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OTHER STUFF => MUSiC anD SHeeT! => Topic started by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 10:34:29 am

Title: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 10:34:29 am
Do not feel obliged to listen to this stuff if you don't like piano music or don't have an interest in getting to know what can be done with that beautiful instrument. These are some performances I absolutely - love - both compositional as well as in terms of the actual playing.


(http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/29/10229-004-C2543CC1.jpg)

Let's start with some Franz Liszt, an Hungarian composer everybody should know. Unfortunately he is still not widely recognized by his musical genius but rather famous for his pianistic virtuosity (although he died in 1886 and therefore no living man heard him play, but the success he had as a concert pianist in his heyday is probably without comparison in the history of classical music). There are lots of interesting things to be said about Franz Liszt, but I will leave it at that and let the music speak.

This is the piano reduction of one of my favorite pieces called Totentanz (which translates to "dance of the dead") played by Valentina Lisitsa.

Part I:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxMKB-xe3lM

Part II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM27fk6CWIw


More to come :-).
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on July 25, 2010, 04:27:21 pm
nice man, enjoyed those.. i grew up around piano/classical/jazz because my dad is a pianist/piano teacher.

peace!
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 06:18:30 pm
Hey, that's great! Do you think this has influenced yourself in terms of taste of music or appreciation of the arts? I always wondered what my life would have been like growing up in a really musical environment... I only acquired a serious interest in music in my mid to late teens unfortunately...
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 25, 2010, 06:37:00 pm
I do not understand music. The sounds (as in, not the lyrics) elicit no emotional response in me. Merely the lyrics suffice to do that. My tone sensitivity is not very great, so often I struggle to make out the lyrics.

I do, however, respect the genius required for the most high level of creation of any kind, music is no exception.
Title: Chopin
Post by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 07:21:57 pm
(http://www.virginiasymphony.org/AudioNotes/January11/Chopin,PianoConcertoNo.1/Frederic_Chopin_photo.jpg)


Next is Frederic Chopin, the famous polish composer and pianist. Some of the most beautiful romantic era music stems from his hands. In the early 1830s Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin lived both in Paris, along with several of the greatest virtuosos and artistic minds of the century, some examples being Hector Berlioz and Charles Valentin Alkan, two very important composers of the time, the poets and writers Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Heinrich Heine and several famous painters, for example Eugène Delacroix. Besides Liszt and Chopin there were literally dozens of great, great pianists living in Paris at that time, some being Kalkbrenner, Dreyschock and Thalberg.
Anyway, the following piece, op. 10 no. 12, is said to have been written by Chopin in response to the november uprising in Poland in 1830. Chopin was on tour in vienna when he heard of the fall of Warsaw. So he was essentially cut of from his native country and eventually landed in Paris, desperate because of his exile.
The pianist playing is Sviatoslav Richter. I am sure there are many interesting things to say about him, but one thing that stuck in my mind is that he slept under the piano of his teacher Heinrich Neuhaus for a certain period of time since he was essentially homeless - a little like Chopin perhaps, who could not go back to Poland...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hOKcdZJJFU
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 07:37:50 pm
I do not understand music. The sounds (as in, not the lyrics) illicit no emotional response in me. Merely the lyrics suffice to do that. My tone sensitivity is not very great, so often I struggle to make out the lyrics.

I do, however, respect the genius required for the most high level of creation of any kind, music is no exception.

Is it that way with all music for you?

I am not a very huge listener anymore, but when I am in the mood I can listen to music all day and do nothing else really. Unfortunately I rarely have the time to do so anymore :(.

If I may give advise to you: Enjoying music is something that can be learned just like enjoying other forms of art. And learning to enjoy it can be a very rewarding thing to do!
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 25, 2010, 07:50:52 pm
I do not understand music. The sounds (as in, not the lyrics) elicit no emotional response in me. Merely the lyrics suffice to do that. My tone sensitivity is not very great, so often I struggle to make out the lyrics.

I do, however, respect the genius required for the most high level of creation of any kind, music is no exception.

Is it that way with all music for you?

I am not a very huge listener anymore, but when I am in the mood I can listen to music all day and do nothing else really. Unfortunately I rarely have the time to do so anymore :(.

If I may give advise to you: Enjoying music is something that can be learned just like enjoying other forms of art. And learning to enjoy it can be a very rewarding thing to do!

