PianoTell Recital #4 is Now Live!

navindra · 2025-05-15T15:15:00+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell Recital #4! Click for an index to all the performances: keff — As Time Goes By by Herman Hupfield Schubertian2 — Sonata Opus 109 by Be...

ShiroKuro

keff that was great, and I enjoyed the details you shared about this piece, I didn’t know that the music director didn’t like it. Amazing to think about that, given what we know now about the song’s success!

Schubertian2 that was beautiful! I’m sorry to learn you had to have surgery but wishing you a speedy recovery!
I love the description of “the comforting mush of the damper pedal.” The comforting mush! And your explanation of the piece and what you granted from playing it without pedal was fascinating. Thank you for sharing the music and the story!

Sam that was amazing! I loved hearing all the instruments, first alone and then together. It all sounds great! I remember that you had the harpsichord but I didn’t know about your virtual pipe organ project. How cool!

WieWaldi Really great playing! And I can see (and hear) why you love the piece, I like your description of it being the blues, boogie and rock and roll all in one. Well done!

Peyton this is quite the toe-tapper, Peyton! I love the piano part and all the instruments sound great! Also is that you doing the backing vocals as well? Fantastic!

hebele very nicely done! That’s a really pretty piece and I think you have the pedaling just right!

Sophia Great playing! And I think you have followed the instructions perfectly, you have the gentle lilt and the country sound just right! Very peaceful and calming.

MarieJ Beautifully played! And I love the sound you choose. And the image for the video! I want to learn more about Richter. I have an anthology with some scores of his, but I don’t really know his music. How did you discover this piece?

rogerch that was beautiful! And your playing and your instrument both sound fantastic! Really lovely, thank you for sharing this music.

Ok, that’s the end of my breakfast time this morning, thank you everyone for giving me such a music morning!
Looking forward to hearing the next batch soon! 🎶❤️🎶

rogerch

ShiroKuro rogerch that was beautiful! And your playing and your instrument both sound fantastic! Really lovely, thank you for sharing this music.

Thanks for the kind words @ShiroKuro !

ShiroKuro

AlbertAndreu thank you for listening and for the kind comments!

WieWaldi

AlbertAndreu WieWaldi Very funny, good work! And what I really liked was the keyboard below...how did you put it?

Thanks for commenting.
About the keyboard, any explanations would go too offtopic, here. Please find everything in this old thread here:
WieWaldi
And if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the thread over there

Cratersmash

Sophia There might’ve been a misunderstanding 😅. I do want to get a college degree in music, I just don’t want to do any ABRSM or anything like that.

Peyton

Schubertian2 Having no pedal was an interesting hurdle but you dealt with it well. Nicley done.

Peyton

Sam Excellent Sam! And great to see you exploring the world of multi tracks. Really well done. (Funny to hear this great pipe organ coming from that little organ 🙂)

WieWaldi Great playing. I really enjoy that added feature in your video being able to see what you are playing. (don't have to go to my piano to see what key you are in 🙂 )

Sophia Nicley played Sophia. But "Country sound"? I found myself more like strolling in the park. 🙂

MarieJ It is such a sweet haunting piece. You picked just the right sound for it.

plop_symphony

ShiroKuro Always nice to hear another take on this classic! Your playing was really expressive. Now how about a Canon in F#...

plop_symphony

Sgisela I love learning about new composers, and I love when they write vivid descriptions of their works. Unearthly, weird and wild is certainly apt. You played with a lot of flair, I'm sure said Palace of Enchantment would give you a gig.

raagamuffin

I heard most of the pieces, and I enjoyed the breadth of pieces and talent on offer here.

I have a general comment about the performances. I preferred seeing the entire person while they played. It's resulted in a fuller experience, IMO to also see the body language.

I don't have the expertise to comment critically on anyone's pieces, so I'll leave it to others. I'm still working on 'Twinkle Twinkle little star' from the 'piano for babies' book 😉

ShiroKuro

raagamuffin I preferred seeing the entire person while they played. It's resulted in a fuller experience, IMO to also see the body language.

That’s makes sense. And in fact, I prefer it too. I also love seeing people’s piano rooms. 😊

But, while I can’t speak for anyone else, I can share my own reasoning for not being visible in my videos. (And in fact, I cropped out the music stand in this particular video, because my face was reflected in it almost as clearly as a mirror!)

