# Your favorite piece of music to play?



## jani

So what is your favorite piece of music to play? ( If you don't count your own pieces)
I like to play Metallica because the songs are good and they aren't too easy or too hard to play,
Master of puppets must be my favorite.
I also enjoy a lot about playing Steel panther.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I like to play Giuliani and Villa-Lobos. My CD player likes to play *Ligeti.*


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## Vaneyes

Similarly, I let my players do the work. And similar to Naxos policy, they're only paid for at the beginning, with no royalties.


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## Sonata

I'm so early in, it's hard to say as I cannot play many full songs. And the few I can play are right-hand only as of yet. But I'll go with "Scarborough Fair" because it's pleasing to the ear, I'm pretty decent and I'm starting to have some small success integrating left hand notes into it in the first few measures.


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## Wandering

S&G are quite depressing, awesome music though, always loved playing that also. 

I never got too far playing, my left hand is hopeless. Been about 10 years since I'd dropped all musical study, almost forgotten now, it is an abstract for me, like math, if you do not use it, it fades away. I do need to read something on the basic rudiments again, also something on basic terminology, such a cadences, motif, etc. etc. Knowing basic theory and terms is enough to understand less rigorous biographies, bios are a big interest for me.

I often would played the opening of Bach's famous organ d minor fugue, it always seemed far more impressive to me than the toccata.

As a child, I remember my mother playing Grieg's Piano Concerto, it was transcribed for solo piano, the sheet music was named 'Norwegian Concerto', I was always was mesmerized when she played it.


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## tdc

Bach and Joaquin Rodrigo.


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## Head_case

Myaskovsky' and Shebalin' string quartet cycles. 

I can't play any of them, since I would need 8 hands as they are all string quartets. I've tried transcribing without the score and can't even work out the key to the A minor string quartets


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

tdc said:


> Bach and Joaquin Rodrigo.


I hate playing Bach.


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## tdc

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I hate playing Bach.


What works of his have you tried to play?


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## Ravndal

Bach, perhaps.


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## arpeggio

*Hindemith and Mahler*

As a band junkie the most amazing band work I have ever played is the Hindemith _Symphony in Bb_.

Our community orchestra performed the Mahler _Fourth Symphony_.

With both of these works it is more awsome to play than listen too.:trp:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

tdc said:


> What works of his have you tried to play?


BWV997 prelude is hard.  Most other things he wrote are fine for me, but I prefer Villa-Lobos, Giuliani, Legnani, Brouwer...


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## clavichorder

I really enjoyed singing Orlande Di Lassus, Tutto lo Di in small ensemble performance. Similar fast paced Renaissance pieces, I can't get enough of them.


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## Ostinato

I play many of the piano works by Haydn, Mozart, Weber, Beethoven and Schubert. My current favourite piece is Schubert's F minor Impromptu.


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## Novelette

My favorite works to play are Brahms' Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, and Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 9.

I'm also currently fiddling with Schubert's C Minor Sonata, the finale is so much fun to play. Rollicking!


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## OboeKnight

In an orchestra, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol is soooo fun to play. At least the first oboe part is 

In jazz, Sing Sing Sing is amazing...especially if you are playing Benny Goodman's clarinet solo (which I did) Jazz is really enjoyable to play because its just not nearly as stressful as classical. And you have more creative license.

My favorite solo piece to play so far is Bellini's oboe concerto...the slow movement is so beautiful and the fast one is spritely and fun. The runs are really satisfying.


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## Taggart

Bach for depth.

Grieg for interest especially the more folk oriented pieces.

Gershwin for fun although some of the stuff like the preludes can be a bit heavy.


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## Head_case

Bellini is a great composer to play to. His flute concertos are fabulous. I like the baroque oboe much more than the modern oboe, just like the baroque traverso, more than the modern Boehm flute. 

Agree with Taggart - Bach's writings are profoundly fascinating, particularly the flute sonatas. My favourites are no. IV, V & the Partita. The breadth and scale of emotion is so satisfying; the technical demands so demanding that I can play them day in and day out and nothing else for stretches trying to get the blasted phrasing correct :lol:


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## Ingélou

Lully for elegance. Quote from Dumas: 'Every man has two countries - his own, and France!'


