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Welcome to the general discussion thread for the Female Composers Recital.

Please use this thread for any discussion of the pieces. Feel free to comment on any or all individual pieces. Some members offer comments on each submission individually; others offer general congratulations. Either approach is appropriate. Feel free to offer more specific, technical feedback if the participant had indicated that technical feedback was welcome.

For those who wish to comment on all pieces, a copy and paste template for offering feedback can be found here:
Female Composers Recital Response Template

Please use this thread only to discuss recital performances. If you have any comments or suggestions about ways to make the recital process better, please start a separate thread.

Enjoy the recital!

Sam

I have listened to a little more than half so far, I am impressed with all the really really great pieces and great playing!!

01. sinophilia - Song of Youth

I like this one. Wonderful recording technique. Chrystal clear and yet I hear the piano being touch
Smooth placement of the chords. Good job.

02. bSharp(C)yclist (Dan) - After The Rain and 03. bSharp(C)yclist (Dan) - Shooting Stars

Congratulations on 5 year on piano .
These were two nice small pieces. Well played.

05. Tim Adrianson - The Hermit Thrush at Morn

What a funny piece of music.

06. Tim Adrianson - Troubled Water

And here you bring me yet another unknown composer.
About in 2.30 it seems to spin out of control. Only to sort of go back holding itself together.

07. Tim Adrianson - Holding a Daisy

So you again Tim
I am impressed by the number of pieces you put here. La lisonjera took about 3 weeks for me. You must have a big repertoire. I am not a big fan of chro.atic music. I know it is incredible thought through but still kind of sound as a child hammering around with occasionally hitting the right keys.

08. Tim Adrianson - Hitchin' (A Travelin' Groove)

Contemporary more experimental music. You play it well. I wonder what her thoughts where with this. Somehow for me it seems to go nowhere.

31. barbaram - French Movie Waltz

32. barbaram - Paso Doble

@barbaram - These were great! I enjoy Catherine Rollin's pieces.

36. ShiroKuro - Midwinter Memories

@ShiroKuro - Lovely piece and well played! Glad to see you on YouTube ;0

More to come ...

Hi, folks! Here are my first batch of comments. Great recital!

sinophilia Song of Youth Agathe Backer Grondahl

I agree with you -- I don't relate to it as a "Song of Youth"; it's more hymnlike in character. But it is a very attractive song indeed, and you project the songful aspect very nicely -- well done!

bSharp(C)yclist (Dan) After the Rain Joanne Bender; Shooting Stars Haoko Ikeda

For me, it's interesting to listen to some of the "education" pieces that are sprinkled throughout this recital. You provide a very solid rendition of both; I particularly liked your dynamic range. Of these two, I much preferred the Shooting Stars, which I thought channeled the Contemporary Pop quality quite effectively. In contrast, I didn't get much atmosphere in After the Rain, and the chord progressions were somehow unconvincing. But both well-played --- thanks for sharing them!

Flygbladet La Lisonjera Cecile Chaminade

I was hoping that someone would provide a Chaminade piece -- for me, she was the salon composer par excellence. Late 19th century salon piano music is a whole genre you very seldom hear anymore -- I guess it's just too "bourgeois" for today's world. "La Lisonjera" is IMO a wonderful example, and you play it very convincingly throughout. Many thanks!

Calavera Dreaming of the Dawn - Somnus Yoko Shimomura

A very beautiful piece, with, as you say, "compelling dramatic momentum". Your rendition I found to be exceptionally musical, save but one aspect -- I thought there was too much pedal in the early part of the dramatic section (i.e., the section building to the climactic outpourings). I'll certainly look forward to listening to your future recordings.

PianogrlNW (Ellen) Nimble Feet Florence Price

This late piece of Florence Price is very classy indeed -- IMO, there's no sense of "kitsch" whatever. You appear to hear this piece quite lyrically -- personally, I'd like to get a little more sense of the dance element, but that's strictly a matter of taste on my part; your presentation is very effective indeed. And you're right -- the false cadences are absolutely delicious!

Dumka1 Jota/Habanera/Tango/Homage to Ginastera Elisenda Fabregas

Thanks for providing a "sampler" of a composer I have never previously encountered. I thought that your rhythmic sense was especially good in the Jota and Tango. The Habanera I would make somewhat quieter and more sinuous, particularly in the left hand. Easily my favorite, though, was the Ginastera homage -- it perfectly evoked early Ginastera with its poly rhythms and open fourths.

