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Welcome to a "Rare Gems" themed recital. Links to the recordings are in the posts following this one. Please refrain from commentary in this thread. Take any and all comments to the General Discussion Thread for this recital. Thank you! In addition to the recordings below, and the zip files linked below, we have an online streaming player. Just click on the link to hear all the recital pieces without having to download the zip files: Streaming PlayerFor the convenience of forum members, we also have 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: zip1zip2zip3zip4zip5And here is the index to past recitals: ABF Recital IndexHave fun listening, and remember, post your comments in the Discussion Thread. Sam
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| 01 | | | Performer's name: | Animisha | | From: | Sweden | | Avatar: |  | | Experience: | 3 years of scattered "self-teaching"; 2.5 years since teacher-guided restart | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Video link: | https://youtu.be/hyUOfqZXM8g | | Title of piece: | Gondolieri | | Composer: | Ethelbert Nevin | | Duration: | 01:34 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Casio PX150 + Pianoteq Bechstein | | Recording method: | Audio: pianoteq to macbook, Video: iphone | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | This is an easier arrangement of the original piece. |
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| 02 | | | Performer's name: | PikaPianist | | From: | Brisbane, Australia | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Video link: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dmfUvM2MQw | | Title of piece: | Romance Without Words Op.3 No.1 | | Composer: | Filtsch | | Duration: | 03:35 | | Instrument used: | Estonia L210 (2018) | | Recording method: | Zoom H5 | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Carl Filtsch (1830 - 1845) was a Transylvanian pianist and composer. He was a child prodigy, and a student of Chopin. Chopin considered Filtsch the most worthy interpreter of his music.
What a rare gem! During the first time listening to this piece, I nearly teared up in the middle section when that Major modulation (1:52) emerges so unexpectedly out of nowhere, embracing you and liberating you from all that melancholy. In this piece, Filtsch seems to have combined the modest simplicity of Schubert and the graceful romanticism of Chopin. I still am in awe that he was only aged 13 when this piece was published, and passed away just before his 15th birthday from tuberculosis. Imagine the music he could've created had he lived a full adult life! It is such a shame that such talent was never fully realised to its true potential. A special thank you to one of my subscribers, Will Jolliffe, for introducing me to this obscure composer!
I took a fair share of 'creative license' when interpreting this piece. I slightly modified some sections of this piece that are extremely awkward to play, especially with small hands. Furthermore, I loved the bass melody theme so much, I decided to bring it back at the end! The short concluding coda section is my homage to Chopin's E minor Etude Op.25 No.5, which I found strangely fitting. Without it, I feel like the end is lacking in something. |
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| 03 | | | Performer's name: | Ruth CM | | From: | Long Beach, CA, USA | | Experience: | 11 years, returned to piano about a year ago. | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Homage to Professor Baynov | | Composer: | Woosung Kang | | Duration: | 03:32 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Yamaha Clavinova C440 | | Recording method: | Digital to USB | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | One of my former piano teachers introduced me to this piece. It was written by a student of his good friend, Professor Tomislav Baynov, for the professor when he was diagnosed with an illness (he has since recovered).
I love this piece because it is a "rare gem": it requires an improvisational feel and I am free to play it with the tempo/rubato/pauses that I feel fit the piece.