I can enjoy music, but it is in a merely analytical way, much in the same way I enjoy the visual arts. I do find some sounds, tastes, smells, textures and visuals pleasant or unpleasant, but beyond that, rarely is a strong emotional response evoked. I examine, analyse in order to enjoy. Left-brain, right-brain.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 25, 2010, 08:14:54 pm
That's okay, musicians are often like that, too, or are perceived as such. You may be one of the rare examples of non-musicians, who are that way. Maybe you are just a very analytical person  ;D.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 25, 2010, 08:25:04 pm
Maybe you are just a very analytical person  ;D.

Yup.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: LBSS on July 26, 2010, 11:21:33 am
"Music, I regret to say, is only an arbitrary succession of more or less unpleasant sounds."

-Vladimir Nabokov

I don't happen to agree with the guy but I love that quotation.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 26, 2010, 11:23:34 am
"Music, I regret to say, is only an arbitrary succession of more or less unpleasant sounds."

-Vladimir Nabokov

I don't happen to agree with the guy but I love that quotation.

I do not agree, as I recognize what music can be, but I certainly relate.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 26, 2010, 11:55:04 am
"Music, I regret to say, is only an arbitrary succession of more or less unpleasant sounds."

-Vladimir Nabokov

I don't happen to agree with the guy but I love that quotation.

The thing I disagree the most about this statement is the word "arbitrary". There is some insanely organized music out there, maybe I will post some of it later. Some of you guys might appreciate that on an intellectual level  ;D.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: LBSS on July 26, 2010, 11:57:20 am
I think Nabokov's point was that his brain was completely incapable of appreciating the structure. It just had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on July 26, 2010, 03:37:39 pm
Hey, that's great! Do you think this has influenced yourself in terms of taste of music or appreciation of the arts?

well yeah, but not in some kind of structured appreciative way.. I don't just put music on, listen to it, and appreciate all of the subtleties about it. I have my own style I guess, I like to listen to classical when I'm training, walking, etc.

I think it helped me gain a respect for alot of music that my generation doesn't normally have any interest in, that's for sure.. My dad is big into jazz but I'm more into blues. I don't like brass instruments for the most part, I really hate saxophones with a passion, I think they turn every song into some kind of elevator music love song. Trumpets I can stand if it's something like miles davis, but it has to go hard.

My favorite instrument has to be violin.. I am obsessed with violin.. Most of my classical songs on my ipod are heavily violin based. I don't really know the names to any songs, hardly any rap songs either, I just listen to stuff and know it by feel.. When I played piano, I memorized each song I had to play and never read the music after that, so I guess that's how that works. My dad had taught me piano for years growing up until about 12 or so, but you know how that goes when you're a kid that wants to go hoop it up rather than play piano, didn't end good, he finally let me just do my own thing.

He'd be surprised though if he knew how much I listen to classical and stuff like that.. he just thinks I listen to rap heh.. He doesn't have much of an appreciation for rap, which is odd, considering most people into "the arts" lack an appreciation for jazz, especially the older generations, like my grandpa etc.. Rap is a child of jazz, and plenty of rap is still directly rooted in jazz.

If you're into jazz, this is actually a CD made for his friend who was killed by a bouncer, some bass guitar legend Jaco Pastorius:

http://www.adarq.org/forum/music-and-sheet/jazz/

It's just piano, drums, and bass guitar... some of it hits pretty hard it's cool.. mostly all improvised i guess too, even though they had a general idea of what they were going to play..




Quote
I always wondered what my life would have been like growing up in a really musical environment... I only acquired a serious interest in music in my mid to late teens unfortunately...

damn, perhaps though you might have developed less of a taste had you not found it for yourself! you never know..

maybe I will start a violin thread eventually, and put some really intense violin solos in there :D

peace man
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on July 26, 2010, 03:39:07 pm
I think Nabokov's point was that his brain was completely incapable of appreciating the structure. It just had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever.

he was a tard then.

you know what's cool, people whose brains have the auditory and visual centers that "share" the same pathways.. they end up hearing sounds/instruments and seeing colors/splashes of colors/objects.. shit is like a non-stop adobe after effects video.. i can see how it would get annoying but for the most part, that sounds pretty badass.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 26, 2010, 03:51:35 pm
I think Nabokov's point was that his brain was completely incapable of appreciating the structure. It just had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever.

he was a tard then.

you know what's cool, people whose brains have the auditory and visual centers that "share" the same pathways.. they end up hearing sounds/instruments and seeing colors/splashes of colors/objects.. shit is like a non-stop adobe after effects video.. i can see how it would get annoying but for the most part, that sounds pretty badass.

Synaesthesia. It is 8 times more common in people with creative profession than in the general population.

