- 1 316
- 621 308
itchy2learn
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 25 มี.ค. 2020
Focus on educational music, especially in rock/pop/jazz styles. Also music which interests me personally and is not so familiar.
Solo recordings are unedited, all made with Zoom Q2HD camera with inbuilt mic and played on Steinway model 'O' (one or two on our Yamaha upright piano). Some duets with my wife, but most are on her channel (itchy2345).
Solo recordings are unedited, all made with Zoom Q2HD camera with inbuilt mic and played on Steinway model 'O' (one or two on our Yamaha upright piano). Some duets with my wife, but most are on her channel (itchy2345).
Hommage: Bach Minuet I and II in B minor and Espla Prelude from Suite of Little Pieces for piano
These two pieces are clearly related in an interesting way. The Espla prelude begins at 3:10.
มุมมอง: 8
วีดีโอ
Dvorak: 'Silent Woods' (op.68/5) for piano duet
มุมมอง 597 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
Op.68 is titled 'From the Bohemian Forest' and is a set of six piano duets. 'Silent Woods' ('Klid' in Czech) is the fifth piece. It is probably more famous in the arrangement for cello and orchestra (or piano), though this duet version is in fact the original.
Dvorak: Slavonic Dance in E minor Op.72/2 for piano duet
มุมมอง 647 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
The second set of Slavonic Dances by Dovrak is less extrovert and rather more musically varied than the first. This is one of the most famous pieces, a melodic gem with a strongly romantic character. This recording is part of our rehearsal for our next public concert.
Manfred Schmitz: Rainbow Preludes (complete) for piano
มุมมอง 10012 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
Titles and timings: 1. Rainbow Tale 0:00 2. When the Rain Song Begins 1:02 3. On the Colour Scale 2:05 4. Play of Colours I 2:52 5. Play of Colours II 4:37 6. The Raindrop Game 6:09 7. At Sunset 7:14 8. Rain Carousel 8:37 9. Poppies 9:55 10. Twilight 11:42 11. Tranquil Melody 13:50 12. Little Elegy 14:50 13. Wind in the Cornfield 16:24 14. Melody of Remembrance 18:23 15. Intermezzo in Blue 21:3...
Manfred Schmitz: 'Nocturne' (from 'Romantisches Intermezzo') for piano
มุมมอง 5814 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
Manfred Schmitz composed many pieces with this title (some of which I have recorded) and this is one of the most ambitious. It's the penultimate piece from 'Romantisches Intermezzo' (DVfM, 1984). The model is clearly the Chopin Nocturne in E minor Op.72/1 (which is, incidentally, an early work in spite of the late opus number). The key is the same, as are certain structural and melodic elements...
Karen Tanaka: Children of Light 3 (11-15) for piano
มุมมอง 4214 วันที่ผ่านมา
Titles and timings: 1. Prisms of the Forest 0:00 2. Wild Water Buffalo 1:14 3. Giant Panda 2:37 4. Chinese Alligator 4:19 5. Tiger 5:32 The third part of 'Children of Light' is devoted to animals living in Asian forests and swamps. 'Tiger' makes an excellent piece to finish with - a kind of scherzo with rushing semiquavers underpinned by long pedal points - while the other pieces are atmospheri...
Reynaldo Hahn: 'Hivernale' for piano
มุมมอง 3114 วันที่ผ่านมา
'Hivernale' is the fifty-second of the fifty-three pieces which make up 'Le Rossignol éperdu' (the distraught nightingale), composed between 1902 and 1910 and published a couple of years later. At the end of the manuscript for this piece the composer writes 'environs de Versailles, 1910'. This is extraordinary music which relies in the first instance on atmosphere and colour for effect. There a...
Tansman: Ten Diversions for piano (complete)
มุมมอง 6814 วันที่ผ่านมา
Titles and timings: 1. Spanish Mood 0:00 2. Dreams 1:04 3. Merry-Go-Round 2:24 4. Melancholy 3:24 5. Rainy Day 4:40 6. Speeding Along 6:08 7. Calm 7:04 8. Prayer 9:08 9. Mischief 11:06 10. Toccata 12:18 This collection, (re)published by Eschig in 2008, dates from the mid 1940s, when Tansman was in exile in California, having left France after the onset of war. It demonstrates his fluency in a v...
William Gillock: 'Starlight Waltz' for piano
มุมมอง 5714 วันที่ผ่านมา
This waltz is not so well-known as it perhaps should be and the reason is probably the difficulty in obtaining the sheet music. The edition I used is a fairly recent import from Japan ('The World of William Gillock', published by Zen-on). The composition originally dates from 1954. The formal model is really Chopin (e.g. his Grande Waltz Brilliante Op.18): a series of short contrasting waltzes ...