When I first started participating in piano forums (a very long time ago now, and only a few years after we got married) my husband asked me to stay anonymous. He felt it would be safer.

So that’s what I did and I’ve kept doing that. For the most part. I never share my specific location, no photos with my face, and hopefully I leave out enough details to make me not easily found or identified.

At this point, I doubt anyone cares about who I really am. But I nevertheless keep my promise to my husband. So no “entire person” in my videos.

Other people may not have such an explicit reason, and of course some post with their real names. But for the rest, I imagine the lack of visuals has something to do with wanting to keep something private.

navindra

raagamuffin I have a general comment about the performances. I preferred seeing the entire person while they played. It's resulted in a fuller experience, IMO to also see the body language.

ShiroKuro But, while I can’t speak for anyone else, I can share my own reasoning for not being visible in my videos. (And in fact, I cropped out the music stand in this particular video, because my face was reflected in it almost as clearly as a mirror!)

I've been on the internet since the 90's from my university days and I have almost never been anonymous. I've posted a lot of nonsense in that time! Fortunately, a lot of that was lost forever when Usenet capsized.

One might argue that it's a very different world today, and quite unforgiving, so anonymity is a sensible default.

One of the reasons I never made my music videos anonymous is that I wanted them to be fully authentic and force myself to hold that bar. It's especially tough for me because I'm not a photogenic person at all.

The performances themselves might be flawed, but they are fully mine, with my personal touch, and hey I gave it my best shot at that point of time and the video represents 100% of the proof of that!

As time went on, I figured that if I died tomorrow, would I rather be anonymous, or would I rather have something with a personal touch out there for anyone, like a child, who might remotely care or know me?

I think I would rather have something out there, even if it's flawed, and even if it's at the cost of my anonymity.

rsl12

Cratersmash Welcome back, very well played! All your lines are so smooth and nicely layered.

Javier I have similar problems with recording performances. My hands get sweaty, and I am very bad at page turning. Both things caused my recording to suffer. You did a good job with note accuracy, keeping an even rhythm, and applying a little rubato (which is the right amount for this piece). I look forward to hearing more from you!

Javier

rsl12 Yes, I force myself to think anxiety. while performing, is a natural thing and I tried to embrace the awfull felling as gracefully as I can 🙂
You will hear more music from me, I am already thinking in what should I play in the next recital.
Thanks for reaching out and for your kind comments

plop_symphony

Gooseberry Great playing! I thought you had a delicate and precise touch.

Player1

Sophia

Page turns stumped me in the beginning. I watch all kinds of videos where the performer does the "snatch and grab" to turn the page and I just couldn't get my head around that. Copying the sheets to spread them out doesn't always work (some are larger than A4 copy paper) and keeping them together is always a pain. So I decided to study the sheet and see where I could do the page turn without having to rush it and end up throwing the music on the floor. (Did that a few times anyway.)

I figured out awhile ago that the page doesn't control the music but the music controls the page. In essence, turn the page when you can, not when you reach the end of the page. Sometimes that's early, sometimes it's later.

In this case, the first line on the 3rd page is a repeat of the first line on the second page. That line ends with the LH only, freeing up the RH to do the page turn. Once the page is flipped, just pick up on the 2nd line and keep going.

I didn't even need to memorize the line, just remember to do the page turn after playing it the second time. (I put a BIG note there in red felt pen to help me remember. 😆 ) I did have to memorize a line in another piece (The Andrea Dow piece In Shadow's Grip on my gRumble channel) in order to do the page turn for that one, but it's only 1 line so not impossible even for me.

I'm glad I was able to participate this time. I'm working on another piece (which will be polished, I promise) for the next recital. It's an RSM Level 4 piece and I'm finding it's within my skills. Which tells me where I am in the levels.

hebele

Schubertian2 Sonata Opus 109 by Beethoven
I like how that worked out. It is nice to hear that playing without the pedal has its advantages. Thanks for the explanation as well. Also I wish you speedy recovery so you can choose playing without the pedal 🙂

Sam Les Niais de Sologne by Jean-Philippe Rameau
I initially thought that was a clavichord, did not know they make harpsichords in that shape. It looks great, especially with the decorations. I was so intrigued about the instruments it took me a few seconds to realise the transition was so smooth.