It is badass.

Texture/shape and voices are intertwined for me.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: LBSS on July 26, 2010, 05:26:08 pm
Nabokov also had synesthesia, I think.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: Joe on July 26, 2010, 08:23:24 pm
http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin

That is a really cool channel to help with enjoying music from an analytical perspective.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on July 27, 2010, 12:12:42 am
http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin

That is a really cool channel to help with enjoying music from an analytical perspective.

awesome channel.. love it.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 27, 2010, 11:56:13 am

well yeah, but not in some kind of structured appreciative way.. I don't just put music on, listen to it, and appreciate all of the subtleties about it. I have my own style I guess, I like to listen to classical when I'm training, walking, etc.

I think it helped me gain a respect for alot of music that my generation doesn't normally have any interest in, that's for sure.. My dad is big into jazz but I'm more into blues. I don't like brass instruments for the most part, I really hate saxophones with a passion, I think they turn every song into some kind of elevator music love song. Trumpets I can stand if it's something like miles davis, but it has to go hard.

My favorite instrument has to be violin.. I am obsessed with violin.. Most of my classical songs on my ipod are heavily violin based. I don't really know the names to any songs, hardly any rap songs either, I just listen to stuff and know it by feel.. When I played piano, I memorized each song I had to play and never read the music after that, so I guess that's how that works. My dad had taught me piano for years growing up until about 12 or so, but you know how that goes when you're a kid that wants to go hoop it up rather than play piano, didn't end good, he finally let me just do my own thing.

He'd be surprised though if he knew how much I listen to classical and stuff like that.. he just thinks I listen to rap heh.. He doesn't have much of an appreciation for rap, which is odd, considering most people into "the arts" lack an appreciation for jazz, especially the older generations, like my grandpa etc.. Rap is a child of jazz, and plenty of rap is still directly rooted in jazz.

If you're into jazz, this is actually a CD made for his friend who was killed by a bouncer, some bass guitar legend Jaco Pastorius:

http://www.adarq.org/forum/music-and-sheet/jazz/

It's just piano, drums, and bass guitar... some of it hits pretty hard it's cool.. mostly all improvised i guess too, even though they had a general idea of what they were going to play..

Hey there,

I checked that stuff out a while ago after you posted it and I thought it was damn good! I also just realized that Patitucci is playing the bass there and now I feel pretty dumb not to know your father *lol*. Listening to it back then I did not even realize it was your father playing piano there, I misread and thought it was a friend of your family or something. I can't believe your father knew Jaco Pastorius, too, that's insane! You realize how much of a legend Jaco is in the bass and jazz community, do you? The internet makes the world a small place indeed... Really cool music!

damn, perhaps though you might have developed less of a taste had you not found it for yourself! you never know..

maybe I will start a violin thread eventually, and put some really intense violin solos in there :D

peace man

I agree on the finding it yourself part! That's a huge thing and I guess I was too dumb then to find an interest in music earlier, haha. You should definitely start that thread about violin music!

Best regards,
s-m
Title: Beethoven/Liszt
Post by: steven-miller on July 27, 2010, 01:08:35 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qeXDPqPh-SY/S8rO2QVznJI/AAAAAAAACOI/xi15QMu5xSo/s400/beethoven.jpg)

Well, you guys are probably all aware of Ludwig van Beethoven, the very prominent German composer of the Viennese classic and early romantic era. One of his most popular pieces is his symphony no. 5 in c minor op. 67. With his piano sonatas there would be some dozen great piano pieces I could post here, but I want to refer to Liszt once again, who made an attempt to write piano reductions of all of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Franz Liszt had a great affinity with Beethoven early on. There was a painting of the composer hanging in the house of the Liszt family and whenever someone asked the young pianist what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would say "like him" pointing at the portrait. He later met Beethoven for once as a child of about 11 years of age. His teacher, Carl Czerny, arranged the meeting persuading Beethoven, who was by then totally deaf and reportedly had a dislike for prodigies, to see the young artist play. In the event Beethoven asked if Liszt was able to play something by Bach and he chose the c minor fugue of the well tempered clavier. After the performance Beethoven asked him to transpose the piece at once to another key, which Liszt was also able to do. He also played one of Beethoven's pieces after which Beethoven kissed the boy on his forehead and called him "one of the fortunate ones". Liszt later recalled that event as the palladium of his whole career as an artist.

