Where do I start? Let us begin this with the Belgian organist, Cesar Franck. He is not a one hit wonder as many of you out there may think. Although his main work performed by concert pianists is the Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue, he also wrote a long list of great works for organ. But wait! Don't forget about his devastating violin sonata, piano quintet (in f minor), or his D minor symphony. He is quite a cool guy once you get to know him. Now, about that piano piece . . . it can eat your brain when it comes to memorizing. I have seen it engulf the best of us. To me, the middle movement, the chorale, makes the work what it is.; a nickel short of amazing. It definitely has a place on the concert stage because of what it can do to the listener. It really pulls them in and takes them to another place. Sounds kind of hippy. . .let me rephrase that. It allows the listeners imagination to start up and play a movie. No I don't mean you're going to fall asleep. This "movie" thing is a positive. Besides the middle movement, the outer movements are kind of like stairs that lead you to and from that section. So without them, the listeners couldn't appreciate the chorale as much as they would. I think it's the intensity that is what builds until you just arrive at the middle movement. This is a must listen:Richter having his way with this piece
Before I found out that Faure composed for the piano, I heard a ton of his songs. Then one day I came across this nocturne of his. No, not the one nocturne that people play (No. 6), I listened to the last one (No. 13). All I have to say about it is that it is a work of art. A brilliant composition that deserves 10 times as many performances as it gets. No. 6 works, but it doesn't change the way I think or my outlook on music. . . No. 13 does. DO yourself the favor and find an excellent recording just incase you get stuck on a deserted island.
And then there was Grieg. Hmm, well, for starters he wrote a haystack of lyric songs. Have you ever thought that he looks like Albert Einstein? Just a little? Anyways, besides his songs he has a Ballade, which has been described as "quite lovely" from this British pianist who I asked one time. I would agree. It is a chore to listen to, but worth the 18-20 minutes of your time. First off, it's in G minor, who could disagree with that? It's in variation form, which has been passed down from generation to generation . . .its been around for a while. Finally, it sounds good (that's a simple way to look at it). I found a great video of Leif playing it. I like this guy, there's also a video of him playing the concerto on mountain. The other cool thing about this guy is that you can refer to him as the Leif the pianist, since he is the only concert pianist in the world with the name Leif.
Before I found out that Faure composed for the piano, I heard a ton of his songs. Then one day I came across this nocturne of his. No, not the one nocturne that people play (No. 6), I listened to the last one (No. 13). All I have to say about it is that it is a work of art. A brilliant composition that deserves 10 times as many performances as it gets. No. 6 works, but it doesn't change the way I think or my outlook on music. . . No. 13 does. DO yourself the favor and find an excellent recording just incase you get stuck on a deserted island.
And then there was Grieg. Hmm, well, for starters he wrote a haystack of lyric songs. Have you ever thought that he looks like Albert Einstein? Just a little? Anyways, besides his songs he has a Ballade, which has been described as "quite lovely" from this British pianist who I asked one time. I would agree. It is a chore to listen to, but worth the 18-20 minutes of your time. First off, it's in G minor, who could disagree with that? It's in variation form, which has been passed down from generation to generation . . .its been around for a while. Finally, it sounds good (that's a simple way to look at it). I found a great video of Leif playing it. I like this guy, there's also a video of him playing the concerto on mountain. The other cool thing about this guy is that you can refer to him as the Leif the pianist, since he is the only concert pianist in the world with the name Leif.
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