Thanks as always to Sam for organizing these recitals and keeping us on our toes with practice! |
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| 04 | | | Performer's name: | pianist685 (Constantin) | | From: | Hamburg, Germany | | Avatar: |  | | Experience: | 12 years of classical piano lessons from age 6 to 18, 35+ years of playing without a teacher since | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Home page link: | https://imslp.org/wiki/User:C._Stephan | | Title of piece: | Preludio en la noche | | Composer: | Ernesto Lecuona | | Duration: | 02:40 | | Source of music: | sheet music | | Instrument used: | Sauter upright with retrofit Pianodisc silencer | | Recording method: | Silent system via MIDI-out to notebook with Galaxy Vintage D, directly recorded from Kontakt Player with Savihost plugin | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | I came across this fantastic rare piece in recital #59 and had to try it myself. Here is the result. Lecuona was unofficially called the Cuban Gershwin. He was a very talented pianist, though I do not like his own recording of this piece. His rendition is too fast, quite random and kind of improvised. The sheet music I found on the IMSLP is better, but there are still three issues that should be amended in the score. I added my comment on the IMSLP work page. Alas, my recording is not perfect, either, there are some bloopers in the middle. If you find them you can keep them ;-) Furthermore, I wonder if the title of this piece is appropriate because those full chords in fff would wake everybody up, haha. |
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| 05 | | | Performer's name: | pianist685 (Constantin) | | From: | Hamburg, Germany | | Avatar: | | | Experience: | 12 years of classical piano lessons from age 6 to 18, 35+ years of playing without a teacher since | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Home page link: | https://imslp.org/wiki/User:C._Stephan | | Title of piece: | Song to Elitha | | Composer: | Oscar Peterson | | Duration: | 03:15 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Sauter upright with retrofit Pianodisc silencer | | Recording method: | Silent system via MIDI-out to notebook with Galaxy Vintage D, directly recorded from Kontakt Player with Savihost plugin | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | This is a less famous slow waltz by Oscar Peterson who wrote it for his sister. The sheet music I used is a transcription by Greener's former piano teacher. Thanks to Greener for sending me the score. The impro/variation in the middle and the trills and ornaments are mine. |
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| 06 | | | Performer's name: | pianist685 (Constantin) | | From: | Hamburg, Germany | | Avatar: | | | Experience: | 12 years of classical piano lessons from age 6 to 18, 35+ years of playing without a teacher since | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Home page link: | https://imslp.org/wiki/User:C._Stephan | | Title of piece: | Romance S.169 | | Composer: | Franz Liszt | | Duration: | 03:55 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Sauter upright with retrofit Pianodisc silencer | | Recording method: | Silent system via MIDI-out to notebook with Galaxy Vintage D, directly recorded from Kontakt Player with Savihost plugin | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | This piece may not be as rare as most of the other pieces in this recital, but it still is a composition that is less frequently performed. Lang Lang rediscovered it, so to say, and reintroduced it to his audience a couple of years ago. |
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| 07 | | | Performer's name: | pianist685 (Constantin) | | From: | Hamburg, Germany | | Avatar: | | | Experience: | 12 years of classical piano lessons from age 6 to 18, 35+ years of playing without a teacher since | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Home page link: | https://imslp.org/wiki/User:C._Stephan | | Title of piece: | Largo Desperado | | Composer: | Constantin Stephan | | Duration: | 03:50 | | Source of music: | Sheet music
https://imslp.simssa.ca/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c9/IMSLP606153-PMLP975126-Stephan-LargoDesperado.pdf | | Instrument used: | Sauter with retrofit Pianodisc silencer | | Recording method: | Harpsichord sound of the silent system captured from second headphone jack with Jaytech audio grabber | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | I am probably the least famous composer in the world, so I hope I have the right to feature in this recital. This is a modern composition (not sure if it is a gem) for harpsichord, influenced by Baroque music - the beginning is in fact an impro on Handel's famous Sarabande, though in 4/4 time, and I am deviating into a Phrygian mode as a reference to a possibly Mexican setting. The desperado is on his way. Be careful, he might be dangerous... |
