Variation 18 of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini composed in 1934. Rachmaninoff said of this piece: "This one, is for my agent." as he sensed it would become a commercial hit. It's composed by playing upside down the original melody from Paganini. The original is like a piano concerto (solo piano vs orchestra) and I'm trying to do it on a single keyboard with sampled sounds.

The theme was used in the movie Somewhere in Time in 1980 starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

The instrument is a Clavia Nord Stage 2 using a sampled Bösendorfer grand piano and sampled orchestra strings.

Transcription for solo piano by Hermene W. Eichhorn. Re-uploaded with new take on Jan 26, 2014.

Live video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgj3lVcaGT4

Video

Somewhere In Time: Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini, Variation 18

A recording of J.S. Bach's 'Preludie in C' played by Neil Balfour.

When J.S. Bach began working on his epic Well-Tempered Clavier in 1722, chances are he wasn't thinking that it would become one of the defining musical texts in keyboard history. But, somehow, it has - and the Prelude No. 1 in C Major is where it all starts.

The Well-Tempered Clavier (there are two volumes of it, each containing a prelude and a fugue in each musical key) kicks off in C Major, the most 'natural' musical key, so he obviously made sure that the first entry is a good one. Few pieces of keyboard music sound so delicate and fragile, but there's a very Bach-ian stability to it as well. 

It's a strikingly simple piece to begin with, gently phasing through different chords and registers, but it's one of those pieces that demands to be tinkered with. Consequently, you'll hear plenty of different interpretations of this much-loved work.

Prelude No. 1 In C Major | Bach

My take on Chopin's saddest little prelude.  Two and a half minutes of ache.


Chopin Prelude No. 4 In E Minor, Op. 28

Franz Liszt must have really been blown away by the cities of Venice and Naples on his travels with Marie d'Agoult, because he ended up composing four pieces named after them: Venezia e Napoli. But apparently, the original four pieces weren't good enough for old Franz, so he went back and revised them until only the last two were left: the Andante placido (aka Gondoliera) and the Tarantelles Napolitaines (aka just plain ol' Tarantella). Then he stuck a sad song called Canzone in between them and voila! The triptych known as Venezia e Napoli was born. It was published as a supplement to Deuxième Année in 1861, so if you want to check it out, you better hit up this recording!

Liszt must have been feeling pretty darn romantic when he composed Gondoliera, because it's based on a love song by Giovanni Battista Peruchini called "La biondina in gondoletta." But unlike the original version, Liszt's revision starts off with a fancy introduction in the key of F-sharp minor. The music sounds all calm and serene, like a peaceful Venetian canal (or at least what I imagine one would sound like). And then, once it hits that F-sharp major chord, it's like BAM! The melody comes in and it's all lovey-dovey and stuff. And let me tell you, it's so sweet and soft, it'll make your teeth hurt. But don't worry, there's some fancy flourishes in there to keep things interesting.

The Canzone that comes after Gondoliera (or "Gondolier's Song") is actually part of a larger piece, and it leads directly into the Tarantella without missing a beat. It's based on a song called "Nessun maggior dolore" from Rossini's opera Otello, which is weird because the opera is set in Venice but it premiered in Naples. Anyway, Liszt messed around with the melody and rhythm a bit, and he also changed the key from G minor to E-flat minor, which makes it sound all dark and moody. It starts off with some creepy tremolo, and then the melody comes in and it's all woe is me. But don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom, because there's some fancy piano stuff in there to keep things interesting. And at the end, the music gets all happy and major-key-y, so it's not a total downer.

The Tarantella is like a firework show on piano. It's based on some themes by a French composer named Guillaume-Louis Cottrau, who lived and worked in Naples. It starts off with a Presto tempo, and the introduction leads you from the E-flat key of the Canzone to the G minor key of the first theme. And let me tell you, this thing is full of energy! The music shifts between different meters, so it's like a never-ending party. Then the second theme comes in, and it's like BAM! Fortissimo! And then the music goes to the relative major key, but it doesn't stay there long because it sidesteps into D-flat major with a funny little passage in contrary motion. And then it's back to G minor, and the first theme returns, and it's like a three-part design or something. And then the music closes in B-flat major, and there's a pause, and then there's a new theme in E-flat major, and it's all lyrical and stuff. And then there's some fancy flourishes and variations, and then it goes to E major, and then to G major, and then there's a coda and it's like WHAM! Prestissimo! And the music is rushing towards the end, and it's all virtuosic and impressive.

I. Gondoliera
II. Canzone
III. Tarantella

Recorded live from Dublin City Gallery - The Hugh Lane on July 27th, 2014 as part of the concert series of the Dublin International Piano Festival & Summer Academy.

My SoundCloud Channel: https://soundcloud.com/archie-chen
Official Website: http://www.archiechen.com
Youtube DIPF https://www.youtube.com/c/PianofestivalIe
Youtube Archie https://www.youtube.com/c/ArchieChenPianist
Festival Website: http://www.pianofestival.ie
Teaching Website: http://www.pianoacademy.ie

Piano: Bluthner Model 1
Piano Technician: Martin Walsh
Recording Engineer: Darby Carroll
Piano provided by Bluthner UK

Franz Liszt Venezia e Napoli, s. 159

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Chopin Mazurka Op. 67 No. 4

Nuit d'etoiles - Claude Debussy

I invite you to listen to my piano improvisation "Sand of Time".
“Time is like a handful of sand – the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers.” — Henry David Thoreau
The sheet music of my compositions can be downloaded from here:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/victor-birkan-sheet-music/3028943?isPLP=1

Find all my music here: https://linktr.ee/victorbirkan

Watch the videoversion on my YouTube channel
https://youtu.be/7_0sq1W-NNw


Sand of Time - Improvised Piano Piece

First Loves
Tim Fain, violin
Robert Koenig, piano

First Loves is a collection of quintessential violin masterpieces which first inspired me to be a violinist. Includes showpieces by Rachmaninoff, Sarasate, Wieniawski, and more, plus “Swan Remix,” my own arrangement of themes from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
As a kid, I was surrounded by classical, pop, rock, jazz, film and contemporary concert music – finding a balance of old and new music is still very important to me. Many of the works on First Loves are the ones that drew me in as a child – Rachmaninoff, Sarasate, and Wieniawski, arrangements by Heifetz, and Kreisler – and remain profoundly relevant today. I’ve also included “Swan Remix,” my own arrangement of themes from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which I made after my work on-camera and on the soundtrack of the film Black Swan. Each track is dedicated to someone who inspired me or made it possible for me to be the person and the artist that I am today. My hope is that First Loves will inspire others, young and old, to fall in love with the violin as I did.

First Loves

Buy on BandCamp

Praeludium And Allegro - Fritz Kreisler

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E Minor OP.64 (Full Length) - Hilary Hahn & FRSO

ccradiocc.tk classical channel for morning free

17 Mozart Clarinet Concerto In A Major K622 Adagio

Prelude Op. 28, No. 15, by Frédéric Chopin, known as the "Raindrop" prelude. Recorded in March 2001

Chopin - Raindrop Prelude

Fiona Bechmann