WieWaldi Boogie Blues by Christian Fuchs
Smooth and clean as usual. Does blues really have maximum happiness limit? 🙂 Also I agree that the piece resembles multiple genres at the same time quite nicely.

Peyton Love No More by Peyton
I assume you have actually played all those instruments. That is amazing! I've listened it couple of times already. Thanks for sharing.

Sophia Country Song by Willard A. Palmer
Congratulations on finishing Alfred(s). I like the piece, so gentle. I think it is more fitting as a goodbye than the Bach Toccata 🙂

MarieJ The Blue Notebooks by Max Richter
That was nice and sweet! Thanks for sharing. I also think the piano voice nicely fits.

rogerch Forest 1 by rogerch
I like how this one flows. As usual this is a source of inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

Cratersmash Intermezzo Op. 117 No. 2 by Johannes Brahms
That was indeed lots of notes! And nicely played. I wish you luck on your studies.

rogerch

hebele rogerch Forest 1 by rogerch
I like how this one flows. As usual this is a source of inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks @hebele , I'm glad you like it!

hebele

iternabe Coffee House Boogie by Faber
That took less than a day? Amazing! You are flying through the book now. Not funny when mortals like me spending weeks on a single piece 🙂

Player1 Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John arr. by N. Faber
Great to see your submission here. I hope your health improves soon so you can go back to piano full speed.

Nightowl esterday by Lennon and McCartney
I definitely agree with others that your technique has improved a lot from the previous submission. Good job! The piece is also nicely played, very enjoyable to listen.

BicBic Etude No. 8 by Philip Glass
What a weirdly enjoyable etude. I like that it goes de-dum de-dum (like Jaws theme) then turns into such a soft melody 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

rsl12 Sonatina by York Bowen (1st mvt)
I think your decades of piano experience showcasing itself here. So much going on and yet you seem to be in full control. Thanks for showing on what is possible.

AlbertAndreu Your Reflection by Albert Andreu Garcia
Thanks for participating the recital. I think it is great to able compose pieces like this. I've enjoyed listening it and did not notice any inaccuracies like you say.

plop_symphony For River by Kan Gao
Adventure games tends to be memorable. I had forgotten most games I've played but scenes from games like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango seem to have permanent residency in my memory. Congratulations on your piano progress and well done on this piece.

lilypad Ripple Effect by Joanne Bender
I can feel the ripples. Maybe some of them had imperfect timing like you say (I did not notice any). But ripples in nature are not perfect either. Nicely played. Thanks for sharing.

plop_symphony

hebele "You fight like a dairy farmer..."

Player1

Nightowl Player1 Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John arr. by N. Faber
You seemed to struggle with this piece, especially your left hand - I guess this is probably due to the medical issues you've been having? It's clearly a work in progress and I applaud the fact that you were determined to submit a piece to the recital, in spite of recent setbacks. I like your dogged determination to push on and despite your own rather damning indictment above I noticed some lovely playing from your right hand - those note runs were very nicely done and show what you're capable of, health and time permitting. Keep going P1. 🙂

Actually, the real problem is my terrible playing. What's left is just insurmountable obstacle after insurmountable obstacle.

hebele

Sophia yes, section B has staccato LH. That was the hardest part. I was trying to connect repeated notes on RH with pedal without catching staccatos of LH.

Sophia

hebele Ahhhh respect! You played that exactly as intended, then. Playing staccato with one hand and legato with the other is HARD (ask me how I know, lol!)

Sophia

Sam That was incredible, thank you Sam! Impeccable timing and synchronization.

I showed the video to my husband and he is completely infatuated with your virtual pipe organ (his actual words: WOW WOW). He worked for Kenneth Tickell as a pipe organ builder for a while. and at one point purchased the Haubtwerk (sp?) software and planned on building a smaller version for in house. Then life happened and he never got to it... but who knows, you might have inspired him to start a new project after all ^_^

Sophia

WieWaldi Wie "Boogie King" Waldi at it again! I always enjoy your playing - so relaxed and confident. And every piece you submit is showing more and more skill... you are an unstoppable train now! Then ending was priceless... worthy of a true Performer 🤠

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