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| 08 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Rondel (for a young girl) | | Composer: | Leo Smit | | Duration: | 03:42 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Piano & Keyboard magazine) | | Instrument used: | Kawai Baby Grand 5.5'. | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 MB | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Leo Smit was an American pianist of Russian background, making his mark as a spokesman for the new American music of Copland, Barber, Diamond, Persichetti, et al, in the 1940s and 50s. I personally still have his cassette "An American Crazyquilt", an album devoted to various genres of 20th century American piano music. He was also a composer, and this piece "Rondel (for a Young Girl)" he shared as part of an interview with Piano & Keyboard magazine in 1999 (he died later that same year). It has a n American Western flavor that for me transcends the cornball and the trite -- it is thoroughly charming in its slightly awkward simplicity. |
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| 09 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Serenade | | Composer: | Richard Danielpour | | Duration: | 02:35 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Piano & Keyboard magazine) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Richard Danielpour is a contemporary American composer, well-known in both the opera and orchestral worlds. He shared his "Serenade" as part of an interview with Piano & Keyboard magazine in 1999. For me, the piece projects his style perfectly with a minimum of both notes and gesture. |
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| 10 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Nocturne #7 | | Composer: | Francis Poulenc | | Duration: | 03:52 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Huegel) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Francis Poulenc is I would say the best-known of a group of French composers emerging in the early 20s that referred to themselves simply as "the Six". They sought to remove the "heavy", serious Germanic quality of late-Romantic Classical in various ways. The Nocturne #7 was written in 1935, and is IMO vintage Poulenc -- very illustrative of his style. |
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| 11 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Jeunes Filles au Jardin | | Composer: | Federico Mompou | | Duration: | 03:08 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Salabert) | | Instrument used: | Kawai baby grand 5.5' | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | I consider Federico Mompou to be the king of the "little gem" -- virtually all of his music is small in scale, but exquisitely crafted. "Jeunes Filles au Jardin" is from a suite of piano pieces from the early 20s, entitled "Jeu". It is wonderfully atmospheric -- the young girls are very classy indeed! |
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| 12 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Cancion y Danza #7 | | Composer: | Federico Mompou | | Duration: | 03:35 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Edw. Marks) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' Baby Grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Mompou prepared Cancion-Danza diptychs throughout his life - 14 in all; 13 for piano and 1 for guitar. The Cancion is typically an arrangement of a Spanish folk song, and the Danza that of a typical Spanish rhythm. They are ALL worthwhile, but I think that #7, composed in 1945, is the most beautiful. |
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| 13 | | | Performer's name: | Jason Lenthe | | From: | Philadelphia area | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Video link: | https://youtu.be/vQT_JTnvp_g | | Title of piece: | In Mixolydian Mode | | Composer: | Bela Bartok | | Duration: | 00:50 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Cunningham Parlour Grand | | Recording method: | Zoom H4 | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | This practice/study piece, from Bartok's Mikrokosmos Book #2, seems quite easy at first glance of the score. Only note per hand is played at a time. There are no stretches, no jumps, no crossovers, no tricky fingerings. But the challenge lies in the rhythm. The piece is in 5/4 time and heavily syncopated. This is the first (and only) piece I've ever played in 5/4 time. It was a challenge at first to play in 5/4 time, but now it seems natural and makes me wonder why 5/4 time isn't used more often. |
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| 14 | | | Performer's name: | Melchiorblade7 | | From: | Federal Way, Washington | | Experience: | 7 years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Video link: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syi6M7_rfQg | | Home page link: | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZZZyIUTb_Kw2-DIS41waA | | Title of piece: | Prelude No. 7 | | Composer: | Freitas Branco | | Duration: | 02:30 | | Source of music: | Sheet music | | Instrument used: | Yamaha Arius | | Recording method: | Line-in Presonus | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Just some of my thoughts on this piece--
--This prelude starts with a whole tone sequence that sets off a mysterious and somewhat lethargic lifeless mood. As the main melody kicks in with the right-hand octaves some life is introduced with romanticism and passion with the climax soon after. The piece ends with a dreamlike ascending passage ending on a positive and hopeful cadence. I imagine in my mind someone waking up from dreaming as the octaves kick in at around 00:25. |
Last edited by Sam S; 10/15/20 06:37 AM.