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

At the moment I LOVE playing Giuliani's first guitar concerto!!! Also, I like playing music by Lauro, but I don't like his music...


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## Ingélou

And for sheer beauty, Turlough O'Carolan...
('Every woman has two countries - her own, and Ireland!')


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## Head_case

You play the celtic lever harp?






Eve runs courses ... maybe quite a distance from you. Wind on to 9 minutes if you don't wish to hear her blurb.


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## Ingélou

Thanks - no, I play Carolan's airs on the violin. He probably sounds best on the harp, of course, & I only wish I had the time & the talent to learn another instrument. Have a nice weekend!


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## Taggart

Lovely to hear it like this as it was intended.

Wonder how Carolan got on carrying a thing like that around and him a blind man.http://www.talkclassical.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

I attempt to play it on the piano and would like to get some "proper" music (with harmonies) to play.

Are there any good transcriptions for piano available?


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## Taggart

Hmm! Don't seem to have edit rights here and the  didn't work .

Wish I knew what was happening.

Still, to answer my own question:









Looks like he used a knee harp.


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## Head_case

Taggart said:


> Lovely to hear it like this as it was intended.
> 
> Wonder how Carolan got on carrying a thing like that around and him a blind man.http://www.talkclassical.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
> 
> I attempt to play it on the piano and would like to get some "proper" music (with harmonies) to play.
> 
> Are there any good transcriptions for piano available?


There is a long tradition of troubadours being blind. I'm not sure why though?

I'm not sure Carolan's work would be successful on piano. The loss of the nuanced portamento of the harp or plucked strings would be rather serious.

I have some piano scores from way back when, however I don't recall any of them being successful transcriptions from harp to piano. A friend gave me a fascinating harp capriccio score which I'm just looking at. I can't find a youtube link to it being played, but it isn't celtic lever harp either - transverse lap harp, but the music notation is identical for a celtic harp tuned to D major.


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## Taggart

Thanks.

Maybe blind troubadours was an alternative to blind piano tuners before they invented the piano

I've started a separate thread to carry this on : http://www.talkclassical.com/23904-harp-v-piano.html#post420075

But can't leave the Irish harp without mentioning the late great Derek Bell of the Chieftains:





Thanks again.


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## Head_case

You're an Irish trad fan too? 

I like the celtic harp a lot - almost bought one a few years ago lol. Love the romantic (Irish flute) too and Matt Molloy too, although I can't stand repetitive irish flute music which is played like it's a race to finish before going for a leak. I've been to his pub as well. Love Westport and County Mayo


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## Taggart

Trad music in general.

We had a lovely holiday in Galway and got over to Mayo and Westport - lovely part of Ireland but never made it to Matt Molloy's Bar


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## Ingélou

... but now that we know about it!


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## Head_case

What???!!

How can you go to Westport and not go to Bridge Street to visit Molloy's pub?! 

http://www.mattmolloy.com/

It has some of the best session music I've ever been to (well, Galway's was just as good).

I tend to go to County Mayo and make it over to Galway; I love Mayo more than Galway, maybe because it is more desolate and wild whereas the red anorak tourists flock to Galway. Musically, the west of Ireland is really exciting if you're a trad fan or a flute player. Don't mention Sligo though lol.


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## rocklandpiano

Astral Weeks- Van Morrison.


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## Ingélou

Head_case said:


> What???!!
> I tend to go to County Mayo and make it over to Galway; I love Mayo more than Galway, maybe because it is more desolate and wild whereas the red anorak tourists flock to Galway. Musically, the west of Ireland is really exciting if you're a trad fan or a flute player. Don't mention Sligo though lol.


Sligo - known as the county of 'the best fiddlers in Ireland'? Of course - I wouldn't dream of mentioning it.


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## Head_case

Ingenue said:


> Sligo - known as the county of 'the best fiddlers in Ireland'? Of course - I wouldn't dream of mentioning it.


Haha...that'd be south of Sligo ....i.e. County Mayo and the Galway School 

Some rivalry between the counties. But if it's irish, it sounds great


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## cbrian

Haydn cello concerto, definitely.
It's not quite a big deal to play it, it is not quite as hard as some other solo pieces, very enjoyable


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