Sibelius: 'Spring Vision' Op.114/5 for piano
มุมมอง 7621 วันที่ผ่านมา
This is the final piece in Sibelius's last collection of piano pieces. My guess is that they were intended to be played as a sequence, as the opening of this last piece sounds like a link from the previous number. Nonetheless, they work well as individual pieces. This portrait of spring is bursting with energy and the lydian raised fourth which is so prominent in the main theme certainly adds t...
Sibelius: 'Winter Scene' Op.114/2 for piano
มุมมอง 2721 วันที่ผ่านมา
The Finnish title is 'Talvikuva' and it is the second of the five sketches which make up Sibelius's Op.114, his last solo piano work. This is a very fine collection - one of his best, I think - and the compositional style is quite advanced in some of the pieces. In this one you can hear a kind of 'changing background' effect, as the theme returns in various guises, harmonised and accompanied di...
Frank Bridge: 'Winter Pastoral' (1925) for piano
มุมมอง 4621 วันที่ผ่านมา
I do think Frank Bridge's piano music is underrated, and here you can see why. This is a superbly atmospheric miniature, with a song-like melody set in a harmonic framework which conjures up an extraordinary bleakness, with only occasional bird-calls interrupting the desolation. The melody itself has an archaic modal flavour, which adds to the sense of regret. One should remember that Bridge hi...
Jesus Torres: 'Aurora' for piano
มุมมอง 2621 วันที่ผ่านมา
This is a piece composed especially for the ABRSM collection 'Spectrum 4'. It has appeared on the grade 3 syllabus (ABRSM, 2015-16) and I remember teaching it to a pupil. It's not difficult to play, but for this level quite hard to make sense of and requires good counting skills. But it's a fine exercise in atmospheric piano writing.
Daniel Giorgetti: 'Icicles' for piano
มุมมอง 2921 วันที่ผ่านมา
Here is the composer's note accompanying the piece: 'I find the tone in the upper register of the piano fascinating. It is cold and distant, yet beautiful and beguiling. By using only the top two octaves of the piano in this piece, I hope to convey the simplicity, charm and wonder of icicles.' From 'Spectrum 4' (ABRSM, 2005).
Madeleine Dring: Twelve Pieces in the Form of Studies (selection) for piano
มุมมอง 3928 วันที่ผ่านมา
Titles and timings: 1. Running Dance 0:00 2. Arioso 0:38 3. The Young Willow 1:56 4. Scherzando 2:55 5. Aubade 3:36 6. Processional 5:05 I have chosen the six pieces I most enjoyed from this collection (published by Josef Weinberger in 1966). The remaining six pieces were on the whole too study-like to make for interesting listening, with figuration repeated too often or in a schematic way. Mad...
Ernst Toch: Study (from 10 Studies for the Beginning Op.59/2) for piano
มุมมอง 22หลายเดือนก่อน
Ernst Toch: Study (from 10 Studies for the Beginning Op.59/2) for piano
Ernst Toch: Study (from 10 Studies for the Beginning Op.59/6) for piano
มุมมอง 58หลายเดือนก่อน
Ernst Toch: Study (from 10 Studies for the Beginning Op.59/6) for piano
Peteris Plakidis: 'Quiet Walk in the Forest' for piano
มุมมอง 48หลายเดือนก่อน
Peteris Plakidis: 'Quiet Walk in the Forest' for piano
Gershwin arr. Harris: 'It ain't necessarily so' for piano
มุมมอง 76หลายเดือนก่อน
Gershwin arr. Harris: 'It ain't necessarily so' for piano
Gershwin arr. Beale: 'I got plenty o' nuttin'' for piano
มุมมอง 50หลายเดือนก่อน
Gershwin arr. Beale: 'I got plenty o' nuttin'' for piano
Manfred Schmitz: 'Romantisches Intermezzo' for piano
มุมมอง 123หลายเดือนก่อน
Manfred Schmitz: 'Romantisches Intermezzo' for piano
Madeleine Dring: 'Pecking Sparrows' for piano
มุมมอง 43หลายเดือนก่อน
Madeleine Dring: 'Pecking Sparrows' for piano
Alexander Tansman: 'Serious Thoughts' for piano
มุมมอง 184หลายเดือนก่อน
Alexander Tansman: 'Serious Thoughts' for piano
Ross Lee Finney: 'Youth's Companion: five short pieces for piano' (complete)
มุมมอง 107หลายเดือนก่อน
Ross Lee Finney: 'Youth's Companion: five short pieces for piano' (complete)
Toru Takemitsu: 'Breeze' (Piano Pieces for Children)
มุมมอง 155หลายเดือนก่อน
Toru Takemitsu: 'Breeze' (Piano Pieces for Children)
Just got this book after finishing perfecting a couple of songs (Ain't Misbehavin', stormy weather, fascinating rhythm) to the point where I can play along to you and almost finishing Dark Avenger in the first book (Really fun songs) And I have just started on Fly Me To the Moon. The rhythms were giving me trouble and you are the only good recording I can find on the internet of these books. Thanks!