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| 15 | | | Performer's name: | Melchiorblade7 | | From: | Federal Way, Washington | | Experience: | 7 years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Video link: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PanJcIPMfl0 | | Home page link: | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZZZyIUTb_Kw2-DIS41waA | | Title of piece: | Travel Agency | | Composer: | Masashi Hamauzu | | Duration: | 02:39 | | Source of music: | sheet music | | Instrument used: | Yamaha Arius | | Recording method: | Line-in using Presonus | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | The theme is from the video game Final Fantasy X and has been completely reworked by the original composer Masashi Hamauzu. He has composed many solo piano works, including his Opus 4 Etudes, which I hold in high esteem. He tends to compose in an impressionistic style. Here, you can hear jazz influences along with javanese gamelan Debussy-like figurations. |
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| 16 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | En Vacances (On Vacation) -- Set 1 | | Composer: | Deodat de Severac | | Duration: | 06:24 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Ludwig Masters) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' Baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Deodat de Severac is one of my favorites. He was born and worked in Languedoc, a region of southern France bordering Spain. He was contemporaneous with Debussy, Ravel, and Albeniz, and knew them all personally. "En Vacances" is a series of pieces that traces the childhood experiences of a girl, say, 6-10 years old at the family castle and the nearby park. It's similar to Schumann's "Kinderszenen" in intention, and in fact the first piece is entitled "Invocation to Schumann". I've provided three pieces in Set 1 -- "Grandma's Caresses", when the child first arrives; "The Cousin's Visit", presumably a couple of other girls, and "Round in the Park", probably dancing in a park adjacent to the castle. |
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| 17 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | En Vacances (On Vacation) -- Set 2 | | Composer: | Deodat de Severac | | Duration: | 06:14 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (Ludwig Masters) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Set 2 is comprised of two pieces: "Where one can hear an old music box", and "Romantic Waltz". The first of these is often played by itself as a charming encore piece; it was one of de Severac's best known pieces during his lifetime. "Romantic Waltz" has, in the context of the suite, a bittersweet quality -- it is, I believe, the depiction of the girl now a woman, dancing at some type of ball several years later. Rather similar to Wendy in the last scene of "Peter Pan". |
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| 18 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Landscape with Bells | | Composer: | Robert Beaser | | Duration: | 04:38 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (European American) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Robert Beaser is an American composer, born in Boston in 1954, who was probably best known for his adaptation of Appalachian folk songs for solo guitar. Concerning "Landscape with Bells", he writes: "...a 'portrait in miniature,' was composed in August of 1986 during an especially bucolic summer sojourn spent at 'Les Oiseaux,' a private country estate in Tarreytown (sic), New York. There amongst the well-trimmed lawns, the duck ponds and wisteria, I began to enjoy an otherworldly mix of tranquility and euphoria experienced so rarely in one's life. As a result, I began producing a series of 'Bell' pieces, etching a semblance of my natural and manicured surroundings, drawing upon the distant yet everpresent aroma of bells, both real and imagined." |
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| 19 | | | Performer's name: | Tim Adrianson | | From: | Madison, WI | | Experience: | 65+ years | | Direct music link: | click to download | | Title of piece: | Veiled Autumn (Kindertodeslied) | | Composer: | Joseph Schwantner | | Duration: | 04:38 | | Source of music: | Sheet Music (European American -- Schott) | | Instrument used: | Kawai 5.5' baby grand | | Recording method: | TASCAM 40 320 Mb | | Technical feedback wanted: | Yes | | Additional info: | Joseph Schwantner is an American composer born in Chicago in 1943. He's probably best-known for his orchestral poems. This is what he wrote about "Veiled Autumn" -- "...a brief elegiac character piece for piano. The title provides the poetic backdrop for the introspective, reflective and somewhat dark-hued tone and character of the piece." Please note the subtitle, translated -- "Song on the the death of children". For me, this piece is truly haunting, a wonderful depiction of grief and loss. Some "little gems" are sad! |
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