Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Possibly Disturbing Ecital Trend Needs Discussion

Somewhat new for Pianist Corner, like for the past year or so. ABF have had them forever. We also started the themed recitals.

Why all the ABF vs Pianist Corner arguments? Can't both forums exist without them constantly competing with each other and being compared?

There's no 'competition' per se, but people want what they don't have. As beginners, we 'want', or aspire to play as good as the Pianist corner people, and they 'want' to have a friendly and supportive environment that we have here which include our quarterly recitals.

As an ABF member, I can only be proud of what this group (as a whole) has accomplished. I look at the Pianist Corner members wanting their own recital (like ours), just like we want to play really well....like them.

It's not really a competition but rather an appreciation for what the other group is doing. Besides, it goes without saying that only the sexy people hang out in the ABF!

I knew you weren't fishing but I'm glad I followed this thread and then recalled you were the one ... searched for the recording to make sure and welled up again this am ... thanks.

I don't know. Sometimes the competitive atmosphere of the PC is quite refreshing. If we wanted a more supportive environment, we would have one, no?

Dunno. Must be some reason you hang out around here so much.

Here we go again with the aggression; case in point.

Moi? Aggressive? Must've forgotten the smiley.

You're right. You sleep in the bed you make.

The ABF supportive atmosphere is compatible though as this is where it begins for a lot of people. We are not really that accomplished yet as we are still accomplishing.

Once you become accomplished however, you like to show others what you've accomplished. Since we are still learning and improving, we are more focused on that.

It would only be natural for the Pianist Corner people to display their accomplishments at their level for one another which is basically what they do.

The real difference however is we still get nap time and they don't. To play at that level there is no more nap time. That's the compromise.

We do. And we have.

First of all, I have to admit that I'm the person having to take the blame for the present discussion. The reason is that I started a thread under the PC suggesting an e-cital where the focus should be on longer (classical) pieces. I'm also the person behind the quotation:

"Well, you may be right. Surely there have been some longer pieces represented there, like Chopin's first Ballade. But most pieces are short and relatively simple, and many are outside the classical repertoire. Probably the initial intention with the ABF quarterlies was to give relatively inexperienced players to present their stuff. And lately some of us old foxes have entered the scene and spoiled everything.

The piece I have been considering to study is maybe not as technically difficult as the Chopin Ballade, but it is more or less in the same league and a pretty long piece. I would think twice before submitting it for the ABF recital. I'm just afraid that many of the other participants would find it annoying."

Let me just clarify a few things. First of all, I find participation in e-citals very useful. The reason for this is that deadlines for presenting decent recordings has helped me practice more systematically and in relatively short time I think it has made me a better pianist. My first submissions were for the ABF quarterly, but later I have also participated in Mendelssohn, Grieg and Chopin Mazurka themed recitals.

As a result of this I have a nice collection of pieces in my repertoire which I master at a level higher than I did with anything before. These pieces, however, are mostly relatively short, and I have a desire to study a couple of more extensive pieces and hopefully bring them to a similar level as the shorter pieces.

I thought that perhaps the ABF quarterly recital was not the right context for presenting such pieces, and therefore I started the thread proposing the "longer piece e-cital". I'm presently not 100% sure if it is a good idea to pursue this. It is difficult to find a way to give a focus the recital, and there is also a risk that it may become very long. So maybe it never becomes reality.

Anyhow there is one notable difference between the ABF recital and the themed recitals. In the themed recital you sign up for a specific piece and commit yourself to present a recording on a given date. In the ABF recital you present whatever you have ready at the time of submission. Therefore the themed recitals give a somewhat stronger push than the ABF quarterly.

I believe that all the different e-citals can run side by side. Unless I have made myself very unpopular now I'm going to participate in the next ABF quarterly, but not with a very long piece this time.

It's the class struggle in microcosm.

But that's in the Pianist corner which has a different focus, so I don't see what the problem is.

For the record, I didn't mind at all having Chopin's Ballade in the last ABF quarterly recital, and I wouldn't mind listening to an entire piano sonata or something like that; the online player allows to skip and pause if one doesn't want to listen to it all in a row. If one feels that they belong to ABF rather than PC, even if they are very advanced and accomplished players, why not? On the other hand, if you feel that PC is a more appropriate place for such pieces, why not post a link on ABF, so that people who do not follow PC can listen too (and possibly participate, if they want to)?

Ganddalf - as far as I'm concerned (and I believe I can safely speak for many!)..you're more than welcome at the ABF recitals!

I love hearing the performances of those with a lot more experience. I don't know what level I will ever get to - but hearing what others have been able to accomplish over the years of their piano journeys is always a joy.

What cassinitaly said.

Gandalf, one of the beauties of ABF is the EVERYONE is welcome to participate. That includes old foxes with bigger pieces. Please stay.

Gandalf, don't let angst about the different recitals stop you from participating in the quarterly recitals, or organizing a recital for longer pieces in the Pianist Corner. I love to hear you play and appreciate your insightful comments on the recital submissions.

As keeper of the ABF Recital index, I can share some statistics.

We started keeping duration numbers with recital 11.

There are 1286 performances that I have duration numbers for.

The shortest performance: 29 seconds

The longest performance: 15 minutes and 50 seconds

The average performance: 3 minutes and 29 seconds

Top ten longest pieces:
09:15 : Grieg - Wedding Day
09:41 : Chopin Ballade #1
09:54 : Peyton - original
10:11 : Satie - Gnossienne 3,4,5
10:30 : Mozart - K545
10:31 : Schumann Arabesque
11:04 : Mozart - Fantasie
12:12 : Haydn - Sonata 11
13:31 : Mozart - Ah Vous Dirai-je Maman
15:50 : Mozart - K457

Those are your statistics for today!

PS. That agonizing slow Arabesque was my contribution...

Sam

Maybe, but not necessarily.

Once a norm has been established, changing that norm is not such a simple task. A group doesn't easily wake up one day and want something different. For a small group, perhaps 2-3 new members can shake up the norms. For a larger group, it's the individuals who tend to get shaped, or they leave.

Google "path dependence."

Interesting statistics! So, maybe playing the long piece(s) in the ABF quarterly is the best option after all.

--removed--

Somehow, the post of Sam S was appearing as first post and I didn't quite get the point :-/