KevinM Falling, Catching Agnes Obel

I had not previously heard of Agnes Obel -- this piece I related to as atmospheric in nature, providing a vague sense of overall melancholy. I found the modal character and chord progressions to be interesting and effective -- and your rendition was very secure and solid throughout. Thanks for sharing!

vte Gavotte Op 26 #2 Amy Beach

Personally, I've always liked Amy Beach the most of the "New England Six" -- she always struck me as somewhat more adventurous in her compositions. You projected a good "sense of style" in both the gavotte and musette portions of this piece - very solid and effective!

sisi A Neat Beat Martha Mier

Just an excellent presentation of this straightforward, fundamental blues -- I loved the dynamic contrasts between the left and right hand, and the dead-on rhythmic patterns -- absolutely necessary for an effective rendition.

SamS Solitude Nahre Sol Dots and Clusters; Serenade Emma Lou Diemer

This triptych worked very well -- the short intro of Dots and Clusters, with its 20th century techniques; then the Solitude, which evoked the Satie Gymnopedies in movement but provided more complex chording. Particularly fascinating were the repetitions of a complex chord prior to the conclusion. And finally, a melancholy Serenade in 5/8 time. A nice concept - and performed very effectively!

Jason Lenthe After the War (The Field of the Dead) Lera Auerbach

I have not played anything of contemporary composer Lara Auerbach, but if this piece is any indication, I might be inclined to review her portfolio. The ugly imagery is presented in a few deft strokes. Your rendition captured the expressive nature of the piece very effectively, indeed.

Second half to follow.

bSharp(C)yclist, thank you!!

I am almost done listening, what a great collection of recordings! I'll try to make some comments this weekend.

Listening to all of these was a real pleasure. The love of music and playing it came through in everyone's rendition of every piece, I thought. There was also something very refreshing about going through a lot of pieces and (outside of the Bacewicz from me) having heard only three of them before: Chaminade's La Lisonjera and the Ruth Crawford Seeger pieces.

Congratulations to all! I'm already looking forward to the next one.

I have not had a chance to listen - non-music duties have kept me busy, but next week I hope to listen and comment.

Sam

I have listened all the way through once (but not while sitting at my computer, so no direct comments) but there are so many great pieces, and almost all are new to me!

Bravo everyone!!

Happy Birthday, Sam

Hi, folks! Here is the rest of my commentary on the various submissions:


Snejana -- Autumn Lament Jennifer Eklund -- As Darkness Falls Dietzer M'lou -- Toccata Fantasia Che-Hwa Tan

The best thing about your three submissions was the attention to the specific character of each piece. The sharp "stabs" in Autumn Lament perfectly evokes the emotional pain in conjunction with the lament. The quiet arpeggiated lines in As Darkness Falls captures the sense of ambiguity -- although here I would like an acoustic piano rather than a digital to enhance the mysterious effect. And, as you say, the imagery and movement in Toccata Fantasia was quite original. I didn't hear any toccata, but perhaps music for a movie set in medieval times. Very nicely presented!

winterflower -- Song without Words, Op 18, #3 Delphina von Schauroth

This is a brand new name to me as a composer -- to judge from this piece, she falls into the salon piano music genre. The chromatic phrasing I found quite intriguing -- it never drifts far from the tonic, but is just offbeat enough to hold my interest. Your rendition was solid and satis fying throughout.

Greta 99 --- Idylle Cecile Chaminade; Pierrot et Pierette, Op 25, #4 Amy Beach; Etude in A Minor, Op 50, #2 Louise Farrenc; Moonbeams/Looking Back/Summer Moonlight Barbara Arens; Melodie, Op 4, #2 Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel; Sommervise, Op 45, #3 Agathe Backer Grondahl

