Prelude

Isaac Albéniz was one of Spain’s greatest national composers who composed during the late romantic time period. He was a child prodigy who gave his first public piano performance at the age of 4. As a child, he studied at many universities and even won the Brussels Conservatory’s first prize. Franz Liszt, another famous composer,  was one of his teachers. Albéniz traveled widely, living at various places where he composed, taught, and performed.  He is most famous for his piano music, including, Iberia, an impressionistic 12-section suite that describes Spanish places and dances.  

Prelude (also known as Preludio in Spanish) is the first of five pieces in Chants d'Espagne, (Songs of Spain), published in 1892. The beginning fast part sounds like a Flamenco dancer tapping his feet on the wooden floor. The second section is a similar to the copla, a Spanish song, because it sounds like a verse that can be sung. The music changes between a solo and accompaniment that is typical Flamenco style. I've loved this song from the very first time I heard my piano teacher play it. I hope you enjoy it as well.





My brother has been watching us play for the past few years, and has now decided he wants to join the instrument fun.  He wants to play the guitar but my mom said that he is too young to learn the guitar and should start out with the piano first. It will give him a good foundation in music and reading notes.  When we recorded, he was playing for just 3 days, and this was his first song he learned by memory.  He has been practicing every single day and now has almost finished learning his first piano primary book. Like when he learned to read, he started with his alphabet. Today Michael will play for you the ABC song. 

What did Prelude sound like to you?  

Any advice or words of encouragement you want to give Michael who is just starting to learn an instrument?

Canon in D Major, Piano and Violin Duet

Every few months, my sister and I learn a few piano and violin duets.  Canon in D major by Johan Pachelbell, happens to be one of my favorite duets.  It’s hard to imagine a time when this piece wasn't a wedding favorite as it is commonly.  What is really interesting about this piece is that it is not a happy, high energy piece, nor is very melancholy, but it gives the feeling that it is being performed for a very special occasion. 

Not much is known about Canon in D major even though it is Pachelbel’s most famous piece. We don’t even know the exact date it was composed, although historians think it was composed around 1680.  Some people believe that the music was written for Bach’s brother, Johann Christoph’s wedding, on October 23, 1694.  Parts of the bass piece was used in Handel’s, Haydn’s, and Mozart’s compositions.   

Pachelbell was born sometime in August 1653 in Nuremberg, Germany and died around in early March 1706.  He wrote over 500 classical music pieces during his lifetime and composed in the baroque period. He was an organist in his hometown of Nuremburg, and even taught the man who became Bach’s teacher. 

This piece has a lot of emotion to it and also a lot of challenging parts to it.  When playing a duet, both players have to listen to each other in order to play the piece well.  Sarah and I always have trouble with that as we both want to be in charge, however for this piece, the piano set the beat. I am glad that in the end we succeeded in working together well. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Have you ever heard this piece at a wedding? 

Which piece did you choose for your wedding?

My Little Sisters First Piano Recital

My little sister Hannah is five years old, and she is in kindergarten.  She loves to play the piano and every time Sarah or I leave the piano, Hannah runs to get it.  This is Hannah's first time typing up a post all by herself.  I only corrected her spelling and grammar.   In kindergarten, they have to learn to write a very small paragraph with a topic sentence, a detail, and a conclusion sentence.  Blogging is a great way for her to practice. 


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 My name is Hannah, and I like to play piano.  I had my first recital,  and I played hard songs. I played Dance of the Swans, Sick dolls, and Clowns. My favorite song is Clowns. 

Which is your favorite song?

Sonata in C major by Haydn

1732-1809

A few days ago, I had my fifth piano competition.  At the competition I played Sonata in C major hob 16 no 35 by Franz Joseph Haydn.  My sister also played at the competition, and she played Sonata in D major by Haydn also.  He wrote many pieces for the orchestra but he also wrote some pieces for the piano.

Haydn was an Austrian composer, who was born on March 31, 1732.  He played during the classical period with Clementi,  Beethoven and Mozart.  He wrote many pieces for the orchestra but he also wrote some pieces for the piano. He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a taught  Ludwig van Beethoven.  Haydn spent much of his career (30 years) as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family.

Haydn was a master at developing themes.  He built  a whole movement around one major theme through varying textures and rhythm.  Haydn's created 104 symphonies along with 68 string quartets and they are considered the most important part of his enormous productions. Many of them have nicknames, like Surprise, Military, Clock, and Drum Roll.

At the time of his death, he was one of the most famous composers in all of Europe. Haydn died in 1809, at the age of seventy-seven.

After the concert, the judges emailed the teachers our places.  They gave out 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention. I received an honorable mention.   Below is a video of Sonata in C major hob 16 no 35.

Have you ever listened to Haydn's music?
 

Do you like it?

My Baby Sister Plays Piano!

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My little sister Hannah now plays the piano.  We recently noticed that Hannah can play perfectly by ear.  Hannah doesn't know any of the notes but still can figure songs out.  We first realized it when I heard her playing the melody of one of my Sonata's that I am learning. Everybody in our family plays piano except my dad.  The two people who play the worst by ear are my mom and brother.

A few days ago, Hannah and I had a friendly competition.  The point of the competition is to see who can figure out how to play a song that my mom gives us.  By the time I got ready to play, Hannah had already managed to figure out the song. I needed a little bit more time to figure songs out.  Then Hannah and Sarah tried to see who can figure out a completely new set of songs, and my sister Sarah was faster. Sarah is also really good at playing songs by ear.

Here is a piece that my mom taught Hannah to play.  It is Minuet in G major by Bach.

Have you ever tried to play songs you like by ear? 

Piano Competition

A few days ago, I had a Colibri piano competition. The night before, I slept at my grandma's house because she was going to take me to the competition.  We had to get up very early in order to make it to the competition. Before the competition,  my grandma took me to my great aunts house. She plays the piano very well and gave me some last minute advice and corrections. It also allowed me to warm up my fingers for about one hour. Then we all drove to the competition. My other grandparents also came to watch me play. 

 I played Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy.  I started learning these 2 pieces in the summer and I was practicing and improving up to the last day. A piano competition is when you compete against other students your age.  At the end of the competition, the judges decide who gets first, second, or third place.  For this competition I received second place.

Below is a video of me playing.  I hope you enjoy it.




Now that my competition is over, I must choose what I will learn next. I have been listening to many different types of pieces, but have not yet chosen my next piece.

Do you have suggestions of what I should play next?

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Baroque period was during the 1600's -1750's.  The music of this time period has counterpoint.   Counterpoint is when there are two or more melodies combined together in a harmonious (pleasing sound) way but you can still hear the individual melodies. In the pieces that my sister and I play, the two unique melodies are played by the right and left hand.  

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 (same day as me!).  Bach is the youngest of eight children.  When Bach's parents died,  Bach became an orphan and went to live with his older brother who taught him to play the organ.   Bach married twice and all together he had 20 children but ten died as infants.

  
Bach spent most of his life working as an organist, teacher, and composer and composed 1,100 pieces and all of them were different. When Bach died, his works were soon forgotten.  Only a century later a composer played a piece by him and then people started getting interested in Bach's music. 

I will now play for you a piece by Bach called Badinerie.  This Bach piece is short and quick. My sister Sarah will play two pieces called Gavotte followed by English Suite I: Bourree II.

Did you hear counterpoint?

Which piece did you like best?