My plan is to learn 6 RCM 8 pieces every 3 months. I would also like to clean up my “not completed” list a bit. In addition, I would like to prepare 4 pieces for recitals. Another goal will be to record some pieces by Ukrainian composers, most of them will be rather easy, but ideally there should be a few that are a bit more difficult.

            I have not yet decided how I will choose my “quick studies”. For the last couple years I've been studying what was just on reddit “piano jam”, unfortunately it seems to be dead. I'm pretty sure I'll come up with something though.

            Here is my list so far:

            1. Naoko Ikeda, Shooting Stars in the Summer (Soundcloud)
            2. W. Gillock, Hail the King (Soundcloud)
            3. L. Kuzmenko, Mysterious Summer's Night (Soundcloud)
            4. Anon., Burlesque in G Major (Soundcloud)
            5. P. I. Tschaikovsky, March - Song of the Lark, "Seasons", op. 37a no. 3 (Soundcloud)
            6. L. v. Beethoven, German Dance in C Major, WoO 8 No. 1 (Soundcloud)
            7. F. Schubert, Valse Sentimentale, op. 50 no. 13 (Soundcloud)
            8. W. Gillock, The Spinners (Soundcloud)
            9. J. Hisaishi, A Town with an Ocean View (Soundcloud)
            10. D. Scarlatti, Sonata in F minor, K 185 (Soundcloud)
            11. N. Mordasov, Jazz Miniatures, No. 2 - Twilight (Soundcloud)

            Happy practicing to everyone!

              BartK Great playing! All four pieces you've chosen so far are beautiful. I wonder which one is your favourite?
              I like the last one, but it goes neck and neck with Granados' Oriental 🙂

                  Greta99
                  Already 11 pieces in one month?! 😲

                  I think you can choose harder pieces given how well you played those. Amazing performances!

                      Gooseberry Great playing! All four pieces you've chosen so far are beautiful. I wonder which one is your favourite?
                      I like the last one, but it goes neck and neck with Granados' Oriental 🙂

                      I like all the pieces I chose and they are all fun to play. 🙂

                        @BartK Lovely!! Which score (version) did you use?

                        P.S. yes, re the trolling! I have met my share of pieces that look easier on paper! 😅

                          BartK Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

                          Sorry, a little off topic, but I suddenly realized why I got so emotional listening... it was one of my dad's performances 🙂
                          As I said, off topic, but it just proves how music can play on our emotions so deeply it can make us was cry literal tears 😃

                            ShiroKuro Lovely!! Which score (version) did you use?

                            Henle. They printed the ossia just below the main version.

                                BartK ah, ok, thanks. I can probably find that at the music library here. I looked at IMSLP and the version I found was old and hard to read.

                                    ShiroKuro My guess is that there are many versions of this piece on IMSLP so you might be able to find one that's easier to read.

                                        pianoloverus My guess is that there are many versions of this piece on IMSLP so you might be able to find one that's easier to read.

                                        I know, I just find sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth trying to hunt through IMSLP. It takes forever to sort through things, and so many of the scores are old and hard to read. If I can find the Helne version here, in score with a modern and high quality typesetting etc., then that will be preferable.
                                        (Edit to add, I work at a uni with a very well-known music school, we have a fantastic music library)

                                            Here is an easier version (easier than the one BartK played so very well). I made it partly myself, not from scratch of course, but by combining other easy arrangements. In m5, and a lot of other measures, you'll see a line above three notes. It means that this is a triplet. The number three in the middle of the line confuses me, so instead I just use the line.

                                            *
                                            ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

                                              ShiroKuro I know, I just find sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth trying to hunt through IMSLP. It takes forever to sort through things, and so many of the scores are old and hard to read. If I can find the Helne version here, in score with a modern and high quality typesetting etc., then that will be preferable.
                                              (Edit to add, I work at a uni with a very well-known music school, we have a fantastic music library)

                                              The Henle edition was published in 2024 so they might not have it yet but it's not too expensive.

                                                  BartK Already 11 pieces in one month?! 😲

                                                  I started some pieces in mid-December, so it was more like a month and a half.

                                                  BartK I think you can choose harder pieces given how well you played those. Amazing performances!

                                                  Thank you very much! I've chosen a few pieces that are a bit more difficult, we'll see how that goes.

                                                      Thanks, @Animisha

                                                      BartK The Henle edition was published in 2024 so they might not have it yet but it's not too expensive.

                                                      Oops, you're right, my uni library doesn't have it! Not only that, but there are only two libraries that show up in the "inter-library loan" request system, and those libraries are overseas. So no dice!

                                                      Also, I poked around online, and it's not on Amazon US (although it's on Amazon UK), and I can't find anywhere to buy it. How ironic!

                                                          ShiroKuro Also, I poked around online, and it's not on Amazon US (although it's on Amazon UK), and I can't find anywhere to buy it. How ironic!

                                                          Henle has an app. You could install it and buy the digital version.

                                                              Greta99 Henle has an app.

                                                              I knew that, but if my memory is correct, you can't get the pdfs out of the app, is that right?

                                                              I play from the forScore app, so I want my pdfs in there.

                                                                  ShiroKuro I knew that, but if my memory is correct, you can't get the pdfs out of the app, is that right?

                                                                  I have not used the app, but this is from Henle Support page:
                                                                  In the settings menu of the score you will find a print option. On Android devices you automatically have the option of printing to PDF. On iOS devices you can use a zoom gesture in the print preview to create a PDF, which you can then also use in other apps.