For me, this was virtually a clinic on how to present high-quality small pieces: clean as a whistle; phrasing, shaping, and dynamic range thoroughly considered throughout; a clear POV on the character of each piece. The Chaminade was notable for its simplicity and innocence, as was the Beach, with an added element of childlike wonder. In the Farrenc I didn't hear the "etude" aspect -- was it perhaps ornamentation? Frankly, I found the Arens trilogy somewhat trite, although pretty -- I thought Summer Moonlight was the most interesting of the three. The Fanny Mendelssohn Melodie was for me convincingly elegant in all ways -- a thoroughly beguiling, lilting quality with several magical chord changes. Finally, the Sommervise was for me very reminiscent of Grieg's pastoral Lyric pieces, very Scandinavian in flavor. A thorough delight -- bravo!


barbaram French Movie Waltz; Paso Doble Catherine Rollin

If I'm not mistaken, Catherine Rollin operates in the "education" realm -- graded character pieces in support of a training program. I thought you provided very convincing renditions of both pieces, with particular attention to vigorous rhythms. No pedal in the Paso Doble -- great! Also, the phrasing and shaping was very good overall, although there a slight bit of rushing in the Paso Doble, particularly at the end. Good work!

Pika Pianist -- Melody in A flat Major Louise Farrenc

As usual, you provided a thoroughly considered reading of the Farrenc -- I'll give a special shout-out to the dynamic control at critical junctures, lending a rapturous quality to the Melody. The shaping of the melodic line I also found to be especially good.

facdo -- Gaucho (O Corta Jaca) Chiquinha Gonzaga

Well, it sounded Brazilian to me -- closest in character to Ernesto Nazareth's compositions, or perhaps a Villa Lobos's Choros -- somewhere between Classical and Popular in feel. And very convincingly rendered, particularly the rhythmic element. Thanks for sharing!

KevinM -- Chord Left Agnes Obel

Like the other Obel piece you presented, this had some interesting harmonic changes within a sad, pensive emotional state. For me it was reminiscent of Satie's Gnossiennes, with the irregular, chantlike melodic lines.

ShiroKuro -- Midwinter Memories Michele McLaughlin

This one had for me a 1980s New Age quality -- a genre I've never much liked, to be honest. And here, too, I found the first theme rather boring, although pretty, and well presented. The second theme was more interesting because of the rhythmic displacements in the melody. For the life of me, I thought I was going to hear "The Sounds of Silence" after the opening bars.

wr -- Etude II Grazyna Bacewicz

This Etude I thought was a thorough delight -- consistently droll, humorous, perhaps a combination of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, perhaps leaning more to the latter. Very effective rendition! Can you up the volume some if you record it again? I found it somewhat uncomfortably distant even at full volume. And incidentally, welcome back to PW -- I remember you from a couple years back, but then you disappeared.


Thanks to SamS for making this possible -- it was a wonderful array of pieces, with everybody committed to their craft!

Sorry, Jordan, I missed your two contributions (didn't turn the page over onmy notes)!:


JordanNylander -- Secrets Amy Beach; Menuet, Suite #3 in A Minor Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre

The Beach piece I thought had especially beautful chord progressions, as implied in the arpeggio figures. Your rendition I thought was very musical, very satisfying. In the de la Guerre piece, since it is from the Baroque period, I would use no pedal at all -- I don't believe any shading is required, or even desirable in this case. Oherwise, very well presented -- thanks for sharing these two rarities.

Thanks to SamS for providing these Themed ECital opportunities, and preparing them for exhibit -- most appreciated!

I've just started listening today, what a pleasure & a number of pieces/composers that I'm adding to my "to play" list.

Greta99 – lovely selection of pieces, all really well played

PikaPianist – beautiful

Facdo – terrific, I love the energy

Dumka1 – another lovely set of pieces.
By the way, Book 1 of her Album for the Young is currently available to download on her website for the princely sum of 5c, so I have just purchased it. It’s not Latin American style though. I will certainly consider Book 3 at some point as I particularly enjoy that style, but given that I am waiting on 2 sheet music purchases to arrive I have banned myself from buying any more for a while. (except when they are for sale at 5c I guess!)

Flygbladet – lovely. I had picked out a Chaminade piece to learn when this recital first came on the horizon, but I’d have needed to start well in advance and with a seriousness I didn’t really have last year, with everything else that was going on.

KevinM - I really enjoyed the Agnes Obel pieces, another new composer to me. I haven't watched "Dark" yet but I've heard great things about it, it's in the queue

Thanks bSharpCyclist & Tim for your comments on my contribution.
Tim, you are spot on with your observations. I would have liked to tackle something non-pedagogical but it would have taken a level of advance planning and motivation that I did not have last year.

