Week 2 Thread: The Era of Haydn and Mozart! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the third week of "Mozart & Haydn - Music from the 18th Century" challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream! (<- click)
This week, we will talk about the different ways composers were trained during the 18th century and how they could achieve such high productivity through schemas and patterns
Look at a different piece by the same composer you are studying and try to compare the music to the new piece you are practicing now.
If you are ready, post a short clip of the patterns you found in your music! One of the ways we grow is through feedback and self-reflection.
Pick a piece from the suggested repertoire according to your level or share any piece written during the 18th century that you have been working on!
If you want to describe your process, feel free to use the following template.
- Piece(s) you have been working on:
- Things you found easy:
- Things you found difficult:
Happy sharing 
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My first video of Haydn Sonata XVI:34 in E minor (sorry the mistakes, Antonella). There are several problems: what to do with so many silences, fermatas... (sometimes it seems that it is very easy to lose the tempo)? I would like to play the Alberti bass in the third movement with more lightness and accuracy, is there some kind of special exercise for that? Anyway, I love this music and, as still one week left, I will try to do a new video with more time and care.
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Gail Starr Oh my goodness what a performance! You were (and still are) so talented! How great that your dad recorded this.
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Antonella Di Giulio Molto grazie! I practiced a great deal when I was growing up, then other things (life!) got in the way. It's so nice to return to something I enjoyed so much as a kid.
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Vidhya Bashyam Thank you, dear friend! I was REALLY into music growing up...I also did cello in the local youth orchestra and I practiced all day long in the summers.
Then once I was applying to college I realized I need to focus on a career, so I spent most of my time on other subjects.
My dad had gone to pre-college at Juilliard (for violin & piano) and my own teachers were all from Juilliard, so I had really good training. No one in my family did music as a job, though, so I didn't get a degree in music. I did take lessons during my Junior year, though!
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Gail Starr Yep... no one plays like that at 11 without practicing a lot! :)
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Gail Starr This was so amazing!!! I'm in awe! My guess would be that this recording belonged to Yuja Wang or some other superstar! Also super-cute with the talking, so glad you have this! :)
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Antonella Di Giulio my best friend was a child violin prodigy, so her mom forced her to practice for a few hours everyday. Before she was allowed to go out and play. So…we
BOTH practiced a lot. The difference is that she moved to Germany to play professionally and I got my MBA and worked for some big international companies instead .
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Gail Starr I was just saying to the parent of one of my students that motivation to practice can be... external, until it becomes internal. I used to bribe my two older kids: first piano and violin and then you can have a box of (German) Smarties. They were the greatest motivation for quite some time for them. Motivation is a mixture of internal and external factors. :) And there is a lot of psychology, patience, and dedication involved in raising great kids. I never had any young student who would sit and practice just because I had said so. No matter how good they are, they still need supportive parents. And your parents did a super great job! :)
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Gail Starr Amazing performance, Gail!! I have already put in a comment, but it has "pending review" for some reason... So glad you shared that recording!
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Gail Starr you play with so much sensitivity, simply beautiful!
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Juan Carlos Olite beautiful playing. I always look forward to your videos.
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Vidhya Bashyam Thank you very much, Vidhya!
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Gail Starr It was a great performance, Gail! It is an authentic pleasure listening to your playing as a very talented kid and with these so sweet presentations of the pieces. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful box of childhood memories with us.
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Antonella Di Giulio I bribed my own kid with those cute, little "matchbox" toy cars, LOL! It didn't really help, though, because he simply doesn't have the fine-motor skills to advance properly in violin or piano. Once he started singing, though, he really enjoyed it!
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Juan Carlos Olite Thank YOU for inspiring me to go look for the recording! I think it is the ONLY one I have because the others were on magnetic tape that degraded over time. I wish my mom had preserved those.
Did you start piano very young, too?
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Gail Starr well... at times it is just a matter of finding the "right instrument" :)
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Antonella Di Giulio So true! I started on violin, and that just never really interested me. But when I started piano, THAT was really cool. And I liked cello because I could play with my friends at school. But I'm NOT a good cellist!
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Gail Starr The Mendelssohn Song Without Words you played so beautifully has been in my head since I heard the recording yday! If we don’t have a Mendelssohn challenge soon I will have to get out my book and learn it myself
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Vidhya Bashyam Thank you for listening to the rest of my tape! I didn't even bother to see what else we recorded, LOL. Now I'll listen to it also!
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Gail Starr I started learning piano when I was twelve, a bit late I suppose... I lived in a small town and it was when a small School Music was opened when I discovered the piano. You know: if never late if happiness is good...
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Susan Rogers Thank you so much, Susan!
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Juan Carlos Olite You are right! It is NEVER too late! I started cello at 14 and enjoyed playing all through school.
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Juan Carlos Olite bravo! Really great and quite a long piece! Sounded really fresh
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Derek McConville Thank you very much, Derek!
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Gail Starr bravo - great to have such musical memories and it sounds fantastic!
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We went to a piano recital on 10 August given by Eric Lu, an American pianist who won the Leeds Piano Competition in the UK in 2018. The last American to win the Leeds was Murray Perahia.
The festival is tiny. It's in the Parish Church in Thaxted, Essex. It attracts top flight performers despite its size.
Eric played Schubert's Sonata in C major, which was unfinished by Schubert, Schumann's Waldenszenen Op 82, and Chopin's 2nd Piano sonata. Eric was going to play JS Bach's Toccato in C minor but he had an injury to his right hand so he left this off the programme. It was amazing to see him deliver the Chopin while resting his right arm down by his side whenever possible throughout the Chopin.
He gave an encore, despite the obvious injury. He played the 'Andante cantible' from Mozart's Sonata X in C major K330. He played it beautifully but did not announce the name of the piece so I made enquiries from the organisers.
They just responded so I downloaded the score. I have added this to this month's challenge as it will be playable when I have given it sufficient attention. I am just about getting it off the page. The F minor section is divine.
Looking forward to hearing the wonderful jewels that the TB students have been learning for this month's Challenge concert. You are all so passionate about your music. It's so lovely to see and hear!
