Week 1: Choose your piece!
Welcome to the latest Community Challenge!
For this challenge "A Fresh Start" the goal is to pick a BRAND-NEW piece to work on this month.
This is the time to finally open that score that you have been thinking about and get to work!
What are we doing in week 1?
- Select your New piece to work on, and share it below! Let's see what everyone is choosing!
- Submit one video of your practice this week, perhaps featuring your favorite passage of the opening bars!
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In 1986 ā I was 17 years old and had been taking lessons with my first professional piano teacher for less than 2 years but was already as crazed a piano nerd as they come ā Vladimir Horowitz visited my hometown of Hamburg to give his first recital in Germany in decades. After 60 years, he returned to the city of his first breakthrough triumph outside of Russia when on January 20, 1926, he had filled in on short notice, for a soloist fallen ill that day, in Tchaikovskyās B flat minor concerto, with Eugen Pabst conducting.
My father and I waited in line all night, from the late afternoon to 11 am, to buy one ticket each (the maximum allowed per person). On the day of the concert, my mother ā to whom my father had graciously yielded his ticket ā and I were in our seats, nearly bursting with anticipation, when the old, frail man entered the stage of the Laeiszhalle, sat down, gently placed his white handkerchief beside the keyboard, and began to play. After the first couple of bars, we looked at each other with what must have been the same rapturous smile; neither of us had ever heard such a rich, grand, singing, breathing, blossoming and utterly beautiful sound as was emanating from the piano now, seeming to fill every niche of the concert hall.
That piece with which Horowitz opened his recital, which immediately brought tears to our eyes and forever embedded its magic in my memory, was Scarlattiās Sonata in B minor K. 87 / L. 33. I have always wanted to learn it, and now I will.
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Alexander Weymann Wonderful memory, beautifully conveyed. Canāt wait to hear this!
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Alexander Weymann What a beautiful memory. Looking forward to hearing your Scarlatti.
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Alexander Weymann wow, Alexander! I didnāt know you were a writer as well! What a story and so beautifully told. Looking forward to hearing your Scarlatti!
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Alexander Weymann Incredible! Thanks for sharing this precious memory. I can only imagine what the emotions in that room must have been like. Looking forward to hear the Scarlatti!
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Alexander Weymann what a wonderful story, I can imagine the excitement and the ātingleā you felt at those first notes. Youāll never forget it will you?
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Alexander Weymann Your poetic elegance in describing this treasured memory brought tears to my eyes. I can't wait to hear you "channel" the spirit of the great master in a few weeks!
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Alexander Weymann So we attended the same recital.
In Hamburg I had it the easy way to get tickets, because a friend of mine knew someone at Steinway who helped with the tickets. However, I also spent a night outside waiting in line at La Scala in Nov. 85 and just like you, I will never forget that very first f-sharp of the Scarlatti b-minor sonata. And a couple of weeks after the Hamburg concert I hitch-hiked to Berlin, met Franz Mohr at the Hotel Kempinski and actually had a chance of briefly playing THE piano.
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Peter Lemken, clavierhaus oh, wow - this is so special! Thank you for posting; great to have a fellow tonebase enthusiast sharing in the memory of this miraculous concert.
I remember actually being a little miffed at the time because in Hamburg, Horowitz did limit himself to that one recital whereas in Berlin, as Iām sure you recall, he spontaneously decided to add a second one. :-)Horowitz did return to Hamburg the following year, 1987, to give what was to be his last public concert, but I did not attend that one.
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Alexander Weymann What a beautiful story, Alexander! The piece is one of those Scarlatti small masterpieces which all pianists love. I can't wait to hear your playing!
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Iāve not been on tonebase much of late but it is wonderful to see familiar names in the chats. I did say I would learn / revise a Beethoven sonata a month as my plan for the new year so having got to month 4 Iāll be on Op 7 in Eb starting today!
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Angela Fogg thatās a gorgeous piece, performed not nearly often enough. Looking forward!
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can't wait to hear you, angela!
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Since I have a big, gaping hole in my pianistic background it is time to fill it in. Believe it or not, I have never played any Debussy except for my attempt at "Claire de Lune" at Christmas last year.
So, I downloaded "La Cathedrale Engloutie" last week and even spoke to Jarred about it, with the intention of starting it for this new challenge.
However, the imagery it evokes is just too scary for me. I even had a nightmare about being stuck under water, trying to swim out of the cathedral last night. Crazy, right?
I'll pick a new Prelude. Something more lighthearted.
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Gail Starr I never thought of it as that scary, more poetic, but youāre right - it is a rather frightening image. Excited to see what youāll pick instead! Maybe one of the more humorous pieces, like āLa sĆ©rĆ©nade interrompueā (I/9), āMinstrelsā (I/12), or āGeneral Lavine - excentricā (II/6)? I do play āMinstrelsā and have always found it to be a lot of fun and very effective.
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Alexander Weymann I'll definitely check those out today and pick one!
At first, I didn't think "Cathedrale" was scary, but THEN I had a nightmare and decided to steer clear of that piece for the moment, LOL!
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Alexander Weymann I'm going to go with "Minstrels" as a first one. Since it is so short, I'll probably add one or both of the other ones you recommend. Thank you for helping me pick a piece!
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Gail Starr great choice - you'll love it, I promise! Bar 28-31 are tricky, but the rest is very doable.
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Alexander Weymann Is this what you are referring to?
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Alexander Weymann Just read through the piece and itās not too toughā¦and only 4 pages!
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Gail Starr yes!
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Gail Starr I have a couple of junior/senior students whoāve learned Arabesque I, and they both love it. Itās a really fun piece. I love playing it, myself.
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Annie Iāll add that on to my list!
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Gail Starr Another one you may enjoy, in case you don't already have enough pieces on your list, is his Passepied from the Suite Bergamasque: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O0GuQ1CNFa8&pp=ygURcGFzc2VwaWVkIGRlYnVzc3k%3D
Itās one of my favorite Debussy pieces.
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Marc M oooh, thank you SO much! I absolutely love it. Gotta add it to my list. Started last night with the "Minstrels" that Alexander recommended. If that progresses quickly, I'll definitely add this on.
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Gail Starr the entire suite is fabulous - Passepied is probably my favorite, although I have never learned it; I do play the Minuet which is absolutely gorgeous, too.
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