Anyway, here is the first movement of the symphony no. 5 in the piano rendition of Franz Liszt played by the great Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who was another fascinating character. He became very famous not only by his ground-breaking interpretations and performances, but also by his "strange" antics and quirks. He played for example only on a chair that his father built for him when he was a child. Needless to say the chair had extremely short legs making the look of the adult Gould sitting on that furniture quite bizarre. But it was also really old and made noises when the pianist moved a little. There are several recordings where you can actually hear the chair. Another fad of Glenn Gould was to sing over his playing, much to the regret of some listeners and critics. Apparently he tried several times not to sing while he is playing the instrument which always resulted in him playing worse - or so he felt. So he just kept doing it, giving sound engineers a really hard time. You can hear him hum in the background of this recording as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjF3-fUfX3E
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: LBSS on July 27, 2010, 01:25:07 pm
Glenn Gould is unreal. I must have listened to the Goldberg Variations like 80 million times by now.

Like this thread, need to learn more about classical music. :High five: for stevenhyphenmiller.
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: steven-miller on July 27, 2010, 03:50:10 pm
Glenn Gould is unreal. I must have listened to the Goldberg Variations like 80 million times by now.

Like this thread, need to learn more about classical music. :High five: for stevenhyphenmiller.

Glad you like the thread man! :)
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on July 27, 2010, 04:02:46 pm

well yeah, but not in some kind of structured appreciative way.. I don't just put music on, listen to it, and appreciate all of the subtleties about it. I have my own style I guess, I like to listen to classical when I'm training, walking, etc.

I think it helped me gain a respect for alot of music that my generation doesn't normally have any interest in, that's for sure.. My dad is big into jazz but I'm more into blues. I don't like brass instruments for the most part, I really hate saxophones with a passion, I think they turn every song into some kind of elevator music love song. Trumpets I can stand if it's something like miles davis, but it has to go hard.

My favorite instrument has to be violin.. I am obsessed with violin.. Most of my classical songs on my ipod are heavily violin based. I don't really know the names to any songs, hardly any rap songs either, I just listen to stuff and know it by feel.. When I played piano, I memorized each song I had to play and never read the music after that, so I guess that's how that works. My dad had taught me piano for years growing up until about 12 or so, but you know how that goes when you're a kid that wants to go hoop it up rather than play piano, didn't end good, he finally let me just do my own thing.

He'd be surprised though if he knew how much I listen to classical and stuff like that.. he just thinks I listen to rap heh.. He doesn't have much of an appreciation for rap, which is odd, considering most people into "the arts" lack an appreciation for jazz, especially the older generations, like my grandpa etc.. Rap is a child of jazz, and plenty of rap is still directly rooted in jazz.

If you're into jazz, this is actually a CD made for his friend who was killed by a bouncer, some bass guitar legend Jaco Pastorius:

http://www.adarq.org/forum/music-and-sheet/jazz/

It's just piano, drums, and bass guitar... some of it hits pretty hard it's cool.. mostly all improvised i guess too, even though they had a general idea of what they were going to play..

Hey there,

I checked that stuff out a while ago after you posted it and I thought it was damn good!

Cool man! I have to tell my dad there's a jazz/classical/piano/jaco fan on the vert/performance forum hah!

Quote
I also just realized that Patitucci is playing the bass there and now I feel pretty dumb not to know your father *lol*. Listening to it back then I did not even realize it was your father playing piano there, I misread and thought it was a friend of your family or something. I can't believe your father knew Jaco Pastorius, too, that's insane! You realize how much of a legend Jaco is in the bass and jazz community, do you? The internet makes the world a small place indeed... Really cool music!

Haha! Small world for sure! Yea I know alot about Jaco, also he was pretty much one of my dad's best friends, so my dad is involved with alot of those projects that spawned after Jaco's death.

Quote
damn, perhaps though you might have developed less of a taste had you not found it for yourself! you never know..

maybe I will start a violin thread eventually, and put some really intense violin solos in there :D

peace man

I agree on the finding it yourself part! That's a huge thing and I guess I was too dumb then to find an interest in music earlier, haha. You should definitely start that thread about violin music!

Best regards,
s-m

Yes I will in a bit :D

peace
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on September 07, 2010, 11:45:27 pm
ssr7 from this forum ballin` out on the piano, very nice man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdCzHC2ISI
Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: adarqui on October 21, 2010, 07:28:06 am
boom city... more vids on channel, ridiculous.

Title: Re: Some piano stuff for you guys
Post by: vag on October 21, 2010, 07:55:20 am
A few of my favs soundtrack piano themes :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZeA0PbjcdI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkof3nPK--Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTW_IfZzTE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-QrSc_Jw3g