Week 1: A New Hope

I would like to learn the Bach-Brahms Chaconne for the left hand. It's not exactly "unfinished business" (well, in a way, every piece is).

Over the past few weeks, I've been playing excerpts from it, at first purely as a left-hand exercise. But very quickly I became captivated by the piece: the incredible music, the many possibilities it offers for developing aspects of left-hand technique (often overlooked), the wide range of expression it demands...

So, I've decided to embrace the challenge -which is always motivating- and study it properly. My goal is to learn and play at least 16 variations (half of the piece). Perhaps that's too ambitious; I'm not sure... But, I know I'm going to enjoy it!

I think I'll re-visit BWV 999 (Bach's Little Prelude in c minor). I started it last fall, then life became complicated and I didn't have the mental reserves to make any progress with the piece (like so much, perhaps all, of Bach there is a great deal of intellectual energy required when playing it), so it stalled and I decided to put it to the side and come back to it later. It is now later! My goal for the month is to put all the pieces together and play it all the way through with focus and energy.

I’ll jump into the pool too, as it looks like it’s going to be quite a fun party!
 

I’ll dust off either the Chopin opus 10/1 with the modest but achievable goal of playing it consistently through at 120 bpm+, or the Chopin Barcarolle (smoothening things out, expanding the dynamic range, and playing the bogeyman passages without stuttering).