Merci +++ !
@@AnneBurg-Nanegrub Hi, thank you for commenting and all the best for 2025!
Wow!
My favourite palindrome!
A lovely expressive performance of possibly my favourite Slavonic Dance!
@@paulprocopolis Thank you 😊
Oh how beautiful ❤
@@dagmarintreble Happy New Year to you, Dagmar, and all the best for 2025 - keep that piano busy 😉
@itchy2learn hehe, I will. Happy New Year to you, too!
Gillock at his best (though not his easiest) - a nice discovery for me, and thank you for this dancing performance!
@paulprocopolis It's a pain recording pieces with a lot of leaps!
@@itchy2learn Yes indeed. Sometimes it takes me 20+ takes for a piece with no big leaps! 🙂
@@paulprocopolis Likewise!
Attractively Chopinesque, and the textures don't sound too think in your performance
@paulprocopolis I tried to control the sound, but the boxy acoustic is quite limiting... another nice piece though!
Lovely haunting music and sensitively conveyed!
@@paulprocopolis Thank you - we're at one mind on this piece 🙂
Some very strange pieces here. Well played though
Thank you - which pieces did you think were strange?
Awesome. Nice reference to look at while I’m learning this wonderful piece. Well played !
Great - that's one reason I record. Thanks for your comment!
Lovely
@@17dionysia Thank you!
Can you try "Pastorzinho" by Villa Lobos?
Yes, that's a fun piece. I would like to do some more pieces from the guia pratica but I'm snowed under with work at the moment, so we'll see!
@@itchy2learn Ok, thanks for accepting :)
😅I really enjoyed playing it. I like this piece
Yes, a fun piece from a fine coposer!
Wow, super interesante!! Me encantó. Gracias
Thank you for comment - very nice!
interesting to hear. yes you pianists unlike we guitarists have an enormous repertoire to choose from. In the case of Castelnuovo-T it is so that hwe in fact composed a lot for guitar, quite a lot of good compositions in there
@michaelharris6383 He was a prolific composer. I have listened to some of the guitar pieces 🙂 He wrote a lot for piano, but most of it has been ignored, partly, I think because it's quite hard to play (and the sheet music is hard to find too).
very nice, I never heard Bridge's piano music. I think I recall he taught Britten
@michaelharris6383 There's a lot of it and the style changes after the war. He did teach Britten, that's right. Thanks for commenting!
Just starting this one! Tricky but gonna stick with it. Do reckon Grade 1 still?
@eddavison1250 Good luck with it! I'd say it bit harder than grade 1, but a lot depends on other factors like theory knowledge, whether you've tried the style before... and of course determination 😉
@ I luckily have a very patient piano teacher! Just cracked the song on page before Berrie’s Smoothie.
@@eddavison1250 Yes, that's fun and has been popular with pupils. All the best wth the project!
Very very beautiful. It's that season again. Merry Christmas!
Thank you - and a Merry Christmas to you!
шикарно❤
😊
Sibelius the tone-poet - very seasonal. 🙂
@@paulprocopolis Nice to play, this one.
It's surprising how much piano music Sibelius wrote, yet little of it is played and that only rarely. Thanks for bringing this bright, optimistic piece to my attention and well played!
@paulprocopolis Yes, loads of pieces, some really inspired. I seem to remember our Dutch friend has played one of this opus. This is the final piece and from the playing perspective it has its moments!
Excelente!
Thank you!
I hate how you make it look so easy I’m struggling to play this piece 😭
Oh, well, I had to practise it a lot so it's no gain without pain (or if that's a trigger word, discomfort) 😬 so good luck and stick at it😉
I can imagine students with sufficient technique enjoying this. Well done!
Thank you - comments much appreciated!
Yes, couldn't it! The book it comes from is arranged in order of difficulty and I'm on to the last two pieces... not so straightforward.
Lovely stuff!
@@paulprocopolis One of the best in the book, I think.
Most attractive - could almost be a song for Piaf! Very nicely played. :-)
It's a while since I recorded these. I think I was just trying out some of his studies... maybe I'll come back to them again, but on reflection they're a bit abstract.
These studies are proving very compelling in their own uncluttered way.
Quite pleasant, almost minimalist!