Thanks - good thing I quit counting birthdays!

Sam

Tim, thanks for the welcome back, and the comment. I'm happy the spirit of the Bacewicz came through. And yes, the volume was much too low, which I didn't realize until it was too late to fix. I'll try to remember to be more careful about that in the future.

Your contributions were consistently interesting and well-presented, as is pretty much your norm, from what I remember. The Amy Beach bird piece surprised me - it was more adventurous than what I expected.

And definitely a big thanks to Sam S for all the work he puts into these.

I could not participate this time in the recital, but I really enjoyed listening to all recordings. As someone who loves discovering new music, it was very interesting to hear pieces and composers I did not know before. I already wrote some of them down. I also liked the good amount of 20-century and contemporary pieces in the playlist. Thank you Sam for putting this recital together

Thanks, Tim, for your helpful feedback (as always). Good point about Habanera, I was working on making it more sinuous, as you put it, but probably didn't do enough of this.

As for Lera Auerbach (Valeria Averbach), I came across her, at a friend's suggestion, when I was looking for a composer for this recital, and found her music very interesting as well. I was curious about her, since we're both immigrants from the former Soviet Union and belong to the same generation (not to mention we share the same first name), so I read some articles about her and her family on the internet. It's quite a story: in addition to her musical accomplishments, she's also a published poet in Russian and an artist. Her brother was a math and chess child prodigy and is now a professor in Canada, I believe. An extremely talented family.

Barbaram, thanks for your kind comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the pieces (and what a deal on the sheet music! :)).

I'm looking forward to listening to the recital (have been too busy at work this week).

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Sorry I couldn't comment more. Perhaps I'll find time this weekend.

Tim - yes, I play a lot of "academic" pieces I'm glad you could hear the dynamic range. This is something I feel like I can express a lot more on the new grand piano vs the hybrid or upright I used before. It's a lot of fun to experiment with!

There are so many interesting discoveries to be made in this recital. Here's my first batch of comments.

1. sinophilia - Song of Youth
An interesting piece. I agree that it's more subdued than what you'd expect from the title. Nice playing!

2. bSharp(C)yclist (Dan) - After The Rain
Nice! Good job with the subtle dynamic changes.

3. bSharp(C)yclist (Dan) - Shooting Stars
This piece has an enjoyable hopeful and light-hearted mood. A nice and sweet performance.

4. Flygbladet - La Lisonjera
A smooth and competent performance. I like the parts where it seems to be lingering a bit.

5. Tim Adrianson - The Hermit Thrush at Morn
A peculiar title. I really enjoy the change of cadence at 1:30. Great playing.

6. Tim Adrianson - Troubled Water
Somehow, this sounds brighter and more cheerful than the title would suggest, right until 3:05, where the mood bcomes more erratic or mischievous. An enjoyable performance with great control.

7. Tim Adrianson - Holding a Daisy
The does have a dark and at times ominous sound. An interesting piece.

8. Tim Adrianson - Hitchin' (A Travelin' Groove)
An entertaining and playful performance. I think you did a good job following the directive.

10. PianogrlNW (Ellen) - Nimble Feet
A nice peformance that really sounds like a graceful and exhiliarating dance.

11. dumka1 - Jota, Habanera, Tango, and Hommage to Ginastera
More dancing! Nice. A great selection that you infuse with the right amount of fun and energy.

12. KevinM - Falling, Catching
A really nice performance with a delicate and pristine sound. Thanks for sharing this.

13. Tim Adrianson - Simple Gifts
You certainly seem to have great range, Tim. All your submissions from this recital are markedly different from each other. I enjoy this performance's ingenuous and benevolent mood.

14. Tim Adrianson - Preludes, #6 and #8, from Four Preludes for Piano
These preludes aren't really my kind of music, but as far as I can tell, you did a great job with your even playing and dynamic control.

15. Tim Adrianson - Piano Etudes, #3 and #2, from Six Piano Etudes
An entertaining performance. The first piece sounds pensive, while the second has a rather tumbling sound, as it were.




Thanks for commenting, Tim. I'm aware that I'm on the pedal police's watch list, and in fact, this piece is probably not the worst offender from my repertoire!