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Good idea for a themed recital - but, with all due respect, the deadline is extremely unrealistic. November 16th would be more reasonable - and December 1st would be even better.

For example - the Alkan E-Cital was proposed in January - with a submission deadline of November.

The Grieg Lyric Piece E-Cital was originally proposed on 4/29/13 with a submission deadline of 9/10/13.

With an October 16th deadline I believe that the majority of folks who sign up will most likely already have the Mazurkas in their repertoire...which is fine, except that it doesn't give other folks much of an opportunity to learn and perfect a new piece.

Also - while it's good that you've opened this up to the ABF, let's face it, the Mazurkas as a whole are a quantum leap up in overall difficulty (both technically and musically). So if you really want ABF folks to participate you should at least give them first crack at the "easier" Mazurkas.

Just my personal opinion, of course.

Why not? A month is plenty of time to learn and perfect a two-page piece. I, for one, have not even decided which one I'm going to learn yet. And if you've never done it before, this is an opportunity to challenge yourself.


While this is not really a recital geared towards the beginners as the others have been, we are giving them a chance (encouraging them?) to participate if they so wish, and are advanced enough to play the repertoire we are doing. If they want the easier Mazurkas (except that there are no easy Mazurkas) they need only to "snap them up" as Michael says.

I'm sure we all operate differently. For me, a month is plenty of time to get an easy piece under my fingers, and play it in such a way that my non-musical friends couldn't tell the difference.

But I'd need a couple more months to really play it.


-J

I could get one of the Mazurkas under my fingers in a day, beet. And memorize it to boot. Truly playing them takes much, much longer. We all know that.

If we agree on that, why not set up the recital so that people have enough time to "truly" play them?

1) most entrants will probably already know the Mazurka they're playing
2) if they don't, this is an exercise in internalizing a piece more quickly than one might be used to. Personally, I'm used to learning things very fast. If you're not, all the better. I don't expect technical perfection. Rather, I care if you have something to say.

Op 68, No 2 in A minor.

You're on.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if this is the Michael who recently posted in the ABF forum thread 'themed recital -- Joplin' he seems to have been "snapping them up" before a recital possibility has even advanced beyond the twinkle in someone's skull - in fact I think in one instance he was both proposer and snapper.

Doesn't anyone here have the wit to devise/introduce some modicum of fairness?

It may require a bit more work but here are two suggestions.

If you REALLY want to invite the ABF'ers to participate, then ringfence as well as possible the 'easier' pieces in the theme. (Yes, I know, this can't be an exact science but an approximation will do).

Instigate a lottery system for the most popular pieces or any piece with multiple interest. There are various online systems (short straw etc) which could be monitored here by a willing member.

I'm not sure what you mean about the playing being "anything but literal...." Is any playing of any score "literal"?



Provocative? Confrontational?
This is simply meant to be an exercise wherein we all share our playing with others. It is not a competition to be judged, nor should performances be compared.



If anyone has such feelings about being "conditioned to anticipate negativity" and to experience "anxiety and stress" perhaps that person should not participate in this exercise.

It seems wrong, even before the project gets underway, to undermine it with suggestions of negativity.

Of course, many of the Mazurkas are much longer than two pages...but, you're correct, some are fairly short. Folks will either have time to do this - or they won't - depending on what else is going on in their lives over the next month. I'm just saying that with a longer deadline you'll probably get greater participation.




The past e-citals have not necessarily been geared toward beginners (for example we did a Beethoven Sonata e-cital in 2010. More generic ones (like the past Chopin or Schumann e-citals) have provided opportunities for both beginners and seasoned pianists. Guess we'll just have to see how many ABF folks snap the easy ones up.

If you look back in this thread you will find that Michael very fairly entered for his chosen Mazurka, and the comments you reference in the Joplin thread were made after that happened.

No matter how well - or poorly we say it??? Wouldn't it make more sense to give folks enough time to perfect a piece to the best of their ability? After all, we want members to actually listen to these recordings......

I'm gonna shut up now.

I am in favor of keeping the current deadline. Until Derulux, the other organizer, weighs in on this issue, assume that either you play a piece you know, prepare a piece by October 16, or don't participate. It's that simple.

I think it is because the E minor was composed before the other 3 mazurkas of Opus 41 (in 1838, while the other 3 were composed in 1839), but the order does differ in different editions. Even the Paderewski edition has it has No.2.

Everyone is different, with different strengths and weaknesses, and different amounts of time they can devote. To me, this is a reasonable deadline for a mazurka. I will only have 2-3 hours to work on the piece, myself, but it is a piece I played years ago, so I'm hedging my bet.

I would say this about the deadline -- let's see where the chips fall. If enough members feel they can participate by Oct 16, then let's keep the date, and members who feel it's a little too short a timeline can jump in on round 2. If the majority of members feel it's too short a timeline, to where we don't have a full recital, then let's adjust so that the recital itself is not compromised.

I would really like to participate. But I’m a bit concerned about the deadline, since I have limited time for practicing.
If the deadline is firm, I go for Op.67/2 in g-minor.

I apologize if I seemed to be jumping ahead in line with the three pieces from Op. 82 for the hypothetical Schumann recital. I wasn't really wanting to be allowed to do that as the same rules would apply to me as to everyone else, rather I was responding to inner enthusiasm for Schumann's music. And if the Schumann recital materializes and I "snap up" something another member wants to play, that member can PM or email me and I'll be happy to hand it over even if the result is that I don't participate!


My feeling is that to allow more than one member to record a work is the finest and best solution as the choice of music says something too about a pianist, not only how each particular work is played.

Having more than one recording of a work might make for an interesting discussion.


M.

I was under the impression that the pieces would be assigned exclusively - hence Polyphonist's advice to be the early bird. But, yes, I think it's a good idea to allow more than one pianist to a piece.

Actually I didn't fully commit to the Op. 17 No. 4 Mazurka, which is because there is uncertainty about recording arrangements, so out of fairness I should plan to do it separately, put it on youtube, and post a link in the members' recordings forum.


M.