Tag Archives: piano

Dmitri Shostakovich – Prelude and Fugue in f sharp minor

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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was a Soviet Russian composer, pianist, and one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century.  A lot of his music is dissonant, melancholy, and has elements of the grotesque about it.  A lot of the grotesqueness in Shostakovich’s music is put in there on purpose to get back at Stalin and the communists which made Shostakovich’s life and millions of other people’s lives hell.

Despite all of the hardship that the composer experienced, he did compose some very beautiful music.  The Prelude and Fugue in f sharp minor is quite beautiful.

Here is a recording of the Prelude and Fugue in f sharp minor by Dmitri Shostakovich. It is played by Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Here is a link to the website http://www.amazon.com where you can buy a recording of the complete preludes and fugues by Shostakovich played by Tatiana Nikoloyeva.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Tatiana+Nikolayeva+plays+Shostakovich

Albert Ammons – Albert’s Special Boogie Woogie

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Albert Ammons (1907-1949) was an American pianist and boogie boogie player.  Boogie woogie was a style of blues piano that was popular during the late 1930s and into the middle 1940s.  In 1938 Albert Ammons did a performance at Carnegie Hall along with Pete Johnson and Mead Lux Lewis (two other boogie woogie pianists) and that event helped to popularize boogie woogie.  Throughout his career, Albert performed with various musicians including jazz greats Benny Goodman, Harry James, Mead Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson.  His playing had a wide influence on many pianists including the great Errol Garner.

Here is a recording of Albert Ammons playing a boogie woogie piece.  It is quite a lively number.  Enjoy.

Albert Ammons boogie woogie:

You can buy this recording on iTunes and eMusic. The links to these websites are listed on the youtube link I have posted. You can buy this piece as an mp3 on Amazon.com. Here is the

http://www.amazon.com/AlbertS-Special-Boogie-Woogie/dp/B005EP68LG/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374786513&sr=8-2&keywords=Albert+Ammons%3A+Albert%27s+Special+Boogie+Woogie

Scriabin Piano concerto

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Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) was a Russian composer and piano virtuoso.  His early compositional style was influenced by Chopin and Tchaikovsky.  The early compositions are very lyrical and even though they are more modern than Chopin and Tchaikovsky, they sometimes sound a bit like Chopin or Tchaikovsky.

Later on in his career, Scriabin’s compositions became gradually more dissonant and abstract.  Rhythmically the music became more complex.  Scriabin also had very big hands (like Rachmaninoff) and could stretch his hands a great distance across the keyboard.  His compositions continue to be very challenging for pianists.

Here is a recording of his Piano Concerto op.20.  This is an early work of Scriabin.  It was written in 1896 when the composer was 24 years old.  It is the first and only piece he wrote for orchestra, and his only concerto. Vladimir Ashkenazy is the piano soloist.

first movement

second movement

first half of third movement

second and final half of third movement

 

 

Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos – ‘Két Gitár’ (Music Show, ABC Radio National)

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Roby Lakatos  is a Hungarian violinist who was born into a family of well-known gypsy violinists descended from Jano Bihari (known as the ‘King of Gypsy Violinists’).  Roby Lakatos is an incredible virtuoso on the violin and is also very versatile.  He can play any type of music (classical, jazz, gypsy music).  Roby is also a composer and arranger.  He has performed all over the world in various music festivals and halls in Europe, Asia, and America.  He has performed with several major orchestras, various groups of musicians, and his own ensemble.

Here are two recordings of Roby Lakatos performing live at a radio station with a pianist who is as virtuosic on the piano and Roby is on his violin.  The pianist’s name is Frantisek Janoska.

Arvo Pärt – Spiegel im Spiegel (mirror in a mirror)

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Arvo Pärt (1935-)  is an Estonian composer.  The majority of his musical works are choral pieces.  He has also composed short instrumental pieces.  His music is simple but very beautiful.

Spiegel im Spiegel (mirror in a mirror) is a very simple and touching piece for violin and piano.  It has also been arranged for cello and piano.

Here is a recording of Spiegel Im Spiegel (Violin And Piano):

The recording begins at 0:37.