The 'harmonised' bits work well in the otherwise two-part context. Attractive counterpoint!
Absolutely mesmerizing...so beautifully played, thank you so much.
Oh, thank you for this compliment!
I remember it well. I heard it in the exam room on several occasions all those years ago - though rarely played as well as here - and enjoyed playing it myself too!
Thanks - I do like it, but maybe for grade 6?
@@itchy2learn Grade 5.5 :-)
@@paulprocopolis I meant I think it's too hard for grade 5 🙂
I imagine it will be a popular choice - though not an esy one!
It was on the syllabus back in 2011-12, so only if you want a fourth piece for the recording option.
Nice arrangement, I like the different moods and choice of chords some George Shearing influences in the middle part! I agree it does seem a bit sophisticated for intermediate level.
Thanks, Steve. Nice to hear from you again!
wonderful! have been coming back to this one, thank you!
Great to hear - thank you!
I’m learning this in my academy
Good luck - hope you manage well!
Super beautifully played! 👏👏👏
@@itchy2learn Was my last upload from Sunday sentimental? My lively improvisation on "Children's game"? 😄 Well, I don't think this improvisation is sentimental at all! 😄 But of course you can find this music sentimental, everyone experiences music in their own way. ☺👌 By the way, I'm releasing a Bartók next Sunday...😁
@@itchy2learn Let yourself be surprised! 😊
Heeeeeeeey my friend, hope all is good with you guys!!! I love Villa-Lobos, his Preludes and Guitar Concerto, so thank you for sharing this delightful gem, well played!!! 🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🙂🙂🙂🤗🤗
Well, I'm suffering from a throat infection at the moment and it's dragging on, so not so happy about that... but I've got lots of recordings on hand to upload. VB is a fun composer of children's pieces - there are a lot, because he spent time collecting folk tunes in the 1930s and turning them into a practical guide (about 10 volumes of pieces, mostly for solo piano). Plus these other pieces, so no shortage! Hope all is well with you Angela🙂
Madeline Dring knew a thing or two about writing attractive music. This rather 'archaic' style doesn't sound all that typical. Thanks for the performance!
A little like Faure (Masques et Bergamasques) perhaps...
mary O'Hara?
Unlikely that George Nevada (pen name for Manfred Schmitz) was aware of this name (he was East German)... but possible😉
Thanks for your reply.Mary O'hara, best known for her novels about a colt named Flicka, wrote a teaching piece in the mid forties called wind harp and I wondered if it was this piece.
@EmilyNewberry No... I thought you meant the harpist by the same name!
thanks for your comments,
Thanks for this, hearing it as my copy was written really helped me learn it quickly!
Great! In fact I have recorded it twice (not sure why) so there is another version somewhere - maybe in the Hengeveld compilation video 🙂
👌🤍
😊
Serious but also nostalgic and contemplative (and yes attractively sentimental).
An example of his educational pastiche style.
An interesting and attractive set of pieces which complement each other very well. It's amazing what you can do with six notes! Thanks for the introduction and the sensitive playing.
@@paulprocopolis Oh, thank you for listening to this. I found it such a strangely rewarding collection on so many levels: pianistically, expressively, in terms of musical construction, and not least as a way into an obscure composer's oeuvre.
@@itchy2learn I will look for more of his work!
@@paulprocopolis The third sonata for piano is interesting, if you can find it.
All the nostalgia!! The Blues is still one of my favourite pieces to play 20 years later! Thank you for sharing 🎹♥️
Thanks for commenting - glad you liked it 😊
I expect it is an arrangement - I think I read somewhere that Brubeck was not a reader (?) Moody and evocative anyway!
A lot of pieces in this collection are arrangements, but he was a serious composer who studied with Darius Milhaud in California (he must have read music for that), and so there's a certain professionalism about how he notates them.
@@itchy2learn I'm sure you are right. I've just read one source that claims he couldn't read a note, another that states he couldn't sight-read but could nonetheless notate harmony and counterpoint. So all a bit confusing!
Probably my favourite piece in 'L'almanach aux images'. Thanks for the elegant performance!
Yes, I think it one of the best too. Thank you!
Your explanation helped me make more sense of this piece. Thanks!
😊
It is supposed to be a tango, but it allways ends up in my ears as a ragtime.
Maybe you are expecting an Argentinian tango? Brazilian tangos are different (a little closer to ragtime). Listen to Francisca "Chiquinha" Gonzaga e.g. her compositions O Corta Jaca or Atraente to see where the Brazilian genre comes from.
Beautiful! Im currently learning this piece.
Not so easy, especially the second half. I recorded it soon after I starte my channel and I remember that I really had to practise! Good luck with learning it🙂